Name: Carl Gibson

Student Number: s3324901

Teacher: Seth Keen

1.  I will summarise the Lecture each week with a blog post of considerable length (e.g. 200 words.) This will ensure that I have fully understood this week’s topics and will remember what I have learnt

2.  I plan to speak aloud at least once in every week’s tutorial or lecture. I aim to do this to improve my involvement in class discussions and become more confident. This will also allowing me to clarify any confusion I have on the topic, instead of just sitting in silence.

3.  I plan to post my lecture notes on my blog every week so that I stay organized and will be able to reflect on the organization of my blog and how well I am using it as a source for information about the subject. Every three weeks I will post a 200 word reflection on how my blog is going based on organization.

 4.  I aim to extend my knowledge beyond the course material by posting something interesting that shows I have done further research beyond the readings. This particular post will be done once a week and will encourage me to search beyond what is spoon fed to me. 150 words

5.   I will summarize my Korsakow learning progression with a weekly blog post of 2- 3 paragraphs so that I can monitor the amount of practise I am getting with the software and retain any knowledge I gain. This will allow me to gain a better understanding of the software for assessments. and reflect on how far I have progressed

WEEK 2:    1) 3/3 HD  2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD   4) 0/3 F    5)0/3 F      9/15 Credit

WEEK 3:    1) 3/3 HD  2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD   4) 0/3 F    5) 0/3 F     9/15 Credit

WEEK 4:   1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/ 3 HD  4) 0/3 F    5) 0/3 F     9/15 Credit

WEEK 5:   1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD   4) 3/3 HD 5) 3/3 HD   15/15 HD

WEEK 6:   1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD   4) 0/0 F    5) 3/3 HD  12/15 HD

WEEK 7:   1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3)HD   4) 3/3 D    5) 0/3        12/15 HD

WEEK 8:   1) 0/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 0/3 HD   4)  3/3 HD 5) 3/3       12/15 Credit

WEEK 9:   1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD   4) 0/3  F    5)0/3  F     9/15 Credit

WEEK 10:  1) 3/3 HD   2) 3/3 HD   3)3/3 HD     4) 0/3 F    5)0/3 f       9/10 Credit

WEEK 11: 1) 3/3 HD   2)3/3 HD   3) 3/3 HD     4) 3/3 HD 5)0/3 F      12/15 HD

                                                                                                                                           Total 108/150    72%    

What did you do well?

I was able to do the majority of my blog posts weekly. These blog posts were of appropriate length and in some cases more. These blog posts were on a variety of different topics and can stand on their own as individual pieces of writing.  I attended the lectures, writing notes and summarizing them in blog posts. They explored material outside the courses content, they reflected on my learning and many of the topics discussed in the lectures and readings. They are written in a more formal style then a usual blog post & show what I have learnt this semester .

What have you learnt to do better?

I have learnt to organize my material better, creating the most user friendly blog I have made. I have learnt to work to a schedule rather than just saving all the blog posts to do at the end of the semester. I have also learnt to reflect on my own learning better, writing about myself, something I have always found hard to do. I learnt to speak out in class. Even if it was just a couple of words here and there.

What could you have learnt to do better ?

I could have managed my time better and get more blog posts written on 2 of the criteria I set out for my self. I focused too much on the first three criteria in my grading system rather than spreading my work out evenly. This is evident when you view how many blog posts I wrote on my learning of Korsakow.

LETTER GRADE:  D

Overall I believe that my blog reflects my improved organization skills over this semester. There were a number of changes I would have like to have made but due to the theme I chose when I created the blog at the start of semester, this was near impossible. I have had bad expierences in the past with changing themes or messing with code, resulting in the whole blog crashing. So this was not something I wanted to risk.

There was numerous occasions where I needed to refer back to lectures from weeks ago. Having them stored online was by far a better system than having them in an exercise book. The ability to access my lecture notes anywhere and have the stored in the “cloud” is something I even started to do for other subjects.

I believe that my blog is easy to read, navigate and has enough content to create for a good experience for anyone who would like to learn about what I did in Integrated Media 1.  When compared to other blogs I have made in the past this is definitely an improvement and I look forward to continuing to improve my skills as a blog writer.

Right of the bat this did not turn out to be the nonlinear video making software I hoped for. Based off its brief mention in the lecture, I assumed that Popcorn video maker would resemble Kosakow or even Zeegas. Instead it is more of an online Windows Movie Maker. It did have a few neat features in the way you could edit videos that have been uploaded to youtube or vimeo without downloading them. I don’t understand why other major video editing programs, such as Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere have not adopted this feature in some way, big or small. It appears as though this program is made for people wanting to get a quick rough cut done. It’s fast, easy, and judging by its time line at the bottom , linear.

