PB2 Reflection

On INSPIRATION and CONTRAST

When starting this brief, I was inspired by Wywrot’s use of high contrast and movement. These elements combined, worked to make her daughter’s portraits seem otherworldly and I wanted to replicate this in my photography. While Wywrot would normally contrast her figures on a white background – I wanted to achieve the inverse. I made this choice because I wanted to create a sense of intimacy with my subject, allowing the viewer to still see features and relate to a face. I choose to still utilise the high contrast as I wanted to create an other worldly effect, only I felt as if these images were more etherial and angelic than the original idea of eerie or macabre. This is a concept I’m not sure I’m completely happy with and would like to continue using high contrast in future photography trying to play with the varying levels of uncanny I can create.

Looking at these two images, I feel as if the first would have been made more impactful had I had chosen a more interesting space to shoot. Looking at my inspiration in German expressionist films, the composition was made more horrific through the use of black shapes against the white background making the figure feel more constricted. That’s another reason why I decide to utilise the chiaroscuro effect in the second image as I felt it gave my piece the tight composition I was after.

EDITING FOR HIGH CONTRAST

A lot of my editing focused around getting the whites of the image – bright, and the blacks of the image – dark. I had no problem achieving this with Lightroom as I played with the settings displayed in image 2. I would then take the image into Photoshop where I would use a combination of masking and healing to erase the background into a pure black. I would also use Levels to really make sure my blacks and whites where standing out against each other. Continuing to shoot however I will work harder to set white balance and shoot at a higher ISO to make the editing process easier. I want to push myself to create that high contrast in the photo it’s self rather than producing the effect in post. I am highlighting this to explore in my future images as I would like to see what I’m capable of achieving through camera and subject alone.

Movement

Movement was hard to capture as I struggled to find the medium between blurred images that worked and those that were rendered unreadable to the viewer. A lot of the problems I faced on the location was due to a lack of tripod and understanding when was the right time that ask my model to move. These mostly arose through a lack of experience. I believed I wouldn’t need a tripod as I wanted the intimacy that is allowed from a hand hold however when it came to trying to capture movement the strain of holding still, proved harder than I had thought. This oversight is something I will look to correct in future shots, as bringing a tripod can never really be harmful. In terms of technique, things started working the more I shot. Adjusting shutter speeds and figuring out when to ask my model to move. This is something that will only get better the more I practice and the more shot.


The images I went with for my finals, where the produce of patience and the correct shutter speed for the effects I wanted to create. I am happy with both of these images because the blur works to enhance the photo rather than obstruct it. The first was taken at a 2.50s to create the movement blur. While the second image was taken at 5.00s to create impressions of where the movement had been. I want to continue to explore exposure and shutter speed in the rest of this studio as I enjoy the varying effects then can attribute to an image. To again turn attention to the second image, I will work in the future to combine light and movement, rather than treat them as separate elements. I feel as if I had lit my subject better or shot at an ISO higher than 200, the image would be stronger as the movement would read easier. This is something that I will remember as I continue my studies.

FINAL REFLECTION

Through this project brief I have discovered that I want my work to leave emotional impact on the viewers. I feel that creating uncanny figures will leave a lasting impression, however I still have ways to go before I achieve my desired effect.  While I learnt a lot about lighting to create contrast and capturing movement there is still many ways which I can improve technically when approaching a shot. For example, space and setting is something I paid little attention to while completing this brief, in future endeavors I will work to take test shots not only of the figure but the space I am shooting in as both play an equally important roll in the final image. Things like ISO, shutter-speed and F-grade where also aspects that I was unfamiliar with, though I gained quiet a bit of experience with them on this shoot, I will aim to practice more with the camera in my spare time. I feel this will also lead to trying new and more adventurous things when trying to create a body of work. Overall I was able to discover a style and direction I’d like to continue in through this studio. The use of contrast and movement of the figure inspire me to continue to play with lighting, focus and even long exposure as I hope to create work stays on the mind.

