I found thees really neat commericals on ISO50s blog, and they are quite stunningly shot and the message is inspiring for anyone who really wants to travel and learn new things (me).
EF - Live The Language - London from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.
EF - Live The Language - Beijing from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Motion Book Cover?
I've been sick the last couple of days and have done a lot of sleeping, but there comes a point when you don't want to sleep anymore. At that point I went to class (bad idea). The next day, as I was still sick, I took the entire day to catch up on work (it kind of worked). Mostly I slept and when I wasn't sleeping, I thought about future projects.
One of the projects I thought extensively on was my thesis in my photography workshop class. I thought it was about time I narrowed it down. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with after effects tutorials, which is a lot of fun, but not exactly helping me narrow my thesis. The tutorials are more giving me too many ideas and of increasing difficulty. So I sat down and decided I needed to have a story with which to grow an idea. Well, I don't need a story, more that I want one. I like the restriction that come from representing something like a story. When you literally can do whatever you want, it becomes more difficult, which is what I was facing. I wanted to make all these cool things, but there was no concept, so it was hard to hold on to one idea over another.
Well, my brother wrote this book last year that he let me proof-read over the holidays and I loved it. I've been getting really into motion posters, or living moving posters, but with nooks and other forms of digital books, why not motion book covers? So that's what I'm making. A living moving motion book cover.
Now the only issue is somehow making it a photography assignment. Something I forgot until after I called my brother and we discussed important themes of the book that could be presented in the cover design, did a handful of sketches, and made mock-ups in Photoshop. So I was already really invested in the project before I realized it was all digitally created and not a spot of photography in the entire design. Oops. As I love texture, I had always been planning on using a texture, but even the texture I was planning on using I was going to create in the computer! It's not at all more difficult to use photographs as textures, which will probably look better anyway. Also, before I had planned to design a cover for my brother's book, I really wanted to work with torn paper edges, so I can somehow incorporate scans of torn paper, which I think would look really nice.
Mostly, I'm just ecstatic to play around with it and see what I can do. I don't think anybody has ever done a motion book cover before, so there are no rules!
One of the projects I thought extensively on was my thesis in my photography workshop class. I thought it was about time I narrowed it down. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with after effects tutorials, which is a lot of fun, but not exactly helping me narrow my thesis. The tutorials are more giving me too many ideas and of increasing difficulty. So I sat down and decided I needed to have a story with which to grow an idea. Well, I don't need a story, more that I want one. I like the restriction that come from representing something like a story. When you literally can do whatever you want, it becomes more difficult, which is what I was facing. I wanted to make all these cool things, but there was no concept, so it was hard to hold on to one idea over another.
Well, my brother wrote this book last year that he let me proof-read over the holidays and I loved it. I've been getting really into motion posters, or living moving posters, but with nooks and other forms of digital books, why not motion book covers? So that's what I'm making. A living moving motion book cover.
Now the only issue is somehow making it a photography assignment. Something I forgot until after I called my brother and we discussed important themes of the book that could be presented in the cover design, did a handful of sketches, and made mock-ups in Photoshop. So I was already really invested in the project before I realized it was all digitally created and not a spot of photography in the entire design. Oops. As I love texture, I had always been planning on using a texture, but even the texture I was planning on using I was going to create in the computer! It's not at all more difficult to use photographs as textures, which will probably look better anyway. Also, before I had planned to design a cover for my brother's book, I really wanted to work with torn paper edges, so I can somehow incorporate scans of torn paper, which I think would look really nice.
Mostly, I'm just ecstatic to play around with it and see what I can do. I don't think anybody has ever done a motion book cover before, so there are no rules!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Intended to Un-confuse You About The British Isles
I'm not sure how I found this, but I did, and I think it's a great video, especially since I love the British Isles.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Keith Loutit
Keith Loutit
Biography
Keith Loutit is from Sydney, Australia. He considers himself himself both a photographer and filmmaker. Although he is not the only photographer to experiment with tilt-shift and time-lapse techniques, his artwork seems to use the techniques in a way that really miniaturize the subject.
Significance
Loutit is one of the first photographers to experiment with the tilt-shift photography from such a great distance so that the subject matter looks like miniatures. He has been hired for commercials and has used the technique on his own, but as of yet, there is still a lot of room for application with this type of photography.
Art Historical or Photographic movement
Loutit works uses time-lapse video to create his stop-motion videos. Stop-motion can be so drastically different, and Loutit has found a way to update what stop-motion can do.
Rievew
I couldn't find an officially published review of his work, but I found several blog and forum critiques, the most official lookingbeing a review by Clay Parker Jones at ExitCreative.net, which is really just an explanation of what tilt-shift means. Other, more casual looking bloggers wrote how they enjoyed Loutit's work. They all said a variety of the same things, including how at first they thought it was miniatures or claymation, but through studying the videos realized it couldn't be and through research discovered these images were of real people and real boats, etc. After that, they all said how it was simply really neat and one must check it out.
Composition
Loutit's composition is dictated by the subject matter, be it a house, boat, or field. In the examle of a boat, the subject matter moves, and he doesn't necessarily know where to, so I think a lot of it is just point and hope for the best. That or the composition is not entirely important to the overall piece.
Concept
Loutit's series Small World's has been his most famous series. He traveled the world to document famous cities, monuments, and people. The people seem so tiny and abstract, so there are very little differences. Loutit is trying to say that today with increasing communication, the world seems smaller, but through Loutit's work we see mankind working together building things and driving and lounging at beaches or going to ballet class.
Method
He shoots several shots a second with a tilt-shift lens on his video camera, which creates the illusion of the subject being a miniature. Using a time-lapse to capture fewer frames per second makes the video seem more like a stop-motion rather than a video, where the "normal" frames/second is 24-30.
My Opinion
I think Loutit's work does a good job of expressing his intention - that mankind works together to create society, which is evident from the perspective that Loutit shoots from. His work is aesthetically unique, which makes it stand out. I think he just simply has fun with it, and that's a great reason to continue doing it.
Biography
Keith Loutit is from Sydney, Australia. He considers himself himself both a photographer and filmmaker. Although he is not the only photographer to experiment with tilt-shift and time-lapse techniques, his artwork seems to use the techniques in a way that really miniaturize the subject.
Significance
Loutit is one of the first photographers to experiment with the tilt-shift photography from such a great distance so that the subject matter looks like miniatures. He has been hired for commercials and has used the technique on his own, but as of yet, there is still a lot of room for application with this type of photography.
Art Historical or Photographic movement
Loutit works uses time-lapse video to create his stop-motion videos. Stop-motion can be so drastically different, and Loutit has found a way to update what stop-motion can do.
Rievew
I couldn't find an officially published review of his work, but I found several blog and forum critiques, the most official lookingbeing a review by Clay Parker Jones at ExitCreative.net, which is really just an explanation of what tilt-shift means. Other, more casual looking bloggers wrote how they enjoyed Loutit's work. They all said a variety of the same things, including how at first they thought it was miniatures or claymation, but through studying the videos realized it couldn't be and through research discovered these images were of real people and real boats, etc. After that, they all said how it was simply really neat and one must check it out.
Composition
Loutit's composition is dictated by the subject matter, be it a house, boat, or field. In the examle of a boat, the subject matter moves, and he doesn't necessarily know where to, so I think a lot of it is just point and hope for the best. That or the composition is not entirely important to the overall piece.
Concept
Loutit's series Small World's has been his most famous series. He traveled the world to document famous cities, monuments, and people. The people seem so tiny and abstract, so there are very little differences. Loutit is trying to say that today with increasing communication, the world seems smaller, but through Loutit's work we see mankind working together building things and driving and lounging at beaches or going to ballet class.
Method
He shoots several shots a second with a tilt-shift lens on his video camera, which creates the illusion of the subject being a miniature. Using a time-lapse to capture fewer frames per second makes the video seem more like a stop-motion rather than a video, where the "normal" frames/second is 24-30.