Zeegas was program mentioned in the week 9 lecture that bears some resemblance to Korsakow. Frustrated with Korsakow’s interface I decided to sign up and check it out. I was pleasantly surprised by how relatively easy it was to get started. Its UI is much more stream lined than Korsakow, allowing you to see the clips being manipulated in real time with plenty of on screen prompts. I just had a play around with some of the videos the site provides for you to get a feel for the program. You could view your finished product almost instantly and supports mobile.

However it did not have the depth Korsakow has. After 10 minutes I felt like I had seen all there was to see, and there was very little alterations I could make to the videos once they were in the program. It seemed like music videos was the sites main focus and not documentary films like Korsakow.

When you export the video it does look like a better version of Korsakow

I can safely say that I will not be spending any more time with Zeegas. Its far too limiting to be seen as a professional tool. There is however still a lot korsakow can learn from Zeegas when it comes to mainstream associability.

This week’s Lecture further explored the creation of Korsakow films in particular the process of putting the clips together. It was stressed that you shouldn’t always go into kosakow with an exact idea of how each clip is going to link. Instead you should start the building process and let new ideas take shape.

The Lecture also went into the concept of montage verses narrative. It was explained how montages/compilations are not narratives. Korsakow projects rarely follow the narrative line but rather the compilation of lists. Korsakow and nonlinear narrative films do not always work well. By both our lecturer and tutor it is insisted that we stay away from non linear story telling as it is a complicated process to get right.

The end snu is a ongoing debate. Miles mentioned how ending your Korsakow film with an end snu can be problematic in determining how and when the audience will end their experience. Viewers may not see your film to the very end. Korsakow films a generally designed in a way where there is no end and you can just come back to the project at any time and have a different experience. Think about how you can make a film that lets the viewer have an experience they like without having an ending.

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This lecture generally focused on the difference between mediums in relation to Korsakow. It was pointed out that interestingly writing is one of the few art forms that aim to shy away from repeating itself. Other art forms like paintings have no problem recycling old content. I am blown away by the recycled use of content in the media. Just last week I was watching the Planet of the Apes Television Series from 1974. There were three shots that I distinctly remember seeing in another episode. When I went back through the previous episodes I found that these shots were in fact identical as if they copied and pasted them.

There was one moment in the lecture that really got to me (in a good way) it was mentioned that when creating films don’t try and show an emotion, try to make your audience experience an emotion. As an aspiring Director I often find myself wanted to make my audience feel for characters. I often assume that the best way to make someone feel e.g. sad is to show someone sad. As this point illustrates this is not a good way of thinking when constructing narratives and will be something I’ll remember whenever I am involved in productions in the future.

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– Useful to think of the visual space as misenscene. Each clip has a visual weight. There needs to be relations with each clip like in cinema.

– Key wording in relation to Korsakow.

Think about the taxonomy you are creating, themes, patterns. Thinking about the fragments as independent movies. How are they designed in having multiple relations with each other?

–          The shape of the work immerses through the shape of making. Don’t draw the relation before you start making the film.

–          Montage is not a narrative technique

–          Should there be a end snu. It can be problematic In determining how and when the audience will end their experience. How can i think about making a film that lets a viewer have an experience they like without having to have an ending.

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 Week 10 lecture notes

• Other forms of media repeat themselves but not writing.
• van gogh can paint the same thing over and over but a writer cannot use the same paragraph or sentence more than once
• Its up to the maker to define their audience
• When creating films don’t try to show an emotion. Try to make your audience experience an emotion.
• K films that respond to a constraint generally work better. So theme is important.
• Linear story telling is not the only way to attach value to a work
• None linear works have value too. ( this is one of the focuses for the course)
• Absence of narrative can make for a more satisfying work.

Since my last organization post I have put in careful consideration to the different pages of my blog. As mentioned in the last post have written a brief introduction to each page so that viewers of my blog will understand what that selection of blog posts is about. These introductions a written at the top of the page and stating in the most simplistic way possible, what those blog posts are revolving around.

Although I wanted to have these pages take on a more visual form (rather than simple hyperlinks) when I inserted images as links it became cluttered and messy. This resulted in a lack of legibility which is my main focus, making my blog easy to navigate and understand.

I’m running out of ways to improve my blog. I still want it to maintain the blog aesthetic. This aesthetic design lends its self well to my blogs scrap book style. Although my blog writing is more formal the most, I still want to picture it as a note book for Integrated Media 1.

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