In our BCM313 interview presentation, we were asked to interview someone about their career journey. My big sister, Officer Ambarose Carter was my first choice. Amba is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) officer who is extremely hard-working and driven. It was clear to me that these qualities would shine through in her interview. Please click the link below to watch the entire interview.

As Amba’s sister, I already knew a little bit about her career journey, values, and core goals, although not as much as I thought, which made it 100x more interesting to follow Amba’s journey. Once I had locked in my focus on the concept of ‘re-membering’, I found that the process of preparing for my interview was relatively easy thanks to the strong elationship/friendship we shared. As part of my preparation, I reflected on the paper by Russell and Carey (2002), Re-membering, as well as our weekly lecture content, which provided insight into the concept of re-membering. As well as the notion of ‘club of life’, an idea that further expanded the depth of my interview with Amba.

It was during this conversation that Amba shared stories about her professional career journey, and as someone who (unexpectedly) hasn’t heard her full professional story, I was able to see how her club of life and the re-membering practices have both influenced and guided her journey during her professional career. Throughout the conversation, I noticed a strong connection to the concept of re-membering. 

My choice to conduct an informal interview allowed me to hear Amba’s values easily since she took the lead in the conversation. Upon reflection, Amba explains that when it comes to determining who she is today and where she finds herself within the professional world of work, it has been a combination of formal education, life experiences, and taking risks as well as her club of life. 

Amba’s diverse background helped me delve into her future aspirations. Asking her “what are your future aspirations?” got her to think about what these goals are, how she can achieve these goals, and whether or not these are just distant thoughts or reality. It was interesting to find out these answers about her hopes to become a PCO in Washington – especially since I’ve been her sister for my whole life and have never once heard her mention this 😆- but it was inspiring to be able to listen to her conversation about her future endeavors. These future aspirations, once again, linked back to her club of life, which is our dad. Amba proceed to talk highly about our dad and how “hard work and determination” got him into the successful job he’s in today. Of course, because this is my family too, I was really able to understand, connect and reflect on the core values my dad, Amba, and myself share. I found this extremely heartwarming and not surprising. 

As a result, I believe that using the concepts of re-membering and club of life in the interview allowed the interview to be both insightful and detailed. Amba engaged in this process as a way to take a step back and reflect upon her journey and also an individual that contributed in a positive way to it. Additionally, I was able to gain a better understanding of how to conduct a narrative interview with an individual, and how the interview process could provide me with insights that I had not anticipated at the time, which allowed me to develop a better understanding of this Amba’s personal experience.

REFERENCES

Russell, S & Carey, M 2002, Re-membering: responding to commonly asked questions, The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, viewed 25 October 2022, http://narrativepractices.com.au/attach/pdf/Remembering_Common_Questions.pdf

During our week 5 lecture, we were invited to listen to the conversation between guest speaker Elle Petrou’s and BCM313 head lecturer Kate Bowls about Elle’s experience working in her chosen career. Of all the key concepts that stood out to me within the seminar and throughout our week 5 content, the talk and connection of emotional labour, as well as the ‘club of life’. This is because these are 2 terms I have never come across before. 

What is Emotional Labour? 

Emotional labour is emotion work (the managing of human feelings) done for compensation and as a condition of employment. Sociologist Airlie Hochschild developed the term in 1983 in her book “The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling”.  She defines emotional labour as “the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display sold for a wage” (Hochschild, 2012). As employees, emotional labour is ultimately how we invest in managing our own emotions and those of others, particularly in the way individuals manage both their inner and outward feelings. Hochschild’s term is something I had never recognised as the foundation of a concept prior to BCM313, yet the basis of the idea is something that I execute within my employment as a healthcare worker. 

As a guest speaker, Elle Petrou was extremely interesting to listen to. Due to the fact that the project itself is pretty confidential, Elle instead shared her career experiences working for UOW as well as the theoretical concept that she is using to justify her current project. During the discussion, she explained that she was working on a project that would have a great impact on the organisation and that she was trying to narrow down and understand why this particular decision had been made. As part of  Elle’s job, she has to understand and analyse individuals’ ideas and decisions and articulate carefully her thoughts on the situation. In her example, she explained that she believed these certain individuals were about to make the wrong decision for the organisation. This connects us to emotional labour, as Elle has to manage her emotions, language, and bodily display in positions like this when listening and communicating her view on opposing ideas. As an employee, she performs unpaid emotional labour to maintain professionalism and respect at work. In order for Elle to be able to generate support for her views, she needs to be able to control her emotions effectively.

What is the Club of Life? 

