Monday, 20 March 2017

AFTER EFFECTS II

AFTER EFFECTS II




Glitch Effect



Our second workshop was using the special effects features in After Affects in adobe and the various uses they can have to apply to our work. We did this by collecting various cartoons and glitch videos and joining them together by overlaying them and then using displacement map to distort the figures and blur them. Afterwards I took the the clips to toner and enhanced their colour and over saturated the characters, making them look negative or even gold brown. I'm proud with my video because it teaches me the fundamentals and useful techniques I can use in order to be more expressive with my creativity in digital arts.




AFTER EFFECTS I

AFTER EFFECTS WORKSHOP I


This workshop was to teach us the basics of using After affects in adobe to produce moving shapes and overlaying film into another still/moving image. Below are a few examples of the work I'd done during these workshops:











Monday, 6 March 2017

GREGORY CREWDSON

PORTRAITS SERIES


GREGORY CREWDSON

Gregory Crewdson's suburban settings of an elaborately detailed staged setup of American homes, interiors and neighbourhoods invoke haunting, cinematic photos of alienation and eerie isolation. I've always been interested in Crewdson's work in wanting the reconstruct the world in photographs. His ideas creates a sense of longing with his subjects within the photographs. A deep felt unhappiness that divides them from reality and fantasy adding to what he has created with his dream like world in this controlled environment. His work combines the documentary style of William Eggleston and Walker Evans with a dreamlike quality. Yet unlike those photographers, Crewdson is compelled by how the still image freezes time and sets limitations, once saying he is fascinated with how he can capture a cinematic moment and freeze it for all time. His quietly disturbing American settings, with their immaculately staged lighting and sombre, solitary figures, are often seen as working in conjunction to the works of Edward Hopper.







For my series of images, I wanted to present the emotions of the figure. It is left unintentionally unclear what the subject is experiencing. However this adds to the photographs, giving an underlining  mysterious nature to the subjects.

Using Adobe Lightroom and photoshop, I added blue filters subtly into my images whilst retaining most of its colour. The blue gives connotations of a gloomy, lonely and supporting the emotions I  intended to present. For many of them I too darkened the frame, reducing the light in the background. 



MY RESPONSE 
'TERRA FIRMA'











My Series reflects the social deterioration with dealing with mental health and the contemplation of seeking identity as well as the social struggles in a world vastly more interactive and yet ironically where it is increasingly more difficult to find closure. My inspiration comes from the collective works of Carrie Mae Weems, Philip Lorca Dicorcia and Gregory Crewdson, all of which inspired my final series called “Terra Firma.” These photographs were designed cinematically and reflect the works of Dicorcia, stylised like Crewdson’s with the subjects private lives being made exclusive to us like Carrie Mae Weems.








Overall with the outcome I was quite pleased with the results, Although I did not have the same resources as Crewdson did, I feel like it was a worthy achievement for me. The main tool used throughout the project was the manipulation of lighting especially with the last photograph which was particularly one of my favourites. Using the Adobe Light Room I was able to enhance the look of the lighting and tone in all of the images. A few issues I realised was that some of the images had randomised colour marks and that the subjects were looking at the lens in the last image, although I do believe it did not spoil the image itself but merely enhance the reality of it all. 




BIBLIOGRAPHY

Man in the forest:


Bedroom contemplation:


Floating woman:






PHILIP LORCA DICORCIA

PORTRAITS STUDY





PHILIP LORCA DICORCIA



Philip Lorca Dicorcia has been particularly known for his elaborative and aesthetically pleasing cinematic, documentary styled photographs. Dicorcia delves into the insignificant moments  and what may be the most ordinary to others, triggering the psychology of emotions that makes us question what happens next. where does it go from here? 

Dicorcia challenges the identity of individuals, much like Carrie Mae Weems who share similarities in work. Both paint a narrative mixture of truth and fiction which dramatises  the set scene and creates an accurate representation of life today. I like his pieces because they've been referred to  as documentary photography with the fictional world of cinema and advertising which has powerful meanings of reality and desire combined with fantasy. What I like most is all the subjects display accidental poses or unintentional expressionless faces which distorts them from the world around them adding to the appeal of a theatrical touch. 














BIBLIOGRAPHY 

CARRIE MAE WEEMS

PORTRAITS STUDY



CARRIE MAE WEEMS







Carrie Mae Weems tells us the story of her life conveyed in the setting of her kitchen. This domain traditionally ruled by women reveals and important insight to the life and relationship she has with her family and her habitat. Weems expresses this art work as a depiction of the battle ground around the family and between sexes. Whats interesting to see is that Mae Weems openly reveals herself in the most plainest form possible.This is interesting to the viewers because it breaks the walls down to privacy and in essence creates vulnerability and solitude to the individual being viewed, yet somehow despite all these debilitating effect, It creates a mode of strength and confidence, a window to their souls if it were and the readiness to share a secret. This is all part of her collective theme, family, identity, sexism, class, power and cultural differences.

