Jenny, Annie and Jeremy present the media masterpiece “Three Handshakes: A Media One Filming Task”
This task allowed me to see the effect each camera angle lends to a shot, the handheld tracking shot engaged me the most as it invites the viewer into the world of the subject as opposed to being a fly on the wall, separate from the action shown in the first, static shot.
As I gathered the images, videos and audio for my self portrait I kept moving back and forth on whether I should try a deep and introspective look at myself or showcase my strange personality. I found a middle ground with my portrait, the images leaned more towards the more abstract and symbolic, the crushing darkness surrounding a barely visible me or the eye glasses devoid of a head, staring ahead at a barely visible crossroads. To contrast that, I used my audio pieces to communicate my outward personality such as my laziness and love of film, the things my friends and family associate with me. Presenting this project to my classmates was more interesting because it allowed me to see various approaches to capturing the self. Some focused more on the abstract while others used their personality to display themselves first and foremost. All the portraits I saw opened my eyes to the infinite ways to approach creating a self portrait through various media. It allowed me to feel more comfortable with what I gathered and to not try to be to ‘artsy’ and just try and capture what others see in me instead of trying to solely attempt to transcend to a art-house representation of myself because that would ring false to me. Defining myself and my personality is something I avoid doing at all costs in my everyday life so creating a project based around myself was difficult as an awkward and extremely self conscious guy so being able to see everybody’s anxieties displayed proudly next to their strengths helped to control my anxious in capturing myself and allows me to approach the second portrait with the ability to understand myself and how to present that to an audience without feeling like a complete fool.
Today I presented first project brief to a group of my peers. As it was only our third class together and I had not yet seen any creations made by Jenny, Alaine or Aidan I was apprehensive to show mine in case I had not captured and adhered to the project. This was just another instance of my brain over thinking tings as I had a great time seeing many creative and innovative depictions of a self-portrait. The infinite ways that this project could be done really hit me. Alaine’s photo of a fake bird engaged by a shadow revealed her ability to capture the trapped feeling everyone feels at one point in their life. The text portion of Jenny’s portrait showed off her quirky and creative ability to pull things from her past and everyday life to re-contextualize and show off the many facets of her personality today. By reading the text and then telling us it was said by her high school maths methods teacher made me do a double take and realise the other meanings underneath the surface of the evaluation of her person. It seems that Aidan has a creative and deep knowledge of cinematography which he showcased in the photograph of a camera lens seen upside down, allowing the image at its centre to me right side up. It is a beautiful shot the highlights hos perception of his current life, its poignancy matched only by the fantastic way he captured the image.
Aidan, Jenny and Alaine and I gave feedback on each others work by reflecting on the portraits utilsing the DeBono thinking hats. Most our feedback was under the yellow hat as we were all impressed with the work so we had to make sure we gave critical feedback as well to help improve. The DeBono hats ensured we considered each work from viewpoints other than a positive “well done” view which allowed for helpful feedback to craft better portraits in the future.
Image #1: This was a way to capture how most people see me, lazy and a TV and film nerd.
Image #2: A pawn against an entire army is symbolic of my feelings towards facing getting a job in the industry while also highlighting how I sometimes feel like the black sheep with my peers.
Image #3: I used my glasses to reveal how I hope people would understand me more if only they could see life through my eyes while the faded tracks in the grass are a metaphor for the decisions faced in life, easy way or the hard.
Image #4: Simply a way of communicating fear of the unknown and the constant feeling of getting swallowed up by the future.
Video #1: A quick retelling of my gap year, revealing my ideal state of laziness and how I enjoy a quiet, serene lifestyle.
Video #2: Use of a cliched image of driving down a road at night to show a period of change in my life while a 90’s anthem for maturing plays to indicate my yearning to reach adulthood.
Audio #1: The most succinct way to broadcast aspects of my personality.
Audio #2: This excerpt from Harry Potter is metaphorical of his journey into a fantasy life, where he had control for the first time in his life, an idea which shaped my childhood since I first read the book.
Text:
“You see us as you want to see us – in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.”
“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”
“Cool. Cool cool cool.”
I used these three quotes from The Breakfast Club, Back to the Future and Community respectively as I use television and movies to define and present myself to the people around me. The first quote is all about outside source defining everyone they see while the second one suggests a mystery and adventure awaiting in the future while the third quote is simply a way of expressing my feelings through my favourite show.
After fifteen or so months off from studying full time, getting back into the swing of things is a very daunting task. That being said, having my first class of the semester having a similar set up to a high school classroom helped me to begin my ‘academic rehabilitation’. Introducing myself through my favourite movies and television shows allowed for my defining traits (a huge love of TV and film) to be shown to my classmates. Being presented with our first project, a self-portrait consisting of 2 videos, 4 pictures, 2 audio clips and a few hundred words of text, following me having to quickly think of a way to present myself to a room full of strangers was a good introduction to get me in a reflective state of mind. I am not a person who likes to dwell on myself so hopefully I can look past any insecurities and present a series of texts that demonstrate where I see myself at this point in my life beyond a love of popular culture.
