Memory Screen | Assignment #5 | Exhibition, Publication, & Reflection

Hope For Audience

My hope for our sculpture—Mix-tape—is that it highlights the obscured meaning or meanings of otherwise inconsequential objects such as a cassette tape. This retro media is today considered rather unnecessary in everyday life much like CDs, VHS tapes, and ever more, DVDs. That is why I had a particular fascination with crafting some sort of interpersonally meaningful sculpture. The construction of Mix-tape emphasises the need to create meaning; it provokes the viewer to ask what is being displayed and why. As Christian Ulrik Andersen, Søren Bro Pold & Morten Suder Riis (2014) discuss, it could be perceived as about memories or the way in which so-called ‘Jurassic technologies’ (158) can be transformed into something beyond itself. Furthermore, as Margaret Iverson (2014) describes, the mere act of looking at found objects of the past can import some meaning onto that object with little artist interaction.

Studio Relevance

I think the latter of those perceptions (i.e. the idea that meaning can be created through a material or the act of seeing), exemplifies a key concern of the studio: “[to] create new media works that have well-rounded and historically grounded origins”. The idea of using an obsolete media/medium (cassette tapes) to create a new, interpretable media work, much like the work of Christian Marclay (Feliz 2013). Moreover, I think Mix-tape illustrates the legacy of cassette tapes within media.

Successful Aspects

I think the single most successful element of the sculpture was how it was exhibited. The way in which we adapted to the space itself ultimately made the exhibited product far better than it otherwise would have been. I think it exemplified the tactile nature of the tapes in a way that was interesting and though-provoking. I also particularly liked how the tape pooled at the floor and interacted with itself, and perfectly hid the static-playing speaker and extra cassette tapes.

Problematic Aspects

The most problematic aspect of the project for me, was the depth at which we looked at certain unnecessary elements. Early on we would continue to discuss the concept and ways in which we could include components. We knew we wanted to encourage interaction, and we wanted to include something about Clive Garner, the original owner of the tapes in order to acquire another layer of legacy. These ideas were very hard to accomplish, however. Clive Garner was either too much or too little within the sculpture and so we scraped it—the only reminisce is on the tapes themselves. The interactivity was there, it just wasn’t really advertised and would have been difficult to actually achieve without breaking some viewer perception.

On Further Development

If we were to work on it further or expand it in some way, it would be interesting to make it bigger. Although the cassette cubes to cassette tape ratio was good and demonstrates the concept and meaning(s), I think if it was even larger these aspects would be clearer or even evolve. Then again, I think at a certain scale it would be too big and become redundant, which could be interesting.

Studio Takeaways

I have a few takeaways from my studio experience. My first takeaway from Memory Screen is my perception of “media art”. At the start of the semester, I didn’t really have an idea of what would be discussed or produced but by the end, I’ve come to better understand art forms that I likely would’ve neglected otherwise. My second takeaway is the importance to actually reflect on your work. I guess I had more time to reflect on my work this semester than the previous as I think I actually got something out of it: something to work on for the next time. My third takeaway is the need to just get on with it. I found that throughout the semester from the earlier assignments and even this final project, I would get caught on something and would spend way too much time working on it. This ties back to the problematic aspect of the sculpture in that we spent a lot of time thinking about ways we could incorporate Clive Garner and interactivity, which were ultimately a waste of time and made me realise that sometimes we need to just move on instead of dwelling on an idea.

On Working Collaboratively

I think there were two layers of collaboration during the latter half of the semester. Within groups, especially small groups like our own (with just the two of us), it is crucial we’re both working and both communicating. Every session, we would update each other on ideas we’ve had over a couple days and would contact each other if there was anything needed or if we weren’t able to make it to class or if there was any other problem. It was also crucial to work together to fix any problems that occurred. These were other successful aspects of the sculpture—being on the same page, understanding, and actively contributing. More broadly, exhibition-wise, I found it interesting to see how everyone adapted to the space and was actively engaged with each other’s work. For our group, it was the idea to hang the cassette cubes from the horizontal beams of the media portal while also making sure our sculpture didn’t affect anyone else’s. Ultimately, everyone needed to work together, not only to make sure their work was done but also to interact and not interfere with other works around the exhibition space.

