Welcome

Welcome to my "World of the Blog". Blogging is not really my cup of tea, but feel free to read and look at the pictures that follow. Media Studies and Visual Cultures 2008 consists of us students having to create an online masterpiece to show our IT, time management, composition and presentation skills and allows us to create work through another media for lecturers and potential employers.

The first piece of assessed work featured will be a Text in the City piece set for MSVC 101. This is followed by my own Curriculum Vitae and a passage on what thoughts and feelings I had regarding coming to UWIC to study this course. The work will continue throughout the BA(Hons) degree until 2011, by which time it will hopefully be on par with what a 12 year-old kid can do. Fortunately, it is only assessed for the first year, however expect a lot more content over the following two years - whether it be MSVC 103's Glossary of Terms, various film reviews, outside experiences and copies of assessments and essays.

Enjoy...

'Text and the City' - [MSVC 101]

For this portion of the assignment, I was required to take photographs of written texts that I found on buildings in Cardiff, and introduce them to my blog. The following aspects had to be considered: the typeface of the text, colour, language used, the meaning conveyed, the way it is positioned on the building and where the main building is situated.
Shada, Anneka, Helena and I took three photographs of texts that we found on buildings that we believed captured the essence of the City of Cardiff. The following piece shows the three featured images, along with a narrative account of why we thought they were representative of the City.

Text and the City Images & Commentary

This photograph of a red pillar box was taken on St.Mary's Street in Cardiff. Not as old as the Penny Black, the British Pillar Box is better known as the Post Box. There are 115,000 in Britain and some are over 150 years old. Having been owned by the General Post Office, the Royal Mail and now Cosignia, they accept 20billion pieces of mail each year, including 2million Christmas cards each festive period. Found in cities, towns and villages throughout the British Isles, some stand erect on street corners, like the one we photographed, with some found attached to telegraph poles or built into exterior walls of country post offices.

The stand-alone post box (Fig 1.0) featured was chosen due to the unique graffiti on the back side. The specific point of the task was to photograph written text - graffiti may not be compulsory on this prop, but its individuality compared to the rest of the post-boxes in Cardiff makes it stand out. Not everybody likes graffiti and some do not even call it 'art'. However, even though we cannot work out what the words say, it is individual to a person or group and as a whole may represent the youth culture of the City.
All British pillar boxes are red, and represent an older time of society. The silver spray paint used here makes the writing stand out on the background, and even though unclear as to the content, anyone who looks on is bound to have an opinion on whether it is visually positive or negative. The binary opposites of this image are what makes it interesting. The box comes from an era of over 100 years ago when graffiti and such artwork were not invented, nor permitted. However, with this image we can now see post-modern culture embedded on a vintage cultural item. The person(s) that drew this art had arguably wanted to make a statement. People of all ages use post boxes, and they are used everyday. They have not gone to a backstreet where nobody walks to air their expressionism on a concrete wall; they have sprayed where everyone can see. The writing is on the back of the box - not on the front where the letters are posted. This may have been done this way simply as there is more room to write what they desired on the back. The 'scribble' is rather large and takes up the majority of the length of the box. It may not look 'pretty', but it a great commentary on our current society structure, and even though there may be graffiti on several post boxes in other cities in the UK, I would argue that this one of St.Mary's Street is unique in what it says, and how it is presented (size/font/composition).

This registration plate image was taken in the car park of the City's Millennium Stadium. The Welsh equivalent to "Welcome" is "CROESO". We are unsure what the 'X' means, other than it meaning something to the individual who owns the car. The plate represents not only that the owner may be Welsh, but conveys the pride that Welsh people behold in their country. I have not to this day seen an English car with the registration "Welcome" - which may suggest something about the differences between the Welsh pride and other nationalities. The word "CROESO" sitting adjacent to the Welsh flag on the plate only emphasises the Welsh nationality more. Obviously, due to legal reasons, all plates have to include a number - therefore the '3' here represents the 'E' of "CROESO".

The font is in the same print as most British cars.
The Mercedes SL350 is an expensive car, and so suggests the owner is well-off. Parked in the Stadium suggests he may be a sportsman or businessman. Every plate in the UK is unique, and so there will not be another plate like this in the world, let alone Cardiff. Just as the plate has its individuality, it matches the unique pride of the Welsh. People often say phrases like the 'Pride of the Scots' or the 'Pride of the Welsh' - and so it may be suggested that the above registration represents this.

This sign was found outside the Welsh shop in the middle of the City. The shop sells traditional Welsh merchandise, for example love spoons and Welsh rock. The sign "Wales The Happy Country" ties in with the message of the registration plate above - how the Welsh people are traditional and proud of their country and roots. The font is in a typical Welsh style, which is often used on many traditional Welsh products that may be found in the shop featured. The word "Happy" is shown in a red font to establish it on the sign, making it stand out from afar and emphasise the positive meaning. The sign was stretched from the top of the shop window to the bottom, and so it made it rather hard to miss by it being so large. It is intended for tourists as well as countrymen and gives out a positive view on Wales as a country to anyone who reads it. Some may argue that the words are ironic, especially on days where, for example, Wales lose a rugby match round the corner at the Millennium Stadium. Statistics also show that Welsh men are the least happy with their bodies in the UK, and spend the most on cosmetic surgery - from waxes to Botox. So in what context is this sign? Is it purely to entice shoppers inside to buy happy, typically Welsh merchandise? Or is the statement true and proven statistically with market research from Welsh residents? I think not - it is purely a sign that shows Welsh solidarity and patriotism towards their country, and let's be honest - people will believe anything that is written down nowadays.............

Why UWIC & Why Media? [MSVC 101]

Studying the subject of Media at a university in Wales, was never an obvious choice for me, for many reasons....... I was born in North Wales, and after moving to Oxfordshire with its rolling countryside, fabulous rising house prices and fast car-driving rich snobs, I began to realise I was born in a not-so-nice place of the world..... That may offend some, but it's how I feel. So eventually, after five years of secondary school and excelling in subjects such as English, Drama and Sports Studies, I did the intelligent option and took the three subjects for A-level at Didcot Sixth Form in my home town. During this time, I began to realise that drama was to be my preferred route in life and I desired to be an actress. After completing my course and performing in numerous musicals and plays in school and out, I decided I would take a gap year before university to gain experience in the theatre and earn a little money. I began working for Gap Plc in Oxford doing general shop-work, roaming around and chatting and earning very little money for it. I then moved on to work for Fat Face Ltd as store supervisor, which was slightly difficult as I was 19 and bossing middle-aged women around who previously worked as lawyers...and so it was very strange. During this time, I performed in amateur theatre productions and made sure I regularly went to the cinema and theatre to stay in touch with current performances. After a year of living this life, I eventually changed jobs and started work in an educational IT company in their Finance department. This involved counting million of pounds each week, and as exciting as it was - it was boring. However, the money was building up and so it allowed me to have a great summer with my friends and be able to take a few months off before I was due to come to uni to generally chill out in the sun (and rain).
Originally, between the time of December and July 2006, I was preparing and attending auditions at drama colleges around the country in order to gain a place on an Acting course. Rose Bruford, Central School, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, RADA and Guildhall were all on my list. It took a lot of work to get my audition speeches right - and as I had not been studying for two years, I found it rather hard. My previous drama teacher from school helped me rehearse and choose monologues, and I used my sister and a video camera to practice several times a day. Auditions - the travelling, the expense, and the time - all took its toll, and I eventually began to think wanting to do an Acting course was unrealistic. The phrase "it's not what you know, it's who you know" kept on jumping into my mind, and having to pay £30 to have a panel of judges criticise you and tell you "No thanks, you're not for us", was just not appealing anymore. After being rejected from five drama colleges, even though it was still my aim to pursue my dream at some point, I decided it was wise to take a different route of study. I still wanted to perform in theatre groups with whatever course I studied, and still planned to go to drama college after my degree to study Acting as a mature student - I still wish to do this.
So then came my decision to become a secondary school Drama teacher. I came across the course at UWIC on the UCAS website, and thought it would be nice to still study in the same area but to come in at a different angle. I eventually received my place, and began studying in Cyncoed in September. I was not to know that I would absolutely dislike it 100%. I would have to be in uni five days a week, 7-5, and that was not for me. I also made few friends and felt a bit like an old lady in such a young group of students. I gave it a week and that was enough for me. Some thought I was being hasty, but I was hating being at university so much - being away from home, being poor - that I was not going to give myself the choice of being even more miserable. And so this is how I came to study Media with Visual Cultures at UWIC, Llandaff................
When I left the teaching course in mid-September, there was really no other courses that interested me apart from the Creative Writing for Media subject. However, it was not being run in 2008 and so I had to keep looking. I did not want to leave university altogether, and the thought of having to go through the process of changing halls, loans and TV licence addresses, did not appeal to me. I came across the Media course by accident on the uni website, and I decided I would research a little more into it. After emailing the course directors, I eventually made the decision that this really could be the course for me. Not only would it allow me to still work with theatre, cinema and film, I would be able to explore other mediums including photography and the print press. I liked the idea of having two separate sides of the subject - being able to delve into history and discuss feminism, Karl Marx and Freud for example, mixed with analysing Kanye West music videos and assessing films such as Castaway and Requiem for A Dream.
After a few weeks of beginning the course, I realised that it was something that I would very much enjoy and that could be useful for furthering my career in acting. I plan to apply for work experience at BBC Wales after Christmas, and may even venture off and complete a Screen Acting Course at Ferris Entertainment. Everyone that studies the subject with me seems to be on a similar wavelength, even if some are after different outcomes, whether it is wanting to become a journalist, screen writer or radio presenter. I love the idea of being able to discuss the current media in lectures, unlike other subjects which assess you on being able to dig down into dark history books found in the dingiest part of the library......This could arguably be seen as the reason why some academics class media courses as 'not a serious or relevant subject'. Commentators like this may take many more years to realise that students studying my course are very important to society, and in effect, are going to entertain them and make them laugh or cry on their darkest or brightest days. A job in the media, whatever area, is demanding and worthwhile. And even though it is not an area that I have been interested in since I was a child, I now realise I could be rather good at it. So, there you go, the reason I came to study Media and Visual Cultures at UWIC? - fluke.