Month: April 2015

Baby Got (feed) Back.

April 23, 2015 — Link — Leave a comment

After presenting the Media Portrait for assessment in front of the whole cute, we then had to show it to our select small groups and critique each others work.

 

The feedback I received from my peers was generally quite positive and reinforced some ideas that I had about the media piece. The only negative aspect that was highlighted about the media artefact was the inaudibility of my Nonnas accents. This is something that I thought to address, however I felt that if I added in subtites to the piece, this would have detracted from the whole feel.

 

– donandsherri

࿕ That’s Life ࿕

April 22, 2015 — Leave a comment

That’s Life acts to serve as a depiction of the life of my Nonna (Maria Martin).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131862728@N06/sets/72157649792260083/

 

That’s Life – the media portrait of Maria Martin proved to be a successful attempt at capturing the short, but highly important, part of my Nonna’s life spent inside the Consentration Camps of Nazi Germany.

The first and most successful aspect of That’s Life would have to be the interview process itself. Managing to get Maria to sit down and categorically dissect (probably) the most horrific part of her life, and doing so without taking a break or needing any time to process the vivid imagery was a feat in itself. Having captured nearly 2 hours of footage spanning from her early childhood through to her young adult life, this meant that a lot of editing would be required. The second successful aspect of the portrait came from the successful editing of the original footage to get a media piece worthy of her life.

 

Contrary to all the positive aspects of That’s Life were, obviously, the negative components. Having come from an audio background, I thought it would be a good idea to cut, edit and mix the audio tracks before touching on the video. This proved highly problematic, as I then had to sync all the video back to the audio to create continuity. An error that I will not likely reproduce in the future.

The practices and procedures that will resonate the most in future media compositions will be proper prior planning, efficient editing skills and a repertoire of poignant questions for the subject of the portrait.

Lectorial Reflection 2.0 (Return of the Text)

April 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

“Texts are material traces that are left of the practice of sense-making : the only empirical evidence we have of how other people make sense of the world”

 

This was the first quote that was delivered to us today by Brian Morris in his Lectorial focusing around the ideas of Texts as cultural meanings and the post-structural analysis of text that occurs today (in all its denotative and connotative forms).

 

Post-structural textual analysis aims to address all what were and what are the reasonable sense making practices employed in a text and what effects these practices exhibited on the targeted society as both a whole and individually.

 

The idea of Semiotics and Signifier & Signified managed to resonate the most with my analytical thought process and develop traction as the class drew to a close. Upon leaving the class, I made note to further research the theorists that Brian made mention of during the class : Albert Bandura & George Gerbner.

 

Albert Bandura and his works with the Bobo Doll drew my attention.

 

Housed under the theoretical framework of ‘Social Cognitive Theory’, Bandura proposed the idea that : People, after seeing behaviours acted out by a respectable person, will subconsciously recreate the same actions, no matter the consequences. He formulated these theories off the experiments he undertook on children; who were subject to an adult ‘beating up’ a Bobo Doll. Upon watching the adults behaviour, the children exhibited the same traits and ‘beat up’ the Bobo Doll too.

 

I feel that this ‘Social Cognitive Theory’ remains of high relevance in a modern media world, as consumers follow the traits of their own personal idols and exhibit these traits somewhat subconsciously. The epitome of this would be a person who succumbs to fandom; literally recreating and reshaping their whole life to fit within the constraints that their idol mediates.

 

– donandsherri

Lectorial Reflection

April 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

Having just attended my first Lectorial in 3 weeks (due to the mid-semester break) I was pleasantly surprised at the content that was delivered today.

 

Touching on some sociological theories about semiotics and the ‘signifier’ and ‘signified’ theory has prompted me to go into a lot more in-depth viewing experiences on all media that I encounter on a daily basis.

 

– donandsherri

A Portrait Paints 350 Words

April 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

12:17am 21-04-15

 

This was the time that I finished editing the media for the portrait of Maria Martin.

 

It only took one week to capture the footage required, edit both the audio and video and add in all the required components to make it flow. This short time span acted as both a positive and negative aspect to the portrait. Having to make judgement calls on cuts so that things could progress meant that time management and editing skills became more succinct; however the overall quality of the media piece may have taken a detrimental blow.

