W4 – Automatic for the People
This week I clicked on a Casey Neistat YouTube video. Neistat is know for his adventurous vlogs and amazing cinematography. In this video:
Niestat prompts ChatGPT to write and direct a script for his vlog which to no surprise, he describes as ‘just so basic, there’s no depth to it’. He does also talk about how he could have prompted it with more detail to enhance the ‘soul’ and emotion of the vlog, but overall he doesn’t feel the ChatGPT or ai will ever be as strong as the human creative mind… which I like to agree with.
This weeks sketch was quite fun to experiment with because we are now using different ai tools. However I think we had too much fun. our voice recording ended up being filled with laughter and long pauses because we did not want to read directly from the script that ChatGPT had prompted. We wanted to improvise because our scripted was so basic and calculated, we wanted to try bring some emotion to the scene. Next time we do a task like this, it will be better to re-write our script and then perform it, rather than just improvising.
It was really interesting to hear Simon Wilson expresses his frustrations of experimenting with certain ai programs. It is difficult to experiment because the ai doesn’t repeat itself well enough to pick up on what you have prompted well or not so well. When we have prompted changes to our script in class, it becomes quite overwhelming and hard to follow what we are doing right or not because there is 1. a large sum of writing to compare and 2. ChatGPT will keep prompting the past text, rather than the original script we had generated.
W3 – Automatic for the People
Week 3 of Automatic for the People was like week 2, with our focus being to generate a film scene and represent a certain issue and genre. My group decided to experiment further with the scene we had scripted with ChatGPT last week. After having a discussion with Joel, we chose to prompt AI with different genres for the same script. For example, we asked ChatGPT to turn the script into a musical with stage directions included. We found that ChatGPT did not change the script no matter the genre… other than the musical because it created a song more so than a dialogue script. Our most liked script was when we prompted the AI to make a kids cartoon with our synopsis. After further prompting it to include soundtrack and sound effects, we all agreed that we could visualise the scene well and the script made sense which was a first. I still believe that there is always more to be added by the human brain. AI is exceptionally quick and can generate facts, however, it is basic and lacks depth.
This week I have seen videos on TikTok of people using an AI filter to determine what their baby/child would look like with someone else. You pick two portrait photos, and the filter produces an image of a child. Of course, people have multiple children and they can all look different, however I was so interesting to see people put in celebrity images and the child would look exactly like one of their children. I think it is an interesting filter but I think it is just for fun and cant be relied on to determine your babies appearance.
Ted Chiang’s article ‘ChatGPT is a blurry jpeg of the Web’ speaks of the quality of ChatGPT, explaining that it is not only ‘blurry’, but is also like an ‘unreliable photocopier’ (Chiang, 2023). Chiang’s article is great in explaining why we should not rely on ChatGPT and that even thought it seems very advanced, it does still have a lot of development ahead.
“ChatGPT is a Blurry Jpeg of the Web” – Ted Chiang, February 9 2023
LINK TO SKETCH
W1 – Automatic for the people
This was my first time using ChatGPT! I must say, it was really cool and just crazy to watch it generate so fast!
My group and I chose to collaborate with ChatGPT to create a written diary entry by Donald Trump in a 2000s teenage girl tone. This is how it turned out:
A5.2 Reflection
Media Bodies
Our studio ‘Media Bodies’ explores how the mind and body work as one. This is examined through taking a closer look into our senses and how we notice them in media works. Our brain is what allows us as humans to operate, without a working brain, we have complications. However, if the brain is not assisted by our senses; smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing, we will also have complications. We want to be able to make media pieces that can present an embodied experience, which is a thought or feeling that is experienced physically.
An aspect that was explored through Dean, Emma, Sofia and Given’s work was colour. The project dives deeper into how colour ‘draws out, emphasises and guides our emotional responses.’ The group used three colours, red, yellow and blue, as well as having three different characters that represented the individual colours. Their idea is very much linked with embodied experiences. Colour is being recognised as a sense that our bodies carry and react to.
I found it interesting how they represented the colours chosen. All of the characters and storylines seemed to have an element of mystery and suspense, the point of difference came from the use of colour grading. To possibly highlight the different ways we react and consume colour, a stronger contrasting of moods would have been helpful. I reflect on this work and question my intake of the colours because I struggle to find a change in pace and emotions. A further description of the work may also be helpful in assisting viewers’ understanding of colour sense.
