Monthly Archives: June 2014

Film-TV1- Analysis/Reflection The End – Question 2

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“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.” No? Go back and have a look.

Now we’d love you to do the same at this end. Please reflect on how you feel about the course. What surprised you, what excited you, what disappointed you. What we could have done better. What you could have done better.

Week 1 Film/TV 1 Anticipations

Looking back at my Week 1 aspirations for Film/TV 1 I believe I achieved them. One thing I wanted to do was “improve technical, creative and organisational skills as [the group] share knowledge and experiences.” This element alone was paramount to the production and what surprised me was just how well our group did get along, a part from a few minor bumps along the way mainly from stress and probably sleep deprivation, we all worked together really well. It made the process so much better that we had the ability to voice our opinions and concerns freely. When you’re undertaking something that requires everyone to put in you need everyone’s presence in the group, and I’m happy to say everyone lifted their weight which helped in the sheer volume of the processes required. And working with people that were passionate in different areas of the production making process “improve[d] technical, creative and organisational skills as we share[d] knowledge and experiences.” It was also great to work with people I had never talked to before the production, the people you see around because you’re in their course but have never spoken to.

Another element I wanted to achieve was an “enjoyable film… something that you’re not only proud of but that will be well received by others.” I was proud of our film by the end and all the work we put in as a group to make those little things, like the blocking of Oliver’s moves in Zoe’s house, payed off. The most exciting part was probably the shoot day, a day where all your energy, thought and organisation has been leading, and where anything could go right or wrong. You have no idea what’s going to happen when you wake up that morning, but you just have to be organised that you can plan from what does happen.To watch it all unfold in front of you is an amazing thing and that was exciting on it’sown.

It was really refreshing to be prompted to go outside our classes and really get to know the people in our course. In supergrouping and helping fellow students the course formed a little community and it was nice to know if we ever needed help we could always email Robin and Paul. I think the lectures where great, with some the moments and key knowledge I remember most being the theatrical presentations, with Robin up the front constructing a lighting set or students role playing scenes from films, it was here that I appreciated the creativeness of teaching and remember the most.

The only constructive comment would be to perhaps timetable the Analysis/Reflection tasks so that students are aware when they are due. I think the emailing is great but if it was documented at the start of the semester I think I would have been better prepared to submit them, as I would do them on my blog and when I came back to paste it into the Blackboard Test it was taken down. I remember being confused with the whole process in the beginning, especially when it’s the start of semester and you’re just getting into the process of things, and it wasn’t until a couple of weeks in I started to get into the process of things. In saying this, I could have kept up better with the work at the beginning of the course, I always did it but as I’m a perfectionist always spent more time drafting the product than actually getting on with it, and I saw this change over the semester.

At the beginning of the semester, I wanted “to develop more of an awareness of the processes it takes to produce such things as film and television, and then understand how to apply that knowledge not only to my own creations but the analysis of others as well.” This course put in perspective just how much work it is to make a film, there is so much you can do and bring upon yourself to perfect. And the film making process is as much a personal as collaborative process. The course in teaching all the different elements of film allowed a greater knowledge to apply to the analysis of work, and I believe this is invaluable with my future studies in both Film/TV 2 and other courses.

“Lastly and most importantly I want to be able to enjoy the whole process.” Film/TV 1 was a really enjoyable course this semester, it was a course that gave me the opportunity to learn things that can not be taught, but that require trial and error, and experience in order to be understood. In this respect the course gave a platform for me to learn invaluable skills for the future, for example I had never conducted a casting call before we had to get actors for our film which not only required a professional attitude, but also asked for social skills. And just the sheer organisation needed to produce a film, or anything where you have certain deadlines put in perspective all the elements you need to fulfill to get it done, and then more importantly to get it done well.

Film-TV1- Analysis/Reflection The End – Question 1

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Please write constructive comments/reviews of the films you saw. It can be just those you loved the most or intrigued you the most.

Budgerigar

It was clear that every detail was technically and creatively thought out in Budgerigar, from the crisp focus of the images to the lighting. The settings were aesthetically pleasing, the dining room sequence playing out in front of the artistic mountain looking background – I mean who even has a dining room like that. The acting by both the main boys was perfect, with the brother capturing his annoyingness perfectly. Directing the choice of shots was made well with such shots as the close up of the brother eating the chicken wing eliciting the exact grossness required from the audience. The juxtaposition of lighting from the real well lit dining room of reality, to the darkly lit table of the main character’s thoughts was achieved really well.

