No fool, it's a "test"!

With my confidence at an all time low as this semester's "test" looms ever closer, I was nicely reaffirmed today that the test would have some what of a layed back approach to it.

The themes running through this semester have captured my imagination effortlessly. With Chris Horrie's resilient, and at times controversial views, acting as a shining light at the end of the tunnel. If I don't pass this test, which I have been assured that I will, it will be through my own doings; the education I have received this year has been nothing short of exceptional.

Personal highlights for me obviously include Freud (I bang on about him enough), Grapes of Wrath (who would have thought a novel could entertain master Hopley), and of course Orwell, and Wells.

Today's lecture on the works of Orwell was excellent and very formative. I have always had a love for Orwell, and the lecture just acted as a reminder of how truly great this man was. With Animal Farm acting as a somewhat obvious yet potent and poignant allegory for Soviet Russia, and 1984, well, what can i say...? this to me is a work of art. I'm sure any novelist in the world would give up his arm to have written either of these!

For such blatant symbolism, Orwell writes without shame, I mean, come on, who would name a pig "Napoloen" if he wasn't a pig with revolution on his mind. These two novels share great parallels with Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath as both write unashamedly about troubles and strife as a form of propaganda, as they create sympathy within their protagonists. Although Orwell employs allegories within his novels, as opposed to Steinbeck who is clear in his message, both just use different ends to meet their respective means.

I hope I'm not just writing rubbish. If I am then this will be the sort of rubbish which causes me to fail my "test"

Ulysses: Useful links (or not)

Being the lazy person I am, I downloaded the audio book for James Joyce's Ulysses, as I found out within twenty pages that this was not a book I would be dedicated my time to reading. This post is really just a bit on information to help my fellow journos who feel that Ulysses is an uphill battle... maybe I'm the only one, and those of you have read it and loved it will hate me for choosing the easy option. The link is below:

http://librivox.org/ulysses-by-james-joyce/

Furthermore, for those of you struggling to interpret this somewhat challenging piece of literature (as I certainly am) I have stummbled across some useful links, which helps the reader understand the symbolism and parallels within the novel.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/themes.html

Hopefully, you guys won't even need to look at these links, as you probably possess greater brains than I, but if indeed you do I hope they help.

Camera Skills

First outing with a camera for loveable ol' WINOL... The life owner. Went down to sunny Southampton on Tuesday eve to review the band Detachments. Quality act, but my camera skils left alot to be desired. In all I estimate I took around 50 pics in total, only four of which warranted the quality to supplement my written article... Ouch!

I'd been a foolish young man and managed to leave the camera on manual focus, purely because i didn't know how to switch it to auto. I was rather lucky in the sense that due to the lack of people at the gig, I was able to get in close on the action and when it counted I took some awesome pics, ones of which that would sit comfortably and gloriously on an album cover or as a promo poster for the band.

As far as the focusing went it was a rookie error, but I now feel very comfortable to be able to take decent photos. "Jono the Photojournalist", that has a nice ring to it

Platform 4, The Tempest

As i become more familiar with my role as Reviews writer for Winchester News Online, I am definitely getting alot better as my confidence is growing thus improving my writing.

My latest review was at the Tower Arts in Winchester where I watched a production of The Tempest(which I managed to get in for free I hasten to add). Below is the full review. 

For a performance with a cast consisting of just three people, Platform 4 gave an emphatic interpretation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ on Thursday evening at the Winchester Tower Arts. The performance was by no means the best adaptation I have seen of this famous play, but it was certainly an interesting one.

The actors, although playing the parts of numerous characters, managed to establish very believable personas; the relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda was very well done, with the actors conveying great chemistry. Notably, the parts of Miranda and Aerial were played by the same actor and for her to be able to switch between characters so swiftly and effortlessly is a skill to be admired.

Due to a minimal cast, not every character in the original play could be included in this production due to the fact that in various scenes of the original there are more than three characters on at one time. To ignore more than half of the original characters and to perform a flawless recital, really is exceptional. The way the cast managed to do this was by following the story line of Prospero, Miranda, and Ferdinand, and completely ignoring the likes of Stephano and Trinculo, who only offer supplementary story lines.

The set was cleverly crafted to accommodate the lack of actors, and kept the story flowing and interesting by being transformed regularly. Furthermore, the inclusion of props proved very significant as they also made up for the lack of characters; a chess board was constantly used to set the scene and refer to characters that, if it weren’t for the lack of performers, would be in the play.

The night was a real success, with the performance captivating the audience and maintaining tension throughout the hour and a half show; definitely a four star performance.

