Category: Flog

This week the hardest task for me was putting together my video for my fourth hack. I have next to no experience using video editing software, so it was definitely difficult for me to be able to figure out how to use the software and make the video still look well put together. I ended up decided to use CapCut after some quick researching on the available forms of video editing software on the internet that are free to use. CapCut ended up being fairly easy to upload various types of media sources into and was very simple to make edits with. It was also difficult to find all the different types of media that I wanted. It took me a long time just scouring the internet trying to find the perfect videos, images, and audio clips to go together. I felt like they all needed to fit together very well in order to make my video flow well and get the proper message across that I actually wanted to covey to the audience. For hours, I looked all over YouTube, Wikipedia, archive.org, and many other places to find what I thought needed to be in the video. I was also struggling at first trying to figure out what editorial moves I should make to help get my message across better, but I ended up decided to keep the editing to a minimum and make it more straight forward. This was intentional as the topic of my video was very serious and I felt like it would have been disrespectful to make a ton of edits to my video that would add comedy or something of that nature. I thought it was best for my message to get pushed through with less editing. In the end, I think my video turned out pretty well, especially considering it was my first time using a software like CapCut. I feel like the order in which my clips were mashed up really got the message across as well.

This week I mostly worked on my hack and the artist statement. Since I’d clarified my idea last Thursday and collected a lot of material it wasn’t that bad, but actually editing the video was still very hard. I was using After Effects since I have a little bit of experience with it, though I’d forgotten a lot of what I’d learned in the past. It was mostly just time consuming. Most of my problems were solved with some YouTube tutorials, though it was also very glitchy when previewing it for some reason which was frustrating. I wasn’t sure how to fix it since I probably needed an external hard drive to use as a scratch disk which I don’t have with me… 

Writing my artist statement went smoothly for the most part. Some of the cases I referenced in my remix make me pretty angry and I think some of that accidentally came through but there wasn’t a lot I can do about that. I also had a hard time justifying my rule break, but I think that section turned out alright. I tried to add some humor to it but I’m not sure how well that came across. 

Watching everyone else’s remixes was very fun and it gave me a lot of ideas, so maybe I’ll do another remix for the final hack. We’ll see! 

This week, I struggled quite a bit with creating my remix video. Initially, I wanted to build a narrative around Trisha Paytas, someone with seemingly infinite digital artifacts and a public life that has gone through many different stages. My goal was to show how easy it is to manipulate someone’s reputation through modern media. I spent a lot of time gathering clips, trying to map out a storyline that would reflect this idea.

However, as I worked, I realized how complicated Trisha’s narrative truly is. I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of content and the complexity of her public persona. It became increasingly difficult to build a new narrative without either oversimplifying her story or falling into a basic cut-and-paste method—simply reordering clips without really adding anything meaningful.

At the same time, I started losing sight of the remix aspect that originally interested me. I didn’t want my project to just rearrange existing materials; I wanted it to use the audio-visual medium to make a clear, powerful statement. I wanted a remix that could function as a kind of call to action, not just a re-edit of existing narratives.

Recognizing this, I decided to shift directions entirely. That’s how my Y2K “Girls on Film” remix came about. Focusing on childhood fame and the traumas faced by Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton allowed me to not only create a coherent narrative but also engage more deeply with the ideas of remix as discourse and digital storytelling. While abandoning my original project felt frustrating at first, I ultimately think it was the right move. It reflected on why I was remixing, not just how.

LF

This week, by far the most difficult task for me was thinking of an idea for our fourth hack. For a while, I think I was overthinking what a “remix” truly is. When I think of remix, I think of it being this dramatically different piece of art, when it reality, that is not always the case. I got caught up on this idea that I had to combine a ton of different sources of media with all these complicated editing skills and platforms. This thought processes that I had made me get stuck mentally for a while as I felt like I was not capable of creating something that is truly a “remix.” While being stuck, I went back and review a lot of the remixes we had looked at in class and what the definition of a “remix” really was in the context of this class. In doing this, I found that a “remix” can essentially be anything when it comes to putting together various types of existing media or even just putting a little spin on an already existing form of media. Changing any form of existing media to modify the message or even amplify the message is what constitutes as a “remix.” Looking back at previous readings and examples really helped me realize that I wanted to continue to build upon a message on an already existing media form and enhance that message. To do this, I decided I wanted to hone in on a more serious issue in the world and spread a meaningful message.

