Our group was able to work cohesively in the planning and creation of our final media product named ‘The Power of Remix’, which we decided would be a remix of found footage and our own voice-overs creating a documentary/analysis style mash-up of remixes and the use of old texts to create texts. Through this we focused on number of advertisements and on the use of texts in general to produce meaning. We began by experimenting with the remixing of two advertisements about smoking from different eras and thus showing the different views/messages being emitted. By remixing these texts we juxtaposed the audio and the video with vastly different tones thereby creating tension. The aim of this was to demonstrate how context could greatly affect the reading of a text.

We followed this up by adding other advertisements/audio such as the law and order audio remix to display how texts continually borrow from other texts to create their own meaning. We were trying to show how footage/material is used over and over again to show different things. We also sought to display the ethics surrounding the use of others footage, and to link these factors back to the application of texts in general. We were successful in that we used a large number of sources to show the effects of media texts (rather than simply tell) which was our aim. We SHOWED what texts can do, giving examples of different remixes and advertisements and then deliberating on certain points. The use of editing and creative planning with our selection of footage forged a very engaging piece in my eyes as most clips were recognisable and exciting, while the voice-overs weren’t overly simple but easy to understand.

The most problematic aspects of our submitted work were the copyright issues/ethics of our found footage, something ironic as we discuss this topic in ‘The Power of Remix’ with found footage in the background. A number of the bits of footage used were taken from YouTube, so we had trouble deciding whether we should be using it or not. We included most of them because we have critically analysed and critiqued it for education purposes rather than taking it cheaply for entertainment/fame purposes. Another problematic aspect of the project was the collaboration in our group. We worked extremely well together, but as this was our first group project we struggled with handing out specific roles. The editing specifically was a hard thing to share, as only one of our computers was able to use premiere. In the end, rather than having to use an editing suite, we used Alex’s computer to edit the different footage together. This proved problematic as it was difficult to share the workload (in editing) and Alex ended up doing almost all the editing. Both Serena and I did however create the voice-over for the footage and we equally helped out planning and creating the structure of our project with research.

This project has been quite effective in teaching me about the process of collaboration and working as a media practitioner. I was able to understand the importance of pre-production and having a clear framework of what your media text is aimed to do and how it will do it as well as having research to understand and base the structure around. Previously I may have been more disorganised in the production stage because of a lack of research but working in a group with a set time for researching prevented this from happening. We were able to collaborate with group meetings and discuss our aims and expectations of each other, something similar to what would occur in a workplace. This opened my eyes to the importance of teamwork in media as a practise, as you are almost never working alone on a project. To have a successful piece of work, you must mesh well as a team and you must have a strong base for your text while also having creative ideas for engagement.  Overall, I believe we were successful in displaying the effects of text and the intriguing talking points surrounding them and the issues of ownership. We were able to show how texts allow for communication between multiple people of different ages with old and new material being combined. Texts can be used as mass communication, or simply as a tool to communicate meaning to a small group like a class of students. In creating a mash-up of sorts, we were able to explore how context can play a key role in altering the meaning of a text.

I have included the final/complete ‘The Power of Remix’ below for you to view and enjoy!