Presentation Reflection

Megan presented her piece based on an observation about her housemate sewing. The clip she showed was a mix of found footage with fashion shows and shining jewels, which I think was used in a purposeful way to create a strong luxurious aesthetic. I think her idea to have her own footage of close up sparkling makeup and textiles will work quite well to mirror the professional show. I was inspired by Megan’s desire to strive for an abstract piece through portraying the footage in reverse order, and getting clips such as silhouettes through a frosted door. 

I also liked her idea to film the makeup and fabrics in different shots because I think it will make a nice display of different textures. I think this was greatly enhanced with the colour palette, of strong warm tones like pink and orange. This gave the piece a very warm and homey mood which works perfectly with the concept of it being an at-home fashion show, essentially. 

Voiceover work can be a tedious process depending on what one is going for, but I think Megan was extremely successful in keeping her original observation as the voiceover. A lot of the detail of the written piece was necessary to keep the spirit of the video, so I hope she keeps the entirety of it moving forward.

Megan’s work so far has inspired me to go in a more abstract direction in my own work, and to keep experimenting. I think her idea to play out the scene backwards could be very successful, and is only something that is achieved because of experimentation. I particularly liked that the explanation of those first steps of the sewing overlaid the ‘final’ shots of the fashion show, because it urges the viewer to think about how the garments are actually created, and the personal perspective of the creator themselves. That being said, working to make a chronological timeline of the footage would also work, because that is how the observation goes – so this is a direction that could be explored with more experimentation. Overall I was very impressed with Megan’s work and look forward to seeing her final piece. 

W9 Reflection

This week we plunged in to Jean Painleve’s work, which was described as “poetic David Attenborough”. His films appear like natural history, particularly ‘The Seahorse’. The narration seemed mainly educational but the visuals were cinematic in capturing the seahorses movements through the water and with each other.

Additionally, we looked at Nanni Moretti’s ‘Dear Diary’, which was a very humorous fourth-wall breaking scene. This technique used in the imaginative diary-writing was reminiscent of some things I have seen before, but was ultimately a very satisfying and entertaining scene.  In constructing the scene this way, the medium was opened up in a way that those scenes could not occur otherwise, which is exactly what translating observation is all about!

I am quite happy with my observations this week. The first I had fun writing, because I interspersed what I was seeing and experiencing with my thoughts on each object, and what it’s history may have been. I have found throughout the semester that this has been one of my favourite ways to write. Additionally, my observation on the bonfire was simple but captured the evening nicely. I writing two different sort of styles this week, but I generally think my descriptive language has improved week by week, so hopefully in any more writing (whether that be for classes or personal) I can continue on that track.

This week we also had our presentations. I found it extremely helpful to hear other’s opinions on my work and the other scenes we watched, and it was nice to see everyone’s ideas come together from what had been previously discussed. I found my feedback reassuring that I am moving in the right direction.

Observation #18

My dad exclaims “look at the fire the neighbours have over there!”.

Through the blinds, I see a ginormous flame burning on the hill next to my house. I quickly go outside to take a closer looks, and I bring my camera too so I can capture it digitally. the fire burns high, with huge clouds of smoke floating and evaporating into the sky. Through the camera, I can see the embers whizzing through the air, disappearing a few seconds after emerging from the flame. All of sudden I hear galloping, and to my left a swarm of horses run freely down the hill where my house is situated.

The sun has already set, and so the blue sky falls darker and darker as each minute passes. I sit and appreciate the distant neighing, and I can faintly hear the music the neighbours loudly play as they enjoy their bonfire. The night falls upon the rolling hills and the cars on the highway become just lights, smoothly whooshing past, twinkling against the now almost unintelligible trees and shrubs against the road. Because of where I am sitting, and the direction of the wind, I unfortunately can’t smell the fire. Otherwise, as I sit and take in my surroundings, I think about what a perfect evening this has turned out to be.

Observation #17

We quickly threw up our umbrellas and trudged through the stretch of grass that had now turned to mud and puddles in the downpour. Dirt flew up onto my shoes, and  almost immediately I regretted wearing white sneakers instead of boots. We walked as fast as we could to the doors of the op shop. I shook off my umbrella undercover, and wiped my boots. We walked inside.

Rows upon rows of clothing engulfed the front of the store. Random objects like hats, scarves, and bags were haphazardly hung up through the aisles, presumably left by other customers. In front of me was the men’s section, so I began to shuffle through the racks of clothing. My mind went to the previous owners of the items. Had they given the clothing away because it was old, or ugly? Or had they been deceased, and someone close to them decided to just throw all of their belongings into bags to be subsequently donated.

Some of these items indicated who the previous owner might have been. For example, a collection of thick, short sleeve shirts with two huge pockets in the front. I assume fishing shirts. The shirts were in good condition, so I wonder if the fisherman just simply outgrew the size. Perhaps they hadn’t gone fishing in years, sold their boat, and realised they probably weren’t getting on the water anytime soon. Maybe they got the shirts as a gift and didn’t even like fishing.

