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Externally Set Assignment AS

first photoshoot

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Photo shoot Plan:

Concept: After looking at the photos by Ishiuchi Miyako that she took of Frida’s clothes and possessions 15 year after her death. I have decided to document the positions of a family friend who passed away a few month ago, her possessions create a sense of mystery about her lifestyle and hold a lot of untold secrets. By doing this I hope to take photos which provoke the same feelings as Ishiuchi’s does and hold a similar meaning. I am not aiming to imitate her photos at this stage i just want to capture them in their existing surroundings bcause I think this will give more context and relate to the idea of revealing secrets of the past.

Location: I will take photos in her house to show the objects in their natural location and surroundings, this should help show the personality of all the possessions together. I will also use the house as a subject because i think this can show a lot about a person.

Lighting: I will use natural lighting which will come in from a different windows, this will show the house and items how they would normally be seen.

Camera settings: I will use the manual setting on my camera so I can change the exposure and shutter speed depending on the lighting and the item I am photographing.

Props: I am taking documentary style photos which means I will take photos of what I find rather than moving them into a studio and using additional props.

After doing the shoot and reviewing the photos I have realised that they look similar to Mikako Ishiuchi’s Yokosuka Story series, I am going to research this area in more detail and edit these photos in the same style.

Externally Set Assignment AS

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

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Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) is a short experimental film directed by wife-and-husband team Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular and repeats several motifs, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a loaf of bread, a mysterious Grim Reaper–like cloaked figure with a mirror for a face, a phone off the hook and an ocean. Through creative editing, distinct camera angles, and slow motion, the surrealist film depicts a world in which it is more and more difficult to catch reality.

The film was the product of Deren's and Hammid's desire to create an avant garde personal film that dealt with devastating psychological problems, like the French surrealist films of the 1920s such as Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel's Un Chien Andalou (1929) and L'Age d'Or (1930).

Externally Set Assignment AS

Secrets, Codes and Conventions

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Secret = something that is kept unknown or unseen by others/ something that is not properly understood (a mystery).

 Code = a system of words, letters, figures or symbols used to represent others, especially for the purpose of secrecy. 

Conventions = a way in which something is usually done.  

The group photo has powerful underlying conventions, whether a family portrait or of a gathering of friends. These reflect codes of behavior that shift over time. In the early 1990s Paul M Smith explored the convention of the ‘team photo’ and the ‘night out’ – photographs so often taken by groups of ‘lads’, which he took to be anything but spontaneous.

 Trish Morrissey gently subverted the ritual of the family holiday photo in her 2005-7 series of photographs called Front, often swapping clothes and taking on the role of the mother in semi- formal gatherings staged on beaches in Britain and Australia.
MOODBOARD OF IDEAS

Externally Set Assignment AS, Uncategorized

Conventions – Initial Ideas

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 Conventions The definition of Conventions in society is behaviors and which are seen as acceptable or polite to the majority of society.

Journalism is the collecting, editing, and presenting of news material for publication or broadcast. Photojournalism is a particular form of journalism

Photojournalism employs images in order to tell a news story. It is now usually understood to refer only to still images, but in some cases, the term also refers to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalists create pictures that contribute to the news media and help communities connect with one other. Photojournalists must be well informed and knowledgeable about events happening right outside their door.I would use photojournalism to present a true view of today society

When researching photojournalism I came across Steve McCurry who is a highly respected photographer but had lost some of his credibility, as he regards his images as being documentary and capturing ‘the  truth’ but on closer inspection by members of the public it can be seen that his work had been digitally altered, or people have come forward to say that they where asked to be in a staged.

So to compact this problem I wanted to shoot my images on a disposable camera.

Image result for disposable camera

Because once the images are taken they can no longer be worked back into, so when a disposable camera is used in photojournalism the image will be the real and untouched versions.

Image result for disposable camera imagesImage result for disposable camera imagesImage result for disposable camera images

AO1 Develop Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

SECRETS, CODES and CONVENTIONS (Miss Hearn)

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AO1 Develop ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding

You might also want to consider… 

Media codes and conventions are like the building blocks of all the media around us. Media codes generally have an agreed meaning, or connotation, to their audience. There are three types of media codes: symbolic codes, technical codes and written codes.

