Design Thinking – Post 1

For the module ‘Design Thinking’ our project is to create a visual response to a contemporary issue facing Australian society. With the two main contemporary
issues highlighted being:
1. Australia’s approach to asylum seekers arriving by boat
2. Australia’s approach to climate change / global warming
3. Choose your own topic (to be approved by staff)

Using Ambrose and Harris’ (2010) 7 stage design process model to design a poster on one of the key contemporary issues listed above we are to gain an understand of historical perspectives and represent multiple viewpoints. We are then instructed to research at least 3 different visual approaches to employ in our creative response. Using this model as a key to discover and define the specific issue and the way we wish to visually approach it. We must consider different viewpoints to avoid bias and maybe even influence our own perspective on a specific issue. Although to accompany the poster we are encouraged to keep a reflective journal. This journal will be used to write the report, the aim of this is to allow us to reflect on the creative design project in the ways of: reflecting on the design process and the outcomes of it, to identify and analyse significant incidents, to experience, identify and discuss. 

Researching the above issues I decided to look at the way other companies and designers have portrayed these issues. 

Beside are two interesting approaches I found towards climate change: The poster on the left represents rates of formation and consumption and the threatening of both of these as a whole. And the poster on the right represents the way changing conditions affect all living things and the way we rely on one another to sustain life. 

Beside are two interesting approaches I found towards asylum seekers: The poster on the left is the body shop campaign promoting awareness and educating customers, encouraging everyone to think about asylum seeks.  And the poster on the right represents the governments message to asylum seekers creating the message that they will not be settle here. 

Global Film (Towards Crossovers)

Crossover cinema plays an important role in the media that surrounds us today. By crossover cinema, it is meant an “emerging form of cinema that crosses cultural borders at the stage of conceptualization and production” (Khorana 2014, p.2).” In terms of globalisation it refers to the cultural mix occurring in the worlds film industry that may be seen through a similar storyline, or different version of the film perhaps in a different language. Khorana states the way that crossover film ‘does not assume a Western audience at the outset but rather is forged from multiple cultural affiliations and eventually appeals to a range of viewing communities among whom the Western audience is only one possibility (Khorana 2013, p.6).

Some films which are recognised within Western society and are defined as crossover films include Bend it like Beckham and Slumdog Millionaire in which the inspiration of India has been reflected upon within Western culture and Japanese Horror inspired films such as The Grudge, Aladdin and Mulan.

Using the disney film of Mulan as an example, we are able to see where the concepts of cultural adaptation and restoration, using globalisation and hybridisation to explore the encounters between American and Chinese cultures. In particularly the article by Xu and Tian highlights the way Mulan was based off the Chinese legend Hua Mulan and uses cultural legends to decipher this alongside the use of both gender and racial ideologies. It reflects on Higbee and Lim’s ideas in the shift towards a interconnected, multicultural and polycentric world through both the Eastern (view of collectivism) and Western (individualist) cultural clash which occurs within Mulan’s life. “Misinterpretation of this legend was inevitable when a company as big as Disney is producing films about foreign legends in order to attempt to reach a larger audience, nationally and internationally, that it produces as many films as possible to create a bigger profit” (Ward, 2002, p.96). It needed to respect Chinese culture whilst adapt to the Westernised culture.

Mulan Trailer

Hua Mulan Trailer

The modifications and remakes of crossover cinema are applied to create a better affiliation for Westernised cultures allowing worldwide views and achieving the understanding of the similarities and differences which may occur within perceptions of different cultures. Although if not the crossover is unsuccessful stereotypes and exploitation may occur creating offensive content towards a specific culture. The use of Mulan and the recognition of Hua Mulan as the basis of the film has influenced my understanding on the topic and has impacted upon the way I see crossover cinema on a global scale, through films that I may not have realised the translation within before.

References:
Khorana, S (2014) “Crossover Cinema: A Genealogical and Conceptual Overview,” University of Wollongong, viewed 27 September 2014, <http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2020&context=lhapapers>
Mingwu Xu & Chuanmao Tian (2013) Cultural deformations and reformulations: a case study of Disney’s Mulan in English and Chinese, Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies, 27:2, 182-210.
Unknown, How Transnational Is Disney?, (2014). Multiculturalism. [online] Available at: http://673771.weebly.com/multiculturalism.html [Accessed 28 August 2014].

Global Film Beyond Hollywood

Bollywood and Nollywood On The Rise Above Hollywood?

Through globalisation the control of film industries has shifted from Western control towards more Eastern. We can see this grow through the film industries of Bollywood, Hollywood and Nollywood in which some aspects of these you may or may not be familiar with.

The creation of ‘Chindia’ (high level corporation between India and China) exploits Bollywood to promote India’s economic and political interests abroad. ‘Bollywood’ is the Hindi-language based Indian film industry which is now the second biggest film industry after Hollywood. It is comprised of many aspects of colour, dancing and signing with most films produced in Mumba. And with Nigera’s population living on less then a dollar a day would you believe they followed with the third-largest film industry in the world? Well it’s known as Nollywood as it’s comprised of mainly films relating to family, love and honour, AIDS, prostitution and oil, and about ghosts and cannibals which was inaugurated in Lagos. Nigeria is well-known for corruption, internet fraud, prostitution and oil but who knew that such country could be known for its film culture? Without even realising research has proved to me the extreme conditions in which Nollywood flims are produced with such low budgets and no government subsidies. Nollywood uses the approach of making the entertainment of its viewership as the primary focus.

With cultural hybridity (the crossing over or mixing together of two cultures), playing an important role in both film industries mixing cultures such as Indian and Westernised (Australia/America). We see this in Bollywood where the films are spoken in Hindi but elements of western culture such as clothing, drinking and rebelling are incorporated, and we reflect on Bollywood in the Hollywood industry as concepts such as traditional singing, dancing and religion are in the western film.

The example in which K.Karen and D.J. Schaefer used in the context of ‘Avatar’ in which Cameron’s mixed native-american themes with ancient Hindu concepts. Avatar borrowed India mythology in several aspects such as the blue skin that represents the colour that was traditionally used for depicting the religious avatars Rama and Krishna, the mimicking of old-Indian political traditions and foreign invaders and the main concept of Avatar’s thematic motifs being ‘seen as understanding’, similar to the central Hindu concept of ‘darshan’.

With inflicting consumption of film worldwide and the concept of globalisation, we are able to determine the influence of foreign films and the hybridisation of Bollywood and Nollywood in the western world. Through the readings and research I believe Hollywood will still play an important role in film today, but Bollywood and Nollywood will contribute to increasing the quality and structure of their films within the industry.

References: 

Huiqun, L. (2010). ‘Opportunities and challenges of globalization for the Chinese film industry’.Global Media and Communication, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 323-328.
Karen, K , Schaefer, D.J, (2010), ‘Problematizing Chindia: Hybridity and Bollywoodization of Popular Indian Cinema in Global Film Flows’, Global Media and Communications 6:309
Nigeria’s Silver Screen: Nollywood’s Film Industry Second only to Bollywood in Scale – SPIEGEL ONLINE. 2014. Nigeria’s Silver Screen: Nollywood’s Film Industry Second only to Bollywood in Scale – SPIEGEL ONLINE. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nigeria-s-silver-screen-nollywood-s-film-industry-second-only-to-bollywood-in-scale-a-690344.html. [Accessed 23 August 2014].
Okome, O 2007, ‘Nollywood: Spectatorship, audience and the Sites of Consumption’ pp 1-3

International Education

“Education… is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela

Did you know the hardships in which international students face? The concerns and difficulties that are played upon them? I’m sure most of us who aren’t international students struggled in one way or another as we began our lives at university and because of just that alone, could you imagine what it feels like to be an international student?

With international students having high levels of motivation and determination to strive to do their best, they are faced with cultural competence and many difficulties such as language barriers, safety, security, exploitation in housing and employment, transport concession, visa and migration. Not only these but we also need to take into account their low-self esteem due to difficulties socialising with other students, homesickness and anxieties which students of a research program stated “that they felt the most anxious about listening and speaking in English.”

