Reflection:

I think the most successful aspect is that as media makers, we have used a very subjective tone to convey the climate issues we perceive in the megacities. “Every act of image-making is a direct confrontation with reality, and the perceptions, feelings and memories engaged by the filming process can be converted through and into images”(Nikita, 2019). Compared to recording the environmental problems in our cities, I feel that the entire final production process is more like a film to convey our own perception. The use of dialects in the film is an auxiliary means to convey the sense of reality. Recall many documentaries I have watched are described in native languages other than English. Even many Australian documentaries are presented in an aboriginal language with subtitles, so the form of speaking local language to describe local stories is more authentica. For non-native speakers, unknown languages can bring some mystery. Although I am not sure whether the scene we captured can be defined as “changescape”, it is just like the definition of this word:’built purposefully to intensify our experience and to enhance our understanding of the complex dynamics that are at play when our natural, social, technological and psychological domains commingle and alter each other in this world that is full of mutability.'(Gibson 2015). Our subjective perspective tends to create viewers’ perceptions and senses of greenhouse gases rather than any material profits.

(Of course, as a course in English, using languages other than English is a bit strange. I am more worried about whether our peers will feel a little uncomfortable in completing the project without using all English. I hope they can understand. We have absolutely no disrespect.)

If there is any problematic part in this kind of subjectively described films, I think the way we present subjectiveness is not rich enough. In fact, when our group decided to explore urban environmental issues in a subjective way on week 10, I imagined the scene will be like: While exploring a certain scene, I made some verbal descriptions of environmental issues by myself, that is, I recorded my thoughts directly while shooting, without the need to add a voiceover later. Specifically, it’s more like the second half of our chapter 1 in our final film— Chloe took the camera to shoot and described her thoughts at the same time; or like the movie of ‘tales of our time’ by Zhou Tao in the additional resources of week 9 —The form of protagonist appears in the video. In fact, my earliest imagination was to make this type of film, but the problem is that this type of film firstly needs an assistant, or group members go out to shoot together, and then the sound is also a problem. Without professional equipment, background noise and people’s voices will be mixed together, which will make the soundtrack worse. So in the end, only voiceover can be used to complete subjective verbal description.

I’d like to say that the sketch in the first six weeks is a very good exercise, not only for noticing the landscape, but in the early stage of any project, you can observe the project objects in a similar way to sketch, and then make a few abstract and vague media works. Practices like Sketch can help understand many concepts and find a suitable creative technique for the final project. Regarding climate change, attuned noticing helped me more actively reflect on the impact of human and climate. The natural landscape I just glanced at before, may now take a longer look, and I will pay attention to the changes and laws of nature. It is interesting to observe the precarious things around me. There will always be magical scenes in the harmony between man and nature. And for the destruction of nature, I will now sigh how vicious humans have done to this planet.

Kathleen (2012, p. 524) thought writing is not epiphenomenal to thought but its medium. Similarly, I believe ecocritical media is not a purely visual work, but a carrier used by the producer to convey the senses and ideas about today’s climate issues. using the equipment to record the environmental issues I see at any time is with the power of the media to remind yourself and the people surrounding,  which is a way of ecocritical practice as well. Prompting people to reflect on themselves is the role of ecocritical media-making. But the point Haraway (2016, p. 4) mentioned in “stay with trouble” is that ‘at least we think we know enough to reach the conclusion that life on earth that includes human people in any tolerable way really is over, that the apocalypse really is nigh .’ Like this view, I don’t think the destruction of this planet will be slowed down by any factors, but after I observe the destruction myself, I still worry about the current living environment and climate issues, so I hope that the ecocritical media work in Today’s online society can convey our authors’ criticism of environmental destruction, as well as eliminate the illusion of ‘apocalyptic or salvific futures,’ and cause our friends around us to reflect and take concrete actions.

Reference:

Council 2019, North of the Mountain, Council, viewed 24 May 2021, <http://www.council.art/inquiries/1396/north-of-the-mountain>

Gibson, R 2015, ‘Changescapes – An Introduction’, Changescapes: Complexity, Mutability, Aesthetics, 8th edn, Crawley, Western Australia : UWA Publishing, pp. 17.

Haraway, D J 2016, Staying with the Trouble : Making Kin in the Chthulucene, Duke University Press, North Carolina, US.

Stewart, K 2012, ‘PRECARITY’S FORMS’, Cultural Anthropology, vol. 27, no. 3, p. 518-525.