My only criticism would be to make the title a bit more understandable for the audience, the first time I watched the film I thought what does that mean, and the director explained to me it was to do with how budgies are obsessed with their reflection, like the main character. For example, there’s a moment where the main character is in the midst of confusion outside and perhaps there could have a budgie outside, and a shot of it in its cage looking in the mirror. However I’m sure if the audience is intrigued enough they will go search it themselves and work out the link, and that’s probably better as you’ve given them stimulus to think about your film after they’ve left the theater.

MILK

Loved Milk. The whole concept was brilliant and the point is it’s not a complex story it’s just a guy that has to get to the Milk bar before it closes. Therefore what the story is driven on is character, and the group did a great job in casting to get a main character with his every move having the potential to be comedic. The film was full of little creative choices that added to the finished product, like the change of screen to have black blocking similar to an action film when the main guy is given the ultimatum of the shop closing and the chase down the alley way on the scooter was genius. Because it’s not a long film the little moments have to have resonance, and they did, like when the main guy is on the scooter and the jogger passes him with the choice of music adding an overall pace and a playful quality to the film. The only constructive comment I can give is that perhaps the title credits were a couple of seconds too long, I understand the comedic reference being achieved but I remember looking away from the screen at something and then looking back and was like wow they’re still on.

Cursed

Really smart concept to have a guy who can only rap to talk. The rapping part kept authentic and had some really funny parts, and appropriated how different rap is to normal speech. I liked that the whole scene took place in the house environment which helped with the comedy of the piece, but felt it ended a bit awkwardly with the main character on the phone while he sat in the kitchen; perhaps he could have gone to check the mail box or something to get into a different space where he could have received the phone call.

THE HOLE

The beginning of the film in black and white created an art house aesthetic. The main character was great, and the costume of him in swim trunks on the beach was good comedy. The concept was awesome, and the ending was really well tied off with another hole being dug to capture another potential love interest.

Granny Theft Auto

Being in the same class as the Granny Theft Auto group I kind of watched the whole process of the production as it unfolded and have to say the whole film turned out great. The casting was perfect, with the Italian Nonna old enough to get confused by the cars, but also young enough to allow her to have this authority over the other characters and the screen. The three male actors articulated their rascal, ill-behaved boy characters greatly with a fair amount of language but also in the mannerisms they conducted themselves with. The comparison between cars scene juxtaposing the boys car to the Italian Nonna’s car was well done, and that pan from the boys car to the Nonna’s with the realisation of what’s happened was aided with the sticker with ‘I love Italy’ on the back. Sometimes the audio from characters gets a bit hard to hear with the surrounding noise taking prime, but this is a minute criticism that could be excused with, “its flour for the pasta!”

The Chase

Having seen the rough cut of The Chase, I couldn’t help but think of the alternative ending when viewing the film in the theater. In the rough cut ending we see the man approach the girl to give her the necklace she dropped before she started to be ‘chased’. The group had a big decision on whether to make the film end on the girl getting the necklace to realise it was a misunderstanding, or to finish in the crucial moment when the man spots her and leave the ending ambiguous. At the time I believed the ambiguous ending was the way to go, as the drama build up calls for something more than a misunderstanding, however watching the film in the theater I wonder whether having the ending of the shown film then showing the title and credits, and then the original ending of the man giving the girl the necklace would have been an option. That way the audience assumes the end of the film and has the credits to think about what happened, but the final scene shows how majority of the time fear is built up in our minds when there is in fact no danger. 

‘Sliced’

To re-work an addiction through the everyday and mundane product of bread was really smart, by doing this it allowed the audience’s pre-existing knowledge of that spongey white bread (I’m sure many of us remember squishing with our hands at school lunch) as an innocent ideal, to be contrasted in the hands of an obsessed main character. In doing this the group achieved an alternative approach to the well covered issue of addiction. The scene where the  main characters in the alleyway with his little glad bag of white bread was great, with the dark costume and lighting adding to the ideal he is doing something wrong. The scene where he goes to visit his mum was good to show his isolation in the midst of obsession, and how he was pushing the ones he loved away in the process, but I just found the shot a little awkward. Thought the scrunched up bread packet slowly unraveling at the end to metaphorically show the slow takeover of bread on the characters life was clever.

Coffee & Pi

Really cute film that achieved it’s aesthetic through little mathematical comments on screen and music that mimics the steps and pacing of solving a maths equation. The moment where the main character flies the paper airplane towards the table for the male waiter to pick it up was great, adding some good comedic breadth in the midst of the main character’s confusion of the maths equation and plight for the girl. The end was kind of predictable, but that just could be because I’ve watched way too many relationship movies, but in saying that I don’t think another ending would have surpassed.

