Mondo Burgo

Though there is still much work to be done in the sound department, much thought has gone into thinking about the soundscapes for both “Kate and Dan” (ie- Leaving Me) and “Alex and Brian” (ie- Baby fever). Earlier in the semester I created a sound profile for Baby Fever hinting at the need for a ‘Kath and Kim’-esque ditty to add fluidity and warmth to the film was acknowleged early. It was merely incidental that Ash’s banjo recording provided by a friend would prove so successful in the piece- such is the luck of experimentation. I have recently had the chance to collaborate with Ashley in sourcing and producing some of the sound for both films. Recent disucssions with Tee Pao and Ahsley during a sound recording session led to a breakthrough in the format of the soundscapes for “Baby Fever”. As we resourcefully recorded our own radio sounds and film sounds (and edited them together with samples to further enhance them), we began to play with the idea of using radio sounds to further clarify the progression of seasonal time during cutaways. Tee Pao commented that this would serve as a kind of narrative commentary for the film and I felt that it would give a local, more comical cue for the audience and suits the working class aesthetic of the film.

Good contacts proved vital in sourcing the sound for ‘Leaving Me’, as a house mate was able to produce a short piece of music for the soap opera segment of the film. As we came against a persistent buzz in the sound recording on set of the soap on TV, it was neccesssary to re-record the sound for this in the edit suites. Aside from that there haven’t been any other sound problems to date. it does seem at this point that the sound editing in post-production will be a collaborative effort shared between Ashley and I and Tee Pao. I do feel that Ashley and I will have more of a chance in the next week to further enhance the sound of both films before they are submitted and to further enhance the films with the soundtracks.

 I would like to experiment more with sound for ‘Leaving Me’ though ultimately it is Tee Pao’s decision how he wants the final piece to feel. We are set to edit the ad sequence in the film and to play with levels to increase the sense of space and depth in the piece. Incidental sounds that were recorded of trams going past and of a garbage bin being emptied add to painting an urban environment and subtly communicating the outside world. I felt that I have collaborated well with my group members so far on the sound for the films but that more must be done in order to ensure the films themselves are received by audiences in the way that we intended and have the right feel to them. And I am confident  we will achieve this.   

I felt pretty unprepared to meaningfully assist in the first production of “Alex and Brian”. Though I had briefly acquainted myself with the sound equipment, I was to rely on the expertise of Antony and Wye-Keen on set to make sure the sound went smoothly. I think generally the first film to be produced was much more a trial-and-error process to discover what works and what dosn’t. And the same applied for my own exploration of how I could extend and add depth to my inclusion in the filming process.

Sound recording was eventually not in itself very challenging, though I can’t say for certain that I felt as if i did the job adequately or that I learned a hell of allot that I could substantiate on my own. It was a group effort and this was the case for much of the production which in hind sight I think the group did very well. Personally acknowledging my own shortcomings (or lack of technical understanding) ensured that I was pro-active in assisting in any way I could on the first shoot. ie- Creating “costume zones”, keeping the set tidy and organised, and assisting with shaping and maintaing a respectable baby bump. Of course, Ash and I took on board the “Mother Hen roles” (as old fashioned as that sounds)- encouraging food breaks, preparing the food and doing the dishes and packing up amongst other things.

As we did come up against some problems in communicating the direction for a couple of scenes, I assisted Anthony in trying to relay what he was needing- less “anger” and more “loving concern”. This was incredibly challenging for all of us on set as we repeatedly shot the same scene and felt that we weren’t getting the right material. Having one on one chats with Amy (our Alex), doing some deep breathing and talking her into the role and the mindset of the character helped her to overcome some of her frustrations and confusions that were muddying her performance. I do think that directing is a great skill and that no matter how much one may want to have a hands off, “natural”, spontaneous approach to filming, the reality of the matter on amateur student film sets is that you need to be able to affectively communicate to your actors what you want them to be doing. Directing is a role that i would like to experiment with in the future and I can now see how much of an important role it is in successfuly bringing the script to life.   

