Final Work

• I see my film as something that would be presented in a gallery. 
• I wasn't quite sure of what I was going to film. But knowing that things that you adore are always around you, I decided nature, green, earth, mirror, refection. It's not much but yea. 

My film to me is:

Being able to view things differently. From different angles, seeing it from something else such as a reflection. 

Showing the different techniques that I have been taught and applying it into my final work.

What a difference it can be by viewing it in colour and without colour and the type of music you add with it. 

How things can be viewed on screen and in real life. 

Being able to work with things that appeal to me.

I was playing around with my final image. I left everything normal, colour through out, same music through out. 

I then decided to add reverse shots to the second half of my video, reversing the shots I have on my first half, of the video. 

I already had my music chosen. It was the same through out. I then decided to change the second half of my music adding it so it could be fade out and go with the reverse shot as the colour show.

I decided to use black and white at the beginning because I knew I was going to use colour on the reverse shots. It also goes with music I have chosen.

The video with the black and white is my final image. 

Research

Jeppe Hein
Mirror Wall (Video)
2010
Mirror foil, wooden frame substructure, vibration system
200 x 356 cm

Something similar happens when visitors get close to Mirror Wall (2010). What at first appears to be a large but straightforward mirror begins to move slightly when approached. Viewing one’s vibrating reflection in it and the accompanying distorted backdrop of the gallery space creates a sense of dizziness and a strange feeling of separation from the familiar. It prompts us instinctively to re-calibrate our spatial awareness and our relationship to what we see and where we are. 

Hein’s experiential, perceptual magic tricks are his vehicle for raising engagement between art and its audience. He makes work that can only be experienced through participation, expanding our notion of what art is or could be. ‘For me, the concept of sculpture is closely linked with communication… By challenging the physical attention of the viewer, an active dialogue between artwork, surrounding and other visitors is established that lends the sculpture a social quality.’

http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/jeppe_hein_mirror_3.htm

Context

Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena.

Application & Experiment

• Nephews holy communion celebration
• Camera angles I have used are close up, extreme close up, and wide shot.

Artist Research

Yoko Ono

Born: 18 February 1933
Occupation: Artist, peace activist, singer.

Gaining Notice as an Artist

Settling in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, Ono developed an interest in art and began writing poetry. Considered too radical by many, her work was not well-received, but she gained recognition after working with American jazz musician/film producer Anthony Cox, who later became her second husband. Cox financed and helped coordinate her "interactive conceptual events" in the early 1960s.

Ono's work often demands the viewers' participation and forces them to get involved. Her most famous piece was the "cut piece" staged in 1964, where the audience was invited to cut off pieces of her clothing until she was naked, an abstract commentary on discarding materialism.

In Depth Research

Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. Video art came into existence during the late 1960s and early 1970s as new consumer video technology became available outside corporate broadcasting. Video art can take many forms: recordings that are broadcast; installations viewed in galleries or museums; works streamed online, distributed as video tapes, or DVDs; and performances which may incorporate one or more television sets, video monitors, and projections, displaying ‘live’ or recorded images and sounds;.^[1]

Video art is named after the original analog video tape, which was most commonly used recording technology in the form's early years. With the advent of digital recording equipment, many artists began to explore digital technology as a new way of expression.

One of the key differences between video art and theatrical cinema is that video art does not necessarily rely on many of the conventions that define theatrical cinema. Video art may not employ the use of actors, may contain no dialogue, may have no discernible narrative orplot, or adhere to any of the other conventions that generally define motion pictures as entertainment. This distinction also delineates video art from cinema's subcategories (avant garde cinema, short films, or experimental films, etc). 

In Depth Research

Link to Cinematic Techniques

Everything to know, camera wise, about Film making and Video Production

Research

Just because, mirrors.

Also, the techniques that are used are amazing, Showing us what could've been, I guess.

Evaluation

Video's that don't show much are videos I like to evaluate on and are the type of things that I am interested in. I like how you can video anything and make it more than it really is. 

The choice to make the video in black and white works as it would not look appealing if it was in colour. 

Evaluation& In Depth Research

Although a music video isn't what I'm working towards, I really like the camera techniques that are used in this music video. It starts from the bottom of his feet and tilts upwards to his head. You can see the amount of effort that has gone onto this video clip especially when the colourings on the wall show up, and then on to the body. Stop motion is used when the colours on the wall come up and when it shows on to the body as well. The colour that show on the person go with the the colour on the wall, like his is the wall himself, camouflaged.

