Archive of ‘Integrated Media 1’ category

Dovey and Rose’s “We’re happy and we know it”

Dovey and Rose’s 2012 report, “We’re Happy and We Know It: Documentary: Data: Montage”, discusses various ways in which happiness can be recorded and mapped out on a digital scale. They cite mobile applications and interactive documentaries such as I Want You to Want Me (p.g6), We Feel Fine (p.6) and Mappiness (p.7) as examples of expressing emotions in a digital sense. They discuss how these platforms can “produce unexpected new insights” (p.7) into the human condition and how it can be expressed in a digital form.

One of the ideas I found most interesting in this reading was the discussion surrounding the differing and ever changing nature of online documentaries. As Dovey and Rose discuss, “the exact nature of the experience will emerge from the interaction [with] whatever is available online to respond to [it]” (Dovey and Rose 2012, p.18). The main problem I feel most students have been encountering with Korsakow this semester is giving up the control to shape the users experience. Most of the software we work with gives the creator complete control over how the user views the product, and it is strange to work with a program, which leaves the users experience so much up to probability.

Another idea which I found interesting in this reading was when Dovey and Rose discuss how “watching work online is, some might argue, already difficult enough, finding it in the first place is already a challenge.” (Dovey and Rose 2012, p. 12). I think they main problem most students are struggling with this subject is finding the point in Korsakow, as it seems to be a program which very few people use. It is hard to see and understand the audience for interactive and online documentaries when they are such a new phenomenon.

Will Luer’s “Plotting the Database”

Will Luer’s “Plotting the Database”, published in 2012, discusses the features of database narrative including entry points, collecting data, relations and attention. Through 8 separate sections, Luer explains how all of these elements tie together to create an engaging and interesting piece of work.

An idea I found the most interesting was Luer’s discussion of ‘Entry Points’, and how it can relate to our work this semester. Luer discusses how entry points can set the tone for the whole database narrative. Because of the randomness of the Korsakow program, the user and the program determines “when and where to exit a database narrative” (Luer 2012, p.2), as opposed to a traditional narrative, where the author determines the entry point. With Korsakow, you can select the any of the clips your film can start on (by selecting, or not, the start SNU), and this still allows the creator some control over the users entry point into the work.

Another interesting point, which I found in Luer’s writing, was the discussion surrounding ‘Distributed Attention’, and how a user can understand, draw meaning from, and interact with an interface. Luer discusses how the “spatial juxtaposition of media – text, links, image, video and audio” (Luers 2012, p.4) allows the user to become more engaged in the work and draw meaning out of it. This is relevant to our final assessment for this subject, as an interesting and engaging interface can often make or break a Korsakow film, as we have seen in the work viewed this semester.

Reflection on my sketch film

Yesterday I had the viewing and assessment of my sketch film. It was a really interesting way to have my work assessed as it provided real time feedback from Jasmine about my work.

The most important thing that I got feedback on was how my work was understood by the audience. When reviewing my work, I thought the major theme would be the comparison of inside and outside, or night and dark. However, when Jasmine watched my film she picked up on a theme which was entirely different. It was an interesting way to see how my work can be interpreted by other people. This is important to keep in mind for the final project for this subject, as we want the audiences to understand what we were trying to communicate to them. We can achieve this by audience testing and receiving feedback from people before we submit it.

Another interesting thing was getting the opportunity to view someone else’s work for this semester. As we are all given the same constrained tasks and framework to work under, it was interesting to see how other people responded to the prompts.

Reflection on the Shields readings

Shield’s collection of writings discusses the ideas around narrative and non-narrative rejects traditional ideals of story, narrative and collage. He chooses to write through a collection of numbered thoughts (each a sentence or three long) linked through key ideas. The most striking thing about Shield’s writing is its lack of traditional narrative flow or cause and effect as traditionally seen in narrative.

Shield’s main argument is that narrative and story are “predictable, tired, contrive and purposeless” (Shields 2011, p.116). It is clear that he aims to combat this through the idea of collage and mosaic, which he states are an “evolution beyond narrative” (Shields 2011, p.111). This idea of a postmodern story telling is an interesting idea, and Shield’s ideas of stories making sense through items being placed together, seemingly at random, is both a thought provoking and intriguing matter.

