Well Hello..

This is the first time I've managed visit my blog in the last 3 months or so. How shameful, the shallow thinking set in almost as soon as I felt the summer breeze.The summer has been eventful and like always instead of keeping up with all the things I want to talk about on my blog, Ive left it all to pile up....so this could take a while!

First I'm thinking my Blog needs a complete face lift to start the College year off to a good one.

When I started this 'blogging thing' I wasn't confident and was slightly unsure about what to share and how to share the things I like with everyone who was interested, in an interesting way....but now I think I'm ready.

GoldSnapped

I always seem to come across something that interests me when I'm least expecting it. This time I came across some really, really nice Photography of Alison Goldfrapp, who is the singer and songwriter for Goldfrapp.


I really love the colours in all these photographs and they are all so pure, and surreal , thats what I love about them.

Elective: Illusration and Visualization

I had a love hate relationship with my Elective. What I expected was far from what I was about to experience. There were exercises like cutting and pasting, and drawing round shapes to create something visually interesting?! (Yes, you heard me) was this what I was spending my half term doing?!
At the start of the week I hated it but by the end I was enjoying the exercise far too much and actually ended up with some really good visual illustrations. This elective taught me how to relax whilst I worked, as I'm so used to working neatly and to guidelines. Instead just going with the flow and seeing what happened worked for me. I really enjoyed the whole experience and would recommend it to others. : )




Exercise one:use a cartoon character to develop repetitive images/patterns.






Exercise two: Choose something to cut out within a magazine and create other images.



I chose to cut out random body parts

Cutting images of body parts out of magazines became boring after the first attempt. So I decided to stick the cut-outs back into the magazine and stick the pages of the magazine together to create several layered images. These are my favourite.




Exercise Three: create a storyboard of an existing movie using the techniques already learnt.



I chose Kill Bill Vol.1 Scene 1


















This elective was good because it forced me out of my comfort zone and made me think and work in ways which I weren't used to. I'm glad Iv learnt these techniques/processes because I can now apply them to my future works. However I never, ever, ever want to be an Illustrator and so it was good for helping me make my mind up about that too.

Oh my God!!

Today was the official opening of the Vis com Film reel exhibition in which I did a documentary about inequality in the work place. It just so happens the same kind of documentary is on tonight as well on BBC2 9pm By Jane Simon The trouble with working Women.
Taken from the website
"Gosh, it’s 2009. Are we still talking about glass ceilings and equal pay for women? Did we not get that one sorted out yet? Apparently not"

Its a new series and Great timing on my behalf, At least I'm working with the times..... My version is obviously a lot shorter, and with less budget you can see it's flaws but it even contained the same music! : ) Ive been comparing my ideas with the documentary as I've been watching it and I think I did quite well comparing it to professional standard...Although my editing skills could be much better : )

Adding more material to my documentary

I have decided to bring what the media says on inequality into my documentary, I might take a more serious example like the lights of Alan Sugar and his view's, or I might add a light hearted joke from a comedy strip.

Here's some that Iv looked at

Taken from dailymail.co.uk-Sir Alan Sugar warned last night that equal opportunity laws have made it harder for a woman to get a job.
Employers are not allowed to ask women about having children - so they would just not employ them, he said.
The self-made millionaire and star of BBC TVs The Apprentice added: "Everything has gone too far. We have maternity laws where people are entitled to too much. He said: "That's the bottom line, you're not allowed to ask so it's easy - just don't employ them.
"It will get harder to get a job as a woman."

I know the Ali G, and Sean Lock videos are intended to be light hearted jokes but this is the exact point I'm trying to make, It's not a direct hit at the comedian its just an example of how so many people see this issue.

I decided to use the Sean Lock as my example although I wish I'd of used the Alan Sugar one instead, because now I feel it highlights the problem in a serious way. Everyone laughed at the Sean Lock example when I asked my audience their opinion, but then said it was also thought provoking afterwards because of the following statistics about women getting paid 17%less, they then questioned why they were laughing.

