Final Piece
Final Piece Proposal
For my final piece, I would like to combine all my previous work into a finished project. I plan to also create some smaller newer pieces, where I will be creating different prisms that are covered in the same triangles that I made when working with Abigail Reynolds using a scalpel. I have previously done work that explores elements of both rural and urban environments, and how they differ. Work with urban settings was mainly featured in my work with John Riddy and Caterina Rossato, and for both of these artists I explored layering, both digitally and physically. Introducing rural environments began when working with Abigail Reynolds, and is also when I began exploring how I could create structures from paper.
My idea for this project is to use all the materials that I have already created, and photograph them together, as well as creating a longer video. I am going to focus on including the same industrial and rural elements, as I would like to explore their differences and how they contrast in this product as well. I will be exploring physical layering too, as this is something that I have done throughout this project. I will also be seeing how I can present the final piece.
Gallery of Chosen Images
This gallery shows some of my best work during this project so far. I would like to combine all of these ideas into a single final piece, that reflects the ideas of contrast between rural environments and industrial architecture, as well as using the techniques that I have used throughout, such as layering my work physically, or cutting and folding paper to create different shapes and structures.
Planning a Photoshoot
Ideas:
I will be collecting all the physical work that I have already produced and any new parts, and then hanging it up using the equipment I used before for similar photoshoots. To hang the pieces up I will be using string, as I want to include it in the shots. I think that this will allow me to explore scale more. I will use my gallery of inspiration for reference. I will be taking pictures and also short videos of a single shot during this photoshoot.
Setting:
I will be taking this photoshoot in a brightly lit room. This room is important because the ceiling is covered in metal pipes, and modern looking lighting, which will add to the industrial setting that I am trying to create.
Lighting and Camera:
I will be using natural lighting (and white diffused lighting) so create softer shadows. It will also create a whiter light, which is often associated with more modern structures.
I will be experimenting with aperture, which means I will sometimes have to adjust my shutter speed settings so images are not too dark or light. I will also be experimenting with angle.
Photoshoot
Creating New Material:
To create the new pieces, I printed out some images from the park photoshoot double sided (taken during the Abigail Reynolds project) and folded them vertically to create three shapes: a square, triangle, and circle. For the square, I needed to measure out four equal sides and fold along the measurements, leaving one side longer so that I could use this extra space when I connected the square together using glue. For the triangle, I measured three equal sides and folded there as well. For all three shapes, I cut triangles into the surfaces (or sides) using a scalpel (the same way I did with my previous work). I then connected the edges together to create the prisms.
For this photoshoot, I hung up the pieces on the metal stand. I kept them close together so I could walk around the piece and photograph from different angles. I also experimented with aperture. By using a lower f stop, I could focus on only one area of the setting, and by including the strings holding the pieces up in the shot, I could focus on them to create shots where the structures behind were blurry. The prisms that I created for this photoshoot were successful, because they allowed me to explore depth by photographing into the shapes. They were also 3D, unlike some of the pieces, which provided a strange contrast between the two dimensions.
I think that this photoshoot has been successful for several reasons. For example, all the shots were taken at different angles, and this was to create variation that would allow an audience to view the piece from different perspectives from images only. Another successful aspect of this photoshoot was my experimentation with aperture. Since this piece was very layered, it allowed me to bring different areas of it to attention by focusing on it only, including parts of the piece that were further back. A less successful aspect of this photoshoot is that since the pieces hanging up were very different, (this includes shape, and whether they were 2D or 3D), many of the images that I took from certain angles appeared too messy, or as if the pieces were out of place. Sometimes this effect was effective, but mostly the shot appeared too overwhelming as there was too much going on. I can see how I can counter this when cropping in photoshop.
Developments
To edit these, I simply adjusted the brightness, saturation and contrast, and cropped the image, sometimes rotating it slightly to align objects in the pictures with the borders of the photo.
I think that these edits are successful because they show many different perspectives to the piece. All the images are varied and have different angles, areas of focus and also lighting. They are also all in focus. Another successful aspect of these images is that the physical layering is effective. The mixture of both 3D and 2D elements, as well as all of their layering to create depth is effective in creating a scene where there are shapes everywhere, and they are all structured differently. Despite this, it also means that shots can look overcrowded and chaotic, as they aren't necessarily following the 'Rule of Three,' so the fact that these images are full can also affect the composition negatively. Shots like these are the less successful ones. I also think that this photoshoot lost some of the 'rural' elements that I had previously explored. This is because there are less shots where these features are visible. The prisms that I made and cut into using a scalpel were successful however, despite the natural imagery not always being seen on them, and I think that this is because their context is more important. They were originally images of nature that I cut into and made into abstract structures, and this idea relates to the destruction of nature, similar to what urban environments are known for.
Next I will be editing my images into black and white to see how this affects them.
Black and White
To edit these, I simply added the black and white filter onto my previous edits on photoshop, and sometimes adjusted the colour balance underneath so that I could adjust the shadows, mid-tones and highlights.
I think that these edits are successful for several reasons. For example, like with much of my work with previous artists, I found that the lack of colour creates an element of stillness, as well as emphasising the idea of an industrial setting. This is because nature is colourful, therefore the lack of colour removes the features that bring vibrance to an image. Another successful aspect of this photoshoot is that there appears to be more contrast in black and white images, as the highlights appear much whiter and the shadows appear much darker. This helps bring out certain aspects of the image and make them more noticeable. The lack of colour also allows for some more order, which I felt was lacking in my coloured edits. There seems to be less going on, and there is no chance of colours clashing, so some of the elements that made an image previously appear too crowded were no longer a problem. Despite the successes, I don't think that I can have just black and white images during the project, so I will most likely be using both when presenting my work. This is because having no colour is a way that I have previously explored nature.
Making a Video
My first step towards creating this video was choosing a piece of music. This is because it would dictate where my videos would go and when the transitions would be, as it would depend on the speed of the music, and often where phrases of the music would end. At first, I was debating whether I should use 'Golden Slumbers' by The Beatles, or 'Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon' by Queen, as both songs were very short and are also good pieces of music. I decided to use the song by Queen for two reasons: it was 1:07 seconds long, 30 seconds shorter than The Beatles' song, which would be helpful since I only had around 1 minute and 30 seconds worth of video (and I have to crop these videos when editing), and also, I felt that the lyrics matched the theme more. 'Golden Slumbers' is much sadder and talks about a home which you cannot return (this is one interpretation), which I think had no relevancy to what I was working with. The song by Queen, however, is more upbeat, and talks of a mundane city life where the best day of the week is Sunday. This idea of the city life best matches the urban themes that I have been exploring, and it is why I chose the song. There is also a guitar solo towards the end of the song, and it is in a different key to what was previously been sung. I think that this contrast is interesting and also somewhat comical.
Once I had chosen the song, I began putting the videos on top. The videos already had background noise of quiet chatter and whirring noises that came with the room, and I was first going to remove this by silencing the video, however I thought that these sounds added to the idea of a populated urban environment, and also the theme of the song. I cropped all of the clips to the ratio of the video (16:9), and positioned them to change into the next video where the beat of the music was. I also considered whether or not I should add a transition, however I decided that the abrupt change into the next clip was more effective. This is because I felt that it represented how fast things seem to pass in a city, where everyone is busy with their own things. It also matched the feel of the music which is quite fast and in a major key.
Below is the video that I first put together, before realising what went wrong.
Once I had exported the video, I realised that the transitions nearer the middle of the video did not match the beat of the music when I watched it again. This was probably due to any changes to the length of the clips that I made towards the end of my editing process, which meant that the rest of the transitions to come later were also out of time with the music. This was not too much of a problem, and only meant that I would have to go back and adjust where the clips transitioned.
Below is the fixed version of this video.
Final Product
This is the final product, and the transitions are better timed.
I think that this video is successful for several reasons. For example, the music and background noises match what I was trying to portray: elements of an urban life. As I have discussed previously, the lyrics match the mundane city life, and the background noises are also common when living in the city. This is matched by the actual content of the video as well. There are building structures that are recognisable, and also 2D, and also some other 3D structures that are more abstract. I think that this contrast of 2D buildings (something that is already unusual) with strange 3D structures is effective in creating a feeling of confusion. This feeling of confusion and uncertainty with what is happening could be associated with the busyness of a city life, and perhaps even confusion in regards to identity. A city is a place where individuals live, making it a part of their identity, and this video portrays a city scene which is chaotic and abstract, maybe reflecting a state of mind. I had originally intended for more natural scenery in this project, however I was not careful enough to create clear features that would represent this. Despite this, I do think that the prisms that I had created specifically for this project were a more successful aspect of this. They depict a piece of natural scenery that has been folded and cut into, changed to fit into a more urban environment. I think this is effective in demonstrating elements of nature in another way, where it has been changed or destroyed to create something that is actually unnatural. There are also still some shots where you can recognise features such as sand, or trees. All of the buildings and locations that are featured in this project are relevant to me as well, and so makes much of the work personal to me.
When filming this video, I did not use a tripod, like I did when creating my previous video for my project with Caterina Rossato. This was to create a sense of instability, and also movement. It felt more natural to hold the camera and film, with hands that would naturally always shake.
I think that to improve the project as a whole, I could have focused on including more elements of nature in it, as it would have helped me create a clearer contrast between rural and urban environments. Despite this, it has been successful in bringing together any techniques and ideas that I had learnt when working with my three artists, and therefore links to them all. I have also explored how a city relates to identity in my work, and explored different feelings related to this.
Below is how I would present this work publicly.
Presentation
This is how I would have my work presented. The room would be well lit in white light to match the industrial setting of the piece, and I would have the video centred in the middle at the biggest size on a constant loop. The images in colour would be on one side, and the images in black and white would be on the other side of the image, and this is to create a sense of contrast, and also an uncomfortable feeling being off balance in how the piece is presented. I would have the sound playing from all directions to mimic how a city sounds. I want the video to be much bigger than the rest of the images, so that the attention is always drawn to the movement of the screen, so that it requires some focus to look at the smaller images. Again, this is also to mimic what life is like in the city, when there is always some kind of movement happening in the background.
Further Development
To further develop this final piece project, I printed three of my pieces to present in frames and then photographed them together in a layered format. Below is the result.
For this photoshoot I printed out three of my previous images that I chose, two in colour and one in black and white. I then set these up in frames, attached them to some string and hung them up on a stand similar to one I have previously used. I had them in front of each other so that they were layered, and then I photographed them using white artificial lighting. This resulted in harsher contrast and also sharper shadows. I used a black backdrop to contrast the white frames and make them more noticeable, and also to create an even background which would make the images easier to edit and develop.
I think that this photoshoot is successful because it displays my work in an abstract way. I had layered in my previous photoshoot, and developed this idea of layering even further by layering my previous photos once again. This photoshoot also allowed me to experiment with using a border, which I have not really experimented with in this project before. The white border against the black background created contrast, and the artificial lighting that I used brought out the glare of the printed pictures that added texture. The artificial lighting meant that the shadows were sharper, creating more contrast between the highlights, and the strong lighting also meant that I could experiment with aperture without worrying too much about whether my images would be too dark. I hung the images up with the same string that I used previously so that the two photoshoots would have another thing in common, and photographed from various angles that allowed me to feature this string in my photos.
To improve this photoshoot I think that I could have also used natural lighting, which would have allowed more focus on the actual images in the photos as softer shadows are less noticeable. It was also difficult to experiment more with angle, due to the set up I used, as the stand I used was smaller, and I took the photoshoot in a different room from my previous ones, so the background would not have been empty. This meant I had to use a backdrop, which also limited my options with angle as I had to move it around a lot. Since the pieces were flat, this also meant that I could not experiment much with angle either. Despite this, I still managed to take various shots from several different angles. There were also quite a few shots that ended up being slightly blurred or out of focus, and I think this was because my hands were not always steady when holding the camera.
Edits
To edit these, I first began by brightening the images, as many of them were quite dark. I then heightened the contrast, and after either increased or decreased the contrast. I think that these edits are successful because they are varied in angle, and are also contrasted more which allows sharper lines to be visible. Because I photographed flat images, I think that the contrast allowed for the different shapes to stand out more when they otherwise would not have. For the last few edits, I photographed each edit from the front, and then in photoshop I edited them so that I both kept the uneven borders or transformed the images and stretched the images so that the borders were even. I wanted to keep the element of unbalance which only happened due to the images being taken at an accidental angle with the unsteadiness of a hand, which is a human error. This project has created a sense of finality as my previous work was framed and then hung and photographed once more, and these framed images are something that I can now display as a physical piece of work.
Concluding
Previously for my final piece work I would have had my photographs displayed to how I previously showed them in a gallery setting. Now, having experimented further with the photoshoot above, I would instead print out my images out and maybe have these images layered instead in a similar way. I would have very large prints printed out onto canvas double sided, hang them them from the ceiling in the centre of the room so that there is image visible from every angle. I think that this would be an interesting way to develop on the idea of layering. The room would be empty except for the middle and have empty white walls. To include the video, I could project it onto one of the blank canvases at the front of the layered row, and have the sound playing from every corner of the room. This is to mirror the chaos of a city, however the fact that the room is empty and only has the focal point in one spot in the middle contradicts this chaos by allowing the audience to focus on the centre of the room only. I think that this in interesting contrast which could reflect the limits of human attention, and how despite there being so much going on, there is only one thing that can be productively focused on at a time. The photoshoot above has allowed to further explore how I would have my final piece displayed publicly.