Designing the experience

Technology has always had a hand in designing the human experience. Fire kept us warm when before we’d been cold; iPhones kept us entertained when before we’d been bored. Technology – along with fashion, which is intertwined – defines our conception of an era. The Victorians had their steam trains and uncomfortable corsets; Medieval Europe had churches that took 200 years to build and men in tights.

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Cathedral building in the Middle Ages

The developments in radio’s mid-century New Wave interest me in the way the reflect other media of the time. The parallels between cinema vérité (which I have a personal vendetta against but have to acknowledge as an important part of cinema history) and the New Wave of radio are fascinating to me. The portability of technology revolutionised both these forms of media but still seem so bulky and inconvenient to modern ideas. Logically, I can look at the technology of the day and say, “Yes, I get it, I can see, I understand this 100%”, but trying to conceptualise the limitations and sheer physical presence (acres of tape!) makes it seem like an overwhelming enterprise.

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David Attenborough sound recording in Indonesia in the 1950s

I suppose I’m spoilt by the availability of technology today. From where I’m sitting in the lounge room, I can count at least three (the TV might record sound too, I think) means of getting my voice ‘on tape’. Still, even though the possibilities feel limitless – I could, at this second, record and upload a podcast or create any variety of media – I realise that in spite of the innovations of the day, humanity will always face the same problem: laziness.

 

 

 

Brainstorming

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In between my scrawl and poor photography we had a few solid points come from our in-class brainstorming session:

  • Democratisation of the radio process
    • Podcasting
    • Relatively cheap and accessible software and hardware
  • Building in the secondary experience
    • Radio engaging with world around rather than including it passively eg. making a piece of radio based around a particular train journey that weaves in with what the listener would be experiencing
  • Childhood experiences
    • Audiobooks
  • Subliminal messages and the Illuminati
    • Common knowledge
  • Experimentation and innovation
    • Tied in with democratisation process
  • Immersive experience

Revisiting mode theory

An elective that really only won out because I didn’t want to SWF a friend has turned up some unexpected good luck. True Lies (which is a great subject, 10/10 would recommend even at the risk of creeping out a new friend) introduces Bill Nichol’s documentary mode theory, which I learnt is as useful for radio documentary as it is for TV and film. I thought I’d refresh my memory on each mode…

Expository
Traditional, ‘voice of God’ documentary, which addresses the viewer directly to advance a point of view
eg: Night Mail

Observational
Attempt to observe without influencing the ‘social actors’. Forwarded by technological innovation (handheld cameras, microphones etc)
eg: Don’t Look Back

Poetic
Examines relationships and patterns by sacrificing cinematic conventions
eg: Berlin: Symphony of a City

Participatory
Involves the filmmaker through interviews and other interaction with the social actors
eg: Louis Theroux

Reflexive
Calls on audience to challenge their views and accepted ‘truths’ in filmmaking and in the world (self-conscious and self-questioning)
eg: Man with a Movie Camera 

Performative
Emphasises subjective elements / how knowledge can be expressed to elicit an emotional response (rather than the facts of an event)
eg: Michael Moore

These modes can overlap and it can be difficult to box one piece of media or a media maker into a single mode.