Kayla, Haley, Shuyu and Christina’s work, ‘Esscents’, is one that mentally and physically manipulates your senses. The group created a visual piece that displayed only blurred footage and clean audio. The visual was partnered with multiple different aromas that were in jars. The group members would open the jar that paired with the visual. For example, a girl peels an orange in the visual work, so a jar is opened for the audience to smell the orange.
This project goes hand in hand with our studio focus. In week 7 of this course, we discussed the topic of smell. Smell will bring forth memories and will make us think of moments in time and place where we associate the smell.
The group was able to prove that by strengthening one sense, another does not need to be as strong. In relation to their work, the sense of smell and hearing is enhanced, whereas the sense of sight is physically weakened. Although the visuals are blurred, participants are able to associate the smell with the visual, or a visual of a place that they are familiar with, therefore the media work is clearer in their minds.
This group produced an extremely creative work that linked strongly to the discussion of the relationship between our physical embodiment and mental selves.
Ready Camera One
The studio that I have decided to report on is titled, ‘Ready Camera One’. Immediately when visiting the studio website I was guided by the clear formatting and structure. I knew that to get a nice and efficient overview of the studio, I would simply click on the page titled ‘About Ready Camera One’. From there, I was able to gather information on what the focus of the studio is. Ready Camera One explores the benefits and challenges of multi camera use within television production. The course takes use of studio settings and professional camera equipment in order to practice and learn the skills involved in multi camera production. They have also looked into how pre recorded content is intertwined with live shot television.
‘The Charlie Show’ is the final collaborative work that was made by the entire studio. The show is a two part talk show, each episode having a time length between 25-30 minutes. This work was filmed in a fully equipped studio with lavaliers, cameras and teleprompters, just to name a few. Though the show went for 25+ minutes, I remained engaged throughout its duration. The reason I could stay engaged was not because of the script or storyline, rather it was because of the shots that were used and the many segments that took place in and outside of the studio.
For example, when Johnny or Stephanie are having a conversation with their guest, the camera does not simply capture the two people talking, instead, multiple cameras are used to switch between different angles. Camera one may be pointing directly at the host, camera two at the guest, and camera three centred with a wide shot of the stage. All of these angles draw the audience in and keep them fascinated in what is being spoken about.
An example of a creative segment that was shot outside of the studio was ‘Ben on Bowen’. This segment allowed the show to have a life outside of the studio. Considering that part two of the show plays for 31 minutes, I believe that it could have been more beneficial to include the outside broadcast of ‘Ben on Bowen’, later in the piece. I only mention this because the rest of the show is shot in the studio. To mix it up, ‘Ben on Bowen’ could have been played in the middle of the show. Overall, the talk show really proved and used multi cameras to full potential.
Another work that caught my attention was ‘Are You Smart, Even?’. This shorter video work acts as a satire quiz show. It has a host and two contestants who answer questions that are not very difficult to answer. This piece was able to highlight the way in which multi camera use can assist in creating comedic moments. The dialogue was humorous and the timing also really helped, but the way the different cameras were used was ultimate. Camera one would be on the host, then camera two would be on the contestant who has just guessed their answer. It is comedic because the zoomed shot on the contestant, especially contestant Lily, would show their reactions, which were often entertaining.
All of the works in this studio were great to watch and learn from. They all used multi camera production and a studio setting which is what is required from the studio prompt;
‘What are the creative possibilities and challenges of multi-camera television production, and how can the practices and processes of the multi-camera production be applied beyond the studio?’
Some feedback to the studio is that I would have loved to see some exploration of other genres or types of shows, even though I did very much enjoy the satire and dramatics.
Zoe’ A4 Reflection Post
NOSTALGIC TOUCH
Link to Group Website:
https://www.mediafactory.org.au/2022-media-bodies/category/zoe-filip-heidi/
‘Nostalgic Touch’ is the title of the short film that was created, directed and produced by myself, Heidi Iok Hei Lo, and Filip Kanzurovski. As a group we explored the theme of Nostalgia, and what it is to embody a nostalgic moment. Thinking and visualising a past memory is a mental experience, however a nostalgic moment is also a physical experience, the body is reacting to the mental process. We also came to a realisation that nostalgia is not always a sentimental and longing for feeling, as D.Waskul, P.Vannini and J.Wilson exclaim, ‘nostalgia today refers to a bittersweet emotion’ (2009,p.15). It can be unpleasant and undesirable to some, and it can be joyful and heartfelt to others. We looked into what can bring on nostalgic feelings and the way nostalgia can be felt by different people. Our research on nostalgia showed that this one topic has many interesting approaches. In a collaborative effort, we managed to create a short film that highlights three different nostalgic moments that have been brought upon by the same object, in the same place, and at the same time.