  • Symbolic codes include setting, mise en scene and colour.
  • Technical codes include camerawork, editing, sound and lighting.
  • Written codes include printed language which is text you can see within the frame, and also spoken language.

Conventions are expected ways in which codes are organised and are closely connected to the audience expectations. Different types of conventions include form conventions, story conventions and genre conventions.

  • Form conventions are the certain ways we expect types of codes to be arranged. For instance an audience expects to have a title of the film at the beginning and then credits at the end.
  • Story conventions are common narrative structures and understandings that are common in story telling media products.
  • Genre conventions point to the common use of tropes, characters, settings or themes in a particular type of medium. Genre conventions are closely linked with audience expectations. Genre conventions can be formal or thematic.

 

Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) ANALYSIS

(Maya Deren & Alexander Hackenschmied)

The photographer Diane Arbus wrote ‘A picture is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.’ This could equally refer to Maya Deren’s and Alexander Hackenschmied’s 1943 film Meshes of the Afternoon, which used innovative techniques such as slow motion, repetition and jump cuts to build a sense of a dream interacting with reality. In the film objects seem to have a mysterious and secret significance, known only to the dreamer. It has influenced other filmmakers such as David Lynch in Twin Peaks (1990 TV Series). Dreams and surreal imagery have also inspired other photographers and filmmakers such as Jerry Uelsmann, Madame Yevonde, Lara Zankoul, Wes Anderson and Matthew Barney. 

SURREALISM:

  • 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.
  • Surrealist cinema is a modernist approach to film theory, criticism, and production with origins in Paris in the 1920s. The movement used shocking, irrational, or absurd imagery and Freudian dream symbolism to challenge the traditional function of art to represent reality.
  • Surrealism allows us to see art in it’s purest form because it stems from imagination rather than rational thought. Because of this, artists are able to better express their emotions and thoughts through this art form.

TASK

  • How does this experimental Surrealist film fit the theme of secrets, codes or conventions?
  • Watch the following clip (6.57 – 8.45) and make notes on the four areas of analysis. Pick out key examples (camera, editing, narrative, etc.) to discuss in your analysis. You may want to collect still images using screen shots to focus in on specific details.
  • Research the film to develop your contextual and conceptual analysis. Write up as a blog post.

Technical & Visual 

Lighting,  Camera Settings, Camera Angles, Camera Movement, Distances, Framing, Editing (Montage, Jump Cuts, Slow Motion), Narrative (Structure, Linear, Non-Linear), Mise-En-Scene.

Contextual & Conceptual 

Historical/Cultural/Social/Political (when?), Personal (why?), Conceptual (what? Inspirations, art styles, etc.), MEANING.

 

Moving Image Analysis Aids

CAMERA ANGLES & MEANING

Straight / Eye Level - Shows the object or person straight on or looking directly at you, this shows that they have the same amount of power as the viewer. Often used in portraits / print media.

Low Angle - This angle looks up making the person or object look bigger than it really is. Used to give the impression of size and power. It is the opposite of a high angle.

High Angle - This angle looks down making the person or object seem small and inferior. Used to show vulnerability and lack of power.

Canted Angle - Shows an object or person from an unnatural point of view. Can feel disorientating. Very common in surrealist art and music videos.

Bird's Eye View / Ariel Shot - A view from above. It could be a place or a scene. Used to show everything that is happening at once. A crane shot is often used to achieve this type of shot.

Worm's Eye View - A view from below. It can be used to look up to something to make an object look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels powerless.

Point of View (subjective/objective) -  Shows what a person is looking at, represented through the camera. Gives a perspective.

 

 

HITCHCOCK DEMONSTRATES MONTAGE / THE KULESHOV EFFECT

AO1 Develop Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS, Knowledge and Understanding

Jersey War Tunnels

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Jersey War Tunnels

Hohlgangsanlage 8 (also known as the German Underground Hospital or the Jersey War Tunnels) was a partially completed underground hospital complex in St. Lawrence, Jersey, built by German occupying forces during the occupation of Jersey during World War II. After Hitler’s October 1941 order to fortify the Channel Islands, work began on a string of fortifications all around Jersey.  Ho8 was intended to be a vast network of underground tunnels that would allow the German occupying infantry to withstand Allied air raids and bombardment. Over 1 km  of tunnels were completed. After the liberation of the Channel Islands, the complex was converted into a museum detailing the occupation and remains a visitor attraction.

