They say ‘Do not judge a book by it’s cover.’ I found this saying absolutely spot on for describing my experience during the Post Industrial Media course. Since this course required us to produce videos on a mobile/smartphone I knew that it would be a cakewalk because of the pre conceived knowledge and experience of creating content on a mobile phone. I assumed that since it’s a smartphone generated video, the aesthetics or technical specifications like colour, sound, visual effects, transitions etc won’t be much of a focus. However, that bubble was going to burst. Come the intensives and there I was sitting in the most anxious state of mind, wondering if I were in the right class!
The world of mobile videography is much deeper than you can perceive. It’s evolving every second, bringing forth a plethora of ideas, visuals and content created by not just qualified filmmakers but by anyone ranging from a toddler to a ninety (or even more) year old! The intensives were a window to the expanse of the new media world.
After skimming through a wide range of MINA films in our first intensive, Yuri and myself settled on Lisbon. Live to be our case study. After penning down several affordances that we observed from watching the case study; we mutually agreed upon ‘companion’ to be our affordance. In our understanding we observed that in the travelogue Lisbon.Live, though the traveller is exploring Lisbon by himself; he isn’t alone. His phone, through which he captures the visuals and sounds of Lisbon serves as his companion. With the first task done, the challenge had just begun! Now that we had an affordance in place, the thought of developing 3 sketches on the same, sent me into a frenzy.
With a meagre timeframe of 24 hours, I found it quite challenging to think of concepts for my sketches. With the aim of meeting the deadline, I did not focus on the visual quality or aesthetics of the sketches. I just picked up my phone and shot my first sketch of me holding my friend’s hand as we walked. This being my first sketch, was highly literal in every context to our affordance of companion. The following two sketches were not so literal but weren’t ‘wow’ either. ‘You’ll never walk alone’ is Liverpool Football Club’s anthem. Drawing a relation to this slogan and companionship, I produced my second sketch. The final sketch for Project 2 was based on Siri suggesting me places to eat. When it came to presenting our sketches in the studio, I was highly nervous because it had been ages since I had given a presentation. However, Yuri’s comic timing and witty humour, sailed us through the presentation. Delighted with the fact that we were done with Project 2, little did I know that this was just the beginning.
In the studio that followed the week after, we were introduced to the practice of writing reflections on the issues that we faced in the studio. At first, I didn’t really understand as to how this practice would be beneficial to us, but as I started documenting the issues I faced in the studio and outlining a plan to tackle them and overcome them, I realised that these reflections serve as a diary for myself, helping me gauge my progress through the course. The 4 R’s of Reporting, Relating, Reasoning and Reconstructing were instrumental in structuring my weekly reflections.
The next challenge in line was the execution of the Project 3 tasks. While it was a group assessment, each of us (Yuri, Cho Hee Kim Angela and me) had to produce 5 sketches each based on the criteria outlined in the Project 3 brief. This assessment focused on exploring experimental techniques offered by plugging in video and sound enhancing features offered by smartphone applications and desktop editing softwares. As we divided the tasks amongst the three of us, based on our personal interests, I ended up with the most challenging tasks in my kitty – produce two sketches using a new, unexplored technique. I am no pro at using the features offered by smartphone applications, I therefore found this a difficult hurdle to overcome. I got myself familiarised with Vine only after enrolling in this course which speaks enough about my knowledge about new media.
While this assessment required us to use mobile phone video editing apps, it was my first attempt at downloading such an application on my phone and experimenting with it. The Useful Tools list in the Mobile Videography blog, helped me look at different apps enlisted there, thereafter which I settled for Splice. I found myself liking the usability of the Splice app. It was easy to operate and provided great results. When it came to producing sketches with new, unexplored techniques, I did a bit of research on the internet, looking for ideas that were still evolving in the new media domain. While skimming through the App store on my iPhone, I came across an interesting app called JamCam. I hadn’t come across any other app that offered the feature of recording not just video but also the song you are currently listening to on your phone, into the video. Another exciting app called Hyperlapse from Instagram, hooked me onto the fast moving imagery it created. I looked forward to creating my sketches with the help of these two nouveau apps. I found myself enjoying this process, excited at the achievement of amazing visuals. Never had I dreamt that my iPhone 4 could produce such spectacular results.
When it came to explaining the concept of these sketches, by making a reference to my affordance of companion, I fell short of words and thought that the game is over for me and that I’d have to re do my sketches all over again. However, the fourth R of Reconstructing, learnt while documenting my reflections in this course, gave me the cue to put my act together. All wasn’t lost yet. I jotted down pointers on how my phone is a companion to me and made those references while explaining the concepts of the sketches in my blog posts. With every passing studio, I began to develop a deeper fascination for the medium. I began to understand my chosen affordance of companion better and believed that the ‘Selfie’ sketch explained and supported my affordance most appropriately.
Building on the front camera feature of the ‘Selfie’ concept, I felt positive about producing a video work on the same lines. I was clear in my head that I wanted to experiment with this aspect offered by a smartphone, however I found it challenging to think of an idea that would support this shoot style. Since I would be present in the visuals throughout, I felt that I could incorporate another character’s point of view towards me, which would be served by the front camera on my phone. Since almost every girl has a soft corner for soft toys, I imagined my phone to be a teddy bear that I find on the street. I shot random visuals as I walked on the street. I love Melbourne by night, and hence tried to bring in the various lights that fascinated me. Though I had my visuals ready to be presented for iteration 2, I still didn’t have a soundscape in place since I was still unsure if I wanted the teddy bear to talk out loud about his emotions or if I wanted to display his myriad moods by plugging in the JamCam feature of changing songs with changing moods.
The most constructive feedback that I received in the final studio session, helped me develop my final video work. Moving on from the fiction based plot and linear sequence of events, I replaced the Teddy with my own phone which would complement my frontal camera shoot style. Once I decided to incorporate that inclusion, I restructured the entire video work and titled it ‘You Complete Me’. The visuals shot entirely on the front camera of my iPhone 4, I added drop of water to create the outstanding blurry, out of focus effect. I love writing poems, and so plugged in a few lines that speak about how my phone completes me.
This course has helped me develop not just my mobile video producing skills but has also contributed towards developing my thinking process. Coming from a television background, I’ve always thought that mobile videography is no rocket science. It is only after delving deep into the actualities and functionality of the smartphone, have I actually understood the importance of this ever evolving medium. Pitching an idea through sketches was an absolute winner for me. Documenting my learnings through reflections was another helpful practice. Above all, I started appreciating my iPhone 4. People prefer high end camera phones that offer sharp clarity in pictures. Myself, on the other hand, explored the simplicity of the iPhone 4.
Thus, do not judge a smartphone by it’s cover. Within it lies a treasure trove of opportunities and challenges that has the potential to create something magical!
lalowe11 