THE APP USED TO EDIT OUR ELIZABETH CASTLE FILM; PREMIERE PRO.
The process in making the film was particularly difficult, Alice was using this software for the first time which meant she had to familiarise myself with the tools. Alice being the creator of the film making was tasked with adding creating the composition of the images/videos, the visual aesthetic, adding fading to the images, and making sure the audio was in the right place. Firstly she added our original image into a sequenced that we liked which also flowed better with a narrative, in order to add some history aspect to our film. According to Hesmondhalgh’s cultural industries theory producers use existing material so the audience can relate and minimise risk when releasing a product.
In this image you are able to see the sequencing of videos and images. To create a smooth film she tried to add similar images as to what you could see in the videos, sort of like a visual conclusion in what you saw in the short video. Furthermore with the archive images which i gathered she faded our original images into them to show the evolution and change you are able to see.
In this screenshot you are able to see a fade from one image to another. You can do this by slightly overlapping the two images and adding two key frames in the edge of each image. You are able to create different types of fades depending on how you position your images and the fade.
Here you are able to see the adjustment layer that is added on top of the sequence throughout the film. An adjustment layer, is an application of the same effect to a multitude of clips on your timeline. In the adjustment layer I added a black and white filter from the list of adobe filters, this was so the edited images and videos could have the same mood. However in order to make the archive images distinctive I added a different filter ‘Kodak Tobacco’ to create a more vintage old look. This filter had a gold/warm tone which seemed to look a bit like rustic paper used back in the day.
This is a reflection of the work I have done at A-Level photography, and I will mention the areas of my study that I think showcase my best work, as well as the areas that I find are most significant.
Themes
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850. It began approximately during 1770, during the industrial revolution. Romanticism is often seen as the reaction to the developing urban world, and the negative impact it has on people. Romantics believed in the natural goodness of humans which is hindered by the urban life of civilization. They believed that the savage is noble, childhood is good and the emotions inspired by both beliefs causes the heart to soar.
Examples:
My Response:
Femininity/ Masculinity
The definition of ‘femininity’ according to Wikipedia is ‘a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles generally associated with women and girls’, however this definition has been criticised by many people throughout history, as it causes it to be a very general and constricting term. The idea of femininity is a social construct, and people are slowly realising (especially younger generations who are typically more open minded) how the term doesn’t only surround women- but people of all genders and it is slowly becoming a much more fluid term. Furthermore, the opposing word ‘masculinity’ is defined as ‘is a set of attributes, behaviours, and roles associated with men and boys’, the same definition but for men/ boys. Although some people believe there is one ‘correct’ definition of both femininity and masculinity, each culture has its own views on the terms, some of which even completely contradict each other. Moreover, any human can portray both feminine and masculine traits. Gender stereotypes link in a lot with femininity and masculinity, which can be very harming to both sexes, especially when the people surrounding them pressure them into presenting a certain way.
Examples:
My Response:
Summer project- Nostalgia and Family
For this project, I decided to focus on my grandad’s life. He was born in Bierna, Poland on the 9th of September, 1948. He grew up with his two sisters, Zofia and Krystyna, and his father Tadeusz and his mother Elżbieta, my great-grandparents. My grandma (my grandad’s late wife) was born on the 31st of January, 1949. They got married on the 31st of August in 1974 and they had my mum, Małgorzata, on the 28th of March 1976. My grandma sadly passed away on the 29th of August 1992, which left my grandad a widower. I looked through many photos of my grandad’s life as a young adult, even finding a photograph of him as a young child. I picked out photos in which he looked happy, either alone or with my grandma. During my holiday in Poland, I took pictures of my grandad and his environment, even recreating some of the photos from the past.
This is a project I enjoyed a lot, as exploring the past was very interesting to do. I wanted to focus on the life of my grandparents as young people, in contrast to the life of my Grandad as a widower. This is something I would like to add to for my personal investigation, as it links heavily to nostalgia.
Examples:
My Response:
Mediums
Photographs
Photographs have been the main way we have used to create our projects.
My Response:
Film
For one project, Caitlin and I recorded a film as a way of presenting our work, which was an interesting experience.
These artists are my biggest inspirations that I have researched during my A- Levels.
Stephanie Jung- Anthropocene
Stephanie Jung is a freelance photographer based in Berlin, Germany. In 2010 she finished her studies in Visual Communications, where she discovered her passion for experimental photography. She loves to travel all over the world, especially to big cities, to capture the vibrant and hectic mood of a place. But her work is not just about city life, it’s about time and caducity, about capturing special moments getting lost in time. Her extraordinary shots show cities that depict reality but nonetheless lead to a different, surreal dimension apart from our real world. With her camera, she does no more than 4 exposures. She believes anything more than that is hard to control and the pictures’ structure vanishes. Instead, she reworks the images, adding elements and editing them the way she likes.
Examples:
My Response:
Francesca Woodman- Femininity/ Masculinity
Francesca Woodman was an American photographer who created black and white pictures, capturing herself and other female models in interesting ways. Her photos show herself and other women either in unique outfits or stark naked, in weird positions. The photos mostly appeared to be blurred, since she used a slow shutter speed, letting more light in to create movement in a eerie way throughout her work. She was born on April the 3rd in 1958 and died on the 19th of January in 1981, aged just 22 years old. Despite her dying so young, Woodman has continued to inspire many upcoming photographers, being an icon of self- expression in photography. Her portraits portrayed her as vulnerable and isolated, but also intense and powerful, creating a interesting contrast.
Examples:
My Response:
Photographic Skills
These are techniques that I will use in my personal in my personal study to assure my photos turn out the way I want.
Aperture
The aperture is a hole located in the camera’s lens that decides how much light is let into the picture, thus controlling the exposure of the outcome. Photographers can manually control the aperture by switching to ‘A’ or ‘AV’ mode and then changing the f/number using the dial on their camera. The lower the f-number, the bigger the hole, meaning it lets more light into the picture and it is a larger aperture. A very large aperture (such as f/2.8) can result in an overexposed image. On the other hand, the higher the f-number, the smaller the hole, meaning less light is let into the photo and the aperture is lower. A very low aperture (for example f/22) can result in an underexposed image.
–Natural Light: this is light from outdoors- the sunlight will determine how your photos will be lit up as it isn’t something you can control.
–Artificial Light: this is light from things that use electricity or halogen gas to glow. Light rooms are typically used in photograph as the lamps are easy to control.
–Continuous Lighting: this is light that is constantly on, such as a torch. The thing you are photographing is always illuminated by the light. Natural light is continuous however studio light can also be set up as continuous.
-Strobe Lighting: this is light that creates a very short burst of light just as the photo is taken, illuminating the thing you’re photographing for a very short time. Also known as monolights, strobes have a quick recycle time and a full power output of anywhere from 100 to 1,000 watts. The only natural light that is strobe lighting is lightening, as it is a quick flash in the sky. Camera flashes are strobe lighting.
Experimentation:
natural lightingartificial/ continuous lighting
Shutter Speed
The shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light when taking a photograph. The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time. 1⁄500 of a second will let half as much light in as 1⁄250.
Since year 12, I have developed a lot on my knowledge and experience in Photography. I understand more about the techniques, history, and meanings etc behind Photography and I feel very comfortable in this current stage of my education. I have made quite an effort to get where I am at currently, with all of my essays, research, and most of all my photographs.
Anthropocene:
I think, out of all of my topics/projects, the one that I was the most successful in was the Anthropocene project. I believe I utilised various techniques very effectively, things like deadpan and rule of thirds were some of many. Also in general the things I took pictures of were very appropriate for the theme of Anthropocene, the estate/urban photos in particular worked very well in terms of the themes and quality.
Some photos worth mentioning are:
I also believe that through Anthropocene in particular, I have learned many different editing techniques made through photoshop, such as levelling, cropping, cutting and pasting, colour balancing etc.. The list goes on and on.
Landscape:
During my landscape photoshoot, I believe I took some really good quality photos that contained a lot of detail. I took advantage of the composition and level editing the most and I think the majority of these turned out just the way I wanted them to.
Some highlights under Landscape:
Very happy with these, I like the textures in the grass, concrete and clouds a lot and they make the photos so much better. The sky having many different assortments of shapes and colours adds a lot too, makes the photos feel different from one another.
Urban:
Huge fan of this one too, this is when I went to Harve Des Pas and took photos of the buildings all around. Some of these really hit the spot, in terms of quality and rule of thirds I think these are one of the strongest.
Best photos under Urban:
Love the composition, framing and depth in these images, the are all clear quality and have their main subjects clearly in view. The colours, while mostly absent, are yet present in just enough amounts of quantities. Really happy and proud of this chapter.
Headshots:
This one is probably the best photoshoot of mine taken in the studio, I love the colours used and the contrast, along with the sharpness as a whole. The lights being shone in the background makes the subject, who is a different colour, stand out and make their facial expressions more visible. This also appears to be the first photoshoot where I experimented with the shutter speeds.
Essential that students build on their prior knowledge and experience developed during the course.
Develop your written dissertation in the light of your chosen focus from the practical part of previous coursework and projects.
From all the coursework (Personal Investigation) that you have produced write an overview of what you learned so far (both as Yr 12 and Yr 13 student) and publish on the blog.
1. Describe which themes (Nostalgia, Anthropocene, Home, Feminity/ Masculinity/ Identity etc,) medium (photography, film), approaches (documentary, tableaux, conceptual), artists (incl contextual references to art history, movements and isms) and photographic skills, processes, techniques and methods (incl learning new software) inspired you the most and why.
2. Include examples of both previous and current experiments and imagery to illustrate your thinking.
Ideas for Personal Study
Within my personal study, my plan is to do something linking to Vienna Bakery, a family business. One technique of photography I would like to include TYPOLOGIES, using the workers from different parts of the bakery i.e the shop, production, night shift and dispatch. I would like to take them in the same deadpan style of Ed Ruscha, the only difference would be that instead of taking images of buildings, it would be people.
Another technique I would like to use is Environmental Portraiture, taking pictures of some of the main workers in their usual working area, i.e the foreman, production manager, the manager and even some others that may have been there for longer periods of time than others. I’m hoping to take these images in the style of Michelle Sank, an artist who actually did a project in Jersey at one point called Insula, using locals workers from local industries to create environmental portraits.
I am also hoping to use some ideas linking to the still life aspect of our HOME project, taking images of some of our most popular products whether that’s the cakes or the bread taking inspiration from Mary Ellen Bartley, I will be taking the images in her simplistic style as I want the focus to be on the product and not the background or anything else. Within this I will also be taking images of the bakery and shop, hoping to capture what they look like while people are working and while it is empty.
The final concept I will be using is photojournalistic documentary style images, taking inspiration from Mitch Epstein, more specifically his photobook “Family Business“. In the middle of the book, he has stills of an interview with his father about the business, I am hoping to do the same with the owner of Vienna Bakery, David Dodge, my cousin and maybe even his daughter, Sarah Dodge, who is now the director of the company.
‘Overall, this module was a new style to me and therefore quite challenging. I created a small number of images I am proud of but I don’t think that they are at all my best work as this was one of my first experiences with photographing objects, and often my intentions were not entirely clear to me when I set about taking and arranging my images. I am also aware that I did not really employ Photoshop to the best of my abilities as I was a bit out of touch with it and probably needed to use it a bit more often. I hoped that in my future projects I would be able to act with thorough forethought (in choice of objects, placing of objects, background, lighting etc.) and ensure that I took enough images on each photoshoot – as I think this was one of my biggest shortfalls in completing this project. I have included my favourite images in this Virtual Exhibition.’
The above is an adapted version of my final evaluation of the Home project – images that may inform my choices and inspire me in my personal study are below.
Romanticism
I enjoyed creating images for this project because I think that the beauty of the countryside and its emotional impact on us as people is something that can easily be emphasised through careful use of light and colour. I also really liked the work of the artists we looked at here. Images and artworks of the genre strike a certain chord in me as someone who grew up in the countryside and I think that the slightly sad, nostalgic effect of this is something shared by a lot of viewers, no matter their personal experiences. The work of Fay Godwin, Ansel Adams and Don McCullin was my favourite purely because their use of the camera as a tool through which to project and amplify the drama of the landscape is evident in each of their images respectively. I may well be inspired by my final outcomes to create a romantic element in my personal study, as I think my final results were very strong.
