The Bridge of Imagination

Week Five – Geographies: From the National to Transnational

Television is a major presence in most national cultures, even in most affluent to developing countries, and the rise of transnational television is central to current regional and global reshaping of media industries and cultures. Consequently we can view television as a cultural technology pivotal to the production of real-imagined spaces for producers and audiences, with the myriad of forms of transnational television that have emerged more recently performing related cultural work in producing global imaginary and our sense of a place with it.

In identifying these television shows it’s important to not just focus on American or western media, because media globalisation is not just, “the spread of the same products of Western… origin all over the world through media conglomerates. Non-Western players also actively collaborate in the productions and circulation of global media products” (Iwabuchi, I; 2005). The Scandinavian television series Bron/Boren (2011), or The Bridge, is a part of the Scandinoir, also called Nordic noir, genre of dark and violent thrillers set in Scandinavia. The series adheres to this phenomenon in the unfolding narrative to create suspense, which is a common characteristic of thrillers; however it displays darkness and complex mood through alternative outlets such as the characters. The series is an example of transnational television as it’s produced in Sweden and Denmark and broadcasted to 174 countries worldwide. The concept has also been readapted for an American audience in the form of The Bridge (2013) which sees the plot take place between the United States and Mexican border, and The Tunnel (2013) which takes place between France and Britain appealing to their audiences.

Broen_Broen_Intro_4

Ingrid Stigsdotter argues that vital to the international success of Bron/Boren and its remakes is, “the simple yet glorious idea of a crime scene being divided by a national border,” with this notion of a transnational police investigation taking place over national borders an important feature of the series (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). Though this idea of transnational borders is not something we are fully familiar with in Australia, as we are an island and cultural differences don’t vary too profoundly across state borders; the border lines of our states do help provide a predetermined knowledge and understanding of the situation. The fact that it’s a passport-free Swedish-Danish bridge crossing is something we can also relate to, while it may intrigue other international viewers for its lack of political presence in comparison with many other national boundaries. The borders cultural differences and people is something we learn through the show as gaining an international understanding of Europe where there are so many countries and cultures right next to each other.

Broen_Broen_Martin_and_Saga

Stigsdotter also notes how the interaction between Saga and Martin plays a significant part in the series where, “the characters’ diverging personalities can be interpreted – at least by Scandinavian viewers – as a humorous take on Nordic national stereotypes, according to which Swedes are reserved, cold and obedient subjects of the Nanny state, while Danes are… friendlier… more life-affirming, but with slightly anarchistic politics” (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). These cultural differences can be seen through the contrast of the main characters – Saga being, “efficient, intelligent, hardworking and follow[ing] the law by the book, but is servery lacking in social skills;” while Martin is, “jovial and likeable libertarian, but his tendency to follow his instincts… rather than professional rules end up having serious consequences” (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). These traits are expressed in the first episode of the series through character developments; for example Saga does not let the ambulance pass on the bridge despite there being a heart transplant patient in desperate need of an operation, it is evident she lives through her work and is never shown away from her job or in a social setting and she has quite a masculine way of approaching things for example when she gets changed in the office. While Martin allows the ambulance to pass despite Saga’s orders therefore disobeying her authority, he is shown away from work when he goes home to his son and wife and he brings Danish bread to the Swedish police station when he visits.

Broen_Broen_Bridge

Perhaps part of the reason why the series has been able to be adapted for so many different audiences is because of the underlying characteristics that make the show familiar to many western viewers. The show is a familiar cop show genre and proves to have a relatable narrative arc with there being a murder and as the case unfolds we learn the victim is of importance as she is a politician, therefore the stakes escalate. The opening credit sequence is also similar in the sense that the city plays a central role to the story, a familiarity to a Western Law and Order (1990) viewership, with night shots of the city lit up. There is also a male and female lead that has a love/hate relationship which they have to put aside for the case.