I love the way we are able to capture human life in their most natural state in an area exclusive to the rest of the world. What seems to be a common feature is the lack of communication and even the sense of isolation perhaps, a metaphor to a lack of common interest with the subjects or even a debilitating social relationship through the preoccupation of other self fulfillments.



BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Image 1:

http://monovisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/carrie-mae-weems-kitchen-table-series-05.jpg

Image 2:

http://monovisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/carrie-mae-weems-kitchen-table-series-03.jpg

Image 3:

http://68.media.tumblr.com/738802df41f0659c407b0e160b5642cd/tumblr_mzvawgZkre1qzzsi9o1_1280.jpg

Image 4:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/cb/79/83/cb7983f16499f5f7b8dc509c13f61530.jpg

Image 5:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71Y5wOJ4uaL.jpg

Saturday, 4 March 2017

EXPERIMENTAL SOUND EVALUATION

SOUND EVALUATION


Overal I'm happy with the success of my first experimental sound piece and its final outcome. Though my piece took a different path in comparison to how I originally intended it to be. I unexpectedly produced a piece that still had the elements of the Dulle Griet painting in it.

I found the whole project brought out a much more creative mindset within me. Making each individual sound out of items I had around the house was incredibly fun. The realisation that I could use simple materials such as tin foil to create a sound that, when the audience cannot see the material, they would instead interpret to be a crackling fire, was a satisfying experience.

To create the sound I used a variety of household materials such as; Tin foil, Paper and Bubble Wrap. I also manipulated the voices of my family; using my Sister's voice to create a screaming sound and my Mother to make the demonic roar.  My dog's howls and barks were also particularly fitting with the atmosphere that I wanted to build in this soundscape. Additionally I used the wind throughout and my brothers Guitar, and Violin to create the pitchy music playing through the piece.

I did however forget to edit out a particular sound that I was not keen on - in future I will need to ensure that I constantly check back over the entire piece and make notes for changes that need to be made. The mistake here is that I was maybe improvising too much, and not planning enough or taking down any notes on the quality of the sounds I was using.

I do also need to become more confident with Adobe Audition, as this was the first time used it professionally and I found that it can be a little confusing when working with lots of different sound recordings in one project window. I will practice more by creating other projects in my own personal time and throughout the summer.








EXPERIMENTAL SOUND PROJECT

EXPERIMENTAL SOUND




DULLE GRIET -
A PAINTING BY 
PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER

Dulle Griet by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1562.

The saying goes in a book of proverbs, published in 1568. One woman makes a clamour, two women a lot of trouble, three an annual market, four a quarrel, five and army, and six the Devil himself has no weapon.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's work has been inspired by local culture and towns folk beliefs. This painting was created around c. 1568 during the time of the renaissance era. At this time famine and poverty was ripe throughout Europe. Isolation became common amongst townsfolk and such beliefs began to play upon minds of the locals.
Griet which is the name of this piece is a denigrated name given to bad tempered, shrewish woman. It speaks a lot of how Bruegel's depiction of hell was clearly inspired by Boschian like creatures from the painter Hieronymus Bosch. Hence, Bruegel's intentions about this piece became clear. This painting depicts the mockery of ill tempered woman and their outbursts charging through hell, plundering the realm of its possessions and emphasising the fact that bad tempered women can run to hell and back, unscathed and unhindered due to their robust nature. What I found interesting was that the first time I saw this painting I believed to be another depiction of hell and the chaotic damned souls being punished by unnatural creatures. However upon learning more about it I became aware that this is a stampede of women plundering the caverns and sacking hell for all its treasures. This Painting can also relates to the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." This piece creates and alternative meaning to the idea of Hell being the worst place on earth and into, a victim of greed and covertness.

For my Experimental sound project I'm going to try and create and eerie tune with various sounds of strong winds and raging fires down to loud screams and roars of onward plunderers moving deeper into hell, perhaps even creating sounds to accommodate the Boschian creatures, which hopefully will intensify the overall feel to this piece. My recording will begin over this week and I will be recording how I achieved my sounds.

The result was unexpected, yet however I am very pleased with the end result. My idea was to create a soundscape that had an western styled heart beating sound yet my end result came out a lot different and more to the style of dark ambient background. With this in mind here is my final version of my experimental sound project.




EXPERIMENTAL SOUND PROJECT




BIBLIOGRAPHY


Dulle Griet Painting image :