Magic food Essay Example

Magic Food

Table of Contents

Abstract

Magic food chronicle is a web series that examine the explorative journey of international Chinese student in Melbourne. Specifically, this is a story between our protagonist, Lan and her roommates Stacey and Jessica and the food. And it happens at a student dormitory in Melbourne. The protagonist is a Chinese oversea student, she loves cooking and she think that the food has the magic that brings the power to the student who study overseas because in China, “Food is considered as a prescription of health and can healing mood.” In the daily life between Lan and her roommates Stacey and Jessica, Lan always cook Chinese food for her roommates, to bring a feeling of warm to them and the story starts.

The chief idea here is to connect with Chinese community living in Melbourne, Australia with an aim of discussing a broad range of Chinese foods while at the same time building a soft image of Chinese food among the rest of Australian community using social media.

Introduction

The Western world is increasingly becoming home to a significant number of foreign students from Asia, Middle East and other parts of the world. In Australia, it is estimated that international students have increased over the last few years. The increasing number of Chinese international students in the West has been attributed to the massive influx of migrants and expatriates from Asia and Middle East as well as the Caribbean region. International students participating in Australian education system may experience cultural shock, frustrations or homesickness due to cultural differences. A significant number of these students attempt to cook traditional Chinese food as a way of helping them feel more at ease. For instance, in China, breakfast is in most cases served hot and comprises dumplings, porridge, as well as noodles. Moreover, rice is widely eaten in China and therefore Chinese international students in Australia may experience cultural shock if they are not served with fried rice dishes. The chief idea here is to connect with Chinese community living in Melbourne, Australia with an aim of discussing a broad range of Chinese foods while at the same time building a soft image of Chinese food among the rest of Australian community using social media. Chinese restaurants specializes in live sea food dishes, beverages, desserts, noodle and rice, casserole, bean curd and vegetables, venison and lamb, beef, pork, duck, chiken, and fish. Restaurants have an attractive Menu that includes barbecue pork, crispy skin roast pork, deep fried crab claw, deep friend prawn, deep fried spring roll, prawn in ginger sauce, and steamed dim sum. Soups served by Star Café seafood restaurant encompass bean curd and combination seafood soup, chicken and mushroom soup, hot and sour soup, Prawn Won Ton Soup, crabmeat and sweet come soup, crabmeat and shark fin soup, and chicken and shark fin soup. The Chinese restaurants serves sea food that includes Prawn with chilli sauce, Prawn with cashew Nuts, Prawn Bo Prawn, deep friend squid with sour and sweet sauce, deep fried squid with pepper and salt, and crayfish. Also served is deep friend fish fillet, fish fillet with chilli sauce, fish fillet with sweet corn sauce, fish fillet with combination vegetables, deep friend fish fillet, sweet and sour fish fillet, as well as, sweet and sour fish fillet.

My Role in the Project

1. Video Recorder

My chief role in the Magic Food Chronicle was significantly a video recorder. Specifically, I took video recording at every stage of the production process.

1. Script Writer

Apart from being a video recorder, I was a script writer as well. Specifically, I was responsible for writing lovelorn.

Theoretical Perspectives

This project adopted theoretical perspectives. They include transmedia storytelling and spreadable media. Over the last few years, the idea of transmedia storytelling has increasingly become a common mentioned topic in academic circles and sectorial applications. From a historical point of view, it is perceived that the emergence of storytelling as an approach is in association with entertainment and media industries. First actualized via sectoral practices, transmedia has increasingly become one of the domains of academia and will continue to develop conceptually in the coming years. A significant number of firms operating in a broad range of areas employ transmedia storytelling and benefit from its strength as an approach with an aim of presenting their services and products to public groups. Borrowing from Gurel and Tigli as a narrative technique, transmedia storytelling is grounded on telling a story across a broad range of communication platforms.

