Daniel Mcgrath
Final Piece
Intentions:
For my Final Piece, I intend to create a film. The film will be in black and white and will take inspiration from the works of Oscar Munoz, Maseo Yamamoto and my previous final piece. The format will be the same; an edit followed by a clip that is relevant to that image. As for the style, the film will be in black and white, similar to a film made in the 1950's. This is to convey the themes of forgetting and memory that Maseo Yamamoto tries to convey; the black and white aesthetic makes the film seem old and thus distant from the viewer due to the time gap. This allusion to the past and the viewers distance from it helps the film convey the sense of mystery. I plan on withholding information through the use of composition and shot sizes; for example, I think it would be a good idea to film every frame so that the subjects face is not visible. I think this withholding information would relate the film to the themes of memory and forgetting because the withheld information is almost like the information lost during the process of forgetting. These two formal elements, colour and composition, will be what I am focusing on.
First Development
Annotations
These are black and white edits of photographs that I took in my local park. I edited these pictures to make them black and white due to the association people have with black and white photography and the past. I think that these pictures were fairly successful; they are in focus and contain an appropriate amount of detail. I feel that the fact that most of the images 'content' is composed in the centre aids the picture in conveying themes of memory because it is memetic of how memory often focuses on specific details of an event. In conclusion, I think these photographs were successful. If I were to do them again I would try to produce a greater amount.
Highlighting Success
Annotations
These pictures were the most successful of the black and white edits; I think that these specific edits worked the best due to the fact that they contained objects that were the most interesting. I would argue that when it comes to memory, a bench is more impactful than a cup of coffee and that a ball is more impactful than a tree, because they are the kinds of things people would have associations with. The fact that the pictures are in black and white only emphasises this existing association. If I were to do these edits again I would try to again produce more.
Second Developments
Annotations
These are my second set of edits that will be used in my final piece film. These pictures will come before clips that relate to them contextually, remaining on frame for around one second. I think these pictures are fairly successful; the 'colouring in' of the backdrop was done carefully and I think is very visually appealing. Contextually, I think the pictures were a great success. The fact that they are in black and white strengthens their connection to the idea of memory due to the association people have with the past and black and white photographs. I think the fact that they are composed over a black background is memetic of how memories usually only focus on specific details as oppose to fully detailed pictures. These factors all contribute to the edits connection to memory and thus success. If I were to do these pictures again I would try to create more and try to be more careful when removing certain parts of the picture; in a few cases blades of grass can be seen that take away from the pictures success because they are clearly part of the backdrop.
Highlighting Success
Annotations
These are instances where the secondary edits were especially successful. This is for a variety of reasons; one of which being how carefully the backgrounds were coloured in in black. However the biggest factor that makes these pictures stand out from the rest is the fact that the objects in these photographs are the most 'odd' thing to be removed from an environment. It is strange for a bench to be the thing composed in front of nothingness because in every day life you would sit on a bench to appreciate the surroundings you find yourself in. It is not unheard of to see blossom composed in front of nothingness, but it is usually falling; in this case the blossom is firmly attached to the tree.
Presentation Experiments
Presentation Experiment Annotations
These are presentation experiments I made for my final piece. I thought the use of layer masks would be an interesting way to perceive the images and an interesting way to frame them. The images are distorted due to the use of layer masks, which conveys to the viewer the sense of memories fading away that I wanted to achieve.
Final Piece
Annotations
This is my final piece for the identity project. It is a film made up of my second edits and video clips from a film shoot in my local park. I think that this film was a success; I do not think they were any instances where clips or pictures were out of focus and I think the film is an appropriate length and well-proportioned. As for conveying themes of memory, I think the film 'holds its own'. The 'idea' behind the film is that someone is looking through a collection of photographs and, as they do, memories of events involving those objects return to them. The clips were shot in black and white to convey a basic idea of memory, and the fact that the face of the subject is almost always obscured emphasises the distance between a person and distant memories. If I were to do this film again I would try to space it out by adding a black screen between clips to 'slow it down a bit' and give the viewer the chance to take in the information gradually and slowly. Other than this I think the picture was a success.
La Jetee 1962- Inspiration
The film 'La Jetee', made in 1962, was one of the main sources of inspiration for my final piece. This film was made almost entirely of still images, which made up a considerable fraction of my final piece. I think that, just like with my previous final piece, the use of still images in film is very powerful because it gives the viewer, quite simply, more time with the image before it changes or is removed from the screen. This allows the viewer to connect with the picture and every aspect of it more, allowing them to converse with the piece and the themes it is trying to convey. I also think that, when relating to the concept of memory and the idea of forgetting, the use of still frames is very useful because it breaks apart the events that occurred because the motion is no longer smooth. This creates a disconnect between the viewer and the events that occur in the narrative; a disconnect which is very similar to the disconnect between a person and their memory due to forgetting. For this reason, the presence of this disconnect can be used to strengthen the pieces capacity to convey the relevant themes.
