In today’s class we went over our video rough cuts. We’ve started thinking about how we can further refine our video and our essays, and how to ensure were using only the best information and content. I think we were definitely allowing ourselves to become overwhelmed by all the information and al the things that ACMI does as an institution, and so it was helpful to have Rachel pull us up on it and make us think about how we refine our information and become selective with what content we include.
Over the weekend we’re going to work at reformatting our essay and rerecording some parts to allow it to be the best that it can be. We’ve organized to meet up three times next week so that we can look over each other’s work and give feedback on how to improve and enhance what’s been done.
All in all we’re feeling confident about our progress and will hopefully be able to produce a really great quality assignment.
In today’s practical we each had a group meeting with either Rachel or Brian to discuss our audio essays and to gather some feedback and brainstorm ideas for directions we can pursue with our work.
Some thoughts we had were:
going to ACMI and gathering some ambient and background audio (which we did after class and were successful at getting some potentially usable audio
gathering some more interviews with regular ACMI attendees and interspersing them throughout the essay
Recording the essay part and using other audio in order to make it more appealing and interesting to listeners.
Yesterday in class we talked a lot about how the view of the audience has changed over time, especially since the printing press first invented, something which set forth the beginning of mass education an mass literacy, as it allowed reading material to be widely distributed.
I think it’s amazing to see how the mass media has developed over the years, and how the audience, who was once viewed as passive viewers, is not so fragmented and involved in their own media consumption.
Some of the modern media uses and tactics that we discussed are things I’d never thought about before. For example, although on some level I knew ISIS using the internet to recruit people to fight for them was an example of them utilising media, I had never really thought about hot clever that was. Further, by releasing beheading videos and other similarly shocking footage, they in a way use media against us, and provide an example of how media sources can be mistreated.
In the same way that ISIS utilise media shock techniques, however, government agencies such as TAC and work safe also utilise these techniques in order to “shock” us into following the law, or being more aware. It’s a powerful tactic that really makes use of the fact that the audience as responsive and emotive viewers.
Furthermore, the fragmentation of the audience means that not only do we choose what we are viewing, but our choices an opinions are heard through means of tweeting, ratings, voting, social media aggregation, choose your own endings and elicited comments.
In class today we listened to a podcast. I found it super interesting how much information could be conveyed through audio alone, and how easy it was to distinguish between the different characters and situations featured throughout the audio.
Although I listen to radio all the time in the car and at work, I’ve never really stopped to give thought to just how powerful audio can be when used effectively. In some ways, it’s probably more powerful and has more impact that film or video, as it doesn’t necessarily demand our full attention in order to have an impact. Although it is obviously far more effective when we are giving it our full attention and get the full impact of the audio, it is not in the same degree that is required by video. It’s far easier to multitask with regards to audio than it is with video.
By utilising sound effects and interesting transitions, we can really make our audio productions innovative and interesting for listeners. they can have an incredible impact and can be attention grabbing in an entirely different way to video footage.
I do think audio is perhaps more difficult to edit together and make interesting, as it can be so easy to rely on visual footage to capture a viewers attention, however I do think if you’re wiling to put the work in the results can really speak for themselves.
1. What is the ‘controlling idea’ (Robert McKee) of your portrait?
I’m not sure I’d describe it as the most ‘interesting’ thing about my subject, but certainly the focus is the experience of my subject (my grandma) and her daughter (my mum) and their journey with Alzheimer’s and how this has impacted upon their relationship. Another idea I’m attempting to include is the ‘before’, in which she is reflected upon as a kind and loving person prior to her dementia stealing a lot of this away.
2. How is your portrait film structured?
My film is structured as a life journey. Beginning with the ‘before’, in which she doesn’t have dementia and is a loving and active member of the family, and progressing to the ‘after’, in which she cannot remember her family members. This is achieved through a combination of video shots, as well as relying heavily on the voiceover interview with mum.
3. What do you want your audience to make of your interviewee?
I want her to be seen as the kind and loving and amazing person I remember her, so that it’s obvious how devastating the disease is. It can happen to anyone and doesn’t discriminate because you’re a ‘good person’. I want them to empathise with the family and to see in my Grandma perhaps a member of their own family. I want to provoke thought about how truly horrible this disease is.
4. How is your portrait being narrated?
Mum is narrating it in response to my interview questions. I’ll attempt to match the audio with appropriate footage in order to allow the project to be cohesive and to flow.
