The News is A Joke (Media 2 Studio) Project Brief 1: Develop a comedy news ideas

 

‘Mum’s the word: it’s embarrassing’ by Chris Kenny sourced from ‘The Australian’ 25th of July 2017 at 6:21pm

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/chris-kenny/matt-canavans-resignation-blunts-attacks-on-the-greens/news-story/d64fd55a96fdfcf0cdf9c3fb56f39d23

 

Brief outline on article:

 

Chris Kenny’s ‘Mum’s the word:it’s embarrassing’ written for the Australian on July the 25th acclaims Matt Canavan guilty of attaining a Dual Citizenship as a leader in Parliament. The article goes into detail suggesting this embarrassing dilemma the government is facing due to a lack of proper investigation. Kenny mentions how this dilemma has happened recently to other members of Parliament, Two senators from the Greens party, he then goes into detail explaining how Canavan got stuck in this dreaded situation (his mother) and what his plans are to overcome it (change the constitution, question the citizenship’s validity etc.) The article ends stating that this possibly isn’t going to be the final resignation from Parliament due to a dual citizenship crisis, as there are many other foreign federal MP’s who need to be checked in regards to their renunciation of citizenship.

 

Brief outline on comedy sketch:

 

The recent issue in regards to Dual Citizenship, focusing in particular on Matt Canavan’s crisis, would provide great scope for a comedy news segment, as it contains many satirical, ironic possibilities.

 

Matt Canavan has made recent news as his dual citizenship scandal positions him to be the next member of Australian parliament to be resigned. However there are some unusual, quite comedic, circumstances regarding this issue. Such as the idea of Canavan’s mother applying him as an Italian citizen without him knowing, blaming his mother for this dual citizenship disaster, Canavan now questions Italy in regards to his citizenship being valid, He also suggests changing the constitution to stay in Parliament. Another point is that the greens have lost two senators in regards to this crisis and makes people question whether they will fight back and claim some special treatment like Canavan, The idea of Canavan following in the greens footsteps indicates in a joking manner he wants to be part of the green party, other federal MP’s need to prove they are not a dual citizen suggesting to the people that we are going to possibly losing a lot of federal leaders, however the Head of State is a foreign citizen and one could make a joke that he doesn’t even have the second Australian citizenship. One last idea we could use is that Canavan’s father has been accused of Fraud by Nestle seven years ago, we could suggest that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

 

WTherefore there is a number of ways that this one article and also debate on the Dual Citizenship controversy can be positioned as a comedy news segment due to the ironic, satirical, coincidental and out-right claims Canavan’s crisis suggests.

 

• Mattt Canavan, a mummys boy? His mum applied Canavan for an Italian Citizen ship. Well thankyou mummy, but get this Canavan said this was unbeknown to him.
• Matt Canavan so badly wants to stay in Parliament that he questions if the citizenship is valid
• Matt Canavan so badly wants to stay in Parliament that he is suggesting to change the constitution
• In Relation to this, the Greens also claim that they were unaware of their dual citizenship crisis? Are they also going to attempt to claim special treatment in this case like Canavan?
• Maybe Canavan just wants to be in the Greens? As he follows in their footsteps, drowning in the same crisis.
• Several other federal MP’s are born overseas and still need to display thier official renunciation of any secondary citizenship? Jesus, does this mean everyone in Parliament has to resign?
• Is Matt Canavan embodying the phrase ‘like father, like son’. 7 years ago his father was accused of Fraud by Nestle.
• However the Australian Head of State has a foreign citizenship? Not even an Australian Citizenship? Where’s his dual citizenship?
• How can Canavan have his mother apply on his behalf? Does Italy realise that he’s 25, he can make his own grown up decisions!

So on Thursday this week, I finally started the highly anticipated studio class. The first two hours I found myself in a studio room in Building 9 learning about the studio, what we will be learning, what we will be reading, what assessments we must complete and found myself asking the most talked about question within our studio ‘What makes up a comedy news segment?’ Then I was in building 5 and actually got to see where the practical work of this studio takes place. Cameras everywhere, headsets, green screens, tele prompters, control rooms. It was all too much to take in, however I could feel my  inner anchorwoman arising. I look forward to the weeks to come and  to explore what this exciting studio has to offer.