Am I a feminist?

I have been asked this question whilst doing this project because I think people believe if your willing to fight for a cause like this then you must hate men and want justice. I don't think I'm a feminist at all. When I start a family I think I will be more than happy to be an old fashioned wife to a certain extent, and I will be happy to be the back bone of my family, but my career is a different ball game. I'm not sure its my dream to reach the top and run my own business and I think I will be happy to work for someone else if that happens to be a man so be it, but if there is even a whiff of me being treat unequal to anyone else I will make sure I do something about it. That doesn't make me a feminist.

Final Project Advert and statistics research

Final project: Advert and Video research

I found an advert on youtube whilst doing my research. I think its a clever advert and Is a dramatized version of what really happens in today's society. There is hardly any support from the government for women who want to stay at home and be mothers, and there is hardly any support for mothers in the work place either.

So many women are in such a difficult position. Having a baby is supposed to be the happiest time of a woman and mans life, but how can you enjoy it when there are worries of losing your job, or being forced back into work simply because you cant afford to be off.

The Fawcett society believe over 30,000 women lose there job for being pregnant.

Pay mothers to stay at home, urges Conservative think-tank. This was the headline of the telegraph.co.uk website. David Cameron one of the Tory leaders had recommended for there to be radical changes to the tax and benefits systems which would enable parents to stay at home for the first 3 years of their child's life.

Iain Duncan Smith also said " We need to level the financial playing field for parents. Society is paying a high price for the quick fix of getting mothers back to work so soon after birth"

A cabinet office study found that if money was no object, only 5% of mothers would opt to work full time, three quarters of them opting for part time allowing them to spend more time at home with their children.

Major Project

Final Project RESEARCH

Brief

Context

Produce a body of work using documentation and reportage techniques to draw attention upon the latest statistics, which show inequality in the workplace still exists.

The purpose of this brief is to shed a light on the things that take place in the workplace that shouldn't. The statistics still show that women still get paid 17% less than men, but women are also more likely to be victims of sexual harassment, and other sexual discriminatory acts. As women are more likely to be the ones who take responsibility at home for all the major things cooking, cleaning, child bearing definitely. The attitudes about women and their capabilities have never seemed to changed from this to something more modern. Most women probably wouldn't argue with the roles in the home because I think we are naturally made to want to do this for our families (although we all have our boundaries), but when in a professional environment I think they expect to be treat as an equal.

As I really enjoyed filming and editing in my last project Designing for Audiences, Iv decided to pick video for my Major project too. I never thought Id ever say this but I have found myself overwhelmingly interested in this area of work. Films have never been a big interest to me, but I have always loved watching documentaries/reality programs on T.V. My favourite types are Hells Kitchen, Gordan Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares, and Come Dine with me. They all do have a link Food which I think is one reason why I love them, but I also so love them because most of the events that happen in these documentary type programs are unplanned, funny and thought provoking especially if your looking for recipes or dining ideas.

I also like more Intellectual types of documentaries like the Louis Theroux ones. He challenges different issues such as, racial, political, Religious etc. These types of documentaries to me are the best I could sit and watch them all day, I admire how he challenges his interviewee's and anyone else who is unlucky enough to cross his path, it makes good T.V.

I think basing my documentary on a real life issue that is important to the times will provoke my own thoughts or the audiences' on the issues raised.

As part of my research for my introduction to my documentary I looked at the suffragette movement as this is where women started to fight for there rights. Although I didn't have much time to research into this movement in depth, Its definitely something I would like to look at, at a later time.

The suffragettes had a horrible time and it was the one thing which brought all kinds of women together from all classes which was very unusually for the times. They eventually got the right to vote something we take for granted these days.

The suffragettes also appear in the Hovis advert where a young boy is running through the streets with his Hovis loaf. He passes all the important events that happened in Britain. I like this advert : )

The Re-incarnation of St Orlan

What is the art? The re-incarnation of St Orlan

Art is thought to be done by the artist. But is it possible for the artist to be the art?

