During week 4 of our Identity and Community project, we had the opportunity of being taught about the basics of animation by former student Liam Nunn. Liam Nunn is a well known local animator, producing work for places such as Jersey Heritage and Jersey Dairy in his unique style. Furthermore, Liam also recently started his own animation studio ‘Milk‘, where you can view all his past projects.
During this workshop we were introduced to the Adobe software After Effects, first getting used to the program by animating the moment of a shape around the screen. Through this we learnt that key frames are used to mark different points of movement in animation, marking where the movement starts and finishes. For each time we wanted the shape to perform a new movement we added a new key frame. Once we had learnt how to move the shape in a certain direction, we then were taught how to alter the shapes speed and mobility within the same key frame. After familiarising ourselves with the program, we were given a few minutes to play around with the software independently and create a sequence of movements. After this, we then moved on to working with a template on After Effects of an animated face, that had already been created for us. With this template we were able to create commands to control the movement of the pupils, eyelids, eyebrows, head and mouth. In addition to this, we were also taught how to add stickers over the template for a set period of time. This allowed us to independently create a piece of animation with this face using the tools provided. For my 5-10 second animation I chose to have the character react to something in an angry and annoyed manner. I did this by first commanding the head and pupils to turn to the side to show they are looking at something, then for the next key frame I caused the eyebrows to move downwards causing an expression of anger, followed by the pupils moving in and upwards circle to create an eyeroll, and finally making the head turn the other way.
Finally I exported my final result at the end of the work shop from an After Effects file into a MP4 file.
Whilst shooting our film we took the opportunity to take stills of various scenes, allowing for more photographs that tell our story of the crossover between the Religious and LGTQ+ communities, as well as our studio images. These photographs include scenes such as the couple in the church practicing Christianity whilst also feeling as if they have to repress part of their identity. Aa well as this, there are also still images of the dream sequence in our film that showcase the couple running through the field in a idealistic world for them, in which they are free from restraints. Here I have gone through the images in Lightroom and sorted through which images I thought were best in the sense that they best conveyed our message and were clear and in focus. After this I went on to rate each of these best selection of images, rating them out of five stars. Once I had done this, I then proceeded to edit the still images that I had rated 4 or 5 stars.
Editing and Developing
This still image shows one of the girls practicing her religion, reading through the bible, presenting another important part of her identity. This establishes a personal relationship with Christian religion for the character. In order to edit this image, I started off by slightly decreasing the exposure and increasing the contrast, causing a more dramatic setting which will later show a juxtaposition to the lighting of the dream sequence. After this, I then went on to adjust the shadows, highlights, whites and blacks within the image, by increasing the highlights and whites and decreasing the shadows and the blacks, further creating a larger contrast. Finally, I increased the dehaze and vibrance in the photograph, allowing for the earthy tones in this image to be enhanced.
This still image displays the scene in which the couple are separated due to fear, still however sharing glances at each other. This conveys how in some instances people belonging to these two communities have to conceal part of their identity in order to be accepted. We are aiming to disprove this notion that such communities should exist only separately. Here I have edited this image in a similar way to the previous scene, in order to maintain consistency in tones during the scenes within the church.
This photograph is a still image of one of our establishing scenes for the dream sequence. This is as the wide shot foregrounds the dream like and scenic setting, due to the castle in the background and vibrant green grass. Here this colour grading contributes to the film by matching the mood to the vibrancy in contrast to the dark slightly duller tones in the church. For the dream sequence I edited the still images by decreasing the exposure due to the large amounts of sunlight already in the photograph. In addition, I also increased the contrast and adjusted the highlights, shadows, whites, blacks and saturation within the image.
This sill image taken from a dream sequence scene displays the two characters holding hands, demonstrating their freedom to be true to themselves in this idyllic world, something they fear to do in a religious setting. I edited this image in a similar manner to the previous dream sequence still, to maintain consistency in the tone and warmth throughout the dream world setting also, in order to provide a thorough contrast to the church scenes.