Week Three – Uses of Photography Test Shots

Taking inspiration from Magdalena Wywrot I wanted to create high contrast pieces. However, this took me a few shots to get right. The following image was shot at a low ISO (100) and my model can hardly be seen within the blacks of the room. In this image I had two dedo lights one bouncing off the roof as a spotlight and another on the legs.

While I tried to aim the lights directly on my models face, the ISO I was shooting at was still to low. A lot of my test shots are on the dark side, so going into my second shoot I will know to up the ISO as when I shot around 800 the photos were much brighter.

 

I like the warm light in this photo but I don’t know how this will translate in postproduction when trying to create high contrast pieces. I also like the use of depth of field as it makes her body look almost dettached.

In this test shot where I used a prop to create the bokeh effect around my model. I am exicited to see how this effect could translate in greyscale as I think it could create an errie shot. However I am still shoting at to low of an ISO at this point.

The ISO here was bumped up to 800, and my shutter speed was 1/60. I was trying to capture movment however figuered I would have to go for a longer exposure.

 

 Turning to shutter speed down to 1/30 allowed me to get this shot however I want to push how much movement I can capture in my photos. I also like how the hard spot lights gives the image a natural vingerette.

The shutter speed for this image is 6 however I did not capture at the right time. I think 2 secounds would have been enough to capture the movement. This is a skill I hope to  improve on in the furture. I will also try using a tripod next time I try long exposure.

Reflection: 
Looking at these images it is easy to focus on the errors. However by completeing this shoot I now know my probable technical procedure and  also the kind of images I want to create. I like tight compostions where the model’s face is mainly in focus or long body shots where depth of field works to break up the body. I like using moition and long exposure to create overwordly images and I like the intergration of props to create something different. Reshooting these I will look to keep the ISO high (at least 800) will work to create hard spot lighting rather than soft bouncing effects and use a low shutter speed 2 to 3. Fstop changed based on what I was shooting. But could range awhere from 5 when shooting long shotx  to 36 when shooting long exposure.

Uses of Photography Week 2: Inspirations

 The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Cinematography: Willy Hameister
Nosferatu (1922) Cinematography: Fritz Arno Wagner, Günther Krampf

While deciding what to photograph for the semester my mind kept circling back to the idea of horror. I first thought of myself sneaking into graveyards snapping away whilst the sun set. But, as I began to research how horror cinematographers capture an eerie mood I found myself stuck on images utilising the high contrast and tightly knitted compositions that existed within the German expressionist movement. I began to look for the same contrasting blacks and whites when picking a photographer to present to the class. Upon stumbling across Magdalena Wywrot in a photography issue of VICE magazine I felt as if it was meant to be. I was particularly drawn to the following two shots:

http://magdalenaswitek.tumblr.com

I had never really considered “movement” as a technique of photography. But after seeing Wywrot’s first image, it prompted me to try and take advantage of the sense of uncertainty that blur and movement can cause. In the second image, I was taken aback by how the contrast worked to create something otherworldly and sinister. When I consider how this photo might read in colour or without the use of hard lighting, I do not believe it would have the same uncanny effect on a viewer- As it would reveal the figure behind Wywrot’s daughter rather than letting them exist as a set of disembodied hands. Another element in Wywrot’s photographs is how she asks her models to pose and will shoot the back of the subject, and other unfamiliar angles to the viewer. In the second image, her daughter throws her head back in a more dynamic and unfamiliar pose than having the subject look to the camera. I will experiment with shooting my subjects from different angles and have them pose in a lot of different ways, trying to create a more striking result.

This idea of capturing something unnerving and eerie is what I’m looking to achieve this semester. I will try to utilise the same techniques found in both the german expressionist movement and Wywrot’s photos, paying particular attention to ways in which I can express a sense of tight space through composition, how I can use light to create high contrast and how I can use props and movement to achieve these aesthetics. I have also made the decision to focus mostly on the portrait as I am really hoping to achieve a final result that makes the human body seem unfamiliar or ethereal.

Continuing to work on PB2 I will look to recreate this hard lighting in order to achieve a juxtaposition between white and black. During the next week, I will begin taking test shots to better understand how light interacts with the face and body.

