..

i am very unhappy with how my work is going at the moment.
I feel like everything i do is a pile of shit.
my work looks unprofessional, has no purpose and i am really not enjoying it.

i do not want to continue using medium format photography...
a- because of the unpredictable outcome!
b- i can see no difference between this and what the photo would look like if i took it with regular film or digital photography.
c- i can not afford to keep spending £12 to develop 10 photos, and for them to go wrong... my photos were developed half of one photo and half of another.. and cropped down?!?

i have had an awful week. an awful few weeks in fact.

i am not proud or happy with anything that i've done.

the photos...

I used medium format photography for the first time, but personally don't see what the difference would of been if id used a digital or normal 35mm film. So i think i will go back to using my digital camera.
The photos for some reason came out alot darker than on my test shots that i did at exactly the same settings on a digital camera, so i am very dissapointed with my outcome, especially since i spent about £35 in total buying operation, hiring and making costumes and for medium format film development. i feel like my time and money has been wasted on something i'm not happy with, i haven't perticularly enjoyed and that looks far from professional.
However, it is not all negative. I think i have learnt quite alot about lighting and photography while coming up with the ideas and taking these photographs. I know that i like there to be an aspect of mystery in my work, but also comedy, or something thats not quite right. (use of fake moustaches, doiley collars and the operation game) But i now need to move on to my own ideas which i feel are much stronger and think i can now photograph them alot better with more mystery and clever lighting.

taking the photos

Taking the photo's went really well.
The photography technicians were great and gave me further guidance in the lighting.
My 8 models arrived and i put them in costume, black clothes, cloaks and hat (which i hired from the west yorkshire playhouse costume hire), and doiley collars and paper moustaches (which i had spent time making this week). and positioned them around the game and took some test shots on a digital camera to make sure everything was looking good.
It looked perfect and i was really happy.
After a few shots i got used to the reversed image on the medium format camera and was taking some really good shots.
i started with recreating the painting but with operation in the place of the dead man.
i then went on to creating some images blending the idea of the autopsy with playing the game, obviously the heavy dark costumes were great for creating the autopsy idea, so i directed my models to be happy and showed them some pictures of some old games boxes (with children playing the game) and we created this image.
finally with only a couple of shots left i stepped in place as the dead man and we went back to a slightly more serious autopsy idea.
I took the photos to be developped but was told it would take 2 weeks, so i researched for another local developpers who would devlop medium format film and eventually found someone who could do it that day for me. so i dropped it off the next morning.

what is medium format photography??

"Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in still photography. Generally, the term applies to any film size in-between 35 mm and large format (4"×5" or more) sheet film and to the type of camera that uses the format. Due to the higher image resolution offered by the larger film size, the majority of medium-format users are professional photographers who often require fine image detail, but the format is also favoured by many amateur enthusiasts.
In digital photography, medium format refers to the use of cameras adapted from medium format film gear, fitted with digital backs incorporating sensors larger than 24 by 36mm (the typical frame size used on 35mm film). As of 2006, medium format digital photography peaks at sensors of 36 by 48 mm, with 39 million pixels. These new high resolution sensors bring the feedback and greater shooting speed of digital to the medium format world."

lighting

...............................I had a meeting with a lighting designer and spoke to him about different ways to create mood and atmosphere using lighting. here are a few points i got out of that.
* use shadows... they can do alot. play around with it.
* try not to use too much colour in the lighting, white natural lighting is strongest. (however i was offered gels to use if i do need to use any)
* Maglights can be a great tool. they give a straight direct light, and give direct breaks.
* if you want a softer break in the lighting then tracing paper is a great tool, as is cheap supermarket a4 white paper, place it infront of the light to soften it.
* Lighting form directly above the head creates really good mystery. similar to how when you are younger you hold a torch under your chin to tell ghost stories etc.
* if you want to light a person well. you need to light from the top, bottom and back. (like in the above rough diagrams).. see what happens if you take one of these out.

more rough ideas

some rough ideas iv created for my own work off the back of last weeks task and idea development.

peter and the wolf

lighting

As i feel that i need to learn how to light my photos, and use lighting to create atmosphere, mood and intruige my audience, I have started to look into lighting in photography, film and theatre, i have also arranged a meeting for this weekend with a theatre lighting designer so he can help share his expertise, and give me a bit of a tutorial about how to use lighting to create a perticular atmosphere and mystery.

re-creating the collages

two days later we were told to bring the collages together with our existing work, and i decided to try and re-create my images but using my techniques. using photogrpahy, little toys, and illustration alongside this. so i began thinking how i could do this... and i got stuck.

I spoke to mick and he brough casey along too, and we gathered some ideas, and realised that everything is possible. They brought out amy lords work (student from 2 years ago) and her work made me realise how important lighting was, and that i need to take time to set up the photo rather than rushing it.

i think the problem i have is that if i dont have an outcome every week then i feel like iv not done anything. but i need to spend more time up to the point of pressing the button on the camera to take the photo, and the outcome will be so much stronger and more professional looking and alot more worth while for 1 or 2 strong images, rather than 10 which seem unfinished.

i think it this talk with mick and casey and the week of collage and idea generating has lead to other ideas in my own work...
i didnt get as much work done as id wanted to this week, but i think it mainly helped with developping my way of thinking which i think is more important at the stage i am at in my work.

collage task

this week we were tryingt to create a studio culture, everyone working together, bouncing ideas around etc, we were each given an image. i unfortunately ended up with an image which i didnt really like. of a man performing an autopsy. i was a bit annoyed at first cos i seemed to prefer eveyone elses images to my own. but i really enjoyed going round on the first day and giving people ideas.. it seemed like everyone was thinking very inside the box, and quite boringly and i think i helped a few people get over that which was nice. we were then told to go buy a photocopy card and collect other images from the library, book and the internet, which were related to our image. the following day we made collages from our pictures... here is my outcome.

developping ideas

my photos

bradford animation festival 2007

My overall favouirte was called Zhiharka, which was a russian animation which captured childhood so well and was so funny, it had everyone in stitches, and the animation and characters were really strong.. unfortunately i can only find a still image from it...


found it in russain??

contact sheet

photography

I need to improve my photography skills, thinking more about angles, and how the photo is taken rather than the subject. I have decided to break away from my digital camera and use a real camera, with a real film. Taking black and white photographs and taking them to the studio to develop myself.

Im currently looking at the work of Duane Micheals which i find very inspiring and is teaching me alot just by looking at the photography.

Whale in bowl - illustrator

i took my drawing from reference further and created some whales..
to begin my whales looked too realistic, like they should be illustrations in a science book about whales, they lost all the character that my first sketch had. so i continued and continued to play around and reach a half way point.

towards the top of the list here are the whales i drew on illustrator from reference, and you can see my progression creating more of a charcter and finding an in between point as you work down.
I do like the characters and the whales which are part realistic whale and part my own but im unsure if the computer illustrations against the photographs work as well as they could...

Drawing Whales from Refererence

drawing from reference

scan --

We had a group seminar in which mick talked about generating ideas, and then we were told to draw, draw and draw some more.
I was set the task to draw houses, as i had a small house included in my ideas.

to begin i started drawing from my head and my imagination, there were a few quirky ideas coming out. ghosts in the attic, houses made from broccoli etc, but the houses themselves, were very basic. 4 windows, a door and a roof. much like a childs drawing of a house. mick suggested that i drew using reference, which i was a bit stubborn about at first, with my whole project being based on imagination, but i took his advice, and i am very glad i did.

You can see the huge improvement on just a simple 5 minute drawing, from imagination and from a real picture of a house. i can then add these details from the real houses, windows and doors to my ghost house, and broccolli houses. definately a beneficial and very well worth while task.

ideas

silhouettes

bringing all my thoughts together and starting to generate ideas

How animation and live action mix with each other

Who framed Roger Rabbit




Pete's dragon



Tom Thumb - Bolex Brothers




Chris Shepherd

How 2d and 3d communicate

Who existing illustrators (who i greatly admire) who combine illustration, photography, scanned images, collage, 2d and 3d are...

Sara Fanelli

and

Lauren Child

i greatly admire the work of both illustrators and love how their work looks and works really well. i think my work is very different but am still looking at how they bring it all together and make it work.

Research into scale - how its been used..

Gullivers Travels
Alice in Wonderland
Gwen Stefani Video
The Borrowers
The old woman who lived in a shoe
Honey i shrunk the kids
Cuckoo clocks
Gingerbread Houses
Black Gang Chine