Having the opportunity to film at an osteopath clinic was where I was the most aware of ethical concerns whilst making my documentary as well as coming across new considerations I can add to my current charter. One of which was placing emphasis and reminding myself to get informed consent from participants in my film is what I would add to my ethics charter for future projects. This is very similar to what was mentioned in the tutorial slides under the heading “protecting the people we film”. I realised this was an important aspect when I went to go film at the osteopath clinic where patients were being treated in real time. I initially did not think of this until Fontz raised that point and asked the patients if they were okay with being in front of a camera before I started to film her at work. Possible consequences as a result of not getting informed consent is sharing private information about certain injuries or conditions that the patients did not want to share. A way I can get proof of this is by remembering to ensure participants of my documentary complete and fill out consent forms. A point on my ethics charter can also be changed instead from “Not to film people secretly and without their permission“ to “Not to film people secretly without their informed consent“.
Another ethical concern I came across of obtaining footage of patients was having to mute and remove the dialogue from them communicating with Fontz for privacy and personal reasons as that was also brought up whilst I was filming at the clinic. This consideration can be added to my ethics charter and listed as “ask participants if I can use their dialogue from footage taken”.
Like mentioned in the Week 4 tutorial powerpoint slides for this studio, ensuring the participant knows what they are being filmed for is something I did not have on my ethics charter before but in the future would want to add to avoid conflicts and confusion from the participants and their understanding of what they are a part of. This would also let participants of my documentary clearly know and trust that I will not edit footage and audio taken from them to be manipulated in a way that is out of context which is an ethical concern already on my charter.
Being mindful of space and my surroundings when shooting and to not to be in the way of others that I do not intend to include in my documentary during shooting is another consideration I would emphasise and add to my ethics charter where consequences would be being in the way and disturbing the general public. This can especially apply to solo media practitioner work where I have no team or anyone else to warn each other about not obstructing anyone’s way. Even though I did avoid doing this whilst shooting my documentary, I feel like it would be a good reminder in working in wide open spaces like QV where there are people walking by as well as close narrow spaces like the clinic.
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.
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.
This photo collection consists of people using their phone’s on the streets of Melbourne City. With this common theme and pattern, each photo shows different contexts and gives insight to a person’s or peoples lifestyle in a part of their day which can be identified.
The contrast between the highlights and shadows across the photos signify the time of day they were taken at being in the afternoon. Types of people such as those going to university or going home from work or university crowds can be identified in the foreground or background of the main subject on their phone. A lot of these crowds were found on Swanston and Elizabeth Street. Even people in the foreground and background around the main subject can be seen on their phones or holding it. The hunched back shape and action and arm movement of people in the background or foreground holding or using a phone can be seen even if their body is cropped. This collection of photos also highlights quieter areas in the city where people decided to rest and use their phones in the shades of trees and buildings which have minimal compositions in contrast to the ones with action and movement around the main subject.
All photos underwent post-production and had adjustments made, especially in the exposure as I purposely underexposed the images when shooting just to be safe due to the bright sun. As for areas that were covered in shade, I lifted the shadows to better display the main subjects. As for the colours I also adjusted the vibrance and saturation as we were instructed to shoot in a neutral picture profile which was great in then controlling the colours to my liking later on.
As for aspects I would improve on from this assignment, it would be on being cautious and attentive to the amount of head room I give to the subjects and positioning or cropping them better vertically in post-production. Improvements made on this aspect can better centre the subject which was the type of visual consistency I was aiming towards in this assignment.
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.
Nintendo and PlayStation, both companies originally from Japan are giants in the gaming market. Since 1985 of Nintendo’s first console the “Famicom”, Nintendo has a range games and characters iconic to this day. Meanwhile PlayStation’s first console “The Playstation” released later in 1994 saw success in their innovative graphics. Both companies have a many console in their history, accompanied with various advertisement campaigns.
