In this studio, throughout making short media sketches as well as a final work being an experimental video, I developed a further understanding of a list and its potential qualities of being made into something poetic and a contemplative piece of media.
Across making these sketches I noticed a similarity in my media work consisiting of ideas from non linear storytelling through glimpses and it being an interactive device for the audience to also construct the list outside of the author/s intention. Not having continuity in editing creates a “fragmentary nature of the material and the lack of narrative closure are indications of completeness” (Frankham B.L 2013, Pg140) . Having spaces of non continuity between fragments belonging to a list can be intentional from the author in making a media work that evokes thought and questions of how items are related passed onto the audience. This then also makes the audience an active participant in structuring the list based on their own perspectives and logic in response to the lack of closure and information between each item on the list.
With poetic videos and media work being abstract and left to audience interpretation, it can give a list to be built off areas from a micro and macro extent in capturing an idea. An author can construct a list that is micro based which stems from their own persoanl perspective of how they see a set of items, experiences a certain series of events of their own and thoughts provoked by a word or an action to be translated into an audio visual context. In contrast to a list that can be quite personal in presenting an idea, it can also have macro properties that explore the unseen and multiple perspectives which go beyond the individual. With the intention of capturing an idea that shows its complexities, multiple facets can be created where “something immaterial or abstract can become material or concrete, or conversely how something material can become abstract, virtual, or ideational. ” (Miles, 2018, Pg305) In thinking of listed items to have their own type of energy and relations whether it be historical, based on reality or fictional, it can widen the speculative nature of interpretations and extend a list captures which go beyond mundane of the author’s personal experiences and thoughts.
A key concern of the studio that my group’s final project engaged with is by covering the poetic everyday. Originally we thought of making a work that was an experimental new media piece. However, having similarities in our footage being the way we captured affection, it turned into an experimental documentary. By having each group member gather their own media related to affection and combining it in the end, we were able to create an infinite list where reflection from the audience and affection in their own everyday lives can be stemmed off from these videos and voice messages. Also this was my first time learning about how a video can be made through a process based method as a guide to create a media where each media gathered contributes to the overall aesthetic and form that may have not been seen in the initial stages of planning the work. This process can also construct a narrative which in relation to my question of “How can a poetic video creative a narrative?”, I learned through our final assignment it can and go beyond the traditional story narrative I initially thought of. I saw a story to form in our video as st the start I our fragments in video and audio visual present affection from different people in a segmented way but in the ending all these perspective to come together which convey that despite the differences, they all have something in common and are connected letting the audience further contemplate of types of affection they have experienced.
The most successful aspect in my group’s video was the consistent use of poetic techniques being of mosaics and categorical relationships through the use of close ups and layering. These techniques let us visually translate the emotions tied to affection being comfort and warmth with the coloring and composition of shots. Even though in our work these techniques can be seen as chaos and randomness, it also acted as order to since it served as a pattern to intentionally represent multiple perspectives of how we express and receive affection, assisting and supporting our research question.
If I were to continue this piece I would try to make our work less literal as at times in our work the voice messages and sometimes its accompanying visuals makes it obvious that this video is about love languages and the types of affection. This then takes away audience contemplation and creates a media that evokes thoughts and questions. Changes I would make would be having the audio messages to be more vague as to what affection is compared to asking what their love language and to also intersperse the fragments of the affection types as compared to each one being segmented
Comparing and contrasting the obvious and not so obvious meanings of a list is something I learnt about listing as a poetic approach to a media that is of experimental documentary type much like my group’s. At first my initial thoughts of list was always being functional and literal but in this studio I learned how it can also be abstract and subjective and can be obscure, letting the association of each time on the list to have a loose relationship. In the process of creating the final work I began to focus on a “peculiar choice of montage” (Boczkowska, 2017,pg18) as I “developed a heightened awareness of all the changes and rhythms that take place in nature” (Boczkowska, 2017,pg19). I found this helpful in focussing how we see affection in the mundane to bring that human aspect of feeling into our video. Learning how to take detailed notice of a type of feeling throughout this studio whether it be the obvious or abstract observations is an aspect which can help me in my professional career as it can assist me in exploring multiple perspectives and facets beyond the literal to create a work that has properties of human feelings and is also contemplative which creates audience interaction and triggers thoughts for them to create their own perspectives.
References: Frankham, B.L., 2013. Complexity, flux and webs of connection,’ in: (Links to an external site.) A Poetic Approach to Documentary: Discomfort of Form, Rhetorical Strategies and Aesthetic Experience University of Technology Sydney, Sydney. pp. 137-176
Adrian Miles, 2018, “Critical Distance in Documentary Media” pg301 – 319 “https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/96991/files/21322219/download?download_frd=1
Boczkowska, Kornelia, 2017 “Suspended Moments of the Mundane Routine: Testing the Possibilities of Slow Cinema in Sharon Lockhart’s Lunch Break (2008) and Podwórka (2009)” pg 17-33