EXPERIMENTAL FILM - FILM DEVELOPMENT

In the process of filming on day 1, we wanted to try and film the reflection of different websites through someones eyes, using the reflection of the light from the screen to detect what site they were on. We set the room up in darkness, so the only light source was from the TV, to try and capture the reflection at its best. However, this wasn't working as well as we had hoped, and it was hard to recognise the different websites from the reflection in people's eyes. We wanted to still execute this idea but weren't sure how so we started discussing and thinking of other ways. Thankfully Danielle has a projector that we can plug in to a computer so we can project social media, messages, google searches etc onto the persons face so we can get the look we want. We also thought that because we were projecting the websites onto the persons face, that it could be a metaphor for the internal monologue we have, and projecting on the head could symbolise whats going on in our minds, a visual into our thought process. We wanted to hit home that the internet is now literally embedded in our heads and feel this would be a good way to display this. We came up with a list of things we wanted to project over our faces, and here are some of the results:

1. Project social media platforms
2. Search bar on forehead
3. Play glitching videos over persons face
4. Overlay emojis onto persons face
5. Overlay Eviebot onto persons face
6. Screen chat room conversations over persons face
7. Show scrolling down pages online over the persons face
8. Show the search bar for ways to get help
9. Display the dark net
10. Display archive footage

Happy Emoji

Crying Emoji

Crying Emoji 

I need help

Error

With the projector we experimented with using emojis, search engines and error messages to see what the best results would be. Displayed above are some of our best results. After doing this trial of what works with the projector we feel confident that for tomorrows filming day we can get all the filming we want. Some things we tried didn't quite work, but we found a way around them. Like with the search engine we decided to try out google, but it didn't work with lining up on the persons face; So, we decided to use Ask Jeeves, and got the results we wanted.  I look forward to developing this idea even more into one cool film.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

EXPERIMENTAL FILM - DAY 1

This week is filming week for the experimental films, Danielle and I had a very clear and concise structure and schedule which has come in our favour. We have scheduled this film to only take two days to film as most of the it is effects in the post production, and all the production footage is archive, and film shot ourselves with a DSLR.

So, this morning we scheduled to meet at ten am this morning to collect a sufficient bank of archive footage we felt was relevant. We wanted to source clips that showed old technology such as old computers and televisions to show how much technology has changed. The first video we came across was Steve Jobs presenting the first Mac computer. We agreed we both liked this as everyone has an association with Apple products, most people own a piece of Apple technology, people will be able to connect with it. 

From this clip, we went on to find an old mobile phone commercial we felt was fitting, and a Gameboy advert that we could use for our archive footage. We then decided to look for Glitch videos for inspiration to get ready for filming. We found so many videos for inspiration, as we liked the abstract shapes, and also the saturation of the colours, so this is something we are drawing inspiration from. Listed below are some links to the videos we got inspired from:

fluid glitch video

windows glitch

glitched lake

ink and water

focus glitch

subliminal glitch

From our initial Digital Materialisation short film, we used an online robot called Eviebot to record what she said. As we liked the robot likeness to her voice and lack of depth and a monotone sound to give a cold sinister feel to the words. However with Eviebot we couldn't get her to say exactly what we wanted, you just had to type things and use chance that she would say something we felt was good to record. Nevertheless, we did some searching and found a website that we could type exactly what we wanted and use some effects on the website to change the pitch, tone, length and gender of the person and their voice. Here is the website listed down below:

robot voice over

Using this website we found a voice, pitch, length and gender we felt was best suited to create the same sinister, cold tone like Eviebot. Using this website was far more effective as we could get the exact results we wanted and didn't have to leave the results to chance, like with Eviebot. We recorded a preview of what the website gave us and the sound we wanted to achieve:

After realising we could get this robot to say exactly what we wanted, we came up with a script of things we think would be best suited for our voice over. listed below is the script we devised:

1.You are being watched

2.Slide to unlock

3.Digital overload is now central to the human condition

4.Our brains are wired

5.You have forgotten where the off button is

6.Are you feeling overwhelmed?

7.Just check the internet for five minutes

8.Control alt delete

9. Escape

10.You cannot escape

11.You have no identity without the internet

12.Who are you without the internet?