Well they say you learn something new everyday. Whilst reading a book I came across an artist who did just that. The artist Orlan underwent a series of operations to recreate her face into what the males of historical time considered beauty. She took the features from various female figures in a variety of different paintings which were and are considered beautiful works of art.

Such as the mouth of Bouchers' Europa, the forehead of Leonardo' Mona Lisa and the chin of Batticellis' Venus.

The operation was broadcast live to galleries throughout the world and called art and afterwards the video of the op and left over flesh was up for grabs.

Yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a perfect example of how modern art can be so eclectic and undefined, and makes the question What is art? all the more difficult to answer.

Aaron Barschak

Look what iv found..

Whist doing some research for my 1500 word essay for Critical studies, I was reading J. Careys' WHAT GOOD ARE THE ARTS. There is a whole chapter in this book which debates, What art is?(very interesting).

Reading on I came across an example to challenge what is seen as art, It said that in October 2003 a man called Aaron Barschak who calls himself the 'comedy terrorist' tried to pull a stunt which he had a reputation for, this time in the Modern Art Gallery in Oxford.

Apparently Barschak was up in Oxford magistrates court on charge for criminal damages for splashing paint all over the walls of the Art gallery, which also splashed the work of the Chapman brothers and Jake Chapman.

In his response to this he stated he had over heard a conversation the Chapman brothers were having over the exhibition 'The rape of Creativity' which feature cartoon heads drawn over a series of etchings of Goya's 'disaster of war'. He further stated at the point of splashing the paint he was merely trying to recreate he own work of art, using someone else's work and that he would enter it for the turner price draw. Which in effect was exactly what The Chapman Brothers did with ' The rape of Creativity. His story didn't work and the judge gave him 28 days in prison.

In my opinion after reading this and the rest of the chapter, I find it difficult to find where Barschak went wrong except for the fact that he splashed Jake Chapman. OK, it was amazingly cheeky and damaging to walk into a gallery and splash paint everywhere, but to say its not art and to disregard it simply because of the way it was created is wrong. I think the way it was created is part of the art and I think it was Genius. It challenges what the world believes to be Art, something which has created much of a stir for many centuries.

The judge should have been put in the box and asked, In your opinion what is art? maybe then Barschak would have got his way.

The Sand Pit: Conclusion

I feel whilst doing this Com Tech brief I have been allowed to experiment and develop my skills in other areas I wouldn't have necessarily attempted without a reason.
Working with and researching into animation has given me a better understanding of the art form and the technologies behind it. I have been allowed to be creative, experimental, and expressive through my ideas with different softwares which I have thoroughly enjoyed.
Animation is there to create narrative and to entertain different people with different tastes and ideas, but it is also there to be challenged. Its an ever changing art form and the softwares used to create it are well established and more readily available.
After working with animation I can now appreciate the art form for what it is, it is very precise, and complex which focuses highly on timing and innovation. Even though animation and the softwares have developed dramatically the core skills and principles of this Art form are still highly important.
Overall I have learnt a lot of thinking, technological and experimental skill from this brief which I will use within my future works. P.S I'm totally Blog 'loved up'...which is another thing Ive been forced into doing since starting this brief.

The Sand Pit: creating a storyboard

Group activity
In groups of 3 plan, draw and physically create a storyboard using 3 different shooting angles.

Close up

Long shot

Extreme angle

(Think about how the storyboards are drawn to communicate the narrative as the film will be edited by another group).