However, the show’s differences can be seen in the lack of emotional breadth in scenes, such as when the victim’s body is moved and the audience sees the whole cross section of the cut depicting human organs. There is also no pleasant banter between the two leads or limited between characters in general, discussion is always around the case itself and the characters are far from heroic as possible. More obviously the setting is visually different with the clean infrastructure a current reminder of the foreignness.

Through the television series Bron/Broen we can see how national identity can be represented through such things as characters, place and cultural values. There are some parts of the show that prove relatable to a Western audience, however it’s through the elements we displace that we are able to further understand the country where the series was produced, building an imagined space of that place in our minds.

References

Iwabuchi, K 2005. ‘Discrepant Intimacy: Popular Culture Flows in East Asia,’ Asian Media Studies: Politics of Subjectivities, Blackwell Publishers, Massachusetts, pp. 19-36.

Stigsdotter, I 2014. ‘Explaining the success of Bron/Broen (The Bridge),’ MeCETES UK: Mediating Cultural Encounters through European Screens: http://mecetes.co.uk/explaining-success-bronbroen-bridge/, August 2014.

The Extraordinary and the Everyday

Week Four: Live Television: The Extraordinary and the Everyday

Television is characterised by the notion and quality of live-ness, an important and powerful aspect in the integration of television with our lives organised around the technology. By dividing televisions ‘live’ content into ordinary and extraordinary programming, we can see the kind of work these types of television do in constituting times and spaces of collective experience for viewers, joining private and public life.

Everyday television can be seen as an example of how live-ness can simulate the existence of a close community, with shows being, “domesticated by television as if to attune the medium as a whole to the nuclear family, television’s original viewing group” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). In the morning audiences are vulnerable, tired and wishing we could get back to the bed we just left, the television therefore creates a type of comfort even though we might not be actively listening. The breakfast show Sunrise (2002) tries to fit seamlessly into our morning lives, as it does our private space. The studio is a familiar living room setting, with the news table used for important and more formal events, while the couch more informal discussion. The set design is made up of warm colours and the use of ornaments, such as drinks on the table, making the environment as unsterile and relatable as possible.

Sunrise_Set

Though you don’t know them the hosts are the representation of people you’ve known your whole life, the occasionally rampage Kochie with his Dad jokes and laid back Australian attitude, who is kept in place by the motherly Mel who will steer the show back on course in times of astray, and the sub-hosts of the sports presenter and news reader, the children who really only speak when spoken to. The hosts constantly remind us of current events, and update those who’ve, “just joined us,” to capture any stray remote clickers that pass by. There is an element of intimacy as the hosts address you in a close way across time and space, but also remain distant to uphold authority. The show is run by their conversation, expressed in a colloquial tone and the content is presented in numerous mini-events as they transition between news and media.

Sunrise_Hosts

With all these characteristics Sunrise tries to disguise itself as normality to our everyday lives, when in fact it is a media event. Through the show we can see television connect to the family form of social organisation; also achieving this in national terms as a crucial category of social identity. According to Benedict Anderson’s understanding of a nation defined as, “an imagined… community,” it’s noted that, “communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined,” always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship (Anderson, B; 1991). Television is an important technology in ‘conceiving’ this comradeship; keeping alive the idea we are a certain culture, our sense of belonging and national identity.

The London Olympics Opening Ceremony (2012) is a representation of extraordinary television, a media spectacle that acts to displace itself from the everyday to gain viewers. The Opening Ceremony, like other media events can be seen as a, “high holiday of mass communication,” where routine and the normal flow of broadcasting is interrupted to, “transform daily life into something special” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). These types of “programs… demand and receive focused attention,” providing, “an invitation – even a command – to stop… daily routines and join in a holiday experience” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). Dayan and Katz note these programs are characterised by the norm of viewing in which people tell each other that it is mandatory to watch, therefore “integrat[ing] societies in a collective heartbeat and evok[ing] a renewal of loyalty to the society and its legitimate authority” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994).

Olympics_Opening_Ceremony_Industrial_Revolution

The London Opening Ceremony added appeal with the, “unpredictability” (Levin, G; 2014) of the live event and the fact these moments were occurring in real time had the ability to, “transfix a nation or the world” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). Danny Boyle, the ceremony’s creative director, brought performative aesthetics to the ceremony, with elaborate sets, costumes and spectacles. The viewer is able to visually tell what they are watching is live from cues such as extras helping out and the OH&S officers on the side lines of the performance. Throughout the show commentators narrate on what’s happening, therefore you watch the show through the eyes of someone else, which here is British commentators speaking about what they see from a British perspective. This makes the content mediated by the commentators, as they appeal to a sense of British Nationalism and try to appeal to their audience demographic by tying in relevant concepts relevant to their heritage. However, the show acts to associate the world audience by drawing on concepts of industrial revolution, multiculturalism, British music and technological advancements which was all tied together with the internet. At the end of the sequence the infamous words of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the worldwide web, “This is for everyone!” is written across the audience, the word everyone ties in to all watching from across the world, promoting the fact that all this heritage has paved the path for the world we live in today.

Olympics_Opening_Ceremony_Internet

The Opening Ceremony exhibits how audiences can immediately engage with an arrangement in a different country through the festivity of the media event we feel a part of something bigger, a broader society and collective, that at this moment sits around the television watching the spectacle.

References

Anderson, B 1991. Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, Verso, London & New York, pp. 1-9.

Dayan, D and Katz, E 1994. Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History, Harvard University Press, United States of America.

Levin, G 2014. Live spectacles draw eyeballs to all screens, USA Today.

Honey, I Post-Broadcasted the News

Week Two – Broadcast to Post-Broadcast Television Part 1
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (1996) takes the place of traditional news offering a hybrid genre that mergers news, talk show and stand-up comedy. “While the daily show does provide news and context, its ‘greater purpose… may be to mock the genre of television news itself,’” (Painter, C and Hodges, L; 2010) and by existing within a news broadcast environment the show works to identify these features and when necessary exploit them for the very characteristics they are. With this understanding we can use the news as a television genre to think about the transition from a broadcast to post-broadcast era and how The Daily Show with John Stewart more specifically, is a representation of this transition.

Channel_9_News

Broadcast news is defined by its ‘live-ness’ or sometimes simulation of being live with pre-recorded content. The show adheres to the ritualistic nature of society which is crucial to the ideological authority of the media itself as personification of television in your home. Where the show is positioned in the schedule is designed for the nuclear family audience, for example the five o’clock news affords the ideal of the imagined family, a time when the father gets home from work and the children from school therefore being home to hear the current events. The flow and segmentation work so that a complex number of events come to together to make the show, with a hierarchy in relation to what is seen as important or ‘breaking news’. And lastly there is a typical authoritative nature about the anchor as the voice of the nation, being the only person addressing you directly they work to achieve a simulation of conversation.

“At varying points… increasingly from the mid-1970s onwards, TV escaped the confines of domestic space: platforms of delivery proliferated, and TV screens began to appear everywhere,” and, “as TV mutated, it’s solid normativity… began to unravel” (Turner, G and Tay, J; 2009). A post-broadcast era saw changes in television institutions/major players, technologies of production distribution and consumption, audience practices and aesthetic sensibilities. Some of these changes can be seen in The Daily Show episode ‘Parliament Slight’ aired in the lecture.

