Having been fortunate enough to travel with my family growing up, I have been exposed to a lot of different cultures. I’ve holidayed in Tokyo, Orlando, Auckland and Montreal to name a few, but you know what they say, there’s no place like home.

And it’s true! Melbourne has once again been dubbed the most liveable city in the world for the fifth year in a row. The ranking is constructed over a number of factors, including the city’s infrastructure, it’s availability of goods and services and level of personal risk. Despite the beautiful places in our world that I have seen, I still have so much more to explore, but I can’t imagine I will ever find a place as interesting and upbeat as Melbourne.

But what makes Melbourne… well, Melbourne?

It’s our people. Melbourne is an amazingly diverse city. We have no one style, religion, language, appearance; we are different and we are unique. We all have different stories and different backgrounds, but there’s a true Melbournian quality that shines through; each Melbournian, no matter how different to the last, radiates this quality through and through. Melbournians have a wonderful approach to life in which we set our souls free- we dare to take risks and care not what people think. We have no time for prejudice or disrespect. We embrace difference, we embrace individuality, and we embrace confidence.

Thus, Melbourne city seemed like the perfect place for some intense people-watching. As a general instinct, we often find ourselves watching others. We take note of people’s style, their body language, their gait and their overall vibe, creating a projection in our heads of what a person is like, or how we can predict their responses to certain situations.

As I sat outside State Library embracing the rare August sun, I watched in silence as the world carried on around me. The green lawn I walk past each day on my way to class was for once, not as empty as I had usually seen in the previous winter months. Various groups of people had taken their place on the grass; mothers with their young children, dog owners, office workers and tradies on their lunch breaks, and many tertiary students taking a time out from their assignment ridden schedules, even some bringing laptops or books with them in an attempt to ease the guilt of skipping class.

As I found myself a spot on a bench at the tram stop, I noticed in particular, a grandmother playing with her two young grandchildren, one girl and one boy. While most individuals and groups of friends kept to themselves on the lawn and stayed in one spot, these children ran wild, chasing the terrifyingly brave seagulls away from other peoples’ meals in a superhero fashion. This continued on for quite some time, and people generally seemed interested in the boy and his bubbly energy. Not long after, the young boy noticed a dog. Excitement shot out of the boy like the end-of-day fireworks at Disneyland as he sprinted over to a girl in a flannelette shirt and a yellow beanie, putting his hands together as if to pray and politely asking if he could “pretty, pretty, pretty, pleeeeassse” pat her dog. Even before she had said yes, he had both arms around her dog before pausing quickly as he remembered to say “thank you”, smile wide than ever. The young boy played with the dog for so long that his grandmother had to eventually drag him away.

What interested me the most about this situation was that I noticed that children were a lot more proactive in asking for what they wanted- they do the things that we as adults feel like we cannot “get away with”, or things that we generally avoid in public. For example, children often throw tantrums in shopping centres when they cannot get what they want. Their explosion of emotion is something that we as adults feel we cannot do in a similarly emotive situation, even if we feel the urge to. As we develop from child to adult, we learn about social norms and rituals, which tell us that we can’t ask a stranger to share their lollies with us, or feel totally shameless about crying in public. As we grow older we care more what people think of us, and place pride and dignity above our truest desires. Where adults act how they think society wants them to act, children act however they want to and how they feel, not worried what others think of their behaviour.

After I considered my first observation, I was distracted by the loud clacking of the tram tracks as a tram approached on Swanston Street behind me. I turned around as people poured out of the tram on to the bike lane. As people slowly oriented themselves and tried to navigate their way on Swanston Street, a lady in an orange jacket was fast approaching on a bike. She was going at a relatively fast speed and made no effort to slow down. She rang her bell several times, smiling at pedestrians while politely waving them aside. Fellow pedestrians helped each other off the bike lane and on to the sidewalk, and in seconds, the cyclist had a clear path alongside the tram. Debunking the stereotype that cyclists are selfish, egotistical road-hoggers, the lady yelled a quick thanks to those now behind her as she rode swiftly down Swanston Street on her now clear path. A common occurrence, which happens frequently in the City struck me as an incredible feat of trust between stranger to stranger. The cyclist had full trust in the idea that if she rang her bell, people would move out of her way, and despite her speed, no pedestrians seemed frantic or startled or scared as the cyclist sped past them- they heard the bell, and calmly moved out of the way, trusting that the cyclist would manoeuvre around them accordingly.

