Shenel's Mediafactory blog

Reflection Blog 1

One of my most formative experiences in cinema was watching Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in cinemas for the first time at ACMI in 2017. This became one of my favourite but memorable cinema experiences because it was the first-time l had watched the film in full and in the cinema. at that time, l had not been the biggest fan of watching films, l would mostly go when it was a popular film or if a family member wanted to go, which is why l watched Spirited Away in the cinema, and after viewing it my outlook on watching films changed, l began watching more from home and in the cinema, and that way l decided to discover what films l liked and what l didn’t like.

This experience alone definitely had impact on how l would watch films, spirited away being such a detailed and visually stunning film alone made me very interested in how much detail goes into making any film, and it’s not just actors and main characters that should be the focus, it could be background sets, costume designs, the way props and items are displayed in shots to create a sense of meaning to the audience. it also really changed what technology l would use to watch films, l was most likely always watching films from home on my computer or tv, without loud sound, usually keeping movies as a background noise playing whilst l was doing other things. But after having that particular cinema experience, now when l am watching a film, l am always paying full attention to what l am watching, wanting to see and hear everything, and always going to the cinema whenever l get the chance to.

Andre Gaudreault’s book ‘The End of Cinema’ (Gaudreault, 2015:9) states that ‘projection onto a movie screen has become one way among others to consume images – the screen may have a greater aura, but it is just one means of consumption among others.’ This comment in the reading was so interesting to me because of how accurate it was going to the cinema is one of the most popular ways to go watch a new film, but it is not the only way, streaming services are starting to get new films not even a month of its cinema release, which in turn can ruin a cinema experience since it will be available on streaming services not even a month later. When asking people how they consume films most will say cinema at first but after will list numerous technologies and streaming services that those same films can be viewed on.

436 WORDS

Gaudreault, André (2015) The End of Cinema?: A Medium in Crisis in the Digital Age. Columbia University Press, https://doi.org/10.7312/gaud17356.

Formative Encounter Blog

Visiting ACMI was a fun experience since it was the first-time l had gone again since it closed for renovations, there were new exhibitions installed and lots of activities to do. I had gone on my own since l was unable to as a group with the class but even going on my own was still very interesting. I visited the Story of the Moving Image exhibition while also visiting Goddess: Power, Glamour and Rebellion which was great to look at, having costumes from famous films and TV shows. The Moving Exhibition was a great area since it looked at the production and the history of films, video games, costume design, animation, cinema and more. Throughout the exhibition, there were activities that visitors could participate in, such as experimenting with audio and foley work, playing with shadows and lighting, putting a film together and testing shadows and lighting. There’s a range of interactive activities to engage the visitors throughout the exhibition and give them a chance to try something that they might not have done before.

Phantom cinema within this studio is described as having multiple possibilities, from films that were written, planned but never shot – lost films – to the concept of the ‘unseen’ and ‘unmade’; it is the history of cinema. After visiting ACMI, l felt that l had a better understanding of the ‘unseen’ concept of phantom cinema; although the items were from fully finished productions, unused concepts and art from the films were shown. The article ‘Deaths of Cinema’, states that ‘the death of cinema has tended to focus on the introduction of digital technologies and practices of cinematic production, distribution and exhibition’ (Jacobson, 2015:5). Whilst this does make a valid point, the case of this exhibition l would disagree as it utilises digital technologies to create a new experience for its visitors, without its technologies the exhibition wouldn’t be as fun to explore in, in its way it is keeping cinema alive. The history of cinema is shown throughout the exhibition, from its range of films being played – recent and old – to its range of technologies that are used to create these films. Even though l have a somewhat better understanding of what phantom cinema is, l feel that ACMI did not have what phantom cinema is to it comes to its core, the idea of lost films, the unmade. Most of the items displayed were all from finished media, there was nothing about the idea of films that were created but have been destroyed or missing, or films planned to be made but never continued. It would have been interesting to see these concepts within ACMIs and shed light on what is phantom cinema.

450 WORDS

Jacobson BR, Hanson C & Paredes V (2007), ‘’Introduction: Deaths of Cinema’, Spectator, vol. 27: 5-8. https://cinema.usc.edu/archivedassets/096/15647.pdf

Craft can be several different things, its definition is always evolving and changing depending on who is being asked the question. Usually, the widely used definition of craft is using a skill to create something by hand, while this is the foundation for the meaning of craft; there is a lot that can be explored within it.

