Media 4 (2017)

“[This course reflects upon] the ability to look around, rather than ahead.” – Hannah Brasier

The development of this studio throughout the semester has been both skillful and creative. Through certain readings (particularly Mason, Gibson and Bogost) and in class discussions, I have gained a broader understanding on what it means to ‘notice’. To purposely notice is to be aware and to take in our surroundings.  By using various objects- for example a digital camera, we are able to potentially see aspects in an environment that one might not have been able to see otherwise. Using objects can bring a new perspective into the way we notice and view the world. This studio has brought to my attention the different ways we can perceive and notice our environment. I have also enjoyed the experimental approaches to learning that this studio has brought forward, it has been refreshing to focus more on conceptual skill building rather than the pure technical components of media making.

Throughout this studio I have developed my skills in conceptual thinking and critical analysis (especially on a personal level). Whilst developing our final projects we set goals in class of what we wanted to achieve, notice and learn. The ‘biggest thing’ I wanted to achieve was to understand individuals and their habits on an in-depth level- to notice their behaviors and be able to record this and display it in media format that challenged my creative skills.

My portfolio mostly centers around my conceptual thoughts, ideas on noticing and a few technical aspects. I did not want to be definitive in where this project would lead- the ending wasn’t the purpose the whole idea was to experience and record new concepts that arose from experimenting.  The concept behind the final project was that I took the notion of noticing and behavior and created something that presented habits (even ones that may seem dull or unnoticeable) to create a montage that reflects all these little aspects that makes an individual. The project also reflected on the relationship we have with media (especially cameras) and how we behave whilst being filmed.

One of the most challenging aspects during my project was finding a subject to film and observe. My first choice was my sister, as she is an individual I live with and understand. Because of this, I feel that I am able to notice habitual behaviors she does whilst working and find it interesting to wonder if she notices these habits herself. Unfortunately, due to her work schedule I was unable to have enough time with her and record her behaviors. Due to this It was hard finding the time to observe a second individual but I ended up choosing a close friend who I had good understanding of. This challenge didn’t end up necessarily changing the project in a specific way- (as the idea behind it was very translucent and would potentially work with various different subjects). For me it was all about spending time and making sure to record behaviors that I felt suited the montage and themes within the piece.

I did feel like the piece started to have more structure than being experimental (a narrative that focused on rituals from the start of the day till the end) but I ended up embracing these changes. Again, the ideas behind the final project were to experiment with concepts (habits), cameras (our relationship with the camera) and individuals (the way we document with media).

I discovered, my main subject (and those I used for practice shoots) found it hard to move past basic descriptive habits. Even spending more than a day with someone still didn’t necessarily give enough time to observe more deeper rituals, despite this I think the piece still presents a sense of observation, reflecting on day to day behaviors that the individual does.

Overall, I would say that I’ve learnt that the relationship of the camera can make it hard to capture candid behaviors, for this project. As even when I was subtle the subject was still conscious and aware that I was going to be filming. Although they weren’t sure of when I was going to press record the presence of the camera still changed the behavior from a truly candid piece. In saying this most filming incorporates this same issue and to overcome it one would have to record without letting the participant know and in terms of legality and the release of video content that would be an issue. I think in regards to candidness the final shots I choose to be included were ones were the individual was either aware and did not mind (continued on with their behavior) or forgot the camera was rolling (as I continued to film whilst spending time giving into angels that laid the camera still on the table or made it less noticeable)

My favourite aspect of the final project was the soundscape, throughout this studio sound has become one of my favourite topics. I feel I have a greater understanding on distinguishing sounds as well as blending them together. I like that sound is more interpretable than visuals, we can imagine an image when we hear a particular sound and I liked the concept that sound can be so varied and manipulated.
I decided to overlap my sounds for the purpose of immersion, I really wanted this piece to be an atmospheric example of what it’s like to film someone- including awkward or intimate moments like sneezing or spitting. The soundscape also creates a sensory overload that makes the piece have a certain habitual tone, it’s a reflection that throughout our day we do so many things that we ourselves may not observe.

Finally, I want to add that this project has made me really think more conceptually about sound and I hope with future endeavours I continue to experiment and find inspiration for way that sound can be changed, manipulated and incorporated into various media platforms.

This project was filmed by Natasha Khan, Credit and special thanks to Finlay Fitzgerald for participating in my project and for allowing me to record him.

During filming I expected the relationship between the person being filmed and the camera would play a major role, and it did. I think the main observation I have found and learnt through producing this project is that the camera itself has it’s own ‘presence’. When I first started filming the participant noticed the camera quite predominately and was conscious of the way I was filming shots. As the day progressed the alertness between the participant and the camera slowly became more leveled. The participant became more accustomed to it’s presence and it not longer had a ‘stigma’ attached to it. Its interesting to see and observe the relationship between individuals and technology, many individuals do not mind using their phones to be recorded but when it comes to using a professional DSLM camera the dynamic changes. The ‘intent’ behind filming is what makes a lot of people feel awkward– they don’t want to be captured coming across as unlikable or dislike the idea of intimate moments being broadcast-ed. I find it fascinating that the dynamic between social media (such as vlogging) and trying to film professionally (or journalistic-ally) is very different. One would suspect people would become use to the presence of the camera after using applications such as Snapchat and Instgram but this isn’t always the case. Overall this project has made me think about how selective social media has become and how afraid many individuals can be for audience to see their true unfiltered behaviors and personalities. Filming an individuals habits has made me more aware that habits can be an issue that makes them feel awkward and uncomfortable- not everybody wants their intimate behaviors shown. 

In order to practice technical components for the final task I have decided to add in a short portfolio of practice images that play around with the cameras functions (Panasonic LUMIX GH4). I focused on Shutter Speed, f/stop and white balance. I think this will help me figure out the type of look I want to film with and to keep things as neutral as possible so that the camera displays a true reflection of what the viewer would see without it.

WHITE BALANCEf/stop 2.8, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO800, WBbluehuedf/stop 2.8, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO800, WBneutral

f/stop 2.8, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO800, WBwarmhued

F/STOPf/stop2.8, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO3200f/stop6.3, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO3200
f/stop16, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO3200

SHUTTER SPEED
f/stop2.8, shutter speed 1/8, ISO200
f/stop2.8, shutter speed 1/60, ISO200
f/stop2.8, shutter speed 1/1600, ISO1000
f/stop2.8, shutter speed 1/4000, ISO2500

From doing this task I’ve learnt to take an important note on the fstop and the way it changes the depth of field, although I like that fstop2.8 blurs the background and focuses more on the object in view it was nice to see the 6.3 stop stop giving a more ‘fuller’ image and displaying more of what was also in the background. I think for when I start filming I should practice around with these settings to make sure I get the best and highest quality images and footage.

“How can we notice new qualities in our media by letting a piece of software create random relations between our media parts?”
(Week 11 Tutorial)

In this week’s tutorial we learnt about the platform ‘Korsakow’ which allows you to select media, add keywords or tags and create an interactive platform. This platform plays the media you have selected and connects it through the keywords entered. I found this platform interesting and I liked the examples Hannah showed us including the project ‘Ceci n’est pas Embres’ which displayed the juxtapositions between Winter and Spring. The most wondrous aspect from this particular project for me displayed a grid (roughly 8×8) of various clips of windows. Every now and again someone would open or interact with the windows and it was interesting to see the inter-connecting relationships between the clips and how altogether they create a new piece of media that is completely different than from the individual clips themselves. Kane and myself were also in charge of the weekly update, Kane filmed whilst I decided to edit the video- I did so in a way that was inspired by the Korsakow platform, unique, innovate and introspective. Below is what we put together, I think it is a good reflection of week 11 and I am interested to see what next week brings.

W11, Studio Update, Tash & Kane from Seeing the Unseen on Vimeo.

Biggest Thing: This project aims to achieve an in depth level of noticing on individuals; the project wants to en-capture someone’s nature and routine and present it in an experimental form that creates and emits the emotions that- that individual possesses. Are we able to display and present a piece that is a reflection on someones character? And do our habits create the basis of our character and they aspects we can change or are some strongly inbuilt into our nature?
Big Things: In order to accomplish my goal I will need to both observe and film a subject whilst recording their habits via audio and visual media formats, then I will present this research in a video-film based format.
Small Things: Timeline (Due Date October 20th)

Week 10 made me reflect on what I will be learning from the final project and to make sure that I don’t block myself off into thinking one particular aspect  and detain myself from being open to new ideas.  Emotionally I’m feeling quite down, although my project will help me learn more about noticing individuals I do feel like it doesn’t have as much passion in it as I would like. I wonder if I should continue to my original plan or make small alterations to make sure I’m content in what i’m creating.

The Artist Is Present (Marina Abramovic)
On a final note, I wanted to take the time to talk about an artist who has inspired me for this project, Marina Abramovic. Abramovic does performance art, her body is the canvas and her movements tell a story.

The piece below is a project that particularly inspires me. In this performance Marina Abramovic gazes into a strangers eyes for however long the stranger chooses. The purpose is to demonstrate the importance of presence, human connection and especially the connection we have when we look into ones eyes as this is the gateway to the soul and presence. We can reflect this back to our fast-paced society and how we tend to brush over intimate connections such as taking the time to appreciate and notice one another.

Creative Possibilities (Looking into Soundscapes)
ft. ‘Ken’s Last Ever Radio Extravaganza’

Wednesdays week 9 class focused on the different creative possibilities we could do for our projects. This included soundscapes, art installations as well as other innovative and creative new media art projects.
During this class we listened and examined samples of sound collages and analysed the techniques used to create them. Many included rhythmic and repetitive chimes that embedded a sense of surrealism. We also examined the ‘networkeffect.io’ which is a platform that continuously adds media to it’s archive to create an ever growing platform of experiences from people. I’ve found inspiration from these layered montages (both audio and visual), I find them engaging and immersive. As I want my final project to focus on the montage of habits I found examining montages this week quite helpful. I have also decided I would like to experiment with my own soundscape. I want to record the audio of everyday activities and create something surreal out of it. I would like to be able to immerse audiences into this warped sense of reality that layers everyday sounds into something abstract. I think it could create intense emotions and transform everyday sounds into something more unique.

Kens Last Radio Extravaganza: https://wfmu.org/  

The above piece I have created has taken inspiration from Ken’s podcast although I have added more layers to create a more disruptive piece,  the piece also has a narrative as each sound effect layered has been recorded by me and represents the habits that I am talking about (within the soundscape). It has been fun experimenting and recording with audio layers and I want to create an in-depth soundscape for my final experimental piece. I think the repetitive audio in the soundscape would re-enforce the elements of routine and daily activities that the habits filmed will visually present.

The conclusion of my experiments and feedback from the pitch have given me more depth into what I want to set out and achieve for the final project. I am quite happy with my introspective idea as I feel like it is unique and relates to my own characteristics of curiosity and observing others. I did find I brushed over my pitch a little too quickly when presenting not touching enough on my learning but I did have a confident idea of what I wanted to do which I believe came across well and that was the most important aspect that I set out to achieve.

Feedback from the panel included helpful tips and debate into how deep I should film with my introspective ‘lens’. Paul discussed examining a single individual rather than multiple to make a more in-depth character project. He also added to keep my content open whilst filming, for example filming multiple people and then potentially only choosing a single individual to go into more depth or if all individuals present enough habits to add all the footage into the final project. I liked that the panel endorsed that I don’t have to be deadest on the production of my final project and to rather let it bloom and flourish naturally so that it will turn into a piece that evolves rather than having an idea in stone that has to be set out and completed.A final piece of advice given was to focus on what ‘I’ want to achieve and not what I think will please an audience, this is my own project and should be for my own development.

If I was to do this project again I would like to use my media skills earlier on in the experiments. I used media less than I thought I would as a lot of my experiments were a learning process and I only documented more with my camera as they progressed- when I knew what I wanted to capture and record. I think for my final there will definitely be more media in my portfolio now that I know exactly what I want to work on. I also believe this will help me experiment more with the type of piece I want to create (as practice of course leads to a better product).

Finally I will still be observing other individuals habits for the development of the final project. This will make sure I keep my awareness of habits and behaviors so that when It comes to filming I will be able to look into ones character easily without having to dig and film habits that aren’t true to an individual.

Pitch Audio Recording:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_dPAyrVV0qpOUdhd2lSUWtGVkU

Refining (building and reflecting upon the portfolio of experiments)
After completing these experiments I’ve got a confident idea of what I want to accomplish for my final project, they’ve given me a sense of direction which I wasn’t sure about when first starting, I enjoyed that each experiment built upon the other to gradually become more complex. I also found these experiments on noticing have helped my skills in creating a layered experimental montage and observing peoples character, I’m excited to build upon this project with the help of feedback from the pitch panel and continue to develop what type of ways I might film to make my presence when filming less direct.

Taking from this portfolio of experiments and feedback, I’ve drafted some ideas and notes for the final ‘Noticing’ assessment:

• A video project focusing on several individuals habits, what they believe they are and what I am able to notice and record.
• The video aims to reveal habits and behavior that people aren’t in tune or aware of.
• The relationship between the camera and the individual; how much are they aware of themselves being filmed, does this dramatically change their habits- catching the individuals off guard and contrasting that to when their aware of filming.
• Do their habits match up with the behaviors they notice about themselves.
• Both visual and auditory dynamics to create a layered montage that present a ‘piece’ that as a whole represents the individuals habits, this way (through using media) we can have an understanding of how they might feel and what they might notice through their perspective.