13.You’re hiding behind a screen

14.Don’t be afraid we’re all watching you

15.You let the world comment on your existence

16.Hashtag no escape

17.You have a notification…

18.Share your location with me

19.Don’t you trust me?

20.Lol

21.Lmao 

22.Omfg 

23.Fml

We then went on to spend the rest of the day recording the voice over exactly how we wanted ready to cut down and edit in the post production. 

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

MULTI SCREEN MOVING IMAGE PORTRAITS (AFTER EFFECTS 3)

Today marked the third After Effects work shop and this was definitely my favourite. Today we learned how to rotoscope, use track matts, layers and explore the effects rack. We were asked to chose a cartoon of our choice and use the rotoscope tool in After Effects to select a character to track. You could then isolate them in their own layer and start manipulating. This was interesting as you could isolate a character and import a background and start effecting the background and character to create a new meaning. As our experimental film and twin screen project are fast approaching I decided to use this time to explore what I could do with glitching and creating pixels and heavy manipulation. Pictured below are some if the effects I used:

Here I used the Rotoscope tool to select my character and feathered the selection slightly so the edges weren't as harsh. I then used an effect called Turbulent Displace to distort the look of my character so they would appear warped on the screen. To do this you first have to create a duplicate layer so you can overlay the effect and still have the original rotoscoped piece playing. 

In this screenshot you can see I have used Tritones to change the colour of the Turbulent Displace and create a shadow on the original rotoscope of Finn. I manipulated the colours of the highlights, mid tones and shadows so it would create a intense, strange looking shadow. To enhance this piece further I added a Light Burst on the layer and it made my duplicate Finn layer turn into a light burst that follows him around the screen. 

Here is an image of all the effects I was describing in the previous two images. I hope I am making some sense. 

I have been thinking a lot about my twin screen piece and what I can achieve with after effects to make my twin screen look the way I want it to. Something I have been interested in is masking and tracking. I have seen a few short films of blurred out faces to achieve a feel of a digital reality where everyone's faces are just like pixelated emojis. So I aked my tutor how to create this look, and he showed me how to track someones face, and use the Mosaic tool to create pixels.

Here is a screenshot of what I was explaining in the last picture. You can see my Mosaic tool over his face and the square you use to select a place to track.

Here are the short pieces I created today in After Effects using the skills I learned today and applied them to these short films:

 

AFTER EFFECTS GLITCH MANIPULATION

 

ADVENTURE TIME LAYERED EFFECTS

 

AFTER EFFECTS GLITCH MANIPULATION II

I hope you enjoy. Thank you.

EXPERIMENTAL FILM IDEAS AND RESEARCH

After an initial tutorial with Anne after the pitches, we discussed absorbing everyday influences, from TV to pictures, to even the news and 'alternative facts'. We are in the process of learning how to glitch moving images, as we don't want to cheat and use an app. We would rather learn how to glitch moving images ourselves. I feel this won't be too difficult as we know the process of glitching still images so I imagine it is similar to this process.


I am so excited to get this film underway and get filming a colourful masterpiece, however I think our film needs a little bit of a structure. Danielle and I have been discussing the film, and Danielle has sourced some good research from websites and from the TV. We discussed that our film would just become an overload at the end. For the beginning of the film, we think it will look at old pieces of technology and maybe archive footage and start slightly glitching it, or changing the colours. Then as the film progresses more, then we enter footage we have shot of new technology and things or brands you associate with the digital world such as the Apple symbol. Coming towards the end of the film the glitching will get more frequent and brighter in colours and then we hope to get the film to appear as if it has switched off and loaded an error sign to show the meltdown of the internet and information overload. Danielle and I will take similar elements from our previously made short glitch film, such as the voice of god that was recorded from an online AI, which we both agreed was really effective. With a week to film we can get her to say things we want and cut and manipulate what she says to our advantage. I was thinking something else that could possibly look good and be effective in the message we are putting across is have 1 frame images or pieces of text, so that they're so fast it would be hard to see them, but the flashing images or text would set in the subconscious.

Google Images

Google Images

After doing a little research into glitch art and how other artists do it, I was intrigued by this artist who took his glitching to another level ' Databending ' This artist wanted to push his knowledge and skills on glitching and create meaning to the glitches which I think is quite beautiful. His process is quite intense, he takes apart digital cameras and attaches them to a circuit board to read and analyse how the camera takes the pictures, but he comes out with the most beautiful results. Here is a quote I feel is important about technology and the digital world that the artist said himself:

"I feel it's important not to allow technology as it's handed to me determine what I can say or how I say it." he says "it's the difference between letting the machine speak for you and you speaking through the machine"

I value this statement a lot and I feel it connects up nicely with the piece Danielle and I are producing, we are speaking through media and the machines we are using. We are almost manipulating the machines and changing their code to get them to say what we want. We shouldn't let the technology speak for us, we must have a voice within our technology too. 

More things to come 

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

MULTI SCREEN MOVING IMAGE PORTRAITS

Today we had the second After Effects workshop with Phil, and although I was unable to attend the first workshop due to illness I tried to get up to speed with everyone else. After Effects is a completely new software to me and is incredibly challenging, however I won't let this defeat me. Hopefully in my spare time I will resource intense online video tutorials to ensure I can complete the twin screen to my best of my ability. The brief for this twin screen is exploring the relationship between the human body and the digital world. When thinking about this initially I think of how apparent the digital world is, we are constantly connected through social media and our phones. It is so hard to switch off because we are accessible at all times. I have read many articles on how social media and the digital world effect mental health, and this is something I am thinking of exploring in my twin screen film. Some of the articles that stood out to me the most were these:

1. Effect of social media
2. Harmful digital world
3. Photos without phones

In one of the articles it has two interesting statements about social media being an easy escape to escape from the real world and hide away, claiming it could become an unhealthy obsession. The other interesting statement claims that it can be a positive thing for shy or anxious people to be able to communicate with people in a way that feels safe for them. I quite like these two opposing ideas, and possibly could develop into a twin screen idea. Another of my links is an article about a photographer who simply PhotoShopped peoples mobile phones out of pictures, the end results looked so strange these people hunched around a little bit of light from the phone, and seeing the antisocial behaviour. This interested me as I could maybe develop an idea of life without technology and social media. But I would prefer to display these ideas as visual metaphors rather than literal, as I feel this will create a more aesthetic look to the twin screens. I want to definitely explore nature footage somehow into my film using cut out shapes and layering in After Effects.

Here is an image of an online artist that I like the work of, I want to take inspiration from the composure of this piece, and want to see if I could mask out where the yellow circles are and have film playing in the background.


 I am still in the early staged of developing an idea.

I hope you enjoy. Thank you

EXPERIMENTAL SOUND FINISHED PIECE

For the experimental sound piece we were asked to create a soundtrack between 30 seconds to 1 minute inspired by a piece of artwork. Previously I explained I chose Francis Bacon's art piece and took inspiration from Eraserhead by David Lynch. I wanted to achieve an unsettling background piece with some unusual sounds breaking the white noise. I feel I achieved what I wanted it to sound like and I am quite happy with the end result.

I wrote up a list of sounds I wanted to record such as running water, squeaky doors, rice shaking and fingers clicking. After recording these I imported them all into Audition and decided to graphic equalize most of the sound clips with either 20 or 30 bands. Then attach convolution reverbs to most of sound clips. I used effects such as massive cavern to create an echo or backwards cavern to make it sound unnerving. I created a few tracks just as background noise to try and take my own approach on Eraserhead and then added in little snippets of other uncomfortable. I then had a few tracks to add in the uncomfortable sounds so they could fade in and out with the background noise. I feel with the steaks in the painting it inspired me to drag the sounds out to replicate the paint marks. Overall I am quite pleased with my end results as I feel it fulfilled my interpretation of what I thought the painting sounded like which was to create an uncomfortable ambient background.

Here is a screenshot of me exporting my sound piece at 24bit and 48khz and turned down the master track to -3 so it was at the right levels and formats to be submitted. I feel I picked the right painting for me as it gave me lots of sounds to explore and be adventurous with my sound manipulation.

