Media Project – https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IUY_QTST52ADOg41TGDnXqLpTWsziGa0

Individual Weekly Development Blog Posts

Week 9 – https://www.mediafactory.org.au/calvin-yong/2019/10/20/week-9-pitch/

Week 10 – https://www.mediafactory.org.au/calvin-yong/2019/10/20/week-10-texture/

Week 11 – https://www.mediafactory.org.au/calvin-yong/2019/10/20/week-11-perspective/

Week 12 – https://www.mediafactory.org.au/calvin-yong/2019/10/23/week-12-editing-and-exhibition-prep/

Individual Reflection

1. What were the questions that arose for your group and that you might like to explore in future work?

When first put into groups, the main question that I had was that of ‘repetition in a person’s daily life’ and how this idea could be explored or unpacked further. When we were discussing about our concept of repetition, we had discussions about how repetition is a sort of routine in our daily lives. The idea of a repetition is already a sort of bodily experience our body makes into a habit also known as a habitual occurrence. In addition, the start of a habit has to connect with a certain trait of a person or a certain object for example, coffee, earphones, a watch and maybe something simple like being late.

However, during the period of time in the semester, I did find some of the ideas of other classmates interesting such as that of ‘Nostalgia’. I personally would like to explore further into the concept of nostalgia as it is part of everyone’s mind and memory. With the concept of nostalgia, it is possible to unpack further as everyone has different memories that triggers their nostalgia but I guess some of the most common nostalgia are the similar memories of people’s childhood movies or TV series. So with that in mind, it would be interesting to sort of explore what kind of ideas different people can give in order to create a sort of unique media work that will evoke the feeling of nostalgia.

Another question that came to mind was that of ‘Stillness’. With our final media work, the video produced was that of still images becoming a sequence that will show the routine of an average student or maybe graduate. When shooting the images needed, my group thought of experimenting the concept of stillness while still keeping our main concept of ‘Repetition’. The aspect of stillness is an interesting concept to focus on as the world isn’t still but it is constantly changing, even if it is the little details that no one can see so with the still images, we are trying to evoke the sense of stillness a person can feel while they are home with small actions like playing with their phones, lying in bed and eating, the body still while these actions are happening. The limbs that are moving the most are the arms and hands.

Overall, with the different concepts being introduced in class, it is interesting to combine maybe one or two concepts into the idea our group was focusing on.

2. How did you consider the way someone might engage with your work in an exhibition space after seeing the exhibition in class (or another of your own choosing)?

Firstly, we did not put the thought of engaging the audience as our number one priority as we were mainly focused on the kind of narrative our final media work will evoke to the audience but after completing the final product and looking at how people engaged our work, I think the think that attracted people to engage with our work was that of the still images being shown on screen.

I think that with still images being used instead of actual footage, the audience is more inclined to sit through the entire clip to get an understanding of the story or events that are happening throughout the sequence of images. Another thing that probably got the audience more engaged with our work was the use of audio. With still images, you can see a character doing something but the view might be obscured making it hard to imagine what the character is doing and by adding audio to the sequence of photos, it can help the audience understand what is happening better as audio is one of the important aspects of making a good video clip. Whereas, if it was actual footage that was being shown on screen the audience is able to understand the story just by watching the video itself. The video will show what story the producers are trying to tell just by watching without the audio. When watched with the audio, it will just keep the audience more immersed.

With the in-class exhibition, some of the works shown were able to draw people towards their media such as the ‘Disgust’ group’s work. With the big sort of viewing apparatus, it makes people curious about what they are about to show them as big things tend to draw people’s attention more compared to just having a video on a screen. Another aspect that makes people curious is that of using the curtains or partitions to separate your work from others as with the curtains, it makes the viewing have a slightly more cinematic feel to it.

I think the thing that catches people’s eyes are that of the visual elements that are present with the exhibited work. If an exhibited work is interactive, it will tend to attract more people as they are able to have fun playing with the media compared to a video, a certain amount of people are able to view it in one sitting.

3. How have your ideas about embodiment, embodied knowledge, media and bodies changed over the semester?

At the start of the semester, I didn’t know what to expect from this course as I originally had to interest or knowledge about what we were about to learn in class which was sort of talking about the senses of the human body. Now that the semester is coming to an end, I feel like I’ve learnt things that are useful for my future projects as I would have a more knowledgeable database in mind mainly about how the human body reacts when doing certain things.

Throughout weeks 1 to 12, the weekly exercises that we did in class helped me to develop a general idea of the kind of studies I’ll be doing for the semester. One of the things I found interesting was that of having my idea of ‘repetition’ be made into a sort of question that people can explore or unpack into their studies and research more about. Initially, the thought of repetition came to me as through the years I’ve been here, I’ve been following a sort of routine that my body have made a habit through the same objects I interact with every day. With the mindset that I had at that point, the only idea that I could come up with for video works were that of how the human body behaves when following a daily routine.

However, as the weeks passed I find that with a more knowledgeable understanding of media work helped me develop my video and audio works for the coming weeks. Especially, with the use of texture in the videos, it made the videos more interesting as the use of texture could be used to edit an audio into a clip which has nothing to do with what the sound is like the video shown in Week 12 of the guy skateboarding. The simple use of editing can make audio files be used to not only fit into a clip but especially with something that doesn’t relate to what is happening in the video clip.

Another aspect I got from this course is that of how important and deceiving our hearing is. Things we hear are not always what they seem as I remember hearing something that sounded like a shopping cart as it had a rough, rolling and scratchy sound to it which I thought of the wheel but instead it was an exercise bike. The human body is reminded of things we use more compared to things we would only use on weekly or monthly occasions.

