Fashion Day 1:

Today we had to make 5 objects out of a range of papers. These objects had to either be a structure or a more textured piece. I decided to use structure and created these 5 objects using folding. We ten were set the daunting task of making lots more of one of these objects. I decided to use the flower origami one. I made different sizes varying from small to large. We then got into groups of 2 and started to create designs based on different words moving to a new set of objects each time. The words were things such as avant guarde, volume, Minimalistic as well as our own designs. 

 

 

Photography

Having previously studied Media and Film at A level, I was excited to start Lens Based Media. My initial thoughts were photography this was quickly changed during the first couple of minutes. I was unaware of what Lens Based Media would bring and was surprised at how broad a range it was. LBM includes animation, sound design, film, photography, television, moving image and interaction. When in sound design the only live recorded sound is the dialogue, all the other sounds are made using other objects and put into the clip after in the editing stage of production. Having studied Film and created my own opening scene I was only reminded of the people and different stages needed for the production of a film or television programme. Photography is something I have been interested in for many years and combined with my fine art style of working I was happy to find out that there are many different ways to set up what you are trying to capture, for example contrast, light, pattern and colour.

Photography starts from the invention of the camera which was Thomas Wedgwood in 1790 and the work of the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826. Photography has evolved over many years and this is something that can either inspire or bore people however in my case as long as it is brief I enjoy learning about the history and envelopment of the camera and photography itself. 

I was taken from the past to present in how photographs are taken; starting with a still shot from the surrealist film Un Chien Andalou. The camera can let us see more than the eye as well as fooling it into believing what we are seeing. The lens has been taken into space, far into the universe as well as to the microscopic images of particles. We were then shown a photograph taken in a busy French street however the image did not include people in the image. This is because at first the camera back then could not pick up movement due to how slow the shutter speed was. However as photography moved forward it started to break the frame and more and more fine artists were influenced by the rule breaking photographers. The camera was then sped up to capture movement and this can be seen in the images of a horse, Muybridge has taken. These two elements of speed and frame breaking were then both taken and I could see how the photograph has now taken the chance to blur the background to incorprate movement. We were shown a photo of a race car were the car was half of frame and the background was blurred which had to suggest that the camera was going the same speed as the car to make sure that the foreground of the image was not blurry. 

Many people back in the day were not aware of the photograph therefore the Lumier Brothers in Paris used to photograph and film people doing there everyday chores, they then projected these images onto large walls and invited people to see themselves; the people were amazed and confused. As time went on, war was something that people were very nieve about and the use of photography helped to expose the brutality of it. The power of image meant that they had to withdraw from the Vietnam war.

As Photography continued to grow sound was now available to to capture as an image. Photography allows us to see the invisible to the naked eye. 

Technology has paid a big part in the change of photography, cameras are so small now and have been incorporated into other products such as phones. There has been a range of beautiful images that have been taken on the iphone and us as a generation now have a sense of urgency of putting images online for everyone to see. For example take the Riots in London, the images were put online so quickly however you never see any of them again now. The generation of today live in the present and future and fail to sustain photographs that will be looked back on in the future. CCTV is a new presence of the camera and London is one of the most filmed places around the world. This makes me feel very uncomfortable with this information as we have no privacy although others argue it is for our safety. 

Overall, the camera is a lie; images can be manipulated as well being set up to appear to be something different. The framing and lighting is something very key to the idea of photography and illusion.

Lens Based Media: storyboard

My storyboard portrays the story of a space man. He is excited to see his family and wants to get back to earth quickly, whilst he is on the intercom to his wife. When putting the phone down he notices a object in the far distance heading towards his ship. It then suddenly hits the ship creating a crash leaving a cracked window and a scared spaceman. During the impact of the crash his water spills on his map. He doesn't know where he is going. The crash has also caused the ship to run low on fuel as it's leaking from the ship. The next scene is where his family stand looking into the sky to see a bright light. Giving them hope.

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Lens based media: Day 3

Prior to the last day of lens based media we had to create our own story based on the structure we had learnt. We then had to create a storyboard with 6 images showing this story; these could be photographs or drawings. I decided to create a story about a space man trying to get home from space however he goes through struggles and problems before he arrives home safe. I planned out my storyboard before taking the photographs so I knew how the story would work. I also played around with the structure of the story. 

Today we had to rewrite our stories, this was so then we could increase the tension and struggle as well as creating a twist in the resolution. I learnt that repeating is boring so the protagonist needs to realise that he isn't getting anywhere and risk more to try resolve the problem. Before even knowing that linking the struggles together increased tension I had already tried to do this in my own story. The resolution at the end has to be surprising and you have to not expect it to happen; although, the surprise had to be logical. 

I tried to experient with endings as this was the part of my story which I wasn't happy with. I created many story boards before I came down to three options. He dies, he survives or he wakes up in hospital and it turns out he was in a coma for a car accident. 

We then got into groups and discussed our stories with each other suggesting new ways of creating the story. I asked my group how I could resolve my story but they found this hard to choose one of my options. Therefore they came up with a new idea which was that the story had no end. The last image would be of a family looking into the sky to see a bright light. This could determine the spaceman coming through the earths atmosphere or the ship blowing up. Either way it gives the family hope.

I then presented my work to the class explaining my story and took back the critique that the family should be linked in at the start for it to work at the end. Therefore I was thinking of the spaceman being on the phone/intercom to his family in the first image. Overall, I really enjoyed this day because I learnt how to rewrite as well as improve my work. I feel that this has helped me with story writing in the future and has enabled me to critically improve. 

Lens Based Media: Day 2

To start today we watched a short black and white film, Fridge - Peter Mullan. The film shows the struggle of a couple to save a boy from suffocating in a locked fridge. The story shows both the initial problem trying to be solved as well as a number of other struggles whilst trying to solve the first. The couple are trying to save the boy although no one tries to help them, the neighbourhood is very isolated and sets the scene that everyone is living their own lives looking down on the rest. A story like this touches you in three ways: Visual, Sound and Emotion, which is the most powerful.
Although I know the structure of a story, we were reminded that they have a beginning, middle and an end. However there is a stronger structure which follows as -
Beginning 
World
Character
PROBLEM
Middle
Obsticles
Struggle
End
Resolve problem - the story can not end until resolved

Following this we teamed up in groups of four, in which we started to draw characters and places that had a certain unique personality. Our drawings were starting to look like cartoons because we were trying to enhance the drawing to show off the personality; all of our drawings were drawn onto the same sheet of paper. After filling the whole sheet of paper, as a group we took six characters and came up with a world for each of them using one of the places we had previously drawn. For example Henry is a normal man who works in a fancy dress shop as a clown. He also completes rituals in Stone Henge where he sacrifices pigeons.

We then created three storyboards over the top of our drawings using the guidelines of creating a story. I really enjoyed coming up with ideas and working as team to create a story that works.

Lecture 1: Giles and Cecilie Studio

Lens Based Media: Day 1

I brought in ten photos of "memories within my environment" and I chose one of these to draw. My image was of a Dandelion, I chose this image because it was a symbol of summer and the memories within that period now that winter is arriving.

I wanted to create the soft edge of the fluffy circle therefore used charcoal to produce my drawing. 

Half way through drawing Sebastian helped me to discover the meaning of the photograph. The photograph links the soft shape of the flower against the harsh background of the slate flooring. The lighting is natural and gives the flower more focus as it is darker in the background. I gave the flower human features and created a personality. The flower was a soft natural being however it still stands out from the background because of the focus pull. The shy individual is seen but not very prominent such like a shy person who is there but doesn't talk i.e. myself.

After drawing the image I now had to think about ways of cropping the drawing by covering up certain areas which would give it a new meaning. I played about with the shape as well as different areas of the image.

In the afternoon, we were shown the same image cropped in different ways which portrayed different meanings of to how the man died. I was then set the task of trying to find images which would portray the sense of Fall, Crush, Jump, Echo, Sad and Happy. I took many photographs however I chose the best below.

Fall:

Crush:

Jump:

Echo:

Sad:

Happy: