4D Final Project – “Where Is She?”

For our last project of this semester, we had to do it in groups so I worked with Xuan Wei, Shi Min and Nicholas.

Here’s our group’s proposal to know more about our work:

https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/kohs0101/wp-content/uploads/sites/1857/2017/11/Where-is-She.docx_-1.pdf

IDEATION

Our group project was focused on making use of sound effects and immersing our audience into our story.  So we decided to do something like a “40-part Motet” work, where Janet Cardiff uses speakers filled with different kinds of sounds to pull the audiences in.  However, for our work, these sounds are coming from people that are having a conversation – where a story unfolds about a lost girl and in the midst of it, the audience have to uncover who is the prime suspect for her loss by paying attention to the conversation. We got this idea from “Serial” podcast and for our story it was inspired by the true story of Huang Na’s disappearance. We used that as a strong concept behind our final work.

PROCESS AND FINAL

We used 3 speakers, 1 panning out 2 on their own where each speaker voices out. Since we as the characters are telling the story, we had to test out numerous times to do our recordings. This is because we really needed to be in character. (as seen below, the amount of recordings taken to get the perfect one)

For more of our processes – to hear more of our recordings, to see the script we came up with to build our storyline, the different tries in trying to stay in character (bloopers too), click this link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cvw8dH2XLtFKw6zZvRrejP274YCl7_BY

We decided to have the final sound art in the Cinema Room @ The ADM Library, this is so as to get the audience more involved in the story by simply listening to the speaker talking, and concentrating on nothing else visually. Just the sounds. We also decided that for final presentation, our story will be divided into 3 portions so that the 1st group that enters will only be allowed to choose 1 of the 3 stories to have a listen. Similarly for the rest of the group that participates in this. This is so that we could give them the full experience of immersing into the story, by concentrating on the characters through their sounds, the tones of their voices at certain timings and such.

In the google docs it also provides our final installation, and how it end up being played. Do take a look at it! It’s been a fun and tiring process doing this, but we made it and this is a new experience I will never forget.

4D Sequencing Images – “Am I Pretty Now?”

PROCESS: IDEATION

So in my group, there’s Bala, Hui En, Karen and me. We had 3 different stories. Mine was about  a friend whose life was going downhill when he took drugs and that was when our friendship just kind of strained. I wanted to continue the story in a positive light where he changed into a better person after NS.

Bala’s story was about a friend who was smart and also pretty, everyone in school would tell her to be a model. Hui En’s story was about her friend from boarding school, and how she see her change drastically in terms of looks by going for a lot of plastic surgery. She could not even recognise her friend after.

AND SO, we decided to go with Hui En’s idea and make our own continuation because someway somehow when we discussed, our ideas clicked on the idea of Fantasy/Tragedy coming from her story.

We came up with our storyboard and some of the props we needed.

(Leaving this space to post the fuller version once it’s edited properly!)

RESEARCH (for task 2):

In terms of image, I wanted the dark warm tone, but at the same time focusing on the lighting exposure on certain images to focus on the protagonist and depending on the mood at that point of time.

One of the films I was inspired by was Pan’s Labryinth (2006) as we were leaning towards the idea of Fantasy. And I wanted to focus more on ‘Dark Fantasy’ which was what this film is all about.

Because I loved the film, I went to look at Guillermo del Toro’s (the film director and producer of this film) other works such as Crimson Peak (2015).

I loved how he managed to use dark tones to portray the dark mood. Which was what I wanted in some of my photos.

I  tried out B&W just to see how different the effect will feel and look. I changed it to a slightly warmer tone to make a vintage-y effect as I thought it will look good. I added on a whimsical creepy music to further portray the dark fantasy. But overall, I didn’t quite like it because I felt that it looked better with colour hence I decided this one should just be a trailer. And I did another for the main image sequencing. (the one way below)

I guess it was really tough for me in the process of this project because of the editing, as I was not familiar with any of the professional video app such as Audience CC or Premiere Pro. I was only familiar with iMovie BUT on my iPhone, not on Mac book pro. SIGH. So there was still alot to learn. Overall I think I like how it turned out. It could be better if I learn to better pace out my time during the process.

 

 

Picture Story – Curating Self (Task 2: My World)

 

 

Here in this place that fascinates me, the rooftop park in Vivo City – that’s where it is. Maybe it’s common to most, but when the sun sets, dusk arrives and night time lingers, that’s my favourite place at my favourite timing. Everyone just starts to leave, the young couples will stay, one or two close friends will sit and stare at the sea feeling the cozy breeze and talk about life. You sit there alone but somehow you don’t feel lonely. You are filled with these deep conversations around you, shared feelings, away from the buzz life, stars right above you and some nights the moon appears as clear as the night sky. These little moments makes a part of who I am. I like it here.

Under this task, I added a prop to further explore the ways I could convey the world that is significant to me. I used fairy lights to further portray the feel in the photos. I guess when I’m present there in Vivo City’s rooftop, I feel a sense of lightness – like  as if the weight of the world on my shoulders has been lifted, and so the prop is significant in symbolising the light that I am in the midst of the darkness.

I like it when the sun sets because sometimes you really see a different gradient in colour in the sky and it’s just so beautiful. And when night time comes the lights surrounding you are of different colours, it reminds me of little pixie fairies with coloured flashlight tails that you can only see from afar.

There’s a vast space here and nature (the sea, the swaying palm trees) plays a part in making it seem more peaceful even though sometimes the ships comes sailing in.

The idea of me holding the book is to show how books are a symbolism of imagination and you get yourself lost in stories. In  here, I get myself immersed in the surroundings, looking like I am comfortable with it and I can be here alone in my own world. It’s a lovely feeling. Away from all the busy life.

Picture Story – Curating Self (Task 1: Object and representation of self)

 

 

“Butterfly fly away”. The butterfly, it was recently an image I soon associated myself with. Feeling encaged and suffocated in the way I’ve been living – under certain conditions, abiding to rules I didn’t like – I have always yearned to be free. To live without being tied down to societal terms. And hence in a way a butterfly represented what I wanted to be because it was always beautiful especially when it’s growing and blooming into becoming a butterfly itself, and then flying off – doesn’t matter where it goes, it’s seeing the world (nature around it). It’s exploring, it’s growing. By keeping it close to heart, to me, it gives me strength to embrace the state I am in right now, it gives me hope that someday I will be free too, and I will find my way in life while growing to be ‘that’ beautiful being. Just like how we all grow from just being a child. The necklace itself matters to me because my parents bought it for me on an occasion where I felt they were genuinely proud of me – this was years ago, it was a time I was truly happy. I barely ever take them out, because it also reminds me of childhood – free, and happy. That’s what butterflies are usually associated to. And sometimes I long for that childhood.

The colours and lighting in the pictures plays an important part in contributing to the message behind the pictures. The natural lighting coming from outside helps to draw attention to the character inside that is looking out (in this case it’s me). There’s a usage of both tonal and color separation here. They are slightly warm (the orangey tones from the sunrays) and slightly cold (the light bluish tone present in the background) as each symbolises something. The warm tones symbolises the fact that something good is waiting despite the (cold tones lingering) uncertainty I’m feeling in my life. Hence the mood that is present.
Now referring to the mood that is present, we focus on the facial expressions I give when interacting with the object. Realise that in each photo there’s barely an expression but mainly a far-away gaze, perhaps only expressing longing. That longing, is the longing for the freedom mentioned earlier on. Also the idea of nostalgia because I am missing my childhood that the necklace represents hence clutching to it tightly. What inspired me to come up with such an emotion and made sure it was depicted well through pictures, was the artworks of Sally Mann’s “Candy Cigarette” and all her other works in “At 12: Portraits of young women” (as seen below).


Two of her pictures in “At 12: Portraits Of Young Women”

These young women distill something for the eye, something beautiful and sad and moving, something purely female and that is exactly something I want my pictures to incline towards. Another female artist that I was inspired by is Nan Goldin. Looking at the lighting in her photos through the film photography she took up makes me want to do something alike. There is that effect present – vintage, and melancholic.

The shadows play a huge part in this too, even with a slight tint of it showing. An example would be the half-spaced out shadows covering half of the picture that looks like a cage/prison cell. I waited for the sun to set to get the rays off the balcony grill in my house, as it will produce this lovely shadow. I knew it will give this effect off because I used to experiment waiting for the timing before for my other photos last year.
In my picture, I feel like the shadow meant a lot in symbolising the cage I feel like I’m in. And if you notice, the butterfly from my necklace shone abit when the rays reflected off it, it found itself in the middle of the space to be present in light and not those shadows. I look at the photo and to me that meant something. It just symbolises that despite the fact that I do sometimes feel caged, I still have that part of me that lingers in the light and still growing, soon to fly and explore freely. Thus having my hand slightly above my heart, touching the butterfly symbol on my necklace, is to remind the audience of the sense of closeness I have with it – how significant it is to me.

Process for Task 2

In Task 1, I previously posted few sketches on my ideas for the different settings/timing/places I want to have my pictures taken to better portray the significance in my object (the butterfly necklace).  Likewise for Task 2, I did a rough sketch on my ideal place i would want to show as my fascinating world, with props included and body movement needed to further portray it as my idea of “fascination”.

