Core issues discussed during this week’s lectorial included the concept of what makes media as a whole and what it means to us individually, a majority of people who spoke up stated facts such as media and politics, music, to interconnect different platforms, technology but I feel what a lot of people left out and  as the lecturer discussed the personal aspect of what media means to us personally. Media is communication and I think communication is one of the most important things we should discuss when talking about Media. For me as I’ve previously mentioned the disconnection and connection through communication online is an important aspect of media.

I was intrigued to hear our lecturer talk about modern society compared to pre modern society and the reliability of ‘real’ friends compared to ‘facebook’ friends. I agreed that the people we talk to online aren’t as trusting and real as the ones we see more regularly in real life, I think you can get a false sense of security online but in your times of need the people who are most likely to be there both physically and mentally aren’t there ones you’ve been talking to through a computer screen. Although editing was discussed again during this lecture and was the prime material for reading I find the practical and theory sides of it are something I am already well versed in the concepts of Emotion, Story, Rhyme are basic aspects of an edit but as always I didn’t expect them to delve into the deep end to begin with.

Reading: Scott McCloud Blood and Gutter, The Invisible Art
This reading or comic focused on the idea of creating a story out of certain scenes in particular it related to a comic book but in general it related to how we imply and create a story without having to show all aspects, so the building together of scenes of course the comic book could be related back to a storyboard and how they are very similar in creating a running story.

When studying media I had no doubt in my mind the assessments would be related to technology so a blog was no surprise, however as dubious as this sounds I feel more disconnected when writing blog posts than when I do in a diary. I had my first blog in year eight, it was really about sharing pictures I had taken and like many teenagers my age It was on the social platforming sit ‘Tumblr’. As I grew older as a digital native I found there were things that got to me that shouldn’t have- they were caused by social media and I knew this. The fact that one of my friends wasn’t able to call me as the idea of a phone call gave her such anxiety yet she could always type out how she felt, she then told me it was because it felt more ‘natural’ to her, the Irony as It seemed unnatural to me.

I love media and technology but in terms of connection I believe it can really put a divide between how close you think you are to someone and how close you really are. I wrote in a dairy I would sometimes let the people closest to me read it, with a blog its generally everyone or no one, I use to change the privacy settings so that only the people closest to me could find it but it still wasn’t nearly the same.

I find it strange looking back onto eighties films where the main character would be chained to the wall by a phone when talking to someone whereas now it’s chained to a computer, I think loneliness is increased by technology I’m very keen to learn about how mental illness plays a role in media I really hope sometime to touch on that. I personally can feel more lonely online talking to everyone as really when I am sometimes I’m alone in a room.

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Week 1 Tutorial was an elaboration on the assessments we would need to complete during Media 1 (2016), we are expected to write blog posts four times a week as a reflection on our learning process- we must write about the following:

• One post relating to the lectorial and readings set that week (directly relate to core issues discussed)
• At least one post documenting and reflecting upon the exercise undertaken in the current weeks workshop
• At least one ‘imitative’ post connecting an idea encountered in this week’s class with a media text/production exercise/event/experience of a specific interest to you that hasn’t been mentioned in the course.

This class discussed the key to making a successful blog post and the difference between a blog and a personal diary, one being public and a used as a skill builder the other being more of a platform for pure reflection.
I didn’t find there was much ‘knowledge’ substance to learn due to this being the first introductory tutorial. The teacher elaborated that in the following weeks we would be learning technology  based skills such as editing, this I will find quite humorous having completed a Diploma in Screen and Media as well as having various paid and volunteer roles within community television (pre, production and post).
Nevertheless our first small task was to make a small bibliographical self-portrait with our own original material, I will expect within the next few posts you’ll find one relating to why I choose and created the particular media I did and how it relates back to me and the person who I am.

The first lectorial of ‘Media 1’ began with a welcome briefing and a course outline, It was also an opportunity for the lecturers to begin to stimulate the minds of their current intake of students. Topics which were raised were goals of what we wanted to achieve from the course as well as a short introduction on the reflective portfolio assessment (which is what is currently in progress on this blog at this moment).
In terms of new terminology the lecture discussed ‘Hyper attention’ and ‘Deep attention’.  Hyper attention is in essence multitasking or quickly switching from one task to another without a single dedicated focus, of course deep attention is the other focusing everything onto a single task, this could be something as simple as reading a book. The essay on which the discussion was based upon pondered on the current generation growing more hyper attentive due to increasing media stimuli.
This would be an obvious and undeniable factor as technology progresses media placement has increased and is inevitable, developing children are giving smartphones at alarming young ages as ‘toys’ and thus the progression into hyper attentiveness descends. It will be interesting to hear more about this topic and definitely would be something I’ll research into as I have a keen interest in psychology and mental illness and its role in modern media.