They struggle to maintain identity and characteristics from their home culture through the concept of acculturation assuming their host country is superior causing a struggle to maintain traditional aspects and beliefs from their ‘home’ country. International students also found ‘Australians’ hard to understand due to their excessive use of ‘slang’ (shortened words) such as university which is often referred to as ‘uni’ leading to confusion due to their use of formal English.

Many universities and educational institutes are striving to achieve a sufficient living environment for international students. Although as stated by Catherine Gomes who undertook research said that “international students who have local friends note that they experience less culture shock, feel less homesick and are generally more well-adjusted than those who have few or no local friends” although due to international students feeling like local students avoid interaction and communication with them, finding it hard to talk between each other until ‘the ice is broken,’ initiatives and ideas are now being proposed to try an establish a suitable and more comfortable environment. An example of this would be the idea of needing “to create inclusive orientation programs that foster interaction between local and international students.” The attempt to turn this into a positive experience now evolves.

References:
Kell, P and Vogl, G (2007) ‘International Students: Negotiating life and study in Australia through Australian Englishes’ Everyday Multiculturalism Conference Proceedings, Macquarie University, 28-29 September 2006.
Khorana, S 2014, ‘Internationalising education – cultural competence and cosmopolitanism’ lecture notes distributed in International Media and Communications 111 at the University of Wollongong on the 13th of August, 2014.
Marginson, S (2012) ‘International education as self-formation: Morphing a profit-making business into an intercultural experience’, Lecture delivered at the University of Wollongong, 21 February 2012.

The International Community

Globalisation: A friend or a foe? 

Globalisation is defined by O’Shaughnessy and Stadler as “an international community influenced by technological development and economic, political and military interests. It is characterized by a worldwide increase in interdependence, interactivity and interconnectedness and the virtually instantaneous exchange of information.”

The world’s interactive system has recently exploded. From smoke signals and morse code, to the typewriter and the telegraph through to the mediums we have today such as telephones, radios, cable television, the internet and mobile phone, where’s the future going to lead us to? With educational systems constantly changing, more efficient means of travel evolving, with trade, economical and political issues a constant pressure amongst our daily lives we are forced into the ‘global village’ resulting in societies becoming threatened as they lose their senses of culture and identity therefore leading to a more homogenised culture. With barriers effecting the interconnectedness across the globe and the ways we pursue to overcome these, we therefore positioned to consider both the utopian and dystopian views that many vary across both societies and individuals.

‘The Global Village’ is a utopian view which refers to ‘imagined communities’ it reflects the positive aspect of globalisation and disregards the concepts of inequality and exploitation and rather perceives the nation as a “deep, horizontal comradeship.” For example growing up I have had access to many forms of online social media and forums which depict this instantaneous communication and as June Johnston states “The idea of the world’s cultures drawn together in a global village raises questions about equal representation, reciprocal sharing, enriched diversity, and mutual understanding”.

On the other hand the dystopian view refers to the ‘Media Saturation’ which basically states the way in which the media is constantly bombarded us information and access to the global community whether it be via television, magazine, radio or even advertisements. It reflects the way interpersonal communication is lost, and there is no longer that sense of emotion portrayed. Castell conceptualises this in terms of a ‘network society’.

Whether we can see it or not we are constantly surrounded by aspects of globalisation which influence our lives on a daily basis the short youtube film above displays aspects of this in which come into contact with and may not realise the impact they have on globalisation. With each individual having a different opinion on whether it’s a political, economical, social or even a corporate dictatorship there is no real way of escaping the constant evolution of technology across the globe today. This brings each society together almost instantaneously, although it may not always be accurate in terms of emotions, we are all drawn together through contexts such as the media or internet which idealise the “global village.”

References:
DIXON, V. K. 2009. Understanding the Implications of a Global Village. Student Pulse[Online], 1. Available: http://www.studentpulse.com/a?id=61
Khorana, S 2014, ‘BCM111: International Media and Communication’, powerpoint slides, BCM111, University of Wollongong, delivered 6 July 2014.
O’Shaughnessy, M and Stadler, J (2008) ‘Globalisation Media and Society (fifth edition) Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 458-471