Tag Archives: media one

The Things I’ve Yet to Learn

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Playing my self portrait for the class today was very intimidating for me. I love receiving feedback on my work but always get nervous presenting to people, and especially in this instance because the work was very personal. On the other hand, I was proud of my work and it was great to hear what other people thought about it and interpreted it to be. I also loved watching other people’s self portraits because every aspect of the work said a lot about the person and there was so much variation from video to video.

There were a few portraits that really stood out to me and sparked ideas for my future work as well as making me think about new skills that I could work on developing.

Lucas:

  • Filming and editing were thoughtful and seamless
  • Told a story – clips gradually grew shorter and shorter, then snapped back to slower cuts to create a sense of calm after the ‘chaos’
  • Contrast between black & white and colour using split-screen – put a lot into 60 seconds
  • Words jumped around on the screen and changed fonts – almost looked animated

Screen Shot 2015-04-20 at 1.55.57 pm

Patrick:

  • Editing – I want to learn how to have a black screen that reveals a video behind as words show up on the screen
  • Layered two videos over each other (filters and semi-transparent)

Screen Shot 2015-04-20 at 1.53.04 pm

Rob:

  • Interesting use of colours, blur, layering
  • Managed the switches in aspect-ratio well
  • Use of repetition tied everything together well (e.g. video > photo > back to different segment of same video)
  • Red hat: dark, mysterious

 

A Terrible First Filming Attempt

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In our week 5 tutorial we worked very briefly with the Sony MC50 camera, learning a few of the basic functions and then filming our own short hand-held, still and pan shots.

We were also asked to think about aspect ratios – the dimensions of a film recording – and to make sure that each of our clips had the same ratio, or that we incorporated different ratios in a creative manner or switched for a specific purpose. Next, we talked about zooming, and how it is very uncommon to see zooms in shot; it is much more common to cut from, for example, a mid-shot to a close-up shot. Finally, we discussed colour balance and temperature in film clips. The colour balance can have a profound effect on the viewer, as it changes the whole atmosphere in the shot. For example, blue creates a cold feel that may be associated with a hospital, while yellow is associated with warmth and afternoon light, which can feel very homey.

Week 5 Lectorial – ‘Successful’ Reading

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In our week 5 lectorial, we spoke about successful reading as well as how to practically approach our third project brief (and some things to keep in mind).

I’m going to try to make use of the following tips to help me get through all my readings at university, and particularly the challenging ones.

  • Read the abstract first (if there is one), paying close attention, as this outlines what the reading will be about
  • Skim read the body of the text to figure out the main idea of the writing and become familiar with the writing style and structure
  • Read introduction and conclusion to clarify the overall purpose of the text
  • Think about the argument the writer is making so that things make sense as you read
  • Don’t be overwhelmed by a lot of text; look for key sentences and go for there
  • Don’t get stuck on terms you don’t know – make a note to look it up and come back to it later
  • Highlight and annotate as you go
  • When you finish reading, write a brief summary of the main ideas of the text for quick reference
    • Look for a kernel that sums up the main point of the text
    • Also evaluate the text in your mind, thinking about the strengths/limitations and the scope of the reading
  • Think about the relevance of the text for your purpose (e.g. background reading, inspiration, developing a creative or technical skill)

In terms of things to remember for project brief 3, I made the following list:

  • Release forms signed by participants
  • Original and Found Footage
    • Found footage: pre-existing footage found and appropriated in an original way that the original creator
  • Editing
    • Make use of cutaway shots – keep the audience interested
    • Voiceovers
    • Interview – filmed from multiple angles
    • Fast cuts and repetition
    • Think about putting effects on videos (e.g. colour washes to create a certain mood, sense of ageing/time to create a sense of reminiscence)
    • Play with camera focus – same thing from different angles
    • Mood music behind a person speaking – can lift what they are saying

Editing Experimentation

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In class, we learnt about the following four transitions in preparation for our second project brief, a one minute edited video self portrait.

The transitions:

1. Cuts  – if you notice the editing, you come out of the world for a brief period of time

– Straight cut, contrast cut, cut on graphic matching, jump cut; cuts can disguise (e.g. when an interviewee rambles, a cut can be used to shorten the edited interview – cut to a shot of the interviewer/the interviewee from another angle)

2. Dissolve – shorthand that audiences recognise as a passing of time, but can also smooth out shots that are clunky

3. Fades – fade up from black, fade to flack, flash frame of white

4. Wipes – not used in most media production but can be used as part of the aesthetic of a piece if established early on (exceptions: infotainment, Australia’s Funniest Home videos, etc.)

