Filed under: Production Project 1
I was in the car on my way to my friends dairy farm on Friday night and we happened to have the radio on dear old Triple J. And the news/issues show HACk was on. Now I only caught the tail end, but it would seem they were discussing online social software, such as MySpace and Facebook, as well as MSN and what not, particularly focusing on the way that today’s generation use it to “hook up”, which quite frankly scares me a little. However, who should they be interviewing, but our dear old friend Henry Jenkins (author of last semesters Production Project One text book CONVERGENCE CULTURE) It was an interesting little segment, but I must admit, it probably only further cemented by already strong hatred of programs like Facebook and MySpace, particularly when they are used by people as a kind of arrogant rant about their own superiority. I like them as a communication tool, but apart from that, all the other applications and doovey lackies that come with them… not a big fan. And although I agree with the ole Jenkins meister, when he said that those that don’t participate and utilize these new programs may not neccessarily miss out now, but perhaps in the future, and that they are providing the youth of today, and indeed industry professionals with a great way to network, and seeting up the basic skills in the little ‘uns’, it doesn’t mean I have to like the programs. They have their place and their perks, but I’m still not real keen.
Check out the HACK program at Triple J’s Site
Filed under: Production Project 1
I’m going to be as honest as possible in this blog post, about the PP1 course, and my participation and engagement with it. I have to admit that I started off quite well, particularly in regards to my previous blogging/course experiences, however just after halfway through the semester I seemed to revert back to my old ways and began to slump in regards to the amount of time and effort I was putting in. This wasn’t just in PP1, but the entire program, and the only reason that I can see is that I’m beginning to grow weary of the program. This could be due to a number of things, but I think that it can mainly be contributed to the end being so close in sight, but not quite here, and also that I find that there is little new and engaging course content.
Having said that, I did enjoy working on the projects for PP1, and coming up with ideas for the topics was probably the most interesting and challenging part of the semester. With our first project, I believe that I spent a great deal of time working with both Sam and Tee Pao on developing an interesting and engaging idea that incorporated both the concept of convergence culture, and the topic of Control. The same goes with the initial planning and development of our Time project. I definitely enjoyed the brainstorming and collaboration of idea at the beggining of the projects, not to say I didn’t enjoy being involved and making them also, but it was the initial process that I found most engaging.
I failed to blog much during the Time projects development and process, and I’m not entirely sure why this is. Partially I believe it was because of the lack of motivation I was experiencing, but perhaps also because I wasn’t as excited about the piece we were creating. I had little to do with the filming process, because I majored in radio last year, and wouldn’t know how to shoot a good scene if my life depended on it, however I did enjoy the editing, playing around with different effects to create the idea of two dimensions, and the protagonist being able to move through a different time frame to that of the rest of the world.
I found the modules helpful, and was excited that I finally was able to learn how to use flash. Its a program that I have wanted to get to know for quite sometime, and the module provided me with the perfect opportunity to do so. I was also extremely proud at the brief clip I was able to produce, even if it was a little lame. The skills I learned will help a great deal when it comes to taking our PP2 project, Urban Myth to the next level, and I am looking forward to moving on from the development of the storyline, to helping to produce the Flash content.
For each of the categories outlined in the Blog Participation/Reflection Criteria I have selected a post and linked them below.
Category 2: Lab themes and Projects
Category 4: Skills and Modules
Overall I can only give myself a credit for my blog. I still find it difficult to utilize, and I did give it a really good attempt during the first half of the semester, but I’m afraid I fell off the blogging wagon, and have had a great deal of trouble getting back on. I have justified a credit to myself because I KNOW that I made an effort to begin with, but due to the fact that I didn’t manage to keep it going, I cannot justify a distinction to myself.
Filed under: Production Project 1
Convergence culture for me is not simply about the ability for a user to maintain a certain amount of control or level of contribution involved in the media they interact with. It’s about choice.
It seems everyone is getting excited about convergence culture and cross media platforms because it creates a certain amount of user/audience control in regards to the content of media, and the direction it takes. There are so many different possibilities, and with each possibility comes the opportunity of involvement, whether it be at a descision/production level, or through interaction.
The internet has allowed people to be able to share information and communicate much faster than ever before. A greater data base, now global, means that participants can access a much greater cultural and social base, rather than relying on what is available through the traditional methods of broadcast television, radio, print and cinema. It’s not only liberating in a media sense, but also in a cultural sense, we are able to communicate, be involved in and to some extent experience other cultures and societies through convergence culture, be they religious, racial, local, or interest based.
But for me, I think the most exciting thing about convergence cculture is that it allows you options. You have a greater base of information, experience and opinion to draw upon, so that not only are you able to CHOOSE what media you interact with and how you interact with it, but you have the opportunity to be far more informed when making these descisions. Not only this, but you can make descisions about how in depth your involvement is. You can simply be a browser or peruser, say of YouTube, or you can log in every day and watch the latest videos of your favourite uploader. You can go further and make and post your own videos recreationally, or proffesionally. Alternatively you can choose not to use YouTube at all, or any other similar site, and simply stick to traditional methods of media. At this current point in time, due to the existence of the traditional methods, you have the choice to not be involved. It’s all about choice.
How do I see convergence culture fitting into my professional practice, now and in future years?
Currently I’m obviously utilizing the idea of convergence into my uni projects, playing with the idea and it’s possibilities. Almost every project we have done, not only in PP1, but other projects as well, can be linked to the concept in some way. It’s something that we have to consider when creating a media piece, when we think about what we’re trying to achieve, who we want to use it, how we’re going to deliver it and how much participation of audience is involved.
Obviously in the future, understanding the concept of convergence culture and utilizing it will be important, because the media industry in general is moving in that direction, where fast, user driven/involved, mobile and efficient media is the aim. Personally I am interested in undertaking an IT Management post grad, which will qualify me to be a librarian. However convergence culture is still relevant within this career, as Libraries are no longer simply places where books can be stored and accessed. They are now, more than ever, information hubs, where people come not only recreationally to experience and enjoy print media, but also to access the internet, as well as research and share information. Having an understanding of convergence culture and media will be beneficial because as an information center, libraries have to be up to date with online and print media movements, so that they provide the maximum level of information and knowledge for their users and the public.
Filed under: Production Project 1
So our project got a fairly good reception I believe, and after the initial drama of last Friday, and the fact that the version of Ezedia in the labs was unregistered, so we couldn’t get it working, we ended up with a piece that I reckon looked really good. Thanks to Tee Pao, who did the background images for the frame, it looks fantastic! very polished and professional. And I really think that we managed to achieve our aims, and in a way went even further than we originally intended with the “free” end of the piece, having decided to loop all the videos together in the one frame and have the soundtrack play over the top. This meant that not only did you have the chance of experiencing the clip with it’s original sound, and the sound of the other videos, but also a whole new meaning was created through links between the visuals in the projects, that otherwise wouldn’t have been obvious, had we chosen to play the videos individually in there own frames. I definitely believe the decision to have them playing on the screen all at the same time was the right one.
Everyone else’s projects were really impressive as well, and I think that they were all really original and fresh approaches to the idea of control, as well as being quite well made. Unfortunately I’m not real keen on the peer assessment side of the task. Not because I don’t enjoy giving feed back, but because I don’t like being put into a role where I have to be critical of someone else’s work? I mean, who am I to say what’s good and what isn’t? So I’m a bit of an easy marker, and I think its because of people like me that the lecturers have to take up everyone’s marks and check them before calculating the overall result. I love providing people with feedback and helping them out with ideas and possibilities, but I am simply no good when it comes down to actually judging and marking work, I just don’t feel comfortable in that kind of role. But I can honestly say that everyone’s work was really impressive, and it was really interesting to see all the different interpretations on the theme of “control”.
Filed under: Production Project 1
This is possibly the lamest Flash animation ever made, but I made it! And I’ve never made one before, but now I know how, and I’m EXCITED! I’ve been wanting to know how to use Flash for ages, so check this shit out!
Come Fly With Me, Let’s Fly, Let’s Fly Away
Filed under: Production Project 1
Here is the first draft. I imagine after class tomorrow there will probably be some adjustment. For an explination of what I was trying to achieve click HERe
It takes a little while to load because its a big file, I don’t have the stuff on my computer to compress it or export it to a smaller size, but it will be sorted out in time for the final project.
Filed under: Production Project 1
This week I watched Lars Von Trier‘s The Five Obstructions (2004) [review] , because it relates to what we are trying to achieve in our PP1 Control project.
In the film, shot in a documentary style, Von Trier, challenges fellow film maker Jorgen Leth to recreate his 1967 film The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different set of rules. He says by doing this he is trying to get rid of the “perfect” and get to the “human” in Leth, and believes this is possible by making him attempt to recreate his film, his ultimate goal being that Leth is forced to make a piece of crap film. However, all the resulting films are quite amazing and truly beautiful in their own way, although by the end they seem only vaguely linked to the original.
This film relates to our idea of restriction resulting in freedom. Like Von Trier, we have set ourselves rules as to how and what we can film, restricting the type of camera we’re allowed to use, the content and structure of the piece. We’re creating our own little films based on these rules to demonstrate how our idea would work as a whole. The end result, (although unfortunately none of us have the web programming skills to make the end result as a forum or webpage) is to take these films, and using Q Ezedia, turn them into a multimedia piece that allows you to select which film you want to watch, and then choose an accompanying sound piece from one of the other films. Ours will only be a small example of what would be possible. The idea is that we’re making a small scale version of a web based forum where rules are given to participants on a regular basis, defining what they can and can’t do. The resulting films are then submitted, with the audio extracted and submitted as a different file, and users of the forum can then watch the videos with different sound tracks. The over all idea is that we are creating a great deal of control in the production of the pieces, but allowing for freedom of choice to some extent in the finished product. Thus, in a small way, we are turning the top down theory of media on its head, putting the control in the hands of the users/audience.
Filed under: Production Project 1
Over the Easter break I went home with my little task stewing away in the back of my brain. “How do I film things that can represent CONTROL in my home town?”.
Initially all I could think of were things like standing out the front of Centrelink and filming people going in and out, because unemployment is high in my home town, and not always because there aren’t any jobs. People have a certain apathy and laziness when it comes to things like employment. I’ve noticed it, not only in many of the adults, but some of the people my age, people seem more concerned about having a good time all the time, and so they aren’t as interested in doing the things that may distract them from this, e.g. work. Also there seems to be a bit of a close mindedness about wanting more and striving for bigger things. Most people seem content with being either unemployed, or getting up everyday to do the same job, going to the pubs on the weekends, getting drunk, recovering Sunday and doing it all again on the Monday.
Now this isn’t EVERYONE back home, and it isn’t exclusive to my town. I think that routine is evident in alot of places. But in my town there is little or no choice in the matter. There is very little entertainment, besides the movies (which seem to come out at about the same time they’re released on DVD anyway) and although we are surrounded by beautiful scenery, like the Grampians and the Wannon and Nigretta waterfalls, they are just far enough away that one requires a drivers license to get there. This poses a problem, because many young people in Hamilton can’t get to these kind of places, and so they resort to doing very little, and relief from the bordem comes in underage drinking. By the time they’re old enough to drive, the habit of consuming alcohol for entertainment purposes has already set it, and so they’re not really interested in going hiking or swimming or camping. Of course I am making some gross generalizations here, but this seems to be the general vibe of things, and I know, I’ve experienced it.
So I decided that alcohol and entertainment not only went together, but also represented a MAJOR form of control within my home town environment.
I also filmed a fair bit of the surrounding country side from within a car, for two reasons. The first is that to get anywhere out of Hamilton you have to drive. Obviously we have buses that connect us to Ballarat, Geelong, Warnambool, Melbourne etc, but driving is a large part of the culture. Not so much if you live in town, where everything is within walking distance, but definately if you live on a farm, or you want to travel to somewhere for a day trip. The second reason was to give the viewer an idea of how dry the country is at the moment. Hamilton is in the Western Districs of Victoria, which is well known for its decent rainfall every year, hence the reason it is considered good wheat, cattle/dairy and sheep country. At the moment everything is brown and dry, and the waterfall where we go swimming has dried up. Obviously rain is very important in a farming community, and a lack of it can have a huge impact. Thus the drought could be considered to be “controlling” my town.