The concept of one’s club of life was another important takeaway from Elle and Kate’s conversation. Club of life as defined by Kate is the silent support around us; “the closest people who have supported you”. The phrase re-membering is strongly related to this notion, and Kate emphasises that the hyphen is extremely deliberate. By re-membering, we are bringing closer the individuals in our support network – our club of life. By listening to Elle and interacting with her experience, Kate helped Elle investigate the key players in her club of life. The conversation began with Kates’s question to Elle “who is it that knows this about you? Who would be looking and saying I would absolutely expect Elle to act in this way?” In response, she reflected on how she portrays herself differently among friends, family, and colleagues. She mentioned that her friends would never have to see the side of her that is “…bit more aggressive” in crisis situations. When Elle reflects on her childhood, she reveals that her father thought she would become a lawyer since she was always ready for an opposing argument and was always the first to stand up for injustices. She recounts a period in her life outside of her present experience, and by re-membering that period, she is able to continue improving her present circumstances, while at the same time establishing ties with her father, her club of life.

Narrative CV

References

Bowles, K 2022, ‘Week 5 workshop recording’ Online Meeting Zoom, BCM313, The University of Wollongong

Hochschild, A.R. (2012) The managed heart, University of California Press. Available at: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520272941/the-managed-heart (Accessed: September 29, 2022).

Riley, R. and Weiss, M.C. (2015) A qualitative thematic review: Emotional labour … – wiley online library, JAN. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jan.12738 (Accessed: September 29, 2022).

Responsibilities piling up, competing demands, lack of time. These are all words that send a cold shiver down my spine. 

The importance of having a work-life balance has grown in recent years, especially for students trying to combine full-time studies with part-time employment. For many people, finding a balance is hard and complicated when you’re studying, working, or just generally living life. The average student wears a lot of hats: partner, worker, friend, classmate, etc. It is common for these roles to conflict, and students need to be capable of balancing a variety of factors and prioritising them (Karambelas, 2022). 

A mind and body that are put under increasing pressure to acquire good grades, to obtain enough income to live on, and maintain good relationships with family and friends may result in quite the opposite outcome.

Balancing university studies, long working days, as well as finding my way through life and learning more about myself is a challenge I was always expecting but am never ready for. Over the last 3 years, I have gained a better understanding of how important it is for me to adjust to different roles and set priorities based on a specific period of time – even if it means setting a certain goal for the week ahead. I currently manage a fast-paced, short-staffed and stressful dental clinic, which I eagerly jumped into straight out of high school. My roles during my 11-hour working days at the dental clinic include:

• Assisting the dentists in procedures and surgeries
• Receptionist duties
• Sterilisation duties + cleaning procedures 
• Managing stock
• Customer service duties 

And these roles are almost always performed within the same shift by the same person due to being understaffed. On top of this, I am responsible for training all the new employees, and after training six people (who end up leaving after one month), you tend to get a little frustrated at the time and effort that is involved. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has furthered work-related stress to new heights (Shi, 2022). Due to the current COVID-19 regulations for a positive case being at home in isolation for 7-10 days, work life has become increasingly chaotic for employees. 

Just recently, a fellow colleague who works full time became a positive case, meaning we were down to 2 employees and 2 dentists for the week. This meant I had to pick up some of her shifts to make up for the loss of woman-power. In order to pick up these shifts, I had to sacrifice my university lectures, classes, and study time. Rather than my usual balance between work, university, and a social life that allows me to achieve all three within the same amount of time, this had a domino effect on my family life, as I had to prioritize university assignments over family. 

I realise that COVID-19 is an inevitable event and there’s nothing that anyone can do. All they could do was follow the rules and stay home, and although this set me back a lot physically and mentally, I was more concerned with my colleagues’ health and whether or not they were okay. Although I do not know this particular colleague very well, their positive influence on my day-to-day life adds to all my good experiences at work. 

Using the Absent but Implicit framework by Michael Whites, we can begin to understand the principle that one should consider other perspectives in response to an expressed viewpoint or a difficult situation (Carey & Walther 2017). People can change their viewpoints and their perceptions of life if they recognise the lessons they can learn from unfortunate events. During our workshop in week 4, we discussed negative events that occurred at work and how they affected us. Our discussion then focused on the valuable lessons we had learned from the event and how we might approach similar situations differently in the future. Since I was examining a bad experience to a positive perspective, I was able to deliberately consider the concept of absent but implicit. 

Some positives I was able to draw from this experience is that I am grateful to have a high level of education, as some people don’t get this opportunity to continue studying. The Absent but implicit framework also made me realise that I am grateful to even have a job following the pandemic, as well as living in a society where I can be concerned for my friends’ health regarding contracting COVID-19 but not overly worried as I know we have a great healthcare system to call out to.

