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My video for University Challenge! 

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My image for University Challenge! 

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University Challenge, Shout!

For the University Challenge they had set a brief where they asked us to focus on the dangers of carbon monoxide. However I had difficulty getting hold of a carbon monoxide alarm, because I am in America at the moment. 

So instead of going down the conventional route of shooting an alarm, I decide to focus on the fumes that a car gives off, and how this can be equally as lethal.

Unfortunately the project was rush, due to me being super busy over here, and the photos are of quite a poor standard. 

Photo’s above. 

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My Final 5 Ruff Cut images! 

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BA2a, 2 - Ruff Cuts

I borrowed a book from from NUA library called High Art, because the cover was funky as hell. I discovered in this book a history of 60′s psychedelic art, and this is where I knew I wanted to take my Ruff Cuts project. 

I’ve always had a huge interest in music, and during the summer of 2016 I went to The Rolling Stone’s exhibition ‘Exhibitionism’ and I realised that The Rolling Stones were so much more than the music, throughout their career they have had some of the most amazing stage designs, some very funky outfits and some of the most incredible tour posters! So I decided to make some posters of my own. 

To start off with I decided that I wanted to use a photo which I had previously taken at Reading Festival in 2014. The photo is of Royal Blood front man Mike Kerr, and I wanted the poster to be based around their Reading set. So I decided to use the same colours that Reading & Leeds use. Image will be uploaded in the next post. I’m pleased with how this poster came out, I think the use of a silhouetted Mike Kerr works, and it’s got a minimal effect to it. 

The second poster I made had a double use, firstly it was for uni work, and experience in making posters, but also it was for my sister’s Christmas present. My mum brought her  Adele tickets, and I offered to make the posters because the tickets didn’t arrive in time. For this poster I followed a YouTube tutorial almost step by step, and because of this I feel that this poster is my most professional looking, but I also feel that I cheated slightly to achieve the final product. None the less, I learnt a lot from following the tutorial. Poster posted above. 

Finally for my third poster, I decided to create one using the band Queens of the Stone Age. I decided on this band because after lots of research I found that they use artwork to promote shows in a similar way to The Rolling Stones, however the theme is often different. For this poster, I wanted to make most of it myself using techniques which I have learnt from making the other 2. Because of this I feel that this poster is probably the furthest away from being a professional poster, however I have the most pride around this one, and see the most potential because it is my own work which has gone into it. Also for this poster, I drew the main image which appears on the poster, then scanned it into the PC, and digitally enhanced it. This is because I wanted this poster to be original, and my own, unlike the Adele poster where I appropriated an image of her. 

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Successful Long Exposure! 

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BA2a, 2 - Ruff Cuts

I quickly got bored of shooting double exposures because I found that the images I was creating we’re quite generic, however I would like to go back to this technique to challenge myself.

After double exposure’s I was slightly lost on what to shoot next. So one night I decided to drive out into the countryside and see if there was anything there with sparked my imagination, and fortunately there was! As i was driving around I noticed that there was numerous train stations in quite a small area, so I thought that I could start shooting some long exposures. I’ve worked with long exposures before, but not since before I started uni so I thought i’d shoot some more. 

I’m very pleased with the outcome of one of my photos, but this was the only one was which successful so this idea didn’t carry on for too long, but this was the idea of Ruff Cuts as a brief. 

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These are my favourite images which I took whilst working on double exposures. I worked on a couple of techniques, the first was quite a generic technique where I took an image of a building and filled it’s silhouette with and image of a bush, which I think looks cool and this was the first time i’d shot anything using this process, which was fun. But i prefer the other 3 images, for these 3 shots, I started off by shooting a plain surface which was sometimes textured but always one colour.usually I would then use the first image to enhance the second photo which I layered on top. I think some of the results are quite cool. I really like how the corners of the photos are much darker than the rest of the images, but I’m not sure why this happens, 

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BA2a, 4 - Ruff Cuts!

My ruff cuts brief started with me wanting to work on double exposures. So i begun to do some research on photographers who have worked on double exposures and how to shoot them. I had always wanted to create my double exposures in camera, rather than using photoshop, and found out that to do so I need to use a Canon 5D Mk111, there are other camera’s which have the double exposure setting, but I had access to a 5D Mk111 through the MRC, so I decided to use this. So after the help of a tutorial video off youtube I went and did took some photographs.

See above images!

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Portrait Task

What is a portrait? 

A portrait is a representation of a person, it should give the viewer some impression on the person, putting emphasis on their uniqueness.  