On both of the second shoots of “Kate and Dan”- the studio soap opera and the apartment scenes- I was better able to involve myself in the film production as Costume and Set Designer. This was really very satisfying as I saw how my creative vision and involvement for both the sets and the costumes affected the final result of the film product. (It was also alot of fun to get some acting in with Antony in our soap stint as Erica and the Butler.) I felt I did a good job of sourcing and putting together a realistic and lush looking set for the Studio Shoot of the soap and I guess I was lucky on the Apartment shoot as the set needed very little props or additional furniture. Lighting the set this time involved much more collaboration from the whole group as we blocked out a whole wall of windows to take the room into night time. Again, I felt it was important to involve myself in discussions with our actress playing Kate (I have forgotten her name) and Tee Pao. As tension began to build between our frustrated actress and began to overwhelm Tee Pao I was able to step in and further clarify the character’s motivation and the character’s motivation. The actress did a wonderful job on set and I think it was this joint effort in our discussions with her that enabled her to give us a performance that we had envisaged.   

By week 2 I had thrown myself into writing and editing the script for ‘Kate and Dan’. The first challenge was feeling very disconnected from the main charcaters’ backstories fromt he get-go and from Tee Pao’s directorial vision for the piece. Subsequently, I felt quite hostile towards the first draft as my personal oppinion- that it lacked a believable plot, heartfelt motivation and narrative depth/clarity- initally hindered my creative ability. I did quite enjoy writing the script, though I struggled with focusing purely on the narrative and wasted time adding direction for shot composition/technical editing that I later realised wasn’t necessary at this stage (nor was it the writer’s role). Group read throughs and subsequent editing did help to clairfy the written format, though in retrospect I may have liked to further explore the work of Production Design. In writing the script I was able to become concious of my affection for creating quirky characters and abstract shifts in the narrative as well as favoring ambiguity over ‘hold-your-hand’ narrative story telling. I think tee Pao and I had a similar vision in this sense, though at times I felt we had very diffferent ourlooks for the piece- it was hence very hard to see how it was going to look and come together.

The solution to the troublesome script seemed to be bringing the script out into the open for the group to discuss our vision for the piece and to nut out any reservations and grey spots. Ash and I workshopped the script in week 6 or so and she was particularly able to enhance Dan’s character, adding her humorous touch as with the “Robert De Niro/Tom Cruise” line as in Scene 9. Tee pao also re-edited the script so that it better suited his vision and I felt that he did this well. It was however a personal challenge to accpet that any feeling of creative entitlement was unfounded as the Tee Pao should naturally have the final say.

I think we successfully pooled our collective understanding and impressions of the script in a thorough scene-by-secne character emotions breakdown forK Kate (our central character and point of emotional development). It was very important to the success of the actual direction in production that he (and I) were clear of her emotional journey throughout the film. As she had no lines, she would need to communicate this purely in her facial expressions and gestures. We both agreed on some central character traits and yet were still divided on Kate’s deeply held motivations for being so “accomodating” to Dan. it was interesting to observe Tee Pao and my own differing oppinions of gender and social beahvior that is seemingly the product of our cultural upbringings. None the less, this workshop allowed us to flush out our perceptions of Kate and that script as a whole and begin to unify our creative vision.

You know, sometimes I wake up in the morning and I am all about “how can I start doing logical sewuential chores to make me feel like I am lving a productive life…?” Nothing new there- we all want to feel like we have purpose and accomplish certain things with our time. Well, this morning was one of those mornings. I was lusty central.

Voice 1: “I want breakfast”"Shut up. Breakfast is an inevitable.”

Voice 2: “Yeah! You are not in a hurry. You’ll easily be able to find breakfast at midday.”

Voice 3: “Got it? You sure? OKAY. Now focus on your internet shit!”

And so, here I am, creating a wordpress post for the goodness of the knowledge that I created something! Ah, this a beautiful thing to be free to make my mark, to transfor my desires into material form. I am because I post.

Well, what of substance? WHy am I really writing this post here? Well, I just have this thing to say. I am considering to an ayahuasca retreat in Iqutos Peru in about a month and I keep going to research all the avaible retreats and getting really freaked at the prospect of signing up to go through mental and physical tormen all with the hope of deepening my personal undestanding. One particular picture of all these group members sitting around a well lit room with spew buckets inbetween their feet was a real shocker. Just too uniform and controlled to be some organic healing experience.

