Media – Page 3 – Reflections Off a Mirror

Category: Media (page 3 of 6)

Genre – Week #11

May 19, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

The word genre is used across many art forms. Music, mainstream art, architecture, books, and of course, film. It is used conveniently to label and categorize films according to their content and the kind of film experience it brings to the layman. But, being a cinema studies student, we have to look further than just layman terms.

This week, we cover different types of film genres and the scholarly meaning behind the word ‘genre’ in film. A genre has comes with a set of “rules” or like how Boredwell and Thompson mentioned in the readings, a certain convention that are attached to the genre. Filmmakers use this conventions in order to stay true to the genre and sometimes even bend the rules to explore to new boundaries and create new conventions for future filmmakers who may want to attempt to make a film in that particular genre.

Genres provide a general classification for viewers to pick and filter the kinds of film they might want to watch. For example, one may not appreciate the thrills and terrifying experience a horror film might present and therefore choose to avoid watching films from the horror genre, or one might enjoy the excitement of being in suspension of disbelief in a fantasy film. Genres give a very brief summary of what a film might turn out to be, with the exception of cross genres.

Boredwell and Thompson gives an example of 4 genres, Western, Horror, Musicals, and Sports. These 4 are very much different from one another in terms of how would you classify a film to its genre. Take the Western genre for example, we picture the set to be taken place at a dessert with horses, carriages, tumble weeds and so on. These are known to be the iconography of the film. A series of symbolic images recurring in various films in the same genre. Horror would be the experience it brings to the viewer, where filmmakers pursue to evoke certain emotions from the viewer, mainly terror and shock, hence developing the experience before presenting the true monster. In musical, the use of songs and dances are the main factors that makes a film in the musical genre. However, musicals are usually tagged along with romance and drama, a musical alone may not be a strong enough idea in terms of narrative is concern, unless the film is about a musical itself. And for sports films, there is a certain narrative structure or theme to most sports film, where the underdog would work and strive to take on major tournaments or win over a rivalry. Generally would make the viewers lean towards and support a certain team or character, usually the protagonist, in the film.

Golden Opportunity for The Golden Hour – Week #11

May 18, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

In my earlier entries, I believe I mentioned about my final assessment for one of my electives, Photography 101. We were assigned to construct a final body of work of any theme of our choice and I picked to shoot my photos in the Golden Hour.

In photography as well as filmmaking, the Golden Hour is known as when the sun is about to rise or set to create a very warm and gold-ish hue over the landscape and subjects you plan to shoot, hence the name “Golden Hour”.

For the past few days, maybe weeks, the weather has not been on my side. Cloud cover, over cast, grey skies, strong winds, and stormy weather has been forecasted and pretty much came not proving the weathermen wrong. Therefore, it was a challenge shooting the golden hour when there wasn’t any to begin with. To make things interesting, we had to present our shots in this week’s Photography 101 workshop and trim it down to 8-10 photos to submit as our final body of work. So every opportunity I get with the sun peeping through the clouds would be a golden opportunity to shoot some pictures. I’d run out with my camera and start shooting away for certain limit of time before the sun sets or runs back behind the clouds till God knows how long before I can see it again.

Here are some of the golden hour pictures taken when I had the golden opportunity.

Net Warrior Taken To Justice? – Week #10

May 14, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/blogger-amos-yee-arrested-again

Alas, the teen YouTuber/Blogger has been arrested by the police for uploading offensive material with regards to Christianity.

How far do you cross the line when it comes to such thing? Is there even a definitive line? All is such a blur when it comes to such sensitive topics. Even topics such as racial, gender, and sexual preferences. We would be walking on really thin ice to be making a strong statement on any of the listed topics. For Amos Yee’s case, we would say that he definitely crossed several lines and went way beyond it, to have the authorities taking him.

This sparked a thought in me, if we had an opinion or a very strong argument and statement, where and how do we channel all these thoughts and emotions? And to what extend are we allowed to express our views? Some might channel it inwards, hold their silence, but condemn, cursing and swearing to themselves. Others might choose a more explicit approach by starting movements, campaigns, or releasing media texts through online social media platforms. There are also another group who might approach in a more artistic approach channeling all their ideas through art forms such as writing songs, producing films, or just painting a picture. But where do we find that balance and reach that stage of “Okay, this is enough, I’ve said what I wanted to say…” and move on?

As the old saying goes, “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything”, this makes me wonder, do people still apply that line to the things that we may express, wether is it verbally or through writing? We live in a day and age where we have almost a stand in everything. Either you’re for or against something, if you’re not with us, you’re against us, are you an iPhone or a Android person? Are you a winter or summer person? Do you prefer to work under immense pressure or take things slow? The list goes on and you get the idea. Hence, all these different “sides” and depending on which “side” that you’re on would generate many, MANY, different views and opinions which may sway one’s perspective on leaning to the other. But in the first place, are all these “sides” and views necessary?

We go back to the old school yard, we see kids with the latest, most sophisticated watch that could talk and announce the time every hour, on the hour and visually really appealing to the 5 to 10 year olds. However, we have a kid that wears his usual workhorse watch that serves no other purpose but to just to tell the time. Due to the peer pressure and his circle of friends wearing, conversing, comparing, and so on about that highly sophisticated watch, our little friend would want a piece of the action too and aspire to be included to all these hype. Goes home to mum and dad to ask for a new watch, but to mum and dad, ultimately, it’s still a watch that tells the time and sees no purpose in getting their boy a new watch with all the extra features. Our little boy then feels left out and detest his current watch. At the end of the day, all we need is just a watch to tell the time. But it’s that longing need to socialise and interact with people, immerse one’s self into the whole conversation and topic, to feel included and to be apart with the pack.

Now what I just describe in the above is just hypothetical, and completely made up as I am writing this entry. BUT! We can’t deny the fact that it is actually happening right in this very age we live in. At such young budding age, we’ve been exposed to such “school yard” challenges to be accepted into a group, what more when we reach adulthood. Do we want to be left alone and be the lone ranger? Or to be included into everything in your social groups?

For me, if I can’t seem to settle for an argument, this phrase certainly fits in, “to each their own.”. And this certainly applies for not everything, but most of it. There are just some things you can’t brush just one phrase over it to cover what really lies beneath it.

Documentary – Week #10

May 12, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

I would not consider myself to be one who watches a lot of documentary films. Mostly just those that documents my interests such as music or sports. Hence, my knowledge of documentary films are limited to those that are about music. Documentary films such as Montage of Heck 2015, directed by Brett Morgen, Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, 2011, directed by James Moll and Amy, 2015, directed by Asif Kapadia, are just examples of the documentary films that I’ve been exposed to. The film screened this week, Grizzly Man, 2005, directed by Werner Herzog, was definitely an eye opener and left a very strong and lasting impression of the way documentary films on me. My view and interpretation of documentary films have changed after watching that particular film.

Grizzly Man uncovers the story of a man going to live in the Alaskan green forest in the summer to protect and study the bears who roam wild and free. It is almost like a documentary about e documentary, as there were 2 levels of plots in the film, or at least that’s how I look at it. We have the story of Timothy Treadwell, the man who goes out to live with the bears, and we have another story about the bears and how they live in the forest of Alaska. And in many ways, both plots are intertwined together, but in other ways, they are very much individual to their own stories, and Werner Herzog did a very good job in linking both ends together. Another story that might be slightly more subtle than the 2 in the fore would be the relationship and comparison between Herzog himself and Treadwell as well. In the film, both men endeavour to make documentary on a particular subject matter, for Treadwell’s case, it’s about the bears and protecting the wildlife, for Herzog, the death of Treadwell and the life he led. Both of them had certain things in common in terms of making a documentary and as a filmmaker, but of course, both man had their own set of thinking and ideology.

There are so many ways to tell a story, and documentary would be the most straight forward and explicit way, as oppose to maybe a reenactment or a remake of a particular event or biography of a person. The latter may be a little more entertaining, due to the extra headroom for exposing a little more creativity in telling a story. In a documentary however, there should be a certain form as discussed in the reading by Boredwell and Thompson. From my understand, documentaries can be made in 2 forms, the Categorical Form and the Rhetorical Form. Both must have a certain form of factual information of the world. They are assumed to hold some credibility and trustworthy in presenting facts about the particular subject matter. At times, the public or critics may question the truth of facts that are mentioned in a particular documentary film, but that’s for the public and critic to debate with the filmmaker, which in turn may lead to boycott or lower rating to the film.

In general, the concept of documentaries have changed over the years from just a platform where information is transmitted over the big screen to something more dramatized and well constructed in order to maintain and engage the audience’s attention. Gone are the days of documentaries on TV or film where it just shows the subject matter carrying out an activity with a voice over commenting and narrating over the pictures. There is more than meets the eye in terms of thoughts and decision making when it comes to making a documentary film just as much as when it comes to making an action film. And all these decisions are to ensure the greatest experience the filmmakers might promise to the audience in engaging them.

The Active Audience in a Post-Broadcast Era – Week #10

May 10, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

What is the difference between active and passive audience? With the advancement of technology, consumers rely a lot on mobility and flexibility of digital devices capable of processing information in high speed ie. smartphones, tablets, laptops. And with the rise in social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more, it is so easy for one to produce “home videos” to express one’s views and opinion of the world.

These are the basic ingredients for an active audience to make some home made appetisers to wet the taste buds of other media consumers who might be active on both mainstream and new media platforms, then leaving comments, sharing, liking or thumbs up-ing, and so on. This sparks the whole cycle of the active audience. It basically is having the audience to participate and takes a step further from just consumer media texts presented to them on mainstream media.

The argument goes on with regards to where the power lies, is it with big media broadcasting companies or with the audience who are actively uploading content from their bedroom. However, both wouldn’t exist without the existence of the other. Take the news for example. Back then, people turn on the news to gather information on current affairs and general interests, it was a mean for the government to reach out to the public, a tool for propaganda, and a playground for advertises to bring on their ‘A’ game to promote products to various target audience. Today, we have the term, “citizen journalism”, which in wikipedia’s definition, “is based upon public citizens “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing, and disseminating news and information””. Is this an easy way out for news companies to gather news in the environment? Or is this a clever way to engage in audience participation in hopes of increasing their viewership? In business terms, there’s a saying, “The customer’s always right, even when they are wrong.”. Applying that to the citizen journalism scenario, user generated content (UGC) has been on the rise recently in online social media networks, in a nutshell, news made by the audience for the audience. In some ways, it’s driving news companies into bankruptcy, in other ways, it’s aiding them, depending on how the news companies employ such citizen journalists.

We are living in times where a single comment or status on your Facebook could just as easily go viral for the right OR wrong reasons. This power can be used to enrich, but also exploited when in the wrong hands. Quoting a line from the first Spider Man movie, “With great power comes great responsibility”. We have this idea that we have total control of what we post on the internet, but are we really a hundred percent sure? We never know what goes behind the scenes of all these multilevel databases and servers and what they do with the things we post online, and for some cases, it may just be our identity or financial status.

The audience definitely has a say in the media world, a very significant role in fact, but just how long will the audience hold power? Or are they just placed in a delusion that they are in power by the media corporations?

Film Style – Week #9

May 5, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

What’s style in layman terms would just mean something that is unique to one’s character. It is a result of work that identifiable to someone, be it in art, music, fashion, or film. From this, we are able to spot patterns and repetitions in across the work of an individual and then draw summaries of that particular person’s style. Film wise, we see a consistent patters of technique that might have been employed by the filmmaker in not just one or two of his films, but his entire repertoire.

In the reading, Boredwell and Thompson describe the concept of style as patterns of technique that is used to construct the overall form. The filmmaker faces an array of decision making during pre-production, production and post-production. No doubt, making a decision would cause to have another layer of decision making waiting for him behind the door he choose to open. Hence, the filmmaker has to carefully consider his decisions before moving further into his film making progress. The reading mentioned that most filmmakers would tend to create parallels with the characters and situations that happens within the plot. In most mainstream films, filmmakers use various techniques to alter the stylistic elements to help identify different settings and story lines.

Boredwell and Thompson goes on to explain that the role of the director is not just to direct the actors, and to input creative or technical decisions on set, but also direct the audience’s attention. Therefore, this shapes the audience’s reaction and experience while watching the film. Going back to an example used by Alfred Hitchcock about the bomb ticking under a table with 2 men sitting around it. The filmmaker has the choice to let the audience know that there’s the bomb under the table that is about to explode, or just keep the audience unaware of the bomb just like how the 2 man are unaware of the bomb. The first technique develops suspense and audience interaction to the plot that the bomb is going to explode. Almost nudging the audience to the edge of their sits wanting to tell the 2 man that there’s a bomb. The second technique use the element of surprise and explodes out of the blue. Some actions sequence in films employ this technique to shock the audience and rely heavily on special effects, foley, and sound effects to recreate the entire explosion. Both techniques used have the same outcome of the explosion and tells the same story, however, brings out different reactions from the audience. And this would be a preempt the audience to next sequences to come.