References

Andersen, C.U., Pold, S.B. and Riis, M.S. (2014) ‘A dialogue on cassette tapes and their memories’, A Peer-Reviewed Journal About, 3(1), pp. 156–167. doi:10.7146/aprja.v3i1.116095.

Feliz, M. C. (2013). Resonant Space, Sonorous Time: The Varieties of Acoustic Phenomena in the Art of Christian Marclay (Order No. 3644741). Available from ProQuest One Academic. (1629828743).

Iversen, M. (2014) ‘Readymade, Found Object, Photograph’, Art Journal, 63(2), pp. 44–57. doi: 10.1080/00043249.2004.10791125.

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Memory Screen | Assignment #2

Media Sculpture

For this sketch, I focused primarily on concept and sacrificed compositional proficiency. I found this task among the most difficult, not just due to doing it solo, but also due to my access to multiple media forms/formats (and its potential to become a copyright-trap). I knew that I wanted to do something about consumerism; I initially thought about crafting a “post-apocalyptic” vibe—the apocalypse being without a phone or device over a (short) period of time, the protagonist growing in frustration without their precious device. Upon developing the concept, however, I realised that it wasn’t necessarily fitting with the task. This meant I lost quite a bit of potential production time exacerbated by development in my desktop performance. Despite this (and lack of production quality) I think the final product is at least within the bounds of the task and is interesting. Perhaps the initial plans could be utilised within the major project.

The technical side of this task was simple. I searched for ad compilations on YouTube on a few devices. After finding one I liked (referenced below) I set up my devices in a way that would produce a forced perspective feel and therefore an overwhelming sense of consumption. At first, I was going to film a video of a video of someone (me) flipping through magazine pages, though it didn’t produce a desired effect. Though I did try to implement some of this by adding an end “credit” scene written on an alcohol ad from an Aldi catalogue—a metaphor for addiction—but the marker used wasn’t showing up well on camera. Other than that, I simply put it into a vertical sequence as if it were a TikTok or Instagram reel, to emphasise the consumerism concept.

I think that considering I had a limited amount of time and materials with which to create this “sculpture” it turned out fine. I think if I had of had group the composition would’ve been far more professional-looking. I feel the concept had legs to stand on, despite a lack of execution. That in mind, I believe there’s potential to explore and expand on the concept more with the major project if that is the direction I (or rather the group I’m in) goes.

References

Arwuns (2 February 2020) ‘One Hour of 1980s TV Commercials – 80s Commercial Compilation #1’, Arwuns, YouTube website, accessed 27 August 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgoUa2wWvAQ

Desktop Performance

Similar to my media sculpture, I focused predominantly on concept/theme and audio as opposed to actual composition. Initially, I constructed a chaotic and unhinged performance, which would focus on the distractions of everyday life. This was far more in the vein of Xanthe Dobbie’s work, namely, Club Blue (2020), which implemented the colour blue, the word “blue” and other blue elements in an unhinged array of window-layering, sound design, and Mac OS competency. I wasn’t able to gain such competency in such a short time and decided to a bit smaller. Descent (2017) by Peter Burr, Mark Fingerhut, and Forma was of particular intrigued in my smaller thinking; the work retold the story of the Black Death through the desktop, with rats multiplying, environments changing, and 8-bit overlays. This basis is what I worked off of. I saw a post on Instagram about the Wizard of Oz (1939), and I began thinking of telling the story of Oz through the desktop. Upon recording several elements, I realised that this particular story was too difficult to tell within 60 seconds. So, I thought about some scenes that could be better told in the timeframe and decided on the poppy field scene, wherein Elphaba sabotages Dorothy and Co.’s journey. It’s a rather infamous scene since they used asbestos to produce a “snowy” effect.

