As I began to read, skim and jump around the readings of this week, I tried my hardest to grasp exactly why we had been given this material relating to the notion of collaboration. Through all of my confusion and uncertainty caused by these readings I tried to pull some things from it that made logical and relevant sense within my life and studies today.

Firstly, group work is tricky. In Keith Sawyer’s The creative power of collaboration, he spoke how it can go to the “dark side” (p.57) where “the group (can make) us all dumber,” and of course other situations when a group thrives off the energy of each other. So far in my studies, my group experiences have been positive and I think the crucial element to the success of a group collaboration is communication. I believe it is imperative that every single individual is talking, taking part, and contributing their opinion which ensures that as a group you are using everyones minds, strengths and abilities in order to complete the task the best you can.

Secondly, I stumbled upon a collaboration sequence within the readings that caught my eye; forming… storming… norming… performing…

The group is formed, you are all new. You storm through the task, blurting out ideas and bouncing off each other, clashing/ working together. You make the task normal for yourselves, make it easy and understandable so you all know what you are talking about and become experts on the topic. Finally you perform as a synchronised group ready to take on the world.

I look forward to collaborating in my future studies. I look forward to calling on my talented fellow classmates so we can work together to produce interesting, creative and unique work.

In our recent tutorial, we sat and were allowed the privilege of learning a little bit abut each other through the form of a one minute clip. It inspired me and also calmed me. It instilled in me a new excitement for whats next. It gave me ideas and motivation to tackle the next project with a fresh mind and outlook.

i) No camera movement or change in shot size

ii) Subtle camera movement

iii) handheld camera

In my one-minute media compilation, I have attempted to demonstrate myself without the need for an image of my face. I set the majority of the clip in black and white to illustrate that I am a calm person and like to think of myself as quite level headed. However, I do use colour in the videos of a concert to show another side of me; the side that is wild, carefree and youthful. As I worked through this task I found it extremely hard to get past the barrier that it didn’t need to be a linear logical story, rather a reflection. Once I overcame this, I enjoyed trying to make each transition flow to the next in a way that was not only aesthetically pleasing but had meaning to it.

The sounds to my clip are made up of three recordings. The first was a continuous hum of crickets that can be heard constantly at my home. To me they are comforting and soothing. The second is a blur of excited chatter, shouting, laughing and talk. It symbolises the constant whirlwind of thoughts that spin inside my head and as it drops in and out in the clip, it shows how I balance my racing mind and don’t get too carried away. The last is subtle in my clip, but provides beat in some areas. It’s a cut and repeated sound of my own laughter that no longer is recognisable as laughter when it is played over and over and instead sounds like an instrument.

The addition of text had me stumped for quite some time. I could have quoted any number of inspirational, moral abiding, deliciously unique prose said by someone famous. However, I decided quite abruptly to instead give a very brief intriguing sentence about an experience in my life that would hopefully catch the audience’s attention mid way through a pleasant shot. Just as we discussed in the Week 4 lectorial, by only giving the audience little info, I allow them to fill in the blanks and force them to use their imaginations.

1. Media is the Integration of Theory and Practice

Our 4^th Lectorial inspired me. Up until this point I was still struggling with project 2. However the second speaker, Liam Ward, with his clear explanation and intelligent thinking in regards to editing calmed me and shed light on my situation. I quickly, mid-lecture, turned the page of my notebook and wrote a quick plan and returned to his talk about breaking media and the importance of giving the audience a chance to fill in the blanks and use their imaginations. It all made perfect sense to me and related to the readings of the week. Scott McClouds ‘Blood in The Gutter’ was a very clever and witty exploration of the comic and the ways in which the artist forces the reader to fill in the ‘gaps.’ It can easily be related to my current challenge of editing my media depiction of myself. A definite food-for-thought lesson.

Scott McCloud, 1993, ‘Blood in the Gutter’, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Northampton, MA : Tundra Pub)

What an info heavy session. We were introduced to three speakers, however I found Kyla Brettle the most interesting. She spoke about her wide range of experiences in the industry, in particular her work in the production of non-fiction documentaries.

At one stage of her talk she became very honest and described how in some situations she had to be very very careful about what she said or did as she didn’t want to offend the individual she was interviewing or working with. She opened up about how challenging it can actually be when you are reporting on a fragile issue. The anxiety and at times awkwardness that comes with trying to get enough material, however she concluded that when she was out of her comfort zone she produced the best stories.

She advised us to go beyond what we know and seek out a story that we don’t already know all the facts. To be intrigued be the unknown. To challenge ourselves. I found that inspiring.

Text:

My dad has a saying that he has whipped out since as long as I can remember. “This, is living.” It’s used when one is simply in an awesome situation. I love it. He is an overly appreciative man whose mindset has rubbed off on me.

Video:

1. My favourite band ever, my favourite song, my favourite pass time. Sticky Fingers. The clip I took at their gig in Melbourne just last Friday (13/4/15). It is the epitome of everyone having a good time.

2. My second video is a clip of my back beach. I have grown up next to the beach so it is a huge part of my life. The beach needed to be included in this self exploration.

 

Audio:

1. Rather than taking a video of my favourite song by sticky fingers, I chose when they began to play it to record the audio since that is how I fell in love with it the first time I head it. Only sound. It is called Rum Rage. In the midst of it playing I typed a few lines into the notes on my phone to record how I was feeling. I typed: They speak of youth, they speak of heartbreak, they speak of euphoria, they speak to me. This was a very personal “This is Living” moment for me.

 

2. For my second audio recording I took the opportunity when I saw Kate Ceberano with my family at the Spiegel Tent in Sorrento. I often go to shows with my parents so I thought this effectively represented me. This was a definite “This is Living” moment. I then taped over my recording of Kate, I talked further about my father and his saying “This is Living.”

 

Images:

1. I live by the sea. And I walk to the beach whenever I get a chance. So one of my collection of four images is my home beach on the most perfect of nights. There is nothing better.

 

2. Secondly I took a photo of the lead singer of Sticky Fingers; Dylan Frost, because it portrays my simple love of live music.

3. Thirdly, I captured a beautiful photo of my friends playing beach cricket at Wilsons Prom during summer. It is magical. Camping, spending quality time talking banter around the campsite whilst playing cards is what life is about.

 

4. Lastly, I tried to get others to take photos of myself but I wasn’t happy with any of them. I would love to take photos of anyone else but I was uncomfortable being the subject. Therefore I have included this photo that depicts myself and my closest girlfriends. None of us looking at the camera, we are all laughing about something that was said. It is natural and carefree and depicts much more of myself than any posed picture could. It is shows complete bliss.

Telstra signs, security cameras, video advertising on billboards, mobile phones, protest posters, moving advertisement on trams, Melbourne fashion flags, chanting associated with protests, a homeless man holds a sign, tap and scan phone advertisement, paintings, street art, graffiti advertisement for Nike, music coming from every shop, iPods, laptops, tablets, radio, slogan t-shirts…

As soon as you tune in and begin to consciously ‘notice’ the array of media that surrounds you, it is hard to look away. The practice of noticing is interesting as you manage to surprise yourself with what you haven’t seen whilst drifting along the streets of Melbourne. It forces you to actually SEE the huge variety of media that is normal in today’s society.

        

Ten things that I want to be able to do better/ to know by the completion of my degree:

1. to improve my use of language and overall ability with the written word
2. to strengthen my public speaking
3. to improve my confidence with technology
4. to have created a network of people
5. to have an understanding about audience, market and context
6. to be certain about my career pathway
7. to have had experience in a professional field (Tv, radio)
8. to have learnt many avenues such as PR, advertising and marketing
9. to effectively engage with people
10. to have experimented and thrown myself into as many opportunities as possible

Media 1- Lectorial 2nd March 2015

Hyper Attention and Deep Attention are new terms to me however the concept behind them both is all too familiar. These two terms featured in passages of an essay we read in our first lectorial on Tuesday afternoon.

I learnt that there is a specific term used to describe the state I was in when I read To Kill A Mockingbird on a loud, bustling train in Italy. I was completely unaware of my surroundings and fully and completely focused on the world of Scout, Jem and Dill. It is this undying Deep Attention to one particular source of stimuli that is slowly becoming a rarity within today’s boredom-terrified generation.

Hyper Attention and its effects on ones ability to regain a level of consistent concentration, leaves me feeling depressed and conflicted. It occurs when the television is on and i’ve got my laptop sitting on my lap with music playing whilst I have multiple conversations going and four different tabs open ready for me to click to the next social network or online shop or blog. It is the scrolling, tapping, skipping and fast forwarding that is inflicting on our ability to commit to one single task. Life in 2015 is fast, if your not plugged in you may just miss the fact that I see white and gold yet you see blue and black?

The essay posed many questions, such as what is the fate for the attention spans of my children? It’s scary and at times embarrassing how much time we spend electronically jumping from this to that, however I do have faith. The publics reaction to the intriguing case of Harper Lee’s rejected 1957 manuscript that is now being published and my own anticipation to sit down and read it demonstrates hope. Deep Attention hasn’t been entirely lost, but Apple is still persisting…