 As Gerd Sander’s says in the video ‘What is a Portrait?’ “A portrait can be many, many things, it depends on the one who takes the portrait, who makes the picture”. So for me this mean’s that if the photographer should express a little bit about the subject being photographed through their portrait. There are many ways the photographer can show this in their portrait, for example they could use objects, such as childhood possessions, jewellery or clothing. Or slightly differently use colours and lighting.

 I have decided on shooting my girlfriend Eliza, and our flat, using inspiration from Charles Bukowski’s ‘the shower’ as the backbone of my inspiration. This poem makes me think of a very natural, euphoric love and it reminds of my relationship with Eliza. If I was to put colour’s to these feelings, they would be pastel colours, with hints of red’s and pinks. So I will work towards using these colours in my portraits, to try and give me work that euphoric feel that I get from the poem.

 However, in the video ‘What is a Portrait?’ Keith Hartley states that “A portrait doesn’t have to necessarily be a portrait of a person, it can also be a portrait of a thing as well”. I agree with Keith, and using this knowledge I will also shoot some portraits, which might not necessarily involve myself or Eliza. I will focus on our belongs, things which give the viewer an impression of Eliza’s individuality and incite into our relationship, and time together in this flat, how we have decorated, and made it a home together.

  Bibliography

What Is a Portrait? Dir. Nationalgalleries. YouTube. YouTube, 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 24 Oct. 2016.

Bitchcraft (Anna), 2012                                      

By Olivia Lee – Kids In Love.

Bra Project

Sophie Ebrard’s.

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Creative Process Task

My creative process.

How I decided on my first brief 

I came up with the idea of photographing my girlfriend, Eliza, in the flat that we share together after I found a new fascination for poetry over the summer, and also my first attempt for this brief failed. I have based my images around a poem by Charles Bukowski, which is a poem based around love. And with me and Eliza moving in together this summer, I thought it would be an idea time to document it.

My visual approach to this brief

My visual approach has come after a mixture of trial and error and research. I started my research into photographers such as Sophie Ebrard & Nick Meek. I drew inspiration from the colour tones of their work, which is often soft, bright colours. I then started shooting, and quickly found my images were much better when I worked with bright lights. My first image I took that I really like was of the window in the lounge, which is all steamy and almost over exposed, but not quite. This is going to be the theme throughout my work.

How successful has the combination of subject and visual been for me?

I would be lying if I said that I am 100% happy with how I have combined my subject and visual approach in this brief. I have a clear idea of how I would like my images to be once I finish this brief. However, at this point, I’m still trying to work out how to achieve this. My biggest stumbling block at the moment is tying my still life images in with my portraits and landscapes. I am finding it difficult to create the natural soft feel that I wold like, So I have work to do here, but I am confident I can achieve this.

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Still Life Task

My approach to still life.

 Still life can vary in subject and how it is shot. I am planning on shooting objects that have a connection to mine and Eliza’s relationship, things such as furniture we have decorated, and items of Eliza’s clothing. I plan on my images being personal and subjective.

 Wolfgang Tillmann’s said “I use my photography and my technical skills to achieve the impression of what it felt like to me in real life”. I agree with Wolfgang TIllmann, because I want to create a visual which has a euphoric feeling which when the image is viewed it looks almost like a memory. I plan on achieving this by backlighting the subject of my photography, whilst shooting with a high ISO. I’m hoping that the background with become overexposed, and the image grainy.

 At this moment I time I believe that my still life will all be photographed inside of my flat, I feel that doing this will keep the photos true to how they are in life. I am yet to decide upon the set up of my images however, I am undecided on whether to change the environment around the subject, or keep it natural and how it is.

 Zoe Leonard said “I'm interested in how we fetishise objects, communicate through them, and project meaning onto them”. Zoe’s comment’s on still life also relate to my work because I want to communicate theme’s of love, and lust. And to do this I will photograph objects which remind me of these things.  I’m hopeful that my photographs will give the viewer a subjective point of view about their own previous relationships and the feelings they have towards them.

  Bibliography

 Wolfgang Tillmanns in

 Bright, S. (2011) Art photography now. Rev edn. London: Thames & Hudson.

    Zoe Leonard​ in

 Bright, S. (2011) Art photography now. Rev edn. London: Thames & Hudson.

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Landscape Task

My approach to landscape photography is a forward stance with the subject in front of me, it's a simple approach and I typically shoot with a tripod, especially in the dark. My previous approach to landscape photography would be classed somewhere between Beautiful and Picturesque, being from Norfolk there aren't many hills, mountains or deep valley's, so creating sublime photographs is tricky. But going forward I would like to work on different styles, styles that I find more exciting, because I find the 'Beautiful' work I've created, safe and boring.