On the technical side, I recorded my screen with OBS. I found two gifs in order to establish the scene, a flashing rainbow circle and a smoke effect. I played these on the same window and changed my Chrome theme to green to show some resemblance of Elphaba’s lurking, to unknown success. I then closed out of the tabs to show a “poppy field”, using images of poppies, like Descent did with rats, I put images of the main cohort within the field, and left a folder titled “Home” and “Elphaba”. The wallpaper was also changed to a minimalist green field and yellow brick road. I opened the “Elphaba” folder which had a danger sign icon utilising Windows’ built-in folder-icon customiser, which produced a glitching screen and noise (sourced from freesound.org) as if the folder had been purposely obscured. In my first recording, I attempted to create folders for each character which would’ve allowed me to explore each character (i.e. enter the “Tin Man” folder and see his heart alongside other objects). This failed however as the icons wouldn’t stay in their custom state, so I opted for images instead. Using a snow overlay, I was able to mimic the film’s asbestos effect. I then moved my mouse jank-ily towards the start menu to click sleep as to reenact the scene. In Premiere Pro, I added some sound effects (see references below), to enhance the effect.

I think this sketch was ultimately limited by my own incompetencies. There are certainly some elements that could be worked on. For instance, the iris zoom at the end (to imply sleep) was cut-short when I cut off the recording, while other elements of composition were simply very jank.

References

Florianreichelt (2019) ‘Soft Wind’ [sound], Freesound website, accessed 27 August 2024. https://freesound.org/people/florianreichelt/sounds/459977/

GIPHY (n.d.) ‘Rainbow Color Gradient Ball GIF‘, Gifdb website, accessed 27 August 2024. https://gifdb.com/gif/rainbow-color-gradient-ball-acpoz3vq9ji0i3ev.html

GIPHY (n.d.) ‘smoke GIF – Find & Share on GIPHY’ [Pinterest post], Pinterest, accessed 27 August 2024. https://au.pinterest.com/pin/773211829745819673/

Jace (2006) ‘boiling bubbles 4 washing.wav’ [sound], Freesound website, accessed 27 August 2024. https://freesound.org/people/Jace/sounds/19844/

TiesWijnen (2021) ‘Glitch 2’ [sound], Freesound website, accessed 27 August 2024. https://freesound.org/people/TiesWijnen/sounds/592337/

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Memory Screen | Assignment #1

Essay Film

The concept of this Essay Film is the relationship between the cost-of-living crisis and the record-breaking profits of big banks and mining conglomerates. Silas and I searched through the newspaper, stumbling across the ASX 200. The idea expanded as we made the link between this table of companies, their numbers, and ultimately the housing and cost-of-living crisis.

Technically, the sketch consists of one newspaper scan, some pictures of houses, and an audio track. The latter was played over a black screen, melancholic (if not accusatorily) in tone, it reads profit statistics over the last year or two, acting to expose the profits of several leading banks and mining corporations. The first half utilises only the initial newspaper scan, zoomed in to obscure the table’s structure and encourages the viewer to inspect the image for more information. The mid-point-change begins with a short pause before the speech continues to read out statistics, this time, about house and rental prices, homelessness rates, and wage increases; this was spliced in between images of several houses (which were placed according to the speech). The editing allows viewers to make certain deductions about what is being said. From a newspaper slapping sound, to a small highlighter effect, the images between the black screen create a sense of urgency and transforms the sketch into an exposé of sorts, exposing the disparities between corporate profits and salary rises. I do think that the final sketch is slightly more complex than a “proof of concept” but isn’t massively hindered by this fact.

Socially, the sketch went well. Silas and I collaborated to develop the concept. I edited the sketch while Silas did the voiceover on a better microphone for production quality. I did struggle slightly with the editing as I wasn’t too confident in making a decision without prior communication. Typically, with group work, there’s several frontiers to get through in order to make a decision though, despite this lack, I think it will better enable viewers to create certain connections.

Live Action

The theme of my live action media sketch was regimentation, routine, and schedule. Initially, I intended to use visual performance to complement the audio elements. However, this approach didn’t fully meet the task’s requirements and was too time-consuming to execute. I instead decided to think beyond my idea of “performance art” and explore a more abstract representation of “regimentation.”

