NEXT PROJECT, the following is the brief given by Miss Angeline! 🙂

BRIEF 2A: VERNACULAR TYPE

Brief 2a VERNACULAR TYPE: Exploring the spirit of street type
Summary Type found in your everyday surrounding reveals layers of stories about it’s existence. The combination of traditional type vs contemporary type, serif vs san serif, upper caps vs lower caps, type seen during the day and during the night all give hint to the culture and lifestyle of a particular area / street / town and even the city as a whole.
Assignment objectives: This assignment intends to take you away from your computer screen to explore the everyday typefaces around us and it’s application. The coloured version will deliver a flavour of the area that you are working on, while the black and white version will strip all colours away and allow one to appreciate the letterform in it’s barest state.
Task: Head down to a favourite area / neighbourhood or street and create a typographic composition to reflect the spirit of the area.

  1. Think of a phrase, quote, memory or lyric that you associate the area with, ideally between 15 -25 characters long including spaces
  1. Write this down on a piece of paper. Take a pen or pencil with you so that you can cross out the letters as you find them
  1. Find the individual letters that make up your phrase using a high quality camera with zoom lens so that you can isolate each individual letter
  1. Try a daytime and night-time version for the composition
  1. Combine your photos digitally on an A3 sheet to spell out the phrase – printed on quality paper
Places you
can go to
Chinatown / Little India / Bugis / Joo chiat / Katong / Neighbourhood wet markets etc..  please discuss with instructor
Tips
  • You will need a good camera for zooming into the letters
  • Do a day as well as night version
  • Be prepared to return to the area for a second time as you
    may not capture all the letters that you need the first round
What you
must deliver:
  • An A3 printed poster of 15-25 character collage
  • An 18cm by 18cm printed poster of 1 single letter in black and white after
    digital manipulation
  • A process documentation on OSS
Grading criteria
  • Due diligence of vernacular type exploration
  • Sensitivity in spotting creative type forms
  • Aesthetics of poster layout
  • Sensitivity of paper choices
Due date: Week 7  (together with organic type)

Doing some mind mapping:
Because I couldn’t decide which location works best for me and which location would provide me more interesting typefaces and background, I decided to try two locations:

Ang Mo Kio Central Hawker Centre & Johor Bahru, Jalan Wong Ah Fook.


OUT FIELD

Ang Mo Kio Central Hawker CentreThings I have noticed when choosing to take photographs of Hawker Centre signboards:

  • There are glowing outlines for most of the signboard type, most likely is to attract attention.
  • The graphical forms have the purpose to inform and persuade customers to purchase. Thus the typeface used are friendlier to look at, like casual script typefaces that gives an informal vibe.
  • The most important factor is the legibility of the typeface.
  • The background of the signboard is usually much darker in color, so that the juxtaposition between the text and the background makes the text pop.

Johor Bahru, Jalan Wong Ah Fook
Things I have noticed when choosing to take photographs of signboards at Jalan Wong Ah Fook:

  • There is a mixture of traditional and modern signboards, and the difference is rather large. It feels as though it is not a transition phase, but more of two different time periods co-existing in one area. Like I am between two worlds.
  • Both typefaces in that area are rather whimsical and doesn’t seem to have any rules or restrictions. It is as though a lot of free expression was allowed when the sign typeface was created.
  • Background the typefaces were on were very raw. Especially the more traditional ones as the paints were peeling off or the material the type was on became rather old.
  • The placement of shops were very loosely organized as compared to Singapore, where food and shopping are clearly segregated; The shops here are not. On the left there would be a café, and right beside it would be a tyre shop. I love this ‘no -arrangement’ arrangement of the shops here as the spirit of being free and ‘not a care in the world’ can be seen through this street.

In the end, I have finally decided to do this Vernacular type project based on JB’s Jalan Wong Ah Fook because there is a wide variety of interesting type on various backgrounds! 🙂


Experimentation

I have decided to choose the words ‘Between Two Worlds’ as mentioned above, I find that JB’s Jalan Wong Ah Fook is like an area where two different time period co-exist together and not a transition phase where old becomes new. It is like I am between two worlds!
I arranged the letters in a way that the word ‘two’ was not in the composition. I spelt the word ‘Worlds’ twice so there is 2 of ‘Worlds’.

In addition, I placed the word ‘Between’ in the middle of the two ‘Worlds’ which emphasizes that it is in between the two worlds. ‘Between’ acts as a barrier. ( I had a hard time explaining this haha)
After consultations, I jot down some of the feedback given by my peers and Miss Angeline.

Afterwards I made more amendments and experimented with more ways of arrangements.

Yin Yang inspiration is just a try out when I asked a friend what she thought of ‘two different world’.


That is it for my process post on Vernacular type! Stay tuned to my next 2 posts: Organic Type and Final Post for Assignment 2 😀

Methodology
My approach to Project 2 was to breakdown the quotes into keywords, and then branch out from the keywords to get inspirations as to what my possible choice of subjects can be used to represent my quotes without being too literal! 🙂
The final words I have decided to use to represent the key words are usually what I belive in or what I prefer to. For instance, I love “babies”. HENCE, “babies” would mean “Happiness” to me.
You can see the thought process in the following attached image of my 2D Sketchbook! ^-^
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My objective in this assignment
In the following works, my unanimous goal is to make the quotes as non literal as I can by inserting dark humor, playing around with scale and involve the use of Dadaism to make the final pieces as surreal as I can. At the same time reinterpreting the quotes in my own perspective and exploring my choice of subjects.