As a media student, I have always known that media works are used to make audiences feel a certain way. It could be to evoke feelings or deliver a message/idea, whatever it may be, media works are made to cause a reaction, and have purpose. Throughout this semester, learning about embodied experiences and feeling embodiment has grown my knowledge on how to produce work that captures the mind and body moving as one, as well as learning more about how audiences interpret emotions depicted in media.
Although provided with many interesting and factual texts, I really benefited from watching and listening to different media examples. One that stayed with me is Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein’s grotesque short film ‘Balance’ (1989). I am not usually attracted to the dark and gothic aesthetic but the way that they were able to create a silent animated film that could showcase the emotions and motives of the characters was amazing. The pacing, the loud creaking sound effects, the colour scheme and the mystery made you feel on edge, which is precisely how the characters in the film were feeling. This is what helped me in understanding audience interpretation of embodied experiences in media. Watching films like ‘Balance’ and then other more realistic clips showed how there are so many different ways you can produce work that captures an embodied experience.
I would like to continue to explore embodied experiences through media because I think that it can help to create meaningful and interesting content. It also allows people to gain knowledge and experiences through watching and listening. J.Allen highlights that ‘John M. Hull, in his diary on blindness, talks of sound as that which can illuminate a space.’(2019,p.64). John Hull is a man who gradually lost his sight at 45 years old and kept an audio diary of his experience with becoming blind. A film, ‘Notes on Blindness’(2016), was made based off of his journey and it included his real voice recordings. His in depth description and the way that visual and audio footage was used to depict what he could visualise from only being able to hear was marvellous. The techniques used were able to place viewers in his shoes and give insight into this unfortunate situation. Though the storyline played a major aspect in this film, the creation of the film from start to finish is what depicted Hull’s embodied experience.
In exploring the many film techniques that there are, I hope to broaden my knowledge and skills of making mind-to-body works. As well the media world is continually growing and looking for new and unique ways of producing work.I need to remember Laura L. Ellingson’s idea that ‘Knowledge grounded in bodily experience encompasses uncertainty, ambiguity, and messiness in everyday life’ (2012, p.245). By reminding myself to produce media that has messy and uncertain storylines, I am bringing authenticity to “bodily experience”. I am also hopefully encompassing my own aesthetic within this ‘messiness’.
For our final work, I hope that we are able to communicate the relationship between memories and emotions, as well as the way the physical body reacts to the mental state. I want people to have a clear understanding of the embodiment that we are describing. I also want to know and understand their own experience. After visiting the NGV exhibition in week 8 of this semester, I gathered some ideas for our own exhibition. I noticed that I was more engaged with the works that had movement; a screen that displayed a moving image, something that hung and swung from the ceiling. I was also engaged with works that had bright colours and obscure patterns. What stood out to me the most was the works that involved audience participation. These artworks invited the audience to physically and mentally engage with it. For example, you would need to move around the room to see all of the shapes and dimensions that an assortment of wires could make.
To include something interactive like this in our exhibition work, we decided to display the ball from ‘Nostalgic Touch’ in our exhibited piece. By doing this, we are inviting viewers to engage with the project and see if they share a nostalgic moment with the football just as the characters do in the short film. It is important to us that the audience feels involved and can find moments of relation to our work.
If ‘Nostalgic Touch’ was to screen on a larger scale or develop further in some way, the core things that I would want to focus on would be the storylines of the characters and the film aesthetic. I am proud of the work that we have made, and I do think that as a group we were able to create a piece that showed three diverse storylines. However, for our work to be taken to a higher popularity, it would be ideal to add more depth to all of the characters’ storylines. Furthermore, by having time to review the storylines side by side, a greater juxtaposition can be made, highlighting the difference and similarities between the characters to a greater extent. Viewing the short film multiple times, I do recognise that it is filmed at a university level. The aesthetic is leaning more on the basic side and I believe that with more time and high tech equipment, this piece could be more cinematic. Again, I am still proud of the work that myself and my group produced for our final assessment.
Reflecting back on this semester and the collaboration that took place, there were definitely things that worked, and things that didn’t work. A highlight from collaborating with my A4 group members was the way we communicated with each other. I have had past experiences where people would just not show up and give no warning or reason for it. When our group first got together I made sure to voice to Filip and Heidi the importance of keeping in touch with each other via messenger group chat. I look through that group chat and am so happy with the detail that we communicated with. We were not bombarding each other with messages but we did inform each other of what work we had done, when we would do that work and how.
I will say, when doing our collaborative work, I found that I had to make the big decisions and make sure that we stayed on track. I almost became in charge of coordinating the group, which part of me didn’t mind, however, it didn’t make the whole project feel like a group project, there was a lack of collaboration. I believe that this happened as a result of me wanting to stay super on top of the project with the time we had to do it. As well, studying part time allowed me to have a high focus on our exhibition work, whereas the others had multiple final assessments to work on. Moving forward, when working in group projects I need to take a step back and work on the same level as my group members so that I can learn to work the way others work. By doing this, I hope to broaden my skills and add to knowledge that I already have.
Links to Blog Posts:
Bibliography:
- Allan, J. L. (2019). Foggy notion: Sound and weather, and the intermingled senses. SoundEffects – An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience, 8(1), 51–67.
- ‘Balance’ (1989) Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein. Material-Verlag [Short film] Place of distribution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PADVHR-_wOs
- Ellingson, L. L. (2012). Embodied knowledge. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods (p. 245)
- ‘Notes on Blindness’, (2016) Peter Middleton and James Spinney. [Feature film]. [42:00-44:50] Place of distribution: https://rmit.kanopy.com/video/notes-blindness-0
- Waskul, D D, Vannini, P, & Wilson, J (2009) The Aroma of Recollection: Olfaction, Nostalgia, and the Shaping of the Sensuous Self, The Senses and Society, 4(1), 5-22.
Media Bodies Wk 12 – Finishing Up
How did your group decide to set up their work on the exhibition and website?
- My group decided to choose a screen to present our work that has a wall surrounding it. The reason for this is because we want to be able to present our poster, as well as three separate posters that represent the three emotions we are looking at. Displaying them on the wall next to the TV would be a good place.
- As well, we are going to use the football from our work as a live prop. Viewers can touch it themselves and think about their own personal experience with this object. This will also give them a stronger connection to the work and make them think about how they physically feel whilst experiencing a mental moment.
Why did you make these decisions? How did you hope this set up would complement or even enhance the themes you were exploring in your work?
- By displaying our posters next to the screen, we hope it can remind people of what our work is representing, the different experiences of emotions and nostalgia.
- Using the football in our presentation should influence the audience to feel included in the project and hopefully experience a nostalgic moment themselves.
What were some insights from the peer feedback session on your group’s work in progress in Thursday’s class?
- No need to include music, focus more on the atmospheric sounds. “It doesn’t feel like its missing music” – Kayla
- Make the cuts tighter between the character transitions.
Media Bodies Wk 11 – Perspective
Embed some or all of the sound and video footage from the week 11 exercise.
Audio Player Audio PlayerHow did your group try to use perspective and/or depth of field in both the video footage and the sound footage?
- I was not able to complete this exercise myself, but by watching the footage taken by my group, I could still gather some new/interesting discoveries and ideas.
- Heidi and Filip chose to use a range of camera angles and recording distances to play on the depth and perspective that is presented.
- Something that stood out to me was the audio footage. Each of the recordings made me feel a different way, even though all of the recordings were of Filip speaking on the phone. The reason behind this is because of the way the sound was recorded. For example, one sound was recorded at a distance to the microphone, you could hear Filips conversation faintly, but could still hear what he was saying. I felt as though I was eavesdropping on his conversation. Whereas, another sound was recorded closer to the microphone, Filip’s voice was loud and clear. This felt like I was positioned as the microphone of the phone, as though I was meant to listen to what he was saying.
- What are the next steps for your group work following the consults in class on Thursday?
- In Thursday’s class we had a great consultation with Sophie. Our main concern after filming the interview section of our project was that it may not be exploring the characters’ embodied experience enough.
- Sophie provided us with advice on creating useful b-roll. These are the notes that I wrote down:
- Notes taken by Zoe Anderton 19/05/2002
- The next step for our group is to create a B-roll shot list for our filming on Sunday. To do this we all need to do at least a rough edit of our interview sections of the project then we will be able to feel the emotions of our characters and see what b-roll would be most fitting.