I started by contemplating different ways to convey routine, patterns, and memory, which eventually led me to the concept of a puzzle—a metaphor for how we, as humans, fit into predetermined spaces. To build this puzzle, I repurposed an old film theory reading about writing on film, specifically about the process of evaluation (much like what I’m doing here). I flipped the paper over and drew rough lines to cut into puzzle pieces. After cutting them out, I set up a small tripod for my phone to record the assembly. Despite not being parallel with my surface, the setup captured the entire process. I recorded myself completing the puzzle, which took about two minutes. As I reviewed the footage, I considered when to cut the start and finish. The original clip fit with the theme of regimentation, but I wanted to introduce a more cynical tone. To achieve this, I spliced in an image of a “the power of positive affirmations” printout throughout the video, creating an overbearing presence that reflects how external forces impose regimes on us. The final sketch, titled One Mighty Puzzle, became a metaphor for the task itself, challenging the conventional definitions of “performance”.

Although there were minimal social engagements beyond in-class discussions, the sketch did make a broader social statement. It suggested that, whether through societal norms or psychological conditioning, we are often forced into specific “boxes” that create pressure. These boxes could represent the rigid boundaries of what is considered performance art or broader societal expectations. Ultimately, the concept highlighted how our minds are regimented, and how society evaluates and categorizes everything—often in ways that may not always align with the true nature of human experience.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Assignment #5.2 | Studio Review

The studio prompt for Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre was “How can we creatively think of comedy as a mode within (and beyond) a genre, form, and media?”. To answer this question, we worked week-by-week to explore the nuanced range of comedy through theories of humour and comedy modes. Individually and in small groups we produced media artefacts utilising these theories and modes to exemplify the diverse nature of comedy. As for my individual work I find that comedy is varied and personal. I especially enjoyed the first two weeks wherein we explored incongruity and relief/benign violation. This is because I feel as these particular artefacts highlight the simplicity of comedy as a genre–comedy within a genre. This is as opposed to the latter (smaller) group work, which explored parody, satire, and hybridisation, and ultimately the broad nature of comedy beyond its own genre. In combining the elements explored in weeks 1-6, I think Rogue became a well-rounded example of comedy as both a standalone and transcending genre. Through its use of incongruity, benign violation, parody, satire, and hybridisation, I think the project illustrates the studio prompt and key concerns of the anatomy of comedy. Aside from that I hope the artefact is funny to at least some extent.

As I said in my reflective essay, I would focus on amplifying its use of the theories of humour. I think a lot of the comedy in our artefact is subtle and may only be seen by an audience who has engaged with this studio. I don’t think the elements of comedy’s subtly is a bad thing for a broader audience but could have helped them understand certain creative choices.

When looking at other studio members’ work, I think the diverse nature of comedy is only strengthened. Looking at the film Trip Up, for instance, it’s very obvious from the beginning that the film is absurd. Their use of incongruity and benign violation is apparent and does nothing but add to the film’s humour. The film’s editing enforces this, as it quickly becomes clear that the story is evoked by paranoia. From a search of someone who isn’t missing to the murder of a delivery driver to a random beach pirate, Trip Up applies several modes of comedy with which the creators highlight the nuances within comedy as a gerne. Similarly, Milk Run runs on absurdity which alternatively kicks off a pretty grim story. For me, anyway, Milk Run, while absurd and funny is a very dark in nature. It explores the simplicity if not cultural shock of an interstate university student and does so with the backing of a self-aware sense of absurdity. I think the modes of comedy are subtle here and ultimately allows for a darker tone to be set while not sending people into existential crisis. Overall, these two short films highlight both comedy as a genre and comedy beyond its self-contained genre. Essentially, with an undercurrent of absurdity, incongruity, and benign violation, the films explore different themes, one more comedy-driven, the other more dramatic and cerebral, producing examples of comedy within and beyond its own genre.