Nakita xx

So it’s back to uni this week and not only is it the introduction of new subjects for the semester but also STUDIOS. The studio I am enrolled in this semester is The News is a Joke.  In Week 2 we are currently infused with the ideas as to why comedy news work. It is this combination of satire and parody that effectively work with an active audience to produce a mixture of entertainment and meaning, to enable society to understand the world and teaches us sometimes more effectively than regular news. As Russell Peterson said ‘Genuine Satire can give us information and insight that enhances our ability to fulfil our role as citizens in a democracy’.

Nakita xx

Our PB4 (group podcast) must focus on the ideas of ‘attention’, our group chose to unpack this question – Why have advertisers given more of their attentions to new media platforms instead of traditional media platforms? – I specifically focused on Social Media and how it can promote products through its famous users and design affordances. I chose Instagram as a case study when accumulating readings and displaying my arguments as it’s an app I use regularly and many people consume. It is also one of the major Social Media platforms under the branch New Media that advocates and embeds Advertising. Through using examples of celebrity Instagram users who use their image to advertise products or how companies convert their advertising tactics, implementing product placement through their account.

The most successful aspects:

What I believe to be the most successful aspects of the PB4 is the editing process of the podcast. After recording our voices, our non-chalant expression seemed to be somehow exuberant through incorporating a sound landscape and sound effects within our piece. Both our introduction and conclusion provided our listeners a space to tune in with eager anticipation. Listening to ‘broadcaster’ sound effect introduces the old media broadcast form from our question and social media notifications incorporating the new media, also displayed in our question.  Then bang, suddenly our question that is later explored is initially introduced to our listeners in a riveting and exciting manner. Not only does this soundscape end and begin our podcast in a fun manner for our listeners but the sound effects chosen to produce this sound, directly relates back to what our group is aiming to discuss.Also including sound effects as a transition between each new voice, was an easy and genius way to break up the piece and ease our listeners ears into a new tune. What also went well was the brainstorming aspect for our PB4. We all sat down together and wrote up everything we could think of in regards to the idea ‘attention’, from here we formed our question. After forming our question we wrote down everything we believed answered our question, stating the differences that set new media advertising and broadcast media advertising apart. From then on it was easy, each section we contributed to we chose to discuss in the podcast, as it was something we’d happily research and know how to discuss.

The most problematic aspects:

What I believe to be the most problematic aspects of the PB4 is finding sources to implement in the background of our voices. We wanted a soundscape that didn’t fully immerse our listeners therefore they could completely take in what we are discussing. However we couldn’t find music that we considered relevant to our piece, that wasn’t immensely distracting. So we found ourselves in a pickle, however when we got some feedback in our week 12 tutorial, we suddenly knew what to include. The ideas was to lead on from our sound effect transitions into background music. For example a phone ringing and then the new voice is heard, we are then immersed into an office space through our background soundscape behind the discussion. Setting up a relatable scene for the listeners and is relevant as it leads on from our previous transitions. What we all found challenging also was researching our individual areas, experiencing our own hardships through finding journal articles related specifically to our discussion. Also what we found hard was the physical aspects of recording. It felt like a weird and awkward experience, we constantly fumbled and listening to the edit we sound bored hahaha but you know what they say ‘just fix it in the edit’.

How does the audio work incorporated lectures, readings  and class discussion theories?

Well the ideas of ‘attention’ is what our first semester of classes constantly reiterate. That ‘media are triggers for making things happen’, it is the consumers continuous awareness of how media is implemented to gain our attention. Through advertisers using media as a platform to communicate to their buyers, they use it as a market place. Making things happen through (consumers wanting and buying their products through their newfound curated image on social media) advertising on media. Ideas of advertising has also been incorporated in the subject reasons and a lecture has been dedicated to this concept also. Therefore as our podcasts discussed question features ‘advertising’ and ‘media’, both of these concepts have been discussed in lectures, readings and class readings…..  meaning that our audio work does incorporate and interpret our understanding of theories discussed within this course.

What you learnt about the different affordances of audio-based media?

There are many various affordances within the medium audio- based media. One of the most aware affordance is the power of communicating a message (painting a detailed picture, one they visualise through sound) without needing to visually see to understand what’s communicated. Through the use of incorporated sound scapes and sound effects, the listeners can visualise and place themselves in a different environment, immersing themselves through sound into a different world. It not only has this power to transport listeners but also when used appropriately can highlight what is being communicated as what we hear elevates what is being spoken through how these other sounds relation to the piece.

What you learn in the making process about collaboration that might be relevant to your broader development as a media practitioner?