So going forward I would like to create unusual images, some of them verging on surreal, but I think to create these images it's going to take a lot of practice, so I don't feel that I will be able to create them straight away. I have taken my inspiration for this kind of work from artists such as Storm Thorgerson and Neil Krug. Their work is often unusual, and works with juxtaposition so that the viewers have contrasting views on their work.

For now however, I will be happy if my work is moving into the slightly abstract or pictorial direction, more abstract though. I’ve been taking inspiration from artists Nick Meek, and Sophie Ebrard. The inspirations I have taken from Nick & Sophie’s work is bright, washed out colours, with big landscapes. I feel that I would be able to create this style of work slightly easier, because it involves slightly less imagination.

In terms of a theme for my work, I’m still unsure, which is very worrying. I’ve had a couple of ideas, but neither have materialized. I am working on thinking of a theme and really hope to have one soon.

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Moving Image Tasks

My approach to moving image

To a certain extent I agree with Susan Sontag’s opinion of “Photographs may be more memorable than moving images, because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow”, because I would consider my 30 second moving image an introduction to my brief rather than the main part of my project.

However, I feel that Purcell’s opinion of “the dichotomy commonly set up between the still and moving image is misleading” is correct, because even though I have come into this project thinking that my moving image is just a side piece, if I use it to accompany my work I can fill the gap between to two different ways of working, and it could improve my work rather than being alienated from it.

With this is mind, I am going to use my moving image as a 30 second incite into my relationship with Eliza. I plan on using a similar technique to that of my photography, working with light to create bright images. And also working with depth of field, and other techniques such as making the moving image move from in focus, to out of focus. I will shoot my moving image as I photograph.

 I’m unsure on how to approach the sound, in an ideal world I would love to crate a 30 second piece of music using guitar. This piece would be soft to accompany the visuals, and entirely instrumental. Inspiration for this comes from Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ and Explosions in the sky’s ‘The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place’. However I’m not the most talented musician, so this might no be possible and I might have to just use sounds from around the flat.

  How do photographer’s approach moving image?

Henrik Knudsen. (Burnham Niker)

Link: https://www.burnham-niker.com/artists/henrik-knudsen/#moving-image,i=5393

In Henrik’s short moving image pieces for Bombay Sapphire, he using a stop motion animation technique to speed the image up, and keep the view interested, whilst still showing the whole process of how the cocktail is made.

He’s used colour tones which match the blues and white on the Bombay Sapphire bottle and logo, which make the moving image look calm and appealing. The audio he’s used has also been well thought about, because it helps the stop motion imagery moving in a smooth way.

He’s also filmed the moving image pieces in a social setting, which looks slightly upmarket. Somewhere like a cocktail bar. This gives the impression that Bombay Sapphire is a drink which is to be enjoyed in a classy setting, this is backed up buy the clothing the bartender is wearing.

 Sophie Ebrard – ‘My Perfect’ Volkswagen. (Wyatt-Clarke+Jones) 

Link: http://wyattclarkejones.com/film/# (Fourth Film)

This short film starts by showing a woman sat in the passenger seat of her car, reading a book. The shot is very peaceful, with bright, inviting tones which are very similar to show Sophie Ebrard shoots her photography work. This is a good example of how a photographer has transferred her photography skills to her moving image work.

In the second shot, it shows a little girl in the back seat of a VW, and again works with the bright colours. And again with the third scene, there is the same tonal range, however the location has changed, and now there is a man in the driver’s seat looking very proud of his now car. This is the theme throughout the film, Sophie has directed the film in such a way that every actor in the film looks very content or happy with the car they have purchased.

 The other thing I noticed with this film is that there isn’t a full shot of a car until the final scene, where the slogan ‘There’s a Volkswagen for everyone’ pops up in the middle of the shot. And in the earlier shot’s all the focus is on the models. I believe this has been done so that the viewer can imagine what it might be like to own a Volkswagen. 

I also noticed on the Wyatt-Clarke+Jones website that they state all artists create motion content as well as stills. Which really hits home the importance of learning how to create film as well as stills!

  Chelsea Bloxsome – Merry Christmas. (horton’s short’uns)

Link: https://vimeo.com/184325231 (video). http://www.hortonsshortuns.com/ (hoxton’s short’uns site)

Chelsea’s 2015 Christmas video works with stop motion again, but in a different way to Henrik. In this video the camera say’s at a bird’s eye view the entire video and she add’s little bits of Christmassy food’s and flavouring’s to create an image of a Christmas tree.