I want 8 days and no more than 4 healing ceremonies. I want no more than 10 people. I want a repetuable Shaman. I dont wanna pay more than 400 Dollars. (Some might be shocked at the price but I reckon it’s a small price to pay for a mighty one in a life time trip). I want to know about what happens when we trip hard and see devils and are feeling like we are going to die and how we are going to be supported. And, well, what I mean to say is…

I am not giving up on the idea. No matter how scared I am I will continue to rummage through all the confusing way out comsic and long winded pages online and begin to reflect on some good reasons why I would be signing up myself for this kind of thing in the first place.

This one has yoga too! http://ayahuasca-retreat.blogspot.com/

I am really interested in Japanaese Culture. Understandably. I spent 6 years learning Japanese Culture and Language, learning to write their alphabets, srtuggling to string together comprehensive sentences and consistently shushing classrooms filled with girls who would talk throughout class in blatant disregard for our kind hearted senseii Helleur. I persisted, though I was not necessarily any good at it.

I have in the past year decided that I do infact want to spend a good amount of time in Japan in the future. How amazing I think would it be to live in a small village, learn OkiDo yoga, practice my japanese language, perhaps do English conversation with locals or learn to make Japanese Cuisine. And The Architecture! I am sure that the links that I have made, at least in my mind, with Japan will fuel my curiosities of this country for years to come.

 And now, in Bolivia, I am seeking out an important immigrant settlement  of mainland and Okinawa (islander) Japanese in Eastern Bolivia. I am not sure necessarily what I will find in these communities. Any specifically Japanese style Inns? Some reminant of what I recognise as (or expect is) Japanese…? We shall see. Below are some preliminary article that documents the post WWII immigration from Okinawa to Bolivia and begins to suss out how the American involvement in its occupation of Okinawa and in trade discussions affected this Japnese minority.

WPRI Working Paper No. 25: October 1996
The Bolivan Connection: U.S. Bases and Okinawan Emigration
by Kozy K. Amemiya

http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp25.html 

Today’s interesting website:

www.anthrosource.net

I googled Bolivia, Short Courses, Emotion and found this. The article about the state of women and howi t affects their children via breast feeding was perfect! Here’s an excerpt…

In this article, I take the embodied manifestations of distress across generations as the lens from which to illustrate the subtle articulations between the political restructuring of the Bolivian state and the private anxieties women experience under enduring political and economic instability. Emotions such as rage and sorrow generated by economic hardship, domestic violence, and social conflict played a fundamental role in how market- and working-class women perceived not only their own health problems but also many of the health problems that affected their infants. Mother’s bodies and emotions are seen as the vectors through which gestating babies and breastfeeding infants develop transient and enduring ailments and debility.

YOU KNOW there was a time when everytime I was online I would log on to Kazza or IRC, all downloadable chatroom engines, and I would chatup random strangers and make up lies about myself. Like that I was taller or skinnier or that I lived in a different country…

NOWERDAYS however, ritual has it that I get online (most days mind you), check my facebook and my rmit email inbox with fail, maybe my yahoo inbox for correspondence on something non-academic or mostly random and then have a look around on the web for interesting tid bits… (or is it tit bits?…No that’s be to rude)

BUT! I think that these days I am lacking a spot for documentation and reflection online… Myspace is seemingly defunct unless you are some wannabe musician and well, facebook can fuck with my head a bit (lots of “face” focus and not enough feelings and thoughtfullness really). The closest I get to interest value online is trying to assume what people are up to via their status and seeing what my ex-boyfriends are doing with their lives whilst trying not to feel like the nbiggest loser of a stalker. And considering that I am seemingly online alot in my travels I KNOW I have time to commit to this space. MONDOBURGO!!!

Voice of Warning: Keep it fun Loretta. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get it perfect the frist time. Persistance amidst a sea of inconsistency and mistake making will be your safety blanket.

THEREFORE, I think that as long as I write some thing, (it can almost be anything) in this space mostof the time when I go online, then I’ll be making practical use of my imagination and well, this handy online spot.

I’ll get to uniform formatting later (well, maybe), but below is a site that I found yesterday. I think I was googling yoga and meditation courses and retreats in Bolivia and instead I found this. Needless to say the reply emails will be sent to my yahoo inbox…

 www.boliviamistica.com

I want to do volunteer work during my trip to South America this year. I have a little less than 5 months to do my travel, leaving Feb 26th and returning by MID July in time for Semester 2 at RMIT Uni.

