My goal for my final assignment is to make a documentary that I am proud of that showcases my friend’s passion for breaking/break dancing as well as being a working Osteopath which I can put on my folio or potential website. I want my documentary to be motivational in showcasing that with hard work and persistence your goals can be achieved. From this final assignment I also hope to get better at sound design and using a variety of textures where possible and suitable in conveying an emotion as I feel like that is my weakness in video production. 

For this week’s activity I watched Senna (2010) directed by Asif Kapadia which is a documentary about Senna’s career as a Formula 1 Driver from racing karts to winning world championships. Throughout Senna’s career, the documentary showcases his highs and lows which then ends in his death on the race track. 

Textures in rhythm of events contrasting challenging and successful events in Senna’s career stood out to me in this film. There are patterns to where Senna was not doing so well such as accidents he has experienced on the race track to controversy in his career as there was a press conference discussing if Senna was cheating as he used the escape routes in a race. It then moves  to scenes after showing  Senna winning races, celebrating and having the media press surround him for his fame. 

The main use of close ups and medium close ups of Senna were used which matched to the feeling of being in the perspective of Senna racing his car. For someone who does not know much about Formula 1 Racing such as myself, the predominant use of these shots really helped convey Senna’s passion and seriousness for racing.  

From watching Senna, I saw how even though his talent and hard work for racing changed his life, the documentary shows Senna’s authenticity in what he values in racing, especially shown in the end interview clip of him talking about a precious memory of his past. This can be applied to my documentary as a reflection upon what was valued in the past and nostalgia can show the perspective of how Fauntine (the osteopath and bgirl) sees breaking and similarities from when she first started out to now. I also learned that from watching the documentary how conflicts and challenges Senna faced could foreshadow and lead up to a greater consequence and the inevitable in a high risk activity like racing. This can build up to the greater challenges of injuries or life events that have disabled Fauntine to not dance for a while to then showing how she overcame these problems and made it a positive.

Link to video: https://vimeo.com/693107301

My observational film shot at Melbourne’s State Library focuses on birds with the people of Melbourne, statues, structure and surrounding environment in the mundane. It also shows how the interaction with these birds can be passive or interactive which is incorporated into the lifestyle of Melbournians either passing by or spending time at the library.   

Even in a post pandemic society where there were periods of time and lockdowns where the city was very quiet, my film shows how birds still loiter the library. In two of the shots, someone sitting down on the phone is not wearing a facemask and then focus pulls to another person with a clipboard who is wearing a respirator type of face mask which can be seen to be as more serious and conscious of the virus compared to the basic cloth mask. These birds which still stay around the State Library may have also recognised these changes. 

My shots also display the communities of birds in their resting spot being in the tree branches as well as how they flock together when they see someone with food. These birds accumulate and fill the frame overtime progressively to show them waiting to be fed. I slowed down these shots to capture and outline their movements and actions, anticipating the direction in where the man would throw the food so that they can get fed first. 

The birds flocking together also contrasts with them by themselves and alone walking around the library as shown in the last shot where it is an opposite setting to the shot before where there are more people in the birds presence. However the bird is so accustomed to this environment that it is normal and is not scared to walk alongside or past them. In the last shot where people sit outside and between the pillars at an entry to the State Library, it shows that even for Melbournians or people who have lived a long time in Melbourne are used to the presence of birds and are not scared or shocked to see them in a close proximity.  

 

A COLLECTION OF LIKE OBJECTS – “Melbournians and their phones”

 

This photo collection consists of people using their phone’s on the streets of Melbourne City. Despite this common theme and similarity, each photo displays different contexts and gives insight to their lifestyle or a part of their day.  

In one of the photos I captured a mother talking on her phone whilst carrying her children. This stood out to me as she herself has her hands very full with not just talking on the phone but also pushing the pram with her child inside as well as carrying her child strapped to the front. Many bags from the one she is carrying to the ones inside and hanging off the pram indicate the amount of preparation a mother has to do and be well aware of to know what to bring when going out with young children. The mother’s attentiveness and caring instinct is displayed for her child in the pram by pulling down the shade to protect the child from the harsh afternoon sun.  

In the far background at the end of the alleyway there are cars going away from the city as they are done with their work for the day. Even to the side in a bar, a head can be seen which may convey this is the time for an after work drink for that person. However, for a parent taking care of young children, their work is not done as they have to take care of their child and be very skilled at multitasking in between.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time in a while I noticed actions, events and little moments that would not have happened a few months ago. One of which was seeing tourists waiting outside Melbourne Central. My initial instinct was to play it safe and photograph from a distance without getting their attention. However, for the purpose of this assignment I had to not worry about what others thought and muster up the courage to ask them for permission to do so for this assignment. Fortunately they were all okay and enthusiastic about being photographed in the end journey of their Melbourne stay. 

As I approached them and asked for a photo all three started to put their phones away and orient themselves towards my camera whilst straightening their backs.  But to their surprise, I asked them to continue looking at their phones searching for their Uber to capture this moment I initially saw from afar. After taking their photos I was curious to ask where they were from. One of them was confused when I spoke to them in English and so I had a hunch they were international tourists and I was correct, sort of. One of them told me they were all from Chile but moved to Sydney five years ago and said that they felt like living in Chile, South America at that time was not the best and moving to Sydney provided them a better life and was a lot better for them. Afterwards this made me start to think and be grateful of how lucky I am to live in Australia and not to take for granted the life I have in this country. 

Moving onto my next subject for the afternoon, I found a student sitting cross legged waiting for the tram. I approached asking permission to photograph him for my assignment. The student did not adjust his posture or direct his body to the camera and instead waited in confusion for my instructions. Luckily, all I directed him to do was to keep using his phone candidly as to how he would pass time waiting for the tram in the exact same way I saw when crossing the road. I then asked questions of his thoughts about how returning to school in person was like to get that perspective from someone in primary or secondary education. He did not really go into the specifics of what he likes about going to school in person other than he “had enough staying at home.” the typical answer and nothing new which I completely get and understand. It was obvious that as I was asking the student questions to get out some sort of story, he was eager to get back on his phone and finish up talking to a stranger. 

 

Afterwards, I was waiting at a traffic light with no idea where to walk next. However, what came to my attention was a businessman using his phone pressing a traffic light button. This moment stood out to me as it showcases that regardless before or after a pandemic, people are still cautious and wary of surfaces that are high in germs and bacteria. To me this contrasts with the previous photo I took of the student sitting cross legged on a city street and not too worried about factors like what is dirty in his surroundings that he comes into contact with.

Walking back to RMIT feeling good with the progress I made with the photos I spotted someone talking on the phone sitting at the back of a moving truck. Seeing how good the square shape of the truck fitted with the window frames behind caught my eye in its uniformity and consistency. Knowing that I would get spotted and she would move away in response, I hurriedly aligned my camera in the composition I envisioned and immediately took my photos, the last of which in my collection for this assignment.  

 

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