I think that throughout the course, my mindset of embodiment, embodied knowledge, media and bodies have widened compared to when I started as I am able to look at things in a different perspective and also interpret them differently in media works.

• Which of the editing tips/techniques from this week’s videos is your group making use of in your final media work? What are you hoping this will evoke in an audience member?

Instead of filming an entire video for our final media work, we decided to use a method which was sort of similar to a stop motion. The process of this would be the shooting of the images which will then turn into a sequence depending on the type of edit we are using and this in turn will make the video have a more unique style of media. We are hoping that this will give the audience a different feel of video compared to a normal smooth video.

• How is your group planning to set up the work for exhibition? How will this help enhance the feeling of ‘being in a body’ that your media work is exploring?

We are planning to use any available screens in the studio class to present our final media work. With our media, we are also planning to set up a couple of headphones making it available for the audience to hear the audio in our media work together with maybe a couple of chairs so they can sit comfortably and watch. It doesn’t especially enhance the feeling of ‘being in a body’ but more so to just having them be immersed with the media work.

• How did your group try to use perspective and/or depth of field in both the video footage and the sound footage?

With the in-class exercise, we decided to shoot the video at Little Bang. Standing from a corner of the area, we tried shooting some time-lapse in order to experiment whether it will complement the repetition idea we initially had. With the café surrounding, it turned out that it can be used relatively well because on a daily basis, everyone comes for coffee and it can evoke a sense of repetition with it. Whereas, the sound footage can give the listeners an idea of how a busy café would sound like.

• What did you discover through this exercise?

Depending on a certain way you shoot a video from, it can either help to enhance or worsen the viewer experience. Also, when shot from different angles, it can sort of show what kind of shot the producer is trying to show the audience, for example, if a scene was shot from a high angle, it can somehow feel like the character in the scene has a level of power connected with the angle of the shot.

• How might your group use these discoveries in the work you’re producing for the exhibition?

We might play around with different angles depending on what kind of scenes we are planning to shoot. For example, with maybe a walking scene, it might be good to shoot either a close up shot of the shoes or a sort of medium close up shot of the character from the side just to show that he or she is moving through the environment.

• What are the next steps for your group work following the consults in class on Friday?

1. Refine the ideas we already have
2. Find a time to work on it
3. Shoot and edit the final product

• What did you discover that texture might evoke in the different media modes? What are the similarities and differences with what texture evokes in video and sound work?

With the use of a video, it can clearly show what is used to make a certain sound and also you can sort of feel what the object might feel like if you were to interact with it. Whereas, when recorded as a sound file, the  perspective changes as it could be anything making a certain sound. It makes our mind wander more into thinking about what could be making a specific sound as it is just audio entering your mind. A similarity that both video and sound might share with texture is that it makes our mind think more widely.

• How might your group make use of texture in either video or sound in the media work you are making for assignment 4?

With the use of texture, we might use more of the sound aspect of it as it can be used to make the viewers think in a wider range. Also, we can play with the sound of texture in different ways such as combining it with a video that totally doesn’t match the sound that it makes but somehow still end up going quite well.

• What concepts has your group drawn from the earlier course readings to use or explore in the exhibited work for assignment 4?

We were focused on the idea of bodily experience and with this concept, we are planning to implement it along with the idea for our final produced work which was the idea of repetition in daily life.

• What are your group’s next steps for making towards assignment 4?

The process that we are planning to continue on with is the sort of narrative or story part of our final project. Following that is the type of media we are going to use to produce it.

• What things need to be considered when working collaboratively (hint: refer to how your group approached the group collaborative contract)?

Personally, I think the most aspect of working in a group effectively is the communication between each members. When assigned into a group, it is important to first find a way to connect with each other so that it is possible to keep everyone up to date with the progress. In addition, it is a good way to plan group discussions letting one another know of their availabilities.

Another thing that make group work efficient is the workload of each member so that no one is treated unfairly and everyone is pulling their own weight. If a member is not working efficiently it can cause problems for the other members.

• How did your group consolidate some of the feedback and suggestions from the pitch session?

With the feedback received from the presentation, we are planning to still stick with the idea of ‘habitual repetition’. Within the idea of repetition, we are looking into the idea of having something change how a character might behave if something were to go amiss. Would it be a big issue or could it be a small one?

• How has this helped develop your group’s work?

Definitely with the feedback we have gotten, we got to thinking about how we can put some of the suggestions into our final work, whether it is going to be a video or a sound file. We are slowly developing more ideas that can implement the idea of ‘habitual repetition’.

• What did your group discuss about how the exhibition presented the idea of ‘gut feelings’, and how it made use of space and different modes of media? (Hint: use the worksheet I gave you on Monday.)

During the day of the exhibition visit, I was the only one among my group members who attended. When walking around the exhibition, it can be seen that the whole space is used to display different works with every turn. The works were displayed differently, some with interactivity aspects and some which are mainly there to read the description of the works. In addition, the instructions to interact with the works were straightforward as well which made no complications for visitors of the exhibition.

• What were some key concepts you found in the reading you did for your group’s research? (You’ll need to cite this correctly, and provide the full reference at the bottom of your post.)

In a reading titled ‘Game Asset Repetition’, a statement put out was that of having ‘hand-crafted’ aspects which results in the player encountering less repetition. This was interesting because in a video game, once it is played over and over you start discovering different aspects of the game which will soon become repetitive but it still often bothers the players as they are engaged in the game.

Reference:

Grueter, S & Nash, A 2014, ‘Game Asset Repetition’, Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Interactive Entertainment (IE 2014), New York, United States, 2-3 December 2014