The Final Montage

The “Montage of Beautiful Things” has been a project that has allowed me to explore the context of my own media production in greater depth. I have been introduced to a wide range of material and technology which has led me on to considering new ways of thinking and methods to the way I approach my work. I feel that by challenging myself in such a way I have been able to experience the pressures of the media Industry and seen the ways I will be able to cope with production deadlines whilst still producing a considered, high quality piece of work.

To gain a wider knowledge of the work I would be producing I took some time to research the historical trends within professional practice. I knew my brief was to produce individual media objects that could stand alone and be put together to form my final piece. The research I took towards producing each piece was in regards to what had been created in the past and how more contemporary media producers had made ‘slight alterations’ in applying their own unique twist to a piece; this was useful as I encountered some valuable research. In terms of the historical, economical and cultural context of work being produced, the research I came across was interesting in the way it mentioned how the media can shape the way society perceive all of them which makes it a very important factor when producers set out to produce work.

Thinking about how I would then be able to isolate the way current context affects my work, I can see that because of the way in which modernism has occurred and sprung off the age of consumer-production (Prosumption) I am not only competing with the established media producers, there is an emerging trend in which people have been given the ability to create ‘work’ and upload it to the web in the simplicity of their homes. I have to draw inspiration from my own experiences and studies to produce work that is considered not only through its production value but also the meaning and narrative I am able to create. By continually expanding my knowledge of the media landscape I will be able to establish myself and instil longevity to my career as a producer.

When it came to the editing of my final montage I began by considering all the variables that would go into my video; this was to ensure I had thought of every eventual modification I wanted to include and also to remain informed about the context of work I was producing. By watching other people’s montages and showreels I began to realise how important music can be in supporting the visual elements. Editing is very significant for the viewing of a piece as the pacing and structure of a video can ‘make or break’ it. It is also important to know which shots should be included, ensuring that only the ‘beautiful’ shots are used.  As I had been able to film 9 different videos in the weekly tasks I had a wide selection of work I could use for the final piece.

I began to consider how I would order my work; the options I had to decide between were if I would show each project after each other on a continual sequence or if I would generate a narrative for the viewer by cutting up the shots and placing them at different stages of the sequence. Some of the research I had carried out about showreels and montages indicated that the 1^st 30 seconds – 1 minute of a piece have to capture the attention of the audience and keep them engaged for the rest of the video. 

I spent a great deal of time looking for a soundtrack to use for my final montage; I wanted to choose the soundtrack first so that I could edit my clips into a sequence that suited the audio playing. Pacing is important when choosing a song because of the way it can start off slow and increase in speed progressively; I considered this when I was selecting my song. I used www.freeplaymusic.com to select my soundtrack as the website offers copyright-free music to be used for production purposes. I conducted some external research into copyright music and found that I could pay for the rights to use a song on www.mcps.co.uk. I decided to stick to FreePlayMusic as I did not want the hassle of licensing a song for my work. I found a track called Barbaric, I liked the instruments used and its pace and felt that it would sound good with the videos I had selected.

The context of work being produced can be very important when it comes to analysing a media object; the idea of using a text to illustrate a provocative statement is something I looked at when conducting my work in the weekly tasks. As a media producer I want to expand my ideas past the banal thought processes people generally have when referring to work they have seen or made. Some of the topics I explored in the work I produced were: Memory, Recollection, Experimentation, Stereotypes and Cultures.

Remaining to the concept of the module of being able to place ourselves as media producers in the context of the existing media society I looked at how I could present myself in a professional manner. The simplicity of selecting the font sizes for my intros was something I looked into, I found out that it would look better to keep the wording subtle in a smaller size. First impressions are what people ‘hang on to’ when they begin watching a piece so I wanted to ensure anyone viewing my work would be impressed with its quality.

Editing my footage into a sequence was not very difficult, I knew which videos I wanted to use; these were: Titles, This City, Dirty Habits, The Highlights, Silhouettes in motion & Evenly Odd. In total, I had about 15minutes of footage, I began by extracting the shots I perceived to be not so beautiful and had cut the sequence down to 7 minutes. It was essential for me to ‘Know what I was looking at’ so I had to be harsh in the way I deleted content that had the slightest essence of poor production.  I was able to whittle my clips down to 5 minutes in length, this is when I began looking at how they would appear in my timeline; I only wanted my montage to be about 3minutes long so I had to concentrate on seeing which clips went well with each other. Something that I remembered in lecture was that we had to have shots that the viewer would remember, so as an editor I had to understand the ‘cut off point’ so that shots did not drag on.