Ultimately, even though there are setbacks, I am grateful that I am able to balance my work, school, and social life in a way that works for me and will cherish the experiences and people I meet along the way.

References:

Carey, M, & Walther, S 2017, ‘The absent but implicit: a map to support therapeutic enquiry’, National Library of Medicine, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19702920/

Karambelas, T., 2022. School-Life Balance | Johns Hopkins Student Assistance Program. [online] Jhsap.org. Available at: <https://jhsap.org/self_help_resources/school-life_balance/&gt; [Accessed 29 August 2022].
Shi, L., 2022. The Impact of COVID-19-Related Work Stress on the Mental Health of Primary Healthcare Workers: The Mediating Effects of Social Support and Resilience. [online] Frontiers. Available at: <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.800183/full&gt; [Accessed 28 August 2022].

I will discuss my finished final project in this blog post, how it got to where it is now and how I got there. 

Project outcomes 

As the most important aspect of my Major project, my goal was to present a composition that pays tribute to Aladdin’s characteristics as well as convey aspects of motion design. Keeping the cartoon style seemed to match what I was creating well. In the composition, I purposefully used silhouette elements from Aladdin, such as the lamp, camel, and carpet, to assist in creating a sense of mystery about the movie and what may be portrayed in it. 

Critical moments

A major influence on my composition came from the song Arabian Nights, which is sung by Will Smith. This not only added entertainment to the video, but it was also the anchor point for all my elements, as well as the obvious ways in which they should be presented and how they should connect together. 

Krasner states that motion design has “the ability to deconstruct a movement and reassemble it in a new or convincing way.”  In the development of motion design, such a comment was seen as crucial. Through this project, I discovered an entirely new approach to designing and expanding my creative capabilities. As we have seen in my previous blog posts 2 and 3 at the start of the semester, in which I claimed that Adobe After Effects would be the end of me, I can now reverse that claim since I have realised how many ideas and concepts it is capable of developing and realising. 

For example, I developed aspects within my project that were concepts from Disney’s 12 principles, including timing. Within this certain section of the composition, the moon and sun leave and arrive simultaneously, whilst the background changes between 3 different shades of the same picture to give off the effect of a sunrise. 

From my last project, the use of colour coding and labelling the layers was an important learning point that I have since applied to my current task. I considered this to be vital since there were a number of layers layered on top of one another in one frame, making it impossible to determine which layer was for what when changing either the scale or position of the image. 

In design communication, a lot of design elements like hierarchy, placement, and the correct typography are all interconnected. With what I’ve learned from this project, I will be able to apply my knowledge and skills in future visual and motion design contexts. 

References:

1. Krasner, J 2008, Motion Graphic Design, viewed 13 March 2022, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uow/reader.action?docID=404820&ppg=149
2. Youtube.com. 2019. Will Smith – Arabian Nights. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9GmO_WFhjQ&gt; [Accessed 15 June 2022].

I continue to explain and delve deeper into the development of my major project in the following blog post, which follows on from blog post 4.

The only improvements I have made since writing my last blog has been that I scrapped my first opening sequence completely and started over from scratch. I did this because i just didn’t like how it looked and i felt like it gave a ‘PowerPoint presentation’ vibe – and it was just not it. Therefore, I decided that less was more. There was no need to have a random stream of activities going on at once, but rather to have a few things that compliment each other in the way that they moved and were animated together. In this way, I was able to understand how motion literacy, such as spatial consideration and sequence, has a more effective way of helping communicate what I am trying to convey. 

The task of finding a background that was of both high quality and suitable for my composition proved to be extremely challenging for me. While I began with a sandstone background that I felt would be appropriate for the Arabian desert in which Aladdin takes place, as time passed, I felt like it was out of character with the rest of my cartoon-themed design. In order to make it a match for the cartoon style, I chose a purple night sky and image traced it within Adobe Illustrator to a ‘low fidelity photo’. The cartoon style was chosen based on the fact that the first Aladdin movie produced in 1992 was animated in this way. However, you will see that I have used the names of the actors who play the lead roles in the remake live-action film, together with the song ‘Arabian Nights’ sung by Will Smith in the same movie.

Keyframing scale allows the opening scene to begin with a black vector that gradually zooms away to reveal the background and what the vector was. YouTube tutorials were an essential tool for me to be able to grasp how to adapt some effects to some images so that they could look more realistic and 3D. By incorporating these transitions I was able to add a few interesting transitions that correlated to the movie, such as adding a ‘light sweep’ on the lamp at the beginning of the composition. This particular effect helped add depth to a 2D black silhouette image of the lamp as well as create a subtle nod to the characteristics of the lamp within the movie.

