Time will tell

As RMIT Media students are seemingly unable to take advantage of the ‘flexible studios’ in building 9, I will have to produce my final M5 short film somewhere else.

Due to the cinematic viciousness of certain sequences of my piece, it demands an isolated studio where people in the near vicinity have an understanding that this is just staged action. By extension, it is also important that I have a controlled audio space sans residual noise.

I’ve been ruminating on the shoot location for ages;

  • if it were to be at my unit, it would give neighbours the impression that there is a domestic disturbance
  • if I were to take the shoot out of Melbourne, the talent would be less likely to commit as it is unpaid for them
  • If I were to use a rehearsal studio such as Bakehouse Richmond, I would run the risk of having a metal band whitewash my audio from adjacent studios
  • if it were in the uni… well, I would again be competing with noise and naff architecture
  • And most other shoot location ideas just don’t compliment my world.

I wrestled with this idea of approaching Docklands Studios to see if they had any spaces that were vacant which I could perhaps use for my own project.

I shot them an email to which they addressed with a phone call the following day. They asked me typical questions like when we were looking to shoot, and for how long. Those could easily be answered though the question on Public Liability stumped me.

My application will need to be passed by their CEO, they will have to justify my minuscule budget and they will then have to check on the studio’s availability but all up, I got the sense that this is a real possibility.

I would be so excited to shoot in such a colossal space! It would put me through my paces as a producer and allow me to experience my own work on a busy international stage.

Whether it happens or not, I will always be reminded of the studio’s benevolent ethos… that they have not declared that they are too big for the budding artists of this state. I should hope that this attitude reflects the broader industry.

Time will tell.

A sound study of Jacques Tati’s Playtime

After viewing Billy Wilder’s The Apartment (1960) in class, I recently revisited Tati’s epic 1967 film Playtime to unpack the uses, possible sources and intentions of the sounds. What I discovered was a hyperreal post-synched sound that gave me the sense of a modern day detachment of human intimacy.

I also noticed that, throughout the interior scenes of the film, there is a constant electrical buzz. This buzz reminds me of the sound of a an old single coiled electric guitar. This could be layered with a secondary hum though, having been recorded as a mono signal, there is only so far this layering could be pushed.

In a slapstick and typically Tati-esque sequence, the hyper-accentuated noise of a belching chair offers a comedic interlude where a piece of slick modern furniture is reduced to nothing more than a fart joke. It is as if Tati is speaking directly to those who submit to ostentatious yet fundamental items, it is as if he is imploring them, and all viewers, to not take themselves too seriously.

The non-diegetic music by Francis Lemarque reminds the mainstream viewer to stay focused and not be marginalised by Tati’s highly esoteric themes and subtle in-jokes.

The overall intention with the sound seems to deliver the sense of ubiquitous faulty gadgets. They invade the viewer’s aural space making us feel claustrophobic, alone and out of our depth.

One can’t help but acknowledge the film’s prescience. Playtime’s use of sound has us feel as though we are rats in the wheel of an ever growing machine that is bigger than all of us. Therefore, I’m hoping to produce a piece of audio visual media that applies the same themes of detachment and hyperreality as I believe it is just as relevant today.

Tati, J 1967, Playtime, Bernard Maurice.

P4 Class Feedback Links

To Yield’s Tin Llama’s P4 and personal reflection, please follow… 

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/p4/ 

“Class Feedback”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/wp-admin/post.php?post=558&action=edit

“Wordle is Now In the Lexicon”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/wp-admin/post.php?post=514&action=edit

“Group Appellation”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/06/group-appellation/

“My Paper Became a Medium When I Wrote On It”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/05/04/our-medium-is-paper/

“Closing In On the P4 Concept”

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/daniel-bowden/2015/04/27/closing-in-on-the-p4-concept/

Dan’ s Final Blog

In this blog, I will discuss what I feel I have learned, how I learn, the challenges that emerged through the course and what I discovered about my own creative practice.

With the ever expanding digital universe, I feel it is imperative to keep up to date with all IT related mediums. From the moment I began constructing my blog page right up to this minute, I am learning new ways of navigation around online digital platforms. The necessity to remain digitally well groomed has brought upon new organisational skills; for example, Google Drive. This information ‘cloud’ model has opened up new opportunities for me already, for example, I have used Google Drive for other Uni subjects and spread the word to my peers who haven’t yet discovered this resource, and further to this, I now plan to implement it on a future production that I have been considered for.

My learning has also been extended through a conscious effort in calculating my personal media consumption. What this has revealed is that my media intake has evolved through the years, not only because of the available technology at hand, but due to my constant flux in desired platforms; for example, back when Facebook had its explosion in 2009, it was a primary tool for my media receiving and dissemination, but now, FB has receded in importance as my priorities have shifted.

Marshall McLuhan’s work has been a great discovery, since I read a passage in an art reference book about “the media being the message” this lightbulb moment has remained with me as a media metric. This notion is relevant to many contemporary examples and it is a testament to McLuhan’s prophetic foresight.

The way I learn is through repetition and association. Nowadays, I’m normally fine in remembering people’s names as I had struggled with this in the past therefore had to overcame this deficiency. To remember names, I repeat the aural sound of the name and then put an image or separate person to the face. Rhyming words have been useful when recalling names, for example, Mike is the guy who owns the bike, but even if Mike does not have a bike, I endeavour to remember him as ‘the bloke who could benefit from owning a bike’. Through  my time in the Media One course, I have had the opportunity to exercise these methods of learning and memory.

As classes and lectures can feel as though they are running at a breakneck pace sometimes, I often turn to my peers for there views, however I must remain aware that all advice should be received as a subjective remark rather than a factive statement.

I closely follow peer blogs to try to gain a clearer understanding of what was expected, though admittedly, I feel as though I have let this challenge get the better of me, I appreciate having the opportunity to implement this practice but I feel as though I may have fallen behind. It was however refreshing to have lecturer Dan insist that we scrawl a 15 minute stream of consciousness blog in a lectorial. I had conjured up some poignant thoughts about ‘the significants of dust’ though, WordPress (I’ll withhold the profanities that I used at the time) ‘checked-out’… it was an error that, had it been a person, was staring me in the eye with its middle finger raised, all the while blowing me disingenuous kisses. I was lucky to have had empathic friends sitting next to me whose work at some stage in the past had similarly failed to save ending up in a million pieces above the room.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) - Mel Stuart

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) – Mel Stuart

With regard to my own practice, chiefly audio, I have been fascinated by archaeological acousticians Trevor Cox and Rupert Till’s work in uncovering sophisticated acoustic methods employed by prehistorical humans. For me, this was conformation that societal preferences in communicative forms sometimes favoured quality over gratuitous hyperbole.

A Train Trip To Our Ancient Roots (2010)

A Train Trip To Our Ancient Roots (2010)

Spellbound – Stream of Consciousness

“To paint with a finer brush”, that was something that my acting teacher constantly told us in class. Explore the minute detail in something small and seemingly insignificant, and make it huge for you.  For example, imagine the feel of a blanket that you got when you were a child and see if that brings up any dormant emotions, or think about shaving cream on your skin and how your pours react to it, one could concentrate on the joint of their little finger and feel how it reacts with the surrounding tendons. Now, the lights are up and curtain is drawn so. . . walk on stage and perform!

There is infinite power in the stillness that is produced from heightened concentration in a performer, as the mind is still and blank, the eyes are therefore relaxed the breathing regulated and the person is ultimately calm. The senses are heightened, reactions became honest and the viewer is able to fill in the action void with their own take on what the character is thinking and will eventually do. In relation to the points addressed in Daniel’s lecture, dust seems small and insignificant, however, if one thinks about it, dust holds many things; fibres of fabric, microscopic organisms, flakes of skin, hair, tiny minerals… and if you keep thinking about it, what shape are they? Are they spherical, slate shape, crystal shape, spiky? The variations are immeasurable! So, according to my teacher, after several hours of this sort of heightened concentration, you are now unshakable in front of a camera or a large audience. Having witnessed and experienced this for myself, I have developed a new sensitively for the power of insignificant detritus.

The dust can make you sneeze, the dust can impel you to wipe it off the bookshelf once in a while, but it can also turn a performance inside out and back to front and leave viewers spellbound.

THE GRAF THING

In class, I was handed a sheet of paper and asked to plot points on a graph to represent how I have progressed throughout Media One.

The variables related to; media objects & stories, working independently with tools & equipment, critical thinking and our understanding of the blog.

As I had expected, each of these variables increased gradually and consistently, there were no dramatic spikes aside from a slight increase in my understanding of the blogs, chiefly developed from observing my peer’s work and Geoff Lemon’s – a journalist from The Guardian.

I am looking forward to developing my critical thinking as I progress throughout the degree.

 

THE GRAF THING

The Graf Thing


 

The Blog Board

Class Feedback

Monday morning exploded into a fantastic debate around the symbiotic relationship between audiences, institutions and the dissemination of personal information that is deceptively immaterial. We were again asked to consider how much trust we place upon certain institutions to which, at a glance, would seem too much.