After I had completed the ordering and rendering of my project I exported it and showed it to my peers. The feedback I received for my work was positive as people mentioned the shots they liked and ones that would be effective in the final piece. People also told me about slight changes I could make where a shots composition had a distorted gradient or was unsteady. I took in all the feedback given to be and applied it to the project for an overall improvement. I also noted to myself that some shots went on longer than needed and made changes to keep the video at a steady pace.

Contemporary media practice is at a stage where people are creating work to be sold, the advertising industry seeks for media producers to producer content for them at a continual rate. I saw the assignment of producing a montage to be an advert of the style of work I was creating and showcase my skills. Looking at my completed montage and comparing it to the work of established media producers, I can see how I could fit into the community; the method of work I did was fairly intense I was required to plan, shoot and edit a project every week, a timescale that professionals have to work under. I was also using advanced equipment ranging from the Sony Z1/Z5, DSLR Cameras and Editing software like Final Cut Pro. Looking at the meaning I was able to create in my work I would say that it is of a creative standard, past the initial basic thought processes into becoming a considered, acknowledged piece of production.

The distribution of media production is something that can be used to distinguish the quality of work being carried out; within the start of the year we made a move from YouTube to Vimeo. YouTube is regarded as a place for anyone to upload their content whereas Vimeo is a more specialised place for media producers to share and view each other’s work. In terms of distributing my own work I have designed my own website that has links to my Vimeo page; at the moment I feel as though I can professionally showcase my work through my own server space which is www.kelvinfred-horsfall.co.uk and my current university blog which is www.horsfalk.wordpress.com.

The mainstream and experimental media terrains are industries where media producers look to upload content and create work for, the variation of work people produce are made to cater to different audiences as groups of people have particular tastes and interests. The work can be produced by any means of production methods, as long as there is the right amount of planning and available resources people can create work for mass-distribution. The advances in technology have seen media producers create HD films from the functionality of their mobile phones.

The skills I acquired throughout my time on the course have been useful in the formulation of my final Montage. I have engaged with the course material and seen methods and techniques that I emulated throughout my production of projects. The access to professional equipment and software has also improved the standard of work I have been able to create. I have understood the way in which professional work is produced and tried to repeat these practices in my own projects; I would say that I have done this successfully because of the development I have made over the period of time in which I have been producing my objects.

I feel pleased with the way I conducted myself on this project and I’m happy with the way my final montage turned out. I can see ways in which to improve on the work I will be carrying out in the future and look forward to engaging with new material as the course progresses. As a media producer I feel that the techniques I have learnt have prepared me to be ready for the requirements of the media industry and I feel optimistic about how I will fit into the media landscape.

Images used as a visual represenation of work being conducted.

This City (Montage)

As we continue our development of the montage of beautiful things we have begun relating the words to each other to aid our development and use the differing techniques we are acquiring. To begin our engagement of the week’s word we started thinking about our initial thoughts and associations to allow us to expand what we knew in a creative way. The words that came to mind were: 

- Life – Meaning - People – Jobs – Scene – Landmarks – Angles – Noise – Grime – Pace – Congestion – Crime – Concrete Jungle – Architecture – Diversity – Big Brother Surveillance – Busy – Safety -

All of which I found quite interesting in being able to form the basis of a production. The objective was to take our work past the simple ideas we were initially producing and go into more depth. The superficial mind state of production we can often find ourselves in is a dangerous flaw when it comes to making something that is truly creative. To create something that doesn’t show ‘the obvious’ we must understand what is obvious so that we can successfully subvert it into the ‘Unobvious’; this is a level of thought I feel capable of grasping so I felt more than willing to engage with examples of the city and see how I could add my own views on what already existed. To get our minds working we looked at an example of the bus shelter and broke down the ideas and thoughts we had in association to what it may connote, this is what we came up with:

• The failure of driving: Suggesting that the person had not learnt how to drive or could not facilitate a car.
• Territory: Although it is a public space, people still feel the right to their own personal space and the lack of it in times of rain when everyone has to ‘cluster together’.
• Utilitarianism: Those who feel it is a moral choice to use a bus instead of other forms of transport
• Social Class: Depicting those from less privileged backgrounds to be used to queuing and waiting for a service
• Politics: The understanding of who actually has ownership, governance and commercialism
• Observation: “The everyday is worthy of study”, developing and understanding of what is truly ‘modern’
• Age: Acknowledging how there are people from a spectrum of ages with varied and particular lifestyles

The term ‘Cultural Detective’ is one that allows me to remain objective when carrying out the tasks I complete. By being informed about what about what I am studying I can truly develop an understanding of the context of production in which I work in; “reading is a process of understanding”. In part of our active engagement with understanding the city we looked at a method called ‘Situationism’, one where we would physically place ourselves (derive) in the location and analyse our surroundings thus becoming less passive and more immersed in the work we were to carry out. We looked at the work of professionals who were creating media objects similar to the idea of what we would be attempting to draw some inspiration and encounter new ways of thinking. I found the lecture quite useful in allowing me to gather and expand thoughts. The only obstructions we faced for the week that we were not to make a statement with the use of text; this was to ensure our videos were understood based its viewing. We were also required to try a medium we had not yet used before, I spent some time thinking about the resources we had available to us and began to consider what would be interesting to try out; An idea that I really wanted to go with was a filming technique that used the sky in a creative way.

To get things started Myself, Tayo and Adam went for a stroll through the city and eventually parked ourselves in a coffee shop, we sat there for half an hour and took notes on what we saw through the window. These were my notes:

- Pace to different people: (quickly, scurrying,casual walking) ~ Each person with a different reason to why they are in such a hurry or so laid back
- Clusters of people: (passing by individually, groups of 2 or 3) ~ People from a wide range of demographics and ages within a city
- Weather: (the way in which it can affect one’s mood) ~ The effects it has on transport
- Phones: (the repetitive nature of people using their phones) ~ The necessity for people to remain connected via a cellular device instead of in person
- Litter: (bins in presence) ~ Usually unnoticed but very significant to the appearance of the city
- What people possess or carry: (looking past the object) ~ To see a story being told and understanding culture and backgrounds
- Unnoticed: (newspaper stand) ~The value and contributions to certain aspects of the city that we don’t usually acknowledge
- Pigeons: (in their volume) ~ They have become an integrated part of the city experience
- Appearance: (modern, plantation, buses, benches) ~ Various objects within the city all with differing purposes
- Routes: (shortcuts) ~ The different routes and locations used to shape their usual routines

Images from: Geograph.org (I used these to show the change in the city and how it has progressed over time)

After our note taking we began looking at the concepts and ideas we had gathered and began to form the basis of our production, thinking more about how we would like to visually represent the city.  A recurring motif that we had been discussing and wanted to visit was the vast amount of different people ranging from various backgrounds, to show how there is a contrast in class. The structure of the city was also quite interesting as over time there has been many industrial changes to the shape of the city in it becoming more modern; we had an idea of showing how the city has progressed over time through architectural changes. Sound is very important when experiencing the city lifestyle and began looking at how we could use natural as the audio for our piece; sounds like horns, engines, construction, people talking/walking were the initial thoughts we aimed to expand on.

We wanted to include various areas of Coventry to show its multitude and also get some shots that we may not have come across; I felt that it would be very beneficial to explore the city and see what it had to offer. To keep our video interesting we also contemplated the idea of having a voiceover of either people talking about “what were their thoughts of the city” or having a poem expressing it. We had begun research into society and wanted to relate what we found to our theme of the city. Some of the questions that aided our research were: “Why are cities here?” “Why do people live in cities?” “Is the city a character?”, we also considered tourism and the goals people have in ‘ordinary life’ and for what purposes. We did not want our video to just be something people visually looked at and didn’t take anything from, our goal was to generate meaning by looking at a stream of concepts; the collaborations through joint visions and ways of “stretching the boundaries” were things we sought to complete.

On the day of filming we were all actively involved in the production of our artefact, we had taken out to cameras and audio recorders so the 3 of us were able to participate; this worked well as we were working more efficiently in capturing shots and recording sound. We devised a shot-list so that we remained objective with what we were filming and not just filming for the sake of it. Some of the shots included:

• Traffic Lights - Colour transition, the pedestrian walking man
• People of a varied range of demographics
• Bridge shot, including cars
• Time lapse, the sun and change in light
• Outskirts of town
• The ring road
• Businesses
• Prams – Wheelchairs

We saw these shots as ones that would be visually pleasing, all of them were not used and as we set out filming we saw more that had gone unnoticed before that we felt would suit the style of work we were producing; Our aim was to catch ‘the essence of the city’ including conversations, relationships and the emotions that accompanied it. The shoot went well as we filmed some shots that looked very beautiful and had been able to capture what we set out to find. In terms of our audio, this also went well as we were able to interview members of the public that spoke of their own experiences and opinions of the city. The day had gone well as we had captured more than enough footage that we could take over to the editing phase and felt very satisfied with the sense of direction we had and also the look and feel that we would be creating.