I want to spend time with Children. I want to hear their stories. I would like to teach them to speak english and would like to learn some Spanish. I would enjoy sharing my knowledge of song, dance and media with the children. I would be very willing to assist in the development of their communities in any way shape or form, primarily in the sector of education.

Ampersand

Dennis Carney was on the website! This freaked me out. This is a completely comprehensive website- a platform for encouraing young melbounrians to make sense of volunteer opportunities abroad. Who’s put all this together??

Student Partnership Worldwide

Volunteer placements in Asia, India, Africa, etc (NOT S/America)
Fundraising for program is essential $10,000 AUD prior to departure

IDEA
Nov 2008- 2009 Commit to a 6 month -1 year volunteer placement teaching Art/Media/Language Education in a small community of a foreign country.
Countries of interest- Almost ANY- Nepal, India, Africa.
Research Organisations thoroughly- Non For PROFIT organisations. Projects that are innovative, well researched, with tangible long term goals.
Talk to Celia.

(Could my French Speaking make me a more appealing candidate? What about my media degree?)

From shit to wonderful. How is it possible? Was that my holiday? Uni done and now uni start? How do I measure my time now?
There’s seemingly a new context. University is recomencing. And I have no doubt in my mind that this semester will be one of the most fulfilling and challenging yet. Why am I so optimistic? Well, I had an amazing holiday.

Where? In Melbourne.
For how long? Oh… like 3 weeks… but that’s not so relevant really..
Why was it so good? I met somebody. I met my city again. I got to know parts of myself that I had not yet discovered. I’ve found a new kind of buzz. An excitement for what is to come.

Now it’s all about leap frogging my way through the semester. Saying YES more than NO. Reading all my emails, even the annoying ones that remind you of your fearfilled academic inadequacies. That other people are perhaps doing more work than you, or that you have yet to take the risks that come with the unkown industrial-grownup-”real” realms that lay beyond your definition of university. Approaching all these little openings with a CAN DO attitude. And continuing to question my understanding of media-making and the processes involved whilst positioning myself much more directly in this development. Instead of saying to myself: “Well, I dunno. Dosn’t really sound like me.” OR “Oh, well I’d like to, but I don’t really have the time now. Maybe next semester…”
I will be saying: “Why the f**k NOT?” OR
“You never never know if you never ever go…”

Role

My role in the project was to document the New Media perspective in response to Digital Technologies and the cinematic experience. Admittedly, this was initially not an area of particular interest to me, though once I began to research and read some of the theory I felt more encouraged.
I inadvertently, though co-operatively, took the lead from other group members as the brief of our research project quickly fluctuated in the first few weeks. Participation in casual conferences as well as group meetings bought us all up to speed with the reworked direction of our project.

Having observed the differing research strategies of other group members and asking appropriate questions, I attempted in part to adopt some of these strategies (specific searching methods, handy sites, typically effective resources) in my own research. This proved to be beneficial in advancing my own research skills and creating a greater sense of collaboration in our research efforts.

Towards the middle of the semester there appeared to be less official meetings within the group, though a moderate amount of email communication confirmed that independent research was well underway. Limitations to email access and ill-health, however, played a large part in my inability to collaborate more effectively with group members around this time. Communicating via sms and casual chats with group members allowed me to keep up to date with the group’s progress, whilst still conducting my own research and reading articles recommended to me by other group members nourished my own.

In the latter stages of my research I attempted to combat time limitations by meeting more frequently, where I made every effort to participate, communicate my research findings and discuss further research avenues. Particularly discussing how my research intersected with Ana’s research findings and the conceptual limitations I was experiencing was imperative to the continued development of my research and a sense of collaboration specific to content.

In the latter stages of the development, I conferenced a little more with group members, discussing research progress, referring relevant resources and participating in discussion as to the finalising of our research project.

Progress

• Research Capabilites

I feel that I have dramatically advanced my research capabilities this semester, particularly in regards to the scope and nature of my “searching” and reading methods and more generally in my attempts at analysis and compilation. I have refined my methods of searching, grasping a better understanding of online (and Rmit) search system capacities, utilising referred media events and going to greater lengths to source relevant information. Where I may have initially just done a quick search online and at the uni library, now I would look to include industry events, lectures and audio-visual content as part of my research.