As a new aesthetic form that emerged in reaction to media convergence, transmedia storytelling relies on active participation of information societies and the increasing demand of modern consumer. Equally, transmedia storytelling is seen as the art of creating a large world out of fictional worlds that have various richness. As the other component of the concept of transmedia, storytelling is defined by Page as expressing a topic, event, problem, a thought via elements such as image, sound, writing, or statement. Irrespective of the category of narrative, there are a broad range of expression, including discussion, explanation, description, and narration according to the purpose of the narrator. In terms of these narratives, linguistic, and conceptual openings, transmedia storytelling entails telling interesting components of a story by employing a broad range of communication platforms and ultimately bringing the entire story into use via a wide array of experiences and dimensions. As argued out by Gurel and Oyku, transmedia storytelling is the technique of transferring themes, concepts, and messages to the mass media via time sharing multimedia platforms on a systematic figure.

Joshua Green, Sam Ford and Henry Jenkins provide an engaged and encompassing discussion of the diverse and intricate ways in which a broad range of forms of media circulated in the internet. The suggested a spreadable media model that argues that if its fails to spread, then it is probably dead. For a significant number of years, Jenkins has been talking regarding the relationship between use-generated content and mainstream content. According to Jenkins, the concept or the idea of spreadable media rest on the demarcation between circulation and distribution. Circulation in this case entails a hybrid system where contents spreads as an outcome of a series of informal transaction between noncommercial and commercial participants while distribution refer to the top-down spread of media content as obtained or captured within the broadcast paradigm. In other words, spreadable media is perceived as media which travels across a broad range of media platforms, partly because individuals take it in their won hands and increasingly share it with their social networks. Jenkins provide an example of Twitter and the role it played in informing people what was talking place in Tehran following the Iranian elections as well as increasing people’s engagement with it. The American public had an emotional connection with people in Iran since they were aware of what was taking place in the streets of Tehran. Both blogs and Twitter originated with an aim of sharing links with consumers. According to Jenkins, new stories increasingly spread via grassroots intermediaries and get inserted into a broad range of conservation across a wide array of various communities.

Methodology

This project adopted tow methodology namely textual analysis and practice-led research. Textual analysis is an approach taken by investigators with an aim of collecting data regarding how other people make sense of the world around them. In other words, textual analysis is information –collecting process for investigators who want to comprehend the manner in which members from different cultural backgrounds make sense of who they are as well as how they relate and fit into the world they live in. According to McKee, textual analysis has increasingly become important for investigators working in mass communication, media studies, cultural studies and even in philosophy and sociology. People interpret texts, including graffiti, clothes, advertisements, magazines, television programs, and films with an aim of trying to obtain a sense of the manner in which a given individual from a specific cultural background make sense of the world around them. As people understand their cultures better, they begin to see the advantages and limitations of their own sense-making practices. Different cultures perceive the world around them differently. Drawing on McKee, culture may ascribe different levels of value to a broad range of things around them. For instance, some cultures see being fat as a good thing while others perceive fatness as unhealthy and therefore a bad thing. However, there is no universal agreement as to whether body fat is a bad or a good thing. Other cultures, as argued out by McKee have no words for triangular, squire, and round since they do not perceive these words as useful to them while others do not employ the concepts of abstraction such as matter and speed. Regardless of the approach an individual take to judge a broad range of cultures’ sense-making practices, one is supposed to analyze texts in different ways. Textual analysis allows individuals to see how different or similar the sense-making practices that different people employ can be. Equally, textual analysis can assist people to better comprehend the sense making cultures in which people themselves live by seeing their shortcomings as well as potential substitutes to them.

Practice-led research on the other hand is chiefly concerned with the nature of practice and results to fresh knowledge that has operational importance for that practice. In other words, the chief focus of the practice-led research is to improve or advance knowledge regarding practice or to enhance knowledge within practice.

Benefits and Shortcomings of the Methodology
Textual Analysis	Practice-led Research
Benefits	Shortcomings	Benefits	Shortcomings
Allow people to obtain a sense of the manner in which a given individual from a specific cultural background make sense of the world around them	The method may be vulnerable to cognitive biases	Assist in improving or advancing knowledge regarding practice or to enhance knowledge within practice.	Important information may be overlooked

Justification for the Selection of the Methodology

Textual Analysis

Since Magic Food explores a culturally sensitive issue, it is critical to obtain a sense of the manner in which a given individual from a specific cultural background make sense of the world around them. In this case how an international Chinese student make sense of the world around her.

