Ways 2 interface was a transdisciplinary research project, study log and personal journal I oversaw from 2014 to 2016.
I had planned to carry it over and expand it within the research focus of a traditional master’s degree in Creative Technologies and Enterprise, which I had originally signed up to undertake at the end of 2014.
Ways 2 Interface picked up where the research concerns of my BA (Hons) theoretical dissertation, Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle, had left off.
Hence the name of Ways 2 Interface, a.k.a. Phase 2.
Ultimately, I decided against undertaking a traditional master’s degree and instead opted to build my own master's degree which I went on to call my MTA Portfolio.
As my MTA Portfolio grew, the drive to pursue a research project to suit the requirements of a traditional master’s degree became less relevant and Ways 2 Interface transitioned away from being a research project in its own right.
It then morphed into a study log for my MTA Portfolio and then became a more general personal journal of mass communications and media studies 2.0.
With all its focuses, Ways 2 Interface accompanied and influences the construction of my MTA concentration in Multimedia Studies and Creative Technologies.
I stopped updating Ways 2 Interface in 2016.
I have since published all the unfinished and unpublished posts I originally wrote back in 2014 and 2015 in conjunction with presenting Ways 2 Interface as a component of my Creative Technologies Sandbox (which is one of the final projects for my MTA Portfolio).
I have also re-posted most of the content of Ways 2 Interface on my MTA Portfolio blog.
The Research Project: Something New and Fantastic
Is it actually something new and fantastic?
I don't know.
But from my point of view it is, because this overall project-and-blog-thing is very much tied up with my larger personal development aims, so naturally I have a great deal of enthusiasm invested in the overall focus of Ways 2 Interface.
This blog started its life as a research focus extension of the concerns of my First Class BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies and, in particular, the focuses of my two final year dissertations: EYES (practical dissertation) and Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle (award-winning theoretical dissertation).
Hence, the name of this blog: Ways 2 Interface a.k.a. Round 2.
Welcome #2Interface - my original intention for this blog.
However, the initial focus of just presenting my extended research and considerations never felt quite right - it always felt incomplete. After essentially writing another dissertation spread across the first four posts of this blog, I decided to reassess its situation and where exactly I stood in regards to my academic interests.
Why #2Interface: expanding my focus + focusing my interests = mastering the enterprising researcher - my reassessment of this blog and its focus.
Ultimately, this project was always building towards a masters degree in Creative Technologies and Enterprise that I was very interested in undertaking (there is still a huge maybe hanging over this, but the option is still open) and, when I reassessed the situation in regards to my postgraduate education, it occurred to me what was really missing from this blog - MOOCs!
The many different MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) I had undertaken throughout the later part of 2013 and the full breadth of 2014.
From the many different disciplines of the MOOCs I have studied, it is clear to see that I have a hybrid transdisciplinary focus that extends far beyond the creative writing and film focus of my BA (Hons).
Basically - my MOOCs, the vast swathes of time they have eaten up and the reflections they have encouraged me to produce on the various different aspects of my overall education and creative application - are very much an expression of my expanded hybrid focus.
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| It's about re-thinking traditional paradigms. |
Additionally, I am finding that my creative entrepreneurial focused practice and self-directed postgraduate study is proving to be vastly more beneficial and fulfilling than a pre-arranged masters degree. Therefore, for the time being, I am staying off the conventional path, while I continue to explore the wilderness.
It has taken me quite some time (nearly a year) to realise that I could utilise this blog to further consolidate my learning by using it as a reflection space. Therefore, I have quite a large backlog to get through, but as the content of the blog becomes more fuller and more widely representative of all the studying I have been doing, I will gradually tie its relevance back into the original research focus of Ways 2 Interface.
Welcome #2interface.
Ways of Being: The Spectator and the Spectacle - the award-winning primary progenitor for Ways 2 Interface.
E Y E S - A Web Series Concept Proposal Package - the sister dissertation project of Ways of Being.
If you would like to get in touch, please feel free to do so via the contact form.
About Me: Something to do with Film
My name is Peter O'Brien, I am a Creator, Writer, Filmmaker, Personal Developer and award-winning Researcher based in Bristol, UK.
In July, 2013, I graduated from Bath Spa University, where I gained a First Class BA (Hons) in Creative Writing with Film and Screen Studies; as well as a great deal of recognition and heartfelt encouragement of my overall potential.
I am currently embarking on my own self-directed postgraduate study that Ways 2 Interface is chronicling.
“I can't help but feel your careful consideration and reflection has developed formidable power. I wish that all my students had a fraction of your application and drive to dig deeper.”
- Mike Johnston, Senior Lecturer in Creative Media Practice.
It has also been bestowed with the Media Futures Research Award for Excellence in Film and Screen Studies research.
"This is certainly one of the best FL dissertations I have read for many a year"
- Dr Terence Rodgers, Head of Department: Film and Media Production.
My practical dissertation and creative enterprise project, EYES, a web series concept proposal package, a reflexive expression of contemporary networking attitudes and their implications on our ways of being, was also awarded the highest mark of its module."These materials are comprehensive and strong, showing a close attention to detail throughout... verging on the overwhelming, from an assessor's point of view."
- Professor Kate Pullinger, Lecturer in Creative Writing and Digital Media.
My
temperament is a fusion of creative and academic. This
project will very much employ the full breadth of this combined
expertise; as well as nurturing it and growing it in new areas.
My two dissertations very much serve as testimonies of these two key facets of my character.
At heart, I have always been both a deconstructor and a builder.
"You're a really good builder."
- Charlie Driscoll, Nephew and fellow Lego builder.
My philosophy is simple: utilise everything that you are, to achieve everything that you want to be; while helping others along the way. I very much took this to heart while undertaking my degree and I do likewise here.
All of my exploits are feeding into this project.
"That is so typical of you, that you work while you work."
- Mykel Elledge, friend, fellow student and actor in EYES
I have something of a special relationship with stories and it has something to do with film.
I have spent all of my life building a foundation of knowledge that, in the broadest sense, lies somewhere between stories and film.
In other words: how we make sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves and what role mass entertainment and branding (film, being a primary example) play in this inherent narratology.
In other words: how we make sense of the world through the stories we tell ourselves and what role mass entertainment and branding (film, being a primary example) play in this inherent narratology.
“Pete, you have a fantastic dissertation which deserves the highest possible grade. Really, it is brilliantly written which displays your thorough research and passion for the topic and, most importantly, it is original and not something that people have written about tens of thousands of times. You've done something new and fantastic.”
- Matt Coot, friend and fellow student.
Between June 2013 and January 2014, I wrestled with the best way to orchestrate Ways 2 Interface. Should it be pure academia, devoid of me and my journey? Or should it be more of me and my story?
Ultimately, I have decided on something inbetween. As a creative and an academic, Ways 2 Interface is an extension of my story, an exploration of my path and an expression of my overall drive to dig deeper.
Ultimately, I have decided on something inbetween. As a creative and an academic, Ways 2 Interface is an extension of my story, an exploration of my path and an expression of my overall drive to dig deeper.
"The most motivated individual I have ever had the pleasure to meet... I have never met an individual so driven and so likely to succeed and push the boundaries of which ever field he chooses to go into."
- Tim Bradshaw, friend and fellow student.
Between June, 2013, and January, 2014, I evolved the focus and aesthetic of this project from its origination in Ways of Being. It was a process that made me reflect deeply on the growth of my own story. I have come to realise that if we persistently invest ourselves in the things that we are passionate about, the things we are passionate about will empower us to achieve great things.I hope you enjoy coming on this journey with me.