She creates this image very quickly, it only takes 8 seconds in the video, but the way she shoot’s and edit’s it is very smooth. I think the technique she uses is to take lots and lots of still images, in the sequence of her adding the little bits, which she then puts together and speeds up in an editing software like premier pro. 

For background noise, Chelsea has gone for an uplifting sound, rather than sounds to accompany her video, which works well. And when I first viewed the video it seems that the little bits were coming into frame in time with the music.

For the outro Chelsea continues with stop motion, making snowflakes appear then disappear, until the message behind the video is left on the screen, which reads ‘Merry Christmas’.

A Very Successful Business’s - Memoirs of a Geezer: Episode 2. (hungerTV)

Link: http://www.hungertv.com/feature/memoirs-geezer-episode-2/

Memoirs of a Geezer is a 5 part short film series, during which they follow a London cabbie around as he embarks on a new activity each episode. I’m choosing to focus on episode 2 because I find it hilarious.

The episode starts off the same as the other 5, it shows the cabbie played by Colin Newell, putting something in the boot of his cab. It then goes into a close up shot of his eyes, whilst he is driving the cab, with classical music playing softly in the background.

It carries on with a series of close ups, him using his indicator and changing gear. All of these shots give the impression that the episode is going to be serious. However I feel like they have utilized the space available to them well, considering they only have the front of the cab.

In the background the same classical music is playing, however the cabbie has now starting narrating about his day over the top. The cabbie explains that he picked up a tourist, and that a packet of crisps the tourist was eating caught his interest. This is represented by the camera cutting between shots of the cabbies eyes and the packet of cheesy wotsits.

Then there is a slight change in shot, the cabbie is now sitting in the back of his can, eyeing a wotsit romantically. The music has also changed slightly, to a slower more romantic classical soundtrack. The camera man uses depth of field, to change the focus from the wotsit to the cabbie, just before he starts to eat the crisp. As he eats the crisp, they cut to a shot of his fist tightening in pleasure at the taste of the crisp, after this they cut back to his face which is showing an expression of pure joy. They then use a wide angled approach to capture the cabbie shovelling in handfuls of wotsits, whilst sitting amongst 10/15 packets of the cheesy delights.

 For the outro to the sketch, there is a shot from the outside of the cab, and this finishes the sketch.

ITV – ‘Anticipation’ - Simon Stock. 2014. (Burnham Niker)

Link: https://www.burnham-niker.com/artists/simon-stock/#moving-image,i=4290

This short 30 second advert shows exactly what the title suggests, anticipation. 

The advert is shot in slow motion, using close ups of peoples faces to show some intense emotion, ranging from uncontrollable excitement to absolute despair. There is football commentary playing in the background, which is off a different language, but the commentator is celebrating a goal being scored. There is also what I think is a piano and a violin playing a tune a little quieter underneath the commentator. This helps to add emotion to the advert.

Even though the actors are directly in front of the camera throughout this advert, it seems like none of them look directly into the camera, and if they do, it appears like they are looking straight through you, as if they are watching a TV. The advert also casts a diverse range of actors from young and old, to male and female and different nationalises. This could be to show that football is for everyone, and not just for males as the stereotype once was.

The last thing I’ve picked up on is the background. It’s mostly a dull grey, with a hint of light coming up from the bottom. It changes slightly throughout the advert, but for me the most noticeable change was how dark it is when it shows an actor being upset. This could just be a coincidence, but it could also be to show the pain the spectator could feel. 

Roots and Culture: Jamaican Digital Art by Taj Francis. (hungerTV)

Link: http://www.hungertv.com/feature/roots-and-culture-jamaican-digital-art-by-taj-francis/

My final piece of moving image I’m going to analyse is by Taj Francis. This piece of work is different to the other 5 that I’ve research because this isn’t a type of film, it’s more of an animation, almost like a gif. In his work he animates certain parts of the image, such as the colours or hair, or by placing objects into the background that move slightly. 

His work instantly caught my eye, equally as much as the rest of the moving images that I’ve research if not more, because of the excellent use of colour and shape and it’s psychedelic nature. He works with wavy movements and bright colours in a way that reminds me of Pink Floyd or Tame Impala. Going forward with my own work, I feel like it would be difficult for me to incorporate this kind of moving image into this brief. However in the future I would love to learn how to do this kind of work.

 Summary

Researching these 6 films has been a massive eye opener for me, because going through the 6 websites provided, every one with the exception of AOP, has put a lot of importance into moving image and there are very few photographers on these websites that only shoot photography. It is clear to me, that to be very successful in this industry this is a skill I am going to have to learn!

Also, there is a moving image series by Gary Salter that he did for Sky, where he works with freezing the models and everything they are doing, and he continues to move around in the camera. This fascinated me, because I have no idea how he did it! So this is something I need to look into. And whoever reads this, is you have any idea how he did it, please get in contact!! There’s a link to his work below.

http://garysalter.com/moving/2015/11/26/ol43pb7oh5o9qwjiyibk3gjjjtjqhc 

 Bibliography.

 My approach to moving image.

 -           Sontag, S. (1973) On photography. New York: Farrar Strauss And Giroux.

 -           Purcell KW (2010)  Adventures in motion pictures Eye Magazine Number 77

Accessed at http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/kerry-william-purcell

 How do photographer’s approach moving image?

 -           Bombay Sapphire Compilation. Henrik Knudsen. Burnham Niker, Web. <https://www.burnham-niker.com/artists/henrik-knudsen/#moving-image,i=5393>.

 -﷒        'My Perfect' Volkswagen. Sophie Ebrard. Wyatt-Clarke+Jones, 2015. Web. <http://wyattclarkejones.com/film/#>.

 -﷒        Merry Chrismas. Chelsea Bloxsome. Horton's Short'uns, 2015. Web. <https://vimeo.com/184325231 & http://www.hortonsshortuns.com/>.

 -﷒        Memoirs of a Geezer: Episode 2. A Very Successful Business. Studio Yes. Colin Newell and Mark Sweet. HungerTV. Web. <http://www.hungertv.com/feature/memoirs-geezer-episode-2/>.

 -﷒        ITV World Cup 'Anticipation'. Simon Stock. Burnham Niker, 2014. Web. <https://www.burnham-niker.com/artists/simon-stock/#moving-image,i=4290>.

 -﷒        Taj Francis. "Roots and Culture: Jamaican Digital Art by Taj Francis." HUNGER TV. 2016. Web. <http://www.hungertv.com/feature/roots-and-culture-jamaican-digital-art-by-taj-francis/>.

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Contemporary Still Life Task

Victor Albrow.

Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/11/victor-albrow & http://www.albrow.com/#Portfolios/Still-Life/

Name Unkown from the series ‘Things’.

This image shows what a Swiss Army Knife looks like when it’s been dismantled. This image stood out to be because of how clean the image is. I think this still life image displays these themes: abstract, decontextualized, product, form, line, symmetry, colour, muted, clean, soft, reference.

Tony Bowman. 

Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/123/tony-bowran & http://www.tonybowran.co.uk/still_life_08.htm 

Name Unknown, Series Unknown.

  This image by Tony Bowman, show’s a banana in an unfamiliar pose as it looks like it’s dancing. I’ve picked this image because of how unusual it is. I think this still life image displays these themes: decontextualized, texture, form, line, colour, 3D, humour, abstract, reference.

 Fay Elizabeth Harpam.

Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/9246/fay-elizabeth-harpham & http://www.fayelizabethharpham.com/#

Opihr from the series Liquids & Beauty.

I’ve picked this image because it is a good example of an advertising shot. For me this still life photo displays: contextualised, product, texture, colour, pattern, line, clean, contrast, reference.

Tim Platt

 Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/825/tim-platt

 Little Lord Louis

  I’ve chosen this image because so far I have been drawn to a more decontextualized style, where as this one has a more traditional feel. This still life also displays: contextualised, vanitas, painting, form, colour, reference, 3D.

  Gandee Vasan.

 Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/1871/gandee-vasan

 Productive Chicken

 Back to the decontextualized with this image. It’s an unusual image, especially because the chicken is sitting on the kid of eggs you would give for Easter. Theme’s to this images are: Abstract, decontextualized, observational, referencing something, form, colour, repetition.

 Verity Welstead

 Link: http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/2448/verity-welstead

 Image Interiors

 I’ve chosen this image as a good example to a observational still life image. I feel like this image is very safe, but also the kind of photography which could easily lead to work. The themes of this image are: observational, contextualised, texture, form, product, colour, pattern, muted, repetition.

Contemporary Commercial Still life Images – Bibliography.

-       Albrow, Victor. Name Unknown. Things. Web. <http://www.albrow.com/#Portfolios/Still-Life/>. 

-       Bowman, Tony. AOP. Web. <http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/123/tony-bowran>.

-       Harpam, Fay Elizabeth. Opihr. Liquids & Beuaty. Web. <http://www.fayelizabethharpham.com/#>.

-       Platt, Tim. Little Lord Louis. Web. <http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/825/tim-platt>.

-       Vasan, Gandee. Productive Chicken. Web. <http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/1871/gandee-vasan>.

-     Welstead, Verity. Image Interiors. Web. <http://www.the-aop.org/find/photographers/profile/2448/verity-welstead>.