More to consider:

  • 25 frames/second = cinema (makes smooth and realistic action)
  • Humans do not perceive frames but rather see movement for anything over 12 frames/second
  • Sound can also be used to create a transition from one idea to the next (can change before the visual changes to create an interesting effect – foreshadowing what will come next)

This is my first attempt at editing based on the techniques from our media tutorial. The focus is on shape.

This is Me: An Edited Self Portrait

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The concept behind my self portrait was to demonstrate the different environments, people and experiences that have shaped who I am. I wanted to illuminate numerous aspects of my personality by creating a juxtaposition representative of how people may perceive me on the surface and how I see myself. During the editing stage I realised that a couple of my media creations didn’t portray ‘me’ in an effective way, so the process itself fuelled my creativity.

Each of my images is connected, as they all give me a sense of “home” when I look at them. My sound recordings are quite varied – city noises representing my adjustment to Melbourne culture, me singing an original song both because I love to sing and because the lyrics resonate with where I am in my life now, and nature sounds because being outside and closing your eyes, you can feel at home anywhere in the world.

My first video shows where I have come from (Shanghai) and where I am now (college in Melbourne). The video of my sister sitting in my Grandma’s dining room writing a Chinese character brings together my family and my life experience. In the walking video I am on my way to college so this is symbolic of my new life. The reversed video of me drawing over my scars is supposed to illustrate that I like to be creative and have fun, but that when this is stripped away I am also strong (I think this video in particular is the most successful part of my work).

Editing these elements together gave me a sense of piecing together different parts of ‘me’. I wanted to create an abstract representation completely undefined in terms of time, so I mostly used blur and cross dissolves to build seamless transitions and create a fluid effect throughout the video. I think the least successful part of my work is the opening title, as it doesn’t completely connect with the rest of the elements in my video. For future projects I also want to work on my soundtrack layering skills.

Self Portrait Feedback Session

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In our tutorials this week, we presented our self portraits to a small group of people, who then critiqued our work using four Edward de Bono’s thinking hats from his Six Hat system.

We utilised:

– Yellow hat, characterised by positive and optimistic thoughts (highlighting what worked well)

– Red hat, which relies on gut reaction and telling the creator your initial feelings

– Black hat, pertaining to things that aren’t quite working (presented in a constructive way)

– Green hat, which offers alternatives and creative ideas.

For each person in my group, I offered my thoughts from the yellow hat perspective.

Gloria:

Concept – create a collection of media that portray her personality, through what is seen in images/videos but also the composition of each element.

1. Audio: layering of music and sound effects gave listener a sense of being in the room with her – clear she was studying whilst other things were going on around her

2. Text: published her words so they were set out in the shape of a person – added another dimension to the words as we read them and says that little bit extra

3. Included both abstract and realistic pieces of media to give a fuller picture of her personality and the reality of her life

 Maggie:

Concept – (parody) “I’m not that complex a person. I took the idea of a person making a movie of my life that really wouldn’t be that interesting.” She explored production elements of this film as her self portrait.

1. SO CREATIVE. The vision for the self portrait flowed through every element – the concept said more about her personality than each specific element did and this is hard to do.

2. Text: (cover of a film script) perfect jumping off point tying all other elements together, funny, said more than just what was written on the page – gave context to the work

3. Audio: Maggie winning an Oscar for her work – demonstrated her aspirations, not only what she is like now

 Daniel:

Concept – demonstrate multiple sides of his personality to show as much of himself as possible. In a sense, he portrayed himself as an outsider looking into his life at the same time as the audience.

1. Photograph: one image presented a metaphor for his personality rather than anything directly connected to his life – interesting concept

2. Video: filming his music editing felt like we were finally getting inside his mind and his world – contrasted anonymity running through the rest of the work nicely

3. Audio: even gave the clip a name – “Joke Time With Daniel,” laughed at his own jokes – perfectly demonstrated a sense of humour

Each person in my group had their own unique approach to the task, which I found quite interesting. I also discovered that everyone was willing to share a different level of their personal life and of who they think they are. As we were presenting we often apologised for our work, like we were embarrassed to show what we had done, but then we all presented something that was praised by the other members of our group. I think what I’ll take from this is that the fact that we need to own our ideas and be proud of our own unique interpretations of each Project Brief.

“Blood in the Gutter”

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“All of us perceive the world as a whole through the experience of our senses, yet our senses can only reveal a world that is fragmented and incomplete.”

I found the whole concept behind this reading, as well as its presentation as a comic, incredibly creative and thought-provoking. I had never thought about the associations that form subconsciously in audience’s minds when they view edited media or read comics. I’d simply thought about the stories told and the techniques I could see. I think the most interesting part about “Blood in the Gutter” was the theme that “elements omitted from a work of art are as much a part of that work as those included.” As was explained in the reading, in comics, this was the space between the frames, and in edited media it was in the cuts and in thinking about everything that was happening outside the view of the camera. This is especially important in thinking about what to show in edited media (visible), and what to imply (invisible), because both aspects play a key role in the interpretation of meaning by audiences.

Some other techniques mentioned in the reading – particularly fragmentation and rhythm – made me think about my own editing and how the consideration and incorporation of these techniques into my work could be the factor that draws a project together or gives it a particular charm. Finally, this reading taught me that the “phenomenon of observing the parts but perceiving the whole has a name; closure.”

I find the whole idea of gaining meaning from ” the gutter,” or the space between the panels to be such an incredible process. I’m excited to learn more about how specific editing choices produce certain effects, particularly through my own editing successes and failures throughout the course.

My Self Portrait

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My aim for this project brief was to capture my environment, which I believe reflects the newness and change in my life now. The underlying theme throughout each piece of media is the concept of ‘home’. This influenced my self-portrait because the places I’ve been lucky enough to call home have shaped who I am and how I see the world.

Photographs

– This Was 18: people, charms and moments that bring back memories of who I am when I’m happiest

– Home Away From Home: when people ask where home is, I tell them what they want to hear

– Tourist In My Hometown: I’m from Melbourne but the city is still novel to me

– My New Life: college is my newfound independence

Audio Recordings

– City Trams: I am immersing myself in the city of Melbourne to get in touch with my Australian-ness.

– Move On: I love to write and I sing all the time; these are my outlets.

 

Videos

– Walking home: my new routine and a new sense of normality in my life

– Skype calls: the only way I see my family for months at a time. Staying close with my family is hugely significant to me.

Text

澳大利亚 (ào dà lì yà) Australia
爱玛  (ài mǎ) Emma
家 (jiā) home
– juxtaposition between the words and the language they are written in to demonstrate two important aspects of my life
perseverance
adventure
– words I live by

Portraits of America

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I follow a page on Facebook called “Portraits of America,” which has the same purpose as the much more well known “Humans of New York” – to provide a small glimpse into the lives of complete strangers in the hope that people may become a little more thoughtful and compassionate in their everyday lives.

One particular post, shared on 7 March, caught my attention. A man spoke about his experience growing up, expressing his opinion that “You have to reach a certain level of intelligence to avoid the control of the media. At a young age, you’re very susceptible to influence.” He then relayed his personal experience, explaining that a commercial on television led him to believe that because he was from a violent neighbourhood, he wouldn’t live past age 25. This had a deep psychological effect on the man. Reading a glimpse of one man’s story, I was shocked by the effect the media had on his life. I also started thinking about how many other people had been similarly influenced and to what extent this affected the way they lived their lives.

In a few of my tutorials for different classes, we have discussed how the media can have an impact rather than just “reflecting” society at a given moment in time. The example I saw on “Portraits of America” is a perfect representation of the power of media. If you hear something enough times, from enough sources, or presented in different ways, ideas start to sink in.

This man’s story also illustrates the importance of education in making well-informed decisions. The media can provide a skewed perspective for a multitude of reasons – advertising purposes, catering to a particular audience (left- or right-wing, for example), biases of the media producers, etc., which means that we need to periodically take a step back and exercise common sense to asses how media content should be interpreted.

I don’t necessarily agree with this man’s word choice that the media “controls” people, because the media cannot take away a person’s free will, but I do think it is much harder to escape today than ever before.

Our First Media One Tutorial

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I worked on setting up my new blog today in my first tutorial. It’s still very new but I’m looking forward to using all the available features to document my progression through this course.

It was nice to finally be in a more relaxed setting and to talk to others in the Media course about their interests and what areas they hope to work in after finishing their degrees. A lot of people seem very interested in film, which is different from my main interest (written communication) so I hope I can learn from them this semester and beyond. I also think that the diversity in our class will motivate us all to think in new ways and expose us to techniques and functions of media we had not previously considered.

After we were given the first project brief, I started thinking about how I could best represent myself through different forms of media. I am currently brainstorming the most important aspects of my life and how I can creatively depict my personality.

I have also been thinking a lot about the recent changes in my life and how these changes have affected the way I will approach this task. For example, I moved back to Australia from Shanghai – the place I refer to as my “home” – only two weeks ago, so my aim is to portray how my experience living overseas influenced my life. I’d like to have this theme running through a few of the media components in my work as influenced my upbringing, my beliefs and my understanding of the world.