Here is the link to my video

For my final assessment, the hyperobject I eventually settled with was Invasive species with a focus on three species; feral cats, cane toads and the crown of thorns starfish. When I originally planned my idea, I wanted to focus on only feral cats—distinguishing between the perceived ‘meme’ like view of cats against the reality feral cats have upon the environment and native species. However, with the feedback I received, I decided to broaden my scope to three species instead. I chose these three because I think they cover the overall spectrum of how far invasive species can reach; Land, riverside and ocean. This helped me in the long run in collecting footage and conveying my message in the harm done to the environment. As Duvall explains it, the goal of films that deal with topics of animals and the environment, the audience needs to be confronted directly with the damage that has been caused by humanity in both the smaller and large scale. (Duvall, 2017) I wanted my video to ask questions about their connection to the issue of invasive species and the impact of introducing these species and wrought on the environment.

My video depicts these three animals in two lights, showing footage of these animals as harmless and not doing anything to prompt concern, as many people can view them. However, I go on to display images and footage of the destruction of the environment and the deaths of the native species as a result of their invasion. As Nurmi’s states, it is essential when creating climate media to engage with people’s emotions and attitudes in regards to the issue to incite change for the better. (Nurmis, 2016) Instead of using split screens like I originally intended, I decided to use overlaying footage, primarily when showing photos and environments so to keep everything related to one another and demonstrate how no matter where you go, these species and their damage are always there and always continuing around us.

My three constraints for my assessment were no music, no voiceover or human voices, and no footage intended for commercial and corporate use. I also wanted to avoid using statistics to convey the issue as it would have been jarring to the tone of my film. Henricks also points out that statics and facts given the wrong way are more likely to distance certain viewers rather than help. (Henricks, 2017) So, to strengthen the contrast between the types of footage, I used text to directly ask the audience if they reckon that these seemingly harmless animals aren’t a danger to the native wildlife across the country. Due to the generally disturbing content of my topic, overall relating to the deaths of animals, I took advice from my studio leader and included a content warning. This also served well to inform the audience of the severe topic being discussed, that this is a topic that needs to be addressed. I’m aware this can isolate some viewers, but it is necessary to address the issue.

I initially struggled with sound as I have always relied on using voiceover or music to help with editing and timing as well as helping to guide the footage I chose. But having to rely on diegetic sounds like nature ambience and the sound of the ocean was a challenge. I used a loud, steady heartbeat throughout the video to emphasise the tension, implying this idea that the land and its creatures are all living and all feeling the impact of these species, how humankind will also handle these effects in the long run.
Overall I am pleased with my piece and believe it conveys the message I wanted well. I look forward to others viewing it and hope it leaves an impact on them as much as it did for me when learning about the topic to create it.

References
Duvall, JA 2017, ‘Chapter 9: Animals and Extinction’, The Environmental Documentary: Cinema Activism in the 21st Century, Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, New York, p. 231-256.
Nurmis, J. (2016). Visual climate change art 2005-2015: discourse and practice. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(4), pp.501–516.
Hendricks, R. (2017). Communicating climate change: Focus on the framing, not just the facts. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/communicating-climate-change-focus-on-the-framing-not-just-the-facts-73028 [Accessed 30 May 2020].

Admittedly I had been struggling with this assessment as the deadline slowly draws closer. My plans have significantly changed from my initial presentation on the subject, and it feels overwhelming when trying to adapt and adjust.

In the end, I decided to focus on three invasive species, in particular, Feral cats, the cane toad, and the crown of thorns starfish. This keeps the footage I need to collect focused and covers the broad range of invasive species and their reach; land, rivers and the ocean.

Challenges
The main struggle came down to footage. When creating a video-based around found footage, the creator is more or less at the mercy of the footage they can collect. This is frustrating when you have ideas for a film but can’t find the correct footage to convey your meaning. I searched many websites for the footage I needed. It, in turn, made me very thankful for deciding to broaden my scope of invasive species from only feral cats. The primary sources I required my footage from were Youtube and various stock footage sites like Pexels and Pixabay. I struggled with Shutterstock frequently offering useful footage but all with a large watermark, something I was adamant about avoiding.

