Lesson TUE-FRI: In anticipation of the possibility of producing a newspaper based on the themes of LOVE & REBELLION we will this week focus on designing 4 versions of a newspaper spreads based on using movie stills from your film. Shannon O’Donnell uses the technique of selecting key frames from the timeline in Premier and presenting them as still-images. We will also print your spreads as final outcome for mounting.

SEQUENCE: Duane Michals.

Michals is an American photographer whose work makes innovative use of photo-sequences. The 1960s in which he worked was heavily influenced by photojournalism, which Michals manipulated to communicate narratives. The sequences he created take a frame-by-frame format. 

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Michals is grateful for never having studied at a photography school, as he feels he didn’t have to unlearn all the rules they teached. He claims that ‘I always tell students you’re either defined by the medium or you redefine the medium. And most people are defined by the medium, those are the rules you are taught… I simply turned the glove inside out…’. He claims to have redefined the medium by being the first person who, rather than capturing death by photographing a corpse or photographing in a funeral home or a cemetery, he used living people and characters to encapsulate this idea. Michals didn’t want to present the ‘facts’ about death, which is present in “Death Comes to the Old Lady.”. He claims that critics didn’t know what to write about it, that they viewed it as being flawed as there wasn’t a decisive moment.

Response:

Using raw footage from the film, I took screenshots of one scene that I felt could have metaphorical meaning beyond the actual actions of the subject. The subject’s face remains neutral throughout and so the main focus is on the removal of the jewelry. This can be interpreted as the subject removing the facade they present to the remainder of society and beginning to transform into the individual they are in private.

The layout of the piece is similar to Michals in the way it has the format of 4 on the top and 3 beneath. The process to create this involved the following steps:

1. Choosing and exporting 7 frames within premiere as TIFF files.
2. Using the rectangle frame tool to create seven frames the same size in InDesign.
3. Importing (Ctrl+D) each still photo in to the frame, adjusting the fitting and placing in the desired order.

1. MONTAGE: Select an appropriate set of movie stills and create a montage of layered images. You may to choose to work in Photoshop for more creativity and import into InDesign as one image (new document in Photoshop 420mm(h) x 280.5mm(w) in 300 dpi)

MONTAGE:

Create in photoshop and export as a TIFF file.

JUXTAPOSITION:

1. JUXTAPOSITION: Select 2 movie stills and juxtapose images opposite each others or layer them to create new meaning.

Response:

The juxtaposition shows a potential conflict between the subject and the social aspect of jewelry. Connotations of jewelry represent prestige, wealth and power, yet can also be seen as entirely materialistic, pointless and vain. The subject’s loose grip in on the ring (present in the shadow) implies ‘letting go’ of beauty standards. Additionally could show the incentive to let go but not putting it into practice as you cannot actually see the ring.

1. FULL–BLEED: Select one movie still as a full-bleed spread.

Follow these instructions: