Monthly Archives: April 2017

Meeting Brief 7.2

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While it was my original idea to focus on a individual who collected keycaps as I begun my storyboarding I was struggling to a story without the appearance of the community. Not only did this absence mean I was not completely the project brief but left me with a weak storytelling thread.  This was the original shot list I had:

Shot 1: Medium shot of Jake at his desk computer is in fame as well as keyboard
Shot 2: Close up on fingers typing on keys, long exposure (?) to capture led on keys and finger strokes.
Shot 3: Over shoulder shot of screen, would have forum post (GeekHack) in focus.

Shot 3 was originally important as I wanted to try and create the idea of community however without actual psychical interaction I am limited to the same area (a bedroom and desk) for a lot of the shots.

Shot 4: [Move outside] Checking mail taking from inside the house
Shot 5: Unboxing of the keycaps, close up on hands
Shot 6: Replacing caps, would try to take from above while he was on floor to create child like wonder of playing with toys
Shot 7: Long shot would have Jake standing at train station with board underarm like brief case
Shot 8: Jake waiting in fed square: he’s on the edge of the frame and a figure can be seen approaching in background
Shot 9: Close up on the exchange of key caps
Shot 10: Jake returning home and checking the mail again
Shot 11: Jake in bed with keyboard in 2/3 of the frame glowing.

Although I find this shots would make interesting stills they upon further reflection do not create a story. They would be much rather suited to another collection for future projects.

Over the weekend I’m hoping to get in touch with the games design community in Melbourne in order to see if a more interesting photo journal can be created.

Lightworks 7.1

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In prep for project brief 3, Ceyda and I went to the studio to practice lighting and it’s effects on the face. It was a overwhelming experience and in hindsight I wish I had played more with the angles of the light, but overall it was a valuable shooting session. I enjoyed the control the studio offered, with the ability to just focus on the subject rather than background visuals, natural lighting and other interference.

f/9  1/4 s  ISO 800

f/10 1/50 s ISO 800

f/11 1/13s ISO 800

f/11  1/13 s  ISO 800

f/5.6  1/125 ISO 1600

f/5.6  1/125 s  ISO 1600 (exposure compensation)

This shot was mostly to practice fstop and shutter speed it took awhile to pick how much light I should let in. This is something I’ll have to be mindful of when shooting my third brief. I think I prefer the 3rd shot of Ceyda as the lighting while still looking natural unlike the first image, still adds a flare of drama and interest to the subject. I am curious to try reflectors to achieve this effect in the future rather than coloured light.

The high contrast shots are also a continuation of my work in project brief 2 as it is a technique I am still looking to practice. I still think I need to work on being mindful of spotlighting as I causes a gradient in the background. I also an unhappy of the focus in image five as it does not look as sharp. Im not sure if I can work this technique into my next project but it is definitely something I want to explore in my final photo book.

The Salt of The Earth

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Susan Sotang offers a bleak look at photographic journalists, and the impact of their work. However I think this is more to do with how the photo is viewed rather than the image itself. In class on Tuesday, a warning was posted on the door. It instructed us to take a deep breathe before we came in and watched todays screening. Warned us of images of death and famine. In a magazine it is easy to flip to another page,  In a dark classroom, where images are projected on the whiteboard and the tv screens it is hard to look away. You focus on the gasps, you feel the uncomfortable tension radiating off the bodies around you. Atrocity is easier to dismiss alone.

How are these images really made ordinary – if not through constant exposure is it through their commodification. Does the same to “deaden the conscience” to view these works in galleries and does it change when we view this beside another, with a hand over yours as you turn the page?

How do we create an image to impact people alone, without anyone to measure their reactions to?
Can we really communicate anything anymore if we as an audience are overwhelmed with signs and images?

https://www.artsy.net/artwork/sebastiao-salgado-kuwait

Week 5 – Uncomfortable on The Streets

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I think there’s a certain intimacy that comes with taking a photo. Something I don’t quiet know how to approach or handle.
That’s why this week it was a huge challenge to take my phone to the streets and ask people to capture something that felt so forced. I tried to crack jokes, to smile, to make them feel comfortable but I was just taking these photos to fill a quota something I couldn’t seem to shake off as I ticked off another portraits completed. While I see the beauty in the canid, in everyday life…I just don’t think it’s a style I’d ever be comfortable with myself. I am to soft, unable to put the means of art, above someone else’s comfort and it felt I was asked to do in Fridays exercise.

People will say that when you enter a public space you’re already on camera. It’s the law  – you’re allowed to take photos in public spaces. But we leave things up to context, we scowl at boys who take photos of girls in their school dresses. Make a distinction that as long as it’s art we’re not exploiting anyone. That this persons entire life isn’t reduced to a blurry photograph I took in a panic to get out of their hair, or a framed piece of “art” on the walls of a gallery opening we paid money to enter.

In preparation for this next assignment I will take the effect to get to know my subject, maybe treat them to lunch and really make sure they want their life and body obscured by my shaky hands. Above all else this is whats important to me as a media practitioner.