Thesis Progress

My thesis is very near completion, which I think makes me a few weeks ahead of schedule. I do intend on creating a wrap around book cover for From Dust, and I think that will be the next part of the project. But to me this is a good thing. The end of the semester is going to be SO hectic, and I knew this, so I did as much as I could whenever I could (Friday nights, that sort of thing) to get this Thesis project done.

Here is the finalized Horace! one-sheet. The film is still in the early stages of post, so it will probably be a while before any prints are made. Horace! is an MSU Filmmakers Club Production. It's a humorous murder-mystery that takes place in the middle of the woods in the dead of winter. Grimy and frosty, but stupid and silly.

Horace motion poster from Kim Berens on Vimeo.

The MSU Filmmakers Club logo would be shown with every MSU Filmmakers Club production made.


MSU Filmmakers Club from Kim Berens on Vimeo.

And finally, From Dust is a novel written by my brother, Nathaniel Berens. I chose to create a motion book cover illustrating the subtle mystery that many of the characters in the book chose to ignore, the mystery of their history. From Dust is a timeless story about what drives humans into certain actions in desperate and strange situations.


From Dust motion book cover from Kim Berens on Vimeo.

Blog Prompt #24

1. Which of the presenters’ work did you most relate to or were most inspired by?
I can't remember her name, but the painter had beautiful paintings. The colors were so random, but worked so well together nonetheless. It seems like it shouldn't work, and yet it does.

2. Which of the presenters’ ideas did you most relate to or were you most inspired by?
I personally liked the graphic designers work. Again, I can't remember her name, but I found it incredibly interesting that she had about Tiananmen Square and how in China, she had never been taught what had happened. Coming to America and learning about what the Chinese government had done was a huge shock to her.

3. Describe how one of the presenters revealed new layers of meaning in her/his work through their talk. How did your understanding of the work change or what did you learn that you were not aware of when viewing/experiencing the work prior to hearing the talks?
I learned that many artists simply do things because they enjoy it, and a concept can often form later. Because I feel that my concepts change over time, this was comforting.

4. What would you have wished to hear more about through their talks?
I would have wished to hear more about the process and how long it took them to come up with this final piece.

5. Did you find that the ideas discussed were clearly represented in the formal/visual/sensory aspects of work? Did you find that the work revealed other ideas beyond what the artist discussed? Did you find that there were disconnects or that the words and visual elements of the works connected?
Yes, I did feel what they were saying was well-represented in their respective artwork.

Blog Prompt #23

The video among is a behind the scenes look at a very complicated photoshoot that combines computer animation with photography. I know a few people who might feel sad that photography is going in this direction. I happen to not feel that way. I think this is an exciting new art medium that might include photography, but I don't think it necessarily IS photography. It's a new type of medium, and I love what they're doing with it.

Computer graphics are fake things, but in my opinion, to make a computer graphic any good, it must look as real as possible. Maybe other people will disagree, but I would rather do as much as I can outside of CGI and then when I want something totally fantastical and surreal that can't exist or would be very difficult to create, that's when I go into photoshop and that's when I would use CGI, not a minute before.

Anton Corbijn

Biography

Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer born in 1955. He specializes in photographing the entertainment industry for magazine covers and album covers. He has also designed album covers for bands like U2, The Rolling Stones, and R.E.M. He is also interested in film-making and has directed several music videos and films, including The American and Control.

Significance
He seems to have a passion for still photography and film. He has a very grungy dark style, somewhat angry. I haven't seen any of his films, but from the look of the key art, they seem to emulate a similar dark style. His photography just doesn't seem clean, like it is a defiant teenager or a rusty car.

Composition
I do not think Corbijn has any rules in terms of composition. He seems to do whatever strikes him at the moment. Some images are centered while others are drastically cut off on the sides.

Concept
His work is not traditionally concept based. In his photography, he is representing others more than he is representing himself. He must find what makes the model tick and he photographs that. His photography is heavily rooted within the entertainment industry, and he does not do fashion photography extensively, he has
photographed Liv Tyler for the G-Star Raw 2010 line.

Joe McNally

Biography
Joe McNally needs to update his website so that I can write a biography on him, but otherwise, he has a very active online presence. He has a twitter, which I only assume is him because he's currently looking for "Leading men and ladies" that are "Hollywood types".
However, I was able to find more about him on. He was the first staff photographer for LIFE in 23 years from 1994-1998.

Significance
He photographed portraits around Ground Zero in the weeks after 9/11 using large Polaroids. Millions of people saw these photos in exhibits around the country. The booklet for the exhibit sold 55,000 copies, which raised $2 million for the 9/11 relief effort. He is world renown and has traveled to at least 50 different countries on photography assignments.

Art Historical Movement
His "Faces of Ground Zero" portrait series is considered the most significant artistic exploration of the 9/11 tragedy. He also photographed the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Concept
He photographs dancers. These images are beautiful. Some of the images are in a studio, and some on location. Some seem editorial, but others appear more self-initiated and creative with a concept behind it. I would say most are simply beautiful photos of dancers. But occasionally he has a photo that feels like it represents what beauty is, and compares it to, say, the grungy setting. His current work is all over the place. I cannot seem to find a series, but he shoots on assignment.

Method
It is quite clear from his photography that he uses digital at least some of the time, but I could not find any other information (which makes it even more plausible that he shoots in digital).

Judith Joy Ross

Biography
Judith Joy Ross was born in 1964. She grew up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Significance
She shoots mostly portraits using an 8X10 view camera. Her subjects range from children to members of Congress. Her most famous series is "Portraits of the Hazleton Public Schools", which hit really close to home, literally. She has shot many other types of photographs, including troops getting ready to ship off to war and visitors to the Vietnam Memorial in D.C.

Concept
She revisited the public schools she attended as a child and photographed students. This was her way of exploring her childhood and growing up. These schools mean a lot to her because her mother had attended them as well. To her it was childhood. She says of the series, "I feel like these pictures are my childhood. This isn't me, but it is me". Which, taken out of context, sounds really cliché and artsy deep. Just so you know where this is coming from, I say stuff like that all the time.

Method
She shoots with an 8X10 view camera. Her black and white images seem older because of her methods, yet the subjects are most definitely 80s and 90s, which makes me want to look longer, as if there are more mysteries in each photograph.

Opinion
I really enjoy her work because the view camera creates such an interesting look and great depth of field. I'm amazed that her focus is always so clear and intentional-looking. That is one thing I always have trouble with using a view camera.

Thesis Update

I am a tad delayed in posting my thesis contact sheet. It's spring break, but that is far from an excuse coming from me. I stayed at school and spent many hours a day catching up on work. Empty computers labs have their merits, I sang very loudly.

So I should be way caught up on work, right? Hahahhahahahaaaaaa. Yeah, sure.

But I did accomplish some things over spring break, among them, continuing to work on my thesis. I have a new design for the Horace poster! Which I am much happier with. I really disliked the first one. It looked great in my head, but not matter how much I played with it, it just wasn't right. But this one I really like. It's not near done at all, but I at least know what I'm going to do with it, which is a huge step forward from last week. I have two options, one option is a vectored hand, which was the original concept, and I do like it, but I used an image of a hand to reference the vector, and found out I really like it with the photo! The only problem is I didn't take this photo, so I'll have to take my own photo, but here is what it looks like regardless.

With the From Dust book cover, I added torn paper texture to take the place of the hills, which makes it look loads better (seasoned, as opposed to unseasoned, to use the term from last post). I do have a motion version, but I never rendered it, and I don't currently have access to After Effects, but I will post it on my next thesis update. I really like the motion version, because all the hills are at different depths and the camera zooms out until it stops at the image you see below. I'm starting to think I do not want text to take the place of one of the hills. With the motion, the hills get slightly covered and slightly uncovered and the text might be difficult to read while it's moving. But we'll see, I'll keep playing with it and see what works the best.

So my next step is taking photos of an arm and figuring out the typography of everything. Also, I've sketched concepts for my logo, but I still don't know which one I'm going to pick. I think because it's my assignment, but I'm going to give it to the MSU Filmmaker's Club to use as their production logo, so I feel like I have to make something they will like while also trying to make sure I want to do it for my thesis. But I don't see it being a problem.

Blog Prompts #20-21

Describe some common aesthetic/formal qualities, content, and conceptual threads in “snapshot” photography.

Snapshot photography tends to be less purposefully composed. Parts of the subject are not within the frame. Also, the lighting tends to be less purposeful, using ambient lighting or flash most of the time. The low-lighting can mean a longer shutter speed or a higher ISO, which means the images might be blurry or grainy. Many times snapshots are taken by folks who do not know how to photograph, therefore the images tend to not follow the guidelines of photography. 

a. Ideas sometimes grow out of irritation. What is a negative thought you are having about your project? What is the opposite of this negative thought? How could you implement a change in your project so that this negative thought will subside?

I do worry my thesis for my photography class is not very related to photography. But after I think about it I realize I use a lot of photography in my work. What I'm doing is using photographs and scans I've created as textures within my work that I assemble on the computer. I could not do any of this without a camera (and scanner). The final piece would be drastically different. The texture is the main reason I enjoy designing these pieces. Without texture it seems unseasoned. I think I do want to somehow incorporate photography more into my project, as in, instead of having vectored text, I hand do the text, at least on one of my projects, if not all.

c. What is a consistent theme/visual element in your project? What would be the opposite of this? How can you implement that into your project? 

The consistent theme within my thesis project is textures creating spaces that never actually existed, that are assembled on the computer and some sort of motion applied to the graphic. The motion aspect was the main draw-in for me to do this assignment, I really wanted to play with motion graphics, like motion posters for films and motion book covers for kindle! The opposite of a consistent theme. None of my pieces are for the same type of "client", one piece is a film poster, the other a book cover, and the other a motion logo for a production company. (Each piece will also have a still counterpart).

e. At the deepest core, describe why you like this project. Dig deep!

I love what I chose for my thesis. It is not at all where I imagined it would be, but I love the direction it is going because it is helping me learn After Effects, and it is combining literally everything I enjoy creatively. I am using Photoshop extensively, I am using my camera to create so many different types of photos, such as textures and hands, and learning how I can use photography to create a larger piece rather than having the photo as the final piece. I love learning After Effects. The experimentation reminds me of learning Photoshop in high school and how I would (more often than not) create artwork that I am embarrassed to show people today. After Effects is like a moving Photoshop, and I love creating something in both programs at the same time!

I love that I am making different types of promotional graphics, a poster, cover, and logo. I just thought - I could make a motion magazine cover!

f. Expand your project. If time, money, materials, etc would not affect you, how would you expand your project?

I would have for sure used a slow-motion camera. Originally that was the plan, but after speaking to many student filmmaker's, I could tell that it was not as easy as I originally thought. Normal cameras shoot at 24-30 frames per second, and a slow motion camera shoots twice as fast at around 60 fps. Renting one of these cameras can be very expensive. I could slow film down on the computer, but it would not be as smooth, especially if I slowed it down a lot, and my plans were to slow it down to the point where it was hard to tell if anything was moving. I wanted the hair to be moving slowly, too, so that takes away the option of the actors moving slowly to make up for the frame rate. Also, the image quality of a still frame from a video is considerably less than that of a still camera, so although the video portion of the assignment might look nice (unless I did slow-motion), the still part of it would be pixelated, especially if I wanted it at higher sizes.

o. Think of one of your most memorable dreams. How could you add elements from this dream to your project?

My most memorable dream is where I suddenly had the amazing abilities of Spider Man. My sister did too, and together we spun our way to the top of a tower, bypassing the staircase altogether. Flying dreams are also amazing, because that feeling flight and weightlessness is something we rarely feel and it makes one feel so alive! Even if it is just in a dream.

I also had a dream where my sister suddenly began to lie to me and once I caught her in a lie she shrugged it off and shooed me away. The utter confusion of an absolute truth no longer existing was one of the most powerfully a dream has ever affected me. I woke up panicked. For my motion logo I could possibly have something flying that should not be flying due to absolute truth.

Blog Prompt #19

1. How do you ensure that your work is relevant to you. If I want to do it, then it's relevant to me. I usually tend to prefer happier types of work, but if I feel compelled to create something dark, I won't stop myself.
2. How do you ensure that your work is relevant to the contemporary world? I really don't ensure it is, but I do think my work is very relevant because I create on Photoshop, which is a new medium compared to the history of art.
3. How do you brainstorm? Do you sketch? Do you use the camera as a brainstorming tool so that you “look” at the world through the frame of the camera and capture bits and pieces of your environment? I sketch in my sketchbook. My sketchbook is filled with so storyboards and boxes and notes about projects. I plan what I'm going to need, torn paper, photography, illustrator vectors, from my sketchbook.
4. Do you combine elements of various media? How do you do this? Do you do it physically with printed images or objects? Do you combine elements virtually in the computer? I usually combine media: digital photography, scans, vectors, usually combined within Photoshop or, in the case of my current project, After Effects.
5. How does your process relate to your ideas/concept? How does your process relate to your outcome/final pieces? Why are you using digital technology (if you are)? Why are you using analog technology (if you are)? I'm using digital technology because it best suits what I want out of the project. Part of my project I am able to do analog, like tearing paper, and I do that because creating torn paper digitally is ridiculous. Digitial technology is what I've learned in my classes, so you could argue it's not completely by choice, but I've used digital technology to create art even before being formally taught it.
6. How do you judge your work? When do you think it “works”? When do you think it is “not working yet”? What criteria do you use to make these decisions? It works when I like it, which may or may not be the original plan. Usually I try to get the original plan, but when it goes in another direction, I don't fight it if I'm really enjoying it. I base this off of if it looks pleasing and it's expressing what I want it to express. If it looks great, but you can't tell what the heck is going on and that is important to the concept, then it doesn't "work".
7. How do ensure that your work is new, unique, ground-breaking, and/or you are breaking the mold/thinking outside the box/pushing the limits? I start this from the sketches. I try to come up with ideas that are new where I can learn something and hopefully that something is an original idea. Often I'll come up with something I think is unique and discover it isn't. Usually if I find it exciting, then I don't really mind if someone else did something similar. Or I'll use the idea as a jumping off point.

Blake Fitch

Blake Fitch

Biography
Blake Fitch was born in 1971 in Rochester, NY. She majored in Photography and minored in Photo History at Pratt Institute in 1994 on full scholarship for photography. She continued her education at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1998, and received her masters in Art Administration from Boston University in 2001. Her art focuses on humans.

Significance
Her photography focuses on portraiture, and capturing the human condition, such as identity, rites of passage, and civil rights.



Art Historical or Photographic movement
Her portraiture could be a snapshot, but she uses the lighting in very creative ways. She often uses the ambient lighting, but effectively to create a portrait that might look like the lighting was placed intentionally.

Review
Her work has been described as graceful and confident.

Composition
Many of her compositions follow the the traditional rules of portraiture, but often they look more like snapshots, with the tips of heads cut off, or the other way around and there is a lot of space above the head. Sometimes, she will have the subject stand in front of a flat background, but often she will have them in a space, such as sitting at a table or in a field. In her series Expectations of Adolescence, she photographs her cousin and half-sister, always in a setting that helps describe the portrait. These are very snap-shot-y, but continue to utilize the lighting in a very intentional way.

Concept
Blake Fitch likes to show humans and our lives, exploring relationships and growing up and the similarities between our lives, like the enjoyment of relaxing and how ex-boyfriends effect our lives.

Method
She uses a traditional camera, though I'm could not find if she uses mainly film or digital

Motivations
As she is really interested in humans, her motivations include discovering why people do things and understanding what people are thinking. As most people are often surrounded by people, her subject matter and inspiration is plentiful.

My Opinion
I really like her work of her cousin and half-sister, because it is always interesting to see people grow up in pictures. I really want to photograph my kids artistically and have a series where I see them grow up. You feel like you really know the person when you're done with the series because you literally watched him or her grow up.