SKO Media Artifact

I was meant to create a media artifact so I thought of creating a magazine cover.

Media 3 – SKO Stage 2

Contextualizing

This studio emphasizes on developing the design and production knowledge among the Communication Design and Media students as Media students would love to learn more about design and likewise. It also aims to have students to adapt to the changing technologies and practices, and thus provide projects that require the use of both design and media production methodologies which is applicable in real life problem-solving. I like the fact that how this studio focuses on joining the Communication Design and Media students to collaborate and work on projects provided by Lentara, a not-for-profit organization. Since Communication Design students. For instance, Community Wardrobe, Seven Seeds, Asylum Seeker Project, etc. The project outcomes will have a chance to be publicly published and distributed, and thus, the objective of the studio is to get students to have an opportunity to experience the social entrepreneurship before stepping out from university into the real world. The key approach in this studio is to work collaboratively with one another. I truly believe that great teamwork creates good synergy and that will bring the group work together, and the outcome will be beyond imagined. Great teamwork also eliminates the hierarchy system in a group when it is unavoidable that a group tend to have one party that is more determined to proceed on with their point of view and ideas. Excellent teamwork will have the members listen to one another and work it out to have a win-win situation. Most important of all, the chemistry between group members will undoubtedly be exposed when having a presentation. A good teamwork will boost the group’s image, and that will please the clients who obviously will not want to work with a team with internal conflicts.

 

Reflecting

One of the skills that I have polished through this studio is collaboration. Teamwork is undoubtedly the most important thing whether in university or society. Being able to work together as a team will boost the quality of the production of a project. I have also learned to do research using keywords which will increase the speed of getting the right information if related keywords were used. What I have learned through this studio is the 4R practice: Reported, Relating, Reasoning, and Reconstructing. First, I identify an issue, for example, I write out what are the major problems that the asylum seekers and the Asylum Seeker Project are facing. I then relate my most recent knowledge that I have on asylum seekers which are the documentary, Chasing Asylum, directed by Eva Orner documenting the truth behind the detention center on Manus Island. I then did more in-depth research on the updated policies on asylum seeker’s privilege in Australia. Also, I researched on the origin of Asylum Seeker Project, why had the progress of helping asylum seekers not gone far from where they started, and how did Lentara come so far down throughout the 21 years. Regarding reasoning, I separated the government and the public into two parts on paper while Lentara stays in the middle between the two parties. The more I write, the more obvious the achievements, obstacles, and preventions that Lentara has throughout the years. Finally, I reconstruct the part where Lentara is now focusing on celebrating their 21st anniversary, and my job is to contribute my creative skills to plan out an event or an applicable media artifact that Lentara has a higher chance of using it for the event on 2nd September 2017. I concluded that if they documented the history into a book on the 10th anniversary, 21st anniversary would need to a documentary, something contains a visual and audio element which can deliver the message of Asylum Seeker Project to the public more efficiently. Using this 4R technique helps me a lot in brainstorming and planning, not only for this studio, but other subjects as well, and even outside the university. It speeds up the process and causes every process to be more productive.

 

Proposing

Although there are a lot of things that I have picked up from this studio, I still find the 4R concept is very practical no matter where I go in the future. It brings out the creative side in me, and it helps in every aspect regarding designing, writing, brainstorming, planning, observing, etc. As it requires reporting an issue, identify the problem, relating the issue with current society and global situation, research for possible resolutions, justify the effects on the conditions and finally, finalized the idea for the project outcome. The 4R concept is the core procedure for any problem-solving scenario. Besides, I once again learn that how important to have a great teamwork while working in a team. I need to compromise with one another in all aspects as a form of respect. Teamwork is a critical yet time-consuming quality that will need long-time maintenance throughout the working process.

Assessment Task 1 -Day 7

26 March 2017, Sunday, 11,00pm. Windy.

The first thing that I did in the morning was to check on my phone for any email updates. I went onto Instagram to watch the stories and damn, I could never finish it since the people who I followed were hundreds, and imagine half of them posted a short 10-second video, which means I would have to spend roughly 40 minutes to watch all of the Insta stories. When I roughly estimated the time that I had to spend, I quit the app. I still do think I made a wise choice. I used to be addicted to Instagram and actually calculated the number of followers I have since it used to matter a lot to me (which I think it is something that majority of the Instagram users care about too), but I actually felt stressed to think of the pictures that I would have to post in order to get the big numbers of likes. That is sick, I thought. So that was when I started to use Instagram lesser and lesser.

After I got off my bed, I went to watch my friend’s basketball match. I played music off Youtube Red since I paid for the membership, and I still like Youtube Red more than Spotify. While I was waiting for the game to start, I talked to my mom using WhatsApp free call because I missed her (I love you mom). I did not know WhatsApp offers video call service as well until my mom declined my call and video called me back. WhatsApp really had a good update as compared to before. After having a light dinner, I went to my friend’s 21st birthday dinner. As soon as I reached, well, people were basically holding up their phone, either to take a snap with the birthday girl or take a short clip of the event to post on either Snapchat or Instagram. Turned out I was right. I felt using like Snapchat and Insta story is sort of like a peer pressure thing already because people would just post a video of anything and everything so they would not feel ‘left out’. Well, that is just my personal point of view, and I, too, posted a picture with the birthday girl on Snapchat.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 6

25 March 2017, Saturday, 10.45pm. Chilly.

I slept really late last night at around 4.00am as my friend crashed at my place for the night. I woke up at 12 something because of a phone call from a friend reminding me that I was supposed to have a brunch meet up at 11.30am. I got myself ready in 20 minutes and went to meet them up at Emporium. We went for a Japanese brunch place called Calia. It was a really good brunch, affordable, good plating, good service but the environment is a little bit noisy. For those who prefer quiet places, this might not be the one that you’re looking for, but it’s definitely worth a try. I ordered a meal called Aburi Salmon and gosh the salmon pieces were half-raw half-cooked. Damn, it was amazing. I took a picture of it and posted it on Snapchat story.

This was mine. I’m now hungry again. Oh lord. 

We were sitting there for almost an hour before we part our ways. Later that night, I went on Instagram and figured out how to use Insta story. I had successfully shared my first Insta story which was a 7-second short clip of Flinders Street night life. I took a snap of Spice Market and shared on both Insta story and Snapchat. In conclusion, I still prefer Snapchat. It’s really convenient with just one button. Hold onto it, release it when you’re done, then share it. Done. Or maybe I haven’t really figured out how to use Insta story. I don’t know but I think I’ll still opt for Snapchat anyhow.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 5

24 March 2017, Friday, 3.30pm. Sunny.

I woke up extremely early, around 7.15am in the morning despite having only 4 hours of sleep just to get to Swanston library to finish off my editing. Once I was done with it, I uploaded the short clip to Google Drive but I did not know I would need to upload it to Youtube. I have never really check out Youtube other functions besides watching videos on it, so I thought I could upload it to my Vimeo. Things were just getting in the way within that 7 minutes before the presentation started; like my laptop couldn’t work because I have no idea why and I could not remember my Vimeo account’s password. I tried to retrieve my password but the worst thing was I could not even remember which email did I use to sign up for when I have only got three emails including my student email which is very unlikely for me to use it for any subscription. I clicked on the ‘Forgot Your Password’ link and typed my two personal emails but I received no email coming from Vimeo. I gave up. My group member, Clarence then said he would download the video and upload it to his Youtube channel. He managed to do so in the end. What a morning.

I then wrote 2 weekly reflections for Media 3 studio because I had forgotten to write one two weeks ago. It was in a Google Doc form and we update the diary after class weekly. I did not go online much today as Friday usually is a very long day for me. I have class from 9.30am to 11.30am, afternoon tutorial from 1.30pm to 2.30pm and work shift starts from 4.00pm to midnight. Sounds busy. At the end of the day, I was extremely worn out and went to bed right after a quick shower while my hair was still wet.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 4

23 March 2017, Thursday, 11.20pm. Clear sky with no stars.

I was running late for work (it seems like I’m always running late) and I had no time to go for Youtube Red. After my shift ended at 5.00pm, I took a tram back home, watched NBA news, E-News Rundown and friend’s stories on Snapchat. I went onto Instagram to check pictures and videos because I had totally forgotten about Instagram for nearly two weeks. Honestly, ever since I got myself a Snapchat account, the number of times of me using Instagram decreased. I do like how Instagram keeps your pictures on your profile and allows other friends to look at your pictures, but I find Snapchat more convenient. The stories that you have updated would disappear after 24 hours. You can just press a button in the middle at the bottom of the screen and record a 10-second short clip, and that’s it. Easy. I have heard of Insta story but have never used it. I would say I never bother to learn how to use Insta story or even check it out how is it like. Insta story appears on the top of the Instagram app and I have never once clicked and check out the stories. Basically, I went onto Instagram was to get a colleague’s number as she did not receive the schedule that had been updated two days ago so I sent her a picture of the weekly schedule.

At night, I was browsing AudioBlocks and some other royalty-free music website to look for copyright free background music. I was in charge of editing a short teaser for my group presentation on Friday. I hopped onto Adobe Premiere Pro and constantly changing pages back and forth to complete the editing. I went home around 12.30am and hit Spotify, but because I am not a Premium user, I was not able to change or skip through music. I went back to Youtube Red because I was so annoyed and watched Buzzfeed channel on Youtube while walking back home.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 3

22 March 2017, Wednesday, 4.00pm. Sunny.

I woke up in the morning at 9.12am and realized I was freaking late for my 9.30am workshop. I was rushing like hell and yet I still managed to find the time to hit Youtube Red. I guess I am really addicted to Youtube. After I was done with my class at 12.30pm, I went home and watch videos of NBA highlights in 2017 on Youtube. I chilled for 2 hours before I got back to my room and started my assignment for Documentary Studies. I researched for the documentary The Thin Blue Line, directed by Errol Morris in 1988. I went to Google and click on the links that were related to what my assignment task’s objectives. It is a documentary about Randall Adams, a man who was wrongfully convicted of a crime that he had never committed and justice did not play right for 12 years until the film was released. I signed up for a membership on SBS Demand in order to watch the film. After watching the film, I did some reading and clicked on Google Drive’s link to create a new Google Doc to start my essay. There is one thing I like about using Google Doc is that it is accessible everywhere. I uploaded all the related readings onto Google Drive just so I can read wherever I was. Google Docs also automatically saves the changes that you have made, unlike Microsoft Word which you would have to manually save it to be sure.

I finished the essay at night and decided to take a break. I went for a swim with my Bluetooth speaker playing music playlist from Youtube Red. I had my dinner and watched a movie on Netflix before I went to sleep. End of the day.

One of the videos that I have watched. Damn hilarious if you are a basketball fan.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 2

21 March 2017, Tuesday, 2.00pm. A Huge downpour of rain.

The first thing I did when I woke up was to off my alarm (snooze my alarm actually) and went onto Youtube Red to hit the playlist before I went for a shower. The first song of the day was That’s What I Like by Bruno Mars. I really loved the light and changing tempo with a little bit of jazzy-pop feel in it. Since I missed the lecture at 10.30am, I thought I should make it up by doing the weekly reading for the tutorial in the afternoon. As I was doing the checklist for the blog, I realized I had not done the blog post for ‘Tagging’ and ‘Blogging Ethics’. I went onto Google and search got the use of tags and read the article about blogging ethics Hannah had sent us. I then posted one blog post each. It was raining so heavily in the afternoon that I was forced to wait in front of Jasper hotel on Elizabeth street. I then went to buy a cup of coffee and ate my lunch while watching the rain that was pouring. I took out my phone, took a short video and posted it on Snapchat, trying to get my housemate to bring me an umbrella. Apparently, he thought it was raining too heavily so he did not want to get out from the house. Great. Luckily, the rain stopped after 10 minutes but everywhere was flooded. The water level was roughly around my ankle’s height. I took a Snap again. I reached home, watch a couple of movies on Netflix with my housemate and that was it for the day, actually.

Assessment Task 1 – Day 1

Monday, 20 March 2017, 4.00pm. What was I doing?

I had my Media 3 studio group meeting from 2.30pm in a classroom in Building 9. As my group was divided into two sub-units, I was in charged of video editing. I was searching for short promotional teasers on Youtube, trying to show my group members what did I have in mind about the short teaser. There were lots of short clips and I didn’t even know where to start from. I searched on Youtube, Vimeo and I even went onto Snapchat since there are always short ads jumping in whenever I’m watching clips on Snapchat. We spent nearly two hours on Youtube trying to find the most suitable video that matches our overall theme. As for the background music, we tried to look for royalty free music website and found Audio Blocks. I would definitely recommended Audio Blocks if anyone is trying to look for copyright free music, instrumental music, sound effects etc.

I walked back home around 5.30pm while listening to Youtube Red (I’ve subscribed it and that costs me $14.99 a month. *Heartbroken*). In my opinion, I prefer Youtube over Spotify. Why? There are quite a number of artists that I could not find on Spotify but not Youtube. I listened to the playlist ‘Music 2017: Playlist of Popular Songs (New Hit Music)‘ and those songs were really amazing. Once I reached home, I switched on my Playing Station IV and watched Finding Dory. I hit the gym, watched videos of NBA highlights, music performances and music videos while stretching. I went back home, continued on with Youtube, hit the top playlist on Youtube and shower. Honestly, as I am writing this, I am truly shocked to see how much time I had committed to Youtube, and this is not even the end of it. After I came out from the shower, I paused my Youtube, went to the kitchen to snack on some tiny bites, and went back to my room. I was doing some reading for my tutorials of the week while listening to Youtube, again. Basically, I did not quit the Youtube app on my phone, not until I sleep. Starting from 5.30pm until 2.00am, I was constantly on Youtube for eight and a half hours. The time I had spent on Youtube yesterday was more than my sleep (precisely 8 hours as I woke up at 10.30am this morning).

I think I am addicted to online media.

 

P.S. This is one of my favourite songs.

Tags, Hashtags

How does tag work? It is sort of like a name card to categorize posts together in a group. It can bring the readers to the relevant posts and links just by clicking it. For example, if a reader click on a tag which says ‘fashion’, posts with fashion-related article, image, video or anything would be listed underneath and it’s up to the reader to click on anything that  is in their interests.