Lecture Notes

What is the benefits of lists?

  • Lists keep things separate.
  • Adrian says the list can disrupt the narrative. The main interest, though, is how they are literary. What can we achieve with lists in a literary sense?

Why and to what end are we freed from the ‘tyranny of representation’?

  • To work with Korsakow, and other media that produce non-linear storytelling, is liberating. It is a bit more free than traditional forms of media.
  • Adrian asks, why is representation a tyranny? Representation can only say a little bit about what the world is. And in doing that, they claim to speak for the whole world. This is just wrong. Because it is a tyranny, we keep misreading the world.

Why has Google not picked up Korsakow?

  • Korsakow is not networked. There are other forms of online documentary tools that are available for users that Google prefer.
  • As an example of the Google business environment, Adrian says good designers do not stay at Google long because of their engineering culture. They are a little bit stale in their way of doing things.
  • Youtube is old media. It is esentially chunks of video the users have uploaded to a server. It is not a ‘new media’ tool for creation, such as Korsakow.
  • Adrian also does not see why the fact Korsakow has not been bought is an issue, or seen as a negative. He believes this is a very commercial way of looking at things, and we may be missing the point of the tool.

Will multi-linear videos become mainstream?

  • It was argued this is already happening. Comments, multi-platform websites etc. is presently common in story telling and information dissemination.
  • Adrian believes we are moving towards fragmented forms of media. Twitter, Vine, etc. We will take these fragments and do something with them – possibly create narrative with them more often.
  • Time-shifting has become important, and widespread in our everyday lives.

Reading: New Documentary Ecologies

Korsakow is one of many freely available tools on the internet that can be used for non-linear storytelling and to create interactive documentaries.

All claim to be easy-to-use and do not require any programming skills.

There is an interesting distinction between ‘Theatrical Documentary’ and ‘Web Documentary’.

Theatrical documentary tells a specific kind of story, which is usually a big event, often in one characters life, like an incredible cinematic journey.

The web offers an opportunity to examine and understand very small, everyday details of our lives. This is the kind of storytelling Korsakow founder Florian Thalhofer has been creating with his own work in Korsakow.

Lecture Notes

What is the point in redefining narrative as anything more than ‘cause and effect’?

  • So much more to outline – the in-between
  • Adrian disagrees – to infer the narrative you must look at the cause and effect
  • Narratives have causal relations

Ryan notes ‘we can never be sure that sender and receiver have the same story in mind.’ Korsakow films allow for greater freedom of interpretation. Do you see this as a positive or negative? How can the filmmaker control interpretations?

  • This is a positive thing – open structure. Not being told what to think
  • With K-Films there will be different experiences
  • Filmmakers can’t control what the audience thinks. Get over it!
  • Story is a dance

Ryan argues that sender and receiver will always have a different story in mind. Would this be a negative for us when trying to convey a story or meaning with Korsakow?

  • Perhaps Korsakow is not the right platform
  • Looking at the tool first rather than the story

Do you believe the meaning of narrative has been diluted through its descriptive use in society?

  • Loses meaning and gets used as an umbrella term

What is the difference between the components of story and discourse?

  • Discourse is the way its told
  • Story is the meaning

When considering non-linear narrative, how important is Ryan’s sixth criteria for identifying narrative; the notion of ‘closure’?

  • Closure is invested in the audience they decide when they can stop watching

Korsakow Tech

I have started to identify connections between my clips. Some things I will need to learn/practice this week before I submit my sketch K film

  • How to change the interface – am currently deciding if I should have multiple interfaces throughout the film or just one
  • How to add and change text
  • Ensure all videos die
  • Ensure all clips appear in single viewing
  • Ensure ‘index.html’ is renamed

After watching my initial draft for my sketch film I noticed there was quite a lag with my thumbnails. Rather than just using screenshots I will need to put in photoshop and re-size to ensure they are the same size as the clip and reduce quality to around 70.

Constraint task: Frustrations and Observations

As I discussed at the beginning of the semester I am fully aware that I am linear minded. I have found the constraint tasks each week slightly frustrating as I am not yet able to see the end product.

We are all trained from a young age to attempt to find meaning of the world around us. I can appreciate that these weekly tasks are helping to release us from natural urge and train us to notice.

Rather than becoming overwhelmed with the task I will instead focus on each clip being self-sufficient in their own right rather than rely on where they are going. Once all clips are completed I will then try to find relationships and links between each video rather than trying to manufacture a narrative in the creating stage.

 

Inspiration: Major K-Film

Watching the some the student Kfilms has give me some ideas for my major project.

I know I want music to play a big part in the film.

Brainstorming themes and concepts for the major essay.

  • Time – progression, aging
  • Dependency – attachment
  • Light

 

 

Sketch Film Essay: Assessment 2

Korsakow Film: Bright Splinters

Created by: Michael Lincoln, Katrina Varey, Sunniva Sollied Møller, Scott Huang

Link: http://vogmae.net.au/classworks/2012/BrightSplinters.html

‘Life is not like conventional fiction: life is more real, flies at us in bright splinters’

Shields, 2011

Introduction

The Korsakow film Bright Splinters is an observational work that uses pattern, interface and content utilising the recurring theme of ‘light’ to highlight the underrated beauty of Melbourne city. The collage of clips are comprised of different fragments of time and space providing a dynamic yet fluid experience for the user. Moments that occur every day that ordinarily go by unnoticed, suddenly seem so significant and meaningful. There is something very beautiful and thought provoking about each individual clip, however when viewed in relation to each other a new, polysemic meaning is created.

