Transmedia Vlog

Transmedia Vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvBlMROfE40

Briefly describe the content of my Transmedia Vlog and my role in it. Then answer the following two questions: how has my experience of working with a Transmedia Vlog enhanced my understanding of the text(s)? Have there been any other benefits in doing this task?

For the Transmedia Vlog entry, my group and I were required to act-out a scene from Michael Gow’s ‘Away’ (Gow). In case you are not familiar with this play, Gow’s ‘Away’ tells the story of three internally conflicted families that decide to go on holiday for the Christmas period. During the holiday, the families begin to deal with their issues and attempt to resolve them, revealing some secrets along the way. (Gow)

The selected scene that we were assigned to adapt and film for the Transmedia Vlog, was Scene 1, Act 4. The scene deals with grieving, love, relationship, identity and the cleansing of one’s inner self. Within this scene, two couples, named Harry and Vic, and Jim and Gwen, spend the day together on the beach. They begin to gradually get to know each other until; finally, a few secrets are revealed (Gow). I took on the role as Jim—Gwen’s husband—for the scene.

In order to play out the role as Jim truly and successfully, I set myself the task of researching as much as I can about the play and, more importantly, the character of Jim. I was to put myself in his shoes and pretend that I was married to an uptight woman. Due to all this research I had undertaken, I was already able to deepen my understanding of Gow’s ‘Away’ and the characters involved. In order to understand a text at its full potential, we are to do research and analyse in between the lines. So, by having to take on Jim’s character and act out a scene, an even deeper knowledge is gained.

Working on acting out the scene and putting it on camera played a huge role with my understanding of text because by working with other people and their characters, you are able to take note of the emotions and thoughts within these characters as they are brought to life, right in front of you.

If my acting methods have not helped you guess by now—as well as studying English as a minor unit, I am studying Drama as my major unit. By already having experience with taking on roles and acting out a variety of different characters, I was confident with this part of the unit and excited as well because I had never worked on camera before. By participating in the Transmedia Vlog, I was able to see how it feels to work with a camera and pick out the differences when acting on a stage. I was able to spread my sense of confidence of the task to the other group members as they had not had any acting experience at all.

It was satisfying being able to help and support other people that I did not really know and to also take on the role as an actor but as a director as well. Although, I was surprised that the other members were able to take charge and share as many ideas and suggestions they had thought of.