Once the dusk had settled, we had a chance to reveal how our P4 projects are progressing. Jarrod, Siobhan and Genna’s piece addressed media technology which is set in the form of a choose-your-own-adventure. For me, it had me thinking about how I engage with the media from when I wakeup and check my smart phone to when I leave for school or work. It also had me remembering my excitement as a child when I would immerse myself in these types of choose your own activities. This idea has an infinite amount of potential that could well weave its way around YouTube like the nucleation of ice crystals if it were to be done right.

In subsequent presentations, we were shown propaganda on ‘how to become the best media user possible’, this resembled early works by constructivist Alexander Rodchenko and the Soviet propaganda art of the 1920’s and the 1940’s.

Alexander Rodchenko 1924

Alexander Rodchenko (1924)

Later on, we were left entranced by Cate Klancy who is a compelling Fab-ricated character; she is carefree, beautiful and ultimately  superficial with big dreams that are out of touch with the real world. Cate, or CK as she would like to be called, is a parody on how the public responds to ‘hype’,  I truly believe that the class needs to know more about her so that we can turn a mirror on our own superficialities.

P4 Feedback

We presented our 2nd instalment to the class which focusses on evolving mediums. The feedback that resonated the most for me was related to our drafting process and how the steps involved in the podcast’s production need to be meticulously documented so that they can later be presented in our reflection. Again, the overall feedback was positive.

Institutions

12 May 2015 – Lectorial

In our enlightening lectorial, we explored what an institution comprises of. We established that; institutions are governed by expectations, they may have some kind of legal framework, cultural rules,  rituals, symbols and community recognition.

After an enjoyable analysis of David Simon’s HBO drama The Wire, marriage came into focus as one of the most universal examples.

This got me thinking about my situation.

So, I’m engaged. I finally popped the question in 2014 after 10 years of being with my life partner. But, we’re not married yet… and we may never get married, the reason for this is that we plan to prioritise our spending on overseas travel, living expenses and our daughter’s education.

My grandmother is 93, she’s sharp as a tack, speaks her mind like she’s got nothing to lose  and wouldn’t hesitate to offer you a bed if you were down and out, though she is old fashioned. She was born in the 20’s when institutions were a lot different, for example, women had only just been granted the right to vote!

Naturally, a bone of contention has grown between us as a result of our opposing ideals, it is mostly lacquered over with funny quips like “When are you getting married?” “Let me look at my watch!” etc. Through this light exchange, there is a mutual understanding that times have changed, however, it is hard to look away from the underlying hurt that ensues from our opinions on life. My Gran does not hold back from reminding me that illegitimate children born out of wedlock were shamed in her day, similarly, I am often expressing contemporary views about the world that, for her, may be regarded as offensive.

The ideals of certain institutions that  have been forged in to our minds,  seem to have become indelible; they have fastened themselves to the psyche as if they were a part of the human anatomy.

As an advocate of change, I find these interactions challenging, I find it hard to rise above my Gran’s antiquated views because the more we disagree, the more we seem to dig our heels in.

We have become obstinate, disillusioned and tired of the impositions that have been lugged on to us from our ever changing society.

To agree to disagree seems to be the best resolution but, really? Is this all we’ve got??

 

The Giver and Receiver of Envy

The older I get, the less I seem phased about the apologetic platitudes surrounding one’s proclamation about being ‘a shameless self promoter’. It is a statement that is void because it cancels itself out. In essence, what you’re doing is saying sorry to someone for something that you haven’t done or said yet, but… you’re going to say it anyway. So… why waste oxygen?

The tacit disquiet that surrounds ‘blowing one’s own trumpet’ can plunge a person into an unnecessary state of self flagellation. Granted, nobody likes a show off but if you’re with peers who are intelligent and engaging human beings and you are offering an insight into something that others didn’t know before now then, why the hell should you hold back? All this is doing is chastening you for your hard work which intern may incite apathy.

According to Peter Kalos, a former acting coach of mine, (a worldly man who is not one to shy away from a name drop or ten) this fear of self promotion is a cultural thing. He says that it is rampant in Australasia, where as, in LA, to be coy about your achievements will only secure your plane ticket home.

For me, I have let so many opportunities slip away because I had thought that I would be judged if I vocalised my achievements… I believed that I would be  viewed as a ‘big shot’. See, I  too suffered… and still suffer envy triggered by the achievements of others, so the word ‘wanker’ slips into my vocabulary at times. But what I’ve come to realise is that, if by chance I am in the company of those who will judge me in this way, it’s the wrong company. If I get envious, I go against the grain and congratulate them. I’ll be miserable otherwise.

If I’m going to talk about myself nowadays, I reel off in internal monologue along the lines of, “Brace yourself, here it comes”.

I’ll only be sorry if I sell my self short.