Quote 1) “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

Keywords: 
Happiness -> babies , things that make babies happy
Darkest of times -> evil Hitler baby , poison
Turn on the light -> Sun
ay201617_fdn2d_g05_sengyiling_project2_4
Principles of elements and design: Lines, Repetition and Symmetrical Balance.
LINES from the sun rays in the background creates a radiating effect from the center of the image, to create a form of radial symmetry.
REPETITION of the items (bottles, spoons, cows etc.) in a spread out manner, using the rays of sun as guideline creates a sense of SYMMETRICAL BALANCE as the Baby Hitler acts as the central axis of this symmetry.
My Interpretation: Baby Hitler’s death could have been easily staged earlier to prevent a chaos, by poisoning (hence the poison sign on the spoons) the things baby Hitler would have loved. Such as adding alcohol to his milk, feeding poison to him in his baby food. Hence, Hitler’s death is a form of happiness to his victims.

Quote 2) “If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”

Keywords 

Can’t be together-> distance and separation

Heart -> warmth in cold , maternal love, child

Stay there forever-> longing
 ay201617_fdn2d_g05_sengyiling_project2_3
Principles of elements and design: Scale, Repetition and Lines.
REPETITION of Jewish boy’s head in varying SCALE. There is slight use of implied lines created by the direction at which Hitler’s salute is directing our eyes to : Boy’s head.
My interpretation: This quote can be used in the situation where the Jewish mother is going to be executed while her son is being sent off to the concentration camps during the Holocaust. The use of the Jewish boy’s head in the background is to represent that, although he is held captive in the camp, his mind and spirit is elsewhere and not brainwashed by Hitler’s idealogy .

Quote 3) “Hold Ma Poodle!”
Keywords: 
Hold->grabbing
Poodle-> fluffy ->Sheeps
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Since this quote had lesser keywords, I got feelings emulated in this quote instead, which is Agression.
Principles of elements and design: Scale, Repetition and Balance.
REPETITION of sheep with Mein Kampf books on their faces. SCALE of hand and Hitler’s face is much larger than the sheep. ASSYMETRICAL BALANCE is attempted as I tried to balance the visual weight of Hitler’s head on the right with the hand and Jewish Sheep on the left.
My interpretation: Mein Kampf is an autobiography by the National Socialist leader Adolf Hitler, in which he outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany. And I pasted the book all over the sheeps’ face as I wanted to imply that the innocent sheep in the meadow were being brainwashed by Hitler’s ideologies. The sheep in the foreground is the only one without the Mein Kampf book as a face, instead it has a Kippah (Jewish cap), a representation that the innocent sheep is a Jew.
The hand is about to grab the Jewish sheep to be fed into Hitler’s mouth, a metaphor for the sheep that is about to be killed by Hitler, or brainwashed to be like the rest of the sheep. The aggression of the quote is carried out into action in this image.

Quote 4) “Come with me where dreams are born, and time is never planned.”

Keywords: 
Dreams->Clouds, Hitler
Born -> Giving Birth -> Beginning of time -> Dinosaur
Time-> Clock
Never planned ->Unexpectedness -> Impromptu birth?
 ay201617_fdn2d_g05_sengyiling_project2_1
Principles of elements and design: Scale, Repetition and Balance.
SCALE of Doctors against the Dinosaur. ASSYMETRICAL BALANCE is attempted as I tried to balance the visual weight of Dinosaur on the right with the doctors and clock on the left.
My interpretation: The dinosaur ( beginning of time = to imply birth of Hitler was a long time ago)  gave birth to baby Hitler, not knowing that it also gave birth to “Time” unexpectedly. “Time” is the antagonist from the mini web series: Don’t hug me I’m scared, on YouTube. Hence, implying that the birth of Hitler long time ago was the unexpected birth of an antagonist.

After looking at my concepts and final images, I decide to rearrange the sequence of my quotes. After looking through my final pieces, I felt that the images kind of convey a sequential story of the Hitler I portrayed.
Sequence is as followed.

Sequence is as followed.

Birth of Hitler > Rise of Nazism and mass murder/ conversion of Jews> Jews kept in concentration camps > How Hitler’s act of terror could have been prevented by an early death.

My Inspirations
  • I followed an Instagram account which posted a variety of creations by surrealistic artists, which gave me ideas on the choice of subjects and how I might want to compile the images together.
Instagram account where I drew my surrealism inspiration and ideas from.

Instagram account where I drew my surrealism inspiration and ideas from.

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  • I also used photo collage most of the time, inspired by Hannah Hoch’s photo collaging and John Hartfield’s form of photo montage. (link to my research on both artists :  https://oss.adm.ntu.edu.sg/yseng001/2d-project-2-for…rch-17-sept-2016/ )
  • I was truly enamored by Eugenia Loli ‘s compositions as she is very creative and imaginative in how she placed her subject matters and objects. Her compositions spurred me to be more imaginative and look at everyday objects differently.