Console history of Nintendo excluding the Game Boy Colour and different versions of the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii https://www.businessinsider.com/nintendo-consoles-ranked-2018-12Console history of PlayStation starting from PlayStation 1 (left) to the Playstation 5 (right) https://www.psu.com/news/history-of-playstation-ps1-ps2-ps3-ps4-and-ps5-launch-prices-specs-and-games/
In a UK advertisement for the Switch titled “When life gives you a moment, grab it with Nintendo Switch.” It presents the console as being the perfect choice in providing entertainment to escape reality during a break in a day.
In the advertisement, there is no presence of Nintendo’s country of origin and instead is customised directly appealing to a western socio demographic to convey the flexibility of the Switch being incorporated into a parent couple’s lifestyle. Initially when the father returns home from work, he sees his wife with a crying baby and a dog barking, then somehow he easily silences them. This can be problematic in stereotyping fathers in a nuclear family as the one going to work supporting the family while the mother stays home caring for the child. The interior of the house, initially in focus blurs with a small depth of field turns into a shallower depth of field when the parents use the console highlighting the Switch’s functional attributes of transporting its players into a space where they are free from their responsibilities. Whilst fighting the in-game boss the father says “I’ve been watching out for the boss the whole day” showcasing Nintendo’s presence in the father’s life outside of work.
interior setting with a slight depth of field in the background
depth of field becomes more shallower when the parents play with the Nintendo Switch
The warm colour grading represents comfort and a sense of security as a guarantee Nintendo will always provide entertainment. It also ties to the personality trait of Nintendo delivering nostalgia through entertainment. Nostalgia in remakes of older games is contributes to brand loyalty where Nintendo heavily profits from targeting people who grew up and have long term relationship with Nintendo. Their UK’s website states their brand has “created franchises that have become household names worldwide”. The advertisement shows parents playing Super Mario World, a game recycled many times. A myth however associated with some re-releases is that even with the improved graphics, it is still the same game to its predecessor with nothing extremely innovative in addition. But due to a high loyalty level in Nintendo’s customers, they will still repurchase products due to an emotional bond in nostalgia which can be shared across generations.
consistent use of warm colours
Nintendo uses a descriptor logo representing the Switch’s physical attributes, a small sign showcasing the experience of holding the product before you buy it. The sounds captured of the Joycons clicking to the console’s body acts as a signifier in the Switch’s detachable controllers and asymmetrical design creating its unique appearance. Nintendo’s brand narrative ”aims to deliver unique, intuitive entertainment experiences for everyone” which the logo represents in Nintendo being the first brand to have a portable and home console together, the major selling point of the Switch.
logo being present an the start and end of the advertisement
Advertisements for PlayStation differ from presenting the console being used like Nintendo. Instead they have a pattern in not showing the physical and functional attributes of their console but instead creating a fictional cinematic video focusing on the personality traits tied to their brand.In PlayStation Japan’s advertisement “We Can Do it”, the key message presented is they can make anything possible with their games and console, aligning to their brand narrative of being the “global leader in interactive and digital entertainment experiences.” found on both PlayStation’s Japan and Australia’s website.
still from the Playstations advertisement campaign “PlayStation | Greatness Awaits”
An obvious sign used in supporting their message is in the advertisement’s slogan and song “We Can Do It” where PlayStation establishes their personality trait of being the best in digital entertainment and claiming anything is possible for them. The slogan is almost like a motivating team chant where in comparison to the Switch advertisement slogan “When life gives you a moment, grab it with Nintendo Switch”, it is more of a suggestion telling the audience what they should do.
While Nintendo’s advertisement had utilised minimal compositions easily outlining the main subjects, PlayStation has a chaotic setting and visuals of fictional characters and supernatural powers shown across shots in crowded compositions. Each shot has inconsistencies in the colour palettes emphasising the disorder and chaos as compared to warm tones used throughout Nintendo’s advertisement.This heightens the absurdity and excitement being the main driver of the advertisement conveying the brand’s personality to be exciting, unique and imaginative. These visuals act as the signified in that their products have a functional attribute of presenting unique worlds and dimensions, enhancing the experience of their console players.
as shown each shot is filled with information and crowded in composition
Despite the advertisement having traces of country of origin in the advertisement’s cast and use of Japanese subtitles catering for a Japanese audience, there is difficulty in identifying the target audience and country of origin in that the advertisement predominantly consists of Western influences in its musical performance entirely in English and madhouse setting of western interior architecture.
