Link to the Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/lists__infinite/

For this part of the assignment, Kiera and I made an Instagram page where we made short videos each with their own topic which contribute to our chosen collective theme for our infinite list being consumerism. During and after this project as well as in class, I understood an infinite list to be dynamic in always evolving and to continually change and develop. Similar to a gathering and explosive list, an infinite list can be placed with multiple facets and views. However, an infinite list differs in that it can always grow and be added to overtime.

Something I realised after learning about infinite lists is that they exist across online search engines, social media and in the search algorithms of these platforms functioning as records of databases. These databases present infinite lists as they are “organized into hierarchical classes that may inherit properties from classes higher in the chain” (Manovich, 2002, pg218). These hierarchical classes can change overtime based on what is popular, trending topics among users or something new and recently discovered at the time enabling online users and creators to add to the database of infinite lists.

Kiera and I made our videos to be short and utilize cuts and montages of glimpses similar to the fragmented videos on Network Effect to reflect the fast impulsive consumer nature of the modern generation and how it is evolving whether it be its literal meaning of shopping to social media content. In adding hashtags to our videos (mainly using the popular used hashtags) I realised that infinite lists can be explosive in providing many outcomes to reach many users. Also having our videos on Instagram made it possible for people to add their own hashtags to our list in the comment section, making them a contributor to the infinite list.

Resources: Manovich, 2002, “The Language of New Media” pg218 – 243

Links to stock footage used

https://www.pexels.com/video/a-person-slicing-up-the-carrots-by-using-a-knife-5645055/
https://www.pexels.com/video/hands-kitchen-cooking-indoors-4253143/
https://www.pexels.com/video/a-person-sauteing-vegetables-on-a-pan-5452068/
https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-shot-of-a-chef-making-a-sushi-5845753/
https://www.pexels.com/video/boiling-soup-5337023/
https://www.pexels.com/video/mixing-baking-with-flour-and-raw-egg-5495025/
https://www.pexels.com/video/a-person-slicing-a-roasted-turkey-served-in-a-dining-table-3198159/
https://www.pexels.com/video/cheerful-woman-in-a-restaurant-eating-ramens-5708472/

https://www.pexels.com/video/people-train-metal-tunnel-6574230/

https://www.pexels.com/video/fishing-by-the-lake-1633665/https://www.pexels.com/video/couple-paying-at-the-counter-in-the-grocery-4121754/

https://www.pexels.com/video/smartphone-shopping-supermarket-terminal-4121750/

https://www.pexels.com/video/people-walking-by-on-a-sidewalk-854100/

https://www.pexels.com/video/man-looking-at-shoes-5700368/https://www.pexels.com/video/friends-wearing-their-3d-glasses-8262686/

https://www.pexels.com/video/a-bored-man-using-his-cellphone-in-a-cinema-7984179/

https://www.pexels.com/video/using-a-cellphone-while-walking-5977053/

https://www.pexels.com/video/close-up-view-of-a-person-scrolling-through-a-smartphone-6756650/

https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/reading%20a%20book/

https://www.pexels.com/video/hand-bookshop-shopping-book-4860897/https://www.pexels.com/video/crowded-city-center-6025488/
https://www.pexels.com/video/female-hands-holding-a-picture-with-a-message-7563936/

My explosive list video explores the idea of wonder and what cannot be seen with my chosen object being various die in a case. After making this video and taking notes of class content, I developed an understanding of an explosive list to have multiple facets and having speculative open interpretations which describe the complexities of an item or idea making that accessible. 

An explosive list I learnt can be broken down into “multiple simultaneous relations” (Adrian Miles, 2018, pg312) and facets which highlight various interpretations ranging from the most obvious meanings to something that is very abstract. I applied this thinking to my video by utilising the poetic technique of categorising the most obvious meaning of the die rolled and having visuals, sounds resembling the die being built in a factory and shots of a dragon relating the die to its use in the game Dungeons and Dragons. 

I then transitioned into using a mosaic of glimpses to expand on the idea of these die having a lifeform to them and speculating the “relationality between living and nonliving things”. (Adrian Miles, 2018, pg304). In this part of the video I explored anthropomorphism in associating human feelings to an object and thinking beyond their ordinary use. With this in mind I personified the die to create a narrative of the experience of feeling trapped and claustrophobic in their case screaming to get out. The use of glimpses being of close up angles helped convey this claustrophobic tone with the rare use of a wide angle to highlight how trapped the die are. I also experimented with color tones by using blue tones to symbolise that the die are lonely with no one to escape. This contrasted with orange warm tones to convey a happy memory of when the die were free from their case. 

Resources: Adrian Miles, 2018, “Critical Distance in Documentary Media” pg301 – 319 “https://rmit.instructure.com/courses/96991/files/21322219/download?download_frd=1

My gathering lists video is based on my experience of walking home from the bus stop at night and the joy and happiness returning home. Through the readings as well as content and class discussions, I developed an understanding of gathering lists to be a catalogue emphasising details of an experience or the mundane which convey a particular mood or tone to the viewers. Items on this list can be ordered in a way where it reveals a connection. 

An idea I learned in class was the word ontography which involved revealing a set of objects which do not provide clarification and ordering these items or fragments to provide context and attention to how they are connected. I experimented with this idea by having glimpses based on my observations of details in walking home. These shots of them overtime revealed the bus stop to be the main figure to my video and me walking home.

I also learned ontography to be “cataloging  things,  but also drawing  attention to the  couplings of  and chasms between them.” (Bogost Ian, 2012, Pg50). From this idea I categorized similar shots such as the street lights and wind blowing through trees to give further context to how these details are connected and the overall surroundings of what I would experience and only notice. 

Whilst making my video, I aimed for an aesthetic that was dark but ambient at times to convey my experience walking home at night to be scary but not unfamiliar to me. I used warm tones and various colors in lights and objects to symbolise the comfort and experience in familiar details I noticed on the way home. Also to convey moments where it is scary, I used shaky camera movements to accentuate an intense disturbed feeling I feel at particular times. 

Another idea I learnt in class to express the happy feeling I have of returning home from the bus stop and to add tone and a particular mood at times to my video was the use of the Kuleshov Effect. I found faces that looked like they were smiling in figures outside and inside my room. I then used these faces to convey happiness and joy in the close up shots following a previous shot of a bus stop or me walking home from the bus stop. However in peer feedback I received, the viewer found that close-ups of these faces and figures were distracting and took away from the main theme and experience of returning home from the bus stop. 

Resources: Bogost, I. 2012. “Ontography’ in Alien Phenomenology. Or What It’s Like to be a Thing.” University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. pp. 35-59.