Raw Deal Stargate Installation


Inner struggles through Project 2:

  • I had a hard time finding images I sought for which are in high quality 300dpi. The use of Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator was a huge headache for me when I first started as I had to learn from trial and error on how to configure the programs. The frequency of bitmap and tonal contrast was difficult to grasp as well as I was not sure how my design will look like upon silk screening. Sadly, in the end the design on my tote bag was not very well produced as I expected it to.:(
  • I really disliked how much water was wasted in the process of silk screen washing 🙁

Presentation Day Comments!

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Ms. Joy’s comment/feedback:

I cant remember 100% of what Ms. Joy said, but the gist of the good things she said about my Project 2 was that she liked how I used the elements and principles of design in my work to direct the viewer’s attention to areas I wanted to focus on, and the use of dark humor with the reoccurring motif of Hitler in my various warm and fuzzy quotes were well played.

Whereas things to improve on is that the 2nd composition was a rather confusing as the visual weight of the hand and Hitler’s head are very similar, hence it was rather confusing if the hand was grabbing Hitler or the Jewish sheep as, Hitler’s facial expression looked scared. Joy also suggested that maybe averting the gaze of Hitler could assist in my composition to make Hitler look less afraid of the hand. 🙂

Regarding my silkscreened tote bag, we both agreed that the silkscreen pay off was not that good and that perhaps in the future I can have more opportunity to silkscreen again, and perhaps exposing my screen for a longer time will result in a better print! 😀

Thank you Ms. Joy and my lovely classmates for your feedback and comments!!embarassed To be honest, my favorite part for presentation day is getting the post-it notes from my classmates, and obtaining feedback. For some unknown reason it makes me feel very excited! ^0^


Nonetheless, I had a really great experience with this project as I managed to use the principals of elements and design to create the design I wanted and then having to print them onto a tote bag! Having my design to be printed onto a product gave me a sense of achievement and a more tangible feeling of being a real designer. embarassed

Cheers!

Seng Yi Ling

SILK SCREENING

It was my very first time at silk-screening on the previous week and I had trouble conceptualizing the process because I simply couldn’t fathom how our printed designs on TRANSPARENT PLASTIC (Correct term: Transparency Paper) could be translated onto printed designs on tote bag while using this sieve looking tool (Correct term: Silk Screening frame).

I had to see and have hands-on experience to believe this amazing invention created by mankind!

Firstly we were told to wash our silk screen frames and use a hair dryer to blow dry them, to ensure they were clean!

Then we went into this enclosed red room ( Red light was present) where NO LIGHT was allowed to be present as there might be some chemical reaction with the medium we were going to use. We then coated the netting of our frames on the back and front using the blue paint-like medium and then placing our coated frames in this GIAGANTIC oven (It had really smooth rolling trays…) to dry the medium !

After which we were taught by Xiuming (Work-study senior) to place our transparency and frame into this GIGANTIC MACHINE which looked like a photocopy machine on the outside, but had like reflective metal on the inside which made it look like a tanning machine. After which we locked our designs in the machine, it made a whirring sound and the cloth above our designs was like sucked in!!! I was super amused at this point because I had never seen anything like this before!

The Photocopy looking machine which printed our designs onto the silk screen frame surface :)

The Photocopy looking machine which printed our designs onto the silk screen frame surface 🙂

After which the machine did it’s job, we took our designs to the back of the room to wash the residue off using this jet spray (It was fun… pretending that the jet spray was a rifle cool)! But in all honesty, I was rather upset at the amount of water wasted in this process of washing… considering that all of the students in ADM Year 1 had to do this, it is bad for the environment by wasting so much water. :'(

This jet spray allows the residue to be forced out of the net!

This jet spray allows the residue to be forced out of the net!

After cleaning up our designs on the frames, we used the hairdryer to dry the frame and apply a layer of thick ink over the top of our frame and pushed the ink across the designs using a wiper tool to ‘print’ our designs onto our tote bag!

Drying the design

Drying the design

I wasn’t very please with the eventual outcome on the tote bag as some areas were too dark and splotchy instead of greyish, and details were missed out… As you can see it is pretty in-identical to my digital design.

After test runs on paper, the final design has been printed on my totebag!

After test runs on paper, the final design has been printed on my tote bag!

Original digital design after bitmap<<<Original digital design after bitmap

What I regretted the most after the final printing onto my tote bag was not being able to have a good gauge of what my final print will look like based on the tonal contrast, quality of the digital image and frequency of the dots in bitmap, BEFORE printing on the transparency paper … I hope that in the future I can have more opportunity to try out silk screening again. It was really fun! But at the same time, the process of silk screening was not easy at all; and I really do commend those who could do it so well! laughing

If my personal experience with silk screening is not detailed enough, do check out this video on how silk screening is conducted!!

Cheers!

Seng Yi Ling cool

Before I dive into the project, some research and reference artists required to get my creative factory to start its engine~ But as of now, I am pretty uncertain about this project because it is rather abstract and lots of limitless imagination is required which I am rather worried about. ( Sounds familiar to my Project 1 woes…) And because I am a technology caveman, I predict that I going to have a hard time using the Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. :'( Wish me luck~!

Surrealism

Surrealism is a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind by using irrational juxtaposition of images.

surreal-painting-vladimir-kush%2017 6354760-r3l8t8d-800-18

To my understanding, surrealism is to create meaningful images that are illogically possible in reality.

DADAISM

Dada was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century. The beginnings of Dada correspond to the outbreak of WWI. And the movement was a protest against the bourgeois nationalist and colonist interests, which many Dadaists believed were the root cause of the war.

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Many Dadaists believed that the ‘reason’ and ‘logic’ of bourgeois capitalist society had led people into war. Hence they expressed their rejection of that ideology in artistic expression by embracing chaos and irrationality. Dada was not art: it was “anti-art”. Dada represented the opposite of everything which traditional art stood for.

duchamp

Based on my own understanding, Dadaism is ‘Anti-art’. It’s purpose is to reject any logical and reasonable thinking, going against whatever traditional art stood for. It seemed like a mass rebellion against traditional art. Fighting Art with Anti-art.

Russian Constructivism

Russian Constructivists had the intention to reinvent art and reconstruct art from level 0. Constructivism was primarily an art and architectural movement. It rejected the idea of art for arts’ sake and the traditional bourgeois class of society to which previous art had been catered. Practicality with beauty was the main thrust behind the constructivists.

manwithmoviecam

Instead it favored art as a practice directed towards social change or that would serve a social purpose and be practical in its nature. Developing after World War I, the movement sought to push people to rebuild society in a Utopian model rather than the one that had led to the war. Art, music, architecture etc. were influenced by constructivism. 

gustavklutsis-workers-everyone-must-vote-in-the-election-of-soviets-1930

Based on my observation, I realize that Russian Constructivism has minimal colors in its artworks. Variety is added by using basic element of design such as contrast of color and lines.

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Chinese Political Pop art by Wang Guang Yi’s Great Criticism Series instantly came to my mind when I searched for ‘Russian Constructivism’.

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Artwork by Wang Guang Yi

As you can see, there are some forms of similarity such as red is the dominant color, and use of lines draws the viewer’s attention to an area of focus.

Hannah Hoch

At first glance into her works, . I assumed she was a modern artist initially as Hoch’s work seemed timeless and is applicable to the present times.

hannah-hoch

Hannah Hoch was an important member of the Berlin Dada movement and a pioneer in collage and was one of the originators of Photomontage. She also consciously promoted the idea of women working creatively more generally in society. She explicitly addressed in her pioneering artwork in the form of photomontage the issue of gender and the figure of woman in modern society

tall

Surrealism and Dadaism seems to be heavily involved in her works. The effect of her work is initially one of visual confusion, and yet a kind of nonsense-narrative begins to develop. To me, she is like Picasso who used magazine cutouts to create collages instead of paint!

John Heartfield

John Heartfield was a pioneer of modern photomontage. Working in Germany and Czechoslovakia between the two world wars, he developed a unique method of appropriating and reusing photographs to powerful political effect. The process of cutting and pasting together elements to form a brilliant cohesive image became the foundation of Heartfield art.

yet-it-moves

To compose his works, he chose recognizable press photographs of politicians or events from the mainstream illustrated press. He then disassembled and rearranged these images to radically alter their meaning.

15johnheartfieldkriegundleichenHeartfield’s strongest work used variations of scale and stark juxtapositions to activate his already gruesome photo-fragments. The result could have a frightening visual impact.

john_heartfield

I felt that Heartfield’s work are rather heartfelt as his ‘Anti-Nazi’ and ‘Anti-politics’ works held significant meaning behind the photomontage of satirical humor.

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From this round of research, I am inspired by a few concepts and methodology of artists, which I may use for this project:

  1. Basic Principles and Elements of Design can help direct the viewer’s attention to an area I want to focus on, AND to emphasize on a certain intention.
  2. Stray away from conventional traditional art mindsets, focus on the idea you want to bring out instead of the aesthetics. UNLEASH YOUR IRRATIONAL UNCONSCIOUS MIND~ RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!
  3. Create nonsense-narrative
  4. Use recognizable images
  5.  Vary scale of object and create stark juxtapositions

Cheers~

Seng Yi Ling.

For today’s lesson, we learnt about framing the moving image!

girl-with-dragon-larger-negative-size

Q: So why is a moving camera important?

Our class discussed and gave several answers!

  • A moving camera allows the viewers to see the actor’s facial expression & movement, it tells us where to look.
  • It gives a sense of flow, space and continuity.
  • It helps audiences to absorb information: Natural state of movement instead of stiff and flat framed images.
  • Gives different perspective to/ of a subject: Gives dimension and it is less boring.
  • The camera has character! Slow panning shows cinematic environment, up and down angle gives dramatic effect.

3 Things that move: Object, Camera and Audience POV.

  • Camera movement is very important, it makes things more exciting
  • Panning.

Panning Shots

Why do Cameras pan?

  1. It gives the geographical location of the character.
  2. Introduces landscape of that place.
  3. Expresses meaning non literally/literally.

Slow pan: Gives off a serene feeling

Fast pan: Dynamic shot

Whip pan: Dramatic feeling

Tilting shot

  • Exists in shots simulating the male gaze (where they scan a hot girl up and down)
  • Gives a sense of authority. Like in the movie, Grand Budapest, where the doorman and the manager were conversing from a higher ground and level ground, to show the status of the characters.
  • Gives opinion and critique of the situation.

Tracking Shot

Allows the viewer to see in the perspective of the character from behind, or follows the by moving alongside the character.

So when do you use panning or tracking shot to follow a character?

Panning is more 2D and flat, whereas tracking shots are more dynamic by following the character.

Handheld Shots

Handheld Shots are often used in Horror and Thriller genre movies.