In terms of another studio, I found A Case of Scrambled Eggs from the ‘Reimagining Crime Club’ of particular intrigued. The ‘Reimagining Crime Club’ studio asked students, “How can the Crawfords Collection at the AFI Research Collection be creatively reimagined for contemporary audiences?”. This question, alongside the studio’s concerns are answered and illustrated by A Case of Scrambled Eggs. Not only is the title engaging, so is the content of the media artefact. It reads very satirical of the true crime genre through its use of sound and cinematography and therein lies the studio prompt. I for one, am more likely to follow a comedy as opposed to really any other genre, so the creators’ didactic retelling and unironic reenactments of the events, and use of editing makes the artefact digestible and engaging. Ultimately, I think their artefact acknowledges and answers the studio prompt and its key concerns.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Reflective Essay + Video

Reflective Essay

How can we creatively think of comedy as a mode within (and beyond) genre, form, and media? Well, one thing that I for one have learned in this studio is that comedy is versatile and dynamic, having the ability to transcend genres and infiltrate other forms and media. I suppose my hope for our major media artefact, Rogue, is that others find it funny–as, despite not having a role in the editing process, I think the others in the group did some fantastic work with the editing. I think it highlights how comedy, as a genre, can be hybridised with others to form more nuanced genres, ‘creating hybrid forms which combine comedy with other dramatic or generic elements’ (Mundy and White 2012:132). In this instance, the dramatic element is borrowed from the action-having spy movie such as Spy (2015) starring Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy among others. The comedy, meanwhile, comes through a few elements. Incongruity, ‘the clash between such odd elements and normality (Audissino 2023:6), serves as one form. Since our character is from the past, what is normal for us isn’t normal for her which clash in order to create incongruity. Another is parody, which Joe Toplyn suggests ‘is considered to be a funny imitation of an artistic work that typically wasn’t intended to be funny’ (2014:239). Again, the spy film is typically very serious. Jason Statham’s filmography elucidates this. We also made parodies of 21st-century human tropes including our reliance on technology. Overall, I think our artefact addresses the key concerns of the studio; the comedy is a stand-alone product of our artefact that is enhanced by hybridisation and other elements of comedy.

If I were to continue or add onto our artefact, I would focus on amplifying the theories of humour within it. While our artefact did include incongruity, I feel like the incongruous aspect of the film could be enhanced by introducing more theories of humour. Relief, for example, involves some sort of tension to be released (Audissino 2023), which I think, while subtly present, could’ve been emphasised to add some more moments of drama. Benign violation, the idea that comedy can be produced by harmless subversions of norms (Audissino 2023), could have been more present in order to create more of a Mr. Bean archetype. I wouldn’t change the campy/b-film vibe we have in the final film, as I feel like these films have an inherent comedic nature.

In terms of the collaborative nature of this studio, I feel oddly neutral about it. Of course, I preferred working alone, not only because there is more control involved, but also because I can work on my time and look ahead to schedule a time that works for me to dedicate to working on a media artefact. In the first three weeks of this studio, I often utilised my mostly empty Fridays to filming, editing, and uploading my media artefacts. I would attend class Mondays and Wednesdays to gather ideas and write something that I thought would fulfill the requirements of the task. I would then null it over to consolidate my idea, which I would then dedicate Friday to film. Some weeks I had less time than others and so even if I wanted to, I simply couldn’t make a grander or technically advanced artefact. Despite this, I think even my underthought artefacts fit the requirements of the given week. Moving into group work was actually easier than I’d thought. I actually didn’t mind working with mostly different people each week. Working alongside others allowed for a diverse range of perspectives and ideas, but I feel that overall, we were mostly on the same page and if not went with the flow. I also feel like these weeks were the best in terms of media production; the groups weren’t too big nor small, and neither were the artefacts themselves. Moving into the group for the major media artefact was also rather easy. I liked the idea of the “fish out of water” character and believe we achieved it in a creative way within and beyond the comedy genre. The brainstorming and ideas phase was particularly fun as it involved simply bouncing off others’ ideas, interests, and wants. I do feel however that some roles were breached slightly leaving some group members to do more work than others, which I think could’ve been less apparent with better communication and actually remaining true to the designated roles. It simply felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen at times which ultimately hindered the group’s ability to actually get things done without getting jaded. The hardest part really, was scheduling. Especially in the latter half of the semester, I for one, had far less time to actually engage fully with certain things, both due to having other assignments as well as a life to attend to; hence my struggle to make it to a few shoots. Overall, while I certainly preferred working alone, the group work was nowhere near awful, so I feel a bit on the fence in terms of this studio’s collaborative nature.

