Category Archives: week 8

Wk 8 Workshop

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Listening to the audio essay from radiolab was a new experience it felt different from a straightforward podcast I’d normally listen to. Many audio devices were placed in the piece which got me thinking about creative ways we can implement these in our own work. Momentum was maintained by the constant overlapping of voices of the hosts and guests. The hosts played many parts: introducing experts, interjecting their own thoughts in anecdotes, providing comedic relief and even acting as a voice for the audience in questioning experts for us. 
Music was used in a very practical way to establish time. When we were hearing information from long ago there was vintage music for example the 40’s vs the 70’s.
Sound effects I also found engaging were the dolphin calls, cats purring brain waves. The brain waves converted into sound made visualise the undulating and sometimes erratic electric activity in the brain.
This audio essay had a complex array of sound textures.
I’ve realised that it is important to choose a topic or a style of portraying a topic where sound can be effectively used to prove a point or paint a picture.

PB4 group work meeting #1

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Our first meeting went smoothly however we decided that we need more time for each one in the future. Focussing on the idea of how different companies create entertainment for the public with an institutionalised mindset was difficult because of the vagueness of the topic. After much discussion we realised that kpop and MTV have strong and starkly different ideals for how to reel in fans

The purest idea of an “Idol” encapsulates the south Korean pop culture mindset.

We discussed the repercussions of scandal when these idols are exposed in comparison to MTV stars who thrive off debauchery. MTV seems to host shows that make the general public feel better about themselves while the kpop scene creates idealistic models of pop culture to look up to.

It seemed like our conversation had gone a bit off track until Rachel reminded us of our brief: INSTITUTIONS. I do however think that the “star factory” process of creating a desired and perfected product. Kids are taken an train for years to become kpop stars and some never even debut.

As for MTV the use of youths for our entertainment is not unfamiliar. Shows like “16 and Pregnant” star girls facing the struggles of motherhood, their dramas becoming our whimsical amusement.

wk 7 feedback

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I’ve always had a terrible fear of showing my work because unless its “perfect” the thought of anyone seeing it is too cringeworthy. And my work is never perfect so of course viewing our PB3 portraits in class was a challenge. The class was so friendly and accepting of the great work we saw I started to feel a lot better as we went down the roll all the way to “v.”

After getting into groups I received some great feedback that I will use to improve my next project

Since I dealt with a sensitive and controversial topic to some, it was suggested that I should tone down my portrayal of Charlotte as a raging gay. I decided not to because I felt that it is an essential part of who she is. I suppose I could next time find a way to not seem like I am criticising others (ilke Christian youth groups). In retrospect I should have asked Charlotte to emphasise that it was just the one incident. It was also mentioned that I should have used more stock footage as I was meant to have at least 30%.

The others appreciated my choice of colour using orange in most of the frames. I managed to somewhat create a sense of unity within the short film by keeping the colour pallet similar in each frame. They enjoyed my use of different music to change the moods during the film.

In reflection:

Personally next time I would cut out some of Charlotte’s responses so I have more room for relevant questions. I would also cut down the audio intro at the beginning (with all the news reports and speeches so I can have more of Charlotte’s voices. I thought the over laying of voices was done to a satisfactory level but I hope to make it smoother and more natural next time. Making this made me realise the difficulty in balancing the magic of spontaneity and organisation. I did have a rough storyboard but that got discarded pretty quickly. Next time I’m going to storyboard after I film. Maybe I will organise all the shots by naming them on sticky notes then arrange them on my wall like in Mistaken for Strangers (2013) directed by Tom Berninger. Another thing with organisation is placing the footage into folders. I should have done that as I was adding them after each shoot.