My Opinion
I think Loutit's work does a good job of expressing his intention - that mankind works together to create society, which is evident from the perspective that Loutit shoots from. His work is aesthetically unique, which makes it stand out. I think he just simply has fun with it, and that's a great reason to continue doing it.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
2011 PIEA and ADDY winning entries
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| Satpreet Kahlon, PIEA Honorable Mention Portfolio |
It must be the bright green wall in our apartment or something, because my roommate, Satpreet, and I both won during this year's PIEA international photo contest. We're the only winners from Michigan State this year, which makes it even more bizarre. The poetic bit is that I wouldn't have entered if it weren't for Satpreet's mentioning the contest to me. She was very confident I would win something.
Satpreet received an Honorable Mention for her entire portfolio, of which she submitted a lot (a lot). Her portfolio is amazing, and here are a few sample of a series she did with the view camera.
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| Satpreet Kahlon, PIEA Honorable Mention Portfolio |
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| Satpreet Kahlon, PIEA Honorable Mention Portfolio |
Our professor had actually been looking for Satpreet to tell he she'd won, but he found himself in my class instead. When he said she won, I literally jumped out of my chair to hear more details. Then he told me I'd won too. First Prize in the Digital Construction category.
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| Kim Berens, PIEA First Prize Digital Category |
This morning I found out I also won a Gold ADDY in the mid-Michigan ADDY Awards for a series I had done that was directly inspired by the image that won me the PIEA First Prize. The series I turned in for my Color Photography class and included the piece the original for the assignment.
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| Kim Berens, Gold ADDY Award Winner |
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| Kim Berens, Gold ADDY Award Winner |
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| Kim Berens, Gold ADDY Award Winner |
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| Kim Berens, Gold ADDY Award Winner |
The original and the new series are similar, but I do think they are distinct enough that for an exhibition I would not show them together. I feel the original is a great stand-alone piece, but the new series does work best as a series. Except the first one I show here, I do feel could stand alone.
Textual Tension
The latest assignment for my photography workshop class was to combine text with an image. I've done this many times before (duh, posters), but I it had been a while since I'd done it just because. When I was younger and everything was an experiment I would often just have random poems or quotes just so I could add text to an image. 90% of the time the text had nothing (nothing) to do with the image. I had a lot of fun during those experimental days, but for this assignment I wanted the text to relate to the image.
I also thought my professor might appreciate that too.
I had these pieces on my bureau (I think dresser is a more common name) in my bedroom. They aren't arranged like this on the bureau, but after staring at them for a while I decided this scene would be a hilarious arrangement, and not only that, but I should photograph it.
I didn't originally shoot these for this assignment, but once I was shooting, I thought several of the compositions would look great with text added, so I thought why not?
Buuuut, once I edited this version, and created a text box I suddenly sat there like, ".........................". I complained to my sister that there wasn't anything that would make this funnier. Inherently, it had to be silent. She tried to encourage me, but I was very set in my ways. Nothing would work.
I look through other photographs, because at this point there wasn't enough time to reshoot. There really wasn't anything I felt like working with, so I opened up the image again and inside the text box I made an ellipsis, "...". I thought that might count as text, so I put the image inside those three dots(actually, that's a lie, I did it this way because it looks like a lego, and I was playing off the lego characters in the scene) <- That's not true at all, just really coincidental.
But once I had the dots, I thought the images were a bit more difficult to read (no pun intended), especially the buffalo, so I wrote, "dead buffalo" underneath it, which seems to clarify and have a certain blunt humor also. Underneath Hermione (the second circle) I wrote "embarrassed driver" (Ron was supposed to have been driving, but I put him on the wrong side of car. But in the text image, the telephone booth isn't in the image, which means they could be taking a trip to the U.S., so really I could have done anything), and underneath Ron I wrote, "surprisingly innocent" because he probably would have gotten into an accident as he used a confundus charm during his driving test.
I thought the image would still be kind of odd to read, but the students in my class seems to understand what it meant, although I did explain it to them. Perhaps they were just being nice. But it was generally well received. I think the piece is still stronger without the text. A strong, silent type of photograph, if that makes any sense.
Actually, that last sentence describes the photo horribly.
I also thought my professor might appreciate that too.
I had these pieces on my bureau (I think dresser is a more common name) in my bedroom. They aren't arranged like this on the bureau, but after staring at them for a while I decided this scene would be a hilarious arrangement, and not only that, but I should photograph it.
I didn't originally shoot these for this assignment, but once I was shooting, I thought several of the compositions would look great with text added, so I thought why not?
Buuuut, once I edited this version, and created a text box I suddenly sat there like, ".........................". I complained to my sister that there wasn't anything that would make this funnier. Inherently, it had to be silent. She tried to encourage me, but I was very set in my ways. Nothing would work.
I look through other photographs, because at this point there wasn't enough time to reshoot. There really wasn't anything I felt like working with, so I opened up the image again and inside the text box I made an ellipsis, "...". I thought that might count as text, so I put the image inside those three dots
But once I had the dots, I thought the images were a bit more difficult to read (no pun intended), especially the buffalo, so I wrote, "dead buffalo" underneath it, which seems to clarify and have a certain blunt humor also. Underneath Hermione (the second circle) I wrote "embarrassed driver" (Ron was supposed to have been driving, but I put him on the wrong side of car. But in the text image, the telephone booth isn't in the image, which means they could be taking a trip to the U.S., so really I could have done anything), and underneath Ron I wrote, "surprisingly innocent" because he probably would have gotten into an accident as he used a confundus charm during his driving test.
I thought the image would still be kind of odd to read, but the students in my class seems to understand what it meant, although I did explain it to them. Perhaps they were just being nice. But it was generally well received. I think the piece is still stronger without the text. A strong, silent type of photograph, if that makes any sense.
Actually, that last sentence describes the photo horribly.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
William Klein
William Klein
Biography
William Klein was born in the good ol' month of April, on the 19th, in 1928, which makes him 82 years old today. He was born in New York, but in his late teens he moved to France. He trained as a painter with Fernand Léger, and found success, but he clearly moved to photography, which is what he is known for today.
Significance
He is a fashion photography and photojournalist, and he often used photojournalistic approaches in his fashion photography. The concepts behind his photography were often ironic, and he used unconventional methods of photography in his lighting and framing. He also utilized motion blur often and played around with different lenses. He also experimented with putting photography and painting together. He was hired to photograph New York at the same time as photograph a fashion spread. This might be the reason his fashion photography is so street-driven. He was also not interested in fashion, so he used the opportunity to create the art he wanted to create, which led people to see fashion photography as a whole new type of artistic expression. He later stopped his photography and became a filmmaker, making several documentaries, but returned to photography in the 80s.
Art Historical or Photographic movement
Klein had interest in abstract painting, which is interesting that he would also be interested in photojournalism as they are both very different ways of telling a story
Rievew
Minor White's review of William Klein's "New York", a series of photographs Klein took while visiting his birthplace. White, a photographer himself, did not enjoy Klein's work, and called it "vulgar" and that it captured the "bawdy, gaudy and tawdry". He states that Klein did not photograph a city, but used cheap photography to show the vulgarity of life.
Composition
Klein used unconventional framing, making photos look more like journalistic photos even when they were fashion photographs. He also used motion blur a lot on faces and the bodies. I think this is another aspect of his interest in photojournalistc style. He would overexpose much of his film, which led to the blurriness. His use of high-ISO film made his exposures very grainy.
Concept
Klein was interested in creating an ironic and ambivalent look at fashion, probably because he was not particularly interested in it, and didn't take it as seriously as others in the industry. For his New York series, he was interested in photographing it in a way that hadn't been done before and his "foreign" look at the city gave him a different perspective, as he'd been out of the country for six years.
Method
Klein played a lot with high light-sensitive film and different lenses on his camera to get different affects. As he was not trained as a photographer, a lot of his photography was very experimental.
Motivations
Klein photographed fashion, but as he wasn't interested in fashion, his got his motivation for it by using the opportunity to make great photographs. He often has his models on the street. He also liked breaking the rules and challenging authority, which he learned from his teacher, Fernand Léger.
My Opinion
I think that William Klein should be very happy with his life because it seems like he does what he feels inspired to do and he was successful. His passions changed throughout his life, which is okay. He didn't stay with an artistic medium that he was tired of, but went to a new one. Eventually he came back to photography when he rediscovered how much of his early photography he liked.
