BCM312 – Monsters

Monsters. If it’s not a monster you dream of being, it’s a monster you close your eyes too, repeating ‘its not real its not real.’ As a kid, I sat back as my parents laughed and laughed at the movie ‘The Grinch Who Stole Christmas’ and wondered how they could be laughing ? This man, this monster, this green figure really scared me ! growing older i now see the humor behind it, however as a kid with less understanding of the whole picture, it spooked me. 

The Grinch is depicted as a pot-bellied, furry, pear-shaped, snub-nosed creature with a cat-like face and cynical personality. His personality represents people who are unwilling to join the society and act respectfully, due to ignorance or bitterness. Due to these traits he is seemingly unpopular in the local village called “Whoville”, as a result he has isolated himself at the top of a mountain, where he lives. “Mt Crumpit”. A scott Myers blog depicts him perfectly as “a christmas- loathing reclusive monster, in a desperate need of love to inflate is underdeveloped heart”(Myer, 2014)

Throughout the movie, Dr. Susse uses many metaphors which describe the grinch or what people think of him. “You really are a heel” is used to suggest the grinch is a dishonorable man. His lack of community and care for it, places him in a category in which people willingly choose to segregate him from their lives. He is most certainly set up in the beginning to be the bad monster. The Grinch initially is disturbing the idea of happiness and celebration for the people of whoville, with his threat to take away christmas. He didn’t understand Christmas, and why those who knew how to experience joy and happiness around others loved it so much, another elimination which segregated him from humanity. To begin his story and how it came about he entered this life, the Grinch is seen to be left at the front door of someone’s house, suggesting he was unwanted. It can be argued that his appearance itself was seen to be a disturbance, he was segregated so he did not have to be dealt with, people were unsure of him from the beginning, their resentment and judgment ultimately shaped his own perception of himself and his relationship with humans. 

In terms of the Grinch being labeled in a similar way to animals, he is compared to a Skunk at one point, “you’re a nasty wasty skunk” a quote taken from the theme song of the movie. This example links to an animal within society that no one wants to get close to, as it is capable of making a situation extremely unpleasant to be in due to the awful smell it can at times produce. The Grinch’s livelihood was inhuman in itself, eating rubbish essentially as his food. His lifestyle as such is one factor which pushes people away from him more, and quite possibly the smell of him as a result … skunk-like smell i should say. With this in mind, I think the message of ‘not judging a book by its cover’ comes into play. In society there are many groups linked to race, sexuality, religion etc. that are marginalized. If the Grinch however was accepted at first by those who found him, he may not have had the mindset he had for 50 years of his life. If he was accepted as a small infant his heart would have gained love from an early age, therefore the cycle of hatred towards Whoville for essentially pushing him away would be broken, and he wouldn’t act the way in which he does act towards them in the movie. 

Towards the end of this movie, our monster friend the Grinch turns his point of view quite drastically. The drastic change of view presents the idea to the audience that this monster may be more similar to humankind than we thought. After the Grinch’s attempt to take away Christmas from Whoville, he realized that they come together, despite the fact of their decorations and presents being destroyed… it was then he realized that “Christmas perhaps means a little bit more”. The realization of togetherness and love for one another swamped his mind, further leading him to save Christmas for the Whos. The Grinches eye color changed from red to blue, a way in which the director symbolized change within the monster’s heart and soul, which connected him more to human kind. A report written by Lock Haven University suggests reasons in which the Grinch’s attitude may have changed. “ The Grinch experienced from the Whos a sense of belongingness and love that he has never known…..he gives back all the presents and decorations and functions harmoniously with the whos.”(Maslow, 2003)

While we all want to hate monsters like the Grinch at the beginning of a movie, it’s a common theme in which directors are using, which allows us at the end of a movie to understand them more in ways we would a human. We therefore connect the traits they posse in a more humane way, getting us to believe that monsters too make mistakes like humans, and we learn to forgive and forget, ultimately resulting in an audience – character relationship to be formed with our monsters. 

Resources: 

Maslow, A., 2003. AP Psychology: How the Grinch Stole Psychology Class | AP Central – The College Board. [online] AP Central. Available at: <https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-psychology/classroom-resources/how-grinch-stole-psychology-class#:~:text=Abraham%20Maslow’s%20Humanistic%20Approach%20Applied%20to%20the%20Grinch&text=Belongingness%20and%20Love%20Needs%20%E2%80%94%20the,affiliation%2C%20affection%2C%20and%20acceptance.&gt; [Accessed 31 March 2022].