Camera techniques that I have noticed are medium close up, extreme close up, close ups, 2 shots, wide shot.

Stop Motion

Stop motion (also known as stop frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object or persona appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Stop motion animation using plasticine is calledclay animation or "clay-mation". Not all stop motion requires figures or models; many stop motion films can involve using humans, household appliances and other things for comedic effect. Stop motion using objects is sometimes referred to as object animation.

Application & Experimentation

Camera techniques that I have used are wide shot and extreme close up.
I left the original sound in the video.

Application, Experimentation & Evaluation.

Without added sound

                                     With added sound

                                         

• Family getting ready for church.
• I left the original sound on because I like the use of hearing what is actually going on.
• I have used different camera movements such as panning, tilt and camera handling like close up, wide shot.

I think I've used editing techniques like cut in, rhythmic and jump cut.

What didn't work for me was that the camera was handheld. As you watch through this experimentation you can see how the camera shakes as it is held still.

What I could do next time when filming is use a tripod.

With the 'added sound' video I didn't know which song to choice and since it was Sunday morning I decided to choice this song.

Although the 'without added sound' doesn't have 'added' sound I still prefer that, (without added sound), to the film that has 'added sound'.

Evaluation

A black and white video of Vito Acconci talking to someone who I think are the viewers. I found this film a bit creepy as he lies on the floor speaking to those who view it. He uses a close up of his face the whole time and says things that involve needing 'that person'.

I feel like, somehow, this video is working. Working as in it goes well together. As he lies there and talks seductively and shows intimacy. He could've filmed himself saying something else but what he said and how he says it works. I guess that's what makes this film art. When you watch this video you also notice the scratch effect and that, too, works, like he was losing connection on the other line.

From laying on the floor, to smoking cigarettes. From speaking intimately and seductively to the choice of song he plays and sings along to. Even the use of his body language with the things that he says works, in a creepy and weird way, it works.

In-Deph Research

History of Film

The history of film began in the 1890's, with the invention of motion picture cameras and the establishment of film production companies. The films of the 1890s were under a minute long and until 1927, motion pictures were produced without sound. The first eleven years of motion pictures show the cinema moving from a novelty to an established large-scale entertainment industry. The films became several minutes long consisting of several shots. The first rotating camera for taking panning shots was built in 1897. The first film studios were built in 1897. Special effects were introduced and film continuity, involving action moving from one sequence into another, began to be used. In 1900, continuity of action across successive shots was achieved and the close-up shot was introduced. Most films of this period were what came to be called "chase films". The first use of animation in movies was in 1899. The first feature length multi-reel film was a 1906 Australian production. The first successful permanent theatre showing only films was "The Nickelodeon" in Pittsburgh in 1905. By about 1910, actors began to receive screen credit for their roles, and the way to the creation of film stars was opened. Regular newsreels were exhibited from 1910 and soon became a popular way for finding out the news. Overall, from about 1910, American films had the largest share of the market in all European countries except France.

Task 10: Sound

Experimentation

What's working? It's a time lapse video. You are able to see the clouds moving.

What is not working? The angle that the camera is in doesn't look nice. It's not stable.

Evaluation & Ideas

In these two Ted Talks video, Louie Schwartzberg talks about the beauty of nature. His use of time lapse is amazing, capturing moments that we are not able to to see.

It takes months to be able to take a time lapse of something beautiful that takes time to grow. I love the colours that are shown, the camera movements that the camera captures, the use of time lapse to make the video more intriguing.

Schwartzberg has been shooting time lapse flowers non stop. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for over 30 years and it's amazing. So much effort taken into it, one month for a 4 minute video, which to me would be worth it.

I want to be able to take on what Schwartzberg has done with time lapse and put it into my final image, if I was to do time lapse as my final image.

Benedictine  monk Brother David Steindl-Rast talks about the beauty of nature in depth, in a way that we should be grateful to be in this world. To be able to enjoy the rain we get, to see more than just rain. He explains the way we think about weather. That we just think about the weather, good weather and bad weather.

I love how Schwartzberg has made this project using his time lapse of nature and has gotten a separate clip to be a voice over behind it. This gives me ideas of how I could present my final image.

