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This week, our group was assigned the task of researching our topics and documenting this process in the form of an annotated bibliography. The concept of an annotated bibliography was an entirely novel concept to me, however I located 5 different sources (primarily academic documents) to analyse all broadly relating back to our topic of digital media and the creation of narratives.

What has been done ?
So far our group has narrowed our topic of focus down on mediums to exploring the concept of digital portable media and the construction of narratives. We have also conducted research onto our topic, summarising and analysing in our initial annotated bibliographies. We have also created brainstorm maps to compliment our discussion and findings so far.

What needs to be done ?

Short Term Tasks:
By next week we need to find a few examples of successful digital narratives that we might be able to analyse further. We also need to develop a running order of our presentation (likely to be filmed). Need also to read one another’s respective annotated bibliographies. So we can have an understanding of areas each other has focused on.

Long Term Tasks:
I imagine we will need to organise times to arrange hire and pick of equipment. Gathering what we have researched into a script format and arraigning who will read what.

Roles assigned:
Not too many so far. We have both conducted individual research and are completing similar tasks. Will delegate further by end of week.

What’s worked well ?
Level of research. Listening to one another’s ideas and appreciating each other’s work. So far it’s been a positive experience working with my partner.

What could be improved ?
Some feed back we received from our tutor is that our ideas so far is that our topic might still be broad a focus.

Wk 10 Lectorial
This week’s lecture focused on the audience. Granted that as media practioners we are constantly drilled with idea of “considering the audience” when devising media products it was important for us to break down several terms and move beyond a shallow division of audiences into “passive” or “active” groups.

Referring to history, the 1980s saw the feminist influence of analysing texts. Madonna was influential in constructing and reconstructing ideas about this. Focusing on (1991) film Simple Men there existed a problem raised of only people of privilege analysing media, this conflicted with audiences who were young teenage girls, unlike the predominantly white older males conducting research into the nature and extent of the media’s influence.

The lectorial also acknowledge the stakeholders who share an interest in audiences.
These included:
Advertisers

Comm. broadcasters

Production houses & individual program makers

Govt. Policy makers

Social scientists/psychologist

Cultural theorists / media scholars

The digitalisation of technology imagines the audience differently.
The Media Effects Theory is drawn to the idea that “Real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies”. We looked at the case of Adorno and Horkheimer, who saw the mobilisation of the country for war by hitler’s propaganda. When they went to Hollywood they noticed similar effects, the believed that media suppresses political dissent. The same was thought by R. Williams who explores the idea of “mass culture” and “mass audiences.” However, “there are infact no masses; there are only ways of seeing people as masses”

The term “Taste” relates to identity, we can express our taste(s), what we like to watch. Sets up distinction between you and others that don’t share that taste.
social distinctions ads maintained and identities forged.

When looking at the concept of Fandoms, here I considered my own reception of media texts. Particularly TVs hows that are easy to become so attached to. I recalled media that I had deep interests in over the years and found that my own behaviour, admittedly whilst not as extreme was not too dissimilar from the Fans stereotyped as culturally obsessive, freakish, hysterical and regressive social subjects” I would argue that the fandom in modern times has been embraced and as a result not seen as odd. In a general observation of social media platform Tumblr there a literally 100s of blogs devoted to “Fandoms” who take on their own indentities including so called ‘Whovians’, ‘Superwholocks’ a convergent breed of fan who share multiple tastes in Television shows (Supernatural,Dr.Who, Sherlock). I would also consider the idea that these forums enable discussion of the shows with heavy analysis of their content encouraging these behaviours. I would not doubt that these forums are watched by producers and writers of shows either, allowing for audiences to directly interact and influence with the persuasion of the Television narrative. This forming an unofficial “ratings system” not too dissimilar in result from the OzTam system employed for commercial television. This supports the idea that fan modes of engagement have indeed become more normalised and that the perceived boundaries between the producer and consumer are consistently blurred.

Incidentally, as I type this a group of teenage boys on the train are enthusiastically debating over which video game Call of Duty series is their favourite. Within this discussion. I observe the fans analysing features of the game and it’s form making several suggestions regarding changes and developments the makers of the game should make.

The reading this week complimented the idea of reimagining conventional ideas regarding audiences. Audiences are no longer reduced to viewers or listeners. Audiences also merge into the category of producers. This has been enabled by the ease of accessibility of content production. For example audio service “SoundCloud” has allowed local producers to stream their soundscapes online.

READINGS
Defining a the notion of “cult”, the article refers to the (now classic) Casablanca. This film is referred to as an artefact that embodies how audiences typically might react to a piece of cinema that might not be elaborately ‘decorated’ or considered a masterpiece of its cinematic elements, however it becomes well known and loved by its audiences.

The reading introduces the idea of “frames” and “magic” that work to build this model of cult cinema. Frames referring to recognisable textual conventions that encompass typical situations, events, and actions informed by previous viewing. The latter acknowledges females which appear, separated from the “whole”. This idea informs myself and my peers of the way our current works might be informed by media texts we consume in our leisure time or whilst studying.