Handheld camera shot is a video production technique in which a camera is held in the camera operator’s hands . The shots are shaky, as though we are running to escape together with the character in his POV.

Example of movies with handheld shots are The Blair Witch Project ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girSv9UH_V8)and ‘The Celebration’ . ‘The Celebration’ goes against traditional Hollywood movie shooting process and the shots are all handheld shots and are in natural state. It gives a documentary-like feeling and seem less fictional.

Dolly in and out shots: Zooming in and out of the shot.

Crane Shot: Using a Jimmy Jib camera to shoot the process, the shots are airy and floating, like giving a bird’s eye view in the sky.

Here is a video of the type of shots to get a better idea of the shots used in movies! :

A video that I think consist of a variety of shots is a music video, Growl by EXO! (fan girl shrieks)

The Music video is entirely conducted using Tracking shots, so there must be no room for error; otherwise the whole video has to be retaken. I believe the camera for this music video is taken using a handheld camera as the shots taken are very dynamic and moves all about the place. However, the shots are very stable instead of shaky and unstable like hand held cameras, so I believe a stabilizer was attached to the cameraman to allow smooth shots when he was shooting the video.

It also consist of Panning shots ( at 2:48 minute mark), Dolly in and out shots (at 2:37 & 3:23 minute mark)

 

Assignment 3 was pretty fun to do as I tried to apply what we’ve learnt during lessons with Ms Ruyi, and having to work with subject matter which didn’t have facial expressions was quite a fun challenge to me!
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I carrot about you

Title: I carrot about you

Genre: Romance + Tragedy

Logline: A modern day vegetable love story.

Synopsis using 3 Act structure:

(Exposition/Introduction) Cassandra the Carrot has lived a long and lonely life in the fridge. The other ingredients in the fridge has already gotten their partners: a dozen of eggs, a pair of apples and a pair of pears .

(Rising Action) One day, The Hand reached out and placed Cassandra on the kitchen counter. In awe because Carrot has yet to seen the warm outside world for a long time, she was happy. Then suddenly, The Hand placed a grocery bag beside her where she met Carl the Cabbage.

(Stakes getting higher) Carl and Cassandra fell in love at first sight. They were different from their own species and were very intrigued with each other. The other vegetables despised and talked behind their backs about their uncommon and odd relationship. But they didn’t care. They were in love.

(Crisis) One evening, Carrot was taken away from Cabbage’s embrace by The Hand as she was no longer fresh enough to keep. And Cabbage was placed in the cold dark fridge by The Hand. Out of misery and desperation, Cabbage rammed himself against the fridge door repeatedly to save the love of his life, in the process, damaging himself.

(Falling Action) Upon seeing the damaged cabbage when The Hand took the fishcakes out of the fridge, The Hand decided to cook the Carl . The Hand took Carl to the chopping board and he saw the remains of his lover: Cassandra’s peeled skin and carrot top. Carl’s heart was torn apart, like how he was being torn by The Hand.

(Resolution) Little did they know that they were cooked and served in different dishes, the bodies of Carl and Cassandra were reunited again on the dinner table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Expressions

My video does not include narration nor visible facial expressions. HENCE, I attempted to include expressions for my subject matters by the use of angle, proximity of the subject matters and the expression marks usually used in manga and comic books.
I used the 3 pink lines on each 'cheek' of my subject matters to indicate blushing.

I used the 3 pink lines on each ‘cheek’ of my subject matters to indicate blushing.

Mood and Atmosphere of situation
Camera Angles: Canted angles are often used  to indicate dramatization and shock during the Crisis stage where Carl and Cassandra were separated at the sink, as well as when Carl was damaged after he got damaged in the process to save Cassandra.
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The two lovers were separated by The Hand by the sink

Timing of each image: Heavily inspired by La Jetee’s use of timing for each image to give the mood and situation of each scene, I set the timing for the images to be short (2 seconds) to indicate speed of each scene. For instance the scene where Carl was being taken away by The Hand from Cassandra, and the scene where he was brutally ripped apart by The Hand.
The process where Carl was taken away by The Hand was quick. Hence the image timing was quick too.

The process where Carl was taken away by The Hand was quick. Hence the image timing was quick too.

And I extended the timing for the images (~7 seconds) for the scenes where time seem to stop, to sink in the moment. Such as the scene where Cassandra and Carl were in love and admiring each other.
Time seems to pause momentarily for them as they fell in love

Time seems to pause momentarily for them as they fell in love

Reoccurring Motif: Inspired by the film American Beauty where the color Red was a reoccurring motif, I decided to use the red mug with the Chinese character ‘囍’ as the reoccurring motif. ‘囍’ means double happiness where it is usually used in traditional Chinese weddings. It acts a semiotic in my images to describe the mood of double happiness when Carl and Cassandra meet.

Time seems to pause momentarily for them as they fell in love

Time seems to pause momentarily for them as they fell in love, represented by the red mug.

The mug was seen again in the scene where Carl was kept in the fridge, but this time, the Chinese character  囍 was halved as he is now alone and not with his other half: Cassandra.

 囍 is halved in this scene where Carl is viewed upclose

囍 is halved in this scene where Carl is viewed up-close.

