In this weeks Film TV-1 lecture the content covered was somewhat useful and relevant to our group projects. Being shown how to block out a scene and use a dolly was helpful as on the day of our shoots we will need to know this kind of information and skill. The dolly was really interesting as I have never really seen one be used first hand, and it was surprising to me to see how long it actually takes to set up and conduct, and how many people it actually requires to get the shot. The blocking out of a scene, going through the steps and making sure the camera movement, focus and frame are all appropriate, is definitely something that is very relevant to our film shoots and just good to add to our knowledge base of filmmaking. The main thing I took from this weeks lecture was the explanation about the focus and focus pulling during a shot. Before this, I had no idea there was such thing as a focus puller, and I feel like after being taught this, our project will benefit as we now know how to accomplish a focus pull.
Reading week 8
This weeks reading informed me on the different ways documentary film relates and interacts with its viewer/audience when lists and categories are used. Here are some quotes/statements front the reading that I found fascinating and/or helpful:
‘Certain documentary projects use non-narrative form as a way to prompt dialogue between the spectator and the work. ‘ p. 137
‘As Kate Nash describes the form, particularly in relation to webdocs: “the temporal ordering of elements is less important than the comparisons and associations the user is invited to make between the documentary’s elements” (2012, p. 205).’
‘For Bordwell and Thompson: [a]ssociational formal systems suggest ideas and expressive qualities by grouping images that may not have any immediate logical connection. But the very fact that the images and sounds are juxtaposed prods us to look for some connection — an association that binds them together. (2008, p. 363)’
‘In associational form relationships are created through conceptual alignment, emotional impact, visual similarities and territories of gesture. A poetic application of associational form creates relationships between elements that are more often felt than thought.’ P. 139
‘Often structured around unifying themes or existing categories and classifications, the list can also inspire thought that follows the structure of memory, impulse and flashes of association.’ P. 141
‘It is an emergent structure that is only revealed as users work their way through a site, exploring originating material, user generated content and perhaps adding their own contributions.’ P. 142
Korsakow and Screenwriters
I was on google just now, doing some further research into Korsakow and multilinear films, and I came across this site where someone has made a post on Korsakow:
So, an interesting new medium for Screenwriters (and: Filmmakers) is: the K-Film, (or: Korsakow Film.)
Korsakow is a free application, invented and developed by academics, whereby – you can create a multi-linear interactive online film, that plays in a web browser.
The multi-linear nature of the K-Film medium itself (whereby, the Viewer chooses the path they navigate through the film) creates many fascinating (and: rewarding) challenges for a screenwriter.
(It also has much in common with: Game Writing and Design). [http://screenwritingresearch.com/forums/topic/on-multi-linear-online-interactive-films-or-k-films/]
The last sentence of this post prompted me to start thinking about the way that Korsakow and a screenwriter can interact. I imagine it would for sure be quite difficult for a screenwriter to plan and fully achieve a K-film the way they want. The planning and screenwriting can be done well, however, once exported as a Korsakow film the ideas and visions of the screenwriter can be quickly disregarded, as the audience is in control of what they watch and the order they watch it in. As discussed in many of the lectures so far, intended meanings by the creator or writer of pretty much any project are not always guaranteed to be received by the viewers in the same way they are sent out. Audiences take their own personal views and values into interpreting content, with this being a major factor in the way K-films are received. They can be watched in an order of the viewers choice, and therefore the viewer has final say over the way they take in the film and what exactly they believe it is trying to say – leaving the task of screenwriting for Korsakow to possibly be a difficult one.
Korsakow Major Group Project – Personal Idea!
As music is a hugely influential and majorly important part of my life, I would really love to make a Korsakow documentary film based around music. Something to do with rhythm and pace and movement, with the main contention being based around what music means to various different people.
I feel like this could be done well on Korsakow, each video clip interlaying between people talking about music and why they love it etc, people playing musical instruments, and people listening to music via headphones. I feel ike this could work out to be a powerful non linear film, showing the audience how big a part music does play in our everyday lives.