Fortunately, I managed to come across a lot of documentaries that provided useful footage detailing the damage caused by my chosen species. The importance of this is as Wallace explains that the cognitive dissonance created by the public to the various issues of the Anthropocene has created ‘an ambivalence of denial and acceptance, complacency and horror.’ (Wallace 2017, pg 572)

Concerns
A concerning matter that came up was how violent my topic is graphic content. Invasive species are responsible for the eradication of many species and to visually demonstrate this without statistics images of the animals and environment eradicated is the best route. Elaine provided helpful feedback to this that a content warning would be best in the beginning regardless of the footage I use due to the heavy subject I am discussing. I still tried to avoid content too heavy. For instance, I used footage from this Video to gather footage of feral cats in the wild. I had to be careful in cutting footage to avoid showing anything too graphic.
(Please note, I am only including the link and not embedding the video on purpose due to the disturbing content. View at your own discretion as feral cat hunters took the footage.)

Sound
Finding various diegetic sounds was difficult at first. As someone that prefers using music or voiceover to convey a message, it was a challenge to avoid them entirely and rely only on diegetic audio and the visuals on screen to convey my message. I wanted to use a multitude of sounds from the various animals I chose. I took on Ash’s feedback and suggestion of a heartbeat to add suspense. It helped give me focus on the footage and rhythm to work and time myself. I also decided to use only ambience sound from my chosen species environments to keep the overall tone of the video the same.

References
Wallace, M 2017, ‘It’s the End of the Field as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)’, American Literary History, vol. 29, no. 2, p. 565-578.

Listening to the feedback from my presentation was engaging and vital to help me in shaping out my ideas for my project. The central theme I wanted to go for in my plan was the hyperobject of ‘Invasive Species with a primary focus on Feral Cats as an invasive species in Australia. I liked the feedback Ash gave me in terms of ideas of where to go with it and references to draw from as well. Ultimately, I’ve decided to take the advice from the feedback in the presentation and zoom out my idea to not just feral cats, but certain invasive species in Australia. This is mainly due to how they seem to like my idea, but worry I will get lost in the idea of feral cats and lose focus on my hyperobject, missing the point of the assessment entirely. I think my focus will be upon feral cats, rabbits, cane toads and potentially the crown of thorns starfish for variety in visuals and sounds. I still do want to include feral cats as like how Ash explained it in his thoughts on my presentation, ‘it fits in amongst invasive species as a broader topic.’ (Fox, 2020)

However, this doesn’t mean the feedback I received isn’t useful. Ash’s recommendation of looking into the Dingo fence as ‘a great example of pre-industrial control methods’. (Fox, 2020) Providing a link for me about the subject was also really helpful since I didn’t know about it and was able to educate myself on this topic further. This reminded me of other methods taken to prevent the spread of invasive populations like the rabbit-proof fence. I think showing examples of these methods in the footage I find would be a great example of my hyperobject to utilise. I also really like the suggestions of sounds to use that Ash provided. I originally had a focus on feral cats to utilise footage that compared the ‘meme’ like the way they are viewed. Still, as I drift away from that idea to broaden my scope, the idea of a subtle heartbeat throughout the video is an idea I like. I do still want to stay with my constraints and my plan of a split-screen showing differing images. Now that I am broadening my scope on animals, I think this will be an excellent utilisation of footage.

Feedback

PROMPT 9

My Powerpoint Slides are available here.

The presentation I was allocated to give feedback on was Ash’s presentation with his hyperobject focusing on Food Production. Food production is always one of those hyperobjects that contribute to climate change that not enough people focus on, myself included, so I think that it’s a great topic to look into.

