BENEATH THE SKIN FINISHED PIECE

With all of our hard work and dedication, the film is now finished. I couldn't be more pleased with it. here is the link below:

On Tuesday the 13th we had to show our film on the big screen in the cinema room, and present a presentation to our peers, Anne and Rosie. Throughout the process of this documentary we have had many issues, concerning the group and the film itself, editing wasn't as smooth as I would have liked it, but it was a big learning curve. We got peer feedback which was very rewarding to hear, and feedback from Anne and Rosie, it was so nice to hear they enjoyed it, and gave us some tips to improve in the future which will be useful for my next project. 

Here are some screenshots from our presentation:

For secondary research we found documentaries that we took inspiration from, some had nothing to do with tattoos, we just enjoyed their interview style, and the others were to do with tattoos. We chose them because of how they set their shots up, the lighting, framing and depth of field. 

To get real knowledge on the tattoo community and the people involved in it, we decided to research facts and figures surrounding tattoos. As our film only included an age bracket between 18-27 we wanted to research the bigger picture, the population, age and gender. 

To support the questions we asked our interviewees, we researched why people got tattoos, weather they regretted it, the percentage of people who get them lasered off. We got some interesting results and statistics which related to our questions when we watched through them again. 

When starting this film we knew communication would be key to the success of this film running smoothly. The producer Nina posted a status to ask and welcome people to share their stories about their tattoos and to be filmed. We got an incredible response of over 30 people, however on the day lots dropped out so we interviewed 16 people. Nina then produced a schedule for the Monday we were filming, of peoples times and their names. As a group we also had a group chat we could communicate with each other in, though not always effective in excellent communication all the time I feel we still all pulled together to create a great film. 

Like with every film you have to change things as you go along if they don't work out. This goes for the structure of our documentary. We initially created an intro, then stuck together all the clips we thought we interesting and important. After this we had a tutorial with Anne, in which we discussed the narrative and story arc of the film, she gave us some tips and advice. We took these on board and got rid of lots of irrelevant things, created a narrative in which it had different sections that people talked about certain things in. After cutting this all together and then watching, we all agreed it looked a lot better. 

For this film we produced a production pack which included transcripts from all interviews, shot lists, schedules,risk assessments, call sheets and story boards. This was key to our film and it's success so we could have things to reference too if we were unsure of what to film or edit, we could look at the shot lists and transcripts. 

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

BENEATH THE SKIN POST PRODUCTION

We are now in the post production stages of our documentary, and there has been a lot of progress. We have sorted and agreed on the intro and outro. We have selected some music we want as the underscore, so I am able to edit to the beat effectively. As a group, we had a meeting with Anne yesterday so she could see the progress we had made, she enjoyed it and gave us some feedback to make it better, run more smooth and more enjoyable for the audience. So I created a new sequence and started to edit together a structure of what Anne wanted. I feel even in a day we have made a lot of progress.There has been a few editing difficulties but we are getting through it ready for the deadline Monday, and screening on Tuesday in the cinema.Here is a picture of the editing process so far.

Post Production Progress

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

BENEATH THE SKIN

We have now shot the tattoo parlour and our interviewers and it was a really good day. In preparation for this shoot, we created a list of questions we wanted the contributors to answer. The array of answers was overwhelming, we came away from the shoot with a lot more excellent content than I had imaged for this day. Some stories behind the tattoos were, funny, moving or just beautiful. It was a real eye opener because, so often you see a tattoo and think it just look nice or is interesting, but sometimes the meaning is so different to what you had expected or the placement, and colour. I feel it was educational for my group to broaden our minds. I look forward to editing together a very interesting documentary. Here are some photos from the shoot.

Clara

Paige

Jordan

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

DOCUMENTARY TATTOO COMMUNITY

Within my group we have decided to go with the idea of tattoos as a community, we did also have another avenue of community we could explore which was nude models, but decided we wanted it to be a visually diverse film so chose tattoos.

