Visual Literacy Group Photography Project Memo

For the photography project we worked well as a group we quickly and decisively decided on the theme of desire that we all agreed upon. The toughest part was trying to show the theme as it’s not an easy task to present. We all threw out different ideas of how we can show the theme either through food or through lust for another person because depending on what the subject is, the reaction could look different but still work under the same scope of the theme. What we would try differently next time would to brainstorm together as a group. We would choose a specific kind of desire, like desire for food, so by the time we left we would all be in agreement. In the end, it worked out great with the project a success. Nevertheless, it would have made it easier on the group if we had brainstormed beforehand. All around though the project turned out great. The photos were interesting and precise, but vague enough to be open to interpretation and thought provoking.

            Responsibility. In any group some one always has to take the leadership role for the group to succeed. As the old saying goes, with power comes responsibility. As the leader you do have power and say over the general direction of the project but as a result you have to assume more of a role in the project than others. What I learned is that the leader has to bring out the group members full potential but keep order. The leader has to walk that fine line and know when to lead and when not to, it’s a learning process.

The first photo of the project is one of my favorites. This photo is a very intimate photo that was taken in such a way that it shows the theme of desire even without their facial expressions. In the picture the viewer can notice that there is a shallow depth of field. We can tell by the unfocused background and part of the girl’s right shoulder is beginning to become unfocused. This is important to note because it allows the audience just to focus on the bullet necklace making the photo have a private, intimate feel. The over saturation also helps point out the bullet necklace which is the main subject in the photo. The white colored shirt on the girl is brighter and even hard to notice at parts, which makes the bullet and the man’s arm standout more and demands the viewers attention. You could also argue that this is from the man’s point of view which the audience would have to infer that they are closer together than they would be if they were just friendlily with one another. We can tell that the bullet is the main focus because it is center of the frame and his fingers frame the bullet making the audience focus first on the bullet. The direction of the girl’s body only adds to this theory as it is facing towards the bullet, which would mean that if we could see her face she would be looking in the bullets direction too. The rule of thirds is at work here, as the bullet is in the middle third with the girl on the right third and the man on the left third and as a result equally distributing the photo creating symmetry.

Art to Life

All around we did a good job with the film. We divided up the work equally between us and we didn't run into any problems. The only issue was choosing the picture as we could have gone in any direction with the pictures we had at are dispose. We eventually decided on the girl smoking the cigarette because we had talked it through and in turn created a good storyline that was concise. The filming was quick because we had a clear idea of what we were creating and it didn't have to be complicated because of time constrains. It was a great learning experience as Eric and I did the editing of the film, which was something I had only done once before on Final Cut Pro. It did take me awhile to get the hang of capturing, editing, and putting in the effects but in the end I understood the fundamentals.
My next project would be a short film something along the lines of 3 to 5 minutes because that allows me to do something in more depth and spend more time on each shot to make sure it is exactly what I want. The idea of the film would be basic as I would just focus on getting the point across in a creative manner.
Yes, in a lot of ways the basics of photography can be applied over to film. For example, the rule of thirds and use of different lenses and camera angles. In the short film for this project we used a lot of different camera angles and camera heights to show that the girl was not your typical kind of person which was evident when she picked up the cigarette that was laying on the ground-still lit.
In this project my primary role was to edit the film but also to help out with choosing the pictures as well as cementing the storyline of the short film. All in all, we met every aspect of the film from pre-production to the final version and there is nothing that any of us didn't have a role in.

Film Assignment: Helvetica

One of the concepts they brought up in the movie was the idea that what makes font is not the actual font but the negative space around it. That negative space or the background, as one of the typographers stated when he was being interviewed was what kept and rooted the font in place. The negative space provides context just like the background of photo or an establishing shot. The background is what creates the setting and without that background you lose the context and importance of the subject.

The main question they addressed in the film was, where did Helvetica come from? What was fascinating about this question is that it's a question no one ever asks or wonders and as we find out in the film is that the procedure for making a font is complex. In many ways, creating a font to fit all these different aspects like; if its clear, legible, straightforward, along with other factors, is just as complex as creating a film or making a sculpture just on a much smaller scale. There is no real way of what the font should look like just like there is no limit to what could be considered a font. The same can be said for every kind of art like film and photography.

Although the range is limitless the creative process of actually making the font is unique. How they explained it in the film is that they would start with the letter “h” because the structure of that letter can than be transferred to other letters like “r” and “n”. From there they would try with the letter “o” and see if that curve of the “o” compliments the horseshoe curve on the “h” than include the “p” and look at it as the word, “hop”. The process of starting small and working big is unique and this process is not used in other forms of media like film or photography as you usually start with a big idea than narrow it down from there.

Ch.6 Propaganda or Presuasion

A clothing company that uses highly controversial photos to create news seems is nothing out of the ordinary now a days but the company Benetton crosses the line from being provocative, like the Calvin Klein commercial with Brooke Shields, to morally wrong. The way the photos are perceived by the viewer can be seen as mocking the people and what they stand for. They explain it best in the text. “They cite the use of the picture as another example of a large corporation exploiting a personal tragedy to sell a product” (71).  I agree with this point of view. Although they bring awareness of the cause and in many ways endorse it, they are using politically charged images, like a nun kissing a priest for the sole purpose to create controversy. It is just as morally wrong to exploit Chinese kids to work in sweatshops and pay them just enough to stay alive so our clothes can be cheap. This is a textbook example, of capitalism at it’s finest. It not only says a lot of the company but also of the consumer. The consumer is to naïve to see the full repercussions of these advertisements but instead deems them “cool” and “hip”. By them buying their clothes they are saying it is alright to mock the minorities in society and acceptable for society to function in this manner.

            For the company to achieve this it takes a lot of persuasion and tactful advertisement to create buzz that states how awful the company is but in the process create a counter-culture that finds it interesting. I wouldn’t say its propaganda because it’s main goal isn’t to hurt a person or a group’s reputation but the campaign does result in this or walks that fine line between controversial and acceptable but morally wrong. In other words they leave room for interpretation resulting in someone going either way on the subject.

Youtube Assignment

The Youtube video I chose is a fake commercial done by College Humor for the popular alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko. It is suppose to be a spinoff of a commercial advertising the drink, the shot duration is only a few seconds long to capture and keep the audiences attention. They make appealing to the viewer as something exciting and cool to have. In every shot, besides the shots of the MRI machine and when the customer is in the parking lot, they use a long lens. The long lens’s purpose is to only focus on what is important in the shot so it can keep the viewers attention. For the MRI machine and the parking lot scene they use a wide-angle lens, which we can tell because everything is in focus, which is important for the parking lot scene because it establishes the setting. The last shot of the video they use a low camera angle of a security camera  In addition to using quick shots they use special effects with bright colors in the center of the frame to attract the viewers attention.

What I like about this Youtube video is how they achieve the goal of an advertisement even though the content of the commercial is stating how bad the drink is for you. The quick shots and special effects keeps the audience engaged and the clip never looses momentum.

What I don’t like about the Youtube video is the parking lot scene. It doesn’t add up. It is more the content of the shot that confuses me. How is drinking three Four Lokos the equivalent of driving over a small baby? Besides that, the Youtube’s message is clear and concise.

 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJyaACQaLYQ&playnext=1&list=PL9FCCCB9BD9CFA022&index=42

Graphics Assignment: A Clockwork Orange Movie Poster

There are a number of themes that I incorporated into the movie poster. The main theme I focused on was violence. I illustrated this by the bold colors and how they clash with one another looking as if they are fighting for the viewers attention. In other words I call this, "violent colors". This is symbolic of the main character Alex Burgess in the film "A Clockwork Orange". He is a teenager who is different and leads a far from typical life. He is constantly at war with himself especially at the end of the film after his experimental science test where he still wants to commit vulgar activities but every time he even remotely thinks about it he gets a deathly sick feeling in the bottom of his stomach forcing him to restrain. It also has elements that are based on the time era which was in the early 1970s which at that time the Hippie era in the mid '60s was loosing it's influence. This can be seen in the font of the text.

Photoshop Lesson

The basics of photoshop is great for any person interested photography. It allows the user to use multiple techniques they wouldn't be able to use on your typical program. For example, most programs don't have layers that you can change independently from one another. Within that layer you can adjust the opacity which can be used to create, lets say, a professional looking business card if you have a color for the background. Another great tool is the blur tool. It can be used to blur different layers together to make a nice looking business card especially when the two layers greatly contrast one another. There are so many different tools and effects that can be used in any variation to create something special.

Norman Rockwell Exhibit

This past Saturday I went to the Norman Rockwell Exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Norman Rockwell, who for over 40 years, created the cover artwork for The Saturday Evening Post and is known for his other art collections of Willie Gillis and the Four Freedoms. What he is really known for his Santa Claus collection which what many art enthuses argue is that it epitomizes an era. What many people view use or wishfully believe that his artwork is an accurate depicting of what life was like back than (1920’s and 30’s). Of course, this is very bias and different from the reality of the situation but people still want to believe this is true. 

As a counterarguement people can only gather what they known about the post-"Roaring '20s" through either history books or through art. This is where Norman Rockwell comes into the picture. Norman Rockwell presented life back as carefree, were young kids didn’t have to deal with competition for getting perfect grades and getting into the best college, there was no TVs and so as a result there was no projected stereotypes of what kids should be and how they should act. All kids were suppose to do back than was have a good time being kids. This can be seen in his artwork when there was still a magical component to Christmas. The picture of Santa and the Elves has a nostalgic theme that is present not only the in '20s but also when a kid’s imagination ran wild with excitement before technology crushed all of it.

Contact Sheet

Contact Sheet:

This photo was taken from a birds eye view with the light source behind the camera. The key lighting is only used to highlight the apple and is very specific as we can see the edges of the photo are in darkness. With the lighting so direct it leaves the audience with nothing to distract us and clearly hightlights what we are suppose to be looking at.

This photo was taken on the same plane as the subject and from far away. The photo was taken in the direction towards the light explaining the silhouette. There is an uneaseiness to the photo which can be explained by not only the black and white, the silhouette of the subject but also the canted camera angle as the camera does not run parallel with the ground that the subject is on.

This picture was shot from a far distance but zoomed in. The picture was taken on the same plane, same level as the apple. The way the photo was taken is that the background is interesting and in some ways contrasts the subject but doesn't grab the audiences attention first. Another point, the background isn't lit which doesn't distract the audience while there is key lighting directed at the subject. We can figure this out by the white glare being reflected off the apple and the shadow that the apple casts on the right side.

This photo was taken on the same plane as the apple and into the light source which explains the silhouette of the apple. I placed tissue paper over the lamp to act as a filter so the light doesn't distract the viewer from the apple. It also casts a yellow tint which could be the reflection off the golden lamp stand or from the tissue.

 

This photo was taken close to the subject facing in the direction toward the light source which explains the silhouette. The black and white feature was created by focusing the camera on the light which resulted in the lose of color.

Picture and 3 Concepts

The first concept that immediately comes to mind is how far away the photo was taken. Because of the shear size of the blast from the atomic bomb the photographer had to be as far away as possible so the blast wouldn't effect him/her. Nevertheless, the distance from ground zero to were the photo was taken was ideal so it can accurately capture the size of the blast. The second concept that they mention in the book is the juxtaposition in this photo. An atomic bomb in many ways represents the darkest side of humankind and it is frightfully stunning what human civilization has created. The atomic bomb is iconic and a giant feat in technological advances. What the bomb juxtaposes is the natural setting with the peaceful, and calming beaches and trees in the foreground, which is the third concept in this photo. The natural setting with the palm trees and pearly white beaches would send the viewer a very comfortable, peaceful vibe if the atomic bomb had been cropped out.