Through the making process through collaboration I learnt how to incorporated team work skills and use individual group members strengths to receive the best product which can be used later in life as a media practitioner. When finalising our topic for our podcast we decided to allocate research areas based on who was more confident in producing high quality research and good at transcribing it to podcast discussion with ease, therefore we portrayed how well we all knew to work in a team through listening to everyones opinions, considering individual strengths and applying the hard work through research which can later be transformed into a group project.

Therefore the finalised PB4 was successful in some ways and problematic in others. However it taught me sound affordances, how to incorporate course readings, class discussion and lectures into a project and finally how group collaboration within the making process can assist my development into a media practitioner.

Nakita xx

Today in our Week 12 tute we had a guest listener who came in to give us feedback on our PB4 rough cut’s, here is what we heard:

FEEDBACK-

• Loved the panning
• To add a soundscape after sound effects to the set the scene and make the listener picture a certain environment
• To include more sounds in-between talking to grab the listeners attention so they don’t get distracted and zone out
• To possibly consider re- recording ourselves to add more zest and pop in our voices

Nakita xx

In the week 12 lectorial the ideas of research being a key skill to becoming a media maker is unpacked. Communicating is good however we need to have informative knowledge behind our responses which we can accumulate through reading and research.

Academic Research is presented through: referencing, intros + conclusions etc.

We were also encouraged to visit the library for journals and to view sources online from library search and use library guides or use google scholar

When researching look for ARGUMENT and STRUCTURE

HOW TO:

• Skim the text
• a brief summary of what you’ve just read
• evaluate your reading
• question yourself. Is it relevant? What aspects in particular are relevant?

Attached is my ‘learning graph’

What and how did you learn that you think was really valuable ?

• Making sure I did all the readings
• Writing down what I thought was relevant and I could use in these readings before writing my blog post
• Staying up to date with every blog post
• Attending every single lecture and tute

What did you find the most challenging about the course?

• Working softwares such as Premier Pro and Adobe Audition
• How to split work evenly and work well within a group

What have you discovered about your own creative practice as a media maker?

• I prefer the social media and advertising side of this course
• I learn how to use softwares with a lot of time, practice and tutorial videos
• That I like personalise everything media related I do

Nakita xx

Yesterday from 1-4pm my Media 1 group booked a studio and recorded our PB4 Podcast. We had all individually researched our given areas in regards to our prompt and separately wrote out what we were planning to say in the recording. However the first hour we spent trying to accumulate what we had individually done and twine them all together. Working on how to structure our sound piece, what soundscape to include, how to transition etc. We managed to sort this out fairly quickly and we all recorded. We had some small mistakes when recording (slipped on some words, lost track of our speech etc.) but decided ‘we’ll fix it in the edit’. After this we discussed who would be doing the editing and how we should all stay in touch over our Facebook group chat, to help each other out for the remainder of the project.

Nakita xx

Attached is my trial run with adobe audition featuring an interview. Through this process I applied effects to the original audio and experimented with how these changed the sound piece. I tried to add music however found this really difficult, so I’ll continue working on this to educate myself on this side of the sound editing process. However this is my first attempt with adobe audition, and although I found it incredibly confusing and difficult initially, I slowly began to learn how to use it and I will continue to explore yet learn from it.

Nakita xx

in the week 11 media 1 lectorial, Ramon Lobato gives ideas into ‘Television, streaming and audience fragmentation’.

Here are some AUSSIE STATS:

• Netflix is found in 25% of households
• Broadcast TV is watched 2.7 hours a day
• Online video is watched 0.5 hours a day
• There are 6.4 devices per Australian home

In 10 years time broadcast has gone up by 25 channels and Pay-TV has gone up by 130 channels

The Television categories:

Catchup

• Tenplay
• 9 jumpin

SVOD

• NETFLIX
• STAN

TVOD

• google play
• bigpond movies

AVOD

• Youtube
• Facebook

However a question I had after listening to Ramon and pose to Netflix- Is Netflix opening interest for inter-cultural TV as shown through the Brazilian show 3% or is it English dominated shows?

Nakita xx

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUJIy1Pg3F3/  

For this weeks (11) media 1 initiative post, I’ve decided to share some Instagram content I have authored.  For my Networked Media Class we were put into groups and asked to make video content, our group chose Instagram for our case study. Attached is a link to the Instagram post I created. The post features a minute long edited video of a series of parties/ press/ clubbing/ bars and concerts edited together featuring events occurring in melbourne. To find more videos like this visit the Instagram Page ‘aboutlastnightmelbourne’. I enjoyed editing this fast paced video together; working with different scaling, different clip size and incorporating copyright free dubstep music hahaha.

Nakita xx