One tunnel made 6,000 years ago as part of a Neolithic ritual site, the other made 65 years ago to protect the German war machine from allied bombardment. It took nearly three and a half years to build, with the work being carried out by forced and slave labourers who were brought to the Island from all over Europe. It was originally intended to be a barracks and ammunition store for the occupying forces. Many of the workers were Polish, French, Russian or Republican Spaniards. Conditions were terrible, although Russian and Ukrainians were treated the worst, with cases of malnutrition, death by exhaustion and disease among them becoming common.

In late 1943, with the threat of an Allied invasion of Europe becoming clear, Ho8 was to be converted into a casualty clearing station and emergency hospital. The tunnels were blasted out with gunpowder and handtools, and then covered with concrete. The hospital was dug into a slope, so that it would drain naturally and had 500 beds for patients.

Despite the huge preparations and fortifications made to the Channel Islands, none were ever utilised. The occupying forces in the Channel Islands surrendered on 9 May 1945 (one day after the rest of the German forces surrendered). Ho8 fell into disuse, with British soldiers and souvenir hunters stripping the tunnels of equipment.

The War Tunnels tell the compelling story of life in Jersey under occupation and feature a series of  galleries looking at the diverse experiences of all those who live through it, whether Jersey, British or German

Source of pictures: www.jerseywartunnels.com

In 1940, news of the fall of France to German forces created a sudden crisis for Islanders, should they stay or go. Many men of military age had already left, and most of those whose families were not in Jersey felt the need to return to England. Others also decided it would be advisable to leave. Whole families had to rapidly prepare to walk away from house and home, leaving behind their happy life – and not imagining it would be for five long years.

“Queues for tickets stretched for long distances, and hurried arrangements for leaving were made. Choosing what to take was not easy, as only one suitcase each was allowed. We could only pack essential clothing, so my sister and I were dressed in extra layers of clothing, despite the warm weather. We were each allowed to choose just one book and one toy to take with us.”- Ann Bright (7 years old at the time)

In 1942, the German turned up at this time-crossing site and damaged it by digging an underground bunker, now transformed into a memorial dedicated to the thousands of men, women and children transported to the Channel Islands as forced workers during the second world war.

Memories inscribed on plaques are chilling: “I have never forgotten the sound that came out of the huts. When people are starving, the pitch of their voices rises. The sound was like lots of birds in an aviary.”

AO1 Develop Ideas, AO2 Explore Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

first artist:Connie imboden photographer and shoot plan

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Originally inspired images by artist

First artist study: Connie imboden photographer

Imboden is an american photographer who  focuses on the movement and formation of the natural body surfaced within reflections in water and mirrored repetitive lines. Her work can be viewed in many collections including The Museum of Modern Art in New York and The Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco. Over many years her work has become very extensive across many galleries demonstrating many of her works. she has a successful book titled ‘out of darkness’  and won ‘one of the most beautiful books in the world’ award.He work describes a raw seduction of flesh,although her recent work is presenting the insights of reflections within her work,Throughout the years, Imboden has continued to teach and inspire colleagues and students alike in her quest to push the photographic medium to its highest level.

why I chose her work

The artists work connotes strongly to themes of isolation and also symbolizes a self endangerment which would be interesting to capture within an image.I also chose her work due to the dynamic shape and forming of bodies and the ways in which they move to demonstrate informative shapes,furthermore there is a combination of almost journalism of poeple and how they act, tracing and recording their behaviour,this is through abstract forming of bodies and moevemnt of bodily stature throughout her work,addtionally it also shows how we as humans are always trying to find something more about ourselves and the refusal as a society we have to secrets and a need to know and search for more information.

