Who Are You? (who who, who who?) – Lectorial 9

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Brian’s session on ‘audiences’ discussed the role they play in consuming and making sense of media. He also touched on the identification and categorisation of audiences into groups, in broadcast media as vast as ‘the public’ or ‘the masses’. This idea that you can group individuals by numbers and statistics into ‘markets’ is what drives targeted advertising. This information is valuable not just to advertisers but to commercial broadcasters and media producers alike.

Thus, we were prompted in class to think of what kind of an audience we are. I broke myself down into three categories:

  1. Demographic: youth, male student, urban with rural background.
  2. Means (devices): radio, laptop, smartphone, ps3, newspaper – online and print.
  3. Interests: sport, music, politics and tv shows.

Below is a rough graph of the amount of time (hrs) I access my three main digital mediums daily and for what purpose. NB, it includes time spent multi-tasking.

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I have begun noticing ways in which advertisement of products, services and other texts are targeted towards me based on my consumption of media. I am an avid user of Spotify radio (for those unfamiliar it is a music program which allows you to create your own library and playlists) and found that not only are their music recommendations personalised but their advertisements are based on what you listen to. They make great assumptions of audience based on statistical data no doubt sold to them by another party – you know that box you have to tick?

For example, when I first created a playlist of Aussie Hip-hop I was being bombarded with advertisements for cold beer and headline sporting matches. As I browsed through some of my favourite punk artists it became apparent that I’d be interested in band merchandise and vintage clothing. It wasn’t untilI created a playlist for my grandmother’s birthday, with all the old time favourites, that I found out how important it was that I sort out my life insurance now and was interested to learn all the super options available to me.

It is interesting to see the conclusions that can be reached about a media audience by what they have previously watched – the main fault being that these are run, like tv ratings, solely on ‘exposure’ and not ‘engagement’ with material.

A Concept, An Idea, A Salvation – Practical 9

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“Texts” as a media idea is an inherently broad and ambiguous term that has lead us down a variety of paths in our research – from codes and conventions, with context and history, to persuasion and influence. Harnessing the ideas and theories in these journal readings I have created my own definition of “texts” through its core principles.

A ‘text’ in media is an intermediate device between producers and audiences used as a tool for communicating and sharing ideas. Every text:

  • involves an interaction between the composers and those who receive it.
  • has a motive, a reason for being created, relative to the specific time and place in which it is created.
  • brings about initial, intermediate and lasting effects on immediate to wider audiences.

Texts in media when seen as a whole program has power to persuade and influence greater than the sum of its parts, overcoming audience scepticism and conservation in social and cultural codes.

This view of media “texts” as a single entity – combined from the contrasting and conflicting artefacts across medium, genre and form – programmed to influence human life will form the basis of our fourth project. We will discuss the historical and spacial relation between media texts and social interests and actions. Our foci include body image, gender roles, crime, language, fads, and self-responsibility that have been touched on in our individual readings.

During our practical lesson today we heard the ideas of groups studying other topics and were able to develop our own idea of the form and structure of our piece. We are currently designing a propaganda presentation promoting the “perfect human” as defined and created by the text engine. Our project will take the form of a powerpoint to allow multimedia content on a platform that is conventional of informational seminars. Each focus will incorporate an example of influential texts in that area, a self-produced piece of media which interacts with that idea, a summary of the media devices and technologies used and to what effect.

Annotated Bibliographies: an approach – Connection 8

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One component to our group project is individually compiled 1200 word annotated bibliographies. Having never produced an annotated bibliography before this seemed a daunting and extensive task. However, after researching I was able to find an effective system to approaching my chosen resources that meant I could quite easily summarise the texts purpose and importance into this space (though I could have easily written more). It is asking more than an analysis of the words within the text, and provoking you to ask questions such as:

Who is this text addressing?

How does it effectively use data and research to support its claims?

What are the limitations in the application of its theories?

And many more that I had never considered were crucial for a summary, rather I dismissed them as extra-currical thoughts.

A useful tool I found was UNSW’s walkthrough, designed to give fellow students an introduction and help them map out their annotated bibliographies. They follow an eight step principle:

(1) Citation

(2) Introduction

(3) Aims & Research methods

(4) Scope

(5) Usefulness

(6) Limitations

(7) Conclusions

(8) Reflection

This is a method that I have recently introduced in my blog posts (note from practical 7 onwards) that I feels give them a stronger substance and is a flexible layout that can be applied to films, readings and experiences. This method of thinking has enhanced my approach to many aspects of study, particularly in developing a rhetorical approach to history in my media and politics classes.