Lighting: I edited the refrigerator photos to a blue-ish lighting to emit a sterile and lack of warmth environment, and increased the saturation level of the subjects that experience warmth/love in the fridge such as the coupled fruits and eggs. This is to emphasize that amidst the cold and lack of warmth environment, the coupled subjects obtained their warmth from their partner’s love. Whereas Cassandra the carrot does not have the warmth lighting like the rest as she is alone and at that moment unloved.
Blue-ish tone of fridge

Blue-ish tone of fridge

Pears in love has warmer tones as compared to the blue-ish background

Pears in love has a warmer tone as compared to the blue-ish background

Background music (BGM): 
BGM chosen are non lyrical and usually includes instruments and white noises. I didn’t want lyrical BGM to distract the viewers as the words may create a different meaning. I wanted to choose a BGM that conveys the mood of the situation, and that was the main point for me.

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Use of Wally Wood’s 22 Panels to create Variety
Depth
Depth in Wally Wood's 22 Panels

Depth in Wally Wood’s 22 Panels

One big and one small object in Wally Wood's 22 Panels

One big and one small object in Wally Wood’s 22 Panels

Cassandra is often in the distance and blurry whereas the coupled subject matters are up close on the right or left, to create depth. My intention was  to create an implied line, to emit this feeling where Cassandra is looking from afar in slight envy of the loving fruits.

Depth is created here as eggs are closer to the camera while the other veggies and fruits are further behind

Depth is created here as eggs are closer to the camera while the other veggies and fruits are further behind

Contrast

Contrast in Wally Wood's 22 Panels

 

Use of dark foreground in Wally Wood’s 22 Panels

Contrast in color and tone is often used in the images in my video so as to allow the viewers to focus on a certain area only. This contrasts creates variety in the images and prevents them from looking flat and non- emotive.
Bright central subject matters against a dark background

Bright central subject matters against a dark background

Subject matters in the foreground are much darker as compared to central subject matters.

Subject matters in the foreground are much darker as compared to central subject matters.

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Conclusion of Assignment 2
It was quite a challenge for me to portray the feelings of my subjects as they were non- living and expressionless. I have learnt that the use of timing of each image, lighting, angle and music to give emotions to my subject matters and every tweak or post photography edits changes the mood and atmosphere the original image could convey! Ru Yi suggested that I should have removed the blushing effect  and startled effect over the subject matters as the music and color contrast was already pretty much self explanatory :0 . Nonetheless, it was a real fun for me in this project as I was able to be my own director and portray my expressionless subject matters the way I want to create a narrative story!
Cheers!
Seng Yi Ling

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

This was our 6 word story class assignment for today and we (Group members: Queenie, Yit Ling, Zoelyn, Hui Min and Myself) were given some time to portray this short story into photographs using what we have learnt in class today!

I have learnt that framing is very important as it determines how the audience is able to get the full experience of the emotions and message the director wants to convey.

Lead room/ lead space

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Character looks to the right and has a lot of space to his right. This allows the audience to assume that the character is going towards that direction.

Rule of Thirds ( applies to close up, mid-shots, full body shots)

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Golden Ratio of the rule of thirds puts character the director wants to focus at the intersecting line. Allowing the audience’s eyes to be drawn to the character, creating a hamonious balance.

Framing

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In the movie, ‘ In the mood of love’, the door frame/ widow frame is often used as a frame for the main character. This is because our eyes to be naturally drawn towards open frames,The inclusion of a light source such as back light or lamp brings about attention due to the contrast of lighting between the dark hall way and the main character’s position.

Another movie , ‘Ida’ the main character is always framed at the corners of the screen, going against the rules of third even though she is the main character.

Ida (3)

This is highly intriguing to me because without knowing the actual reason why the director chose to shoot the scene in a specific manner, I would have assumed he is bad at filming.  But the reason for her being at awkward areas of the frame is because of her story. She is framed out of place. Just like her situation where she feels out of place as she is a Jewish nun. The breaking of conventional framing rules are exceptionally meaningful in this case where the way the character is filmed links to his/her story.

Lines

Horizontal lines gives a sense of peace and serenity.

Vertical lines gives a sense of stability and power

Diagonal lines gives a sense of dynamism, instability and is often used in futuristic films

Types of shots

Full body shot should have head space and legs of the character should not be cut at ankles, otherwise he will look awkward.

Mid body shot should be cut at the waist of the character.

Close up should be cut at the shoulder. It is recommended if director wants to focus on the main character’s facial expression, close scrutiny of details. Close-up shots of main character should not be cut off at the eyebrows or chin area, otherwise expressions are more difficult to be read and character will look awkward as well.

Macro Close up shot signifies importance of the object

Canted angle is when the shot is tilted at a 45 degrees angle.

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Like in Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire film’, scenes shot at 45 degree angle seem more chaotic, dramatized and intense.

Out of focus shots gives a sense of losing consciousness.

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Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

“Longed for him.” Rules of Third are applied here . Down up angle, close up shot to create a feeling of admiration and focus on facial expression.

Close up shot of subject matters to emphasise on expressions. Line of perspective created by railings at the back allows viewers to draw their attention to both. Rules of Third are applied here too.

Close up shot of subject matters to emphasize on expressions.
Line of perspective created by railings at the back allows viewers to draw their attention to both.
Rules of Third are applied here too.

Stairway acts as a line of perspective and railing acts as a frame for 3 subject matters. Full back body shots are used.

Stairway acts as a line of perspective and railing acts as a frame for 3 subject matters.
Full back body shots are used.

 

Subject matter on the left is cut off half way to create a feeling of mystery. Rules of third are attempted to be applied here whereby the two subject matters on the left are the main focus

Subject matter on the left is cut off half way to create a feeling of mystery.
Rules of third are attempted to be applied here whereby the two subject matters on the left are the main focus.

Got him. Subject figure on the right is in the center to create focus, and subject figure on the left is still cut in half out of frame to create the feeling of mystery.

“Got him.”
Subject figure on the right is in the center to create focus on her facial expression, and subject figure on the left is still cut in half out of frame and out of focus to create the feeling of mystery.

Shit. Rules of third are applied here a well. Subject figure on the left is out of focus. Railing in the back creates an implied line to draw viewer's attention in the direction of the second subject figure on the right. Subject figure's expression are in focus to draw attention to facial expression.

“Shit.”
Rules of third are applied here a well.
Subject figure on the left is out of focus.
Railing in the back creates an implied line to draw viewer’s attention in the direction of the second subject figure on the right.
Subject figure’s expression are in focus to draw attention to facial expression.

Found this class assignment to be very entertaining and helpful in making me understand the types of framing, composition and shots that can better help convey the story the directors want to portray. I believe that now after this lesson, I would pay more attention to the types of framing an angles in films , and question myself more often as to why the director chose to shoot the scenes this way! 😀

Cheers,

Yi Ling.

 

Object of Significance: Yu Yee Oil.

Significance:

Yu Yee Oil has been with us for as long as many of us can remember. I believe that every Singaporean is able to recognise this brand just base on the packaging design and colour. It is a go-to medicated oil for children who has stomach-ache and an essential item for parents to apply this on the belly and bottom of the feet for their kids every time after their bath.

Yu Yee Oil is a significant object that greatly reminds me of my childhood. It has been with me since I was a baby.

Even today, I still use it. Not only because for its function to cure stomach-aches, but because the smell itself is very comforting. I even bring it with me to places I am unfamiliar with. A familiar scent that has been with me since childhood. A scent that is highly distinguishable. A whiff of it instantly calms me down. It makes me feel grounded. The moment the minty scent hits the back of my throat; a surge of warmth spreads within me and I feel all soft, mushy and warm; like a baby wrapped in a bundle. And I like feeling like that. A baby wrapped in a bundle, safe and sound with not a thing to worry about. And I think this is a way I can take myself away from reality, even if it is only just for a while.

References and Objectives:

I used maternity, family and baby photoshoots as visual references.

I wanted to capture the essence of family love, tranquility and purity. So I studied how the position of subject matters in the photos can help achieve the mood I wanted to convey.

photo ref

Baby photo shoot ideas pictures with baby girl with her cute headband looking up to the camera

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hence, with that, I wanted to capture these bolded words above in my photographs.

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My Story:

Close up of the object in a neutral background from various vantage points

Front view of object against white back drop.

Front view of object against white back drop.

Top View of object on soft towel

Top View of object on soft towel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side view of object lying down on soft towel.

Side view of object lying down on soft towel.

 

 

 

 

 

Full Figure shot of myself with the object.

Normal Standing pose with the object.

Normal Standing pose with the object.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Figure shot of myself interacting with the object. Aim to capture my feeling about the object.

Cradling my object like a baby bump.

Cradling my object like a baby bump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-range shot of me interacting with the object. Aim to capture my feeling about the object.

Playing with my object as though it is like a newborn.

Playing with my object as though it is like a newborn.

My Story Photo 3 My Story Photo 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close- up shots of me interacting with the object

My Story Photo 1Close up shot 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final top 3 photographs that I felt conveyed the mood of my story:

I deliberately wore white to create a juxtaposition between the bright and vibrant colours of my object. So that more attention can be drawn to my object and my expressions which I wanted to use as the main elements to set the mood of my story.

My Story Photo 2

My object keeps me safe when I am scared.

I chose a specific timing in the afternoon to capture this image as the lighting from my window casts a shadow behind me. Shadow is casted towards the interior of the room which represented the internal darkness I have inside of me, and the bright light casted towards the exterior is a representation of my bright personality on the outside.

My Story Photo 3

My Object is soft and delicate to the skin like a baby.

My Story Photo 1

My object is small and close to me. Literally and metaphorically.

 

 

 

I attempted to create depth in this photograph as I brought my object much closer to the camera and pulled myself far behind. I wanted to show that a small and bright object like this, can also have a great impact in my plain white life.

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THE HALL OF REJECTED WORKS

These are just some of the photographs that failed the cut to get selected as my top 3 images because I couldn’t capture the emotions I want to convey in the photographs.

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editted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I brought my hand around the object to draw the viewer’s attention by framing it, and tilting my head at that direction. I thought looking at it would provide an implied line in the direction of the object. I tousled and spread out my hair to give a more relaxed feeling. However, I felt that after the shot was taken the mood was more…sensuous than pure and tranquil. Hence this photograph did not make the cut.

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Physical contact is a way to draw people closer because of intimacy and entering of one’s personal space. Hence, I plastered the object close to my face and cropped a mid-shot photograph to a close-up photograph obtain this. My objective for cropping is to allow the viewer to feel closer to us (me and my object). And placing the object against my face is a form of physical intimacy.

Close up shot 1

This photograph failed the cut because my object’s function is not to be used anywhere near the face (application on face may burn). In addition, this photograph looks like a cosmetic advertisement instead, which totally goes against the function of my object.