Western influences in the interior set design
Nintendo and PlayStation emphasise individuality and innovation in their advertisements as they both have this aspect to their brand narrative of being innovative to the gaming industry. In PlayStation’s advertisement, they leave their physical appearance of their console to the end and focus on capturing connotations related to their brand personality as being fun and imaginative along with chaotic visuals in representing themselves as a “global leader in providing interactive digital entertainment experiences.” where they can make anything possible to excite the viewers. However, Nintendo’s advertisement and brand narrative is better at humanising their product and connecting to people other than gamers in that they strive to appeal to everyone so that they can “create unique entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of people all over the world”. Nintendo’s advertisement has a clear outline on the three dimensions of a brand in that it is able to combine physical attributes of the Switch in its logo and contextualising it with its functional attributes of being versatile and incorporated into the lifestyle of people, showcasing the inclusivity of their products aimed towards anyone, making up their brand personality.
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.
Sydney tyourists waiting outside elbourne Central
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.
From my studio, a piece of work that I engaged with was Elsa and Kai Tong’s experimental video titled Hurt. As described in the synopsis it showcases the emotions of growing up with already experienced injuries prior. This is conveyed through providing the inanimate objects with a facet of being a living thing with items being the mandarin and the egg. Throughout the video with the use of poetic techniques such as close ups, it created a disturbing tone as it focused on how these items get injured and have their shell ripped apart but, at times, also showcased intimate scenes with these items getting repaired. I really enjoyed how Elsa and Kaitong also used split screens to convey the explosive list in how these items can get hurt over and over again as well as how they become temporarily fixed and also contrasting between getting fixed and becoming ripped apart. Towards the later half I thought the change in colour towards purple definitely changed the tone of the video as it enhanced its disturbing tone in the close ups creating a dark type of tone and emphasising the hurt these items experience. Even though not a lot of layering audio was used , it allowed more attention to the visuals which I thought was very effective so the audience can focus on thinking more about how what is shown makes sense to them. The question “Are you still you” ended the video well and in an engaging way where it made me question myself to what I just saw as well as trying to find the similarities with the items being broken but then repaired again.
Another work that I engaged with from my studio was the video titled To Verb made by Jason Jia, Ziyi Ning and Charlotte Duanmu.Throughout To Verb, it took note and showcased mainly through split screen the details in the perspective of the authors as well activities of the mundane with a prompt being a verb . The stock motion in one of the shots was quite clever as it really accentuated the details of the verb being crumpled and its action on the item. The split screen gathered a list of different perspectives to be shown expressing the authors thinking about the verb and their relation to it. Towards the 2nd chapter of the video the camera angle movements became more dynamic and engaging with being accompanied by audio. The sound effects were also successful in enhancing the visuals in creating a disturbing and unpleasant feeling and almost exposing the dark side of what these verbs can do to items. Whilst chapter 1 and 2 had someone saying the verb the audio and visuals were based on, the 3rd chapter removed which was a successful technique in making me contemplate more about the visuals even more with the type of verb they were trying to portray.
For the studio Deconstructing and Reconstructing genre, a video I watched was Spiral made by Annabel Cohen, Sarah Menegon and Courtney Joyce. A key idea to me that this video was trying to convey was of the horror, thriller type of genre where a repetitive cycle and loop of the main character who is living in isolation and by herself . She is also repeatedly shown to be in bed with watching the news reports of a murder which overtime i found out that it was actually her. The dark color tones and the distorted audio varying in pitch highlighted the loneliness the main character is living in but later developed into emphasising and reflecting her evil intentions. With the use of repetition in audio and visual effects and consistent use of colours, it definitely was successful in conveying the endless cycle the murderer is living in and that she does not want to leave it and instead embraces. This is especially shown when she is happily holding a vinyl and a glass of wine as if that is her coping mechanism to not feel guilty in murdering people as compared to the start where she is in blue lighting emphasising her loneliness with her looking sad and hunched over.
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.
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