Here is my finished experimental sound piece:

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

EXPERIMENTAL SOUND RESEARCH

As I have decided to select the painting Pope Innocent X I wanted to research sounds that could inspire me to create my own experimental soundtrack. In lesson James showed us a classic Lynch film Eraserhead (1997) When watching it I loved it. I loved the atmosphere it created, and the apparent static noise in the background that was so loud but after a while just merged into the background. I enjoyed how uncomfortable, claustrophobic and tense it made you feel. So when recording my sounds I tried to source sounds that could create an atmosphere similar that I could make my own. So I manipulated the sound of running water and squeaking doors to try and create this uneasy atmosphere.

Eraserhead (1997)

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

FINAL SELECTED PORTRAITS: FIORIRE

Here are my final portraits for the Identity series: 

Stripe

Mint

Time 

Quiet

My motivation for this series of portraits was quite simple. I adore the look of skin on camera, capturing it in just the right light to make it look so soft and beautiful. I also wanted to capture my relationship between my partner and I. I wanted to show our intimate moments together without it being sexual and just with very carefully selected lighting. I chose to only shoot between four hours of the day (10am-2pm) to achieve the soft light I achieved in my photos. Also having a photo of my partner and I individually I wanted to show that we are individuals too, and that we come together and a unit. My initial ideas we to shoot my pictures candid and just have my camera ready at any moment we were together. However, I wasn't getting fast enough results or what I really wanted, so Anne suggested that I stage the photos so I can control everything and make the appear candid. I decided to give this idea a go and my results were far better and was producing more work. I quite enjoyed controlling the seemingly candid photos as it meant I had full control of composure and lighting and this gave me satisfaction that the photo would turn out well. I wanted to highlight through post production the places in which our bodies come in to contact to enhance the senses of we we touched. 

For my research I wanted to find some work of a similar nature to mine and I looked in the book Auto Focus I found a series named My Little Dead Dick which was a collaborative piece between Patrick Tsai and Mdi Ju. The collection is simply gorgeous as they photograph their intimate time together. I was so inspired by their work I wanted to try and get a similar candid look with my photos. However, one strong difference between their work and mine is that they used film photography to create the beautiful saturated colours. I just loved seeing how strongly you could feel the intimacy in the photos without it having to be sexual. Another photographer I researched was Igor Prorrt. A friend of mine saw his work and recommended him to me, and specifically a series named Betelgeuse. Upon looking at his website filled with his work I fell in love. The lighting in his photographs was beautiful, so delicate but so soft and touching in the series. On reflection of these photos I learned and can see he used a lot of artificial lighting to create these wonderful shots, but I still adore them and their composure. For portraits they are quite unusually composed, he often has his face away from the camera and close ups of body parts with him and his partner. I liked the uniqueness to his work and took inspiration for my photos in composure and lighting.  

When shooting my photos there were some challenges, it wasn't all an easy ride. For instance, when photographing the picture of me in the bath I had to try and make sure you couldn't see the reflection of the camera in the side of the bath. I saw this as an issue and framed it so you couldn't see it. Also with the photo of my partner across my lap it was hard to take the photo as I was having to hold the camera from above and hope for the best, This meant we had to take multiple shots in order to get the framing exactly how I wanted it. For the portraits together brought new challenges. The photo in the bathroom I wanted to show there was a mirror behind us but not get the camera in reflection,so I had to frame this carefully and position us so we would block the camera's reflection. For the photo of us on the bed, I had to set the focus and desired framing with my partner in shot, then press the timer on my camera and run back into shot. This meant we had to take quite a lot of photos before I was happy with one, but it was worth it in the end. We also had to balance the camera on a radiator which was switched on so time was of the essence. I also had to settle on a name for the series and that brought new challenges because I felt I couldn't simply sum up the series with a title. However, I took my time thinking and researching and settled on naming the series Fiorire. Fiorire means to flourish or to blossom in Italian, and since I have Italian in me and in my family, I felt this was fitting and gave a new intimate level into my life and the series. 

In terms of post production techniques, I set out with the idea that I was going to select the places in which we came into contact with each other and alter the hue. I personally felt this would look good and give good results because it would draw the viewers eye to the colour change in parts of our body to make you think about the touch and contact we have, enhancing that feeling of intimacy. However upon doing this in PhotoShop I wasn't happy with the results as they ended up looking alien like and taking away the natural intimate feel to the photos, which is what I wanted in the first place. So I spoke to Anne and made the decision to submit the photos as they were as I felt happy with how they looked, manipulation free. 