 Myer, S., 2014. Great Character: The Grinch (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas”). [online] Medium. Available at: <https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/great-character-the-grinch-how-the-grinch-stole-christmas-5f601d8a6941&gt; [Accessed 31 March 2022].

extended blog – BCM241

Throughout this semester I have been researching with the means to build and support findings in which will articulate my final DA project. Autoethnography was the research method in which benifically enabled me to source research and then further use this research to create a Digital artifact.

” A researcher uses tenets of autobiography and ethnography to do and write autoethnography. Thus, as a method, autoethnography is both process and product. ” (ADAMS & HOLMAN JONES, 2008)

This researcher explains autoethnography to be the process and production. Throughout the semester I have undergone stages of research in which would be labeled in this case as my “production”. These stages include, mapping and field work, where research into the background of my topic, film photography, had to be undergone. This stage of production was important inorder for my to have a full understanding of the history of my topic, before diving into the research of its audience.

Mapping and field work – Blog 2. BCM241

“Autoethnography recognize the innumerable ways personal experience influences the research process. For instance, a researcher decides who, what, when, where, and how to research, decisions necessarily tied to institutional requirements ” (FINE, 1993). Once a background of production is done, the next stage is to gather information on how my target audience response to the use of film cameras and monitoring the recent growth within the industry. The reason in which why this research is important is because through researching into the audience and there behaviours when under the influence of film, I am was able to produce a Digital artifact in which would benefit them highly, as I have have produced information in which presents me with what people enjoy more about film, why they like it, and when and why they are most likely to use it. This form of audience research fits into the category of Ethnographic research by doing just that.

Epiphanies were an important stage of my research, as they allowed me to open up to change, and acknowledge when i needed to change something for a beneficial reason. I came across 3 epiphanies when researching, all epiphanies in which enabled me to rethink, and gain a stronger acknowledgement of a new direction I needed to take in order to create a stronger DA. “epiphanies”—remembered moments perceived to have significantly impacted the trajectory of a person’s life (BOCHNER & ELLIS, 1992; COUSER, 1997; DENZIN, 1989),

When coming to the conclusion of my DA, I decided to create a Tik Tok. This decision was based of the research i had gathered from my audience. living in the 21’s century it was a given that I had to link my Digital Artifact to something online. Tik Tok is a platform in which has up 1 billion users, a platform in which can spread and grow trends in a matter of hours. Through spending weeks ethnographically researching in trends and behaviors of people using film cameras, on and off Tik tok i was able to find the trend of comparison, film V digital. The tik tok was successful with hundreds of views and likes, positively projecting the work of autoethnography research.

“The goal is to produce analytical, accessible texts that change us and the world we live in for the better” (HOLMAN JONES, 2005, p.764). [40]

With the growth of this research technique i see a future in which benefits many people. The research of people and their actions as being part of an audience is a strong stance on the development of most/all things. I think my production and stages of productions articulate the steps made in which necessary to develop autoethnography, thus allowing me to form this into a Digital Artifact in which is still operating today.

@insideoutsidefilm

reference list

Adams, Tony E. & Holman Jones, Stacy (2008). Autoethnography is queer. In Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln & Linda T. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies (pp.373-390). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Bochner, Arthur P. (1984). The functions of human communication in interpersonal bonding. In Carroll C. Arnold & John W. Bowers (Eds.), Handbook of rhetorical and communication theory (pp.544-621). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Fine, Gary A. (1993). Ten lies of ethnography. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 22(3), 267-294.

Holman Jones, Stacy (2005). Autoethnography: Making the personal political. In Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp.763-791). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Blog post – 6. peer com

For my peer commentary i reviewed Phoebe’s Beta. A great idea and her progression is fantastic. I found her Beta to be really clear and her idea to be really smooth and easy to understand, highlighting her narrowing down to be successful, leaving her with a DA that will be perfectly delivered.

Beta – Blog post 6. BCM214

BETA – bcm214

In my beta i explain the challenges faces when creating and researching into me media niche, and how these challenges have been approached as we move towards the end of our research report.

my critical persona through creating my media niche has enabled me to focus on the comparison of film and digital photography and video.

Through the ongoing ethnological research practiced i have found a audience and topic in witch i am confident to evolve my media niche around. film photography is a world in which is still evolving and still being researched today. I aim to provide a niche in which will spark discussion and create further thought in my audiences minds.

research methods as far are secondary sources have supported my work in regards to allowing me to find information and techniques which will further support reasoning behind building a niche in which compares film and digital works via the social media platform Tik Tok.

I,v used peer feedback as well as the feedback from my tutor in order to create content as well as a report that with correctly demonstrate and focus on a audience and fulfill them with a niche in which is informative and interesting.

blog post 5. BCM214

Building on my epiphanies

Self, content creation – with being able to now film at locations like the beach, and not being on an empty farm, where the consideration of people being in my frames was not an issue, i have found i needed to retouch on my sensitivity and consideration to those around. I was making sure I was capturing landscapes and positioning myself in an area that would be good for content but also didn’t disturb people or put them in my frames as it would become a privacy matter. 

Being able to capture the ocean again has benefited my content I think. I have enjoyed what I have been filming and have been able to set up some quick and easy content for my page, in which will keep my audience interested. This is a screenshot taken of a film created with an iphone, filming through the lense of my own 35mm camera. 

Tik tok platform change – “TikTok was the most downloaded and installed app globally, with approximately 113 million downloads in February 2020. This number represents a 96.5% increase from February 2019. Furthermore, the COVID-19 outbreak has facilitated the discovery of TikTok globally” (Su et al., 2020), this is a statistic coming from an educational textbook which provides information to enhance teaching skill. It gave me an idea of just how large the platform is and how it can be used. Not only can I create content which intrigues people but it can be used as a platform to teach people. E.g. the functions and ways in which a 35mm camera is used and how to set it up. (new epiphany…)

Audience for film – after many hours of researching my topic as a whole I was led to the conclusion that no matter how advanced technologie becomes, more specifically cameras, film will always be used as a comparison, therefore film will always be existent. People are intrigued to compare good and bad, and old and new. As expressed in my last blog post, tik tokers such as @camdever use their platform to do just that with film and iphones. 

I’m finding that once I have gained views and likes on tik tok, i can further expand that by sharing to my twitter page. This technique is called cross posting and will enrich the views and platforms in which people can find and see my content. Twitter is a platform that also uses hashtags in order to connect people and posts, with millions of people using the hashtag #filmphotography. Through using this hashtag I will be able to connect with that certain community and have my content on both tik tok and twitter. Twitter has provided me with a lot  of information moving forward, allowing me to ethnologically research and note peoples patterns towards  likes and dislikes in regards to content that is out there already. 

An article written by sam cornwell explains how people saw film back in the day as being ‘already perfect’ they didn’t have all the resources to be taking photo after photo, and they accepted the mistakes that were noticeable on a film print. “Fast forward to today and we’re not only making fewer albums, we’re taking more photographs to get that perfect shot. Even our smartphones are littered with countless portraits of our children, nieces and nephews, because the photo before could have been just a little bit better.Back in the day of film photography we didn’t worry about that, and those photo albums that we look back on are still as perfect today as when our parents first stuck them down.” (Sam Cornwell 2015) This idea created a comfort in my mind and a new understanding that your film pictures don’t have to be up to iphone quality to be interesting or seen as beautiful to an audience, as the audience im targeting already have the understanding that this is in fact an old device and film is simply imperfect in a perfect way. one of the things seen to make film so moving to people.

“This slower process allows me to think about the composition, the emotion, and the feeling that is going into every single image. And in the end I deliver images that truly feel like paintings with so much depth, color, and feeling to them. It’s an art form that isn’t going anywhere any time soon.” (Olivia, 2021)

reference list:

Cornwell, S., 2015. 12 Reasons Photographers Still Choose to Shoot Film over Digital. [online] PetaPixel. Available at: <https://petapixel.com/2015/04/24/12-reasons-photographers-still-choose-to-shoot-film-over-digital/&gt; [Accessed 8 October 2021].

Escamilla-Fajardo, P., 2021. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education | Vol 28, June 2021 | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier. [online] Sciencedirect.com. Available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-hospitality-leisure-sport-and-tourism-education/vol/28/suppl/C&gt; [Accessed 8 October 2021].

Olivia, A., 2021. Why Film? 10 Reasons I love Film Photography – Amanda Olivia Photography. [online] Amanda Olivia Photography. Available at: <https://amandaoliviaphotography.com/2020/01/why-film-10-reasons-i-love-film-photography/&gt; [Accessed 8 October 2021].

Blog 4 – BCM214

Coming into the final stages of creating our DA’s  i think the ethnographic research i have started to focus on is relatively related to audience feedback through the platform i am using and how i can use the research of likes, comments, views and shares to enrich my product, and embed what people will be interested in. 

As we approach the final stages of this project, internal thoughts have been circulating around the fact that maybe there aren’t as many people using film as I thought? I did further research going back into articles that some analogue photographers have written in and was pleased by some stats and quotes that revived that idea. 

“film and digital workflows, technologies and creative approaches have merged” (Gill, 2021), and that is exactly how i hope to reach my audience, the use of a platform and iphone to share and capture content from a film camera. 

Explainer: Instagram allows people to post photos, and place a hashtag in their caption which combines all people who have hashtagged their photo the same thing. For example if i was to use the hashtag #filmphotography and then search it in the search bar i would find my photo as well as the millions others who have used the same hashtag as a means of connection. 

• According to instagram 31.2 million people to date have used the hashtag #filmphotography on instagram. 
•  4.7 million have used the hashtag #ishootfilm on instagram 
• 

It was small facts like this that reopened my mind and almost refocused my mind, in order to get back on track and know that I did have an audience out there, in which I was intrigued to capture.  

Recently I decided while on tik tok that this platform would be so beneficial in terms of excelling my ideas for my DA. I was scrolling through and looked up the hashtag film photography in the search bar. I found videos of people explaining their cameras and film photos, and where they were taken and how they were different from other photos on their phone. I was so shocked to see some of these videos were getting millions of views simply through using hashtags and given content that people were not too quick to flick past. Epiphany 2. I CALL IT…. a new platform! 

My perception of change came from my study into youtube channels and how they were set up. I think for most people looking into things you have to have a fair amount of interest and passion straight off the bat if you want to sit down and watch a 10 minute video on anything. I started to get moments of boredom so I figured if I was going to do this I wanted to make it quick, fast, interesting, cool and informative. 

Tik tok 

• Fast 
• Relatable for so many people 
• Interesting – allows you to make fun content 
• Easy platform to use 
• Doesn’t take up too much time with downloading and creating ! 
• Some what simply to create a following and interest from an audience 

I think inspiring factors towards the progression of my DA has been tik tok content creators such as the ones listed below in the screen shots. These creators make videos which incorporate  film and digital work. Comments, likes and shares on their videos suggest they have conceptualized in a way that has successfully drawn people in.  

                      @trosali 

• 
• @tommy.is.epic 
• 
• @camdever 

I have a film camera of my own and many photos of what I have taken in the past. I hit a slight issue when beginning the development of my DA through tik tok… I was out of film. So I decided to use my phone to film through the lense giving my audience an actual live vision of what it is like to look through the lense of a film camera and take the photo.

The screenshots shown, highlights the fact that once I posted on tiktok my content of the comparison from iPhone to film I received instant views ! As far as researching into this I knew that once I used hashtags and popular sounds behind my videos it would be alot easier to gain interactions opposed to instagram. As tik tok is more concentrated on these elements.

Tik tok has given me an understanding about myself that I do enjoy creating video content. Epiphany 3 …self.  I think being at my parents farm for the beginning of creating content has limited me in some sense as I really want to be doing more street film and beach film shots. It is something I’m really looking forward to when I get back to wollongong. Perspective is an important element into my research, and being in wollongong i think i have linked into alot of peoples who live in the area. Naturally those people are surrounded by the beach, and if i am to capture film photography elements of the beach I find I am more likely to attract a larger audience in terms of who I am most likely to connect my content with. E.g. if i were to share my tik tok via Instagram for more engagement and the majority of that audience is interested in the ocean, therefore will have more interest. 

Content creators such as Lucy Lauch capture elements of the beach environment, something that i have been looking into inorder to narrow down my research project. Knowing i have one place to film, being at the beach and creating a genre of film has made my content plans a lot simpler. 

References: 

Doyle, B., 2021. TikTok Statistics – Everything You Need to Know [Sep 2021 Update]. [online] Wallaroo Media. Available at: <https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/&gt; [Accessed 6 October 2021]. 

Gill, h., 2021. Opinion: Film photography has found its feet again. [online] DPReview. Available at: <https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/4909160716/analogue-photography-is-not-what-it-used-to-be&gt; [Accessed 8 October 2021].

Tik tok accounts referenced: 

• @earthdarlin 
• @trosali 
• @tommy.is.epic 
• @camdever

Peer review – blog 3

Reviewed blog post: https://georgieobriendotcom.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/pitch-please/

This pitch is based on the sustainable fashion content on instagram. “Collected thread”

When reviewing this Pitch, I found it important to review in my head important features which will make an effective and well understood media niche. 

I think when reviewing any pitch it is a beneficial way to think back to your own work and go through the same process you would reviewing someone else’s. 

I think the feedback I provided Georgia was effective. I explained what made her pitch a good pitch, and why certain aspects of that will be beneficial to her final product. 

I then concluded with adding a comment about what could pertenically help her research, that being finding blog posts of people’s experiences regarding her topic. 