Jon_Stewart_Segment

It should be noted that when you turn on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart visually there’s not much difference to a typical broadcast news show as identified above. A smartly dressed, educated and well-spoken middle aged man sits behind a desk with geographical screens in the background – however, Stewart uses these ideals for a completely different agenda than to simply report to the public. Stewart “provid[es] a counterbalance to the staid traditional news reporter through his use of jokes and exaggerated faces,” (Painter, C and Hodges, L; 2010) and represents the voice of the people, conveyed in the conversational tone the people speak in. The content of The Daily Show is another aspect that is representational of post-broadcast as the topics aren’t the big stories but subjects that would be seen as a type of filler in a broadcast situation. The content also identifies the conflict between the American and British systems, as Stewart, “uses comedy to illustrate his anger,” over the censorship of his show in the UK and, “interrogates the content of the news media, the ‘real’ news that is arguably failing its democratic function” (Painter, C and Hodges, L; 2010). Through this we are able to identify a difference of broadcast systems over cultural backgrounds – US television system though driven by commercial market exhibits a fundamental freedom by trying to create a conversation, while the British television system, which was derived from the end of the war notion with an empire in pieces, was and arguably still is made to restore the confidence people once had.

The segments are also longer and sometimes rely on pre-determined knowledge of the show to understand the punch line. There is a live audience and emphasis on their presence through reactions, a significant factor to the comedic side of the show. By airing the show at 11/10 central along with similar television series like The Colbert Report (2005), the show displays an understanding of audience practices in scheduling to adapt to the modern viewer and therefore takes a later time slot to traditional news. Furthermore, the show demonstrates an acceptance towards personal news and online aggregation with the ability for viewers to watch clips online. However, there are also limits on distribution, for example in trying to obtain the clip from class I was met by the lovely message below on the Comedy Central website. The message in itself is a perfect example of how distribution has changed, as though there is more content than in a solely broadcast realm, that content isn’t always made readily available to the entire public as there are still television institutions and major players who have the ability to control what we watch and where.

Daily_Show_Distribution

Through this comparison  of broadcast and post-broadcast news we can see there are a broader body of codes and conventions ingrained in cultural characteristics, it’s how these things are changing in the environment and being reinvented that continues to evolve television to a post-broadcast environment.

References

Painter, C and Hodges, L, 2010. ‘Mocking the News: How The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Holds Traditional Broadcast News Accountable.’ Journal of Mass Media Ethics, vol.25, Taylor & Francis Group, pp.257-274.

Turner, G and Tay, J, 2009. ‘Television Studies After TV: Understanding Television in the Post-Broadcast Era.’ Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 1-6.

Film-TV2- Analysis/Reflection 3 – Questions 3 to 8

Please see below for multiple choice and short-answer Questions 1 to 8.

Question 3

Does your white balance directly affect your exposure? 

False

Question 4

What procedure should you use to focus on someone’s face?

Crash zoom in on the person’s eyes, focus till sharp, zoom out to frame.

Question 5

When recording sound on location you should always set the levels of the analogue mixer’s VU meter to peaking a little above: (put your answer as a digit)

0

Question 6

To get a ‘correct’ exposure on Caucasian skin what procedure should you use?

Adjust the aperture ring till the highlights on the face have a small amount of zebra patterning.

Question 7

What condition should the camera gear be returned in?

Better than you received it.

Question 8

What typically determines an interviewees/participant’s eyeline?

The placement of the interviewer in relation to the camera.

Film-TV2- Analysis/Reflection 3 – Question 2

Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

In the reading Paul Ward explores the complex relationship between fiction, nonfiction and documentary as categories, and how they overlap. This relationship between fiction and nonfiction is increasingly what Bill Nichols would describe as a ‘blurred boundary’ with some of the more interesting work in the documentary area having always been that which explores the boundary between these apparent ‘separate’ modes. Consequently, the reading outlines how drama and documentary are seemingly separate, yet complexly intersecting modes through the discussion of such things as acting and re-enactment.

Ward notes, “…the ways in which actors perform the role of real people in reconstructed or re-enacted scenes, and, more contentiously, how real people/non-actors ‘play themselves’ in some way.”