5. What role will the ‘found footage’ play in your portrait?
I’m going to use found footage to represent nature and time passing as the disease progresses, and incorporate it in with my own footage. I’m also going to use found music, in order to add aura and drama to the film.
6. Does your portrait have a dramatic turning point?
Yes, the main and obvious turning point in my film is the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and the eventual forgetting of Grandma’s family and friends. This is hopefully going to be an emotional turning point in order to really demonstrate the impact of such a horrible disease.
7. When does this turning point in your portrait and why?
About half way through, so that the audience can get a proper feel for the ‘before’ character and person that Grandma was, before having that, in a sense, ripped from under them. I think by doing this it will have the most emotional impact on the viewer and will be the most jarring visually.
8. How does your portrait gather and maintain momentum?
A combination of the music and the narration will play a part in adding dramatic impact to the project whilst also allowing it to flow. I also plan on using consistent fades to black between shots, as I feel this adds to the dramatic effect of the film.
9. Where will your portrait’s dramatic tension come from?
The tension will come from the music, which will be sombre and dramatic, as well as the narration, as I think the reflective tone will indicated to the viewer that something is about to happen, before finally revealing Grandma’s fate through her diagnosis being revealed.
10. Does the portrait have a climax and/or resolution?
The climax will be in her diagnosis. I think the lack of resolution, in that there is not cure for Alzheimer’s and it is ultimately and terminal diagnosis, will also add to the climax. I want the viewer to walk away feeling unresolved, as this reflects my entire experience with her Alzheimer’s.
This is my edit of our sounds recorded in the week four tutorial. I decided to focus on the informal interview as I felt that out formal interview was quite repetitive and there wasn’t much I could do with it i terms of editing and cutting it together.
Some of the main issues we encountered were that we really wanted the sound of coffee being frothed. We really struggled to find a cafe making coffee, as it was close to five pm by the time we ventured to Melbourne Central in order to make the recording. Eventually we did manage to get the sound of coffee grinding, as can be heard in the video, but I think we may have sacrificed some other potential recordings in order to get this one.
I definitely think audio is super important and can tell a story in and of itself. I learnt that microphones need to be used correctly, or else are not as effective of a tool as they could otherwise be. Sometime our audio has some background noise that does make our focal audio somewhat less effective, but I think by recording outdoors in the city, this is unavoidable.
I really enjoyed watching everyones self portraits in class this week. I found it really interesting to see how everyone had interpreted the assignment differently and how they had applied their own meaning to the video. No two videos were identical, although there were definitely common themes throughout.
Some of the themes I noticed was the use of baby videos in creative ways, something I definitely featured in my own self portrait. It was definitely interesting to see how others had included their baby videos in order to have it come under the original content requirement.
I really enjoyed the videos that had a more humorous interpretation of the task. I never even considered making the video funny or light hearted so it was somewhat refreshing to see these takes on the task and I really enjoyed watching them.
It was definitely intimidating watching my own video on the screen, as I couldn’t help compare it to everyone else’s and think of everything that I would change if I had the chance. For example, I think I would have used most current day footage instead of baby footage, and possibly tried to be a bit more inventive in my use of text and transitions. I think if I had’ve taken the time to learn different techniques in order to add these things in more impressive ways, it would have provided an added layer of complexity to my video. Ultimately though, after having some time away from my self portrait, I’m really happy with what I produced, especially considering I’ve never used premier before, and have only played briefly with iMovie.
Today’s workshop really highlighted interview techniques and sound techniques that I think I will definitely utilise in my PB3 production. I have never thought much about how background noise may impact upon my production, or the important or asking your subject to repeat your question in the answer. These are skills that, when it comes to editing, will definitely make my life significantly easier.
I also discovered how awkward it can be to be interviewed, and to have no knowledge of the questions prior can make answering on a whim incredibly hard – resulting in a lot of pauses and ‘um’s. This is something I will need to be conscious of heading into my PB3 interview, as it may be something that requires a lot of editing in order to make the answers concise.
It also begs to be considered whether I should perhaps give my subject a rundown of my basic plan for the narrative of my video, and how exactly I want it to go. Whilst I want their answers to be raw and emotional, this may give them some direction and guidance into the type of answer I want, and exactly how I want it to fit into the narrative of the film.
In saying that, I do think that sometimes audio can be the more important focus of the film, and if my subject does come in blind to my questions, perhaps their answers will influence the direction of the film in a way I had not previously considered. It’s definitely something I’ll think hard about, as I definitely can acknowledge the power of audio, and the importance of making your location appropriate with regards to unwanted background noise.