New Topographics
I like the images I took for this project because I think they all respond well to the brief of New Topographics because they all have a very muted and desolate tone. I also think that there is a lot of alignment between my images and those of the most famous artists of the movement. I was intrigued by their efforts to portray the damage inflicted on humans to the beauty of the landscape, and my interest was only heightened by the impact of context on my view of this work. The population boom of the 50s, and the consequent sprawl of suburbia across America, demonstrates exactly why artists like Robert Adams felt the need to document the endless array of buildings being repeated all over the country. My key and most inspiring images from this project are shown below.
Typologies
I did not produce many typologies but I do like the one shown below and I feel that this technique could be explored further in my personal study.
Anthropocene
I enjoyed the Anthropocene project because it gave a lot of opportunity to explore different avenues and approaches to the brief. I think that my final outcomes were very obvious in the message they were aiming to portray and therefore work effectively. I chose to present my final images as diptychs and this hence amplified the contrast I was attempting to display. In my final critique, I said this: ‘I think that my images are all really strong and I am happy with my editing choices. I think that all of the images that I put together do compliment and contrast each other in a productive manner. However, it was quite frustrating to not have been able to take as many strong and varied images as I would have liked; and I think perhaps a more clear framework in my head would have made this a little easier. On the other hand, I do still feel that the weather made things quite difficult during the week and this did invalidate a lot of my images that I actually took for the project. I think I did use the camera to the best of my abilities, but there is definitely more I could learn and settings I could utilise to take more interesting images… In conclusion, I enjoyed this project. Taking the time to research the different aspects of Anthropocene and its effects was really interesting and I feel that I have learnt a lot through doing so. I am proud of my outcomes, despite feeling that my idea was not as strong as it could have been, and I am aware that there is room for improvement in all areas of this kind of task for my future reference.’
Environmental Portraiture
I really enjoyed creating images for this project because I think the concept of Environmental Portraiture can produce some very personal and interesting material, depending on how one chooses to approach it. I think that I will be inspired to use this technique in my personal study, as the images I have already produced have been some of my strongest.
Studio Portraiture
I think that I need more practice with photographing in studio as I sometimes struggle with camera/light settings, however I have created some very strong images in the past which I may hope to use as inspiration for my personal study.
My original critique said this; ‘Overall, I am happy with my outcomes for this project as I feel that I was able to access a range of techniques and styles to build up a portfolio that will reflect my various talents in different fields of portraiture. I enjoy the more documentary style imagery and I feel like I was able to explore this on a few occasions over the past few weeks. Additionally, I was able to experiment with studio photography which was fairly new to me and I have created outcomes that I am proud of. I think that there were certainly improvements that could have been made across this project, and sometimes my plans were not executed as I would have liked, however I can say that I have also created work that was really successful.’
Saint Malo – Nostalgia
I think that the images I created in Saint Malo were strong and they certainly responded to the brief of Nostalgia, especially after editing to make them appear more reminiscent of older times. Thus, I think these images could provide inspiration for my personal study as this will also need to respond to the same brief.
Some of my favourite topics that I have done in the pat year and a half is predominantly portraiture focusing on identity, around masculinity and femininity and environmental portraiture.
For my first shoot on environmental portraiture i took it on film which I really enjoyed I love the process of film and taking photos on film as there is a certain nostalgic way the photos come out and the excitement you get as you don’t know the outcome of the photos till you get them developed, if I was to focus on this topic for my final piece I would like to incorporate film into it.
The shoot I did around femininity I really enjoyed working around and with my friends I feel like the outcomes of these photos show the a bong witch girls get with each other, which for me reflects my own friendship group as we are a close group there for making this topic relatable.
I enjoyed researching Justine Kurland and her work as I found it really inspiring for this shoot and found her work fascinating and I believe I could add some aspects of her work into my own.
For my final project I would like to incorporate these two themes as I think they go hand in hand with each other and would create a project which I would love and enjoy to create I believe I would be able to create a project where people would be able see themselves in and shows natural beauty.
Overall, I think our film turned out better than we expected because we introduced new ideas along the way. The creative process of making a film brought new ideas to mind, such as getting someone to read out the letter as extra audio. Not only did this add to the film, but gave context to why there was a letter scrolling, and the purpose of our film. With a cinematic genre, we made sure to film landscapes that matched the theme and were appealing to the eye.
Learning how to use Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Audition was quite interesting and is another useful skill for the future. It wasn’t an easy process; there were moments when it felt long and challenging. However, with perseverance, we managed to create a final outcome that we’re proud of.