The main ideas surrounding Shield’s writing link incredibly closely to ideas that Korsakow also deals with. In particular, the ideas surrounding adjacent data and how to arrange this data are obviously problems, which people who create in Korsakow have to deal with. Two of the ideas I found most interesting where:
• Shield’s ideas about “picking through options and presenting a new arrangement” (Shields 2011, p.116) – I found this interesting as it proposes that you could take a linear story and rearrange it in Korsakow, and that through the use of keywords it would create a very interesting and engaging film for a user to view and navigate
• Shield’s ideas about “the problems of scale” and engaging the reader (Shields 2011, p.119) – Shields briefly touches on how to keep the viewers (or readers) attention beyond basic engagement – how they can “stay charmed, seduced and beguiled” (Shields 2011, p.119)

Shields’ “Reality Hunger: A Manifesto” Reflection

Shield’s collection of writings discusses the ideas around narrative and non-narrative rejects traditional ideals of story, narrative and collage. He chooses to write through a collection of numbered thoughts (each a sentence or three long) linked through key ideas. The most striking thing about Shield’s writing is its lack of traditional narrative flow or cause and effect as traditionally seen in narrative.

Shield’s main argument is that narrative and story are “predictable, tired, contrive and purposeless” (Shields 2011, p.116). It is clear that he aims to combat this through the idea of collage and mosaic, which he states are an “evolution beyond narrative” (Shields 2011, p.111). This idea of a postmodern story telling is an interesting idea, and Shield’s ideas of stories making sense through items being placed together, seemingly at random, is both a thought provoking and intriguing matter.

The main ideas surrounding Shield’s writing link incredibly closely to ideas that Korsakow also deals with. In particular, the ideas surrounding adjacent data and how to arrange this data are obviously problems, which people who create in Korsakow have to deal with. Two of the ideas I found most interesting where:
• Shield’s ideas about “picking through options and presenting a new arrangement” (Shields 2011, p.116) – I found this interesting as it proposes that you could take a linear story and rearrange it in Korsakow, and that through the use of keywords it would create a very interesting and engaging film for a user to view and navigate
• Shield’s ideas about “the problems of scale” and engaging the reader (Shields 2011, p.119) – Shields briefly touches on how to keep the viewers (or readers) attention beyond basic engagement – how they can “stay charmed, seduced and beguiled” (Shields 2011, p.119)

Shield’s writing provides a way to see how the ideas surrounding the Korsakow program can be used and applied in another form. Through the disjointed writing style arranged through the similar ideas in content, it’s almost like seeing a Korsakow film play out in text. While a challenging and bizarre reading, it provides another way to understand the Korsakow program.

Nonlinear Narratives in Korsakow

A couple of weeks ago, in the Bordwell and Thompson reading, there was a discussion of associational form in terms of nonlinear and experimental narratives (p.365). For my blog this week, I decided to do a little bit of extra research into practical applications of this.

Blanquer’s 2010 research “Experimental short film: ‘WARPRINTS’” provides a practical example of nonlinear narratives and essay documentary films (Blanquer 2010, p.5). They document the process of creating ‘Warprints’, from collecting and collating the archival footage, to editing and putting the footage into a sequence which could be viewed and understood by an audience.

On reading Blanquer’s thoughts on documentary and essay film, as well the practical application of the discussion in Bordwell and Thompson, I decided that it was an excellent framework for how we should approach our final project. The discussion surrounding the sourcing, restoring and editing of archival footage was of particular interest to me, as I am really interested in using this in the final project for this semester.

Both the Blanquer and Bordwell and Thompson reading’s discuss associational form, which is obviously a idea that is very closely linked to the Korsakow program and the ideas that surround this subject.
Bordwell and Thompson discuss the different levels of associational form, from obvious groupings of a large volume of footage and the juxtaposition between them, to the slightly less obvious linking of clips.
One of the more interesting aspects from Blanquer’s writing was how they compared associational form to “the techniques of metaphor and simile used in lyrics” (Blanquer 2010, p.11). This is a really interesting way to understand associational form and how it can be applied in the Korsakow program, and particularly in relation to our final project for this semester.