Here this still image also from the dream sequence showcases another scene in which the couple posses freedom of expression in their sexuality, as they are seen holding hands once again in the doorway of castle ruins. By having a scene in this castle structure with the sunset to the left in the background, it reinforces the idea that this is a fantasy and unfortunately not their reality. I also edited this image with the same process of the other stills from the dream sequence, however this time only very slightly decreasing the exposure and increasing the whites in the photograph. This is due to the small amount of light entering the frame as it was taken at sunset.
This final scene of the dream sequence displays the couple holding hands again, feeling at peace with both sides of their identity, walking through the vibrant, green setting into the sunset. This again reinforces the idea of an idyllic world that the characters are imagining for themselves. In order to edit this image I followed the same process as the other dream sequence photographs, although this time decreasing the highlights and the vibrancy as a result of the large amount of light within the frame, making sure it is not over exposed.
Edited Still Images
These are the final edited versions of the stills taken throughout the shoot for our film, each showing a different stage in the storyline, mostly corresponding to our original storyboard, excluding the scenes of protests and riots which we will take from real documented events to add authenticity to our film. These images also allow for a deconstruction of the cinematography, costumes and props in the shot. For example, the scenes in the setting of the church, we made sure the characters were wearing white clothing to symbolise purity through the eyes of Christianity. In addition, for the dream sequence, the characters were clothed in more comfortable and flowy outfits, to foreground their freedom in self expression further.
Recently we had a workshop presented by Yulia Makeyeva on embroidery, in which she fist taught us various stitching methods such as the running stitch, back stitch and satin stitch. Yulia is herself an artist who combines the medium of needlework ad photography in order to create her pieces of work.
Yulia Makeyeva
We did this by practicing first on a piece of paper and following the pattern given, then drawing a simple design of our own on a piece of fabric and using the skills just learnt to attempt to create an embroidered image. This allowed for a simple introduction to embroidery and an opportunity to develop these skills with our next task. Once we had gotten used to the different stitches, we then went around the room and collected pieces of material from the ‘People make Jersey’ exhibition at Jersey museum, that was donated to the school. With this we aimed to collect images, words and letters that told a story, potentially of migration. When collecting material, I aimed to gather pieces that linked to French migration in Jersey, such as images of well known French migrants in jersey and passages from the display that described the nature of work these French migrants moved to Jersey for. In addition, I also made sure to use red and blue thread with white frayed material for a border in order to incorporate the colours of the French flag. As well as learning how to embroider, we also got a chance to look at other artist that use thread or a type of needlework in their pieces, by looking through some of the books Yulia brought along.
When producing our pieces of embroidery we made sure to take photos during various stages of our work. This is as, after our multiple workshops we used these images to create short animation type GIFS. We did this using Photoshop: first layering all our images on top of one another, aligning them the best we could, opening a timeline from the Window drop down menu, selecting create frame animation, then on the drop down menu choosing to make frames from layers, selecting forever on the timeline and finally exporting it at the size of 720 by 720 pixels. Here I created two GIFS sowing different parts of my embroidery process, with the first displaying the sewing on of the white border and text, using a running and back stitch, and the second showing some of the extra satin stitching I used to fill in parts of the text.
Here we have collected ideas for the group project as a whole, noting the concept of the film, locations for shoots, props, actors, lighting and the potential camera settings. This gives us an idea of how we are going to execute each shoot for both the still images and the film.
Then we went on to making a final plan for the still image shoot only, stating how we are going to produce our images that relate to our film. These will be made with the intention of creating a collage with the edited photographs. These images will look different to any stills from our film, however they will convey the same message of unity between the LGBTQ+ and religious community.
Shoot 1
Here Bethany went through and flagged the images she was going to edit on Lightroom, selecting photographs that displayed the entire quote on the signs, and ones which helped express the message of turmoil between the two communities of LGBTQ+ and religion. In this shoot we took photographs such as close ups of the signs with hands covering discriminatory parts of the passages, in order to show rebellion of the heteronormative conventions of such religions. In addition, we also took photographs in which the models were standing behind the sign, showcasing how people also hide behind religion in fear of revealing their true identity. We took these in a dead-pan manner to show neutral expression between the two communities. However, with this shoot we also noticed how the shadows are very prominent in each image and ultimately decided to produce another shoot after this first one, to display softer lighting and background that does not distract from the portraits.