 

Final Reflection

My Learning Graph

When reflecting back on the post Dear Future Self, I’ve outlined a lot of writing goals. During this semester I was able to focus on them through my Popular Cultural subject and the task of keeping a blog. By rewriting concepts in my own words I was able to comprehend the reading Blood in the Gutters. It helped me relate ideas in the article to my own experiences I was able to understand them better. By writing posts I’ve not only gained confidence and understanding but it has helped me identify areas I’m interested in. Even if it was just a few sentences the blog allowed me to track what I would someday want to explore further.

When it came to the readings, I found some to be extremely dense and although the blog helped I still needed more. I found that printing out the articles and highlighting material I’d found interesting helped me to comprehend them. I feel that I am better suited to learning environments that support hyper attention, and so being able to highlight and write notes on the paper supports this because I am doing two things at once. I also feel like I learn better when I engage in class activities, or when concepts are displayed in visual forms like videos or pictures. Overall I feel a hands on approach is the best way for me to learn, especially when it comes to new equipment, because not only am I listening to what’s being explained I can also follow along.

The readings haven’t been my only source of struggle this semester as I’ve found myself struggling with failure. During the first lectures it was mentioned that we were going to fail and that it was going to be in front of everyone. It’s been hard for me to adapt to the idea that failure means that there’s something that can be improved on rather than being the end of everything. Fear of failure has also hindered my attempts to experiment more and push things out of my comfort zone. To fix this I’ve tried to approach each assignment as a way to improve and try new things rather than worry too much about marks. With our most recent project (Media Project Four), we’re trying voice recording and broadcasting as opposed to film. This is something new and something that I have enjoyed scriptwriting for and experimenting with how to project emotion and intensity through voice alone.

I’ve also struggled with reflection, as it’s hard to assess something you’ve worked so closely on. For Media Project Three, I reflected poorly on my video because of the bias I had for it. To change this I need to become more critical when reviewing my work and really highlight what I’m doing well and where I need to improve. It would also be good to have a peer or a lecturer review my reflection to make sure it’s formal and unbiased. Another good strategy I am currently undertaking is practicing reflections on my blog.

This semester has been really good for grasping an understanding on not only media, but who I am as a student and how I learn. When it comes to my creative practice I’ve discovered that although I enjoy making media, I am much more interested in the theory surrounding it. With that said I have learnt that brainstorming is an amazing tool that I need to utilize more as it helps focus my ideas and get rid of the ones that are cliched or too close to my comfort zone. In the past I’ve started things late and often given myself no time to explore other options or ideas. For Media Project Four it was through brainstorming that we were able to come up with our idea of the news like radio program.

Overall I am excited with the progress I’ve made and looking forward to the next semester.

Finest Hour

During the semester I’ve found using this blog helpful for exploring my own ideas surrounding media. For instance, this post I wrote on Remixing Art  which allowed me to examine glitch art and the editing of art on Tumblr. As glitch art was described as remixing to create something new and acceptable I wanted to contrast this with remixing art to generate buzz or attention for someone’s personal blog.

I have also used this blog to discuss media that interests me. The posts Audience Participation In Storytelling and Ethics use readings and lectures as a prompt to discuss concepts that relate to games, a media form I’m particularly interested in. I was able to draw on previous experience in my Ethics post to grapple with ideas in a way that I understood, while games allowed me to talk about audience participation in a way to could structure future potential narratives.

This blog has also been helpful for brainstorming ideas. Using the prompt during week 10’s  lectorial activity on Institutions I was able to write a piece on Facebook collaborating with my peers a post.

By articulating ideas on my blog I’ve also improved my ability to reflect in other subjects My Illustrated Auschwitz post was able to combine concepts of editing I was learning in my Media workshops, with a movie I’d seen in my cinema studies course. I was able to use my new understanding of the reading “Blood in the Gutters” to better analyse the film.

Media Project Brief 4

I think we were able to approach this assignment in a creative way that was informed by our research rather than just presenting it. Through brainstorming we were able to move away from a video documentary and onto something new that pushed our boundaries. Deciding on broadcast felt like a risk, however it allowed us to explore the effects that festival programming has on the audience of film festivals in a way that challenged what people would have expected.

By focussing on film festivals within the topic of institutions we were able to refine and present a clear idea in our final product. Film festivals were interesting to me in particular, because a lot of research had only recently surfaced about how a festival programming directly affects its audience. This let us know that our topic was not only interesting but not overly explored, giving us reason to conduct some of our own research. We interviewed people about the three festivals we were focusing on. These results enabled us to rewrite our scripts to include thoughts and feelings from our research group, resulting in a more accurate and informed final product. The interviews also satisfied our want to get out and talk to people as outlined by our collaborative contract.

As helpful as these interviews turned out to be collecting the information was challenging. I often felt uncomfortable talking to new people and unsure if I was asking the right questions. To improve this skill I will continue to challenge myself by conducting more ethnographic research. I will work to refine my questions to create key points in the discussion, but I need to be wary becoming overly caught up on wanting to reach that next key discussion point. This is something I mentioned in my Third Project brief when interviewing Maria. Although I’ve improved I still find myself too eager to jump ahead rather than taking note of how things are being said and if there’s additional information body language can tell. To continue improving I need to slow down when I’m interviewing people and really notice. It may also help to keep a field diary to make note of expressions, body language and tones. Video recording interviews would also help as I could then watch back to see anything I’ve missed that could be explored further.

During the semester I have continually noticed sound as an area for improvement. As it was suggested after our first draft we tested with different equipment and distances, we found these sound tests produced a huge increase in the quality of our work. By draft two the sound was already much more audible because we’d took time to run a test beforehand. This is something I will continue to undertake during my media practice as I can’t stress enough how much our work has improved. Next time I would like to try testing different volumes for voices and an even wider selection of mics/recorders as we were limited in what we could obtain, as we overlooked this in our final project with some audio ended up to soft.

A more problematic area of our final work was our expression of the script overall. In our first feedback session we were asked to give “not only ham, but the whole pig.” We revised the script by pointing out certain areas where the camp could be played up, but ignores the rest of the script. To help improve on expression I think a director should be assigned next time to steer how everyone is delivering their lines and more time to learn the script would also help as we would have been able to worry less about what we needed to say and more about how to say it. Recording everyone separately lost some of the comedic timing and energy was due to us no longer being able to bounce off each other. In the future as it could be beneficial to rehearse together before going splitting up. Another good idea would be including clearer cues in the script. I personally struggled with expression due to my shyness, and often found myself speaking too quietly and not wanting to hear my recordings back. To overcome this I’ll need to push myself to take on more speaking roles. Recording what I’m going to say on my own and listening back until I’m confident will help before I join everyone else.

In our group we were loose on roles and although we still made sure everyone had a task by the end of each meeting, I feel it would have been easier to ensure people knew what was expected of them at the start of the project. Listening to what others have to say is also an important collaboration skill, and had we not all gotten together and discussed our ideas we might have just been doing a simple documentary because that was my way of approaching the task. I am much happier I was able to listen to what Emily and Georgina had to suggest as we were able to all settle on the idea of the news-like broadcast – something I would have in no way come up with alone.

 

When Marnie Was There

During this week I watched Studio Ghibli’s new film: “When Marnie Was There.” Overall I enjoyed the visuals and the sentimental story, but felt as if something was missing. Reflecting on Roberts McKee’s ‘The substance of story” I was able to conclude that I personally did not find the protagonist Anna empathic. She did not strike a chord within me as I found a lot of her problems petty and childish. As an audience I found Anna to act hypocritically, treating others without maturity and then expecting it in return. I also struggled to find her friend with Marnie believable as she earlier in the film showed no interest in making friends or interacting with others. Overall when I was feeling sad by the end of the movie, it was not sparked by anything the main protagonist did.
Furthermore the supernatural elements in “When Marnie Was There” acted as a source of confusion, rather than highlighting the protagonists skills and ability to cope in a new and frightening situation. These encounters with Marnie often left Anna in the middle of no where passed out and vulnerable.

