Cinemagraphy – Stagnant

First version:

Final Version:  https (The file size is too big, Please click the link to view)://drive.google.com/file/d/1iVUCW-vfVr8jIpLvGfZNeJe8wHgsagog/view?usp=sharingv

When photo no longer is still, it becomes Cinemagraphy. There are a lot of mundane activities that can be used as materials of cinemagraphy. What will make a cinemagraphy visually appealing is the contrast between motion and stillness. If what is supposed to move but remains still will create the impact and sparkle, and vice versa.

The sink area is the place we will go every day. I just feel if water keeps running, but there is no ripple at all, although it is against our common sense it makes me feel interested and uncanny. In the new version, I enhanced the contrast, and I have color graded the clip. I want to present it in a clean and vintage look. To foil the stagnant foam in the sink, I applied the ripple effect to the rest in the frame. It also creates an illusion for the audience. In the original clip, the water running from the tap is not obvious, so I add some noise to it to make it more conspicuous.

Final Project – Preliminary Research

As our lecturer suggested, I would like to choose a photogrpher from Lesson 11 – Changes in fashion and professional photography. I read the aticle caerefully. And I want to choose photographer whose work can attract me. Because the photograph itself can tell a story. After searched a lot of photographers, finally ,Erwin  Blumenfeld’s photo caught my eyes. I am so fancinated by his work. He worked as a free-lancer for Harper’s Bazaar, Life and American Vogue. And his personal photographic work showed the influence of Dadaism and Surrealism; Some are simple enough but unforgeable. Some are fashion but surreal.Other than only imitate his visual style, I also want express my own thought about identiy under his manner.

Project 4 – The “Breathing” Self-Portrait

 

GIF

 

Video

Artist Statement/Concept

I always have to answer a question when I meet some one new. ‘ Where will you go in the future, China or Singapore?’

It is hard to answer.  Where should I settle down?

I have studied in Singapore for several years, I usually I go back to my hometown in the holiday once a year.  And when school starts I will go back to Singapore. It already become a circulation in my life, and it won’t be change in the next few years. That is why I want create a loop in  this project.

In this semester, I take the Black and White Film Photograph. I think I fall in love with the film. It is unlike the digital photo that every  photo composed by electronical indifferent pixels. Once you have take a photo, I will be able to capture that particular moment. It will prove the existence of that moment by that tiny film. That’s the reason I use a film frame as a container of my composition.

Since I came to Singapore, I never see snow again. I love snow. It is one thing I expect most in the winter.  I chose a photogragh of the famous lake in my hometown where I have been to with my whole family before.

In order to have a obvious comparison to the winter, I decide to use a typical summer photo to represent Singapore. I think the beach with tropical plants  will be the best choice.

The similarity of these composition is that both of them have boat.But  the meanings are on the contrary. I intend to give the first composition a traditional Chinese water ink painting look. The style will always create a spiritual harmony .  The  black-awning boat is just floating on the lake. It represent the serenity and comfortable zone that I ‘m longing for from my hometown.

Compared to the first composition, the second one is more dynamic.  The speedboat goes towards the  the  boundless sea which implies the ambition. This is a more competitive world.

 

Technical Decisions

Photoshop

Firstly, I need to edit my image in the Photoshop, to make the photos look like paintings.

Original

The original photo is very greyish. So I created several adjustment layers to enhance the color. Furthermore, in order to add in some highlights color into  to the photo, I selected the pillars of the pavilion by using color range and make them redder.

Color Adjustment

After adjusting the colors, I chose a Paint Daub effect in the filter gallery to change it to a painting. I also add a surface blur to it which helps to create a filmy mood.

For the black-awning boat, I did similar adjustment to it. And I applied  drop shadow layer effect to it so that the boat will be more realistic in the whole composition.

Before

 

 

After
After

In my second composition, I want the image to be presented in another painting style to differentiate with the first composition.

Original

To make the color more vivid,I Created respective adjustment layer for sky, sea and beach.

Adjustment layers

The next step is to change the photo into painting. To achieve this I have to create three more layers to it which is Pencil line, brush, smart blur. The pencil line layer will outline the photo. The smart blur layer will soften the photo and reduce the sharpness. The most critical Layer is Brush layer, which completely turn the photo to a water-color  painting. In the meantime, I also changed the blending mode for each layer accordingly.

Painting layers
After

After Effects

Composition DongHu

Snowing effets

I used cc particle world to create snowing effects. In the effects panel I adjusted the various parameters to make the snow look realistic.

The camera movement in this composition is just a simple zoom in. But I want the zoom in only happen to the image instead of the whole composition. So I have to do the camera movement in the other composition which is composition  ‘Donghu_hua’ in the above picture. Then I combine the  composition  ‘Donghu_hua’  , snowing and the film frame together in a new composition.

I also animated the black-awning boat showing it is floating on the lake.

Composition Siloso Beach

To create the hot tropical summer atmosphere, I add in a heat wave effect and flare effect in for this composition.

