I am so very much looking forward to all that’s ahead in this studio. Radio is something I know next to nothing about and I guess this is the main reason I have chosen to do this… I wanted to try something new. I’ve always been so focused on Film and Television and never really paid too much attention to radio features and documentaries. I suppose my recent trip across Australia really sparked my interest in radio. I was scanning through the channels pretty much non-stop for the ten week trip and found myself always stopping on the feature length stories. They were great for the long drive ahead, in a way I could escape to somewhere else but still kind of co-exist and not veer off the road. I found this really interesting, compared with cinema where it’s dark and you kind of step out of your body into this alternate reality. I began to become more interested in the framelessness of radio, I could do the dishes but not really have to think too much about scrapping the dirty grease off the pan. I love the way all the layers of sound-texture and the way the emotiveness of words can bring about such imaginative stimulation. I think a line in one of the readings on the feature ‘Poetry Texas’ by Falling Tree Productions really sums up what I’m eager to get better at… “a journalist asks the questions, but a poet hears and shapes the resonances in the sounds and the words”. Learning this stuff is so distinctly different from anything I’ve done before. Some good times ahead.

MURDOCH’S PUPPET

LIGHTS – ME – ACTION

STORIES

I SPY WITH MY THIRD EYE

WILLIAM BARAK BUILDING

This semester has truly been educative, advantageous and memorable. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning and working individually and collaboratively on projects that have developed new skills and improved my understanding of what it is and takes to be a successful media practitioner. At the beginning, I was sceptical about this unfamiliar working environment, I lacked confidence to challenge and develop innovative responses during studio discussions. I was very much accustomed to the traditional method of learning and producing; so hearing I had to maintain a blog and have continual engagement with peers even in the lectures was frightening. However, this course progressed much slower than expected. We started with a few simple non-graded production exercises that allowed me to gain traction for the briefs to come. I learnt how to use a number of different microphones and was able to further experiment with my editing software. I realised my previous film and television experience could be applied to all four briefs. However, the distinct orientation to studio-based learning where theory and practice are integrated was something I had to adjust to. I knew how to produce a fancy polished edit but amalgamating this with the theory learnt in class was the most challenging aspect of the course.

My two other subjects, politics and documentary studies both required a substantial amount of readings each week. These at times were at the expense of the assigned media readings and also affected my blogging. I know now that I must prioritise my workload better and keep on top of my blogs as the course progresses. I have discovered how essential my organisational skills are to my learning process. I have learnt that in having an efficient schedule, achieving weekly goals can be easily accomplished. I learnt that in the lectures sometimes it is best to sit back and absorb the information rather than frantically take notes that need making sense of later. I noticed this in my blog posts, when taking a casual approach to the post I was able to communicate what I personally took from the lecture and found of interest. Also, possessing the motivation and enthusiasm required in the tutorials is crucial in shaping my future in the media industry. The more you get involved the better the outcome… which is why I joined RMITV.

The perpetual collaboration incorporated in this course really challenged my ability to think in different and creative ways. It has been eye opening to see that when people come together and experiment with the technologies available, there is a noticeable improvement in the productions. These ‘light-bulb’ moments have not only influenced my awareness of the media saturated world we live in, but will stay with me as I smash through challenges of the semesters ahead.

1.[RED] How much have I learnt about making media objects/stories?

2.[GREEN] What is my ability to work independently in unfamiliar ways or with new systems and tools?

3.[BROWN] How much do I understand and think critically and creatively about what I make?

4.[ORANGE] What is my understanding of the role/value of the blog?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiv-nKHEiAk

Elise and I were assigned the topic Institutions, which to be honest was quite daunting to begin with. We were yet to learn about institutions in class so Elise and I struggled to come up with a way to present our artefact. Originally, we had the idea of doing a website which contained vox pop style interviews. However, after spending some time brainstorming and discussing ideas with Rachel we decided to scratch the website and focus on doing an educational style film.

The educational film centred on a question/ answer format, which I believe, was accurately achieved and contributed to the films consistent flow. We effectively presented the information in ways that furthered the constructive engagement of interpretation. We managed to keep quite a heavy and in depth topic, light hearted and interesting. Eventually, after sifting through the archives of found footage and filming over a three-day period, the B-roll effectively illustrated the story. Although at times some footage I believe can still be altered, as it lacks significance to the text.

We faced many challenges both in the production and post-production phases, mostly to do with audio. Firstly, on day one of filming we used the attached shot microphone on the Sony MC50, this captured far too much atmospheric sounds, which differed greatly in contrast to the interior footage. To resolve this issue we re-filmed all of Elise’s exterior dialogue scenes using a lapel microphone. However, due to lack of expertise in the area of audio, the lapel, though better than the shot microphone, blew out the sound levels and even after some mixing in post still sounded quite muffled. Secondly, due to an error on the Adobe Premiere software, some audio files were corrupted. Luckily, after much struggle finding ways to fix the error, we managed to salvage some footage from an exported draft. We were also disappointed that we were unable to tee up an interview with underground film director, Richard Wolstencroft. Finally, we had minor issues in terms of colour grading as we were cutting between footage from a Canon 5D mark iii, 60D and the Sony mc50. Although these are all minor issues it is important to understand what went wrong so as to avoid repeating them. At the same time, reflecting on discoveries also helped identify successful principles to use again.

It was also my first experience using the editing suites; perhaps I could have developed my skills through means available beyond the course. I am yet to learn about titles, which is something I feel reduces the overall aesthetic of the films I produce. Perhaps further research through YouTube videos and other websites could have improved the production.

I have learnt a lot in the process of this brief. I have learnt about the importance of staying positive and being open to change, looking at the issues we faced negatively gets us nowhere. Elise and I collaborated extremely well together. We stuck to our meeting arrangements and communicated well through all social media platforms, this included shared Google documents so that we could simultaneously work on tasks such as the script or annotated bibliography. Setting an agenda before meeting really helped, we were able to get started immediately based on our weekly goals. Which at times went longer than expected but in setting the goal we were determined to achieve it at all costs so as to avoid falling behind. Perhaps at times when our levels of motivation dwindled we could have built upon our media networks. Asking other peers what they thought and generally involving more people could have progressed our work beyond a level that could only be achieved with the two of us.

As Elise and I collaborated we developed and understanding of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Elise took the reigns in terms of constructing the script and logging the minutes, I assisted when possible but putting into words what we wanted to communicate was definitely her stronger side. I on the other hand, had previous experience with premiere and took the roll of editing all our footage together. Elise was very good at learning lines and speaking clearly, so we decided it was best for her to play the reporter and for me to play the filmmaker. Overall, we couldn’t have done it without the strong teamwork we sustained throughout the creative process.

So many long hours in the edit lab

https://vimeo.com/128565206

Last night a bunch of us from Media 1 went to the St Kilda film festival. Such a great experience…

First of all, that Palais Theatre is incredible! I had never been to such beautiful venue before.

Secondly, I was blown away by how big this festival was…for some stupid reason I was under the assumption that this festival was going to be kind of low key, in a small hall, screening amateur student productions.

This was not the case, there must have been a few thousand people there and the short films were amazing. My favourite was the beginning short, loved the aesthetic flow of music and poetry overlaying some really moving images…check out the still shot.

Felt honoured to be there supporting the Australian film industry… It’s great to see the spotlight turned on some exceptional emerging artists whose work might otherwise not see the light of day… Especially on the big screen where they look their shiny best.

After presenting a rough edit to Rachel we received some feedback on what to change for our video. Today Elise and I spent another day changing the ending and re-filming with a lapel mic to cut out all the atmospheric sounds we caught in the last shoot. We are really happy with the results… the film is looking great!

Elise and I have been hard at work on our Brief Four the last few days.
Post-production has begun…heres a snippet of whats to come.
https://vimeo.com/128329150

Yesterday we looked at the two scholars; Eduardo Navas and Walter Benjamin, who helped us to understand the idea of sampling, remaking and remixing original artefacts such as art, film and music. I was particularly interested in Walter Benjamin’s concept of aura can which was written in an unpublished report on one of his hashish experiments, dated March 1930: “First, genuine aura appears in all things, not just in certain kinds of things, as people imagine.” This assertion contrasts sharply with the common understanding of Benjamin’s aura as a primarily aesthetic category—as shorthand for the particular qualities of traditional art that he observed waning in modernity, associated with the singular status of the artwork, its authority, authenticity, and unattainability, epitomized by the idea of beautiful semblance. On that understanding, aura is defined in antithetical relation to the productive forces that have been rendering it socially obsolete: technological reproducibility, epitomized by film, and the masses, the violently contested subject/object of political and military mobilization (Hansen, 2008).

We understood this buy relating this concept to people trying to capture ‘aura’ via social media or photos, however you will only ever capture a fraction of the ‘aura’ not what it looked, felt, smelt and sounded like. Although social media is argued that it is becoming and more authentic mode of communication. A tweet, Facebook post or Instagram pic very much adds to peoples perception of one another and can be considered part of our ‘aura’.