I think something I could work on in the future for peer reviewing would be more detail into what elements could certainly boost someone’s task. For example having clear written feedback in which highlights exactly where this person could tweek or change material. 

Finally looking back at my own work and trying to look at it as though i was reviewing it like others, i have found i need to work on my organisation skills, and better develop clear material that highlights this.  

Pitch Presentation – 241

For my media niche i will be looking into film photography and how social media has played its part in the re-growth of the film photography trend. The process behind film photography is something that in most cases is extremely time consuming. researching into how people go about the process and how they use there platforms to share these photos is something i think will be extremely interesting. pin pointing a mark of growth and reasons behind why this may have developed when it did is something i will also like to further understand.

Film photography is something that has over the recent years has had a re-birth. Social media will be something i will be linking into this research to highlight how social media allows people to use and show this older form of media in a new way. Media platforms such as instagram, facebook and twitter allow people to share film photos they have taken, and even give background into the process that was gone into this.

Blog post and Youtube videos are a popular resource used by those wanting to learn how to use and operate a camera, as well as learn the steps behind the unique process of development.

Mapping and field work – Blog 2. BCM241

Media Niche – Mapping and field work. 

When using a film camera, it is known the process is not something that is seen as simple. If you’re exploring it for the first time, be prepared to not see those photos for a while. With the random incline of film camera use, the demand of shops and operations in which actually caitoried for these cameras was elementary. People could be waiting weeks to get their film photos back. Another point which is interesting within our society is the use of film cameras, as almost everything we operate around in this world is instant. 

History of the film camera 

• The first 35mm camera widely available to the public was the American Tourist Multiple, which was released in 1913. 
• However, with the release of 35mm cameras, photographers could easily take pictures anywhere in the world. 
• These photographs could be shared with people all around the globe, allowing viewers to see distant lands in print for the first time ever
• The tourist multiple cost $175 in 1913, and equivalent to $4000 in modern United states dollars. Because of its high price, the camera was not accessible for most people. 
• For the first time amateur photographers had access to a compact 35mm camera that could be taken anywhere. Because 35mm cameras were accessible to so many people, 35mm dominated the film market by the 1960’s and remains the most popular type of film today. 

Social media in 2021 has transformed into one of the most useful platforms in the world for people to gather and gain information. Youtube is a tool that has an abundance of videos and tutorials on how to use, why to use and what to do with film Cameras. These platforms are used by beginners all the way up to experts in order to develop higher skills and create better content with their cameras.  

For my niche to be successful and narrowed down onto a particular idea I will need to focus on an area and audience in which it falls into this niche. The outcome of photos and differing experiences related to developing a photo and simply taking a photo on your phone and uploading it online I think will be interesting to target. Emotions are something that correlate into this topic, and many people speak about the emotions and how they are stronger developed with the process you go to in order to gain possession of the photos you take through a film camera. 

Media Niche – blog post 1. BCM241.

The concept of a media niche is something that took me a while to wrap my head around. After researching terms and ideas such as ethnography – being the study of a particular group of people, their circumstances, habits and everyday life as researched through observation and fieldwork and also the term  media Ecology, described as the study of media environments, and the way in which media can play a role in human affairs. I think once an understanding of these terms was complete I could really start to get excited about an idea. 

For  my media niche I will be exploring film photography https://35mmco.com/  and how our current world of social media has influenced its regrowth. As someone who owns and uses a film Camera, I have recently noticed the enormous growth which has been present in society. People all over the world of all different ages are using film cameras as an individual look for either their social media accounts or just for the unique experience of possessing one in a crowd. 

Film cameras have developed over time to be more practical, easier to use, quicker to respond and much better quality. The interesting fact behind this topic is that over time people have gone back in time, in order to gain a difference in perspective on what society has tried to build to be up to date and more relevant. Technology in 2020 is something that is seen to be almost perfected. Although there are many things to come, it’s hard to imagine things getting any easier in this day and age, and the thought of the film photography process being something people are going out of their way to present is something that has struck me, and I think will be a very intriguing media niche to explore. 

View at Medium.com

https://medium.com/@tom.grimbert/the-return-of-film-photography-in-2019-3cf4f479758c

The use of social media platforms such as Instagram, facebook, twitter and more allow people to share the unique film photography experience and seems to act like a drive for people to use these cameras. People are gaining interest towards their accounts as it is seen as an ‘olden day’ twist on top of the media reality we are living in currently. Blog websites are also used by professional film photographers as a platform to enhance people’s experience when using their cameras and describe their own experiences. The process is long and temperamental compared to snapping photos on an iphone, and seems to be something people want to know more about.