Symposium Week 8
Yeah so, I’m sadly running out of motivation to write these blog posts, I am trying though… I haven’t written a post about any of the symposiums thus far in this course, so I thought I’d post here my notes from todays lecture. There’s not many, but here are the main things I found interesting or important from todays discussion 
. Set of rules and constraints are good in creativity – get things done!
. Our clips mean things, not in themselves, but in the relations in Korsakow.
. Hard to narrate a multilinear sequence of footage
. Intend doesn’t always get across. – No guarantee your audience will think of or interpret your work the way you plan for them too.
. K-Films are good at expressing relationships – without having to include a hierarchy of importance.
. As soon as you categorize a piece of work, audiences will bring their own values and speculations along for the ride.
Soooo….
Hi. I’m back. I’ve been a bit absent for the past week and I apologise! I went up to Sydney during week 7 and attended The Voice Australia Showdowns filming four days in a row. I love going up there and watching how the show is made, I feel like I learn a lot just by observing the crew. So yeah, I was away and haven’t really been on here. But I’m back and ready for week 8! After this long weekend, learning all commence once again.
Truth.
*This statement makes me think of uni and all the people we meet at it everyday. It’s important for us to make friends and network in this media course and furthermore in this media industry. So surround yourself with people who make your work fun, engaging, and doable. Do surround yourself with people who are going to lift you higher.
Thoughts on the topic of Integrated Media
I know that the practical side of this course has so far been engaging with video material, but the whole concept of ‘Integrated Media’ is far broader, as discussed in the lectures weekly. This image is the basic representation of what Integrated Media actually means and how it affects and plays a major role in today’s society.The merging of traditional media and new media has and still continues to create a much smaller world, where everyone is connected by both small and large digital devices. Platforms such as twitter and Facebook enable people worldwide to share and interact with information, images, videos and conversations, in a way that was never possible before such media and the internet. Integrated Media is a huge part of our everyday lives these days, and I’m not sure how the world would survive without it.
Week 6 Reading!
Reading by Matt Soar.
“I think what the web offers is an opportunity to examine and understand very small everyday details of our lives.” – Cat Kizek, the NFB’s filmmaker in residence has stated. This quote from the reading got me thinking about Korsakow and the sketch tasks we have been completing weekly for this course. I agree with the statement, and think that it rings true not only in film, or more so documentary film, but in all aspects of the world wide web. I know that this reading is majorly about Korsakow and documentary filmmaking with such a program, but I really want to try and expand on this idea that the internet allows us to ‘examine’ the smallest details form our everyday lives. With documentaries like the sketch films we have been working on, it is for sure apparent that this is the case. Speaking form personal work, my sketch film is a good example of this, as it is a non linear documentary that is mostly portraying very small aspects of my life.
However, it is not only documentaries like Korsakow films that offer this opportunity to share and understand details of our everyday lives, it is all networking and social media available to us on the internet at provide this opportunity too. Places such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine etc all provide a space to share bits and pieces of our daily lives with the rest of the world, or the small portion of the rest of the word that actually look at our posts. There is not one day that goes by that I don’t see at least one post on instagram of someone’s breakfast, lunch or dinner – and this is just one example of how these sites and apps allow us to share small details.
So although this weeks reading was all about Korsakow, I feel like for me, the biggest take away point is that the internet plays a huge role in providing the world with a platform to document and share their small scale, and also big scale, daily moments and details. It prompted me to think more about how this individual sharing of information and facts and images and text all combine to make mini documentaries each day, where people all over the world become interactive documentary makers of their own happenings.
Korsakow Sketch Film
Here’s the link to my Sketch Film
It’s a combination of my sketch tasks form week 2 to week 5, and when putting it together it became apparent that many of my videos shared a relation with me and my life. So that’s what this sketch film is basically trying to portray – small things about my life.
http://www.themediastudents.net/im1/2014/Shannen.Carlton/SketchFilm1.html