Shelter

One element that influences the reception context of a film is the audience that surrounds the individual, and this was a big impact for me in Shelter as I didn’t get why everyone was laughing when the guy had the gun until I realised it was a vacuum cleaner wand. The fact that people were laughing made me search for what they were laughing at in the film, and honestly I would not have noticed otherwise, but what it did do was make me appreciate the creativeness of the group. They also did a great job with confining the filming into that small room achieving a vast array of camera shots and angles in the process.

Integrated Media 01 – Film Essay – Street Disposition

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Humans_of_New_York_1

A great deal of inspiration for this Korsakow project was derived from the website Humans of New York, a blog turned best-selling book created by Brandon Stanton in 2010 to create, “an exhaustive catalogue of New York City’s inhabitants” (Humans of New York, About). On the about page of his blog Stanton notes how his initial project changed when he started collecting quotes and short stories from the people he met, including these snippets alongside the photographs. “Taken together, these portraits and captions became the subject of a vibrant blog… with daily glimpses into the lives of the strangers in New York City” (Humans of New York, About). Street Disposition is driven on this notion and the project is based around the interaction with the people of Melbourne, whether they be the people we know, or the strangers we would never meet if we didn’t stop and pay an interest in their lives. We believe this subject matter is a perfect theme for Korsakow, as there is a, “focus more on the stories, [and] not just the composition behind the photo,” (Green, J, 2011) therefore creating a collection of ideas and moods rather than a visual statement about what Melbourne ‘is’.

In our film we talk to the people of Melbourne, hearing their stories, moments and comments, and accumulate them to show how Melbourne is a character in itself. This is achieved through overlaying people’s audio to videos of Melbourne; giving the audience an immersive relationship with audio, and observational relationship with video. We wanted to capture the interesting characters on the street, then take these people and link them through space and place, appropriating their comments or character to scenes of Melbourne. In development we thought the best way to achieve our goal was by asking people in Melbourne a series of questions the primary being, ‘What is your fondest memory of Melbourne?’ Through this we introduced a type of constraint to get the direction of the interviewee’s responses on the same page. A question like this gets a reflective and nostalgic way of talking from the speaker as we listen to their story, making the narration a lot more personal to the audience. We were intrigued with the fact everyone has a story and through this project wanted to appreciate all those little things that come to together to make Melbourne the city it is, and highlight that it’s the people that keep Melbourne a constant discovery with a myriad of stories, thoughts and emotions.

In order to correctly portray Melbourne in its vast diversity, we centered our film on obtaining footage of as many various different locations as possible. Upon editing our film we also decided that if we were to include more than one shot of the same landmark or area it would need to be from a completely different angle as well as being filmed from another group member, in order to accentuate the notion of the range of lifestyles, cultures and ethnicity within Melbourne. By having more than one person capture the same scene we hoped to ensure that many interpretations and perceptions of the city were represented. We also took an unconventional approach with piecing the audio with the visuals we had captured, as we consciously filmed all the photography first and then once that process had been completed we recorded all the interviews. In doing this we then created another process of having to draw links between qualities that had been filmed to what had been subconsciously expressed by our participants. This idea was inspired by our experiences of having patterns noticed by others when showing our individual sketch films earlier in the year, as we aspired to recreate this practise and ultimately ending up with a more organic product. Lastly in post-production we chose to include ourselves in the aural landscape, predominantly through clips of us interacting with the recorded subjects, adopting what Bill Nichols would describe as the Participatory Mode in his taxonomy of documentary, where “the filmmaker… interact[s] with his or her subjects rather than unobtrusively observe them” (Nichols, B, 2010).

Pellegrinis_SNU

The use of this mode is mostly applicable to the interview of the old Italian lady, where we portray the rapport we built through the inclusion of the interviewer asking, ‘What was the first thing you remember seeing in Melbourne?’ and therefore demonstrate the difference interactions we had with people and enhanced a sense of community.

The diverse range of demographics as interview subjects was an important aspect of the project; to show aurally, that different ages have different relationships to the city over time, and visually how there are a multitude layers to the city in such things as art and culture. However, there are some common themes developed in the project, one being time – seen in the multiple shots of clocks, for example Melbourne Central and Flinders Street – something we didn’t set out to do intentionally but when compiled all our footage at the end, noticed that the city’s most populated areas are built around the idea of time. The concept of strangers is also a common occurrence, as the audience does not know the voices they hear, but the stories have the ability to be personal and there is an interesting association in appropriating people’s voices we don’t know to fit to places we may be familiar with.

Graffiti_1

Street art and many other variations of art are also a very conscious recurring element in our film, as we wanted to acknowledge the artistically friendly environment that this city is. In various SNUs we have different representations of Melbourne art like the murals of graffiti, street performers, restaurants, galleries and concert venues. All of these mentioned themes and patterns contribute in expressing Melbourne in it’s multiplicity, and the lack of order to which these images and stories become an option for the user absorbs the ideal of spontaneity and haphazardness of the city scape.

