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3rd Eye Visionary

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Jimbob Hines [Official Interview]

The process of doing this interview has been a learning curve for me. This was my first time interviewing an artist and because of this, I made a lot of mistakes which I will be able to learn from to improve my interviews in the future. This is the final edited version of the original rough draft interview. I think it has progressed a lot, and come along away from its initial starting point. I cut out any unnecessary or trivial footage, as I wanted to cut the interview down to roughly 2 mins 30 secs. The first and second edits were way too long to watch. I also added more cutaway clips to make it more interesting and hopefully shorter to watch. I filmed this interview using a Samsung Galaxy S5 and the resulting footage was really shaky and of a low visual quality. I fixed this using the warp stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017. This improved the visual quality a great deal but unfortunately added a few fast movement glitches to some of the clips which you can see. However, this was better than having shaky camera footage throughout the whole interview. I highly recommend using the warp stabilizer if you have shaky camera footage, even if you have to trade-off with a few minor glitches on your clips. The original sound quality of the interview footage was very poor audio quality, due to being recorded using a Samsung Galaxy S5 phone. I should have used a few Tascam audio recorders, possibly a lapel mic on the interviewee and a DSLR camera. The Canon EOS DSLRs seem to pick up pretty good sound quality for dialogue/ talking without distorting. However I wouldn’t recommend using them for recording sound for live music events or gigs, unless you have a high-fidelity audio mic to plug into your camera. I used a DSLR once for a live gig and the resulting audio sounds quite distorted.

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Jimbob Hines Interview [Unofficial Interview]

This is an updated edited version of the original rough draft edit of the interview I did with Jimbob Hines. 

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Jimbob Hines Interview [Rough Draft]

This is the original rough draft edit of an interview I did with Jimbob Hines.

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SMST309-17B-Propaganda and Advertising

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Ezra Rielly

Propaganda Assignment

Reflective Commentary

  For this assignment, I chose the first option on the political brief list. This was described as the following: “You have been contracted to come up with a media release to promote engagement with a particular political party and mobilize people to exercise their right to vote for that party.” I wanted to make up an imaginary party for this assignment, and then create a moving image advertisement to promote this party using Adobe After Effects 2017. I also wanted to make my advertisement humorous, and a parody of New Zealand politics and politicians in general, as I really hate both of these two things.

  Upon reading the brief for this assignment, I did not know how I was going to approach it in terms of creating my advertisement. That is to say, would I draw a mock caricature of New Zealand politicians like the ones you see in New Zealand newspapers like The Herald for example, or would I run a pretend campaign for a made up party and film my interviews with university students? I am not great at drawing, so the first option was not really an option. Running a campaign featuring interviews with students as part of the campaign run was not going to be realistic either, considering I had no one to help me out as a cameraman. Making an advertisement using Adobe After Effects 2017, seemed to be the best practical option for creating my advertisement. The Creative Party was the name I thought up for my imaginary party. This party would have the sole intention and transparent agenda to make New Zealand fun and more creative again for Kiwis, and also loosen up laws around the prohibition of cannabis. A mock party, reminding everyone of the ridiculousness and absurdity of politics and politicians.

Creating this advertisement for a pretend political party was a lot of fun. I managed to source a lot of funny photos off the Internet that would help me communicate my laid back humorous message. A Youtube video featuring Auckland graffiti artists askewone and berst1 painting a truck in Onehunga, along with its new school hip-hop track by Sisi aligned well with my imaginary political parties creative agenda. I also focused on my text in this advertisement and made the fonts interesting and eye-catching. I wanted my advertisement to be interesting for people to watch, in contrast to actual political advertisements one sees on TV which are typically simple, dry and boring to watch. For example, the recent Labour ad called “Let’s do this” featuring Labour leader Jacinda Ardern comes to mind. 

In conclusion, I believe I have achieved and actualized my original goal, which was to create a mockery of New Zealand politics as well as a somewhat humorous advertisement for a pretend political party. Through the use of text and sourced photos and videos off the internet, and the manipulation of these photos, videos and text in After Effects 2017 this goal has been achieved.  