When we think of something that is made by hand, ceramics might come to mind first, it is created by hand while using materials and requires a large amount of skill to be made. Materials are essential for the final product and just as important for the creative process, but it is how the material is used to create something, such as for ceramics, clay is the main material used and without having the necessary skills for using the clay then the product will not come out as desired. Materials are so important for a craft that most times it will be how the craft is referred to; ‘Concern with the material is so important to craft that the field is categorized and identified by it. For example, major areas of craft, as well as specific craft objects, are identified by materials such as ceramics, glass, fibres, metals, and wood.’ (Risatti. H, 2004). But crafts aren’t just referred to from their materials, they are also named after the technical process of how it is made such as weaving, sewing, and quilting.

That is not the only way craft is explained as, through fine and visual arts, the word craft is given entirely new meanings. Within the field of arts, the craft can be defined as a painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking and more. Art and craft have many similarities, they are both handmade, using necessary materials and skills to create something entirely new, ‘There is no clear boundary between art and craft because indicative and enactive processes can be elicited by a single object.’ (Boden. M, 2000). While they may not be in the same field, arts is still a craft as it requires skill and material for a product to be made, though it may not be as taxing as weaving or making ceramics, it still classifies as being a craft;  ‘Art and craft to take place in different physical areas from one another, describing them as “distinct realms”’ (Black. A & Burisch. N, 2020).

‘Craft is an intimate dialogue with the materials and objects that surround us’ (Black. A & Burisch. N, 2020). Not only is it an intimate dialogue with the materials, but it also speaks to the person making the object. When crafting, the objects along with the materials used become an extension of us.

In conclusion, craft has a much larger definition than what it might be defined as in a dictionary, craft is about having a deeper connection not only with us but with materials and skills that are learned. ‘Craft is a part of daily life and is integrated with a wide range of bodily actions’ (Boden. M, 2000).

Black. Anthea and Nicole. B (2021), The New Politics of the Handmade: Craft, Art and Design, Bloomsbury Visual Arts, London.

Risatti, H (2004), Theory of Craft : Function and Aesthetic Expression, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.

Boden. M (2000), Crafts, Perception, and the Possibilities of the Body, British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol 40, London.

I found this week’s readings about Digital Detox and being distracted by social media to be interesting, as this is something that l do quite often.

The article l resonated with me the most was ‘Digital Detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity’ by Trine Syvertsen and Gunn Enli, describes a digital detox as ‘efforts to take a break from online or digital media for a longer or shorter period, as well as other efforts to restrict the use of smartphones and digital tools’ (Syvertsen, Enli, 2019, pg.1270). I find myself being so distracted by social media then force myself to step away from it by deleting apps and distracting myself with other things only to find myself downloading them only a week later, it’s a constant digital detox. Susanna Paasonen’s ‘Distracted Present, Golden Past?’ also really stuck with me, the article talks about how because of social media (TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, etc) and technologies we have ‘lost a grip on time, memory and focus alike’ (Paasonen, 2020, pg. 12).

I wasn’t in class for the activities this week, but at home l did the activity of putting away my devices and sitting in silence, doing nothing. This was a confronting thing to do because l never realised how dependent l was on my technologies for entertainment, while sitting there l kept thinking of picking up my phone and scrolling through whatever is on there, it was an uncomfortable thing to realise about myself. Relating to Paasonen’s article, it made the reading much easier to understand as l was experiencing and understanding what was being said first-hand.

Syvertsen, T. and Enli, G. (2019) “Digital Detox: Media Resistance and the promise of authenticity,” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26 (5-6), pp. 1269–1283.

Paasonen, S., 2020. Distracted Present, Golden Past?. Media theory, 4 (2), pp.11-32.

This week we looked at how media and nostalgia correlate, while also discussing our reading about new and old media.

To start our class, we were told to create a timeline of when we were born to the current year and list the earliest forms of media we remember using to the most current ones. This exercise gave me a feeling of nostalgia, just discussing what media technologies each of us used brought back a lot of memories that l had forgotten about. Nostalgia played a large part in this class, it forced me to recall memories about when l was younger and brought up things l had forgotten, choosing a specific photo was difficult because there were so many to choose from.

In our assigned reading ‘There are no Old Media’, Natale states that “There is not such a thing as ‘Old Media’” (Natale 2016, p.597). Natale then further talks about how old media does not exist because no matter what form of media it is, it is constantly changing and evolving, “if television is an old medium, the computer should also qualify as one” (Natale, 2016, p.604). Natale then discusses nostalgia in terms of media and technology, “Nostalgia is in this sense a resource to establish an emotional relationship with ‘everyday entitlements’ such as books and other media” (Natale, 2016, p.612); this quote heavily relates to the timeline exercise, growing up with so much media and technology has given us a strong relationship to it at a very young age.