The Grapes Of Wrath: Propaganda At Its Finest

As far as propaganda goes, Steinbeck's The Grapes Of Wrath is definitely a masterpiece in its own class. It's up there with the best of them. The story tells of a fictional family and their struggle throughout the Dust Bowl period of American history. In my opinion, upon reading what i have read so far, this novel is a superb testament to the struggling of the American Immigrants of the period.

It's biblical analogies and parallels are exceptional, they are very thought-provoking and poignant. As with other great novellists such as Golding, Steinbeck employs this technique to purify something and to ultimately make the subject/subject matter seem to hold "the truth". Brian made reference to the eloquence of Steinbeck's symbolism and told of how Jim Casy is used as a narrative devise to represent Christ When he dies he is seen as somewhat of a martyr, "you don't know what you're a-doin"". By using these allegories, the reader sympathises with the character thus expressing sympathy towards the subject. An exceptional piece of propanda! Using Christ as an allegory is perfect propaganda.

Tom Joad also bares Christian allegories, as he leads his family across the country to get to the figurative "Promised Land". Here there is a clear parallel to Moses, who lead the Israelites to the promised land from Egypt. With these two pieces of imagery alone, one finds it hard not to connect and sympathise with the characters in the novel. With such powerful imagery, Steinbeck has ensured that his novel will be remembered.

Press Officer's and Journalist's Cold War

As described in the lecture today, there is somewhat of a Cold War scenario, which is mutually reciprocated between a Press Officer and a Journalist. Chris used this analogy as both Press Officers and Journalists always threaten each other but neither acts, through fear of total devastation (pretty good analogy I thought). This got me thinking... at the end of the day what makes the Press Officer at the university different from any other? Nothing! What stops me ringing the University Press Officer in middle of the night if I need to? ANSWER: The fact that no one will pick the phone up on the receiving end!

One point which Chris picked up today was that the role of a Press Officer is one which is 24 hour, as news never stops. This does not appear to be the case at the University of Winchester, so why is this? Just because it is a 'job' at a university, this should not mean that someone is not available for the press to talk to at any given moment; after all it's what a Press Officer is put in place to do.

From the reports I have been hearing, the Press Officer at the University has proved nothing but a nuisance and a hindrance, making it very difficult for both me and my fellow students to obtain basic information. Refusing to comment and not getting back to people - is this what we really need at the University? A Press Officer should be as helpful as possible! Perhaps this is why Winchester University is still somewhat of an unknown entity as far as identity goes?!

Below is a Press Officer Job description. Note the first point.

Press officer:Job description and activities

A press officer acts as the official media contact for a specific public or private organisation, handling all media interest.

Typical work activities include:

• answering journalists' enquiries;


• writing press releases and news articles;


• liaising with the press and broadcast media on an everyday basis via telephone, email and networking;


• monitoring press and broadcast coverage;


• arranging press conferences, news briefings, media interviews, visits and public events;


• attending committee meetings and debates;


• keeping up to date with current issues and public opinions;


• managing the press and media in a potential crisis situation.

Is our Press Officer meeting this criteria? I think not.

Citizen Kane

Materialism! a word synonymous with today's culture. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane replicates the way in which modern society is heading, with rich, wealthy, powerful people always under the watchful eye and having their life's destroyed by this. 

Kane initially started out as a man for justice (this can be seen when he takes over "The Inquirer") but became  corrupted by power and cared more about the way in which he was perceived than anything else. With an inability to love, Kane alienated all who loved him as he could only provide them with 'material' love and not the true love which human beings crave for. 

Throughout the feature, it is clear that every cinematic devise somehow works as a narrative implement to dehumanise Kane and the perceived idea that money brings happiness. From the very outset the audience has their metaphorical guard up as to how they interpret Kane, with the dark images at the beginning creating a sense of darkness and isolation within wealth. The way in which the outside of Kane's castle-like mansion is filmed greatly reinforces the themes of the film as the dark images fade into each other, establishing a sense of dread.    

Furthermore, the camera angles employed in Citizen Kane offer great allegorical meanings and symbolism. The film is shot from many angles, which can be interpreted as Kane's disjointed soul, but more importantly I believe the varied camera angles are in place to create a sense of alienation between the audience and Kane as the shots create a sense of distance.      

Possibly the best piece of symbolism in the film is Rosebud. To me Rosebud symbolises everything Kane lacks in his personality e.g. love. It only became obvious to me what the meaning of this word was at the end of the film, where the word Rosebud is burning away on one of Kane's possessions. It clearly symbolises all the great human characteristics, which the one-dimensional Kane did not posses. This really is a great cinematic devise on Welles' part as it works well with other symbols in the film to strike a lasting image in the audiences mind.

All in all Citizen Kane is a great masterpiece, employing timeless visual effects to induce deep thinking; proving actions speak louder than words.