The reading then shares certain ways to analyze style, one is to look and listen carefully, while the other is to put yourself into the shoes of a filmmaker. I remember hearing in one of the lectures that if you’re watching a film and you find yourself feeling bored of the narrative aspect of the film, look towards the various patterns of techniques and see if you can make out a certain form from the patterns. And that’s what I think the reading is trying to say in a more elaborate and in depth manner. Asking us to go beyond just paying attention to the narrative and plot, but to dig deeper into the different techniques that the filmmaker might have employed during the course of the film and why he chose to do it. Also try to think about other alternatives that the filmmaker could have done instead of going with the way it was rendered in the final cut.

Timely Post – Week #9

May 5, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/singaporean-english-is-almost-impossible-to-pick-up?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page

I stumbled upon this article on the background of my home country’s ‘dialect’, Singlish. And I use the word dialect very loosely as it’s not even an official dialect of the English Language, but it is still a language that we use to communicate back home, not intentional but evolved organically derived form the different ethnic groups and diverse cultures that Singapore has to offer.

It was posted in a timely fashion, as the subject matter of my Project Brief 3 was how we used the dialect back home and how it differs from the standard English that we use when we’re in a foreign land that has English as the main language like Australia. So for those who are really interested into knowing how the dialect was formed and how to use it in future when you do head down the the little red dot, this article is for you as a head start on how the whole Singlish took its form and became the working language the locals use.

On the plus side, there is a comical side of the article with a re-make of a scene from Beauty and The Beast dubbed with Singlish over the original dialogue. Some Singaporeans might find it rather offensive or like we’ve been made fun of, but at the end of the day, it’s just all for laughs. Hope you guys enjoy reading it and watching the video.

What Makes a Good Podcast? – Week #8

May 3, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

This week’s workshop, one of the things covered was a podcast about sleep. It was a rather lengthy one, probably lasting about an hour, but our tutor only played the first 20-30 minutes of the podcast. Then we had a little discussion on what makes a good podcast. What are the ingredients that make a podcast interesting and keeping the listeners engaged. Having the whole visual aspect taken away, it’s always so easy to drift into another thought while the whole soundtrack just shifts to the background while your mind wanders and start to think what should you have for lunch later or if the weather would turn out great for your golf match later.

This are what some of us from class came up with that keeps the podcast engaging,

Sound effects
Dialogues
Interviews
Atmos
Music

The list goes on, but those above are the main criteria to make a podcast engaging to the audience. Always introducing a new element is a good way to keep the audience on their feet, new characters or subjects to keep their mind engage like they are a part of the conversation as well.

This whole exercise is just a little starter before the main course, the audio essay of project brief 4, which in a way is quite a heavy weightage assignment when it comes to the overall grade for Media 1. And what a better way to start by analysing the work of others and start referencing and unpacking the technicalities behind it.

Audience – Week #8

April 30, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

For Project Brief 4, my group of 4 was assigned the topic of “Audience”. It is such a simple word and we all know what does the word means. But when we start to unpack the meaning and various definitions behind the word, it starts to get really diverse and there are so many levels of theory relating to becoming an audience. It could be a simple meaning like being an audience member of a play or a magic show, to becoming a target audience of a product being promoted and driven to be sold to make profits from various corporate companies. Not forgetting the general audience of TV, radio, film, and online multimedia social platforms where sometimes the hunted becomes the hunter.

We live in the day and age where we can catch up with our favourite TV programmes on demand. Gone are the days where we have to set our VHS recorders to tape our favourite TV shows, we can now catch up on TV series online at our own convenience, and pushing a step further with the tagline, “Anytime, Anywhere…”. It has now become an age where we might be witnessing a shift in power from the producers of a TV programme to the actual audiences. It used to be TV producers control what we watch and when we watch it on our old CRT television sets, now, the audience have the control over when they get to watch it, on their own device of their choice (ie. a tablet, laptop, phone or TV.). Another thing the producers are very much afraid of is the ratings of their programme. What classifies as a good show? The number of people viewing it of course! Producers are always seeking different means and ways to keep their ratings up even if it is to listen to the audience and deliver what they want on screen. In certain ways, the producers have become at the audience’s mercy to boost ratings. Is this the new shift in power?

On the other hand of the spectrum, we have advertisements, TV commercials, product placements, sponsorships, endorsements and so on, so keep audience buying more and more products. For decades, the media industry has become a platform for many companies to “create awareness” of their products to the public, hence hoping to drive up sales of their products in order to make profit. Are the audience a victim here of the power of advertising and marketing delivered by the media?