Pattern

Bright Splinters presents a number of connections between clips that allows the user to establish recurring themes throughout the film. The consistent theme of light is present throughout each clip. To compliment this concept, combinations of day and night as well as artificial and natural light are cleverly employed throughout the film. The correlation between the clips becomes apparent when seen on the main interface. The effect of the videos being similar in appearance around the main media is visually dynamic and prompts the user to create their own patterns.

There is also a recurring theme of motion depicted throughout each clip. Again this is generated though the use of both natural and artificial objects and helps to create the atmosphere of Melbourne as a metropolitan city, constantly moving through time and space. The movement throughout each clip also helps to establish rhythm throughout the film.

The recurring patterns that are evident throughout the piece are supported by the continuous soundtrack, which plays uninterrupted throughout the film. The ambient and slightly somber music assists to establish mood and sets the overall pace of the film. The constant background music also helps to create continuity and flow throughout the work.

Interface

This interactive documentary utilises a simple yet effective interface design, which remains consistent throughout the duration of the film. The main SNU, which is played in colour, is surrounded by seven black-and white thumbnails. The large number of preview windows presents the user with a greater amount of choice on how to proceed through the film. The thumbnails are arranged along the top of the main media window and continue down the right hand side. By not forming a complete square the user is left feeling free and liberated rather than contained by their decisions. The edges of the thumbnails also blend seamlessly into the black background, making them less defined and less likely to pull focus. This also relates back to the significance of light and its ability either expose or conceal.

The individual clips are not looped which helps to add to the fragmented feel of the piece. Each clip seems to be capturing a specific moment in time. Although having the soundtrack continue to play once the clip has completed helps to maintain the overall flow of the piece.

Content

Visually, the film is impressive. A variety of different shots are utilised to create a complex film that is both captivating and stimulating. A plethora of clips, which all relate to light, are captured throughout Melbourne. They comprise of both natural and artificial light and vary from day to night, inside to outside. Some clips include people while others do not. However they are consistent in their quality and have been edited in a stylistic way that enhances the overall feel of the film.

The opening sequence presents itself visually engaging and slightly more intense than the other clips throughout the film. The Shields quote “life…though flies at us” is introduced using the sporadic nature similar to that of a fluorescent light in juxtaposition with a wide-shot, light-heavy time lapse sequence, allows the user to immediately be able to establish the subject. Text is only utilised in the opening sequence, which allows the user to focus on the visual beauty of the clips rather than be distracted by having to read throughout the film.

The videos are recorded from a first person point of view, which is a common trait for observational mode of documentary. The filmmaker remains hidden behind the camera, ‘ignored by the surrounding environment that we neither change nor influence the events being captured’ (Nichols, 2010). This helps to draw the user in allowing them to feel like a part of the work.

Connection

The decisions made in the patterns created, the interface design and the content captured throughout the interactive documentary form a strong cohesive theme of light that can be interpreted by the user to create meaning depending on their individual experiences.

The interface design along with the continuous background music encourages the user to progress through the piece, although not necessarily forward as the piece takes on a multi-linear narrative structure. This allows space for the user to interpret the relationship between videos and the meaning of the work.

Through utilising specific design elements, the filmmakers highlight fragmented moments in time that are usually taken for granted and invite the user to take notice and appreciate their surroundings. By combining content, rhythm and the recurring theme of movement the film not only establishes a sense of place but also successfully creates atmosphere, successfully capturing the culture and diversity of Melbourne city.

Evidence

Bright Splinters is an interactive documentary that can be recognised as a hypertext, as it allows the user to create their own journey through selecting a range of pre-existing options (Ashton & Gaudenzi, 2012). Even though the filmmaker has the power to create the content and make relationships with the keywords, it is still up to the user to create meaning, based on their own personal experiences (Ashton & Gaudenzi, 2012). This interactive documentary, which combines a number of observational clips, also highlights the changes in the way in which users engage with digital media (Sørenssen, 2008).  The film takes an experimental approach to documentary making, to produce common themes and patterns throughout (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013). Bright Splinters is a highly stylised and powerful Korsakow film, which eloquently explores the underrated beauty of Melbourne city and reflects on how we interpret the world around us.

References:

Bordwell, D & Thompson, K (2013) Film Art: An Introduction. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill.

Judith, A & Gaudenzi, S (2012) “Interactive Documentary: Setting the Field.” Studies in Documentary Film 6.2: 125–139.

Nichols, B 2010, Introduction to Documentary, 2nd ed., Indiana University Press, United States of America.

Shields, David. (2010) ‘Reality Hunger: A Manifesto’ Knopf, vintage pp. 110-122

Sørenssen, B (2008) “Digital Video and Alexandre Astruc’s Caméra-Stylo: The New Avant-Garde in Documentary Realized?” Studies in Documentary Film 2.1