Pecha Kucha Feedback

I was really pleased with this feedback as I felt I had worked hard on the presentation. I definitely think that the research I did really paid off, and this has made me realise that I really should have done more research initially for my essay.

Pecha Kucha

1- My essay was based on the visual techniques and devices using in illustrations and videos when satirising advertising. I based it on a faux-commercial taken from a sketch on the Tim & Eric show and analysed what elements of the video made it satirical, trying to get to the bottom of defining satire.

2 - There are two main types of satire. The first is Horatian, names after the Roman satirist Horace. It's light-hearted and witty, poking fun and gently ridiculing general follies of people. It's humorous without being too cutting or aggressive.

3 - The second is Juvenalian satire, which is far more direct and ruthless. It tends to aim to address social evil, being more negative and pessimistic in an attempt to draw attention to the issues and suggest change. South Park is a great example, being completely brutal in delivering some kind of moral or message.

4 - The kinds of techniques that I came across in my analysis were mostly parody, exaggeration and incongruity, which is where a subject or theme is shown out of place or made to look ridiculous in its surroundings. Irony and sarcasm are also the most obvious devices that are used, especially for humour.

5 - I really struggled following my essay with the map of understanding. All I did was break down the definition of satire further and I couldn't find a sense of direction or motivation. I found more examples of satirical films or programmes and characters before deciding to start drawing. I didn't even know where to start with that so I just doodled.

6 - Here are some stupid drawings of Dr Steve Brule from the Tim & Eric show. I thought about different avenues that I could take, whether I aim to break down the components of satire and illustrate them in some way, or make a satirical piece of work myself - whether to stick with the advertising theme of my essay or change it to something else.

7 - So I realised that I can't really discuss satire without touching on political satire. It's a topic that I was actually avoiding, because I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about politics and the whole topic makes me feel kind of dumb. But this actually ended up forming the basis of my work.

8 - Only 44% of 18 to 24 year olds voted in the last general election. So over half of people our age didn't use their right to vote. I wanted to research the potential reasons for this topic of voter apathy and find out why young people don't vote.

9 - The first thing that comes to mind is who is representing us? I'm pretty sure young people (and probably a lot of people) don't find too many MPs particularly relatable. Cameron, with his rosy complexion resembling some kind of blancmange stuffed into a pop sock. Or surely Nigel Farage is one of us because he gets pissed in pubs and smokes fags? Is it a requirement to be smarmy, slimy or some sort of emotionless android?

10 - Maybe I'm being too shallow or cynical, but to quote Russell Brand, 'David Cameron? I don't like him. He looks like someone left some custard, it formed a skin, then that skin came alive and went to Eton.' So would young people show the slightest bit more interest if they felt as though they were being represented by actual relatable human beings?

11 - Another potential contributing factor toward voter apathy is the distraction of the internet. This is my way of explaining the way that Facebook lures you in, with its sexy little dancing. This distraction isn't just an issue where general elections are concerned, but it's a complete distraction from real life, giving people the tools to create their own worlds online, away from reality.

12 - Alternatively, you don't have to create a sad world, you can just sit and watch a baby monkey riding backwards on a pig. But this raises the issue of the internet feeling more relevant to youth than the supposed 'important' issues raised within politics that we don't see as affecting our day to day lives. We spend more time on social media now than ever before, and personally I think it's warping our view of the real word, giving us the opportunity to tune it out.

13 - Even when I was doing research for this presentation, I kept proving my own point by finding myself faffing about on Facebook, or watching How To Basic videos on Youtube. Supposedly, on average our attention spans have dropped to less than 5 minutes, and most people blame our busy lives and modern technology. These major distractions all add up to contribute to our apathy.

14 - It could be argued though that the internet is a perfect platform for sharing knowledge, researching and developing our own opinions and could actually help us learn more about politics, reading up about policies. But there is also the problem that anyone can post just about anything online. It's not always easy to know what to trust.

15 - Voter apathy could also stem from feeling overwhelmed and confused. I know I can relate to this completely. This drawing shows the way I feel about getting my head around the political system. Maybe I am a bit thick, but Eleanor Muffitt wrote for the Telegraph, in reference to young voters, 'We aren't stupid. We're confused, ill-informed and more of all we are ignored.'

16 - This takes us to the point of whether we feel like our votes even count. Are we listened to? Do the decisions made actually affect us? Policies that affect young people like student loans, renting rights and gateways into employment aren't discussed nearly enough in the media and don't seem to be reflected in politicians' priorities.

17 - A lot of us instead turn to a more familiar, relatable personality who actually seems to be a real human. I think that a lot of what Russell Brand stands for and says makes sense and he has a good point about our current society and political system. But it's also been argued that a great deal of youth are blindly following him and squandering their democratic rights by not voting. Again, ill-informed and not really generating their own thoughts and opinions; just regurgitating his. 

18 - So our turn out is low for a number of reasons. But if young people don't vote, politicians will see this and focus more on keeping the older generations happy, making a vicious cycle. If we don't vote, we aren't having our say and using our voices. And if we don't vote, we're setting ourselves up for a fall in future where we're creating a generation out of touch with our political system and the people supposedly making our decisions for us.

19 - I roughed out a potential idea for a final piece. I'm definitely not set on it but am aiming to communicate the futility of sitting at home on election day thinking that we are influencing change. I don't think change will happen without being active, involved and better informed.

20 - So we need to take steps towards being more in tune. Yes, I think there should be more of an emphasis on the subject in schools and colleges, but just by giving a bit more of a shit, we can educate ourselves better. So I urge you to turn up to vote in May, and there are loads of websites and surveys that help you to figure out which policies or parties you align with best.

Visual Diagram Research & Sketchbook work

Following my essay, I attempted to expand my ideas using the map of understanding. I think this just confused me more because I really struggled with this task. When asking Matt for advice, he agreed that it was a challenge and suggested that I move away from breaking down the elements of satire and looking at satirist, to picking a topic to satirise.

I considered sticking with the topic of consumerism and advertising like in the pieces I analysed in my essay, but ended up realising that I couldn't avoid the topic of politics. I was hoping to, because I don't feel like I know anything about it and it often makes me feel stupid. But I realised that this point exactly could be the basis for my work and my research. 
I started to question the topic of young people's lack of interest in politics, and as a result came to the subject of voter apathy. 
Why don't young people vote?

Using my sketchbook, I began to research, experiment and explore, mainly beginning with stupid caricatures. I read articles about voter apathy that discussed potential contributing factors and drew around these points. 

The internet as a distraction:

I listed quotes and watched videos, but due to the whole nature of the topic, often found myself struggling to stay interested. 
However I came up with these sketches following my research, which display a mixture of playful drawings, my own opinions, initial concepts and slightly more developed ideas.

I think I'm doing quite well in illustrating concepts and intend on refining some of these ideas further. These drawings will help me to illustrate my points that I will be making in my Pecha Kucha.