I don’t think I’ll be rushing to create another film for personal study anytime soon, but I’ve definitely gained a better understanding of what goes into making one. I found the process quite long and difficult, requiring a lot of time and effort to get things right. However, I have enjoyed learning the complexities of filmmaking and persevering to create a final outcome that worked. This experience has helped me see the creativity and teamwork involved in filmmaking.
Hannah used Adobe Audition to edit our sounds. To create our audio, she used a mixture of sounds gathered from our Elizabeth Castle trip. She also used sounds Sam recorded who is an audio producer that helped us learn how to use Adobe Audition.
When selecting the sounds to incorporate into the multitrack, she carefully considered the visuals that would accompany them to ensure a harmonious match. For instance, for the sea image, she incorporated a seagull sound effect provided by Sam. Prior to integrating the sounds into the multitrack, she individually edited them on the ‘waveform.’ This editing stage allowed her to trim the audio, enhance its clarity, and apply effects like echo
Waveform
She had to filter each sound to make sure they were ‘clean’. This involved removing and eliminating the background noises which she was able to do by using the ‘parametric equaliser’. Once she had edited each sound, she added them in to to the multitrack.
The process for editing the film and putting the clips in order so they could tell a story took quite a long time. I had never used Adobe Premier Pro before so it was a challenge to get to know the basics of editing. However, once I understood how the app worked, it became easier. I started off by selecting the best clips and images, considering the composition, mise-en-scene, lighting, focus, and stability of the image. Before I put still images into the app I had to size them in Lightroom Classic to fit the film size that Premiere requires. Once I had put all my clips and images in the order I wanted I edited the lighting and colour (shown in my previous blog post ‘EDITING STILL/ MOVING IMAGES FOR OUR FILM’). Some of the clips were shaky because they were hand held, so to fix this I used ‘warp stabiliser’ to analyse the video and make it more stable. I had to be careful with how much was on the cli, because too much would cause an unrealistic movement.
I then moved onto achieving putting the letter we chose from the Jersey Archives over the film.
Putting the letter over the film was challenging, but I figured out how to achieve it so it would scroll down the film.
I chose the starting point and marked it, then the finishing point on the ‘positioning’ section. I selected this for the amount of time I wanted the image on the screen, the shorter it was on the faster it would scroll so I lengthened the clip to make the scroll slower. I also had to keep in mind that the letter will be read out, so it had to scroll at reading pace.
After I got the speed right, and the first two pages of the letter that we chose in, I moved onto fading each clip into each other. I chose to do this after inserting the letter because the fades could effect how the opacity is presented. I used the basic fade by enlarging the clip, marking two points, and dragging the fade down.
For the Title I went into photoshop and cropped the letter to get ‘Dearest Patricia’. In Premier I put Blend Mode as ‘Multiply’ to remove the yellow background. I then used ‘dip to white/ black’ to fade it in and out.
For the end credits I used one of Premier’s premade designs to credit who directed, filmed sound, edited clips, sound and who was the voice of the letter.
Still Images: I wanted to make sure we had a variety of colour/ black and white images in our film to capture the colours and also represent the change from the past to the present. I made sure to give the black and white images a lot of depth because the letter is going to be scrolling over the images, so they needed to have a lot of darks and lights to stay distinct. I used AdobeLightroom Classic to edit these.
The lighting was quite dull on the day due to the weather, so it was hard to edit the coloured images whilst keeping interesting tones. I added warmth to them because it complimented the grey sky and the colour of the castle.
I would say this image isn’t the best, due to the fact the infrastructure is in the background, juxtaposing to the story set in the 1940s that we are telling. I think I will crop it more for the film. This also gave me knowledge for next time, learning to try different angles to avoid this issue.
I like the light in these images. I wanted to keep them fairly natural because the sunlight caught on the rustic tones in the room, causing the image to look like it was set in the time of Elizabeth Castle’s peak.
Editing video
For editing the videos, I changed the settings to ‘colour’ to get basic editing tools. I tried to focus on attaining the right light and colour throughout the video.
I mainly focused on the ‘Basic correction’ to achieve this because I didn’t want the videos to look over edited. I was also aware that we would have the archived letter over the images, and needed them to be basic enough for the handwriting to be easily read.