Harry Potter and the Usual Conflict which creates a Series of Unfortunate Events (Lectorial 8)

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My understanding of narrative is as a sequence of events  motivated and propelled by casualty (cause and effect), in which characters are revealed through their interactions, a series of which propels a plot through the relations between characters reaching a resolution. This does not mean that narrative necessarily has to be portrayed in this linear fashion as Jean-luc Godard said “a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order”. Narratives traditionally follows a structure, using tropes, conventions and repeated representations to create audience expectations. By manipulating these expectations that convention has created, modern producers are able to evoke a stronger, more personal response for example when somebody slowly swings shut the bathroom mirror while a baby cries in a monitor there is (more than likely) somebody standing behind them with a knife. But what if they’re not there? What if they’ve already stabbed them, they close the cabinet and the camera pans down to reveal their blood-stained torso, and then the baby cries into the monitor. Conventions can work across or be limited to genre.

There are some interesting examples where authors have challenged conventions and commented on them within the text itself. I recommend Tex Avery’s Red Hot Riding Hood, and Walt Disney’s Duck Amuck. Most commonly these conventions are challenged in video but  the use of the narrator is prominent in books and audio as well, challenging conventions of narratives in medium is the whole concept behind famous radio adaptation war of the worlds. It is not, I believe, always necessary to go to this extent to criticise convention and will experiment in the manipulation of audience expectation to have a more powerful emotive impact in individual scenes within a greater narrative form.

Sitting on our Hands (Or Covering our Asses?) – Practical 8

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Yet to take form our fourth project brief is well and truly taking hold. Early on we have been asking quite demanding questions. Today we have been able to sit down and summarise our process so far and brainstorm our options left open to us. At this point there are far too many pathways that we can take under such broad and indirect guidelines. Our approach is certainly one of caution, patience and comprehensive research in terms of action as it seems becoming too dedicated to an unacceptable program is our biggest risk. As our class co-ordinators and teachers continue to modify and adapt the project requirements we are seeking to establish strong foundations from which our artefact will take structure.

Our brainstorming began with some points of research that run tangible to themes or studies discussed in class. These will become the key references in our annotated bibliography and from there we can delve further into concepts that interest use and will be useful for our project. We also summarised what we understood “texts” to mean as a media concept and key components which we could expand on. Then we arrived at the questions that have been stalled by the project outline which was still being morphed by the teaching staff. We set out a brief outline of what mediums are available to us and we are leaning towards the multimedia platforms of a website domain or powerpoint presentation – incorporating all our various skills and interests. Our focus, inspired by lectorial notes and separate readings, is the use of conventions and forms and we discussed types of media which had strong conventions.

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I’ve learnt from the first few weeks of this project the bureaucratic procedures which are used to create a cohesive basis for a collaborative project. For the moment I am unsure whether it is absolutely necessary but the detriment it has on efficient progress within the group is immediately apparent. Further affecting our movement through this piece is the timing of this project and its requirements with the schedule of our media content. We are unable to make decisions that will aid the outcome of our project as information regarding what is required of us is being with-held. However, we have gained an understanding of what it is to work collaboratively and efficient means of doing so.

Read Between the Signs – Connection 7

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Today, a rainy Saturday, with my headphones broken and a mind recently activated by coffee I sat silently for the duration of my hour long ride on the 86 Tram and began to consume any information readily available. The carriages were riddled with posters containing images, text and symbols to convey the rules and regulations of Melbourne’s Metro. For a form of text whose whole basis lies in clear and concise messages there’s peculiarity in the vast differences between their denotations and connotations (first and second order meanings). Hardly had I noticed before the amount of assumed knowledge we bring to interpret messages such as these.

It is after all a huge leap from the sign of white circle and lines on a blue background to identify a person in a wheelchair, which in turn comes to represent all persons with disabled mobility, and stands as a symbol that there are sufficient mechanics in place (a ramp, a handrail) to allow access for such persons, and further that they shall be given priority access to the service nearby. Even by following the length and structure of the above sentence we see the lengthy, still not exhaustive, process we take as everyday viewers, consumers, audiences, humans, to understand even the simplest of texts. Crucial to the importance of this pictures cohesion is that the same shapes, in another context,  would not be perceived in the same way. Simultaneously, a perfectly sketched portrait of some-one in a wheelchair would not be received identically.