I happened to forget to write my flog on the day it was due. This has happened twice now, and I’m not very happy about it. I’ve been pretty scrambled recently, so I’ve forgotten several assignments.

Regardless, I’ve taken a lot of time to think about this hack, and I’ve found it difficult to start. This hack is very open ended, which I assume is a test of our adaptability and etc. I *think* what I plan to do is valid and hosts an argument on something other than a simple remix, and I hope I can execute it well.

I took some time to read Dr. Bill Wolff’s Video Mashup Assignment that Dr. Sample said he borrowed from to hopefully get some more pointers. My commentary is not much of a critique on anything, but more so an appraisal/appreciation of the past, specifically 2000s-2010s. More will be said in my artist statement, and as of now, I feel I have more to put into words than put into video.

This week has been a bit tough for me overall. I had to miss class on Tuesday because I had a therapy session with my therapist from Bolivia. Scheduling time with her is always a bit tricky, and unfortunately, the only time she had available was during class on Tuesday. I really needed to talk to her, though, especially since I want to finish out the semester strong. So, I had to prioritize that session, even though I knew it meant missing class. When I got to class on Thursday, I felt a little lost about what we were supposed to do, particularly with Hack #4. Luckily, Dr. Sample was able to clarify what the assignment was about, which helped me understand the main tasks. Even so, I’m still feeling somewhat overwhelmed and nervous about it. I’m not very tech-savvy, and honestly, I barely know how to use iMovie, which is making me doubt my ability to complete the Hack successfully. The whole idea of working with video editing feels intimidating to me, especially since I’ve never really worked on something like this before. But, despite my worries, I’m determined to take it on. I know it’s going to push me out of my comfort zone, but I’m willing to try my best and face the challenge head-on. I’m hoping that as I dive in, I’ll get more comfortable with the tools and be able to pull it off.

This week, I really enjoyed the continued conversation on the commons. It’s kind of unrelated to online/technological commons, but when I was in the airport on Thursday, I thought about the “commons” of Starbucks online order pickups. They legitimately leave out all the coffee and food, and you just come and take the one with your name on it. I have never once had my online order picked up from Starbucks. I asked my coffee/Starbies-obsessed teammate that I was with, and she also said she never had anything stolen. People are killing each other all over the place, yet there is enough respect for the commons of Starbucks mobile orders that nobody (not regularly or often) steals orders. That is crazy to me.

I enjoyed playing the games for class on Tuesday. I enjoyed hearing my group mates’ perspectives on “Eleanor.” I found it a bit odd and struggled to see how it made an intervention or remix. It just seemed like unrelated things piled together. I wish there was more info about each piece of art on the page because, as someone who knows nothing about art, I did not understand the juxtaposition/importance of artwork.

To be completely honest, I am super behind on my remix. I have had so many other papers and projects. It feels like all my classes were pretty chill until Spring Break, and now every teacher has assigned so many things. I am drowning in work! But I am really excited to get more work done on this project tomorrow and Sunday once my team gets back from Chicago!

Earlier this week I was really struggling to nail down an idea for Hack #4. I ended last week with a few ambiguous ideas that I tried to clarify with some more brainstorming/storyboarding, but it wasn’t until Thursday that I was really able to commit to an idea. I’ve not had any trouble finding media sources now that I know what I’m trying to create, though I’m still a bit uncertain on how exactly I’m going to break one of the rules. I think I’ll feel better about it after I draft my artist’s statement. 

Since my theme for my remix is government conspiracy theories I am a bit concerned that my remix may come off as a bit insensitive, so I’m trying to be careful about what videos and images I pick. With all the super infamous conspiracies and their related imagery I’m trying to stick to the more well known videos and pictures since most people have already seen them, but that gets more difficult with lesser known conspiracies.

I also had a bit of trouble with the audio I am using. I was originally going to try and remix some contrasting songs together, but since I have almost no experience with DAWs and it was very difficult to try to learn, I have since decided to pick a song that is heavily sampled so that I’m remaining in the spirit of remixing.