Conclusively, the studio has broadened my understanding of comedy, revealing its versatility as a mode and form. Our artefact, Rogue, showcases how comedic elements like incongruity and parody can enhance and transform traditional genres like spy films, and, while collaboration presented challenges, it also enriched the creative process, leading to a more nuanced final product. If we had continued working on the film, I’d focus on refining the theories of humour within our artefact that could amplify its impact.

References

Mundy, J. & White, G. (2012), “Comedy and Genre Boundaries.” in Laughing Matters: Understanding Film, Television and Radio Comedy, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 130–148.

Audissino, E. (2023), “From Dionysia to Hollywood: An Introduction to Comedy’s Long (and Bumpy) Road” in Audissino, E. & Wennekes, E. (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema, London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 3–23.

Toplyn, J. (2014), “Parody Sketches” in Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV, New York: Twenty Lane Media, pp. 239–261.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Major Media Artefact | Blog Post #4

Week 10 went pretty well, and we got a lot done. Monday’s class was dedicated to our Work-in-Progress presentations in class. I think my group did well, taking each member of the panel’s feedback and working about how we could add to, fix, or remove certain things. For instance, there was discussion on how we were going to depict the ‘60s in our artefact. We decided to make this element very ‘theatre-y’ which leaned into the comedy more. We didn’t show up to class on Wednesday as we were out filming our first scene. I wasn’t there for the entire shoot due to having another class but did show up a couple hours later and took control of the clapperboard (very fun). Meanwhile, two members of the group were directing as per their role and responsibility, while another two were on camera. We all shared responsibility when setting up cameras, lighting, and audio. We also did some impromptu location scouting. I did have to leave a little bit earlier to catch my train, but I ultimately think this whole process ran as smoothly as possible all things considered. Some things have also come up within my own schedule and won’t be able to join my group for filming on Sunday. We’ve also been talking about making some changes in order to make the filming go even smoother. Overall, week 10 was very productive, and may give us enough time to finish at least a rough-cut by the end of week 11/start of week 12.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Major Media Artefact | Blog Post #3

This week (last week) was focused on script writing and WIP assignment working. This reflection post is late as I was busy over the weekend with Mother’s Day.

I was absent Monday due to illness but worked from home. I worked on writing a “vomit draft”, which was more vomit than draft. In my writing (and I think in the group members’) it became quite apparent that we had an understanding of our start and end points narrative-wise. The start was a first introduction to our central character and some genre conventions. My (secondary) “BOSS” character was quite straightforward, a get-the-job-done kind of boss. Meanwhile my central character, “AGENT WHYTE” was a very self-reliant and organised spy. Other group members wrote a determined Boss, but a more childish or innocent Agent Whyte; a sort of spin on the “rookie cop saves the day!” trope.

The end, meanwhile, was a confrontation of sorts. Another member of the group wrote scene reminiscent of a breakup scene in romance-comedies. Adopting this approach, I shifted through some movies and got to “She’s the Man” with Channing Tatum and Amanda Bynes and utilised the broad structure of a confrontation scene as well as some lines. Upon further review, both online and on Wednesday, we came to more of a consensus and combined elements of each other’s work. This was the collaborative side to this work. Utilising Google Docs’ comment/suggestion feature we were able to infuse the script with more comedy. It was also clear that others had done some work in developing the middle of the narrative, which is in a way, a “road trip” sequence where our central character can experience this new world she’s been put in (i.e. some 60 years in the future).