Similarly I have learned to approach reading my research findings with specific content and key terminologies/arguments in mind. With an eye to reading quite deliberately on both a “macro” and a “micro” scale you could say that I have learned to maximise my efficiency and accuracy in finding (skim-reading), filtering (reading-for-broad-understanding) and selecting (reading-for-exact-understanding) content. Applying these types of reading methods to varying types of resources has enabled me to access a greater amount of relevant information and to hence add depth and clarity to my research process.

• Observing Learning Behaviors

I have found that I have been able to progress my independent learning skills so far in the course- creating research questions, conducting effective research and sub-categorising and analysing collected content. I have also made progress in my ability to create pleasant learning environments, where my ability to consume and critique my research findings is easier and more enjoyable.

• Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

I have most definitely been able to confronted certain tensions and inadequacies that I have felt in my involvement with the course this semester. I have learned to be clear, relevant and concise when contacting industry professionals, a task I seemingly always seem to put off. And to literally begin to pace my research efforts, rather than thow myself in the deep end from time-to-time.

Strategies

• Research Strategies

I conducted a considerable amount of research into the theoretical findings within my research field, which proved beneficial to my understanding of the concepts and ideas taking place on the topic. I then approached material that attested to critique or further contextualise concepts that I had found. I eventually came to more recent publications via online searches, but could only use these resources as indication of futher directions rather than as the bulk of my content. Ideally in retrospect it would’ve been beneficial (to add weight to the scope of the project and particularly as part of our presentation) to conduct some mearsurable amount of practical research, ie- an interview, vox-pops, etc. Though I made attempts to conduct an interview/audio-record an event by Richard Harris, it was not successful or followed up. More collaboration here would’ve been beneficial.

• Collaborative Strategies

At meetings, I made every attempt to take part in discussion, follow up on referred reading and incorporate this as part of my own research. As far as my ability to collaborate with industry proffesionals, I was markedly less succesful. As I mentioned above, I attempted to conduct both an interview and to create a podcast for the research project, however attempts were unsuccessful and the outcomes less probable in light of time constraints. Proper planning of this type of research was needed quite a bit earlier on my part, and perhaps in our contract a standard of research findings needed to be set for the entire group. Attendance at university became almost essential as it enabled me meet the girls, check my emails and generally stay in the loop. And still, I was not able to collaborate with the group to a level that I personally find sufficient. More conferencing, discussion of research findings, and organization of practical outcomes was required to add cohesion and clarity to the project.

Problems

• Personal problems and collaboration

I have had to acknowledge the effect of personal and life-style choices on my ability to attend, focus and motivate my studies. It is probably (though surprisingly) when it comes to asking questions, admitting to difficulty experienced and/or insufficient efforts that I feel the most discomfort in my collaboration with others. However, I believe that I have had to confront these issues and have perhaps begun to use positive thinking and advice taking in the acceptance of “mistakes” made; as part of a collective process focused on progression, rather than one for indulging in shameful or guilty musings.

• Directing Research Findings and Summarising

I found it quite difficult to re-direct my research findings- back into the findings of “the group” and into the context of “the brief”. Refelcting on these problems, and in consultation with the group, I was able to narrow down the problems and devlop new openings in my research. It was quite a challenge to see the connections, to imagine how it would come together and in the end to decide which content was relevant (and not). Group discussions eased some of the confusion and added clarity to the direct necessities of the project, as well as taking initiative in the focus of my findings. Defining the scope of the project was seemingly always a personal confusion of mine, and I suppose that in the end I did not find this to be something that I could personally resolve. At times I felt the Media Industries course to be both confusing and irrelevant, and yet, perseverance and perspective were seemingly the only solutions.

Connections and Intersections

How is this course beneficial? I think for me it came down to a lesson in motivation and focus. Even if at times I had no idea as to what I was doing or if I felt the research to be irrelevant to my interests, for the sake of completing the task and presenting something substantial, it was important to stay on track. The course has enabled me to strengthen my research skills and take pleasure in both a collaborative and independent context.

For my future practice in the industry, I see that the course has re-affirmed some of my interests, thought still highlighting areas of “effective media practice” (networking, collaboration and general consistency) that I need to focus on.