In interface design, we decided not to include a text thread, as we wanted the audio to be the primary link to the video. Furthermore we believe the addition of a text thread would have created confusion for the audience, and there would have been the potential of them getting lost in the interface instead of sitting and listening. We also decided not to place the title of the project in the Interface design, but to create an opening title video in the form of a start SNU to play at the beginning of the piece.

Street_Disposition_2

The opening SNU displays footage of a footpath with the natural sound of the street, the title ‘Street Disposition’ then fades on to the screen and is positioned there until the clip ends and the viewer clicks on a thumbnail option. This decision acted as a foreshadowing element to the whole project, as the lack of visuals emphasies the audio, an imperative sensory element used throughout our piece. The title ‘Street Disposition’ also explains the project on two levels, the word Street relating to Melbourne and Disposition to character – therefore the character of Melbourne. The font choice was based on it’s timelessness, but also artistic quality, portraying an almost street art aesthetic in the formation of the words.

In the background, we decided to use an image of a black and white laneway within the streets of Melbourne for a combination of reasons. On a completely shallow base it is quite aesthetically pleasing especially in the way that the lines of the footpath lead the viewers eyes to the main SNU, and makes the  loading of videos interesting as there is always an image to look at. There is also the fact that Melbourne’s alleyways are a very iconic feature of the city, which was even commented on during an interview with a tourist. However, the main reason why we decided to include the image of the alleyway was due to the connotative meaning it has of leading the viewers down the path of further discovering Melbourne, acknowledging motifs present within the audio of finding hidden bars, restaurants and alleyways. The fact the alleyway we chose was Hosier Lane was certainly no coincidence as it perfectly conveys a sense of being a locale which houses and nurtures art, which is a theme that is rife throughout our film.

Flinders_StreetIt should be noted that in some videos there is no audio accept that which resides in the clip. This was an intentional decision based in the development of our project where people we shared the project with expressed their appreciation for these clips or even breaks between the stories, allowing them to recollect their thoughts. The choice of clips was strategically based, as we decided to use the famous places or even ‘tourist attractions’ within Melbourne as the basis of this aesthetic. We drew this conclusion as these places are so well known that there is a high probability the user has been there, and consequently has their own stories for these sites. Therefore it prompts the viewer for a moment of reflection, inadvertently asking them to participate in the piece and, “to play a role in the story” (Soar, M, 2014; p.160). We also believed if we were to place audio over these images it may become too ‘promotional’ and get caught up with promoting Melbourne instead of trying to express it, and by portraying these locations ordinarily we have been able to reinforce the idea Melbourne is a place beyond the poster landmarks.

Upon looking at our film in context of the pattern, content and interface it seems very clear to us that our film is about the vibrant, spontaneous, explorative and unexpected nature of Melbourne, filled with a communal sense of creating and gathering art both low and high. This can be seen through recurring themes graffiti, street performance art, musical performance centers like the Forum and the Art Center, locations which cultivate high art like the National Gallery as well as culinary experiences of Melbourne, reinforced by our interface which leads the audience to an unexpected place. This is paired with content of stories of hidden bars, restaurants known only to locals, and reflections of the diverse accepting communal nature of Melbourne.

Korsakow is a project platform that is as much about the finished project as the journey it takes to get there. Through our project we wanted to create a compilation, a “collage… demonstration of the many becoming one,” as an, “evolution beyond narrative” (Shields, D, 2011), of stories that represent and form the foundation of the city of Melbourne. Our project required us to go out onto the street and talk to people, to immerse ourselves in the city that we have become prone to ignore, therefore evaluating and developing our critical and creative ways of noticing.

References

Green, Jonah. “Humans of New York: Brandon Stanton’s Interpersonal City Catalogue (PHOTOS).” The Huffington Post. 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/04/humans-of-new-york-brandon-stanton_n_831310.html#s248946, May 2014.

Soar, Matt. “Making (with) the Korsakow System: Database Documentaries as Articulation and Assemblage.” New Documentary Ecologies Emerging Platforms, Practices and Discourses. Ed. Kate Nash, Craig Hight and Catherine Summerhayes. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. 154-73. Print.

Nichols, Bill. Introduction to Documentary film, Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 2010, pp. 179-194 [extract: The Participatory Mode].

Shields, David. Reality Hunger: A Manifesto. New York: Vintage, 2011. Print.

Stanton, Brandon. “Humans of New York.” 2010: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/, May 2014.

Screen Shots

Stanton, Brandon. “Humans of New York.” 2010: http://www.humansofnewyork.com/, May 2014.