Just Outside The Zeitgeist

Week 4 Lectorial Reflection

The concept of media can be seen from many different perspectives and Adrian Miles’ presentation that media is a thing, not a meaning is based on an individual’s life experience shaping how they view media. The concept of a separation between a mind and body, that thinking is separate form making, and its outdated nature in current society was eye opening for me in terms of study habits and willingness to take the extra step. Adrian’s thoughts on how thinking about something is not beneficial unless you follow up with an action to reinforce those thoughts shows how a good work ethic and a combination of mind and body is imperative in learning.

Liam Ward’s presentation on editing was fascinating for me. His opening piece on how editors view the process as “about fixing problems” reveals how central editing is to a film’s narrative and commercial success. “If you break it, it creates meaning” is a compelling way to approach editing any piece of media as it exposes the fluidity of a text’s meaning as well as the differences of meaning for each individual who consumes it.

Having to create scenes in which they could all be interchangeable along the narrative’s timeline ensured that all scenarios needed to be broad without any specific mention of time. The initial conclusion for our narrative was waking up in the hospital at 1am and so to ensure that the sequences could fit anywhere in the timeline they all had to relate to a large accident or revelation, resulting in three various forms of turning points to ensure the protagonist ended up at the hospital. This resulted in a fairly dark narrative which in turn morphed the relatively safe and pleasant sequence of buying flowers into a sombre reminder of death, thus revealing how meaning of a scene is heavily dependent on the surrounding context of the entirety of a text.

Week 3 Lectorial Reflection

As a person who has ingrained myself in popular media, I define myself by the television shows and films I watch. Understanding the copyright laws surrounding the media I create gave a clear distinction and guide on how to honour those works while not impeaching on them. For instance, I did not know that a copyright is automatic and their is no registration system or need for the © symbol. The distinction of what is and is not copyrighted was interesting as the idea for a project is not protected by copyright laws as it must have a material form such as a book, film, image, etc, for it to be protected.

Paul’s rues for ‘being cool’ on a production opened my eyes to the levels and size of the productions we as students are able to create, compared to the high school efforts of yesteryear. An important take away for me from his talk is the fact that as  lead on a production I must respect and ensue the cast and crew are happy. The organisational skills required is daunting to me but Paul showed me that the first step to a happy crew is to accommodate them for without them there is no production. Some key ones he mentioned were

• Communication with all participants to ensure everyone is on the same page and understands their role in the production.
• When location shooting, arrive two hours before the cast and ensure the crew has enough time to set up the shoot before the participants arrive.
• Ensure you fill out and document the proper location and personal release forms

This last point correlates with the Donovan reading as on page 347 discusses the nature of consent in documentaries. Not ”whether it is right or wrong to gain consent” but ”what we may know and understand what constitutes ‘consent.”’ Having briefly discussed Project Brief 3, where we will have to make a portrait of someone in our lives, this debate on what constitutes consent is interesting. It makes me think outside of the mindset of a filmmaker and into the mind of the subject and they way they may want to be portrayed after giving consent to have their personality displayed to an audience.

Week 2 Lectorial Reflection

Not being alive during the time in which broadcast production had control over the media landscape places me in a position to favour the post-broadcast age we live in now. The ease of access to information and entertainment is so deeply ingrained in our society that I have heard the phrase “I can’t live without my phone” multiple times in the past year. The free environment of the internet does lean towards the proposition that media is not a ‘thing’ but places we inhabit and is a constant source in out everyday lives.

Yet this presence is not so restrictive in terms of audience choice in comparison to the broadcast age where a limited number of television station aired programs designed to draw audiences away from the few rival stations. The television viewing population were active in their choice of channel but not in the content they saw and as someone who tries to absorb as many cultural touchstones as possible, the internet age has allowed the people to flourish. The huge volume of media output such as user created content is not created through media factories anymore but through individual or networks of creative people who can share their expressions with a click of a button. The majority of these works do not reach as many members of society because they are specific to the creators interest and that entails viewers with similar interest seek it out whilst others never learn of its existence. This contrasts greatly with the mass comprehensibility of broadcast content but I certainly feel that the age of user created content allows for a more personal connection between creators and viewers ensuring that even though a media text is not known by everyone, it still is very important for those who care.

Week 1 Lectorial Reflection

It was difficult to list ten things I would like to accomplish before I receive my degree as setting goals has never been my forte. Yet they were suddenly popping into my head because I realised how passionately I feel about media and pop culture and how eager I am to soak up all the knowledge I can. They are as follows…

1. Review television episodes and films in a professional and well educated manner
2. Deconstruct a director’s choices and the relationship to the films narrative
3. Learn proper script writing and directorial skills
4. Deep understanding of the relationship between media forms and the pop culture zeitgeist
5. Ability to translate media from script to screen
6. Deeper knowledge and understanding of different equipment and software
7. Create a network between peers
8. Learn the career pathways and opportunities that may await me in the future
9. How to connect with a differing range if audiences through media
10. Understanding of media jargon

The discussion on hyper and deep attention surprised me not through the excerpt from Hyper and Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes by N. Katherine Hayles, but the discussion on the topic with other people in the class. I have been aware that the younger generation have become aligned with the hyper attention cognitive styles due the the ease of access to screens and the internet. It is as simple as reaching into your pocket and pressing a button, the distractions are endless and the need to look at a phone when the message tone is heard has become a reflex in a large percentage of the population. Yet I was not aware of how my peers would classify themselves.

I definitely see myself as having a hyper attention, and I assumed my inability to solely focus on a single task was shared amongst my generation yet a few people I talked to were adamant that they had the ability to give deep attention to a task, be that studying of watching a film. This concept seemed so alien to me, with my need to have my computer split screen so I can do two things at once and it made me want to question how students will be taught when there is clearly a huge divide in a class’s cognitive modes. Yet I am ecstatic to be apart of the experience.