Biography
William Klein was born in the good ol' month of April, on the 19th, in 1928, which makes him 82 years old today. He was born in New York, but in his late teens he moved to France. He trained as a painter with Fernand Léger, and found success, but he clearly moved to photography, which is what he is known for today.
Significance
He is a fashion photography and photojournalist, and he often used photojournalistic approaches in his fashion photography. The concepts behind his photography were often ironic, and he used unconventional methods of photography in his lighting and framing. He also utilized motion blur often and played around with different lenses. He also experimented with putting photography and painting together. He was hired to photograph New York at the same time as photograph a fashion spread. This might be the reason his fashion photography is so street-driven. He was also not interested in fashion, so he used the opportunity to create the art he wanted to create, which led people to see fashion photography as a whole new type of artistic expression. He later stopped his photography and became a filmmaker, making several documentaries, but returned to photography in the 80s.
Art Historical or Photographic movement
Klein had interest in abstract painting, which is interesting that he would also be interested in photojournalism as they are both very different ways of telling a story
Rievew
Minor White's review of William Klein's "New York", a series of photographs Klein took while visiting his birthplace. White, a photographer himself, did not enjoy Klein's work, and called it "vulgar" and that it captured the "bawdy, gaudy and tawdry". He states that Klein did not photograph a city, but used cheap photography to show the vulgarity of life.
Composition
Klein used unconventional framing, making photos look more like journalistic photos even when they were fashion photographs. He also used motion blur a lot on faces and the bodies. I think this is another aspect of his interest in photojournalistc style. He would overexpose much of his film, which led to the blurriness. His use of high-ISO film made his exposures very grainy.
Concept
Klein was interested in creating an ironic and ambivalent look at fashion, probably because he was not particularly interested in it, and didn't take it as seriously as others in the industry. For his New York series, he was interested in photographing it in a way that hadn't been done before and his "foreign" look at the city gave him a different perspective, as he'd been out of the country for six years.
Method
Klein played a lot with high light-sensitive film and different lenses on his camera to get different affects. As he was not trained as a photographer, a lot of his photography was very experimental.
Motivations
Klein photographed fashion, but as he wasn't interested in fashion, his got his motivation for it by using the opportunity to make great photographs. He often has his models on the street. He also liked breaking the rules and challenging authority, which he learned from his teacher, Fernand Léger.
My Opinion
I think that William Klein should be very happy with his life because it seems like he does what he feels inspired to do and he was successful. His passions changed throughout his life, which is okay. He didn't stay with an artistic medium that he was tired of, but went to a new one. Eventually he came back to photography when he rediscovered how much of his early photography he liked.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Blog Prompts #17-18
I think photography will follow wherever the digital realm leads. If holograms are in the future, then there would probably be photography as a hologram. In video when you movie within a frozen scene, there is a huge photographic element to that and I think someday that will be explored except you can literally move within the image. I have no idea how that would be done, but it would be amazing.
Whenever I'm asked to define something like "art" or "photography" I try to make it as simple and general as possible, because really both are things that mean vastly different things to different people. A studio artist approaches photography very different than a documentary photographer or stop-motion photography, or scanographer, etc. etc. To me the definition of photography is any process which involves the photographic process of creating a still image through capturing light on a light-sensitive material. If the end product is a sculpture or motion graphic, photography was still used within the mixed media project.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Kim Berens name sequence from Kim Berens on Vimeo.
When I was assigned to make a motion piece, I knew I wanted to use After Effects. I'm really not sure why I haven't played around with it before now. But I want to learn as much of it as I can before I graduate. I've been doing a lot of tutorials lately, which feels like I'm wasting time having fun and not working, but it's important. I love my career choice.
Anyway, so I started with a simple rain effect in another image, but when I rendered it it was very choppy. Also, when I attempted to upload it to Vimeo, it said the file was too large. Maybe that's why it didn't render smoothly? But because of that, I decided to give After Effects another go. I looked on Video Co-Pilot and unfortunately wasn't ready for this tutorial, but after watching this one, I thought I'd give it a go. The professional's sequence looks a lot better than mine, but I'm totally okay with that. I'm super excited with mine and I can't wait to get more comfortable with the program. I just hope I have time before I graduate (tick tock, tick tock).
I wanted it to look kind of dramatic, like something that would appear before a Masterpiece Theatre movie. I think it I were to change something, I would change the color of my name and play around with the texture because it doesn't really look like a pen or pencil actually wrote it. It's beige, so of course it doesn't.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Blog Prompts #12-16 Motion and Still Photography
Of course everyone knows that moving images exists in the wizarding world, so I probably don't need to go into much detail about that. In our world, we have to resort to still images taken so many times a second to appear like they're moving. There are lots of similarities between moving picture photography and still photography, such as how the light works within the camera. With still photography, the photographer can use strobes to create plenty of light, but in video, one must rely on continuous light. Also, the aspect of motion create a whole new dynamic because sun glares can obscure a whole frame, but the shot is still understandable and beautiful.
Especially these day, with informational TV screens that are situated with portrait dimensions instead of landscape dimensions, video and still photography take on similar rules, like the rule of thirds. And editing a video is done much the same way as editing a photo, except multiplied for each frame making it one of the most tedious jobs in existence.
Still photography has to put a lot more into a single shot to tell a similarly complex story. It has to use a single emotion to express a progression of emotions. Video usually has the added element of sound that can create even more emotion and action. Still photography often uses blur to create a sense of motion, or perhaps the subject taking a step or something mid-fall. A video can show the entire sequence. If a photographer wished to create motion in a still photograph, they could add a blur, which may create that sense of motion.
If I were shooting with a video camera and I wanted to create a very still scene, I would actually probably include some motion, but very very slight motion. I think very slow, calm motion sometimes creates more of a sense of lack-of-motion than a still photograph because you know things can move, they just aren't. When things are too still, people might think it is a photograph.
Especially these day, with informational TV screens that are situated with portrait dimensions instead of landscape dimensions, video and still photography take on similar rules, like the rule of thirds. And editing a video is done much the same way as editing a photo, except multiplied for each frame making it one of the most tedious jobs in existence.
Still photography has to put a lot more into a single shot to tell a similarly complex story. It has to use a single emotion to express a progression of emotions. Video usually has the added element of sound that can create even more emotion and action. Still photography often uses blur to create a sense of motion, or perhaps the subject taking a step or something mid-fall. A video can show the entire sequence. If a photographer wished to create motion in a still photograph, they could add a blur, which may create that sense of motion.
If I were shooting with a video camera and I wanted to create a very still scene, I would actually probably include some motion, but very very slight motion. I think very slow, calm motion sometimes creates more of a sense of lack-of-motion than a still photograph because you know things can move, they just aren't. When things are too still, people might think it is a photograph.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Thesis Proposal
1. Previous Work: List previous photographic directions and interests that relate to your thesis goals. Reference other prints or portfolios that may be related. Please describe elements of the projects that are working well. Please describe elements that you wish to improve upon for your thesis project. How can you extend these projects into a larger project/s in order to create more well-developed pieces?
The key art firm, Ignition, has created several great motion posters. And the Gamer motion poster I think it a fantastic way to use the new medium. I have worked with Flash on various projects and would love (hate?) to use it again. I love film-related graphics, so obviously posters, which I have made in the past for student films. I would love to learn more about motion-graphics, so creating a motion poster seems ideal to me. To extend this project I would create a still poster to go with it and then other forms besides a poster where the graphic would be used, like a DVD and cover.
2. Project Specifics
a. Motivations: Describe your goal/intention for creating this project. Why are you passionate about this project? How does it relate to you and your future goals after graduating? Where are “you” in the project?
My motivations to make this piece is to create a piece that would help me learn about motion-posters, which are a new concept and I feel would help me stand out in this specific field I’m interested in. The “me” is really just creating stuff I enjoy, as unthought out as that sounds.
b. Concept/Aboutness/Idea: What do you think your images will be about? Describe the concept depicted in your images/project.
My project will be about telling a story, but that story will be based solely on a visual image that I feel like creating. Such as a car crash or a person in the rain.
c. Interpretation: How do you hope that others will interpret your images/project?
I hope that others will feel like there is a story behind the poster and want to know more. If so, then I know it would’ve been a successful poster.
d. Content: What subject matter will be depicted in your images/project? Human subjects, spaces, plants, objects, textures, shadows, etc.?
Humans and text will probably be in my poster, beyond that, will depend on the subject matter I choose.
e. Form/Composition: Describe your intended use of framing, perspective, contrast, emphasis, balance, lighting, color/black & white, etc. If each image will be different, please describe how these formal elements will coalesce and relate to form a larger cohesive project.
I’m leaning toward a low-key poster because there is more smudge room in terms of things not blending together depending on the methods I use and how well I execute my piece.
f. Format of presentation: Describe how your project will be presented. Will you matte prints, project images onto a bed, make an animation, collage video and still images and then display the piece on a 70s style television monitor, make a collage that is wall-sized, make 6 printed posters, etc? Where will you install this piece? Do we need to go to your dorm room to see it? Will you install in the gallery in Kresge? Will you install the project in the classroom?
My piece will be projected or seen on a screen. If I make print material, I will print those out.
g. Technology: Describe the technology you will need to create your images/project. For example, will you use 35mm film, digital SLR, photoshop for digital manipulation, Maya, After Effects, a flatbed scanner, a projector, a video camera, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.
I will need a computer, Adobe Suite, maybe Final Cut, a digital camera, a studio, a model, probably a video camera, and maybe a scanner, and hopefully After Effects (but I don’t know how to use it).
3. Techniques to Learn: Describe any techniques, processes, or materials that you need to learn/experiment with in order to complete your project. In other words, delineate skills that you do not yet have mastered that you will need to learn during your project.
I need to experiment with a video camera and how to alter the look in After Effects. I want to learn more than the basics of Final Cut and studio lighting. Everything else I’m confident about.
4. Method: Discuss the process you will engage in as you work on this project.
a. List important due dates/checkpoints that will help you to keep on track. Describe how your project might be broken down into smaller manageable sections that culminate in the larger project at the end. Describe how you will build in time for risk-taking and experimentation.
My piece will have one final motion outcome and a still poster to match. I may make several similar looking pieces that would fit in different advertising contexts.
b. Will you complete a series of experiments before beginning on the final images? Will your project include smaller projects completed along the way that when installed next to one another become a larger piece?
I hadn’t planned on completely experiments, but I may now because that seems like a very good idea.
c. Describe some of your intended working methodologies. Will you create analog sketches or digital sketches? Will you observe your environment? Construct a scene? Direct subjects? Light your subjects with a flashlight?
I will have analog sketches and work from a working file that will most likely change. I might save each stage just to see the progress and so I can go through my process in the future to somebody in the future.
5. Context: Describe how your project relates to the work or ideas of other photographers, artists, or designers. Be specific. How is your work similar to and different from these creators’ work? How does your work bring a new or alternative perspective to the idea represented? Describe how your work relates to larger issues outside of art and photography. Is it about social, psychological, historic, chemical, cultural, anthropological, etc issues?
My work will be similar to digital artists’ work, photographers who do digital reconstruction, and motion-graphic designers. My work will combine all those different elements into one piece. While the subject will probably not address a cultural or social issue, the medium most certainly does, as it’s a new artistic medium and places it in this decade.
The key art firm, Ignition, has created several great motion posters. And the Gamer motion poster I think it a fantastic way to use the new medium. I have worked with Flash on various projects and would love (hate?) to use it again. I love film-related graphics, so obviously posters, which I have made in the past for student films. I would love to learn more about motion-graphics, so creating a motion poster seems ideal to me. To extend this project I would create a still poster to go with it and then other forms besides a poster where the graphic would be used, like a DVD and cover.
2. Project Specifics
a. Motivations: Describe your goal/intention for creating this project. Why are you passionate about this project? How does it relate to you and your future goals after graduating? Where are “you” in the project?
My motivations to make this piece is to create a piece that would help me learn about motion-posters, which are a new concept and I feel would help me stand out in this specific field I’m interested in. The “me” is really just creating stuff I enjoy, as unthought out as that sounds.
b. Concept/Aboutness/Idea: What do you think your images will be about? Describe the concept depicted in your images/project.
My project will be about telling a story, but that story will be based solely on a visual image that I feel like creating. Such as a car crash or a person in the rain.
c. Interpretation: How do you hope that others will interpret your images/project?