I also think the water is very effective in her work as it can symbolise a sense of weight and freedom but also the juxtaposition of isolation for others and a surrounding embodiment of nothing.

images analysis

within this work their is a clear fine art and conceptual element of surrealism within her photography,it allows a creative portrayal of reflection and question and links to her conventions of how poeple should behave and be prensted in to people ,this image above to me symbolizes a man exploring and trying to find himself and held secrets as the water is used to symbolise an isoltion form others. My favourite aspect of this image is the total divsion of colour and also framing of the face itself,it portrays an obvious movement and exploration of who we are or should be.The tones also change in order to connote a covered issue or perhaps an altered reality and a sense of mystery within the image once again questioning a secret and a search for something more and conflicting within the exceptions of codes that he is meant to oblige towards.

Ethically yes this image is clearly photoshopped and not a person going into water or even near it at all but does still successful demonstrate a separate side to ourselves that is not who we are or a search for a true identity not plagued  with secrets and mystery to who we are or should act.

 

Externally Set Assignment AS

Ishiuchi Miyako

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Miyako Ishiuchi, is a Japanese photographer born in 1947, she studied in the design department at Tama Art University where she specialised in textile dying and weaving. we can see her interest in textiles in here photography  focusing on the eccentric clothes of Frida Kahlo 

TECHNICAL: This photo was taken in a studio set up which would of had controlled artificial lighting.  a diffuser could have been used over the lights to distribute the light and to make the shadows softer. There are soft shadows around the dress which help to define it and make it stand out from the background. The photo has a high contrast which helps to show the details in the dress and makes the colours look richer. The photo is all in focus meaning it has a high aperture. It was taken using a hand held camera which would have needed a fast shutter speed to avoid motion in the image. the white colours in the image look slightly blue/purple toned however i think this is due to a filter rather than white balance.

VISUAL: This image is very minimal in terms of colours and has 3 predominant shades, turquoise, orange and an off white colour. There is a lot of texture in the image which shows of the fine details in the material. The item in photo looks 3D and stands out from the background, this helps to show the dress as it would look in real life. The skirt of the dress goes out the bottom of the frame giving the image a relaxed feel. It was probably taken from above because the dress would be lying on the background.

CONTEXTUAL: This photo was taken in 2013 of a dress owned by Frida Kahlo from earlier than 1954, this means it is a modern viewpoint on a vintage item. This is a reason for it being displayed like a museum piece.

CONCEPTUAL:

This series by Ishiuchi Miyako named ‘Frida’  was taken in 2013 to record of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s wardrobe and belongings. She died in 1954 and her husband Diego Rivera began placing her personal belongings into the bathroom of their Mexico City house, “The Blue House”, this later became the Museo Frida Kahlo. following his instructions the room remained sealed until fifteen years after his death. In 2004 it was finally opened and over 300 unseen relics were discovered. The museum invited Ishiuchi Miyako to photograph and document the artefacts for a catalogue.

This links to the theme of secrets because after her husbands death the contents of the room was unknown for over 15 years. Each individual item held its own story about their owner and I want to used this idea for my own photos.

Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican artist in the 20th century who is well known for her portraits and work on artefacts and nature. she is also admired as a feminist icon due to her bold artwork and political views. she, and her husband were strong communists and she incorporated her beliefs in a lot of her work. 

AO1 Develop Ideas, Externally Set Assignment AS

Mindmap of ideas / concept + context

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concept:

My concept for my project is to  present human behavior,emotion and loss of identity through the development of secrets,codes and conventions. This will be done by capturing people in different scenarios where they are not themselves and portraying a false sense of self to the people surrounding them. Additionally this can be done by how people act different due to their scenario.

This leads me into the behavior of nature as it is surrounding people,and how nature has power of people and is completely unreliable. A combination of nature and human behavior will be seen in one of my shoots and how when forming the unreliability of nature and the hidden secrets of a person, loss of  identity is formed,and a submerged feeling of emotion.

Additionally many  editing techniques will be used to heighten my themes,such as collage to  present many different aspects and sides to a person is formed together to build up their whole identity,this conforms to the conventions of what makes us human and how we have hidden secrets and aspects to ourselves that we do not show others. Also fitting within this these mirrors are illusions  that will used to show two sides to a person and the codes being broken and how people copy and take parts of ourselves and us them as their own identity.

overall I think I have successful contextualized my themes of human behavior throughout my work and i know what i want to do to succeed within hitting the specific terminology while still accessing the conventions of human behavior.