Media lectorial reflection-week 2

I entered late in the class but was welcomed with the famous Uncle Sam’s picture
uncle-sam

I expected that their might be something that they (lecturer) would want us to do something in the end. Brian talked us about how Media is everywhere around us and that we have been immersed into the technological world. The minute we wake up in the morning, we find ourselves interacting with media. Cell phones, t.v, advertisement, billboard signs and even a stop sign is a particular media text that encodes us a meaning and we as the audience decode and act to it unconsciously or maybe intentionally depending upon how focused are we into that particular text. These texts as told by Brian have been changed from face to face interaction to media texts and digital format. I had to actually think that how many media texts I saw coming from home to university, its strange that there are so many texts that we avoid unconsciously but never stay to interpret it. Brian also talked about the difference of what media and reality is with the example of Big Ben shown in media and what you actually see in real life.

The second part of the lecture was fun, Rachel talked how noticing is important in media and that it helps us in future practice as we may copy or take inspirations from these media extracts. It also acts as a learning agent for a media practitioner. We had a small ‘silence’ exercise’ inspired from John Cage’s ‘4:33’ silence. Rachel asked us to be ‘silent’ for 33 seconds. During that time, I began to notice the sounds of the ambience, Doors bashing, keyboard clicks, chair moving, aircon, projector, coughing. All of these sounds made a composition of its own, so basically, what I thought of silence is not the same silence, there is actually sound present. Its like the same concept as when we say the room is dark but actually there is just absence of light.

In the end each of us were appointed in a group and each group had to notice ‘Mediated Communication’ in a particular area. I was in group 5 so my area was Federation Square. I’ll post in my next blog of what I noticed over there.

Workshop week 1- Reflection

In this workshop, we were introduced to our first project brief, self-portraits. It seems exciting that I have to show and portray the inner ‘me’ in this project. Let’s see how I pull it off, I need to be sure that my work should be innovative and reflects what I want others to know about me. Hmm, no selfies, there is always the timer function in the camera that might be useful eh?

We were also told to create our blogs and that these blogs will have to be regularly updated and will be part of our submission along with project briefs. Creating blog was not difficult as I already had a WordPress account but didn’t use that much.
It was pleasant to know about my peers in the workshop. Almost everyone has a different background related to media, some of them are related to fashion, Music, Film Making and other various fields, so it would be really beneficial for me, you just never know whom you might need to help you out in future projects.

Time to explore the inner ‘Self’.

Things that I plan:

  • To know the different styles in documentary making
  • Be better at post production
  • To know the practices required of a media person
  • To know the Issues and risks in communication
  • To be better at the craft of film making
  • To be able to write fictional stories
  • To know what audience wants to see in media
  • To know the history of Australian Cinema
  • To know the relation between networking and interactive media
  • To be able to produce professional level documentaries

Media Lectorial week 1- Reflection

 

I entered the class early and only my new friend Jack was sitting there. We discussed the possible approaches on the teaching methodology that this university might take on. Gradually one by one the teachers came in and the puzzle inside our minds were resolved when Brian talked about the ways that is unique to RMIT of how the teaching practice will take place.

The interesting thing for me was the part when everyone was asked to write down ten things that they want to know/ able to do/ to be better at the end of the program, that was quite refreshing and i was able to self asses my key strengths and weaknesses in media making. Secondly we discussed whether we fall under ‘Deep attention’ category or ‘hyper attention’ category. I think it depends upon what context we are into, like if we are at home, we would probably be playing music and texting our friends at the same time. We would be focusing on different things thus we are in hyper attention. If its an assignment, attending lecture or probably doing a reading, we would tend to be focusing on one single aspect at one time and so we would be in Deep attention

I’m more of a practical guy, so activities that require hands on experience will work for me in the learning curve of this course but assignments like essay writing and research on particular topics will help me in understanding better of the practicalities of this course.

Being an international student, there are some cultural differences between me and my peers, so getting used to the environment, working in group projects and completing assignments within the tight schedule might be challenging ,otherwise it should be fine for the semesters to come.

Studying here at the school of Media and communications, there are lots of things that i want to learn, the styles of documentary making, the issues and risks in communication and most importantly the ethics required for a media practitioner in this industry. Probably attending workshops and paying attention to the lectures might be the way to learn but i think its the collaborative experience and the group discussions taking place that will be vital in the learning curve of my studies.

 

The issues with Selfie

Is it just me or has selfie made us narcissistic? Some may say that it is just a way of exploring different shades of us, but actually we have been taking selfies to be socially acceptable into the online community. We see ourselves daily in front of the mirror so there is no point to keep a picture of ourselves and post it on social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to openly showcase what we are doing or where exactly are we, then expect our friends and family to comment on how beautiful or handsome we look. Why do we have to go online in order to be accepted by your peers? This really troubles me.

slefie

 Image source: Stock photo

Selfie is just another type of narcissistic behavior that I have seen. People deliberately take picture of themselves at either some famous place in the background or a famous personality standing next to them. While taking a selfie, it’s like telling others that we have the control over our lives and that it was us who grabbed the moment and not anybody else since that selfie was taken by you using the front camera. By posting it online you make your peers jealous and expect them to be amazed by the great achievement you accomplished in that frame.Isn’t it strange that we are lonely to the extent that we can’t even ask another person to take a picture of ourselves and want to grab attention from our social circle?
Along with the narcissistic behavior, there is another problem that arises with selfie phenomenon and that is cyber bullying. We may seem to be boosting our confidence by posting a selfie but there are people who may take that chance to demoralize you by either commenting about something that you may not expect or probably take advantage of you if you are not careful of what kind of selfie you are posting online. There have been cases that have caused regret among many teenagers just because they were not too careful of their control on posting their selfies.
To these issues, there are solutions, First and foremost, you need to be sure from whom you are taking validations form online, are they trustworthy? Remember it is you that has the control of your social life and it is your responsibility to look after it. We all have a bit of narcissism, just keep it under your control and don’t let your emotions take over.