As for our work in progress assignment, Bradley clarified some questions we had as a group. Though I didn’t actually add much apart from some quotes that could’ve been used to strengthen the presentation. Essentially, we’re using mostly visual comedy and twisting tropes through camera movements, techniques, and editing in order to convey comedy. Additionally, we’re using incongruity and relief to parody and slightly satirise genre cliches to create a genre hybridisation. We may use dolly zoom/Vertigo effect techniques or a western stand-off framing to produce these tropes and bend genre conventions.

Ultimately, I thought it was a rather productive week and brought us much closer to being prepared to film in the next couple weeks.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Major Media Artefact | Blog Post #2

Week 8 was both productive and not at the same time. We began to work on our brainstorm, outline, and vomit draft for our major media artefact. Within the brainstorming phase on Monday, the group listed several possible characteristics of and developed our main character. At first, we were thinking of more of a Mr. Bean-like character who was transported to an unknown world (time). Though, this week we developed into a sci-fi, Umbrella-Academy-like spy character named Agent Whyte. We made strides towards the shape of our narrative as well. It became a story of ultimate betrayal of drama, action, and science fiction; more in the vein of a genre-hybridisation.

These ideas were expanded on, on Wednesday. Due to transport issues, I was unable to attend this class, which put our communication skills to the test (especially considering my limited internet at the time), but we were able to work to the best of our ability, all things considered. Through communications, the group made a more ‘official’ brainstorm and outline our storyline with simple scene headings. We even began working on vomit drafts individually just to see what ideas come out of it. Said drafts were quite different, but we thought it was necessary to have several interpretations to go off. I have also been working on another assignment for another class, so haven’t actually added to my own vomit draft since Wednesday. Apart from in-class work, we’ve been working independently to further develop our ideas. One member of the group has even suggested a potential filming location for that sci-fi-y look.

Overall, while this week did not go exactly as planned for me anyway, the group chugged along and continued developing the concept, character, and storyline. Additionally, we worked on vomit drafts and let the ideas flow. I feel that this puts us in a good position to work on a first draft or at least a few vomit drafts in week 9 in preparation for our Work in Progress presentations in week 10.

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Beyond a Joke, Beyond a Genre | Major Media Artefact | Blog Post #1

(link to) Group Agreement

This week (7) was the first of many weeks focused on our major media artefact (assignment 4). We started on Monday briefly going over the task and formed groups of 4-5/6, going around the room to clarify our own wants in relation to the task to form likeminded groups. For Wednesday’s class, we focused on goals, expectations, communications, and roles and responsibilities.

One member of the group I volunteered to join was to create a narrative around one central character, like Mr. Bean. I liked this idea as I think it will allow us to infuse the artefact with a plethora of plot devices aside from comedy. We quickly assured we were all in an Instagram group chat in order to communicate throughout the next several weeks. Additionally, we bounced off each other’s ideas as a baseline concept. A concept that was developed further in Wednesday’s class. Also in Wednesday’s class, we focused on curating a group agreement (see above) outlining goals, expectations, communication protocols, and roles and responsibilities (which were vaguely decided upon). In which agreement, we thought about what we are aiming to achieve and how to achieve it, including the use of RMIT equipment, playing into strengths and weaknesses, and of course, respect.

As for the concept itself, we all agreed on having a central character that was out of touch with reality, enabling us to comment or critique a social issue or topic (satire). The idea landed on a 17 again or Suddenly 30-esque style. We talked about potentially transporting someone from the 1920s (as dictated by costuming and personality) into the 21st century, which would be achieved through a shift from black and white/sepia to colour (like The Wizard of Oz [with potential to allude to the film]). Furthermore, we discussed how we wanted to be less overtly comedic by including more dramatic themes or plot points. Ultimately however, this idea isn’t finalised and may change in future.

We didn’t have much time to talk about the project aside from the broader premise and were merely throwing ideas around. However, I would personally like to make something that’s (almost too) lively. I think, assuming we go from black and white/sepia to colour, this dichotomy may help us make the artefact more surreal (dream-like–again Wizard of Oz-like), and ultimately advance the satirical approach we’re currently aiming for.

Style/mood inspiration (Wizard of Oz [1939], The Good Place [2016-2020], Hairspray [2007])

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