I perused the men’s aisles for a good five minutes, ultimately not finding anything of great interest. I could see my friends towards the back of the store, and so I walked over to them. They were looking at the bridal wear, arranged scrupulously by the volunteers on a wall display. Hats, feathers, even veils draped down the organised shelves. To the right, a hefty collection of wedding dresses puffed out into the aisle. We looked through the gowns, pondering who might pick these up and wear them on their wedding day. “Some of these could have great material to turn into something new,” I said, thinking about the multitude of options that the embellished lace from one, and soft satin from the other could provide. I briefly thought about the possibilities, and what someone, more skilled on a sewing machine than I, could achieve. My mind was brought to another section, women’s jeans, where my friends were now laughing at the styles and cuts that had since gone way out of fashion. I quickly joined them. We had a good time that afternoon, reflecting upon all of the items that encapsulated both a moment in time, and the sort of person that may have once worn it. Once we had finished at that location, we stepped back into the soaking rain, heading for the car to drive to the next op shop.

 

 

 

W8 Reflection

This week was filled with a lot of new knowledge learnt! Megan and I constructed a scene based on an observation. We chose the second observation, and came up with a strong characterisation for the old friend character (he loves forest green and mythology literature). Additionally, we had a vision for the production design (including the weather) and the sound. I was extremely happy with the depth of ideas we could come up with in a short amount of time, and it was definitely the sort of scene I would like. I think this has helped in getting inspired to write and work collaboratively with others, for I could not have thought of most of those ideas otherwise. Overall I realised through this exercise that I do have the potential to write something!

This leads my to my observations this week, which chronicled a few days that I managed to get out of the house for. My art gallery observation I went online to find particular research for, but I think this format worked because it allowed me to explain the piece in it’s technical sense, and then in the way I felt personally connected and impacted. Additionally, I had a colourful experience at a secondhand shop with my sister, and it made for an interesting anecdotal experience along with an observation this week. I found both of these to be quite long and filled with detail, which I cannot complain about.

Also this week, we looked at Fellini and his collaborative work with the actors in his films. Furthermore, his work showed that we are sometimes imprisoned with temporal precision and sound synchronicity. I feel inspired to explore this in my own work for the remainder of the semester. In ‘Documenteur’ by Agnes Varda, there again was inspiring sound mixing, where it was not made to be a huge deal and felt quite natural. I particularly liked that the construction of the scene played with point-of-views, and the sound and camera combination led to it this to be more interpretive. This new dimension of the sound enhanced my viewing of the scene and I think could be done in so many ways to further storytelling in my future work. Lastly, The exercise we did with the ‘Duelle’ scene by constructing the dialogue based on the visual was helpful in realising my storytelling potential, and I think this and the previous exercise I could conduct myself to create some new ideas. The options are endless!

Observation #16

The racks of beads, obscure footwear, and hats caught my eye as I walked along the small shopping pavilion. Contrasting to the sunny day outside, the shop was dark, and yet intriguing. I stepped in.

I was immediately greeted with rows upon rows of clothing racks, and smaller displays of accessories. A narrow walkway lead to to the majority of the store, where most of the treasures lay.  The shop owner greeted us. She was short and stocky, with her wild grey hair clipped messily atop her head. She spoke passionately about where the money from the sales would be donated. She also explained that many of the items in the store to have been her own once upon a time. For every second item, it seemed there was a backstory – when she had bought it, and where she once wore it. New York City and Los Angeles were mentioned quite a few times. My sister picked up a tan leather coat. Supposedly it had been dropped off that very morning. She tried it on, bit put it back briskly; assuming the high price point that a vintage leather coat would have.

I wandered further into the store, enamored by the prospect of many lives lived in each piece in front of me. I was almost overwhelmed by the options the store provided. I picked up a few items – one a sheer purple blouse with pearl buttons. Another was a black and white striped cotton shirt with a red collar and embroidered logo. I questioned the validity of the shop owners previous statements on her ownership of the items, taking in how much depth to the store there actually was. It seemed to go on and on. 

My sister tried on a white shirt, with boned panels down the side to give a fitted look. It didn’t fit very well, but that was okay. The shopkeeper came over to us, perhaps to upsell, but in seeing the items we had exclaimed upon how expensive they would be. She took some of the pieces right out of my hand in fact. As I looked around the store, I started to see faults and unpleasantries in the items that I must have missed before, as I shuffled through the remaining racks. We overheard the shopkeeper accusing another customer of ripping her off. “It’s from the 80s, I’ve kept it in perfect condition, dry cleaned it, and you want it for nothing?” She replied no, and said something else, but I was too uncomfortable to keep listening.

My sister and I decided it was probably time to go home.

Observation #15

The Art Gallery is packed to the brim, with groups of families, friends, couples, and singles piling in through the entrance doors. Our tickets are booked for 11:30, and so on the dot my friends and I scan in with our tickets and walk to the exhibitions.

We wander slowly, partly to take in the artwork around us, but mainly just to have a quiet catch-up. We are quick to stifle our laughs as we circle through the first exhibitions, careful to not disrupt other’s experience too much. Perhaps we failed at this. We are fairly quick going through the first rooms, where the work has remained the same over various years. Being in Canberra on a warm spring day, it is predictable that we have all seen a majority of the entire gallery before. We walked past Urs Fischer’s 2017 Francesco, noting the red figure had already almost melted down to the legs.

One of my favourite rooms contains the work from Andy Warhol, and as I walk in, I remember the first time I saw the exhibition. I now have so much more context to Andy Warhol’s life than I did when I first saw his work, and I wonder what here today had been created in his NYC studio. I know a lot more about Elvis Presley, too, and I think particularly about his film career as I stand in front of the 1963 screen print. Further, Jackson Pollock’s 1952 Blue Poles always gives me a weird sense of nostalgia, where I think of the times I used to come here as a child with my whole family. The gallery itself seemed a lot less interesting then, when I was just a small child.

It seems fitting that the last room we walked into was the Skywhales: Every heart sings exhibition. I had to laugh. I remember being in high school when the 10-breasted whale took flight over Canberra. Here were artworks memorialising it, interpreting it in new and abstract ways. In the center of the room, the evolution of the skywhale from a land animal to what it is (or, could be) today was illustrated through small sculptures. I’ve always been interested in evolution, but this may have been too much for me to handle. Even so, we carefully inspected each piece. That almost brought us to our two-hour limit, so we called it a day, and stepped back out into the sunshine.

 

W7 Reflection

This week we looked at observations from other students. It was refreshing to see different techniques and styles of writing employed by different people. Additionally, we could observe similarities of those who are currently in lockdown. This was mostly characterised through describing a lot of the scenery around them, and observing changes from a usual routine. I feel fortunate that I am not in lockdown after reading the observations, but it does make me think I need to get out more (for the sake of my writing and my wellbeing!) This week my observations seemed quite insular, and not so out of the box for what I usually write.

After reading the Ennio Flaiano pieces, I felt inspired by the depth of the writing and the elements of comedy, wit and heavy contextualisation provided. In the future (because I did not do so this week) I want to explore writing about something researched or at least with some external knowledge. This would be in addition to my own perspective.

After watching some clips from Joris Ivens, I particularly enjoyed the piece about rain. the reflections of the water on the ground made for some pretty shots and overall, the way rain effects people, the environment, and physical structures was presented in a calming yet informative way. What stood out was how people physically move when it rains (slower, with umbrellas open and colliding with those around them), and the way the rainfall pools on the ground with puddles, and water flowing from drains.

For my assignment, I am focusing on being more conceptual than literal, especially in approaching voiceover and the actions in the piece. Additionally, I want to have a more considered approach to music, keeping in mind that it is not always necessary! Overall, I am happy with the idea and am keen to get going on it.

 

Observation #14

Usually waking up without using an alarm is a blessing, but today I know immediately I wasn’t ready to be awake. I listen for a second to hear doors slamming in the distance. So that is the culprit of my broken slumber today. Behind my eyes I feel the dull pounding of a headache. I can’t fall back asleep, because anxiety immediately spikes in my brain, as I remember all of the work I need to complete today.

I can barely open my eyes as I stumble over to the kitchen to make coffee. I usually can’t stomach water in the morning even in such a dehydrated state. I slip back into bed with the beverage and and wait for the caffeine to hit. Mornings like these make me reflect on my caffeine dependency and possible addiction, but I’m only asking for it when I consistently stay up late and constantly procrastinate. No time to worry about that now though, for I have countless other concerns that require my attention today. No more than 15 minutes later has the headache cleared from the coffee, and I feel ready to begin working.

Observation #13

Even though it ends up being one of the most enjoyable parts of the day, getting myself prepared for a daily walk can be quite taxing. I live on top of hill, and so a windbreaker is always necessary if I want to retain some warmth, as the end of winter still lingers in the air. Some sort of ear covering is essential too, for the noise of the wind is far more disruptive, and I won’t be able to hear through my earphones otherwise.  When I do make it out of the door, I press ‘play’ on my podcast of choice, and get going.

Immediately the smell of fresh mown grass fills my nose as I set down the road. Horse poo is faintly odorous, but not entirely unpleasant, considering the wide open fields and shining sun. For the first time this month, I can smell flowers. Spring has finally arrived, and with each step I perspire, for now I am definitely overdressed. The sun glows in the cloudless sky, and I succumb to the slight blindness because I am not wearing a hat. This walk may be the most pleasant I’ve had for the last few weeks. I think I will have to take one more often.