It is an endless debate if the power has shifted from the hands of the producers to the hands of the audience and vice versa. Currently, my group is still on the research of how it all began, and where the media bubble became as big as it is today. Are we seeing a new dawn of an age that we might not be ready? With the uprising of citizen journalism and user source content (USC), media texts and articles are now made by the audience, for the audience. Then who are the ones being the producers now? Would it turn out to become a catch 22 situation where the audience can’t function if there were no producers, but the producers rely on the audience for fundings and reputation. We’ll find out soon, hopefully.

Immigrating Dilemmas – Week #8

April 30, 2016 / Sem / 0 Comments

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/letter-quitter-043035308.html

The above article shares one’s thoughts and views of immigrating overseas from a busy “no work-life balance” country of Singapore to a cosmopolitan city like Melbourne. I find myself in a similar pair of shoes while reading the article, not because of moving from the same country and integrating to the same city, but the same set of questions I ask myself every now then since I moved over from Singapore.

The segment that really struck a chord in me was “Born in Singapore or born Singaporean?”. I found myself relating to that situation a lot, however, in a slightly different situation. I was born in Singapore, but my parents are both Malaysian citizens, thus making me a Malaysian by birth. I carry a Malaysian passport and hold a Singapore PR status. It is mandatory for second generation PRs to serve National Service for 2 years. Me being no exception, served with the Singapore Armed Forces, and it was only a matter of time before I take up the Singapore citizenship after my service. I thought it would be a simple signing of papers since I was actually born in Singapore and just renounce my Malaysian citizenship. WRONG! Apparently it wasn’t so simple, I had to be employed in a full time job and contributing to the economy and stuff like that which I found pretty off putting.

Having done my time in National Service and protecting the nation in the military, I would assume that would have been my ticket to earning a Singapore citizenship, together with the fact that I was actually born in Singapore. However, that was not sufficient enough. The only route for me would be completing my studies in Melbourne then moving back to work before I can even come close to getting my citizenship. But then again, what if I actually decide to stay in Melbourne to work instead? Does that mean Singapore would run the risk of losing a potential citizen?

The Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Singapore, reported that the government aims to hit a 6.9 million population by 2030. Which makes me wonder, in such a dense and cramped society, when is it ever enough? I am in no place to make that judgement or critic on the decisions made by my country’s leader, but solely based on my own observation, the Singapore that I knew and grew up in 10 years ago, compared to the Singapore that it has become is totally different. We have more people from all over the world immigrating over and local Singaporeans moving abroad. It might have just come to a point where it seems somewhere along the line, Singapore is just a stepping stone to gaining citizenship to other first world countries in the region.

It’s never easy taking the leap of faith leaving the comforts of home. My forefathers moved from China during the Chinese Communist revolution to escape starvation and the whole crisis that was taking place during that period. My grandfather made the decision to move to Malaya, now known as Malaysia, and planted his humble roots from there. My dad too made the choice to move away from Malaysia to across the border into Singapore to start a new career and life with his family where my brother and I spent most of our early stages of life growing up. And now I have taken the step to leave Singapore and embark on a new life in Melbourne. Although it may not be a lifelong decision, it is still quite a major one considering having to spend 2 and a half years of my life here on a university degree. Over a conversation I had with my dad during my last few days in Singapore, I shared how I was starting to feel homesick even before I have even boarded the plane to Melbourne. And his advice was, “Just don’t look back.”. It was quite abstract yet innocent at first, but can’t say I didn’t look back, as I had to at certain point to see how far I’ve come. However, it is still an advice that I hold strongly, and would not let go of it anytime soon.

“However, the influx of new PRs and citizens in the early to late 2000s has increasingly put the idea of being Singaporean to the test. Issues like NS only for citizens and second-generation PRs, a lack of assimilation among newcomers, and stories of PRs who moved on to greener pastures after using our country as a springboard – all these have left some Singaporeans asking: What am I defending?” A very strong statement from the writer of the article that rings a bell in me. Am I going to stay in Melbourne to take on a new life, or return home? An internal conflict is always ongoing, but for now, I’ll generally focus my attention on just earning that bachelor’s degree with my name on it.

Reflections Off a Mirror

Just another Media Factory site

Category: Media (page 3 of 6)

Genre – Week #11

Golden Opportunity for The Golden Hour – Week #11

Net Warrior Taken To Justice? – Week #10

Documentary – Week #10

The Active Audience in a Post-Broadcast Era – Week #10

Film Style – Week #9

Timely Post – Week #9

What Makes a Good Podcast? – Week #8

Audience – Week #8

Immigrating Dilemmas – Week #8

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