Keun Kwon

Review of Rada Mcnally-Marochenkov’s post

 Rada’s post flawlessly shows the timeline and progression of the project she was given, She starts with what she is passionate about and describes why she has picked the certain project which rationalise her decision. What I was really interested in her introduction was that she tells us her background and how that influenced her work. Her introduction is sufficient to catch audiences’ eyes and invites us deeper into her world of work.

 Then she moves to what the project was like, giving rough layout of the project, what she experiences and what she thought. Her struggle in the middle was something I could related to and realisation of her surrounding was what I see as the most important experience during the pandemic time. We always look out for something big and major, like high fashion, models and star designers. However what we are living with is somewhat rather insignificant and small compared to the twinkling stars up on the sky. She turned her eyes towards ground and observed what this world surrounding us has to offer. 

 Her solution due to the pandemic situation we are in at the moment is realistic and an effort to get through difficulties she was experiencing at the moment. Her subject moves from neighbours to herself in the mirror — considering privacy and social responsibilities we are holding as creators. I think selecting herself as subject of photography was something challenging but also a great way to study herself in depth. We usually think we know ourselves more than anyone on the earth but I think sometimes it is not true. Some parts that consist our existence are still hidden even to ourselves. For sure, we would look into the mirror to figure out if we look all right but putting ideas and producing concepts that involves the reflection of ourselves in the mirror is another story.

 Overall, her post is well structured, showing clear timeline and progression which allows audiences to follow her journey easily and well thought development of her project was presented in the post. Her appreciation of her surroundings and realisation of the world she is living in is a pleasure to read through and consideration of her responsibility exemplifies what we need to be aware of.

Rapid changes in plan

 The objective of the project was to produce a trailer that could provoke and let people become aware of the current issues. I have picked water shortage and planned what I would film by making storyboard, Covid-19 was spreading all over the world and everything had to be canceled. We were moved from filming our own trailer to use footages and clips available online. It was a turning point where I had to make another plan. I’m sure that it was something made me work harder because of the time limit and speed up my progression — something I don’t experience much as I’d rather structure everything before I actually make something. I had my lesson this time on how to work quickly and how to get used to rapidly changing environment.

Step by step

 First step was to make a storyboard and think about what my trailer would look like. I had a rough plan and vision in my mind so it was not a problem. After that, second step, which is I think most important element in this project, was collecting appropriate footages. It was as if I was trying to find a needle hidden underneath sand on the beach. How can I possibly find something that looks exactly like what I have in mind? It meant that I had to compromise and pick the clips which are roughly similar. Searching by keyword made it easier — more comprehensive it is, more choices I have. 

Video editing and scary background music

 What I thought was that to make people aware of the fact, ominous music was essential. I have picked background beat from Billie Eilish’s song ‘Ilomilo’ and put that on repeat. As the song doesn’t have instrumental version, I have taken only small part of the beat at the very start of the song, which resulted hardcore work load afterward. Beat was short and it was slightly out of sync when I put it repeat so I had to edit without any relevant knowledge. I have recorded the exact time between each drum sound and edited carefully in terms of microscopic time. I never knew I had to do this and everything I encounter became challenge. But as soon as I learned how to do things, it became more smooth and easier. I think this is a miniature version of life.

Editing

 After watching several trailers, the best way to put clips together was to follow the beat when the clip changes. My rough guess is that we unconsciously are aware of the beat and feel uncomfortable when what we see doesn’t follow the music. I usually call those people who are obsessed with this idea ‘sensitivity pervert’. They look minor and insignificant but when things are put together, they look bigger than what I expected them to be. Paying more attention to detail enriches the quality of the contents. This actually applied to everything we do, I realised this time.

Hidden assumptions?

 Critical design introduced a notion of hidden assumption, which has always been there but not considered deeply and I was curious about what that could be. What I’ve been asked to think and solve was obvious problems that I would say they were rather ‘spoon-fed’ problems, smacked right on our faces. It was a challenge to come up with an idea — sustainability? People are aware of that fact. Global warming? All the news channels blabber about how polar bears are suffering at least once a week. I had to look around my surroundings and thought, ‘what about water shortage?’. I knew that it was not something new but I always thought that water can’t be there forever. Fresh water will disappear and lands will dry and that terrified me. It was rather weird that barely anyone noticed that water is the resource that could run out. It was the starting point for the project.

See the minority

It was about seeing the minority, looking into depth of micro world. What our world is built on is society of particles — we know that they exist but mostly don’t care and some even forget what they are. They are, of course, so small that nobody can see but they function and interact each other. This is the idea of hidden assumptions. If it’s there, there’s also a possibility that they can be changed. Once we realise its existence, potential is unlimited.

Against common sense

 Realising hidden assumptions and projecting them on real life is a start signal of my future adventure. It is about breaking what I believed without any doubt and challenging myself. Roses are not always red and violets could be yellow. Awakening from my own boundaries and transcending restricted ideas will expand my sight — a true critical thinking will set me free. This actually helped me to shape the outline of the remaining projects — not only better lives project, but also other project. I felt as if I was stuck somewhere middle of my own thoughts and it made a small crack, letting me consider things in other perspectives. What have I been taking without any question? How come is that? What made me believe those? My journey has just begun.

Irony within industry — power

 The first lecture, power by Julia Crew, presented an overview of the fashion industry and how imbalanced it is, creating gaps between genders. It is such an ironic situation that even though bigger part of fashion industry focuses on women consumers, owners of fashion companies were mostly men. Why would opposite gender produce products for the other? Is it possible for them to consider the factors that even women themselves don’t realise? 

 What this lecture suggested took my eyes from telescope where I could only look at a tree, such as ‘beautiful photographs’ and ‘pretty garments’ and showed me the forest of fashion industry. Then I realised what I produce is not just an editorial or a magazine cover — it is a symbol of current situation, a chance to tell the message and solve the imbalanced power. Understanding the role of myself in the fashion industry enlightened me on what I should do. Being more active in terms of the problems that fashion industry is facing and having my own perspective are the first step I would take to solve the imbalance. 

Working with others — collaboration

 Second lecture, Collaboration by Claire Swift, suggested me the new way of working. This lecture reminded me of how I worked in past 2 years. I have been working on school projects on my own but whenever I encountered a challenge of a problem, opinion and suggestion from others always helped me to find a way to solve the problem. For example, on the last project, I have struggled to settle on the idea I have chosen, which I though it is not working well at that time. Then a friend of mine suggested me a fresh new idea and it melted the shell of my own thinking. It was the point where I realised listening to others could be actually helpful and it is important to have a feedback. 

 Synergy is another kew word I have earned from this lecture. When different opinions are collected and selected, it builds a powerful synergy in creative process. This is something I should be looking forward in the future. I have always been afraid of sharing my work but this will change, considering benefits that synergy can bring. However I also have learned that negative synergy could happen — where members share only one stiff opinion. We are all individuals and those individuals form a group. We might function as a group but we are not the same. Keeping in mind the fact that we all can and should have different opinion will let the creativity bloom without locked in boundaries.