Reference

Natale, Simone 2016, ‘There Are No Old Media’, Journal of Communication, Vol 66 (4): Pg. 585-603

Gallery on iPhone

31st May, 2019

6th July 2019

This photo was taken in Cyprus, it was our last week there and we went on a 2 hour road trip for sightseeing and going to the beach, l was with my mum, sister, cousins, aunties and uncles. I remember the weather being extremely hot that day and it was right in the middle of summer there, l took this photo to have some memories of everyone before l came back to Australia. l forgot about these photos until l looked at them again and it made me feel happy to remember my time there with my family.

This photo has my sister, mum, cousin and aunty while we were sitting at a restaurant.

During the first week of Real-World Media, we were introduced to the prompt “Do we need the digital to be creative?’. We went straight into doing exercises that helped us gain a better understanding of this.

Being given a very brief introduction of what this semester will be was very interesting, from the very start we were told to put all digital devices away and focus on the coloured paper to create origami figures, to follow that we were then told to go outside of class to record then edit a short video. From the very start, we were already getting a brief idea of how we could use digital and non-digital forms to be creative,

Within the weekly reading “The Textility of Making” by Tim Ingold, Paul Klee states that “Form is the end, death” and “Form-giving is life” (1973, Ingold, 2010). When first given the colourful paper, l did not understand why this exercise was being done or how it was relevant to anything we would be doing. After the reading, it started to make some more sense, to create the origami figures the paper had to be folded multiple times, therefore giving its form new life. It gave a new understanding of both the studio prompt and the reading itself. The digital isn’t always needed to give life to a new form of media, it can be done physically just with a simple piece of paper. The exercise of recording and editing videos digitally was a good way of opposing this because it showed the ways we can be creative physically and digitally.

References

Ingold, T (2010), ‘The Textility of Making‘, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 34: 91-102

What media do you use every day? List technologies and platforms, and then that you use them for.

Laptop – use for use for Uni and entertainment at home

Phone – for communication and entertainment

Twitter – news and entertainment

Instagram – entertainment

Google – research

Gmail – communications and updates

Spotify – listening to music

Pinterest – inspiration and art referencing

YouTube – entertainment and sometimes education purposes

Messenger – communication with family and friends

TikTok – entertainment

Sketchbook – drawing *

Nintendo Switch – playing games

Wacom Cintiq – making digital art

Put a star next to any media that is offline/real world.

Sketchbook – drawing *

Choose three of these and do some basic research into these

Spotify – Is an audio streaming service founded in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. At the moment it is one of the biggest music streaming services with over 480 million active users monthly, as of December 2022.

Instagram – Is a photo and video sharing social networking service currently owned by an American company called Meta Platforms; Prior to this, it was originally created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and released as an iOS app in 2010. Posts can be shared privately with followers or publicly with other users on the app; users can also like, share, view trending content and follow each other.

Twitter – Is an online social networking service, founded by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams in San Francisco in 2006. Users can send our public or private tweets to their followers depending on their account, like and retweet content being shared and direct message (DM) other users on the website. It currently has 368 million users and is one of the biggest social media spaces at the moment.

For companies, who manufactures the product? Where are they manufactured? What are the manufactures interests? What profits do they make? Do they have any philanthropic endeavours?

Which of these technologies or platforms measures/quantifies/records data? What kind of data?

Spotify, Twitter and Instagram all collect data on their platforms for some similar reasons. Spotify uses and collects data to understand what issues are happening on their service and they use that data to fix issues; but they also collect personal data such as email addresses, postcodes, countries, birthdays, songs that are listened to and playlists that are created.

Twitter collects information that is provided to the website such as usernames, phone numbers, dates of birth and real names; while being active on the app the data recorded is content that is posted by you or others, interactions with content, direct messages and device information; such as browser type, internet connection, device settings, language, history, battery level and apps installed on the device.

Similar to Twitter, Instagram collects personal information that is shared to the platform but they also collect data such as usage of the platform, purchases, information other users provide about you, information about the device used, time zones, cookie data and much more.

Apart from your uses, do the media have any other affordances?

Is there a hierarchy of your media? E.g., do you need to have the phone to use WhatsApp?