Displacement map layer
Displacement Effect

To animate the speed boat,I set two key frame to it to determine its start and end position. To make it look more realistic I add in a wave layer. I set the the speed boat as the parent of the wave so that the wave can follow the speedboat.  I I have masked the wave so the wave is showing gradually.

My final step is to combine two compositions together. In order to prevent the  uncontrollable camera movement, I decide to only change the camera once but create one more composition to loop the two composition.

Artist References

Makoto Shinkai  5 centimeter per second

I love 5 centimeter per second because of its style and story. It is quite special for me. The sakura falling and snowing scene have left a profound impression in my mind.  When the snowing falling down, it is serene and gentle but it is also heartbroken.

 

Loving Vincent 

loving Vincent is the world’s first fully painted feature film. The whole movie imitate Van Gogh’s oil painting  style. In the animation even the landscape is not still. We can see the water and trees are shimmer and swirling. That is what I want my second composition looks like. Though the  landscape of siloso beach is stilI, the sea and sky are fluid.

Triangle

I think more or less  my idea of ‘looping’ is come from this movie. The film is about a women Jess  who falls into a mysterious time loop. No matter how hard she has tried she can not escape from the loop.

2D Project 3 – EGO Final

My Final Outcome :

 

Equation 1

Sleepless me p+ reading novels(Harry potter) = in the book

Once I have experienced the sleepless night, I can forget the anxious feeling. But I find a solution for it — reading a novel. I like read novels. If I can not fall into sleep, I would like to read something. That helps me to reduce stress.

Square 1: Monochromatic colors.

It is a sleepless me, and counting sheep.

The dull monochromatic colors will create anxious atmosphere of sleepless.

Square 2:  Complementary color. Blue &  Yellow(Orange)

I use orange color for the book to represent the fantasy world  in the book. The color of myself is still blue because I’m suffering from insomnia.

Square 3:  Complementary color. Blue &  Yellow(Orange)

When I reading the book, I am absorbed in the book. In this case, I assume the book is Harry Potter series. I ‘m riding the broom flying over the Hogwarts. In this square, I in yellow color that mean I nor nervous any more. On the contrary, I become happy because of the novel.

Equation 2

Stressed me + badminton = energetic me

All the dates in the calendar are like timebombs, I will be stress out.  So  there is a clock in the first square. When I under pressure I would like to do some exercise. My favorite sport is badminton. I use it as a example here. After the exercise, I will become energetic again.

Square 1 : Complementary Color. Blue, Purple & Red

Purple and blue are belong to cool color which will create stressed feeling. Although red is warm color it usually is used for warning. It helps to enhance the pressure in the frame.

Square 2: Analogous color. Green.

Green is the color of nature,freshness. Doing some exercise can refresh and activate my tired brain.

Square 2: Analogous color. Red ,orange& Yellow

All these three colors represent energy, joy and power.

 

Equation 3

Me Playing game with friend + Gaming me = Ignore the whole world

When I play MOBA game with my friend, we will be very excited and enjoyable.Sometimes if I focus on the game, I will ignore all the message all notification from other app.

Square 1 & 2: Analogous color.Yellow, Orange

Yellow is always associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. So in this row I choose to use yellow as the background color. It will make the whole row in a consistent harmony.

Square 3: Complementary color . Yellow & blue

Because I want to differentiate the game and outside world. Blue is associated with calm and rational while yellow is related to passion. These two color will make the square have more impact.

 

Equation 4

Relaxed me + Calligraphy = Dance with lines

When I am in the vacation, I would like to practice Chinese calligraphy. The first square is decorated by a lot of bubbles. Personally, bubble can provide a sense of leisure. When I am writing the calligraphy, I  enjoy in the beauty of the strokes. Some times it can be strong,  sometime I also can be ethereal. It seems I can blend myself to the lines. I become a part of the character. That is why myself replace some stroke in the last square. And I dancing with the lines.

Square 1 -3 : Complementary colors. Green & Pink

Both green and pink are colors make people feel relaxed. So I use them consistently in this row.

Project 2 – Forest Gump – Final Outcome

 

My Tote Bag ~

I’m really enjoy  in the silkscreen process. I feel so excited when my design is printing out on the tote bag.

 

 Quote 1

You know you are truly alive when you’re living among lions.

                                                                                                     – Out of Africa

I like this movie very much. One reason I like it is that my one of my favorite writers likes it.

The main character,Karen, is a wealthy Danish women. When she is young , in order to have a noble title she married a man she doesn’t love. And she has to go to Africa with her husband. Things unfold when her husband begins cheating on her and is away on business often. She runs a farm but a fire destroyed it. She was bankrupt. She manage to divorce with her husband.

She eventually falls in love with Denys and goes on safari with him. on that journey, they encounter lions, but they kill the lion and survive from the predators. Unfortunately,  her lover dies in a crash in his private plan.

At the beginning, she does not like everything in the Africa. Gradually,she’s gained a much better understanding and respect for the African culture. Her farm and lover gone, her life in Africa is over. As a woman, she suffers a lot in Africa. The the difficulties in her life are just like the lions that makes her aware that she is alive.