The idea that cult texts need not be perfect or constructed to exact detail (as with Hamlet being the result of other versions and Casablanca appearing inconsistent with character types) adds to their appeal to audiences who appreciate that elements of narrative can be deconstructed.

LECTORIAL
The lectorial centered around the idea of what narrative is, how narrative is constructed and presented. I was drawn to the idea that “Story is a way of structuring existence” as it amplifies aspects of life not just entertain us. As Dan said “Everything is story. Story is everything”
and is therefore a way of conveying the human experience. To work, narratives rely on causality which is a process of cause & effect and a logical progression.

During this lectorial I spotted an acrostic to remember three elements of narrative, CPR:
Character, plot & resolution
C Need to present situations to which character can react. How does character operate ?
P Plot is the chronological sequence of a narrative. It involves Person –> action –> person to whom it is directed (not always needed).
R Resolution “the stuff of story is alive but intangible ” – Robert McKee

I also learnt about:
Aristotle, who first critiqued literature through Greek tragedy and comedy and, Joseph Campbel who developed the notion of the hero’s journey.Heroes are not only evident in pop culture, but also in religion (prophet of Muhammad, Buddah
Overcoming the monster) who have a the quest, rebirth, voyage & return.

Additionally, narratives also consist of:

Tropes and conventions…
Which aid to identify genre and set up recurring set of patterns within texts.
Craft narrative representations which set up expectations.
Subversion is a process which defies expectations of what audiences are used to seeing. When conventions are altered we are challenged as an audience.
Adaptions – convert mediums.
The example of Red Riding Hood Cartoon demonstrated a traditional story that had been converted for the purposes of humor. The caricature was made humorous most likely due to our own familiarity with the story of Red Riding Hood.

The lecture also raised the idea of “Non narrative”, is there such a thing ? Does every film, lit, media tell a story ? The Andy Warhol clips and short film “We Have Decided Not To Die”
challenged us with the idea.

As the ideas surrounding narrative form were debunked. My mind thought of films which fit this altered medium. In my cinema studies class we have viewed and analysed several experimental films including Playtime. 

Another experimental film that definitely challenged me as an audience member is Samsara. This film is classified as an “experimental non-narrative” as it lacks dialogue and entirely focuses on visual landscaped of barely touched parts of countries. With the term “non-narrartive” in mind, I thought back to Dan’ s argument that their is no such thing as “non-narrative”. I then thought how this concept might apply to something like Samsara … it did tell a story, just not  a conventional one. It told me about nature and how beautiful it can remain if it is untouched by humans. It conveyed spirituality of the Hindu and Bhuddist traditions emphasised by ghostly and an uplifting soundtrack. Visually striking, it did not need “conventions” such as dialogue and plot-line to mould a narrative.

TUTE
In this week’s tute I was introduced (and others, reacquainted) with the concept of an annotated bibliography. My assignment partner and myself have narrowed down our topic of focus on mediums, to investigate Television that is made for digital portable media (tablets and smartphones). Following the areas I have gathered to research are:

Dee chose to represent her (super talented) older sister, Durratun Nashihin. I really appreciated the storytelling element through VoiceOver narrating over family kept photos.

I enjoyed that as the viewer I could literally see her transition from a young girl passionate about her sport and eventually achieving great success as the 2006 Olympics.

Some feedback: I would have liked to have seen some video added to your piece gymnastics is a beautiful sport ! I thought the piano backing track worked really well. It was simple and did not distract too much from your sister’s narration, speaking of which I felt this convention was most effective in communicating her interesting story

 

Well done Dee !

A reflection based on the prescribed readings for week 5
1. Keith Sawyer, 2007, Group Genius: The creative power of collaboration, New York: Basic Books, 2007, pp.39-57.
2. Jean Tabaka, 2006, ‘What are collaborative teams?’ Collaboration explained: Facilitation skills for software project leaders, Upper Saddle River, NJ : Addison-Wesley, pp.23-43.
3.Adam Hyde, Mike Linksvayer et al, 2012, ‘What is Collaboration Anyway?’ in The Social Media Reader, Ed. Michael Mandiberg, NYU Press

Communication is a device that allows for collaboration to be possible.
Importantly, the distinction is made between “sharing” and “collaboration”. Whilst as media practioners we may use platforms such as blogs to upload our content it does not instantly allow for others to contribute to the original work. So although we put work up there for everyone to see it remains idle unless others are able to do something else with it. The function of an “attribution” is a process whereby a media maker (like ourselves) is allowed to appropriate work under creative commons licenses by correctly attributing, that is giving credit to the orgignal author where it is necessary.

The term “collaboration” can be interpreted several different ways and sometimes that can cause conflict over who owns or has contributed to a piece of work. As it it readjusted, its original intent can become manipulated or used in away not orginally intended by the creator. To avoid this potential problem arising, the reading discusses “criteria for collaboration” in terms of “size, speed, space, and scope”.

Another, more positive aspect of working in collaboaration is “Teamwork”. When effective it allows for multiple viewpoints and opinions to converge in order to reach objectives and add additional dimensions to work.