While strangers could trust that other strangers would not physically hurt them, it appeared that strangers could not do the same on a mental level. As I turned back to the lawn, I had realised that I wasn’t the only one people-watching that day. As I raised my lens to take a photo, I noticed some people turning their heads away, wanting to hide their faces and trying to shift their bodies out of frame. Seemingly, it wasn’t so much my presence that affected people, but the idea that I was taking photos of them which would somewhat cement their place in that moment forever, and that they were unaware what would happen to that information. I began to watch the public go by for a while without my camera, and noticed people making eye contact with me, assessing me and observing me in return. As I tried to act cool and avoid their gaze, being sure to alter my body language in order to present myself as a friendly person and in doing so, realised that I was acting in the same self-conscious manner that my subjects were behaving towards me. The major link I made between all three of my observations was that they all related to social norms and how we act in accordance to social norms is a reflection of us as a part of society and our contribution to the strength of said norms.

As adults in a modern day society, we conform to a set of social norms- a set of behavioural rules, which are deemed “appropriate” in a group or society. We use our manners, are wary of others and think before we act. And in a big, bustling city like Melbourne, the city is full of completely different individuals who, for the most part, adhere to these social norms, almost as an unspoken rule. But of course, not all of us feel the need to adhere to these rules- while some adults were able to confidently step away from the majority (such as the man who took his shirt off so he could relax on the grass without getting a t-shirt tan), it was mostly children who were so confident in themselves and their desires that they weren’t afraid to act exactly how they wanted and express how they felt; a trait that I wish adulthood hadn’t made me feel obligated to mask. But even so, these social norms are what help us to function smoothly as a society. We walk only when the green-man says we can, we alert ourselves when we hear a siren or a bell, and we smile at other runners during our morning jog. We make these associations not as a coward’s approach to avoiding conflict, but as a mutual understanding and mutual respect for one another. We as adults, and we as humans, have the capability to recognise that while we are all unique individuals, there’s a truth in the idea that we are all cut from the same cloth and we are all equal and deserving. I strongly feel that this idea is a true reflection of the Melbourne way of life, not because it is an understanding which is unique to Melbourne, but because it is the reason I am proud to call Melbourne my home.

http://www.mediafactory.org.au/regina-lee/?p=388

Reading: Imagining Reality – Pawel Pawlikowski

It was interesting to see how Pawlikowski addresses filmmaking as a platform to show the world as he sees it. It’s inspiring to see that there is so much freedom with film and that we shouldn’t make films for the benefit of our audience, but to capture and produce something that means something personally, and then leaving it up to your audience to interpret it for themselves, personally.

Another interesting thing I took from the reading was the impact of TV on documentaries, and the commercialising of TV. It further inspired me to think about making films based on the way I want to make them, rather than making something for money, or for an intended audience.

In the lecture we screened a short film called ‘End of the Line’ – the film shot in Broken Hill. 

Listen to the audio you recorded in Tute #1.  Here. Write a paragraph or two about your recording from a technical and/or “poetic” perspective.  

Consider:

• What these sounds evoke for you.  What associations they have. 
• Do any of your recordings suggest images?  What might they be?  
• Do any of your recordings suggest the possibility of other recordings?

Without context, the music in the background provided our recordings with a bit of texture, the image I would pair with this, would be the outside of a club, or just outside a house party- muted music, and distant chatter. The recordings suggested the possibility of recording an interview about party, music or drugs. It would make the perfect background track to an observational shot, which would lead into an interview.