We had a meeting with Anne to discuss our progress, and I have inserted a picture of notes Nina took whilst in the meeting. In the meeting we talked with Anne what we wanted to achieve visually, finding the stories behind the tattoos and making it personal to engage the audience. We also wanted to include a running theme of community, highlighting the important and interesting things people had to say on being a part of the community.

After the meeting had finished, we decided to get in to contact people we knew with tattoos, and we also wrote on the UCA Fresher's page to ask if anyone would be so kind as to help be a contributor in our documentary. Within the next few days we had had so many replies of interest. Nina was the producer for our group, so she kindly put together a schedule of people we would see the following Monday to record their stories.

However, my partner was having a tattoo done near by on the Saturday, so we decided we would film it for visual cut aways and allow the audience to explore and observe the process. We had no time to waste so managed to book the equipment out on the Friday with a completed risk assessment and call sheets and we were ready to go, with my partner and tattoo artist soon to fill out release forms.
Here are some images from the shoot

White Balance

Let's Shoot

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

FINAL PORTRAIT SELECTION

I decided to re shoot my original self portraits, however the results weren't as good as I wanted them to be. So I decided to work with what I had.

Equipment:
Nikon D90
Nikon 50mm lens

I decided to use the photo I felt represented my identity the most, which I thought was the picture displayed below.

Lines

I just enjoy this piece a lot, I like the framing, depth of field, colour and lighting a lot. I feel it represents me as a person in a lot of ways. Exposing myself to the camera, I am constantly having to scrutinize my own body. But through doing that I began to appreciate what I have been given as a person.

I have always found it hard to identify myself exactly as a person, as I feel everyone does. But I am just trying to not put myself in a box by labelling myself, rather just embracing what I like and don't like, then figuring it out from there. However, I have drawn on previous experiences and tried to reflect them through my photograph. Through this piece of work I have gone on a personal journey of discovery, to realise within myself that you don't have to let the things you have been through define you, but rather leave them in the past and learn that you are more than the struggles you have been through, and don't be afraid to embrace it and be proud that you survived,  I hope I have displayed this to you.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you

TUNGSTEN LIGHTS AND GREEN SCREEN

Today we had the privilege to have a whole day in the huge green screen studio.

Life's a Beach

We got to set up a green screen set, complete with a background to edit in in post production. Here was the set pictured right. I enjoy green screen a lot because of how versatile it makes one room. Just with a few lights and a green screen you can be anywhere you want. As having experience in green screen work this was a chance to explore more into green screens and getting the technique correct. lighting the background we used two lights, although I normally use three point lighting, we managed a very well and evenly lit background. We then had to light our actors and to also adjust the lighting on them so they would suit the background we would be putting in place in post production. They were going to be at a beach, so we had a spot light which replicated the sun and as it was a sunny day in the background we didn't have to do too much alterations to the brightness.

Leading Light 

In the morning we got to experiment with the beautiful Tungsten lights, being so interested in lights this was such an incredible opportunity. You can have such control over the mood, time of day and period just with lighting. We got in to our production groups and experimented with different shadows and highlights. Over the next few hours we found some really beautifully composed scenes just using this light, showing sadness, happiness, and suspicion. I thoroughly enjoyed this task as it was so hands on and could see the results of your hard work from directing the model and the light. I particularly enjoyed creating half shadows and silhouettes across the face, by having the model sat forwards, and the light at a 45 or 90 degree angle with the camera just underneath.

Black Jack

After this activity, we got in to bigger groups to create a moody, film noir scene of a poker game in a shady looking room. We weren't allowed to use sound so had to create this atmosphere just using lighting. We were able to find an over hanging light and rigged it to the lighting rig above us to hang over the table like in the image to the right:
We then had a main camera facing the card dealer, a second camera to the right of the card players so you could see them both, and then a third camera which was handheld so we could get some close up shots of the players cards, hands and expressions.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

DANCE RUSHES

Today we explored Premier Pro further, and we were given some second year dance rushes, that they shot last year. There was a mixture of hand held shots and some on a tripod. Most of the rushes they had the lights on, but a few were shot in the dark with just a spotlight across the floor.

I was interested in the dark shots the most, as I wanted to see what I could do with low light and lots of shadows. I looked through all the footage,and selected which rushes I wanted to work with and manipulate. As there were so many rushes, a lot of the files were shot on different cameras so the quality fluctuated and to eliminate any traces of this I only used the high quality ones.

I chose my song because of the rhythm it had to it, making it fun and interesting to edit to. The beat fluctuated throughout the song so I thought that it could be a challenge, I am quite familiar with Premier Pro, however this edit took me a while to complete because being a perfectionist I restarted the project quite a few times. Overall I am sort of happy with it, but I wish I could have done better.

Here is the finished piece:

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

SELF PORTRAITS TEST SHOTS

With my portrait research I have explored the celebration of the female form. Both the photographers embraced the female as it was, baring all for the camera to pick up. This idea intrigued me, as I wondered how I could explore my form in front of the camera using lighting, framing and a good choice in lens.

For these tester shots I used a Nikon 50mm lens on a Nikon D90. I have a particular soft spot for this camera, as I like all the settings and how much control you have from white balance to shutter speed. I felt a 50mm lens was appropriate for this tester shoot because I wanted that shallow depth of field and intense detail on my skin. Overall I wasn't all that happy with the shoot. I felt I should have selected a better backdrop and framing. These factors I feel let the self portraits down. However, I felt the lighting ( I hasten to add is natural) I particularly love especially working with such pale skin I have. I was pleased with the lighting on my skin and how it created a slight darkness in the backdrop.

The task for the portrait was to explore identity and I feel that I am aware of my identity quite well having to face it everyday and try and find out who I am. I have on going mental health problems that also affect my body and what I do to it. I tried to display this through the next three photos.

Lines

 In the first portrait I chose to show some faded scars that have been an aftermath of some mental health issues I suffer with. Because they are faded I chose to feel positive about them healing instead of negative. The framing I personally like because of how much I chose to fill the frame and give you almost nothing else to look at but my skin and I feel a lot of empowerment through this. However the backdrop I don't like as it isn't as smooth as I wanted it. Previously I used to let these factors of my life define me, from my scars, mental health, appearance and weight. However, now I am making progress recovering I now view them as only a small factor of my identity but a still very important one nonetheless.

Untitled

For this second portrait, I am incredibly pleased with the lighting, despite it being natural and therefore out of my control I do really like the colours and dark tones. I chose a different angle on identity and explored the female form in a sexual way. Struggling a lot with self image and self worth I always felt not worthy of happiness or intimacy with someone. So exploring my struggles through this photo has been a challenge. I chose to reveal some more skin than just my thigh and the framing of the photo is carefully done so i'm not being too revealing but implying what the photos main focus is. The idea that the female form is so frowned upon for being explicitly displayed yet people wanting to view it.

Rise

In this last portrait, I wanted to explore my struggles with an eating disorder I have recovered from, but still have struggles with. With this portrait I love the shadows and highlights that touch my skin, displaying almost a glow on my stomach, but shadows where the dips of my skin and bone are. I wanted to display a very subtle message of the eating struggles, as I have struggled to gain weight all my life. But with the highlights and shadows encourage me to embrace my body instead of shaming and hurting it.

I feel I have identified myself an incredible amount through these three photos, through this self portrait project it has helped me to explore the use of lenses and framing. But, also a personal exploration of myself and learning that my form and the human form is all so different, unique and everyone has things they don't like, but to just try and embrace it and learn to love the skin you are in. Suffering with mental health for so long has made me believe that i'm not worthy of so many things, and has stopped me discovering myself. Having to face up to these self portraits and analyse them has been an incredibly empowering journey for me, I felt it may be hard to photograph myself and then analyse them with the harsh, negative view I have for myself, but the process of these self portraits has aided my self worth a great deal. I feel now, currently looking at these photos that we have to move on from our past, accept what we have been given and move on into the future to greater things.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

PORTRAIT REVIEW

After doing extensive research into photographers in which I admired their style; I decided to get a studio and try to shoot my own.

The photographers I chose to explore celebrated the female form, and motherhood through series of self portraits. I am a great believer in embracing who you are and recording your life in whatever way you chose. For my portrait, I decided to explore sexuality and how us as humans embrace and celebrate it. To pick my model I had to decide what kind of portrait I wanted to achieve, weather it be a stereotypical depiction of sexuality, or more subtle. In the end I chose Ciara, who I know and is open about her sexuality as a lesbian. As I am aware how open Ciara was about her identity, I really wanted to capture the rawness of her happiness, and try as best as I could to portray through my portrait how comfortable Ciara is within herself.

The shoot itself was exciting as getting to grips with the lights again after the workshop was great fun. Using the cameras, triggers, lights and light readers is all so hands on and exciting as it really prepares us for the future if we enter a studio environment. I gave Ciara some direction in what I wanted the portrait to come out as, but after that I just chatted with Ciara and whenever I thought i could capture a euphoric or happy moment in her face i clicked the shutter.

Just Laugh

Giggles

Here are two examples of some photos I took during the shoot. Even though these weren't the portrait I have chosen I still adore them very much. When composing my portrait I thought quite hard about lighting, expression and framing. I wanted the background to be just white, to show the purity of what I am trying to portray through my portrait. Most of the shots I took, Ciara was in the middle or a little to the left, I selected these positions because; using the rule of thirds I can subconsciously control where the audience is first drawn to. Being central in the frame instantly draws you in. However, move the model a slight to the right and you seem to have a different perspective on the peace. A sort of more 'candid' shot with the portrait not feeling as staged as it is.

Cheese

 Pictured above is my favourite portrait. I believe when I look at this piece I see a person who is very comfortable within their identity, showing pure joy and happiness across their face. The framing in this photo is exactly how I would like it, just a little off the centre becoming more natural than a sat down point and shoot portrait. The models facial expression and eye level really capture what I wanted, with looking slightly to the side almost reminiscing, or reacting to something funny without a care in the world.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

LIGHTROOM

We had the privilege to be inducted into the software Lightroom. Lightroom is used for editing multiple photos at the same time, and also has quite a few advantages over other competitors in the software market such as Photoshop. As someone who hasn't ever edited photos I felt this would be a really beneficial workshop for my upcoming project of portraits or if I ever need to edit photos in the future I will feel competent in using the software.

Before the session, we were asked to bring in a few photos on our hard drives so we could have some to edit and see what the software could do. Our lecturer went through step by step how to import and view files and all the organising tools within the software. He then showed how you can manipulate colour and crop, zoom, highlight and shadow parts of photos. I found this fascinating as you could see such a dramatic improvement in the photo from before to after editing.

We were then allowed to have a go with our own photos, sadly I didn't have any raw photos on my hard drive at the time so I just used JPEGs. Another really useful thing about this workshop was the lecturer explained very clearly what the difference shooting as a JPEG file and as a RAW file. JPEGs are compressed files and so if you need to enlarge, the pixels will be compressed so become blurry when enlarging, however with RAW files they are bigger files than JPEG files but they scan each and every pixel so when you enlarge the photo you still have a very crystal clear photo. It is also easier to edit raw photos because you can zoom in to edit very small pixels and it still be clear and not blurry. Previously I was unsure of the differences and benefits, but was clarified in the lecture which I will now take on board with future shoots.

Light the Way

 Here is the photo I chose to export after editing, and it really shows how much a bit of manipulation can bring a photo to life more. I really enjoyed using all the tools available on Lightroom and being able to play around with the contrast, temperature, exposure and so many more things. I personally feel I benefited a lot from this workshop and feel competent editing photos and also enjoy it. I will certainly use this software in the future.

Light the Way

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

THE CONCEPT OF COMMUNITY

For our factual programming unit we are exploring community, and what it means to us or if we are in any communities ourselves. Everyone is a part of a community even if they don't quite know it such as the subject they study, sexuality, profession, or hobbies. When ask what communities we could think of I made a list:

• Tattoo 
• Profession 
• Sexuality 
• Dance
• Sports
• Knitting 
• Sewing
• Baking
• Religion
• Age 
• Music 
• Charities 
• Fashion
• Social Media 

After going through this list I then questioned if I knew anyone I could film for my factual programme unit. A lot of the communities I couldn't relate to, but as a tattooed person and interested in tattooing I decided to get into contact with my tattoo artist to discuss if I could interview him and film the studio.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

DIGITAL STILLS PORTRAIT RESEARCH

For my research I decided to explore the work and portraits of Ana Casas Broda. I was drawn to Broda's work because of the honesty and such raw emotion you can feel through her work and through the expressions in her photography. I particularly enjoy Broda's project Kinderwunsch, as she explores the natural form of human beings, identity, and the development of life.

Through some extensive research I discovered Broda’s motivation into creating this project that took fourteen years to complete. In an article I found that her desire and motivation for this project was to explore and display the stages of motherhood from pregnancy to beyond. Broda talks about the struggle of being on fertility treatment and decided to document it as a reflection piece for herself and also to help explore identity and show her audience the depths and raw truth about motherhood. Broda has sometimes received some negative reviews on her project as the extent of nudity was perceives as “too real” but she continued to push her work to be displayed. She talks about how the project and motherhood changed her as a person, by learning to “live for the present” allowing Broda and her sons to engage and be spontaneous within her work and their private lives. I also watched an interview with Broda, where she talks about the process of her project and how it developed and adapted over the fourteen years it took. She talks about how the children were involved heavily in deciding what they would do, such as bath in milk, or draw on Broda’s naked body. She talks about how playful it was when her two sons came into her life and how the project changed as they grew up.

Untitled 

The first image I got drawn to was of Ana and her son lying together, facing each other, in a dark lit room. This piece is untitled, however it is still within the project Kinderwunsch. I personally enjoy the photo in a lot of different ways. The lighting in the photograph and all of this project is very striking. The harsh bright light that is directed at their bodies only, directs our focus onto the main attraction to the photo; it is almost a spotlight into her work, and her life as a mother. Another aspect of the photo I love, is her son touching her face; this is such a simple thing but evokes a real raw feeling of love towards your parents that anyone can relate to when they were little. I love how much this piece aesthetically relates to portraiture in general, with

the traditional set up of the subjects in the centre of the frame, but then Broda changes it to suit her with both her and her son lying down.

Untitled

The second image that I resonate with is another untitled piece of Broda’s son feeding from her. This really draws me in due to the close framing, the natural lighting across the whole photograph and the soft focus and playful depth of field. It is unlike some of her other pieces in Kinderwunsch, but nonetheless I still enjoy it. The framing is something I particularly enjoy, I love the way her son and her form fill the entire frame, and therefore the whole focus is right there staring you in the face, nowhere else for you to look around the frame. The rule of thirds has also been used to great effect, her sons eyes in the right hand side, fill the last third and the eyes completely dominate the photo; they stare up at you and are so dark and striking you can’t help but hold the gaze. The lighting in the photograph I adore, the natural light across her son and her skin is very kind to the photograph, it creates a soft atmosphere with gentle exposure, unlike her other pieces in Kinderwunsch with the harsh lighting, I feel this is a more intimate, precious and positive look into her life as a mother. This is rather different to the general conventions of portraiture, as it so close up and personal, filling of the whole frame and so raw.

One hour before Lucio's birth

Thirdly, the last image I love from her work is a titled piece called “One hour before Lucio’s birth” this is such a striking image with Broda as the main focus of this photo. Her pregnant stomach and enlarged breasts from lactation dominate the piece as they rise up from the bath water. I am unsure if there was a sense of empowerment behind the photo but I feel it when I analyse this piece. This piece really conforms to the codes and conventions of a self-portrait as Broda is central in the frame staring into the camera, and sending us a message through her piece, for us as the consumer audience to resonate with in whatever way we feel. I love her expression in this photo as from the title we see she is due to give birth very shortly, there is a look of worry, fear and determination across her face as she will begin motherhood. The exposure is so beautifully adjusted to give that darkness around the edges, but still natural highlights and shadows where light hits her body.

Through an article in the guardian I discovered who Broda’s inspiration was for her work, and what photographers she went to for ideas and styles; she mentioned Elinor Carucci who is described by the Telegraph as “The mother of all photographers” she has an incredible style to her photography work. She really captures life as it really is with her loved one, close family and her children. When looking at Carucci’s work and Broda’s work you can see where Broda has got some of her inspiration from.

Love

One of the first images I could see some resemblance in Broda’s work was Carucci’s Love 2009, I could see a similar style between the bond of mother and son. You see in Carucci’s work the joy and happiness her son brings to her through facial expression, and with Broda you can see that maternal love in a slightly more dark and intimate way, with just her son’s hand resting on her face. They both explore maternal love and how intimate the bond is through birth and then childhood. As from research we know Broda idolises Carucci we often see a lot of similarities in Broda’s style, lighting, framing and expressions in her pieces similarly to Carucci’s Mother project.

Snut 

The second image I saw a lot of similarities with is Carucci’s Dry Snut 2005, this had strong links with the second untitled piece I looked at by Broda. The first thing that I saw in both pieces was the natural and soft lighting, you can see how Broda has taken a lot of inspiration from it to put into her project. The framing of both their sons, with the innocent looks on their faces and how close up and

personal they both are, I deep and intimate look into their childhoods. Since researching these two photographers I have become quite interested in their style on portraits and self-portraits, so much so that I feel I can draw some things from their pieces to help me create my own.

Feeling me 

Lastly, I wanted to look at Carucci’s Feeling me 2004, and Broda’s One hour before birth, I personally I see in both of the pieces a strong approach to female empowerment and identity. The way they both appear confident in their skin through body language, their facial expression so blank but in a way anyone can interpret what their feeling. The lighting in both are very similar, both photographers often use harsh bright spot lights to play a part in their pieces but for the more intimate photos such as these two, the lighting is a lot softer, more evenly spread to give more of a natural and clean look to the overall image. With softer lighting it creates a gentler and light mood to the piece instead of harsh lighting and a sombre feeling. I am intrigued by both photographers and I am fascinated by their use of lighting and have come to the conclusion that I shall explore similar lighting themes in my portrait work too.

https://vimeo.com/76945933

http://www.anacasasbroda.com/ing-10-kinderwunsch

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jan/10/ana-casas-broda-best-photograph

Auto Focus – Susan Bright Page 35

http://www.elinorcarucci.com/mother.php

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/10350481/Elinor-Carucci-the-mother-of-all-photographers.html

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

HI I'M ALICE

Full name:
Alice Louise Ball

Age:
18

Favourite colour: 
Orange 

If you could add any song to a movie soundtrack, what would it be?: 
Sing me to sleep by The Smiths 

Favourite guilty pleasure film:
Bridge to Terabithia 

Favourite film of the moment:
Sausage Party

If your life could be a movie which one would you pick? why?
Pretty in Pink, because of how she becomes independent and a strong person without anyone to rely on

Favourite cinematographer or photographer?
Wolfgang Tillmans 

Favourite YouTube video:

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.