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“Through The Looking Glass” [Version 1]

This is a version of my original opening sequence titled “Through The Looking Glass”. I have improved the quality of my sequence and made it more interesting to view. Subtle and noticeable changes and improvements have been made, such as the font at the start of the sequence, in this case, the letter t. I have changed the font of this particular letter to better match the font of the other letters that follow in the sequence. I have also re-cut the eyes that appear in the o’s with more detail and precision, so as to resemble the outline and shape of natural human eyes more closely. I have also added new layers in this sequence, one of these is the multiple distorted eyes that appear to stretch backwards in a vortex kind of spiral. You can see this layer as the multiple distorted eyes gradually fade in from [2.00 (s)] to full opacity at around [6.00 (s)] before rapidly fading out. I have also used this layer again at the end of this sequence. This time however, I have used a black and white shot of me holding a camera while zooming into a transition of these multiple distorted eyes. The layer of me holding the camera appears to slowly burn like a page into these eyes. These eyes then blend with the Anima Magica VR layer, and gradually fade into black. This new layer of eyes has also given this version more depth of field, which has subsequently created the feeling of being in more of a 3D space within the sequence. I have also put in four successive rapid camera zoom shots between the large O’s [len’s rings], and have mixed in the audio of these zoom shots with the soundscape. The pacing of my sequence in this version has also stayed the same as the original, as the soundscape has not changed.

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“Through The Looking Glass” [Original version]

This is my original opening sequence for a 300 level university video production paper. “Through the looking glass” was the phrase and theme given to my class by our lecturer for this project. It was up to each individual class member to interpret this combination of words however they wanted, in this instance through the medium of a short opening sequence imagined for a hypothetical movie. My unique interpretation of the phrase “Through the looking glass” in this opening sequence is the camera lens and human eyes. I have focused a lot on text in my sequence, as this seems to be an important and significant factor in the opening sequences I have watched and referred to for this project. Through adding effects particularly twirls to certain letters of each word to create circular shapes and spirals, this is intended to resemble circular camera lenses. I have also used recorded moving images of my eyes at the start of the opening sequence cut out using masking in After Effects 2017. The eyes appear in two ‘o’ letters of ‘through’ which are meant to look like o rings used in camera lenses or binoculars. These ‘o’s’ gradually expand to full height and width to resemble binocular looking lenses. The eyes in these letters also expand in size before fading out. I have also incorporated a 360 VR video and soundscape into my sequence called ‘Anima Magica” created by an artist called Simon Haiduk. Unfortunately the 360 degree capability isn’t enabled in my sequence, as this was lost during conversion. This VR video also has a lot of colour and an atmospheric ethereal soundscape that blends in well as an extra layer in my sequence. The pacing of my opening sequence is also fast-paced which matches the tempo of this soundtrack.

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Some inspiration and something along the lines of what I might want to do for my opening title sequence in terms of style and effect.

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Inspiration and education!!

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Audiences and the Creative Industries

It appears like the word ‘audience’ in respect to the creative industries, and what the word means has changed or been re-defined in recent times. Audiences have for too long been thought of as passive recipients, by people making or performing art. But this is changing due to new arts marketing strategies been implemented by the arts organisations in the creative industries. Audiences are now able to participate and interact much more easily with art in the creative industries.  Whether it be art galleries displaying people’s artwork, or the performing arts, audiences are now been considered as a group of people to be actively engaged with and asked to participate in a kind of two way street, where feedback or even criticism by the audience can be given to help improve the quality and level of the art been produced. Audiences are no longer just looked down on as passive consumers with no way of contributing to the creation of art, but with a lot more respect and more on a level playing field. The distant gap that has existed for so long between art organisations and their audiences has been closed, through clever marketing strategies that engage audiences and take them in to greater consideration. This is very intelligent and forward thinking, and will help keep the arts and it’s economy alive and vibrant.