This idea is really interesting, as we live in a world increasingly governed by surveillance and monitoring which in turn has affected the way individuals act. It’s arguable that whenever there is a camera around that participants are or can truly be themselves. So with a vital ideal to documentary being the depiction of the real, whether or not what the viewer is seeing is real or simply a performance blurs the boundary between fiction and nonfiction, acting and simply being. Ward furthers this idea by bringing in the argument that documentary (like all social interaction) involves people ‘acting’ in some sense of the term and that the distinction is arguably a matter of degree. Brining into question our understanding of what’s real and our perception of performance within documentary.

“Intervention and fabrication of material that commonly existed in actuality was therefore often the only way (the filmmakers thought) of bringing certain things to the screen.”

Using the example of Night Mail (Harry Watt and Basil Wright, 1936), which famously re-constructed the sorting coach of the train, Ward outlines the influence of re-enactment as a way to hold documentaries questionable rather than giving them the truthful version of reality. Ward talks about the different ethical and rhetorical registers we see in films that are ‘documentary’ and those that are ‘fictional’, many of which are blurred somewhat by films that are ‘fictionalised’ or ‘docudrama’ rendition of allegedly true events. I believe this idea of intervention and fabrication calls substantially into question the intent of the filmmaker and whether their purpose is to further the truth of the documentary or to push some sort of agenda, which in turn can have different effects on the viewer.

“Certainly, we might as viewers be aware that reconstruction, ‘cutting and pasting’ and so on, do occur, but this is being held up as a clear case of something different: deliberately misleading manipulation.”

This is where the ethical considerations of documentary filmmaking come into critical discussion, and whether what the film maker is depicting to the audience is a version of the truth or manipulated to become something else. Consequently, we will have to consider this delicate area of acting and re-enactment and its ability to fictionalise the content in the development of our documentaries.

Reference

Ward, Paul. Documentary; the margins of reality, (p. 31-48), London: Wallflower, 2005.

Film-TV2- Analysis/Reflection 3 – Question 1

Paste the link here from your version of the abstract editing exercise.

Then reflect on the whole process – Consider: the quality and usability of your recordings; the effect of layering and juxtaposition of both the audio and the video and; the things you learnt from working with this kind of audio and video.

Abstract Editing Exercise

The whole process of the abstract editing exercise was really in the hands of the usability of the recordings, which when completing with no real objective in mind can sometimes turn out a little unusable. Venturing out with no real idea on what you want to achieve it’s hard to try and visualise the recordings you’re going to get – however I believe this process was to make as document the real, the things we see and hear every day but have blocked out of our consciousness and re-appropriate that into something where we do notice it, therefore the recordings would influence the final product. I found the audio recordings Mardy and I took really interesting, as we went into an elevator and just recorded, the sound of people shuffling in the space, the automatic voice identifying each floor, the awkward silence and the sudden music. However the video recordings I took the week after weren’t as engaging, I only ended up using one of the shots we filmed and sourced the remainder from other groups on the server. In the development of the piece I didn’t want to fiddle with the actual audio too much, but more so appropriate the images to the organic sound we recorded. Therefore I found myself harvesting from a bank of footage, and trying to match it all together. I used the exercise mainly to re-familiarise myself with Adobe Premiere, layering audio and splitting it up to repeat certain sounds, such as the elevator floor select button, and to play with different visual effects, like making the image black and white when the card access sound in the elevator noise was heard. Through this editing I tried to relate the images to an elevator, where the mundane sound of the floor button makes the world loose the vibrancy that colour ensues. For me, this was the most interesting part of this whole exercise, trying to place the pieces of the puzzle together and create relationships between unrelated sound and images, which re-instated the importance of the quality of the recordings and how it can impact how you’ll put the whole piece together.

Film-TV2- Analysis/Reflection 2 – Question 2

Select from one of the readings and briefly describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you. 

 “It is essential that film-makers concentrate on the film-making as opposed to recording”

Filmmakers have an ability to get inspired at certain moments where possibly someone who isn’t obsessed with film might not. It’s important to remember that today everyone has the opportunity, and more than likely the ability, to record moments – but it’s the ability to priorities these moments to have relevance for an audience that gives the filmmaker the ability to create something much more than a recording.

“For me the point of making films is not to convey objective information about the world, but to show it as I see it and to find a form which is relevant.”

Pawliowski talks about the importance of form in the documentary structure and notes that films that challenge viewers to think not through words or rhetoric, but through their very form have the ability to seduce and entertain its audience. He identifies this with the example of television and it’s corruption of documentary, contrary to it allowing it’s survival. Their difference being, that television asks for films that are not worried about standing the test of time, but instant visibility, high ratings or kudos among other media people. And whether we like it or not, the TV documentary is the future. A reminder that sometimes you don’t have to say anything, you can show it in other forms to the audience that when they realise

Their use of real people and places, their moments of truth. They managed to tell touching stories without theatricality and literary dialogues. Therefore the subject of the documentary is crucial, and sometimes it’s luck that allows you to find a subject where the process of making the film became also a process of spiritual and formal discovery. To see the world through the subjects eyes, while at the same time maintaining an aesthetic and often ironic distance from it. With the task of our future productions in mind I believe this point is the most resonate in the reading, as the subject has the ability to inspire and create the piece – letting them organically lead the discovery, while making sure that that discovery is interesting is key.

Reference

MacDonald, K & Cousins, M. Imagining Reality, (p. 389-392). London: Faber & Faber, 1996.

Film-TV2- Analysis/Reflection 2 – Question 1

In the lecture we screened a short film called ‘End of the Line’ – the film shot in Broken Hill. 

Please describe in 300 words or less if you think they achieved what they set out to do.

You may not remember much detail, if so, it could be helpful to talk about your first impressions, after all this is what most of us are left with after one viewing. The treatment which we showed in the lecture is available here.
Feel free to write to any categories you wish. eg. story, choice of participants, sound, camera, editing etc. 
I though the choice of participants in the film worked well with mostly older people who have lived their lives in Broken Hill. In one sense these people come across like they have almost given up on wanting life, and like the landscape where they live they are unnoticed to wither away. And it is in this sense that this documentary is a beautiful prospect for these people not only to be noticed but to be appreciated as well. Living a life desolate from many must be hard and at times it feels likes as much as these people are justifying to us why Broken Hill is their home, they were convincing themselves as well.
The old woman, with her quotes from testaments and views on death, really drives the film. Her dialogue on death and why she came to Broken Hill, relates not only to the desolate and cracked landscapes we see in shots of Broken Hill, but also to the ideal binding the town together. One thing the woman says is, “Dying isn’t the problem, living is the hard work,” in this she identifies that she, like the rest of her town, have given up on asking more from life.
One thing that becomes apparent as the shots proceed is the comparison between interior and exterior, with people predominantly being recorded inside or under shelter, and the natural dry crusted landscape exterior. This makes the sun hitting the earth in the exterior shots a lot harsher on the eyes, and emphasises the sounds heard such as the eerie wind as it blows through a town where none really exists anymore.

Film-TV2- Rough Concept

T-Shirt Culture

A t-shirt is a staple piece in many of our wardrobes, but their evolution over recent years has seen them become more than just an item of clothing to a platform of communication. Printing has allowed myriads of subject matter, from art, words and graphic images to company branding and advertising. From the point of view of the people the documentary will explore the decision individuals make when they buy/wear a t-shirt. It will also document the influence of pop culture on t-shirts and the collectives created from it, such as band shirts, and movie/television shirts, in their sociological impact on our everyday lives. On the contrary, it will question the ethics of making people walking billboards for advertisers, examining how companies decide what to print and more importantly what universally collects people to buy that same t-shirt? Overall aiming not only to make people more aware of marketing and advertising strategies by companies, but also illustrating what a piece of clothing has the capabilities to do.