Editing our footage was fairly simple as we had been specific with the shots we took and knew which ones would work alongside each other. Working in a team is something that allows me to share responsibility for the choices we make but is also something that increases the amount of ideas that are flowing; I prefer to work in smaller groups as I feel that projects can be completed more efficiently when you are able to discuss freely, something I feel is less achievable whilst working in a group of a larger number. The 3 of us each took part in the edit, we were able to examine all the footage we had captured and remove segments we felt did not match the style of work we were creating. We began to examine each of the remaining clips and pick from them the aspects we felt matched the themes we had been discussing and would look good in the timeline; this did not take long and I was pleased with the way we were working on the footage.

Arranging our clips into a timeline was the longest part of the edit as we had shots ranging from different angles and also ones that covered different aspects of the city; to simplify our work we categorised the clips to what was visually present and worked from there. The method of editing we took was one I had used before and allowed our group to be more systematic with the approach we took. A stumbling block we came across was one that dampened the mood of the day, the timeline we had created over a couple of hours was coming to a close and we felt the project was nearly finished until our programmes crashed and the work we had completed had not been saved; this was something I personally let annoy me as I felt it was an incident that could have been avoided. Our group had a good work ethic and we enjoyed each other’s company so it was not long till we were able to re-arrange our work and recreate what we had produced before; the programs crashing almost worked in our favour as by going through everything again we were able to notice things we had not seen before and improve upon things.

This City is a project I enjoyed working on as I was able to explore new concepts and ways of interpretation, because of the freedom we had to create what we wanted I felt that I was able to make something that was truly of my own creation. The research we had conducted was successfully implemented into the video we made. I was impressed with the way we carried out our work and remained efficient throughout the project. Feedback we have received for This City has been very useful to my own personal development, people noted the various shots they thought worked well and also mentioned the shots that didn’t work so well and questioned constructively the use of other shots referring back to “generating meaning from a text”. Sound was not the basis to our video, although if I was to redo the video I would have carried out more interviews so the body of footage was accompanied by audio from a wider spectrum of people.

Time is Money (Montage)

The word of the week was ‘Time’, a word that has been represented within the media in many various forms. We began mind mapping the idea of time to ensure that we could escape the typical perceptions and images that normally accompany the word; this was for our own personal production, we are aiming to create unique pieces of work that stand out amongst our peers and media producers of today. We began considering the methods of delivery in which we wanted to portray time, video was the one that remained in my mind as I continued developing ideas I ensured I related them to a piece of moving image. The lecture was interesting because of the way in which it allowed me to think about how we implement time in our own lives and how we perceive it in that of others and society.

The only restriction for the work we would produce this week was that we were not to include text, in some of the videos that were being produced a question would be raised at the end or a statement would be made that almost ‘summed up’ what had been seen in the video; this is counter-productive because of audiences liking the ability to take their own meaning from the texts they divulge in. The obstruction for this week was quite minimal which allowed us the freedom and choice to create whatever we felt suited the brief. The next stage of the project was to produce ideas. I was interested in the speeding up and slow-motion effects  we could create in the filming of our videos, to increase tension and other emotions. A phrase I’ve heard a lot of is “Time is Money”, I really wanted to make a video that visited this phrase visually. My initial idea was to film coins falling, rolling and flying around in slow motion; this idea sounded very interesting in my mind as I had a vivid picture of what it would look like. As I continued discussing the idea I began seen where it might have flaws in time. I didn’t know what could be shown on-screen to generate some sort of meaning other than clocks ticking, I left this idea and began considering sound; the heartbeat was a sound I felt did well to capture emotions of tension.

Myself and Tayo were working on this project and we felt the need to finalise on an idea so we could develop it into a production. During the discussion we randomly came up with the concept of staging someone as a beggar and filming them in a location. The idea was something we felt was very different and something that would get people thinking upon viewing it, we knew it was what we wanted to do but did not know of we would have the courage to be the actors in the video. Luckily we were able to get a very keen 1st year involved who was willing to act out the role of our beggar. The piece was to be one of observation that looked at the responses people gave to the beggar, the expected one was for them to donate money to him. Our choice of location was one that was typical amongst beggars I have seen in Coventry this was the cash point. We set up our shoot near the cash point by Sainsbury’s and began filming our ‘testing’ of generosity. The  shoot was pretty decent as we were able to create the situation that our actor was a real beggar, although not many people actually gave money to him. We began stopping pedestrians and giving them our own money to drop to the beggar so that we had images of it in our video. We were quite happy with the shots we had taken and donated the money collected to charity.

Editing the video proved to be quite an annoyance as the footage we had captured would not upload on to the computer from the tapes, when we had finally been able to add our content to the computer it would not copy to an external hard drive which meant we could only edit it on the computer we had uploaded it to which was the Mac in the Ellen Terry common room. I managed to arrange the timeline into a sequence that would show the beggar sitting still while everything around him was moving, editing this in double-speed added to the effect we were trying to create. I edited the footage to a way that highlighted the points where people donated money; this showed how busy people are and how easily they can ignore beggars. I found a similarly paced soundtrack online for the video which I felt completed the project. After reviewing the final piece I would say that I would have shortened the length of it as I felt the purpose and meaning were understood at an earlier stage of the video. Overall I was pleased with the way we worked on this project and satisfied with the way we represented our concept of time.

Dirty Habits (Montage)

The week’s theme was dirt, a word that I found to be very interesting as it has many associations and different meanings; this was a task that allowed me to create almost anything I wanted to because of the word’s openness and frequent use in the society of today. My imagination and creativity were being exercised throughout the lecture as we began exploring the capabilities of the project ahead. To draw inspiration we began looking at images situated around the theme of dirt and also looked at them in a historical aspect to see if people’s perception of ‘what is dirty’ has changed over time.

I typed the word dirt into google to see what visual representations were present; this was interesting as not only did I find the typical images of dirt on the floor but also a few that posed a question. Frederick. R Barnard once said “a picture is worth a thousand words” and I too agree with this statement. Looking past the initial ideas of what dirt actually is I can see that there is more of a deeper meaning in relation to the earth itself. People’s associate the word with negative images today as language has changed over time. The unclean is something that relates to religion in being close to God one must be pure and clean in their thoughts and behaviour; the idea of a legacy that has been passed down over the ages helps explain the reasoning behind the beliefs people share. Personally when I think about what is dirty, I begin to consider the unsightly and unclean; this can be physical things or thoughts. I feel dirty in a literal sense after exercising or when I touch something ‘dirty’ without washing my hands. Thinking about the word in more depth, I begin to feel ‘dirty’ after I have done something that is morally wrong or have thoughts about doing something bad. Dirt does not make me feel weird in particular as I except that it is a natural element of the world; although saying this, I feel the compulsive need to wash my hands after touching something that has been on the floor. Relating my thoughts to the word in a less literal way, dirt makes me feel as if we as a society all do bad things and learn to ‘get on with it’ (“that’s life).

Here is a list of key themes that were recurring in the process of developing ideas about dirt:

• Dirt is ‘Matter Out of Place’
• Why is it Taboo?
• Difficult to categorise
• This varies from culture to culture
• Context and Social History define ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’
• Related to Ritual (religion)
• Taboo and Power
• Crossing strict boundaries: excrement between inside and outside of the body.
• TABOOs: These ‘Pollutions’ threaten the social order
• Overconsumption

After thinking about what had been discussed I started to develop an interest into finding out what people believed was dirty. I felt the need for a theme of my piece and chose to focus of habits; this was because they are personal to people, although some of them are shared each person has a reason why they have a certain habit. The question I aimed to pose was in regards to people’s general perception of ‘dirt’, I wanted to get as many responses as possible to show the diversity amongst people but also show how our habits relate to each other. An obstruction of mine was to draw inspiration from the library; this proved difficult as when I took a trip there, there wasn’t much that stimulated my mind. My trip to the library was brief and maybe because of this I was not able to draw enough valuable information from the resources available.