I like how you situated your practice and experiences in tangent to your project idea. It demonstrates your knowledge and passion for the issue. From the sound of your presentation and your slides, it’s clear that you would prefer to use photography as your media format for this project. I like that you did look at the issue from all sides and address the possibility of a short video. However, you have a very solid idea for what you want to do with your photo essay so it’s clearly the way to go in this matter.

Your decision to use ‘amatuer shot only’ images for your photo essay is an interesting approach. Your reasoning and beliefs behind them support why so I’m curious to see how you work with this added constraint. A royalty-free site I often use to collect footage and images is the website Pexels but unfortunately, I don’t know how useful this will be as many of the images have a more professional edge to them but it is always worth looking into. You mentioned in your presentation that you plan to use google images to track back to useful websites. This also seems like a useful method if not a bit time consuming so id makes sure to start collecting images early to know what you want to plan out.

You are under some rather different constraints when it comes to using photography for your assessment since you are limited to what is in the frame. However, like the others that provided feedback, I think that it gives you a great chance to subvert the traditional chronological portrayals of this industry. Utilizing not only what is in the frame but how the piece is shown is another alternative way to portray your message.

Your presentation really showed off what you’re interested in doing for this project and outlined a clear plan to follow along with. You have a passionate interest in this topic so I have no doubt the final product will also reflect this. I wish you luck in the making and I can’t wait to see the final outcome!

(Word Count 402)

For studio presentation, and in turn my final assessment, I have chosen to discuss the Hyperobject of invasive species. As a result of the Anthropocene and mankind’s continued search of a world made easier, the biodiversity of the planet has gradually grown smaller. Animals are frequently being introduced to new habitats that aren’t their own. This causes them to thrive in an environment void of their natural predators and diseases, but in turn, causes devastation to the original species of this environment.

Invasive species were always an issue in the environment I was aware of, but never focused on a great deal unless for a different smaller-scaled assignment in high school. I always knew of most invasive species but actually looking at them as a whole, it was alarming to learn the rate at which animals in Australia are going extinct or at a high risk of extinction. With so many invasive species in the country and all over the world. I decided it would be best to focus on one species, particularly a more universally recognized species and a species that poses a great threat to the lives of many species in Australia. The feral cat. The reason for this is for the wide variety of dangers the animal has to the country. According to the Australian Department of Agriculture, ‘More than 20 of our Australian mammals’ (Feral Cats FAQ, 2017, pg 2) are now extinct due to the intervention of feral cats and at least a further ‘124 Australian species are at pressure of extinction’ (Feral Cats FAQ, 2017, pg 2) because of this.

Another reason for this choice is that cats in the general eyes of the public and the internet are considered a bit of a meme. Sure they can be dangerous and hunt animals, but if you look up cats on the internet you are more likely to find funny compilations of cat videos over anything else. This leaves a plethora of content for me to sort through and examine in my goal to portray this more serious and dangerous side to this hyperobject. While people can be aware of the damage done by invasive species, Morton reminds us that Hyperobjects are ‘massively distributed entities that can be thought and computed, but not directly touched or seen.’ (Morton, 2013, pg 37) Hyperobjects like invasive species exist all around us constantly even if we are not aware of them and yet their impact on the globe can be devastating. I wanted to create a media artefact that is more personal to viewers, by showing the comparison between how cats are generally portrayed vs the reality of the damage they cause. This would be done either through a split-screen or collecting positive footage of cats and intercutting it with the contrasting reality of cats footage. The challenge with this is not to demonize cats as a whole and try to remain on the topic of hyperobjects as a whole.

In my development as a media student, I found I have come to heavily rely on music in many aspects to carry my work, so I want to use music as a constraint this time and focus on diegetic sounds in a scene to carry my video. It will be a challenge but I want to challenge my skills as a media maker to further develop my practice.