This is the storyboard which we created before the next activity

After doing this exercise our group of three, acted the storyboard out. Me and Steph acted out each scene whilst Hayley filmed us using a mini DV Camcorder. Doing this exercise was very valuable to me it taught me alot of things that I wouldnt usually take into consideration if I was to film something. Having to think about whether a shot was long, short or extreme made the storyboard and film more interesting and 3 dimentional. It also introduced me to how shots are thought up and its for this specific reason. Different shots belong in different places within a storyboard and film to bring something to attention or to build up a sort of tension or energy within the narrative. As the storyboard was going to be used by another group to edit our film, we had to be very careful to illustrate the drawings well enough so they could compare each clip in the film to each illustration. If the narrative was communicated properly on paper and on the film then the other group would find it easy to edit it. I think as it was our groups first attempt at the story board we did well. We also had to edit someone elses film and as it was also our first attempt at using Final cut, it was really hard but we managed to create a very simple sequence which we presented infront of the class. I really enjoyed this short exercise as it introduced alot of communication and technical processes to me that I wouldnt normally come across which I later experimented with whilst doing this Brief.

The Sand Pit: Examples of different types of animation techniques and softwares

Stop Motion

Where objects are used to create movement. The process is very long and time consuming because you have to move the object bit by bit whilst taking photographs of every single small movement. The photographs are then put together to create a movie sequence. Clay is often used for stop motion as it versatile and easy to manipulate.

The is a stop motion video by Kristoferstrom I found it on YouTube.



This video reminds me of the carphone warehouse advert, I love it. The first instance of stop motion was in 1898 and so its quite an old technique with a long history. The first Stop motion technique was object animation but has developed right to time-lapse. Although the facts show how much technologhy has developed, old fashioned techniques are still used and are highly valuable to animators, which this video shows.


Strata-Cut animation

Which is also a form of stop motion animation but is done using clay. The technique is similar to the one above only an object is created usually in the shape of a sausage which is well put together using different coloured clay. when the object is formed a slice is cut of the oject and a photograph is taken. when the suasage has finished the photographs are put together in a sequence to create movement.



I think this kind of animation is really theraputic, hypnotic and relaxing, I nearly feel asleep watching it.


Cell Shaded Animation

Cell Shading animation was used in early animated movies such as Disney classics. Its a process where a 3D model is used as a silhoette, and from that a 2D computer graphic is rendered to look like a drawing which is usually in the style of a cartoon or comic. These 2D graphics are done using acetate which are called Cells. Although these animations are like simple drawing the Cell shading technique is very complex.

This example of cell shading animation is called Spirited Away



The animation by Disney is not at all like the usual western type that everyone knows, it a japanese style of animation.


'CGI' computer generated imagery

There are many different softwares used to create CGI, a few being Maya, Lightwave 3D, Blender and many more which are very complex, (an example has been given earlier on where I used Maya). Because of the availabilty of these CGI softwares and because computers are becoming faster it has been possible for individuals to create these professional 3D projects for games or film etc. Its said that this has now created a subculture on the internet. CGI in the past was used to create special effects for instance in Jurrassic Park the creators used CGI to create the 3D illusion of the Dinosaurs. But in later year its become more popular with films created using full CGI. (Toy Story being the first which iv mentioned).



This animation has been created using CGI software, but the reason iv made it an example is the creators have made it look almost like a cell shaded animation, and like its 2D. I think it defeats the purpose of using CGI in a way but then its even better because its added another dimension to the movies profile. Also it really shows of the current styles and softwares available. I really like this one.

The Sand Pit: My experience using Maya

As 3D animation is also something im interested in looking at I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at working in Maya to create a cartoon character. Wow it was the most complex advanced software iv ever worked with if thats what you could call it. Creating simple things such as the shell of a mobile phone in this software is difficult you have to think about all the axis and remembering its a 3D model was easy to forget at times. I worked in the program using all 4 authographic veiws which made it easier to model as you could see the component at all points. I started off with a simple component such as a sphere which in Maya are called nurbs (objects with a smooth exterior) then I used the 3 colour coded axis which were for scale, rotation and movement to manipulate the component. This was the hard bit having manipulated one part of the component left the other parts of the component out of shape getting my head round all this was way too difficult at this stage. I tried creating the model of my chicken but it wasnt happening as you can see from the picture but having a go was really fun. The instructions I followed and the process I used are in my sketchbook

Example

Toy story was the first full movie to use this software: