Integrated Media One
Major Project ESSAY
“A K-film is not very good at making stories with clear direction (what
Barthes’ would describe as a ‘work’) but is ideal for making videos that
make visible Barthes’ idea of ‘text’.
Our Korsakow film is titled ‘Autumn Sky’. It is an experimental work that
captures the concept of ‘the sky’. While the sky is always above us, sometimes we
rarely “notice” it. This project allowed us to take time out of our everyday lives to
observe the sky’s colours, light changes and cloud patterns. Our attention to
these details is reflected in our final project. In creating our Korsakow film, we
did not plan, script write or storyboard, instead we let our film develop naturally.
Our Korsakow film does not have a deliberate narrative or structure. It does not
have a specific genre, beginning or ending. In many ways our Korsakow film is a
piece of art just waiting to be analyzed. It deliberately places the audience in an
active position to make their own interpretations about the film’s true meaning.
‘Autumn Sky’ evokes feelings and thoughts that may differ depending on the
individual. The program Korsakow itself makes it difficult for users to create
stories with a clear narrative. That is not the software’s function. To explain our
Korsakow film and its purpose in further detail, we can draw upon theories from
Roland Barthes.
Roland Barthes is a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic
and semotician of the 20th Century. In Image Music Text (1977), Barthes explains
the distinction between traditional “work” and “the text”. These theories are
complex and yet very insightful when it comes to understanding all forms of
media today. He argues that “works” are linear in structure. They are fixed,
ordered and logical: “the work is caught up in a process of filiation” (p.160).
“Works” are like stories with a clear direction, narrative and closure. Barthes
also argues “the work is normally the object of consumption.”(p.161). The author
has complete control over the narrative of the “work” and therefore the reader is
rendered as passive. Alternative to this, “texts” are not restricted by genre,
hierarchy, linearity or author control. In fact the reader is actively engaged in the
production of the text: “the text is only experienced in an activity of production”
(p.157). Barthes explains that the text is “radically symbolic” (p.159) and does
not have a definite definable meaning. In fact, it is “plural” (p.159) and is
affiliated with many meanings: “the Text is that social space which leaves no
language safe, outside nor any subject of the enunciation in position as a judge,
master, analyst, confessor, decoder.” (p.164).
In his work, Barthes analyses texts further by making the differentiation
between “readerly” and “writerly” texts. He argues that “readerly” texts have
predetermined meaning and therefore comply with traditional literary rules of
style and content. They are texts that do not require the reader to create their
own interpretation. The reader can passively locate “ready-made” meaning. In
contrast, “writerly” texts are not chronicle, hold many meanings and place the
reader as ‘active’. The reader’s position is no longer that of a consumer but a
producer of the text. Barthes’ theories and analyses of texts can be applied to
various culture forms. In particular, his theories can assist us with analyzing the
program Korsakow and our own Korsakow films.
Korsakow is an open source program that enables users to make browserbased films. Invented by Berlin media artist, Florian Thalhofer, the software can
be used to create documentary, experimental and narrative works. It is a multibased linear program that means it is interactive and allows users to develop
their own paths. As Korsakow films are generative, the viewer influences the
order the films are seen. Ultimately, the entire program is based on creating
meaning through relationships. It encourages the audience to foster their own
assumptions. Each film could be classified as a “unit” or a single entity that holds
meaning when viewed alone, however when a film is deliberately “linked” to
another, its significance is defined by this connection. In accordance with
Barthes’ theories, it is clear a Korsakow film could be classified as a “text” as it is
interactive in form and requires its viewers to be active in the creation of
meaning. His theories are also relevant to our understanding of our roles as
Korsakow film producers. When creating our Korsakow film, we didn’t follow
conventional film tactics of script writing, storyboarding, shooting and editing.
Instead the process of making our Korsakow film was much more organic. The
meaning of the project was discovered while the project was being made and is
completely open to interpretation from our audience.
We chose ‘Autumn Sky’ as our title and it is literally what our film is about.
The title is not vague or metaphorical. It is straightforward and it precisely tells
viewers what to expect from the film. We chose a title like this because it works
with our aim of being simple. We shot videos of autumn skies during different
times of the day and weather. Because our videos were shot using different
applications, they were in two different sizes. Two interfaces were designed to
accommodate the different sizes of videos. We only used two keywords, “square”
and “rectangle” to categorise the videos. We thought that turned out well in the
film because we tackled the problem of having the videos in two different sizes.
The first interface displays a rectangular-sized video and square-sized video
thumbnails surround it. The second interface displays a square-sized video and
rectangular-sized thumbnails surround it. We chose a rather simple design
because we didn’t want viewers to be confused. We made the thumbnails static
to make sure that the focus is really just on one video.
A black background was used so that the different shades and colours of the
skies really stand out to capture attention. We think that having different shades
of thumbnails surrounding the main video creates a sort of montage of autumn
skies. Initially, we wanted to design interfaces to separate the videos based on
their shades. However, the outcome of having a mixture of colours of the sky on
the same page turned out well. We have a mixture of both moving and stagnant
videos. We decided not to standardise the movement in our videos because we
wanted each video to be unique and to create a different effect.
We didn’t use captions to go with our videos because we didn’t want any
distractions while each video is playing. Moreover, we thought captions would
not be suitable for our project, as they would imply a set narrative. This
ambiguity leaves more room for personal interpretation and allows more variety
of perceptions and conclusions to be formed.
We have chosen a calm and soothing soundtrack to play along with our
videos to trigger and evoke feelings of peace and serenity. We chose to play one
song on repeat throughout the film instead of different music for every video, so
that the viewer’s feelings can slowly build up into feelings of serenity and peace.
We thought that having different pieces of music tied with each video would
create a sense of messiness and disorder.
Our film deliberately has no narrative and we love the idea of having no
storyline. The videos of different weathers in autumn are meant to evoke a
feeling of calmness, serenity and peace rather than to tell a story. We feel that
having no narrative will allow viewers to form their own assumptions and
perceptions about what autumn skies mean to them. Therefore, following
Barthes’ theory, this film actively engages the viewer in the production of the
text.
We, as a team, are extremely happy with the initial idea of the film and the
final outcome of shooting and editing videos on Korsakow. We have successfully
shown how Melbourne skies in autumn, during different weathers, vary in shade,
colour and lighting. We have designed a simplistic arrangement against a black
background, which compliments the main video and thumbnails, as the grey and
blue shades stand out. We feel not using captions for the videos is a good idea
because we didn’t want to lead the viewers thoughts and interpretations
towards a certain direction. We want our audience to go on a personal journey
and to experience memories of what they deem comforting and soothing. This Kfilm ultimately aims to evoke feelings of peace and serenity and we feel that this
is achieved. When analysing our Korsakow film in relation to Barthes’ theories,
we can see how our Korsakow film is a good example of a “text”. It deliberately
has no narrative or formal structure and does not adhere to conventional literary
rules of “works”. It is therefore completely open to audience interpretation and
exploration. We hope you enjoy it.
References
Barthes, Roland. “From Work to Text.” Image–Music–Text. London: Flamingo,
1977. 155–64. Print.
“Barthes and Text :: Text and Work.” Web. 7 May 2013.
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/700_701_web/BarthesLO/text.html
“Introduction :: Introduction to Barthes’s Theories of the Text.” Web. 7 May
2013.
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/700_701_web/BarthesLO/intro.html
Miles, Adrian. “Annotated Reading – Readerly and Writerly.” Web. 7 May 2013.
http://vogmae.net.au/intmedia/2010/readings/annotatedreading-Readerl.html