Practice-Led Research

As we examined the explorative journey of international Chinese student in Melbourne and we produced a series of documentary, we gained useful insight regarding how Chinese make sense of the around them as well as how a video can be recorded, edited and produced. All these were additional knowledge and skills that were initially lacking.

Analysis

1. What skills and knowledge did you bring to the production?

As a recorder and script writer, I found myself making a significant contribution to this production. Specifically, I brought recording and script writing skills into the production. My colleagues were not good at recording and therefore I had to step in. I previously attended a workshop to familiarize myself with recording skills as well as script writing skills.

2. From your journal, supply evidence of these claims

3. What were the key difficulties to be overcome in the production?

As the only individual who mastered recording skills, I found myself being overwhelmed by the task. In other words, there was nobody to assist me in the recording process. Additionally, I was also a script writer and this really was a source of physical and emotional stress.

4. From your Journal, supply evidence of these

5. How did these issues affect your role in the production?

My role increasingly became intricate and I suffered both emotional and physical distress. I had to explain to my colleagues all the stages of recording.

6. From your journal, show evidence of when and how your plan changed

7. How were these changes negotiated?

Since I had to assist my colleagues in editing the video and script writing, they had to assist me in carrying and taking care of my recording equipment.

8. How did you go about developing your skills and knowledge?

Through practice, I gained more insight regarding recording and script writing skills. Specifically, my recording skills improved throughout the production process. Additionally, I was able to acquire more script writing skills. I also observed my colleagues and learn a broad range of skills from them. Through reflection, I was able to identify my weaknesses and strengths. I discussed my weaknesses with my supervisor and he advised on how I could overcome my weaknesses and perform better in the future.

9. From your Journal, how did this development change the project?

Conclusions

Magic food chronicle is a web series that examine the explorative journey of international Chinese student in Melbourne. Specifically, this is a story between our protagonist, Lan and her roommates Stacey and Jessica and the food. And it happens at a student dormitory in Melbourne. The protagonist is a Chinese oversea student, she loves cooking and she think that the food has the magic that brings the power to the student who study overseas because in China, “Food is considered as a prescription of health and can healing mood.” In the daily life between Lan and her roommates Stacey and Jessica, Lan always cook Chinese food for her roommates, to bring a feeling of warm to them and the story starts. As a recorder and script writer, I found myself making a significant contribution to this production. Specifically, I brought recording and script writing skills into the production. My colleagues were not good at recording and therefore I had to step in. I previously attended a workshop to familiarize myself with recording skills as well as script writing skills. International students participating in Australian education system may experience cultural shock, frustrations or homesickness due to cultural differences. A significant number of these students attempt to cook traditional Chinese food as a way of helping them feel more at ease. As a recorder and script writer, I found myself making a significant contribution to this production. Specifically, I brought recording and script writing skills into the production. My colleagues were not good at recording and therefore I had to step in. I previously attended a workshop to familiarize myself with recording skills as well as script writing skills.

Future Career Direction

While undertaking this project as a social media producer, I realized that are a great opportunities in this field that can be explored in future. I intend to become a reputable social media producer in the nearest future. My recording and script writing skills will enable me to effectively execute my role as a social media producer.

Works Cited

Gurel, Emet and Oyku Tigli. New world created by social media: Transmedia storytelling.

Journal of Media Critiques 1(2014): 35-65.

Jenkins, Henry. Sam Ford and Joshua Green. Spreadable media. New York: New York

University Press, 2013. Print

McKee, Allan. “What Is Textual Analysis?.” Textual Analysis (2003):2-34.

Page, Ruth. Stories and social media. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print

Usher, Nikki. Why spreadable doesn’t equal viral: A conversation with Henry Jenkins. Web.

May 29, 2017. http://kultur.tvmkanal.dk/files/2011/09/Jenkins-spreadable-vs-viral.pdf