The concept for my major project in VCD302 will revolve around an opening credit sequence for Aladdin. The area of exploration and investigation within my design project will be 2D animation that consists of:

• Type 
• Scale
• Rhythm
• Rotation
• Positioning

All these points will be very much prominent and easily recognisable within the composition. The type will come up often as it involves the actor’s names of Aladdin. The rhythm will also be a huge player within my project as id like the song and the animation to compliment each other on the beat as well as related the effects to the words. Also coupled with a secondary motion to aid in making the composition seem more natural, rather than a slideshow. Disney’s 12 animation principles were definitely at the centre point of my project. These principles were learnt at the very start of the semester and since then have become a more comfortable form for the basis of my animation work. Having begun this task, you can see I have a bit more experience; now I’m looking forward to seeing where my project is in a few weeks. In my project, I will employ a lot of moving shapes, images, and types, which is where Disney principles will come into play. 

The form of my project will involve a narrative opening credit sequence. This will involve ideas taken from the Aladdin movie itself and placed within the animation without spoiling or overdoing the plot of the movie. 

Throughout the project, a number of different production techniques will be employed, including a number of specific After Effects techniques, such as wind effects on the letter types and sand effects. As a result, the composition will have a more authentic Arabian desert feel to it which pays homage to the movie.

During the last year of VCD, we learned a lot about type. My sequence will take advantage of this knowledge to create an aesthetic flow that will be carried out at various points throughout the motion design. Although I am not completely satisfied with the opening typeface of my project, I am prioritizing the animation elements over the aesthetic aspect at the moment. The decision will have to be made later down the track and will be incorporated into the sequence.

Project Outcomes

For my project, I kept it minimal and simplistic. My project began with a simple falling eclipse ball that fell into the middle of the screen. This ball has a smaller eclipse ball on the upper right side to help create the effect of the ball rotating and moving like a wheel. This ball continues on through different frames as if it were travelling through a game. I created it this way to help produce a sense of storytelling within motion graphics. The eclipse shapes colour inverts to that of the background colour throughout the sequence. The movement of the rotation of the ball was achieved by understanding the principles of keyframes in potation and positioning. 

Critical moments

During my development, I tried to implement the effect of ‘radio waves’ within my design but I felt it seemed out of place and it didn’t flow correctly. 

My design used rotation extensively as I grasped the concept quite early and found that it helped tell a story with the motion graphics. To create a fluorescent star explosion once the ball crashes off the screen, I purposefully designed the first half of my design in black and white. Another design aspect utilised in my sequence was the design fundamental of Trim paths. As the sequence progressed, I found trim paths to be very useful for maintaining the flow between graphics and ultimately returning to the small white eclipse ball at the beginning of the sequence.

Analysis

Krasner describes motion design as “The ability to deconstruct a movement and reassemble it in a new or convincing way”. Such a statement was considered pivotal toward the evolution of motion design. As a result of this task, I have developed a completely new way of designing and have widened my horizons in the creative field. Considering my last blog post explaining that Adobe After Effects would be the total death of me, I now may retract that statement as I do understand the great ideas and designs it has the power of bringing to life. 

Adobe after effects has been completely and utterly the death of me – To put it bluntly. 

The adaptation to this new software has been very overwhelming and extremely frustrating. Since I have never used Adobe After Effects before, and after a number of setbacks during the first couple of weeks of university – in particular with this subject – it has been exceedingly hard to catch up with the rest of my cohort. Though in saying all of this, I have seen some of the magnificent work that can be created with Adobe after effects and all you need is a little patience, the willingness to learn and a lot of time.

DEFINE:

My creative approach began with learning what After Effects is, what it can accomplish, and what we had to do for this assessment task. During the introductory lectures, it became clear that there is a multitude of things that may be done with After Effects, such as complex title sequences. The software is used to create special effects, animation, and motion graphics.

RESEARCH:

My first step in learning about Adbode after-effects was to watch YouTube videos and follow Linked In tutorials. This helped me grasp an understanding of how to begin a composition and the basics of anchor points. The motions of form sizing and scaling, opacity, rotation, and the movement between keyframes were visually amusing to me, and thus generated some sense of inspiration throughout my design. 

IDEATE:

This stage of experimenting with different compositions through the help of youtube videos helps spark inspiration for what I may compose for my assessment task. Experimenting with radiowaves and shapes helped me realise I was making slow but efficient progress. By playing around with position and timing, I gained an interest in creating a composition of what looked like lasers. 

PROTOTYPE:

Playing around with the colour, direction, timing, and direction of these ‘laser’ lines took a bit of time. Through this, I was able to regain my confidence in learning new skills and coming up with fresh concepts for my next composition. 

SELECT:

Through composing these different compositions I was able to pick what movement and shapes I wanted to include in my assessment task. 

IMPLEMENT: 

During this design process, I was able to apply motion fundamentals like sequencing to help select actions in a way that helps create content, that will be clear and memorable for the viewers. 

LEARN:

Several lessons were acquired during the design process that influenced how I produced my motion design. I became aware of how difficult After Effects is to use, as well as how intricate and finicky the application is. I struggled to grasp motions, keyframes, and the moving process, but throughout the course of seven weeks, I improved my skills. I failed a number of designs and composition attempts, but it made me conscious of the abilities I lacked and forced me to focus on areas I didn’t understand and strive to solve problems. My job is progressing well as I continue to comprehend the notion of After Effects. It is all about gradually modifying and iterating concepts to build a unified project! I’m looking forward to seeing where my thoughts come to life in my project.

“ As a powerful storytelling device, motion can be choreographed to communicate information, convey emotions, and express pure aesthetic beauty.” – Jon Krasner 

Krasner’s quote can be expressed as the idea that motion design can convey and deliver the most engaging and profound ideas even with the most ordinary shapes and graphics. 

–

Motion design is predominately utilised to portray and set the scene. Primary motion, secondary motion and temporal considerations are methods utilised to efficiently announce the opening ambience of the film.

Stranger Things (2016), Altered States (1980), and The Deadzone (1983) each have highly comparable opening typographic sequences. Considering the similarities between these three title sequences, we can see how they were influenced by prior methods and the aesthetics of the time period in which they were created. 

‘Stranger Things,’ a Netflix original series, is full of subtle references and not-so-subtle parodies to some of the most renowned films of the 1980s. The Tv series is a classic example of motion design, notably its entrance scene. Many of the visuals and typography were significantly influenced by Richard Greenberg’s motion design, the particularly Altered States and The Dead Zone.  Echoing the tone and form of both opening sequences for genre classics Altered States and The Dead Zone, Stranger Things delivers a “shot of pure nostalgia”. The typeface ‘Benguiat’ chosen by Michelle Dougherty for this opening scene is also a nod to Stephen King’s ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ series from the early 1980s. Michelle Dougherty employs a blend of mostly primary motion to enhance the film’s realism. Dougherty and her design team developed the opening scene to have an ominous and spooky sense that corresponds brilliantly with the series. This is evident through the use of “Large, hollow type drifts through a void, slowly assembling, its glowing red edges cutting through the darkness as smaller credits fade in and out.” This technique produces an apocalyptic mood, which can also be observed in Richard Greenberg’s title sequences, Altered States and The Dead Zone. Dougherty explains within her interview that her inspiration for the bold hidden lettering came from deep research of 1980s film techniques. 

Watch this youtube video to delve further into understanding how Michelle Dougherty brought the Stranger Things title sequence to life. 

Although the jittery title sequence can be found in all of the titles, the usage of primary motion is more prominent in the Stranger Things title. The lettering on the screen continues to form, following a linear route in multiple directions. 

Altered States opens with an unnerving sight of a man in a tank, accompanied by disturbing music. The camera’s secondary motion is fixed, while the man’s primary motion is making little, panicked jerks. The lettering’s primary motion then begins to span the screen from side to side. The letters are wide and occupy the screen with low opacity, allowing you to see the man through the san serif typeface. 

The Dead Zone’s final viewing is comparable to Altered States in that fragmented text is put on top of a film frame. In this scenario, the black shards start out as little, unidentified forms. As the backdrop scene changes, more forms gradually appear, building on the negative space to reveal the film’s title at the conclusion. The Helvetica letters are then zoomed out to accentuate the title. This idea of a zoom motion within both title sequences – Dead Zone and Altered States – helps engage the audience in the sequence. Toward the end of the title sequences, this secondary motion exposes the whole logotype.
The temporal discrepancy between the title sequences of Dead Zone and Stranger Things is significant. Because the title sequence in Dead Zone is nearly 3 minutes long, Michelle Dougherty adds that when the team began developing the Stranger Things sequence, 45 seconds was deemed a “sweet spot” (Landekic & Perkins, 2016). Both of the opposing scenes have a feeling of fear, but Dead Zone has a stronger sense of fear.