Shoot 2
With this shoot we wanted to produce photographs that had softer or no shadows at all, as well as clearer and higher quality images. For this we re-made the previous shoot although this time with different and more people, allowing for a wider variety to choose from when in the editing process. Furthermore, in this shoot we also focused on producing standalone portraits, without the signs, showcasing images of couples with sense of fear or sadness towards the discrimination they receive, allowing for more emotion to be conveyed through these new photographs. With these images Bethany selected the photos that contained little amounts of shadow and a clear and in focus portraits in order to start editing them.
Editing and Developing
From both our photo-shoots, Bethany then edited these images with some having a colour overlay, increasing the saturation and vibrance also. This was done in order to present the colours seen on the LGBTQ+ flag. These will also be integrated with the normal colour images that mainly showcase the passages on the signs that condemn the LGBTQ+ community. These images will then ultimately be stitched together in a collage like manner, accompanied by embroidery over the top of the photographs that present positive meanings and passages that connote acceptance and a peaceful coexistence between the two communities. Examples of this could be passages such as “Love thy neighbour” from the Bible, also the name of our film, as well as embroidered hands that cover sections of the negative passages in the photos. By stitching together our images, it also creates a metaphor for the merging of the two identities that a person should be able to share without discrimination. In addition, this assortment of colours and images can also be linked to artwork seen in religious settings, such as stain glass windows seen in many churches.
Billie Zangewa, born in Malawi 1973, now based in South Africa, is an artist who is known for her intricate needlework and using silk to create collages of domestic environments and urban landscapes, aiming to capture moments of every day life that most of us pay little attention to. The artist has claimed that she is drawn to this medium of textiles as the sensory experience of touch creates a bridge between the viewer and the external world. In addition, Zangewa states that she creates artwork through the medium of textiles as “Fabric, this thing we all have a daily relationship with, is often dismissed by the world as mundane and unimportant, much like the daily, mundane work that women do to keep a home”. With this, the artist’s aim is to foreground the lives of black women in a patriarchal society that predominantly marginalises them. Calling this ‘daily feminism’, Zangewa attempts to present this message through her personal experience in this oppressed position and places herself as the protagonist in most of her pieces.
Analysis
Billie Zangewa, ‘Soldier of love’, 2020
This collage created by Billie Zangewa, displays what appears to be a scene of a mother walking her child to school. This is in fact a recreation of Zangewa herself and her son, as she walks him to school through a what seems like a rural setting. Here leading lines are created through the tree trunks, leaves and stems of plants, which all appear to be curving around and towards the focal point of the image, Zangewa and her son, leading the viewer’s eyes to move from the edges of the piece inwards. The busiest area of this piece is the right hand side of the embroidery, as it contains Zangewa and her son amongst a densely packed area of plants and nature, with the upper left side of the piece showing empty space. This could be a way of showing the movement of the mother and son, with the weighted right side of the embroidery urging the viewers eye to keep moving along and ahead, much like a mother might have to do with a child. Due to Zangewa”s use of the material silk in her work, the texture of a piece like this appears to be be smooth and almost close to two dimensional, despite the intricate layering of colours and tones needed to create this image.
Zangewa’s choice to name this piece ‘Soldier of love’ may be a way for the artist to express how in society taking care of children is seen as an essential duty, in which a woman can fulfil, to her husband and family. This could cause the same effect of a soldier heading into war, as she is protecting and serving something she loves but is bound by societal restraints that do not allow her to stray from these duties occasionally. Zangewa uses her embroidery talents to escape oppression that she faces as a black women, by the presentation of self love, stating that ‘the ultimate act of resistance is self-love’. The method of hand stitching, sewing and embroidering on the material of dupion silk, acts as another representation for the female experience in her work as Zangewa states. This could be due to the soft, gentile and elegant properties the fabric possesses, which are often linked with the idea of femininity.
A story board is a series of images that display a storyline in a linear sequence of events. These are used for various purposes such as planning for films and animations, making sure people are aware of what shots to create when filming. Although they are useful in giving you an idea of what scenes to film, this doesn’t mean that it must be followed strictly, as it is there as a guide more than a rule book, allowing for creative freedom in producing the film.
For the first scene of our film we are planning to film a same-sex couple sitting on the pews in church apart from each other, sharing glances. This will hopefully display how some are cautious of revealing part of their identity in fear of losing another part of it, such as their religious identity. We will capture a few different angles and shots, such as close ups of the two reading the Bible and them looking at each other, as well as long shots of them sitting apart in the pews, that establish the religious setting.
For the following scene we are going to combine two settings, flashing between the two after editing. One of these two settings will contain one scene of protest against people of the LGBTQ+ community, showing signs that have religious quotes that condemn this. This will be found footage of such protests, giving the film a more authentic feel to it, bringing the fear members of the LGBTQ+ community endure to light. In contrast with this, we will also include a dream sequence scene, in which the couple are seen running through a field, representing what they wish could happen if they didn’t feel bound by religious constraints. These two scenes will mostly be composed of long shots, showing a clear juxtaposition in setting and mood, with possibly a few close ups of aspects such as signs in the protest scene.
The next scene will showcase the couple praying together after moving closer to each other in the church. This will start to demonstrate our message we are aiming to communicate through our film, that these two communities can exist peacefully if we are open and accepting. The way in which this is portrayed is through the two helping each other with their faith. We will film this by taking close ups and medium shots of them reading the bible together and long to mid shots of them looking at the cross.
This will be followed by a scene of the two standing up and looking at each other, with the aim of conveying a sense of acceptance of themselves and their identity, with also a sense of pride in their faith. This will also be filmed through medium shots and close ups.
Finally, we will conclude our film with the end scene of the passage in the Bible that states “Love thy neighbour”, linking to the title of the film. This is as this passage acts as an umbrella term for the Christian faith that encourages acceptance, love and a sense of community that should be prioritised over any personal prejudice. This will be filmed with one simple close up.
Although being called a tapestry, The Bayeux Tapestry is in fact a piece of embroidery made with wool thread on a linen cloth, that portrays the events leading up to and during The Battle of Hastings in 1066. Made in the medieval period, this story told through needlework consisted of the Duke of Normandy’s crossing of the English Channel and defeating the Anglo-Saxon King Harold. The Duke of Normandy, also known as William The Conqueror following these events, was the seventh Duke of Normandy and was also promised the throne by King Edward after his death, due to his lack of heirs and the fact that he found refuge in Normandy for 30 years. The tapestry tells the story from the year 1064 when King Edward the Confessor instructs his brother in law Harold to sail to Normandy, in order to offer the Duke of Normandy succession to the English throne. Although, after King Edward dies, Harold crowns himself king instead, leading to the Duke of Normandy invading, crossing the sea in long ships full of horses and his army, and reclaiming his throne through the epic battle in 1066. This battle is told through the gruesome and detailed embroidery, displaying a bloody battle full of severed limbs, falling horses and the defeat of Harold caused by an arrow being shot in his eye, according to the Anglo-Norman tapestry. This colossal retelling of history spans up to 70 metres long, containing 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses.
Furthermore, it is said that Jersey were also a part of this turning point in history. This is as it was rumoured that some Jersey men or relatives of them fought in the battle of Hastings under the command of their Normandy Lords. However, this cannot be said for sure as we are unable to prove this claim, with the matter of who in fact really attended the battle being an argument that has spanned over centuries. However, the sons of Godefroi de Carteret, Onfroi, Mauger and Roger, are said to be participants in this historic event. This links to the history of Jersey as Onfroi de Carteret’s son is believed to the first de Carteret established in Jersey, resulting in the dynasty that ruled Jersey for centuries.