The style of my piece was to mainly consist of myself interviewing people with the question “what is your dirtiest habit?” and record their responses. I was conscious that people would feel uncomfortable sharing their ‘dirty little secrets’ with me on top of being recorded so I adapted my filming style accordingly; the images captured would be situated on a particular part of the body and also shown out of focus. Shooting out of focus was something I had not tried before and I was pleased with the meaning I began to create, the blur highlighted the idea of a secret and the unknown which related to the way in which people feel uncomfortable sharing such information. After I had completed gathering my content and arranged the footage into a timeline I felt as if the sound of people talking was not enough to show what they were telling the camera, I went about shooting content to visually represent the habits and mixed them in with my sequence with an eerie soundtrack; this worked well and I was pleased with the overall look and feel of my video. After watching the final piece back and listening to the feedback received, I realised the sound quality was quite low at points. To ensure that audio for my work is to a good standard I will ensure that I use a recorder like the Marantz in future projects.



Wall of instruction (Montage)

This term sparked off the project: A Montage of Beautiful Things; a weekly brief that gave us a key word to produce something out of. For the first media object we were given the word ‘Wall’ and began exploring the possibilities in which we could create meaning. Here is the video I produced for Wall:

I began to think about the way in which walls structure our lives; this was a concept I had a growing interest in and left me considering the different ways they control our behaviour. I believe that we as a society have fallen subject to a dictatorial state of mind. Everywhere we turn there is some sort of instruction or notice that gives us information or places a restriction on what we can or can not do. We have become dependent on ‘following the rules’ and being told what to do; our function of being independent is undermined in an operation to control our ability to live freely as human beings. The idea of control relates to the Big Brother theory of surveillance, in today’s culture without privacy. Thinking about conflict and surrounding issues, there are a few that we can address as long as there is an understanding of the authority present.  

The term enclosure has much relevance to walls through the way that there are associated connotations shared between them. A means of hiding from reality in a form of seclusion is greater explored with the perception people have of walls and the way they have been used in history. In the past people have used walls for segregation which relates to current societies yearning for the need to be or at least feel exclusive amongst each other. Prison and containment are recurring motifs when you analyse the extensive lengths different people are capable of; there are various cultural perceptions of territory, each with background and that form the basis to their opinions. To truly have a real understanding around us we must look at the word ’Wall’ in a metaphoric sense and begin to understand how those walls around us have been built so we know how to ’break them down’.

My initial plan for my wall project was to go about taking pictures of different signs and notices on walls and create a collage of images in the form of a poster. The thinking behind my idea was situated around highlighting the mental walls we have placed on ourselves and also show our need for instruction in life. Taking the pictures was something I enjoyed doing as photography is a particular interest of mine. After I had taken and selected the images for the edit I came across a problem with the software I was using to make my collage; this was something I had not planned for and I felt like there wasn’t an alternative that matched the vision I had for my piece. I settled for uploading my images into a timeline and making a video. I chose a decent soundtrack that I felt added to the effect of the photos I had taken and was satisfied with the end product of my work.

Below is a gallery of how I had perceived my work to end up looking:

Creative sound piece – Laughter

Here is a video of the audio that was produced in the task of ‘Doing something different with sound?’

In this task we were able to work in a group which was something I was happy to do, as it allowed our minds to feel at ease whilst being creative in the idea phase of production. Once we had been introduced to the brief of creating a sound piece my mind began working and considering what sounds we could generate ourselves and present in a unique way. In lecture I kept having a recurring idea that it would be interesting to record the sound of people laughing; this was because pure laughter is considered as something that is uncontrollable and also something that is different amongst everyone; each person’s laugh is unique and I thought it would work well to have them all recorded and played in a sequence.  

To ensure we captured a good sound we had to consider the variation of laughter we would be recording as they come in a multitude of pitches. We took out the marantz and microphone and began asking unsuspecting people if we could record them laughing; this was a very interesting experiment as people felt very awkward about laughing on request instead of it being authentic. Recording went well as we were able to record quite a few people ‘laughing’ and had developed ideas of how we would pace the clip so it was presented in an interesting way. Planning the shape of our piece proved to be quite an arduous task because of the way in which we had to select between the audio clips that were recorded and choose which ones sounded best together; after this was done the edit became easier and we were able to structure the content into a timeline. I’m quite please with the way the clip came out in the end and enjoyed working on this project.

Provocation Debate: X-Factor ‘The Saviour’

In lecture we visited the activity of having a debate and began to explore why it is important to be informed about what is happening in today’s media industry; this is because as we begin to produce media objects we must also analyse how they fit into the current media landscape. Debating is a way of engaging and getting into depth and detail about a topic. It was our classes designated task to arrange a debate with a group providing an argument for and against a particular topic with the audience also gathering information that would question the content that the debaters had put forward. The structure of a good debate must be formed on the basis of good research and adequate information, there should be an order of speech and coherence within the groups. It is important that the groups involved have prepared well so that they have a counter argument for what points are said. Formality and responsibility of statements must be considered as it is vital that we disregard our own beliefs for the benefit of the debate to ensure we can share more information. In the first week the debate was situated around the statement that: “The X-Factor is the saviour of contemporary television”. Here is the video of what happened in the debate:

This debate was quite interesting as it was clear both groups had an opinion of the subject, where they both came short was the depth of research they had carried out was not substantial as the debaters repeatedly responded with “I think…” instead of bringing references that would back up the things they said. From the side of the audience there also was a theme that it was the same people asking questions; the debate would have gone smoother if there was more distribution of questions. The groups should have spent more time preparing their information as they would have been able to make informed decisions and react in an articulate way.

The debate visited a variety of areas that I found very beneficial as it expanded my knowledge and understanding of modern society and media production. The debate highlighted that the contemporary media is catered towards a ‘Celebrity Culture’ that produce mass media purely for entertainment purposes. Financially the X-Factor is very successful but we began to look at what ‘real value’ does it have to contemporary television, although the audience appreciate it there are viewing figures that are significantly bigger than television shows like ‘Children in need’ which show that there is some sort of social negativity. Contextualising the X-Factor also made me realise that it was a pastiche of Pop idol, Simon Cowell has cleverly made his own variation of a machine that generates audience interest; a method of this was the way in which the show hypnotises them into believing it is what they should be watching. My own personal opinion is similar to the hypodermic needle theory that recognises that entertainment forms are produced for the masses, often regarded as ”Pulp”.

We also began to consider the direction contemporary television was taking in comparison with other tv forms. We noticed that there is generally a steady decline of interest in television current media production and a constant demand for new media.  A new media form that has become very popular amongst the prosumption era we live in is user-generated content, close consideration must be taken regarding the ’future of television’ and understanding that it may have become a dying form. In terms of the economy, there are many factors that affect the financial side of television, with the evolving state of our interactive society it is quite easy to see how much the audience feel the need to be involved and in control of what they watch and consume. An illusion has been created; this is through online spaces such as blogs, twitter and Facebook that allow the audience to have ’the choice’. Although television seems to be at a downfall, there cane be a revival through the way in which it utilises the capabilities of the internet. As a Media Production student I look to expand my knowledge the changing state of modern society, “Every question raises another question”.

Genre: That Weird S***!

The notion of genre is a topic that is centred around various codes and conventions; there are different levels that help structure it, these consist of: reality, representation and ideology. Genre is very useful when it comes to explaining the full range of media texts. Modern media texts that are produced can generally be categorised into a specific genre; this is because of the codes and conventions they follow. Through familiarisation of other similar texts that have been created, it becomes habitual in the process of associating various texts with a ‘parenting’ genre. Without categorisation audiences may not be able to understand what they are consuming and be dissatisfied when watching a genre of text they are not familiar with or prefer not to digest. Genre allows people to have an expectation of what they are about to engage with. Although genre is very useful, due to the way in which media has evolved into a direction of creating hybridity in new texts careful consideration must now be taken towards their classification within particular genres. To completely explain a full range of media texts understanding of the new media being produced must be obtained to ensure that genre remains useful in defining the type of media present.

When it comes to forms of cultural production, the generic types that appear the most are formats that provide entertainment for an audience; usually comedy or action because they either translate emotive feelings that audiences can emphasise with in a humourous manner or allow the audience to the escape from realism upon their engagement of the media text. Less generic forms of production are those associated with education; this is because the general consensus shared amongst audiences is that they seek to find something that does not entirely challenge their mind. General regard can be taken towards the production of the news as it is produced to inform the public of current affairs in society. Looking at the option modules I am doing which are Formats Production and Digital Media, I can see that the work I am producing is situated around providing content for an audience driven industry; it is essential that what I produce is aesthetically pleasing aswell as informed. Through research around my chose field of interest I will be able to develop a larger understanding of the particular requirements needed to achieve success in my production of work.

The notion of genre aids our understanding of newer forms of cultural production such as online productions because they have been inspired by what has happened before them; to have knowledge of genre allows greater understanding of the more modern texts being produced. Although online production may be seen as a new medium within the media it has only come into formulation through progressions and the advancement of technology available. Referring back to Adorno’s thesis of contemporary media production, I can make a judgement that it still holds true in todays ‘democratic’ nature of the internet; this is because of his idea of standardisation and psuedo-individualisation, current forms of media production are produced because of an attempt to generate profit. The mass manufacturing of media texts challenges the idea of ‘authenticity’. Most contemporary media that is produced can be regarded as inauthentic because of the way in which they have been created as a replica to something that existed and was succesful in a previous time. It is because the way in which media production has adopted new styles and began to visit the notion of hybridity that new texts being produced obtain recognition and are intertextualised.

Genre: Same Old, Same Old?

Genre, ‘a repertoire of elements’ as defined by Branston is something that has shaped the way in which media texts and objects are produced. Genre is a means of classification that allows media producers to create texts that follow a structure that upholds the traditional codes and conventions that categorise media objects. Categorisation is very important in media as it allows audiences to have preference on what they enjoy; audiences familiarise a genre with specific characteristics, so it is vital that the media they have chosen to view resembles the genre it is associated with. The concept of genre has many sub-categories associated with it: format, stereotype, sub-genre, narrative, music, advert, film and  hybrids; all of these are very useful contributors to understanding the meaning and purpose of genre.

Genre is healthy for the industry as it allows producer to reproduce work based on their previous success’. The argument that surrounds genre is the idea of a ‘hierarchy of value’, which debates the worth of contemporary ’popular’ objects in comparison to the more traditional ’serious’ pieces of media that founded the basis of what audiences digest today. In lecture we began to look at how genre conventions can be produced that represent elements of existing genres but subvert stereotype to create something new and interesting that engage with the ‘new-aged-modern’ audience. Here is an advert for Yeo valley yoghurt:

Analysing this video from a more visually literate point of view, I can see that it is not solely a “funny advert similar to others around” but more; The advert is a considered piece of media that has been produced to a professional standard. The advert can be referred to as a ‘parody’ of the hip-hop genre. Parody is a genre that has been formulated through producers using existing genres, “parody needs the genre to exist”; this is a concept that many internet users are taking part in on social networks. Consumers have become producers with the ease of the web. The experimental nature in which production has taken a turn has led to the discussion of what is truly ‘authentic’ and how media objects have progressed from what was produced before them.

“What matters to me?” Video & Reflection

Here is the video I produced for my ‘what matters to me’ project; a video of me getting a tattoo done and talking about my faith:

I enjoyed making this video because it was something that felt almost surreal whilst carrying it out. The way in which I acted on deciding to conduct this project was different to the way I normally would go about completing a task; I’d say this task was more of an impulse move than a considered piece of production. Although I decided at a late point that this was the idea I would go for, I still approached the task as I would any other. I aimed to produce a visual representation of my faith and felt it was justified to show footage of myself getting the tattoo.

The plan was to show the whole procedure, from speaking to the artist about my initial ideas, to the drawing of what I would get taken to stencil and finally the applying of the tattoo to my skin. I aimed to progressively develop this video with a narrative that referred to what the intention of the video was, to explain why my faith matters to me. Looking at the project from a media producers point of view, I decided that the piece would be more effective if I wasn’t talking throughout the video and had cuts of me experiencing what was happening; this was to allow the audience to take in what they were viewing more effectively. I believe that I was able to follow my storyboarded plan of the shoot and I’m happy with the footage that was captured.

After examining what I had on tape I was able to decide that the message of the video would be able to be received within a video of 2-3minutes in length. I intended to edit on Final Cut Pro as it is a software that I’m familiar with and feel competent using, that was not possible due to my accessibility of the program. I was able to use Adobe Premier Pro, a programme I felt quite capable of completing my video with. From my previous viewing of videos of a similar nature I’ve noticed that the use of soundtrack can be beneficial; the tattoo shop was playing music off the radio and I was happy to have that music playing in the background, making the overall mood of the video more atmospheric.

Editing was a process that felt quite simple, the clips I wanted to keep were easy to distinguish and I was able to timeline the video into a sequence that developed whilst viewing. Looking back on my work and thinking what I could have done to improve it, I’ve seen that it would have come out better if I adjusted the audio levels at some parts to make it clearer for the audiences understanding. Other feedback I got for my video was very positive as people said it was brave to document a ‘Real life’ experience such as a tattoo. I feel happy that I was able to present something that was personal to me in a unique way; I also that as it was produced for an audience to view, I should have shown the words of the tattoo which say: “For with God nothing shall be impossible”.