I thought about juxtaposing the two ideas against each other, the concept of a flood of alcohol, as an escape route and also for entertainment purposes, against the drought that is evident in the landscape. There is a flood of apathy and alcoholism within the people, and a drought of water and nourishment in the landscape. I’m currently thinking about how I can put these two ideas together into a 90 second clip, to represent control with in my home town.
Filed under: Production Project 1
First things first I would like to apologize to David for the way I talked about the course today. I didn’t mean that I hate the course or that I don’t find it relevant or interesting, because I do. It’s just that, like most students, I find it frustrating in many ways, and after almost three years I am looking forward to being able to move on in study and take it down a different path. So I don’t hate the course, I’m just excited about the prospect of coming change.
Now, back to the question. Why do I have trouble blogging?
I know exactly why I have trouble blogging. I don’t like unneccessary repetition. And to me, in a way, blogging is the unneccessary repetition of ideas that have either been raised in the tutes and lectures, or that I’ve already puzzled over and come to conclusions about inside my own head. I don’t and never reeally have, throughout my entire academic career, blog or write things in journals. I don’t naturally use writing ideas and concepts down as a way of coming to a conclusion or expanding upon a topic. I do these things, but it occurs in my head, and writing them down is then simply copyin gout what I already have in my brain. Now to me, this feels like repetition.
However, I can see the advantages of it. It may lead me on to paths I hadn’t already considered, because lets face it, although I think I ponder things quite thoroughly in my brain, there’s always room for a little more, and if it occurs on paper, what the heck. It also means that other people are able to access my thoughts and opinions, which can be the stimulus for discussion and exposure to different opinions and ways of approaching a topic. And because until recently I have almost always taken a back seat in class discussion I guess posting on a more freequent and in depth basis is a good idea. I just don’t particularly like doing it, and I think this stems from the fact that I feel a sort of arrogance by putting my work in the public eye. As though 1: I need other people’s validification to provide satisfaction in my work (I wanna be told how good I am), and 2: I assume people actually want to see, hear, read, experience my opinions on things. I hate arrogance, and I hate even more so the feeling I get when I am doing something that may be percieved as arrogance. Hence the reason I don’t like speaking up in class and during discussions. And also hence the reason I hate blogging. With it comes a certain level of assumption that what you are saying has relevance, that it’s interesting, that someone wants to read it, and that you know what you’re on about. Well in most cases anyway. I dunno. I guess it’s just a mental barrier I have to overcome, to consciously realise that writing something in an environment that is publicly accessable doesn’t make you an arrogant twat, its a perfectly valid form of expression and interaction that can be the catalyst for conversation and discussion.
I guess I can take solace in the fact that no body reads this anyway. 
Secondly, I really need to start linking out of this blog more. Start putting some effort into finding outside examples of my ideas or concepts, and researching further. Hell, even whacking up some stuff that I find interesting. The only problem is, in most cases I use the internet purely for email and gaming. I don’t look at websites, news, blogs or YouTube very often. But then again, I don’t blog very often too, so while we’re making a change, why not throw in some more linking and research too, hey? Couldn’t hurt surely. So keep an eye on this blog, cause its (hopefully) going to get a little more active. Just a smidge
Filed under: Production Project 1
Convergence? What is it? And how is it impacting on our popular culture?
Converge: To tend to move towards one point. To come together and focus on a common point of interest.
6 Ways to think about coverfence:
- Covergence of mode – same content, many channels
- Convergence via digital code – all media is stored as numbers, everything is modular, cut and paste, threfor everything is variable
- Convergence of producer and consumer
- Convergence of art and commerce/entertainment and brand
- Spacial convergence – globalisation. distance is no longer and obstical
- Temporal convergence – collapsing of time between production and deliver. Past present and ftre gaps are collapsing