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Creative Incubators

I can see myself possibly benefiting from an incubator in the future. It strikes me as a great idea for creative people out there, and I’ll put myself in that category of creatives. Creative people who have a creative idea and business plan to make the creative idea work and make money. Although I think these incubators are great ideas, they seem to detract from the pure creative spirit with their money focus. I believe a truly creative person makes art because they love making art, it is their calling and passion, what they were born to do and they will do it even if they don’t make a cent off of it. A truly creative person does their art because they don’t know what else to do, it’s who they are as person whether there’s any profit in it or not.

However I can see the value in these incubators from the point of view of making money as an artist, someone who does not just want to create as a hobby but as a way of life. I mean someone who can survive and support themselves off their art, without having to work at Mcdonald’s during the week to support themselves, and then do what they love in the weekend. Personally the Soda incubator we have here in Hamilton seems more like a business than a truly creative venture. I would only approach them for funding if I had an original creative idea and a solid plan. I want my own street-wear clothing label, maybe I should go and hit them up for funding??

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The Brand called ‘You’!

I can see my creative ideas and potential future projects benefiting from marketing myself. Personally I hate the idea of marketing myself or to use the rinsed cliche  “selling myself’ but I can see it’s value in making a buck or two off my creative projects. The other day I was at a cafe in town and I saw a woman who just happened to be a photographer selling her work. Photographs layed on the top of canvas which looked like oil paintings. I was impressed with her work and this is something I would like to do in the future. I would come up with my own personal brand for my photography business, and a marketing strategy to ensure I sell my works of art. I am also interested in starting up a clothing brand and screen printing my original designs onto my clothing line. I would try and get some funding through Kickstarter for this project. 

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Creative Networking

Creative networking is very important, as the old saying goes “it’s not what you know but who you know”. I could have all the Media Arts degrees in the world and still struggle to find work in the Creative Industries if I don’t know anyone. So at the end of the day, if you want to make a break into the Creative Industry, you really have to get your name out there circulating in creative circles. Whether it be face to face with contacts you know, or online with people you don’t know, either way is equally useful in making connections and contact with other creative people who are successful at what you aspire to do creatively. Whether that be music, painting, photography, film, or writing you have to network with like-minded successful people who are already where you yourself would like to be in the future. People who have paved the way already and can show you the way. Networking is also useful to get exposure and let people out there see your work.

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Dang I’d be running too, I’m an Arachnophobe from way back!!

Corgi Vs. Tarantula

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The Creative City 

After deciphering Hamilton’s Creativity City Strategy gibberish I am impressed with it’s vision of attempting to make Hamilton a more creative city. I am from Wellington which is considered by many to be the ‘culture and creative capital’ of New Zealand. Hamilton will never be Wellington, but this strategy is a good initiative and plan to increase creativity in the city and help bring it into the 21st century. However I think it is trying too hard to make something out of a city that has neither the population or the economy to make it a reality, and because of this I can’t see myself sticking around. Melbourne would be a city I would want to go to in the future as it is a lot like Wellington in the sense of been a cultural and creative city.

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The 'Creative Class'

I had never heard of the idea that there is a 'creative class' in society, until taking this paper called Creative Practices 200 at Waikato University this year where I was introduced to the idea. I have always thought of myself as a creative person, and known since I was a kid that certain people are more talented when it comes to certain art forms such as drawing or music. I was especially good at drawing when I was a kid at primary school and also musically inclined. However I had never heard of the idea that there is a so called 'creative class' in society until my second year of University. I take this idea as some form of confirmation of my childhood observations that certain people are more creative and gifted when it comes to the arts. I see myself as a creative person, so I guess I would also put myself into this category called 'creative class', even though it does sound a little bit elitist to my ears.

It was disappointing reading the start of page 6 of the UNESCO report, that many "governments still remain unconvinced of the importance of prioritising this sector and creative industries still do not rank high in the competition for public funds within government budgets". I believe more governments around the world need to wake up and start to recognize that creative people play a vital part in contributing to the local economy. I know here in New Zealand when Helen Clark was Prime Minister, she saw the importance and significance in supporting the creative industries with public funding as they are important to our economy and cultural heritage as a nation.