Allow I enjoyed the movie, but it missed the mark when it came to forming a connection between the audience and the characters.

McKee, Robert. (1997). ‘The substance of story.’ In Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York, USA: HarperCollins, pp. 135-154.

I’m Scared.

Machines are becoming too intuitive or intelligent.

In 2001, A Space Odyssey this fear exists, the fear of something we depend on betraying us due to it’s intelligence. Hal is unclouded by emotions and human reasoning to get the job done. So dedicated that he is able to make the decision that results in the killing off a crew member and to fake the human emotions.

“Stop Dave, I’m Afraid.”

When we watch a video game demo in class concerning androids similar words are uttered. It seems this phrase has been pinnacle for discussing if this is an act of unfeeling intelligence where they are aware that reminding us humans of morality is a chance to enact sympathy from them.


Can also be viewed  here 

“Kara” from the demo watched in class, is an android who experiences thoughts and emotions. This mimics an important theme grappled with in neo-noir film Blade Runner what does it mean to be human? Where androids are programmed  in a way were even they are convinced they are humans, how do they’re synthetic emotions differ from ours? This idea is further played out in movies like ‘Her’ that rather than relying on a sci-fi world to express this message. It is grounded in the now through the use of smart phones. It raises the question if  Hal had been presented as an android coded as sweet innocent girl in “2001” could we have witnessed a different turn of events.

It’s obvious that this idea will continue to exist in popular culture as the idea of what it means to be human is in no way close to being solved. The question we have to ask ourselves however is how this representation will be changed as years go on. Will we come to fear machines again or continue to rely on them, questioning if we can form long lasting bonds with them?


Can also be viewed here 

Reflection on Draft One

Today we were able to present our radio like clip to Dan in our tutorial. He understood the campy direction we wanted to take our research in but suggested we needed to “ham it up” because he wanted to see the whole pig.
To achieve this we have begun revising the script to highlight words or phrases that should be accentuated for comedic value.
We’ve also made note of Dan’s suggestion to use expressions, hand movement and acting because they can be heard even through the recording. A challenge we face however is that to improve sound quality we’ll have to record alone, hopefully we’ll still be able to achieve that intensity and comedic timing by remaining in the room to play off each other, even if only one person is running through their lines.
When addressing sound quality we were also make sure we are not only using individual mics, but proceed to test sound levels and statics to ensure a clear recording. The use of a fuzzy and testing of different recorders has also been suggested.

Overall we’re moving on into our second draft with a clear idea of what we need to fix to improve our artefact.

Remixing Art

Pixiv is a Japanese online community for artists to share their works. It involves a free membership to be able to post and explore the range of works. It is protected under these terms, which state that work can not be reposted.  Even though this is stated there is still on blogging website Tumblr, that involves taking these images uploaded on Pixiv and editing them. Here is an example.

When Glitch Art was explained in today’s lecture as a form of “show[ing] how destruction can change into the creation of something original.” [1] There is no debate where that with the use of cropping, colour saturation and minimal animations these edits implore are turning the original art into something new. The new work however is not something that necessary needs to be presented with the original and many think this is not an acceptable form of remixing. To explore this further Menkman as an example compels us to believe the glitch was something usually associated with rejection, and only when mixed with original art was it able to be “understood as a new representation or new language.” This could be said of Tumblr edits as when contrasting them with the original art form a new story can be told; for instance the art above has been edited to create a more somber and emotive effect. However these edits are usually made to create a desired aesthetic to match their blogs, resulting in many other users feeling like this is a shallow reason for the use of remixing and that the art should be left untouched.

It’s hard to say if this is an appropriate form of remixing or not because while it does produce a new way of understanding a image it’s done in a way that breaks certain laws and for an affect some may consider childish or shallow. Is this something that should be done with permission in order for it to be acceptable or is there still no real reason for it to occur.

Here is some further reading into Tumblr users who find this remixing problematic.
[x ] [ x ]  [ x ]

[1]  Menkman, in 2011, Video Vortex Reader 2, p. 341