I hope that others will feel like there is a story behind the poster and want to know more. If so, then I know it would’ve been a successful poster.
d. Content: What subject matter will be depicted in your images/project? Human subjects, spaces, plants, objects, textures, shadows, etc.?
Humans and text will probably be in my poster, beyond that, will depend on the subject matter I choose.
e. Form/Composition: Describe your intended use of framing, perspective, contrast, emphasis, balance, lighting, color/black & white, etc. If each image will be different, please describe how these formal elements will coalesce and relate to form a larger cohesive project.
I’m leaning toward a low-key poster because there is more smudge room in terms of things not blending together depending on the methods I use and how well I execute my piece.
f. Format of presentation: Describe how your project will be presented. Will you matte prints, project images onto a bed, make an animation, collage video and still images and then display the piece on a 70s style television monitor, make a collage that is wall-sized, make 6 printed posters, etc? Where will you install this piece? Do we need to go to your dorm room to see it? Will you install in the gallery in Kresge? Will you install the project in the classroom?
My piece will be projected or seen on a screen. If I make print material, I will print those out.
g. Technology: Describe the technology you will need to create your images/project. For example, will you use 35mm film, digital SLR, photoshop for digital manipulation, Maya, After Effects, a flatbed scanner, a projector, a video camera, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.
I will need a computer, Adobe Suite, maybe Final Cut, a digital camera, a studio, a model, probably a video camera, and maybe a scanner, and hopefully After Effects (but I don’t know how to use it).
3. Techniques to Learn: Describe any techniques, processes, or materials that you need to learn/experiment with in order to complete your project. In other words, delineate skills that you do not yet have mastered that you will need to learn during your project.
I need to experiment with a video camera and how to alter the look in After Effects. I want to learn more than the basics of Final Cut and studio lighting. Everything else I’m confident about.
4. Method: Discuss the process you will engage in as you work on this project.
a. List important due dates/checkpoints that will help you to keep on track. Describe how your project might be broken down into smaller manageable sections that culminate in the larger project at the end. Describe how you will build in time for risk-taking and experimentation.
My piece will have one final motion outcome and a still poster to match. I may make several similar looking pieces that would fit in different advertising contexts.
b. Will you complete a series of experiments before beginning on the final images? Will your project include smaller projects completed along the way that when installed next to one another become a larger piece?
I hadn’t planned on completely experiments, but I may now because that seems like a very good idea.
c. Describe some of your intended working methodologies. Will you create analog sketches or digital sketches? Will you observe your environment? Construct a scene? Direct subjects? Light your subjects with a flashlight?
I will have analog sketches and work from a working file that will most likely change. I might save each stage just to see the progress and so I can go through my process in the future to somebody in the future.
5. Context: Describe how your project relates to the work or ideas of other photographers, artists, or designers. Be specific. How is your work similar to and different from these creators’ work? How does your work bring a new or alternative perspective to the idea represented? Describe how your work relates to larger issues outside of art and photography. Is it about social, psychological, historic, chemical, cultural, anthropological, etc issues?
My work will be similar to digital artists’ work, photographers who do digital reconstruction, and motion-graphic designers. My work will combine all those different elements into one piece. While the subject will probably not address a cultural or social issue, the medium most certainly does, as it’s a new artistic medium and places it in this decade.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
2D and 3D composites
These two pieces are very experimental just to see how well-constructed I would be able to create them. I suppose you could say they are excercises with photo manipulation and compositing. The assignment was to discover the amazing possibilities of using 3D in photo manipulation.In the first image I created smoke in Illustrator using this AMAZING vectorstuts tutorials, which I've used before and am absolutely in love with. At first I had my hesitations with doing something I've done before, but I really liked my concept, so I went ahead and made it anyway. Plus, I liked the challenge of making the smoke a head but also act the way real smoke acts, whereas my piece before concentrated more on just shaping the smoke images into a person. My favorite part about the image I created for my current assignment is the wick, where the smoke is blowing away from the direction the wick is pointing, meaning someone just blew it out. It's subtly active, and that little detail really steps up the image, I think.
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