What I could do later is experiment with how sound could be added into my image. If I was to add sound from a different clip or use the sound that is captured in the video I have taken at the time.

Experimentation

Camera Movement: Tilt

Evaluation

What do I see: skies, orange tree, oranges, garage, house, grass.

What's working? Camera movement is right.

What's not working? Lighting. Camera is hand held. 

Research

https://vimeo.com/user9875782

A Vimeo account with amazing nature time lapse.

Experimentation

Camera Movement: Panning from left to right.

Evaluation: 

What do I see: Roses, thorns, window, curtains, leaves, plants, stone, colour, tree trunk.

What's working? Panning is right.

What's not working? The video is recorded by hand which makes it look rough. Camera isn't steady.

What would I do differently? I would use a tripod so that the recording is smooth.

What's next? Take more videos with different camera angles, movements and techniques.

Surface Research

Roman Signer

• Roman Signer is a visual artist who works in sculpture, installations photography, and video.

• Born in Appenzell, Switzerland, 1938.

• Signer started his career as an artist later in life at the age of 28.

• Signer's work has been shown at galleries and museums in Europe, North America and Asia over the last thirty years.

• He holds degrees from arts institutions in Switzerland and Poland. 

• Studied at the Schule für Gestaltung, Zurich, Switzerland, 1966

• Studied sculpture at the Schule für Gestaltung, Lucerne, Switzerland, 1969 – 1971

• Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland, 1971 – 1972

Task 3

Task 3 in Visual Diary
Task 3 in Visual Diary
Task 3 in Visual Diary
Task 3 in Visual Diary

Task 7 Soviet Montage

Research

High Key lighting is a type of lighting for film, television or photography that is put out to reduce the lighting ratio that is shown in the scene. High key lighting was done for technology reasons because television did not deal well with high contrast ratios. High Key Lighting is now used to make a more bright mood. It is usually used in sitcoms and comedies.

Low Key Lighting is a style of lighting for photography, film or television. Low Key Lighting is used to create the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. Low key lighting usually uses only one key light which is controlled with a fill light or a simple reflector.

Task 6 High Key & Low Key

High Key

Low Key

Task 5 Mise-en-scène

Task 4 Walking Sequence

Task 1 Evaluation on Roman Signer

What you see?

I see rope, briefcase, laptop, a man, trees, road, lines, hills, fog, bridge, brick, clothes, cars, and a river.

What is the idea that the artist is communicating? 

I'm not sure, but I think he is showing that something light as a laptop can make a big impact. A laptop tied to one end and a briefcase tied to the other end. The man throws down the laptop first and the briefcase went flying off. 

What is working?

Probably the sound and colour. It also shows us what he's going to do.

What is not working?

I think for me the reason doesn't show through. It doesn't show us what happened after, although there is nothing to know, as it just fell into the river. 

What would you do differently?

I'm not sure what I would do. I would probably record more into the video. Record if you're able to see it in the river. Explain in the beginning what I am going to do in the video. Have the sound in the background be of what I'm doing in that moment.

Task 2 Deadly Sins

Taking a video portrait

Upstanding

Head Hunting



Jogging

Motor Zooming

Backlighting

TERM 2

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

MOVING IMAGES

Class Task: Colour

Harmonious Colours

Complimentary Colours

Contrasting Colours 

Experimenting

Taken by me

What's working? I like the two different lightings that is shown in this photograph. 

What's not working? The angle of the photograph isn't straight.

What's working? Work out what type of lighting I will use in my final image. 

Experimenting

taken by me

What's working? I like the light. I like how the shadow of the curtains show and the reflection is shown on the table. 

What's not working? The lighting of the curtain bugs me also the blurred part at the bottom of the picture although it does make the shadow stand out more.

What's next? Decide what to do next for my final image. If this technique is something that I will be able to do and use.

Evaluation and Experimentation

Found on Pinterest

I'm not really a massive fan of this photograph. Although it is something I would think of when it comes to my final image. I like how it shows the top half of her body through the mirror and the bottom half physically. 

What I see: Red dress, reflection, shadow, background, heels, face, body.

What is working? I think the lighting stands out which makes the colours stand out. I like how her full body is shown, somehow.

What's not working? Maybe where the mirror is placed.

What's next? Work out how I could use this in my final image and decide if this technique could be used as my final image.

Evaluation

Image found on Pinterest

What I see: Mirror, grass, girl, hair, dark background.

I like how this photo is taken, making it look like she doesn't have a body. I like the use of the lighting and how the shape of the mirror is like the shape of the field. I also like how the picture doesn't show the photographer in the mirror.

Evaluation

Image found on Pinterest

What I see: Blinds, light, dark, shadow, fingers, eyes.

A different technique to show light and shadow. 

Evaluation

Image found on Pinterest

What I see: Ring, heart, book, letters, words.

I like how they have used a ring to make another shape formed into a shadow, with the help of a book.

Research

Mirror Image

A mirror image is a reflected duplication of an object that appears identical but reversed. As an optical effect it results from reflection off of substances such as a mirror or water. It is also a concept in geometry and can be used as a conceptualisation process for 3-D structures.

Effect of mirror on the lighting of the scene

A mirror does not just produce an image of what would be there without it; it also changes the light distribution in the halfspace in front of and behind the mirror. A mirror hanging on the wall makes the room brighter because additional light sources appear in the mirror image. However, the appearance of additional light does not violate the conservation of energy, because some light is missing behind the mirror as the mirror simply re-directs the light energy. In terms of the light distribution, the virtual mirror image has the same appearance and the same effect as a real, symmetrically arranged half-space behind a window (instead of the mirror): Shadows may extend from the mirror into the half space before it, and vice versa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_image

Research

Silhouette:

A silhouette is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the whole is typically presented on a light background, usually white, or none at all. The silhouette differs from an outline which depicts the edge of an object in a linear form, while a silhouette appears as a solid shape. Silhouette images may be created in any visual artistic media, but was first used to describe pieces of cut paper, which were then stuck to a backing in a contrasting colour, and often framed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette

Evaluation & Technique

Image found on Pinterest

What do i see: A girl, black, light, hair, silhouette

Technique: I like how this photo is taken with the light at the back so that you are only able to see the outline of her face. This is also another technique I will be able to use when it comes to my final image.

Evaluation

Image found on google

What I see: I see puddle, rain, ground, shoes, light, reflection.

I like how the photograph is taken to make it look like a real body of a human being. This is a technique that I may be able to use in my final picture.

Artist Research

Andre Kertesz

André Kertész (2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985), born Kertész Andor, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his then-unorthodox camera angles and style prevented his work from gaining wider recognition. Kertész never felt that he had gained the worldwide recognition he deserved. Today he is considered one of the seminal figures of photojournalism.

Expected by his family to work as a stockbroker, Kertész pursued photography independently as an autodidact, and his early work was published primarily in magazines, a major market in those years. This continued until much later in his life, when Kertész stopped accepting commissions. He served briefly in World War I and moved to Paris in 1925, then the artistic capital of the world, against the wishes of his family. In Paris he worked for France's first illustrated magazine called VU. Involved with many young immigrant artists and the Dada movement, he achieved critical and commercial success.

• Kertész's famous photograph, "Two Gypsies", was used by The Pop Group for their album For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?.

Legacy and Honours

• 1983, honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Art; and title of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur in Paris, together with an apartment for future visits to the city.
• 1984, the Maine Photographic Workshop's first Annual Lifetime Achievement Award;
• 1984, purchase of 100 prints by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, its largest acquisition of work from a living artist.
• 1985, Californian Distinguished Career in Photography Award
• 1985, first Annual Master of Photography Award, presented by the International Center of Photography.
• 1985, honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Parson's School of Design of the New School for Social Research.
• Kertész died peacefully in his sleep at home on 28 September 1985.
• He was cremated and his ashes were interred with those of his wife.

Andre Kertesz

Andre Kertesz

What I see: Lion, shadow, door, door knob, lock, camera stand.

Another artist who uses shadow as a self portrait. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Kert%C3%A9sz

Evaluation

Photograph that was taken inspired by Vivian Maier

What can I see: Shoes, feet, legs, shadow, silhouette, hand signals, ground, little kids, boys.

Artist Research

Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier

I like this self portrait of Vivian Maier because it shows her shadows which also show that it's a self portrait of her. I love how her self portraits are taken by her and the techniques she uses to take them such as shadow and reflection. 

Evaluation:

I see grass, plants, shadow, hat, silhoutte, reflection.

Research:

Vivian Maier (February 1, 1926 – April 21, 2009) was an American street photographer born in New York City. Although born in the U.S., it was in France that Maier spent most of her youth. Maier returned to the U.S. in 1951 where she took up work as a nanny and care-giver for the rest of her life. In her leisure however, Maier had begun to venture into the art of photography. Consistently taking photos over the course of five decades, she would ultimately leave over 100,000 negatives, most of them shot in Chicago and New York City. Vivian would further indulge in her passionate devotion to documenting the world around her through homemade films, recordings and collections, assembling one of the most fascinating windows into American life in the second half of the twentieth century.

In 1956, when Maier moved to Chicago, she enjoyed the luxury of a darkroom as well as a private bathroom. This allowed her to process her prints and develop her own rolls of B&W film. As the children entered adulthood, the end of Maier’s employment from that first Chicago family in the early seventies forced her to abandon developing her own film. As she would move from family to family, her rolls of undeveloped, unprinted work began to collect.

It was around this time that Maier decided to switch to color photography, shooting on mostly Kodak Ektachrome 35mm film, using a Leica IIIc, and various German SLR cameras. The color work would have an edge to it that hadn’t been visible in Maier’s work before that, and it became more abstract as time went on. People slowly crept out of her photos to be replaced with found objects, newspapers, and graffiti.

 

http://www.vivianmaier.com/about-vivian-maier/

Idea: Skills and Techniques

Abstraction, Twin Lakes, Connecticut, 1916, Paul Strand

Skills and Techniques that I can use from this picture: Abstraction, close up, effect, vantage point.

Bill Culbert

Small glass pouring light (1997)

Crayfish (1987)

Jug, Window Pane (1980)

Bill Culbert

Surface Research:

• Bill Culbert (born 1935) is a significant New Zealand artist. 
• Known for his use of light in painting, photography, sculpture and installation work, as well as his use of found and recycled materials. 
• He was born in Port Chalmers, near Dunedin and now divides his time between London, Croagnes, France and New Zealand. 
• He is married to artist Pip Culbert and has made many collaborative works with artist Ralph Hotere. 

Early life and education:

• Bill Culbert studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Christchurch from 1953 to 1956. 
• Culbert received a National Art Gallery scholarship in 1957 and left New Zealand to study painting at the Royal College of Art, London. 
• He exhibited in the Young Contemporaries and Young Commonwealth Artists exhibitions alongside fellow expatriate New Zealander, Billy Apple. 
• Culbert began to experiment with electric light in 1967. 

Awards and Fellowship:

• National Art Gallery Scholarship (New Zealand), 1957 
• Artist in Residence, University of Nottingham, 1963–65 
• Greater London Arts Association AWard, 1981 
• Arts Council of Great Britain Holographic Bursary, 1982 
• Residency, Museum of Holography, New York, 1985 
• Residency, Exploratorium, San Francisco, 1989

Wikipedia of Bill Culbert

Surface Research on Paul Strand

Paul Strand

• Born October 16, 1890. Died March 31, 1976.
• He was born in New York City to Bohemian parents.
• He was an American photographer and filmmaker.
• He and other modernist photographers helped start up photography as a way of art in the 20th century.
• He was a student known by documentary photographer Lewis Hine at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School.
• It was during a school trip that he first visited the 291 art gallery, created by Alfred Stieglitz and where he also met Edward Steichen. 
• A couple of his works were promoted in the 291 gallery itself.
• Other works of Paul show his interest in using the camera a better and different way.
• He later worked in motion pictures and still photography too.
• His first film was Manhatta (1921) which is a silent film showing the say to say life of New York City.
• This film includes a similar show of his famous 'Wall Street' (1915) photograph. 
• He later moved and lived in Mexico. Worked on film there, 'Redes' (1936) 
• He was also involved in other films such as 'The plow that broke the plains' (1936) and 'Native Lands' (1942). 
• He married three times to three different ladies. Where two of them were artists.

Wikipedia of Paul Strand

Evaluation

Alexander Rodchenko, stairs, 1930

Paul Strand, New York, published in Camera Work 1917, photogravure.

I see shadow, line, shapes, abstraction, people, dark, stairs.

Complementary Colours

Experimenting

Diffused Light

Diffused Light

Direct Light

Diffused Light

Diffused Light

Diffused Light

Light Bulb light

Just random photographs that I have taken of light and shadow.