The lion on her eyes mean Karen is facing them. The head of the women surrounded by  blooming  flowers which imply that Karen positivity and strength in her personality. Though she has gone through a lot of misfortune she  still remain herself

 

Quote 2

Eat, drink, man, woman. Basic human desires. Can’t avoid them.

                                                                                     -Eat, drink, man, woman

The film is directed by a Taiwanese Ang Lee. The story is about a father and his three daughters. By telling the story of this family, the film shows the conflict between the conventional ethtic and  instinctive desires. Because some of the desires of the character is being repressed for a long time. The movie also reveals the complicated relationship between two generations.

Orexis and erotism is human being’s instinct. Everyone has it. Instead forbidding in the conventional way, we should envisage them. But we can not abuse them either. So the human being must learn to balance them. That’s why I put the a “yin and Yang” as the background in the composition. The food , man women are in a balancing form.

Quote 3

Freedom, the fatuous jingle of our civilization. But only those of us deprived of it have an inkling of what it really is.

-Cloud Atlas

Liberty, when it is taken away, you will realize the value of it. I use chains to represent vicious power which is intentional to lock up the liberty.  The hand on the top is people who want to regain the freedom. It is the most concise and powerful design.

Quote 4

Because, believing in everything at once is the same thing as believing in nothing.

                                                                                                                                      -Life of PI

I design Pi as half tiger and half human. That means the wild side is always a part if human,no one can take away it,yet Pi can control and accept the it. As for the background ,I change is to a galaxy image. The reason is that there is a scene in the movie, (as shown below). It is at that moment,Pi understand the meaning of tiger. And he farewell to the past.

 

 

A Farewell Letter to My Friend

Project 1B: Paradox

 

When I read the requirements, the first distinctively local spot come to me is the Singapore Flyer.In my opinion, the ferris wheel is  fantasy and romantic. And I’m also inspired by Interstellar,which is a  science fiction film. The concept ‘wormhole’ is the inspiration that how I make use of the Singapore Fly.  The ferris wheel is a shortcut for  journeys across reality and personal space. I chose to use the galaxy as the a individual ‘s private space. Because galaxy gives me a infinite feeling. I can think freely in my personal space.

For me,the reality and my private space are conflict. That’s where the paradox is  in my work. Sometimes you just want to enjoy yourself alone but you have to face some social issues. But one can not live without social activities. People need to communication.and you may find another interesting soul.  So you must step out your comfortable zone (which is your private space) and enter into reality. Only if you  get used to the reality rules that you can achieve you life value.

Process taken are: take a continuous shoot when I was walking and collage all the elements together in Photoshop. When I play with these elements I have created several different version of work and I can give a different meaning to them . That is the very interesting part of the project and I enjoy that a lot.

 

Reading Assignment: Rhetoric of the Image By Roland Barthes

1. What are some of the key questions Barthes aims to investigate in the article?

Barthe aims to investigate How the  meaning get into images.Can an analogical representation produce true systems of signs or is it just a container of free floating information? And what message that an image can pass to viewer.

2.  What are some of the key terms/ concepts introduced and discussed?

The Photograph will offer us three messages: The linguistic message, coded iconic message, A non coded iconic message.

The  image is linguistic .The image will provide a series of discontinuous signs.

What defines the third message is precisely that the relation between signified and signifier.

All images are polysemous;they imply, underlying their signifiers, a “floating chain” of signified, viewers are able to choose some and ignore others.

the drawing does not reproduce everything. However, to be a strong
message,whereas the photograph, although it can choose its subject, its point of view and its angle, cannot intervene within the object. In other words, the denotation of the drawing is less pure than that of the photograph.

3. Do you agree or disagree with his argument and point of view?

I do agree with Roland Barthes. A image contains  a series of symbols which connote the message that the creator wants to pass to viewer. And the message of the image is not only one layer.  The image is linguistic because it transform  the text into a visual denotation.

4. Provide a brief analysis (200 words) on an advertisement of your choice by using the terms/ concepts proposed by Barthes and discuss the role of text and its relationship with the image in the advertisement. Please include an image the advertisement in your post.

This printed ad is aim to promote new bread “Sweet Potato Pot” of Breadtalk. This poster have both caption and photograph.

Apart from the caption there are three main Signs in the poster: The Bread ,  six guys with a hoe as well as the logo of Breadtalk . Two of them are digging the bread in the meanwhile the rest still trying to climb the bread.  This designer change the scale of the people and the bread to create a .extraordinary scene.The  dominant color of the poster is yellow: the filling of the bread and  it shines like gold. Additionally, six guys are also in yellow  shirt(yellow is a color implies appetite).  At the first sight of the image, it has passed  you a  very strong message:the bread is very delicious!

Actually when we look at the post we will look at the image first. So the first impression will be the sign. it is straightforward enough for us to conceive the message inside. That why I agree with the opinion of “the image is linguistic”. After that , we read the text on the post,”I a gold digger”. It supports the message we have gained from the image and is in a complementary relationship with the image. The caption assist viewers to understand the linguistic meaning  in the image.