My ideal place, somewhere that is significant to me would be the famous Vivocity Rooftop.

 My idea was to capture it at a night setting, or when the dusk sets in. And that was hard to achieve due to the fact that there is barely any light around the area so i decided to also include a prop in – the fairy lights. The reason being, it could also further give meaning to the story behind it – the magical place i feel like it is once the night comes. I brought a book along in it to show how i spend my time there when dusk falls and night lingers. Books to me is a symbolism of peace and imagination – you get lost in it. And when i’m at the rooftop, that’s where i feel at peace. That’s where i feel like the night wasn’t so bad to get yourself lost in.

I borrowed a canon 80d dslr from a friend for this, she helped to take the pictures after i directed her on the lighting and changing the focus and shutter speed. At first i wanted an attempt of bokeh shots because it was the lights from across the sea that drew me there at night in the first place – the view.

I actually loved it even though we couldn’t capture much lights there. The bokeh was showing and that’s one of the qualities i wanted to produce in order to show how fascinating this whole place is. And that was just an aspect of it.

I had to keep adjusting and readjusting, with the help of my friend too we found a somewhat right shutter speed of around 100-400 for my pictures to turn out the way it would. But I also had to keep changing the ISO more to improve the focus on the subject matter in some pictures, which is me.

I hope the pictures will bring out to life how and why the place actually fascinates me and why it is so significant to me.

Process for Task 1

I formulate all my ideas first in my own sketchbook since I know what I have in mind and I won’t forget to bring them to life (taking the pictures, knowing when and where). My object of significance here: my butterfly necklace that I barely take out.

EXPLORATION:

So for the 1st idea, I had to wait for the sun to set for that perfect lighting for my picture, and for the shadows to be produced at that timing. The 1st picture below is the original picture. I wanted more contrast on the shadows to produce the cool dark tone, but at the same time I also wanted more contrast on the sunrays coming through. Hence the edit I did in the 2nd picture below.

Processed with VSCO with c1 preset

The main idea here was to show my subject matter, which is really small since it’s the butterfly necklace that i wanted to show – that is significant to me. So I tried moving myself and directing the one taking the photo for me to move as I go. It was important for me to test out mid-range shots and close-up shots so as to have the focus on my subject matter. All these is done using iPhone 7Plus. I wanted the light from outside to reflect on my white-gold butterfly to make viewers see that that is my focal point, hence having to keep shifting to get the right lighting at the right spot, like the picture below.

For the 2nd idea pictures, it was hard to get the light towards the direction I wanted it to. Because the sun was already fully setting and there wasn’t much light rays coming in so I have to make do with whatever daylight there is. For example in the picture below, I couldn’t get enough light in so I had to ensure my lighting exposure was a little higher to take another shot. However I liked how this shot turned out because of the shadows present and at least there was a tint of light, a slight warmness added to it. It sets the low but slightly hopeful mood that I want it to in the picture.

I guess the problem with having a small object at hand is how to show it well as the main subject matter. I tried to test it out with different body postures and angles like the one below and was only happy with the shots taken for the 1st and last one.

For the 1st one, I loved it because I managed to blur out the background but at least it shows my character in there with the far-away gaze looking at my glowing butterfly necklace. The light was more focused onto the necklace too which was what I wanted – to portray it as something of high importance (the fact that it is also made of pure gold) and purity, childhood, hope.

Same goes for the last picture. It was the gaze I aimed for, and the clearer limelight on my butterfly pendant dangling on the necklace. But this time I am looking towards the camera, intentionally, to tell the viewers that “look, this is something important to me. Look at it. Look at the way I look at it – I long for it.”

I didn’t like my second shot due to the way it was taken. The framing wasn’t right, and it wasn’t a good vantage point. It was really bad as the focus wasn’t on the necklace but instead it was on my dress and my awkward pose. Initially I had an imagination in mind to look like I’m laying restlessly and longing but I realised that the wide-shot wasn’t good for it. So I decided to change it up abit through my posture and mainly by manipulating my subject distance.

Reflecting back to doing all these and the processes, it took alot of thinking and imagining, to portray the story of my own to the audience. It definitely took alot of directing if you are not the one behind the camera. This is hard because you need to give a clear direction and explanation to the person behind the camera so that she/he can help to get the shot you really want. I am happy with how it turned out after a few tries. I hope I get to portray my story well through these pictures.

 

Artist Reference – Research for Task 1 and 2

FOR TASK 1

NAN GOLDIN

“Untitled Variety #71, 1983

Nan Goldin is an American photographer known for her deeply personal and candid portraiture. Goldin’s images act as a visual autobiography documenting herself and those closest to her, and in most of her works, she focuses on the LGBT community.

I used her as a reference as I was inspired by the film photography she does and the way she could capture emotions well in her films. The colours in her photos and the lack of lighting. It sets the right mood and tone on all the topics she touches on – love, fluid sexuality, glamour, beauty, death, intoxication and pain. Goldin’s photographs feature her life and those in it. And this is what i love about it, the way she documents topics such as beauty, pain, love and such. She stated that “My work has been about making a record of my life that no one can revise. I photograph myself in times of trouble or change in order to find the ground to stand on in the change. I was coming out of a melancholic phase. ”

“Self Portrait writing in my diary”, Boston 1989

Looking into the picture above, I admire the way she could portray such a melancholic mood using her body posture which is very important here. The lighting is also a key point to the way her film photos turned out. She said she was “coming out of her melancholic phase”. It is well portrayed here in her body posture – she may be lying down but her upper body onwards rises, her head is tilted up, she’s looking out.  It’s darker on the other side of the picture but she’s inclining more towards the light by looking out towards it. Thus it could perhaps suggest the idea of “looking up” and “hope”. Hence coming out of her sad moments while  jotting it down in her diary.

That itself inspired me to take the pictures i take. I do not have a film camera to produce such shots but i do want to focus on the melancholic phase, the nostalgia that is present – I wanted to show that that itself is part of my story and I wanted people to see it visually. I figured that even the smallest object I have picked out, a butterfly necklace I have been wearing for the longest time now, that is significant to me, could also allow me to portray the way i feel about it and what it symbolises through the use of of  light in my pictures and also the importance of body posture and facial expression. All of that elevates the photo by giving it a meaning, a symbolism, it helps to give off the mood I intend on portraying.

Another artist (female too) that I would like to touch on is Sally Mann.

SALLY MANN

Sally Mann is an American photographer known for her intimate black-and-white portraits of her family and for her documentation of the landscape of the American South. Her images appear antique due to her interest in early photographic technology. She experiments on bromide printing process to achieve that ‘old’ effect in her photos.

I was pulled into her photography works because of her portraits of girls captured in ephereal moments between childhood innocence and womanly sophistication. I loved her works produced in one of her photography book called At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women (1988)”. (some of her works from it as seen below)

 

1. “Untitled, At Twelve Series (Lisa and her Tab)”

2. “Untitled, At Twelve Series (Juliet in the Chair)”

She has the ability to capture them beautifully, portraying something dark – sad but moving. Something purely female. I also like how her photos involve those young girls – it gives a sort of story behind young girls. An image of a child with a dark story. And I would want that image to stick as my inspiration for my photography works as the object I am relating it to has a story to tell behind my childhood. It would make a perfect reference.

“Candy Cigarrette, 1989”

I would also want to reference a huge inspiration of mine. Alessio Albi

Most of his works focuses on the looking-away gaze, expression & emotios and lighting too. I am just a huge fan of his works.

FOR TASK 2

WOLFGANG TILLMANS

“Louisiana, 1996”

I referenced to Wolfgang Tillmans as I was intrigued by Tillman’s diaristic photography, large-scale abstraction, and commissioned magazine work. “I want the pictures to be working in both directions,” the artist has said. “I accept that they speak about me, and yet at the same time, I want and expect them to function in terms of the viewer and their experience.”
That is exactly what i would want to portray in my photos. I want the viewer to interpret what they want to from the picture of “my world”, give their own thoughts but at the same time see it as the way i do, to step in my shoes and see how the place fascinates me.

“In the back”, 2010

In the photo above, I like how Tillman experimented in dark room and played with the shadows and warm light to capture this image – it’s dark and gloomy but at the same time the bright yellow light from outside tries to overpower the darkness inside hence it makes you feel warm and cozy.

I used this especially as a reference to play with the lights and shadows at the place i took my pictures at, as i chose to take it when sun sets and during night time. Thus this specific work of his plays an important part to how my pictures turn out.

I was also inspired by this photographer i found on instagram.

His works inspired me in terms of getting the vibrancy, colours that just makes me feel like joy, and all the lights and bokeh in dark surroundings, which i was planning to use in my photos.

Class Exercise Week 2

 

Picture 1 and 2: 3 point perspective of school’s outline building and then the sky having a blue mid point. (outdoor, had to bend down and look up to take it.

Picture 3: 2 point perspective of the school – rooftop and side of building.

Picture 4: 1 point perspective, having him stand in the middle of a vast empty space hence drawing attention to him only, the middle. (basement area)