Here you can explore the Bayeaux tapestry scene by scene, allowing you to get a real sense of the enormity of this piece of needlework and the brutal and dramatic events it displays.
Fewocious, AKA Victor Langlois, is an 18 year old digital artist, born in Las Vegas, USA, now based in Seattle known for his bold and emotive recreations of his memories growing up. Fewocious first began to create pieces of art at the age of 13 as an escape mechanism for his struggles as a transgender youth living in an abusive household. Due to this, Fewocious aims to replicate his emotions from these memories and translate them into his art, with most of them showing a sense of sadness and despair during his difficult times. He also incorporates aspects of his personal journal entries from these time periods to enhance these past representations of himself. Over the span of a year Fewocious has become one of the world’s leading digital artist, whilst also grossing over $17 million from his NFT artworks in under a year. In addition, Fewocious’ work comes to life through his slight use of animation in the NFT pieces, where aspects of the image move around in a GIF like manner. Fewocious claims that he draws his inspiration from various different artist such as surrealist Salvador Dali and Daniel Johnston’s children’s book illustrations.
Analysis
FEWOCiOUS (b. 2003), Year 1, Age 14 — It Hurts To Hide, 2021.
This piece of digital art created by Fewocious displays an abstract depiction of himself at the age of 14, consisting of a collage of different objects, shapes, words and expressions that remind him of this time in his life. Fewocious communicates this through the use of bright and almost luminescent tones in this piece. The focal point of this image appears to be the morphed face in the centre, expressing a sense of fear and fragility through the wobbled lines drawn in the eyes. The leading lines in this piece are created by what looks life a border surrounding the focal point, drawing the viewers eye across the top of the image, then down past the focal point into the far more busy bottom half of the piece, which contains most of the smaller and more hidden messages of the artwork. Fewocious has arranged this piece by leaving some areas of empty space at the top and then incorporating more and more artwork as you move down the image, in turn producing what feels like a bottom heavy piece.
The name of this artwork by Fewocious ‘Year 1, Age 14 — It Hurts To Hide, 2021‘ is referring to the first year of his journey as a trans youth, explaining the pain he had to endure whilst hiding his true identity, for the sake of his family, who refused to accept his need to become his genuine self. Fewocious has stated that “It goes from hiding, to accepting myself, and then realizing that I can just be myself.” about his artwork, with this piece being in the stage of hiding. It can be said that the focal point of the morphed face is looking up as it is searching for someone to help them escape and save them from their suffering. In addition, this morphed reality could be a reference to Fewocious’ sense of confusion in his gender identity accompanied by the rejection of his future self, causing him to feel as if he is caught in-between and unable to latch on to a secure sense of character and identity. Furthermore, the cluttered and bottom heavy aspect of this piece could be a signifier of his weighed down and possibly depressive feelings at this time of despair.
This links artist links with one aspect our group project idea that revolves around the communities of religion and LGBTQ+. This is due to the fact that the creator Fewocious is a part of the LGBTQ+ as he is a trans male. Moreover, we are aiming to display a similar sense of fear of to show your true identity in our work, as Fewocious does, however this will be through the repressive aspects associated with religion around the LGBTQ+ community, rather than a struggle that is more focused on family.
Hackatao
Hackatao, formed in Milan, Italy in 2007, is an artistic duo consisting of Sergio Scalet and Nadia Squarci who are known for their illustrative style artwork that comments of a variety of social issues, such as the environment, politics, humanity, cryptocurrencies and more. In addition, they also include elements of art history within their work. The duo got their artistic alias Hackatao from the combination of the two words ‘hacker’ meaning someone who overcomes challenges with creativity and ingenuity, and ‘tao’ for the principles of the Ying and Yang. Known as pioneers of the NFT world, Hackatao’s work is composed of two styles shown through two dimensional acrylic paint, and the black and white expressions of graphite. Furthermore, the duo are known to take inspiration from artists Takashi Murakami and Andy Warhol in order to create their surrealist pop like pieces. With this style, the duo have went on to collaborate with people such as Blondie, commenting on how the boarders of art and creativity need to be pushed and tested.
Analysis
Kim Jong Un – “Dead and Alive” Edition – Hackatao
This image, originally a GIF, created by the duo Hackatao displays a two dimensional caricature style portrayal of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, surrounded by missiles in the background of the piece. Here the vibrant, solid red background strongly contrasts against the black and white sketches and texts within the overlapping missiles. The framing of this piece allows for symmetry, due to the depiction of Kim Jong-Un being positioned in the centre. This is further accentuated by the line on the jacket of the caricature, dissecting the image in two symmetrical halves, also being continued by the parting of the hair and finally the point of the central missile. In addition, due to this busy centre of the piece, it leaves a large amount of empty space around the edges of the top half of the image.
This simplistic approach to political commentary by Hackatao could be said to be an attempt to showcase the rising tensions that existed between the USA and North Korea during the Trump administration. In its original animated GIF form this piece by Hackatao displays a skeleton form of the ‘supreme leader’ flashing in and out of the image above. With this it could be argued that Hackatao intended to show what the future could look like for these world leaders, and their countries, if they allowed their egos get the better of them and start a devastating nuclear war. In addition, it can also be said that this nuclear topic is presented in a comical manner, due to the fact that some phrases in the missiles state things such as ‘Keep calm and nuke them all’ and ‘Kaboom’. This may be a reference to the way Hackatao and others may perceive these leaders as infantile and uncapable of leading a country, due to their tendency to have tantrums when they are refused power.
As well as the fact that this artistic duo deal with humanitarian, social and political issues, this style of art links with our NFT group project aim as it incorporates written quotes and texts. This relates to our work as in our still images and our film we are wanting to incorporate protest signs that contend the overlay of the LGBTQ+ and religious communities, in order to display the challenges people who belong to these two groups face in society.
CONCEPT: What will the future of Jersey look like as a community in the metaverse?
3 Words: Peaceful, united, diverse
A sentence: This will be a place where people feel welcome to express their individuality and embrace the communities they belong to.
A Paragraph: As a group we made the decision to incorporate the two communities of religion and LGBTQ+ into our project, aiming to capture what the future metaverse will look like. This Metaverse has been described a potential utopia, where all people can exist in harmony together. With this information we have decided to bring to light certain issues that occur within the crossover of these communities, which would need to be resolved in order for this potential utopia to even exist. The issue we are going to touch on with this project is the homophobia and hate, within certain religions such as Christianity, towards the LGBTQ+ community and how often people are made to chose between the two. From this we are aiming to create a film and pieces of photography that reflect the struggle that people who belong to these communities endure, and how we are able to create a space that they can both exist peacefully if people learn to be more accepting.
CONTENT: How will you make your film?
Our film will be composed of video recordings that display scenes relating to religion, such as churches, and scenes of protest against the LGBTQ+ community, as well as representatives of LGBTQ+ people. This will be put together in the format of montages accompanied by a dramatic musical score in the background.
An NFT, meaning ‘Non Fungible Token’, is in essence a online certificate of ownership over a product whether it be a piece of art, music or any digital file on the Blockchain. This allows people to share, trade and transport these NFTs through the metaverse. The metaverse is a virtual universe in which all online resources and products, such as the internet, augmented reality, NFTs and more, are in a shared space. This new platform allows new opportunities for artists and creators, due to them being able to manage the trading of their work, without being held back from their artistic voice by regulations. Furthermore, when an artist piece of work is resold through the metaverse, the artist is rewarded a percentage of the profits, due to tracking on the Blockchain.
2LIVES
With this technology, 2Lives has been created with the aim of educating people in Jersey of the opportunities that NFTs can offer to creative minds, students and any interested in the trading and collecting of creative works. This goal has been translated into a exhibition within the metaverse, by Francesco Vincenti and Claudia Runcio, allowing the people of Jersey an opportunity to grow with this new wave of creative technology. Furthermore, 2Lives also is a way of connecting two very prominent aspects of the island, finance and art, through business opportunities as well as creative ones.