(Word count 562)

References
Morton, T 2013, ‘Poisoned Ground: Art and Philosophy in the Time of Hyperobjects’, Sylmpoke, vol. 21, no.1-2, p. 37-50.
Australian Department of Environment and Energy, 2017. Tackling Feral Cats And Their Impacts. Australian Government.

Update Post Presentation
I wanted to quickly update this according to the feedback I received though this isn’t really part of my prompt 8 reflection.
With the feedback I received from my presentation I believe it would be better to broaden my scope of invasive species to the most notable invasive species in Australia. Focusing on feral cats like I initially intended seemed like the best idea due to the plethora of content I would be able to use on the matter. However, I do agree with the feedback that this poses a risk to be focusing on just this and not the hyperobject of invasive species as a whole. While this may pose more of a challenge in the future, I believe this is the best course of action to take to ensure I stay on topic.

The introductory reading ‘A New Critical Climate’ by Adeline Johns-Purta, proved to be interesting when discussing the matters of Climate change in correlation with our understanding of the Anthropocene. As Johns-Purta puts it, climate change is not a tangible source and is something that, while we cannot see, is something that exists all around us like nothing we have ever seen before. (Johns-Purta, 2013). This rings true, as she later remarks, to Timothy Mortan’s definition and descriptions of Hyperobjects and how they affect the planet and its inhabitants. Scholar Mary Wallace similarly remarks on the Anthropocene and in particular the struggle of ecocritics interpreting this hyperobject in a constantly changing environment of ‘social, cultural, economic, and ecological factors’ (Wallace, 2017, 566)

The text raises certain questions to ecocritics that does the reality of this hyperobject require a ‘new critical climate’ (Johns-Purta 2017, pg 8), or will our long used ‘old habits of critique’ still reign supreme in this crisis? She explores these ideas by delving into Morton’s ‘Object-oriented Ontology’ (Johns-Purta 2017, pg 9) in which hyperobjects are evaluated in regards to the environment to ‘address the feedback from Earth’ (Johns-Purta 2017, pg 9). Through this, they call for a form of ‘deconstructive environmental criticism’. (Johns-Purta 2017, pg 9) With climate change as a hugely expansive hyperobject that is ‘massively distributed in time and space’ (Morton 2013, pg 39) the traditional methods of ecocriticism are simply not as effective.

A good example I have seen recently using this deconstruction of these traditional critical climate change methods is the video “Dear Future Generations: Sorry” by Richard Williams or better known with his channel name, Prince Ea. The video details a dark future with Williams himself addressing the viewers as the future generations of the world, apologizing to them for the damage his generations have wrought upon the planet in the name of greed. The video goes to extremes in these depictions, filmed in a desert that he says is what once was known as the Amazon Rainforest and that the trees that populated it helped the planet by taking in carbon, purifying water, helping us with curing diseases. The most noticeable parts with this video, however, is he apologizes for the complacency of his generation in allowing these things to occur before addressing the viewers again that this is not yet their future and that we are already seeing the effects of climate change, that the generations of today have the power to change this.

The video’s addressing that we as people are not only able to make a change, but have a responsibility to is something I think is an important discernment to make at this time. By examining the ‘humanist tendencies’(Johns-Purta 2017, pg 8) of people these days, bringing the matter of ethics into the discussion is yet another deconstructive method of climate change theory. It is another form of making the hyperobject a more personal issue to people and can further encourage others to take action through the idea of taking responsibility to undo the damage of older generations.

(Word Count 502)

References
Johns-Putra, A 2013, ‘A New Critical Climate’, Symploke, vol. 21, no.1-2, p. 7-10.
Morton, T 2013, ‘Poisoned Ground: Art and Philosophy in the Time of Hyperobjects’
’, Sylmpoke, vol. 21, no.1-2, p. 37-50.
Wallace, M 2017, ‘It’s the End of the Field as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)’, American Literary History, vol. 29, no. 2, p. 565-578.
Williams, R., 2015. Dear Future Generations: Sorry. Available at: [Accessed 8 May 2020]