4D: Project 4 – Poetics of Time (Process & Research)

Do view my final product + explanations here!

View my Proposal here

Initial Proposal for Consult 1: here

Ideal Outcome

Using Gudak, the mobile application, I created a mock up of the ideal outcome using Photoshop.

 

Research

Double exposure on automated film camera: link
How to get the leader out of the canister: link 
Inspiration on how what I should shoot: link

After looking through the site, I decided to take my shots in natural lighting with a subject matter, the clock.
Double exposure and its outcome (further research): link & link

Artist Reference(s)

A million times by Humans: link

 

Project 3: Impossibilities of Being

Sink-ing [(present participle) / verb: sink], the state of being in the sink. “i found myself sink-ing the other day, this was what happened..”

Wanna jump right into the video? FINAL VIDEO

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Before diving right into the project, we were to list down places we have not been before and the toilet pipes were on my mind..

Thereafter, create a 1-minute film on how we would perceive the location.

So I decided to go along with a sink… since I thought recording the sounds of water will be interesting!!

taken from: https://pixabay.com/en/basin-sink-tap-drain-faucet-1114991

Here’s the video!

Perspective

Playing with perspective, I made the audience to be the in the first person view in the film. Shrinking them into a small creature who can fit into the scene, I added a tiny narrative along with it and a cliff hanger at the end of the film, where the audience can start to imagine what might happen to the tiny creature hiding in the sink.

Set-up Plan

Analyzing the Sounds

  • Synchronous Sounds: Heard at the same time as it is being produced The washing of hands, scrubbing of hands matches with the image of the video
  • Diegetic Sounds: any sounds emanating from the fictional world. The gasping, the panting of the character

    Sound Quality

  • Intensity

– the panting, loud to soft

– the gasping, sudden loudness, then dying down

  • Rhythm

-the panting and gasping.

  • Foley usage- The bubbling sounds, produced by blowing air into a cup of water
  • Multilayering- Putting two sets of sounds together, the reaction audio of the creature and the ambience audio.

StoryBoards:

Lo-Fi Storyboard:

Hi-Fi Storyboard (experimentation)

https://vimeo.com/241373522

password: daph0016

recording process

All sounds are recorded by me using the Zoom Recorder, adjusting it from 90 degrees to 120 degrees. 

This device is seriously good.

All audios are recorded separately, i.e walking into the toilet as an audio, washing hands as an audio, and then using iMovie to combine all audios together.

Since this project is more about the sounds we experiment with, I decided to record my ambience audio first, then record the visuals thereafter. Foley recording is recorded the last after the visuals and ambience audios are recorded to better match the entire film.

How was the visuals recorded

Visuals are recorded in a MTV style. The ambience audio was played at the background, and the washing of hands and the cliff hanger at the last part was simulated to match the audio itself.

How was the foley recorded

As aforementioned, the ambience audios and visuals are done up, I then continue to record the creature’s reaction in the sink.

It was difficult to keep it in sync (sink) with the rest of the clips. This was the hardest to record after the visuals. The first difficulty was deciding how I wanted my creature to react in the sink. The second was how am I going to record it and what sounds are appropriate?

While in thought, I was having a cup of drink and then I thought it will be a good idea to record me blowing bubbles into a cup of water. That was literally how I derived at using bubbles sounds to layer it with the ambience audios.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed recording sounds for the first time, and discovering the different sounds that are produced in our environment which I rarely ever noticed before this project. The filming process was a lot of fun, and I have attached a photo below!

My friend, Vanetta, had to help me with the pouring of water and holding of the ladle as the sink.

I placed the camera in the box, tight with a ziplock bag and started the filming. Watching of hands was simulated, although you cannot see that clearly, but I wanted the audience to observe these small actions, especially when that is the main focus in the short film.

Also, I was very impressed by my classmates’ creation as a bulk of them used drawings and animations to portray their respective sounds. (which I did not expect) Besides, I got the chance to work with Brendan with his film, which was super fun and something out of my comfort zone.

In a nutshell, although the location the sink is  a tiny place that I can never visit, but coming up with the filming process and seeing the outcome is a very satisfying thing!

Don’t forget to view my in-class exercises here!

4D – Project 2: The Subverted Object


In Project 2, we discover the idea of subverting the meaning behind objects. I went on to research on more ideas .. this is something I found super interesting!

The word I got for this project is KIWI!

 

The Object


 

KIWI & its associated place

This shot was taken at a place that people will conventionally find kiwis. I thought the texture of the plastic bag that evokes a blurry feel gives more emphasis on the kiwis itself, yet still included in the picture to give a sense of context as to where the picture was taken – the supermarket / fruit store, essentially the place of purchase.

The portrait photo was not chosen as the background gave too much distraction, such as the air con fan and the extensive inclusion of the plastic bag holding the kiwis.

KIWI & its identity

The close-up shot of the kiwis was not initially included into the presentation as it gave too little context as to where it was taken, which should tell its reader where you can normally and conventionally find and purchase kiwis. However, I thought this shot showed the texture and the shape of the rarer, yellow kiwi very well. A green kiwi was not used as I thought it was too conventional and too predictable. I included the Zespri brand of the kiwi as the focus of the picture as I found out that Zespri is one of the largest marketer of the kiwifruit. (About Zespri) Therefore, the branding is also a huge part of the identity of the kiwifruit.

Some Test Shots:




A KIWI Cross-section

Something unique about the kiwifruit is also its cross-section. Therefore, I cannot miss that out! I used the rule of third to spice up this shot a little!

Some Test Shots:




The Subversion

I had many problems trying to subvert the idea of kiwi as it does not have a very apparent link to a different meaning. For example, the banana is also universally linked to a smile.

Despite that, I played with the brand of a shoe polish also called Kiwi, as well as the shape and unique qualities of it, like its cross section.

KIWI, SHOE POLISH

Original Photo:

After Photoshop:

Since the kiwi shoe polish has a sole purpose (see what i did there?) of polishing up a men’s leather shoe, I wanted to switch it up a bit. I used a white sneakers instead to bring in the idea of kiwi as a fruit too, apart from it being a shoe polish. The fact is that if you smear a kiwifruit to your shoes, you will dirty it. Hence, in this photo composition, apart from the apparent paradox, I wanted to play with irony as well. True enough, the next scene after this shot is taken will be a stained sneakers that will not look good, definitely not polishing it.

Kiwi Chips

Before Edit

After Edit

Kiwi seen as healthy food.

I thought sliced kiwi looked a lot like chips, so I played with that, riding on the fact that potato chips are unhealthy and oily food, whereas kiwifruit is known to be healthy.

Chips are usually “comfort food”

The orange hue in the photo accentuates the term “comfort food” together with the cozy background of a teddy bear and pillows.

A female figure is used because females are usually more associated with eating disorders like binge-eating and anorexia. (Research)

Test Shots:

Fit in

Looking at the shape of the kiwi, the egg seems like the one I can play with. Both rounded and elongated in shape, I thought I incorporate eggs and the egg tray in Task 2.

Fitting a kiwi onto the egg tray is no problem, but closing the cover is

Notice that while a kiwi could be placed on the egg tray, it is, however, impossible to close the cover. So does it fit in or not? Debatable?

Add the CAPTION!

 

I knew I wanted to use this image to add a caption to further touch on the topic of whether the kiwi does fit into the egg tray. However, the caption was a tough one.

“where do we belong” was part of the selection, however, I thought it was a little too self-explanatory. Less is more.

I then worked with “FIT IN” since it has been a phrase that came to my mind when I brainstormed on the idea of fitting the kiwi into an egg tray.

How should I execute it? What font should I use? What message am I convey?

I first brainstormed with what message I wanted to work with. I wanted to challenge the impact of social media on the youths today.

How then should I execute it? As I was brainstorming, I thought what better way of coming up with the caption than to use Instagram since my message was related to social media. I did not like the idea of doing it up on an Instagram post, hence I worked with Instagram’s story features like its default font and colour.

I wanted the caption to be large and eye-catching, therefore, I put the black words against the white background.

The inclusion of question marks is to challenge the audience the idea of whether the kiwi actually fit into the egg tray. It is clustered to form an arrow, which is a directional and powerful sign of signal, very much like how our society “forces” us to be of a certain way. Similar to our society, the youths of today struggle to find an identity and because of the people around us, we are forced to fit in or be discriminated or bullied. People are expected to be put through a cookie-cutter even when every single person is unique and different in their own ways and cannot be fitted on a one-size “egg tray”. The one-size-fit-all theory is also challenged.

Task 3 – Research: Fonts & Meaning

  1. Serif Fonts

Example: Times New Roman

The presence of short lines on each letter gives it a formal feel. It is usually perceived as delicate, beautiful, expensive, warm and old. Usually used successfully in business news headers. However, when used in the body paragraph, the sizing may need to be noted as a small font will be hard on the eyes.

2. Sans Serif Fonts

Example:

Best used on the screen. It also creates a clean and intuitive reading process for the readers on screen. They are usually perfect for headlines and body paragraph. It produce an informal feel, hence not suitable for legal documents, however perfect for personal blogs and light-hearted magazines.

3. Script Fonts

The cursive fonts are best for screen use. They evoke an elegant feel. Some cursive fonts are similar to handwritings and hence are perfect for invitation cards.

4. Decorative Fonts

Decorative fonts builds a visual theme to your design that you put against. They are great for headlines but not really for the body. The emotional feel they evoke to the audience differs for each font.

Example:

One apparent example is the Harry Potter film cover and the “Harry Potter” font. It is distinctive and easy to recognise.

taken from: http://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/4767/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-2-2011.html

Reference:

Fonts and Meaning

The Removal, Replacement and Redefinition Template

Artist Research:

Chema Madoz

Madoz is a photographer from Spain and is recognised for his monochromatic and surrealistic photos.

pear or lightbulb?

toilet paper or scroll?

drain or a plate holder?

After looking at his photos, I realise that his works often make me think twice as to what he is actually photographing. This inspired me to make my works questionable and debatable at first glance.

Reference:

Chema Madoz

It’s a Wrap!

Looking back at this project, I really enjoyed thinking out of the box and thinking atypically. Even though I had a lot of challenge subverting kiwi initially, with the research and looking at other artists’ works, I overcame that challenge and managed to still churn out ideas for Kiwi! (which i’m very happy about :))

Task 3 was a little to cluttered because of the question marks (as mentioned during critique), I thought I could have been more sensitive to the aesthetic of the message than the delivery of the message. That is something to work on!

All in all, this project helped me to look at things a little differently now! Hope you enjoyed viewing my work!

 

 

 

 

Project 1: Picture Story — Curating Self

Some test shots taken for Project 1: Picture Story — Curating Self

 Artist Inspiration:

1.

This image under Task 1: Me is inspired by Lee Friedlander and his style of photography. The way he subtly inserts shadows or reflections of himself in his images urges me to experiment with taking my shadows and reflections.

taken from: http://www.atgetphotography.com/The-Photographers/Lee-Friedlander.html

taken from:https://joshuabwakley.wordpress.com/tag/lee-friedlander/

2.

This image is also from Task 1: Me and I got inspired by Shirin Neshat’s portraits to do an up close picture of myself, except to add a little twist to it by showing a more fun side of myself rather than a serious side, which Shirin Neshat usually does.

taken from: http://signsjournal.org/shirin-neshat/

 Do not forget to view my final work here!