Key to the effectiveness of such informative texts are their strong conventions. Relying heavily on visual aspects to transcend barriers of language and literacy each poster I saw contained only simple or fine text if any, pertaining to the precise technicalities rather than the dominant meaning. The typical poster used gender and age unspecific drawings, simple depictions of other objects were greyscale – this use of objective characterisation limited the play between the authors intentions and the audience response. Other techniques of colour and framing enhanced this unidirectional movement typical of its form. Also crucial to the successful functioning of cautionary, and safety signs are their external conventions, including their placement, and greater salience. We look overhead and near entries and exits for information, an exit sign on the right hand side of a corridor is read differently to one in the centre.

Our ability to interpret and understand these texts is developed over time, from reading, repetition, and recognition, actions all taken predominantly by the subconscious. It was in fact as recent as 1984 that the identifiable “no symbol”, a red circle with a diagonal line on a white background had a publishing standard in the UK. In the last thirty years it has efficiently created a social and cultural code allowing it to be read universally (in the sense limited to its use, rather than a literal sense of universal.) Continuing to observe the way that I receive texts from an audience perspective will greater enhance my understanding of the techniques and approaches in regards to connotations, signs and codes that I can use as a producer to create meaning.

 

“Texts” (Lectorial 7)

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Recently I’ve been issued a group assignment in which we must produce a media artefact (sound, film, photograph, artwork or a combination) the only guideline being that it creatively engages and responds to one of five central concepts of Media. Our group was assigned “texts” which resulted in three blank faces and one combined sub-vocal groan of dismay. What do they mean texts? Like SMS? Emoji’s? Surely not classic English literature? I have had enough sleepless nights contemplating the contextual motivation behind Jane Austin’s romantic feminist perspective and god help me now if I’m to remember everything I forgot about Shakespeare when I burnt my notes in the bonfire.

Today though I can rest somewhat assured that we will NOT be unpacking Frankenstein nor comparing its literary techniques to other gothic novels. Indeed “texts” from a media perspective involves film, audio, documents, fiction, non-fiction, both visible and confidential, even extending as far as architectural design. Furthermore, our approach should be one that works closely with the effect of media texts, the intended  meaning of the producer and the meaning(s) received by the audience.

From this new perspective of “texts” I can agree when UTS professor Alan McKee said “Texts are the material traces that are left of the practice of sense-making” (2003: p.15)that on a timeline of history various producers, authors and artists have left us clues as to how we can make sense of our society, our context, from an individual or collective perspective. McKee goes further to say that texts are “the only empirical evidence we have of how other people make sense of the world”, but this involves a much more analytical way of thinking, one that I hope to  explore throughout this project.

I look now to further engage with the interaction between producer and audience, to perceive how audiences engage with materials and the ways in which this creates cultural and social value. As thus, to effectively analyse, we must appreciate first the ambiguity of media texts – how their meanings can be interpreted in various ways, due to the dissimilarities in audiences formal, social and ideological codes; and the play in the process – the inevitable difference, on whatever scale, between the producers intended message, meaning and evoked response, to the audiences reading, interpretation and understanding. What I most look forward to is finding my own approach to critically analysing semiotics in which I can enhance not only my understanding of a text’s meaning but my understanding of the audience’s reception and how the skills a producer utilises to achieve this.

Project Brief 3 – Feedback (Tutorial 7)

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Seeing the rest of my media classes finished projects has helped me understand the processes that other students go about producing material and editing. Jordan’s back and forth between produced interview and found footage, meant his film was able to take a cohesive aim while following two parallel paths. A great example of conversation, investigation and reflection can be found in Tyler’s memoir-esque piece. Meanwhile Jennifer’s  visual representation of her partners’ tunnel vision was a confronting way to portray perspective.

I also heard of the interesting ways that people recieved my project, above all their feedback gave me an insight as to how my piece communicated meaning. Generally people had said that the piece was powerful, evoking an emotional response, though it was lost effect through my attempt to overcrowd and clutter leaving no time for audience reflection. I think then that I’ve achieved my goal in moving the audience through the content material, guitar track and editing, but next time I will focusing on exploring less concepts in greater detail being simple yet not simplistic.

Feedback summary:

  • The flow and sequencing of the piece efficiently established a premise and consistently evolved and unpacked the concept in a way that would otherwise be illogical without that consistency.
  • The separation of sequences (i.e. outfits, stop motion) meant many multiple aspects could be conveyed while following a central theme.
  • Focus was drawn to the important parts of the film by the framing, timing and overlaying – particularly in reference to audio.
  • The use of the male perspective on body image was detrimental to the focal point as a young, female demographic.
  • Some experimentation with the use of silence and the slowing of material would strengthen the impact of the scenes they are used in and further develop the response to the other scenes by contrast.
  • More consistency is needed in the audio levels where it is not used for effect – i.e. interview.

Project Brief 3 – IMAGEine

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My portrait is a representation of my partner Eloise Vincent, focusing on her struggle to find self-confidence and identity in a life of pressure and routine. For this project I took a more abstract approach and attempted to challenge conventions in my communication of meaning through this film. I hoped to create a piece that displayed the subject as an individual – through the stop motion mirror scene and the constant portrayal of unique image and voice – while also communicating the context of a greater issue, “body image” – through the interjections and commentary of archive footage; techniques of contrast and compliment that will be useful for future projects. Here I discovered how to simultaneously convey two (or more) messages through editing, taking a leaf out of guest lecturer Liam Ward’s “Art of Persuasion”.

The main hurdle in the process was locating suitable “found footage” that would compliment my general idea while being powerful enough to evoke audience reaction, interestingly I feel they became integral to the meaning of the film. The final section where the archive video getting fit plays from “think not about image” to “I am okay as I am” is the most successful aspect as it draws the viewer back to the relationship between “body image’ and our subject as intended through audio and visual edited together from separate sources. Conversely, the opening passage of the film created a mood and meaning that I hadn’t intended, problematic to the finished project. It lost some effect through intensifying audio clips and editing that I hoped would portray an increased tension and feeling of claustrophobia but while not paralleled in the visual aspect seemed cluttered and out of place.

Initially I was worried that my material, seemingly disparate in content, form and genre, wouldn’t create one cohesive piece. However, I underestimated the impact of “the gutter”, as editing with intent to create conversation between materials (through layering, sound bridging, repetition and varying transitions) produced a cohesive film that spanned genre and transcended convention. This incidentally revealed the ability of post-production work to create, change and challenge meaning of raw materials. I will continue to develop my understanding of the production and editing processes to communicate multiple messages and begin intentionally creating media that can be read and received in different ways by an audience.

The (your name) Effect – Lectorial 5

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How lovely would it be to leave this world with an idea or process known as “The Liam Effect.” I assume it would be much more powerful a thought if your name were Liam, so I suggest you read and understand it as “The (your name) Effect.” Liam’s effect is a work in process, and my “Jarrod Effect” is yet to be conceived and there is a flurry of contraception blocking my way – the commitments to work, uni, sport and family limits the chances of “The Jarrod Effect” being ready for production any time soon. One person who has succeeded in bringing their effect to public view (no, not Ashton Kutcher’s Butterfly Effect) is Lev Kuleshov.

This is quick video that sums up his theory, that how we interpret an image or scene is influenced by what immediately follows or precedes. Bare this in mind while you watch:

Kuleshov took the stock footage of a reasonably expressionless man and played it three times interposed and edited against various scenes. He believed that viewers understanding of the man and his expression would change each time depending on what footage it was placed against. Indeed his audiences of the 1920s saw that if seen after the bowl of soup the man appeared hungry, after the body of the child he seemed upset and towards the lady he seemed lustful. Personally I did not feel that his expression changed at all (it doesn’t) however the meaning and my understanding of this man still differed in each scenario.

My perception of the man is that he is disinterested and unaffected by whatever it is that is happening. How then could he appear to others to be hungry upset or lustful? Still, my reading of this man as a character changed with each section, against each of these images I found myself asking what kind of a man responds like that; the important question, WHY?

Shown after the bowl of soup my idea of him was as a man well-off, to whom food was in constant supply and his disinterest was due to his wealth and satisfaction. Depicted following the deceased child this man took on a completely different identity, somebody unaffected by this sight must be psychopathic or disturbed, I began questioning whether he was a killer. In contrast to the lady his disinterest created a new level altogether, the passing of time, or a history, as in my opinion he no longer seemed interested they may have previously been an item and he has grown tired, moved on or been betrayed.

This effect while seeming obvious today was groundbreaking research in these youthful years of film. Today this effect is used in every piece of edited media to one extent, people master in the manipulation of audience understanding or response and purposefully make viewers develop their own ideas as their perception is actively influencing in blank space.