Personally I have thoroughly enjoyed this portrait unit, I liked the freedom of producing more than one photo and how creative we were allowed to be. I feel there are many strengths in my series as I took a lot of time and hard work creating and selecting them. I made the decision to start taking photographs as soon as the brief was given to us, so this allowed me plenty of time to get the results I wanted without being under the pressure of time. I am also quite proud of my lighting too, I feel even though I am very strict with the times I shoot in the day it really does pay off for me. I see good consistent results by being very strict with my shooting routine. Also with starting to photograph in plenty of time this gave me more flexibility when it came to framing as I could dedicate the whole four hours to achieving one photo, so I could move slightly left or right and get it just perfect. Being a perfectionist I feel this is the way I should start working in future project so I have enough time to really perfect my work. I feel I achieved what I set about doing in my series from the beginning. I personally feel and see intimacy in my photos even if I was a viewer and not just the producer of the work. I feel you can see a connection between my partner and I that is intimate and loving without being too overpowering. However, there are always areas to develop on in any piece of work. I feel I could develop, explore or expand my series by trying out a whole shoot on film camera. As my initial photographer research was on a whole series just shot on 35mm film, I feel I could have done this and seen if my results looked as saturated and warm as the photos I researched. I have always been a bit afraid of photographing on film as you don't have the reassurance that you can check to see if the photo looks good. But I feel I should push myself more and try it out, even if all the results weren't what I wanted, at least I could show that I had tried. I am considering using just film cameras if we have another portrait series to really challenge my skills. 

Overall though I have learned so much from this unit of work, I have learned even more on composure through research into other photographers, I have explored and perfected my lighting through research and experimentation which will help me in any future photography.I have also realised the importance and significance in series of photos instead of just one and how it can tell a story and give the photographer and audience more space to explore running themes through the photos. I have also learned how to mount on foam board which I have never done, but will do again as the results give a beautiful finish to my work. 

I hope you enjoy. Thank you. 

MANIPULATED PORTRAITS

With this portrait series we had to manipulate the photos using Photoshop. So I thought about what I could do on Photoshop that would enhance my portraits. As I have used only natural lighting in my portraits I wanted to let in a bit of colour to maybe draw attention to a certain element of the photo. So I came up with the plan of selected points on my partner and I's body that came into contact with each other or something else. However, my skills on Photoshop are very limited as I have only used the software a handful of times, so had to do some research before so I could create the look I wanted without my skills stopping me.

I imported the photos into Photoshop and selected our hands and parts of our arms that were in shot and adjusted the hue so it was a lilac colour. I chose this colour because it is quite soft, subtle and not to overpowering in the photo. I decided to manipulate the photos in this way because I am trying to display the emotional and physical affection, I wanted to show the points of contact my partner and I feel the most when we are together. In this picture it happens to be with our hands, the feeling of running your fingers over someones skin is unexplainable and just wanted to highlight that in the photo. 

With this picture I decided to highlight my hands to enhance the senses. As sensory stimulus is so important to everyone and i feel it so intensely in my relationship. I decided to choose the same colour as to make sure that there is a continuation and link between the photos and what I have done to them. Sometimes feeling something through your fingertips can change the way you feel, such as hot and cold things or things that make you calm. 

I carried this process over to this photo too with the same colour. I am not as happy with this photo and my manipulation with it because I feel it distracts you from the image instead of enhancing it. 

With this photo came new challenges because our hands weren't in shot. But nevertheless I worked my way around it. I decided to highlight and change the colour of my knees as that was the point of contact visible between my partner and myself. I am not quite sure if I enjoy my manipulation in this image as I feel it takes all naturalistic qualities and intimacy away from it. 

I thought about possibly changing the highlighted pieces in the images to black and white instead, but I felt like that would bring a negative feeling to the picture. i felt that colour would make it appear more positive but I am unsure as to weather I chose the right colour. After exploring manipulating my images I have decided to submit, print and mount my portraits with only a little touching up on exposure and not with the change in hue and selection. This is because I feel the manipulation takes the naturalistic look and intimate feel away and focus on the colour which wasn't my aim. 

I hope you enjoy, Thank you.