 

I will be uploading the portrait along with the 350 word reflection later on this evening.

 

watch this space.

 

– donandsherri

Return Of The Blog

April 21, 2015 — Leave a comment

After having had quite a busy schedule with both university assessments and personal commitments, the blogosphere would have noted a severe lack of presence from his particular site.

 

However, after successfully navigating all the requirements of a stereotypical student life it is safe to say (in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger) “I’ll be back” (posting blogs, that is).

 

– donandsherri

Grin & Bare It

April 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

Having finished the Media Self Portrait and forgetting its very existence, I was alarmingly surprised to learn that the task for our week 5 tutorial was to present our piece to our contemporaries.

 

Seeing both my metaphorical ‘self’ on the screen and having my physical self in the same room, projected in front of a class of 20 people, was a nerve-racking experience that ultimately proved highly rewarding. By having my peers cast their views on the way I was portraying myself via a piece of media enabled me to better come to terms with critique and helped fuel my inner desires.

 

I can categorically say that I will still dread every time that this will happen, although now I will welcome it as a means of further improving both my technical skills in editing and a way to come to terms with critique.

 

– donandsherri

Capture

April 14, 2015 — Leave a comment

13-04-15

 

This marked the day that I commenced taking the footage of my Nonna (grandmother) to be used for the Media Portrait.

 

This was both a rewarding and challenging task. Having lived a fast passed life in Melbourne for the better part of 4 years, time spent at home with my family has dramatically diminished. Being gifted the opportunity to sit down with my Nonna for an extended period of time and having the chance to finally delve into the parts of her life that have otherwise been undisclosed proved to be one of the most rewarding times spent with her. Although she was in front of a camera and prompted into opening up about aspects she would rather leave unnoticed, she managed to hold herself very well.

 

The total amount of footage captured was an astonishing 2 hours and 15 minutes. A lot more than the mere 2 minutes required to comply with the Media Portrait requirements, yet not nearly enough to fully understand the amazing life that she has lived and is still continuing to live.

 

Watch This Space

 

– donandsherri

Travelling The Great Ocean Road

April 12, 2015 — Leave a comment

After playing host to a couple of overseas friends, it had finally come time to make the much talked about and highly dreaded voyage down the great ocean road.

 

After years of avoiding such trips, the responsibility had fallen on me to act as chauffeur to our guests. Departing Mordor (Geelong) at 8:00am we navigated the first part of the trip with relative ease, managing to make it to Lorne by 10:00am with the obligatory tourist stops along the way. Then the traffic hit. For 40km we (and a multitude of other cars) were stuck behind a tourist, who couldn’t quite grasp then concept of a “slow vehicle turnout lane”. This pain was quickly remedied when the car made a pit stop in Apollo Bay (presumably to ask someone what a slow vehicle turnout lane is).

 

Pushing forward we were now at the helm of the crusade of cars behind us, and I felt it was my job to push the group as fast as we could possibly handle, taking corners at 1.05 times the recommended speed.

 

Stopping in at various lookouts and tourist hotspots along the way, I now managed to gain some appreciation for the road and rugged coastline we were navigating as well as the beauty it beheld.

 

Finishing our trek at ‘The Bay Of Islands’ (7.5 hours after we left) everyone was ready to pack it in and fold like a like a well made hotel bed sheet. This now left 3 sleeping passengers in the car with only myself and the radio to make the journey back.

 

Rounding out an odd 11 hours of driving, we pulled up back into the driveway and stumbled out of the car. Somewhat more enlightened than before, but definitely more tired.

 

– donandsherri

࿕An Interview With A Survivor࿕

April 4, 2015 — Leave a comment

The inspiration for the exposé outlined in Project Brief 3 comes from my Grandmother.

 

Having grown up in an Italian household; family has played a strong part in the formation of my character. The connection to my family is most apparent when talking to my Nonna (Grandmother).

 

Nonna had grown up in Italy through the depression years and has faced some of the most horrific and ruthless challenges of of anyone that I have ever encountered, including famine, war and relocating her whole life.

 

It is for these reasons that I have chosen to centre the portrait around her. My biggest idol.

 

– donandsherri