 

This was a fun project! 😀

Week 2 of Foundation 4D class was our first lesson for the day!

Our instructor Miss Ruyi Wong taught us about many different aspects that contributes to a good photograph, as well as what our eyes perceive.

Reference artists such as Cindy Sherman and Sally Mann were used.

My classmates also shared their about their favorite photographers and explained the reasons why so. And the photographers shared that I have gained a new interest in are @nguan and @sheiku. (I went by their Instagram account)

Nguan: http://nguan.tv/

Looking at Nguan’s works, I find that they are very distinguishable as it has a pinkish filter that no one is able to easily replicate, and the colors present are comfortable to the eyes.

The subjects matter of his photographs are usually doing mundane, everyday things. The subject matter sometimes look straight at the camera. I felt that he was able to capture a sense of tranquility in his works, as well as bring about nostalgia to something of the past. His ‘Singapore Project’ is one of my favorite projects that he has done as the scenes and the type of subject matter portrayed in his photographs are places I have been and people whom somehow I have met before. This sense of familiarity is very soothing.

Sheiku: https://www.instagram.com/sheiku/?hl=en

Sheiku’s works are something that I draw similarity to a contemporary artist, Damien Hirst’s work. Similarly to Damien Hirst, Sheiku’s works are bizarre, unconventional and it include a shock factor. Sheiku turns ordinary objects into something extraordinary by introducing ready-mades and dissecting the object into something unrecognizable when put together.

His works on Instagram are either not captioned, or captioned with something vague or irrelevant. I would like to think that Sheiku wants us to explain his works in our own interpretation. For instance, upon seeing the above image, a short self-interpretation of this work comes to my mind…

“You trampled on my raw and beating heart when my love for you has grown and almost blossomed.”

Different emotions are evoked upon different ways of seeing Sheiku’s works for me. First comes shock (from choice of subject matter), second comes curiosity ( for why did he chose these objects and what do they mean?) and then lastly, a mellow emotion will wash over me as I try to interpret his meaning to his works.

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What I have learnt during lesson!

The study of signs – Semiotics has started since 1900s.

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.

Semiotics can be defined into two parts of signs.

  1. Signifier — The form of a sign. The form might be a sound, a word, a photograph, a facial expression, a painting of a pipe, etc.
  2. Signified — The concept or object that’s represented. The concept or object might be an actual pipe, the command to stop etc.

Signifiers are different in different cultures. Examples such as Justin Bieber flashing a double backhand peace sign seem harmless, but to some parts of the world it may seem offensive. (honestly speaking I still have no idea why was it offensive, my search results on Google was negative frown Do tell me what it means if you know thank you!)

A unanimous signifier that everyone recognizes for example is a Life Buoy!

Everyone who sees it will know it is a buoyant support such as a lifebelt for keeping a person afloat in water.

Icon, Index, Symbol

Icon has a physical resemblance to the signified, the thing being represented.

Index is indirectly connected with an object

Symbol is not a representational image. There is no direct resemblance to the object.

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Iconoclasm is the act of attacking/ assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values and practices.

Metaphors & Association

Modern Advertising relies heavily on visual metaphors.

For instant, in the Alice in Wonderland cartoon version Miss Wong showed us, the bird calling Alice a ‘Serpent’ is a metaphor and assiociation to an ‘bird egg stealer’ as she is very big (because she ate some bread that made her grew into a giant), and her size is associated with the length of a serpent.

Or another example showed in the slides by Miss Wong is this advertisement for a beauty product. A ‘skin as smooth as peach’ is associated with a baby’s bottom.

As a peach is highly associated with a bum because of it’s shape and texture. This ad is advertising it’s product in such as way that, if the consumer uses this product, their face will be a smooth and youthful like a baby’s bottom. (yea right…)

Applying what I have learnt about Visual Metaphors onto another advertisement, I chose to use this anti-smoking advertisement…

In my own interpretation, this is a very strong anti-smoking ad as two subject matters are involved. As smoking is usually seen as doing harm to oneself, this advertisement raises awareness to smokers that not only they are doing harm to themselves, but also to other; as depicted by the second subject matter inside the smoker (literally and metaphorically INSIDE the smoker).

This image is highly grotesque to me as putting an unborn infant in view of direct contact with a cigarette is disturbing and uncomfortable to look at. In this case, I find that this advertisement has achieved it’s objective to induce a sense of pity to the innocent baby, against the act of smoking. Thus, encouraging smokers to quit smoking, and pregnant women to quit smoking for the sake of their offspring.

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Miss Wong then let us out to take some photos, using what we have learnt in class. I tried to find signs of semiotics in the scene I was taking.

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A bright orange cone is a sign for drivers and onlookers to be aware, and a tool to redirect traffic.

Seeing that the cone is placed near the wall with a white tape stretched across, I deduced that the cone is to draw attention to others that the paint on the wall is wet. So do caution.

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Directional arrows show where drivers should head to. Reflective yellow and black arrows on the bend of the wall warn drivers to be careful of the bed. 2 parallel white lines tells drivers to keep in their lanes.

With that, this concludes my lesson review for week 2!

Not only have I viewed images, advertisements and present day scenes with a new eye; I think that more thought will be placed when I look at things or before I take a photograph in the future.

Cheers,

Seng Yi Ling.