Unfortunately though, the music has become the main feature of many of our recordings, despite not having specifically wanted to record any of it. But it demonstrates how music is a good way to set the tone for your piece.

Listen to the first 10 minutes of Glenn Gould’s radio documentary, “The Idea of North”.

The idea of North 10min.wav or Files are here (experimenting with different sizes and file types) If possible, use headphones.  Record your impressions in a paragraph or two.

At the beginning I was unsure of what to expect as I was given no context whatsoever to the piece. I found that the woman’s voice was very unappealing and it made me not want to listen. The other voices came in and I got extremely frustrated. it was too busy, I had no idea what was going on- I thought that I had opened another link or a separate video was playing somewhere. i realised it was just the “texture” of the radio doco when I paused it. It made me feel very uneasy, there was just too much. When it finally settled, I had realised I was only listening because I had to, not because I was interested in what was going on. The background noise was too much for me. It was way too loud and instead of creating a mood, it just layered too much texture, making everything an audial blur. Bleugh. Hated it.

In this week’s lecture, scenes from Scott Ruo’s ‘Four Images’, Brian Hill’s ‘Drinking for England’ and Chantal Akerman’s ‘D’Est’ were screened.  Choose one of these, and consider, in a single paragraph, what might have intrigued, interested, displeased or repelled you.

Brian Hill- Drinking for England

I noticed the changes from interview to i guess… “observational” visuals, which were very busy and seemed a little cluttered, leaving me a little displeased and repelled. I think that the observational shots just seemed like time-filers. And the awkwardness of just vocal and ambience was very uncomfortable. There was no mood-setting music layered behind the documentary. It also made the testimonies and interviews seem staged and unnatural. Also the way the testimonies were shot, lounged on a couch, or what seemed like staged shots- i found it unnatural and to be honest, quite cringeworthy.

In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically by the end of the course – this is a good thing.

More than anything else, I really want to make a documentary that appeals to me as a viewer. I would want to make something that I would stop flicking channels for, on a topic which forces others to question their own lifestyles, or which reveals a kind of lifestyle generally unspoken about, or is generally underground. I want to be able to discover things in my documentary, just in the same way that viewers will learn new things while watching it.

On a technical side of things, I would really like to be more involved in the editing process, and the production process. I’d like to be behind the camera, or in front of the camera, as last semester I Firsted and felt very uninvolved and insignificant (tear!).

If I come out of the course thinking I have made a doco that will benefit the knowledge of others, I will be extremely happy.

How does this documentary alter your understanding of the way you use social media?

In a way, I think I already had a similar understanding of the concepts explained in the documentary. What you publish on a public social media forum is tailored to appeal to your audience; you need to craft your content in order to receive a certain amount of attention. But with that said, you also need connections in order to share your content. The more followers or friends you have, the more people see your posts, and the more people will respond to your content. Social media has become the modern day form of communication, if you don’t have Facebook or don’t have a phone, you will not be able to keep up with the everyday happenings of your “closest” 900 friends.

What connections can you make with the role of a Social Media Producer?

A Social Media producer posts content based on character and audience- what will get likes, and who does it appeal to? I won’t post a status if I think nobody is going to respond to it, or I won’t post a photo if I don’t think it won’t get likes, or sometimes I’ll post something because I know pushing it into the newsfeed will mean somebody specific will see it- a passive way of communicating without actually addressing a specific person. I want people to know what I’m up to, to share my thoughts, problems, complaints, etc. An SMP tailors social media content as a big publicity bit, which is what most teens do on social media anyway.

What ideas does this documentary raise in regards to the event your group is planning and the task of achieving participatory engagement?

In order to reach a great amount of people, we need to broaden our audience by using our own connections, and creating smart posts which will:

1. Catch the attention of the audience

2. Be creative enough to get people interested or curious

3. Make sure our audience is the right one who will go far enough as to participate and help create content/push it into the newsfeed or share it with their friends, thus broadening our audience

and the cycle goes on!