Bec Moore

Link to our groups communal tumblr blog for Assessment 3.

gLITCH experiment of an image taken of a storm rolling over the Harbour Bridge

...Inspirations, ideas, processes and reflection

The word ‘Illusion’ can be defined as a deceptive appearance or impression of something. Illusion misleads, astonishes, tricks and distorts what is factually real or apparent, through the use of illusory techniques and devices. Illusion has become the theme and underlying drive for my second project, and is able to stem from the original question chosen concerning desire.

 After reflecting on my Desire-poster response, I was able to highlight the ideas that came across well and re-develop those ideas that did not communicate as soundly. My main argument was that desire drives action, and whilst it does bring us closer to achievement there is always something; thus The Illusion of Desire.

 Coming into project 2 I was keen to investigate other interpretations of Illusion and explore the boundaries of Illusion in Design. After further research I became interested in Cinematic devices and how the use of these create an illusion of reality and evoke emotion. I travelled back to the inception of Cinematography and discovered the work of Edweard Muybridge in 1878. By creating still images of a galloping horse, he was not only able to uncover the answer to a puzzling question, but pave the way for many more artists of cinematography to come. Through the use of photography he enabled us to view movement in a frozen state, ultimately, a new way of seeing.

 I also gained inspiration from Andy Warhol’s’ exhibition; Motion Pictures, held in 2010 at MOMA. Using images of celebrities from the 1960’s he created moving portraits that were able to express emotion without any text or narrative. Although this does not speak directly to Illusion, I was able to take from it the ability to make art come to life speak for itself.

Cinematography provided the progression into my exploration of Stop Motion Animation. I was very interested in creating my own stop motion interpretations for project 2 and experimenting with the process of creating still images and the illusion of movement. I looked at many different Stop Motion animations on the Internet and the ones that were of value were videos that enabled new and innovative sight. A four-minute video that showed the growth and development of a pregnant woman over 9 months was a particularly inspiring one. This video opened my eyes to the possibilities of stop motion, visually creating movement by using images taken each on a different day. Growth was a theme that I was keen to explore on a less extreme scale, due to time restrictions.

With desire in mind I thought about topics that appealed to me and possible hobbies that could be used appropriately. I have always enjoyed cooking and having the ability to create something, which changes its form throughout a process. I began experimenting with the movement of an object documented through photography. Using this technique I positioned the camera so that the kitchen bench was in full view and commenced the process of making muffins, taking a photo at every stage of movement. I then used the photos in the order taken to create a video that gives the illusion of the ingredients coming to life.

As a dancer I am always interested and sometimes anxious to see photos taken of myself dancing, as it is always very tricky to get a good photograph whilst we are moving. I thought about how I could use this idea and translate it into a work that conveys illusion. The first step was to film myself dancing; I positioned the film in front of a large window and dressed in black, so that the movement of my body as a silhouette would be the main focus of the footage. After I grabbed screen shots taken at random points of the film. I printed out these new images created a filmstrip that show abstract visual portrayals of movement.

Reflecting on the works I have created for this project, I am satisfied with the outcome. If I were to push this exploration further I would attempt to document other natural growths or changes in both nature and in the modern world. Creating illusion through observation of natural processes would be an interesting and complex theme to investigate further if time and resources permitted.

   References:

animusic, YouTube, Pogo Sticks, video, 28th August,  2008, viewed 13th September,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srf3RcgCTRU&index=12&list=PLEB4E8CE772A1EDF2

Bachirules, YouTube, 9 months in 1000 pictures stop motion (Pregnancy time lapse!) - Osher, Tomer and Baby Emma, 13th July, 2012, viewed 10th September 14,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbLpTgTZGsg

Dialect Magazine 2011,  Andy warhol: Motion Pictures/ 19 December, 2010 MoMa, press release, 2nd February, 2011, viewed 5th September,

 http://dialectmagazine.com/2011/02/andy-warhol-motion-pictures-december-19-2010–march-21-2011/

LA Video Filmaker, 2014, 11 Essential Camera Techniques in Filmaking, viewed 7th September, 2014,

http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-techniques.html.

Minnard, Jonathon 2012, DEEPSPEED Media, viewed 8th September,

http://www.deepspeedmedia.com/about/

Tate- Britain, 2014, Edweard Mulbridge: The Horse in Motion, viewed 7th September, 2014,

Part Two- 'Dancing with Stop Motion'

Part Two 'Dancing with Stop Motion'

PROCESS:

Coming back to the dancing stills taken earlier in the week, I began exploring the ways in which I can present these images to best demonstrate motion.

I had the 16 images printed out in 4x6 standard sizing. I also chose 4 of the images and had them printed out in 9 wallet sized photos.

Taking inspiration from Edweard Mulbridges' collection of images to show movement I arranged my 16 stills in a similar way, but felt that the images were too disjointed to suggest a continuous movement throughout.

I considered the way films develop movement as a filmstrip is passed through a projection. I decided to create my own frame and filmstrip to try and replicate the movement of film without using pre-existing filming devices. I cut the wallet images up and rearranged them so that they were not in any order. I then cut a strip of cardboard and glued the images onto the strip. Finally I connected the strip together to create a filmstrip ring. 

Part One 'Cooking with Stop Motion'

FINAL VIDEO:

Part One 'Cooking with Stop Motion'

PROCESS:

Firstly I practiced moving a cup along the bench taking photos continuously to see how I could capture the movement in still photography rather than film. After experimenting with a cup I realised that I was able to create the illusion of a static object coming to life and moving on its own through photography.

I thought about an activity or process that I could animate and decided to cook muffins from start to finish. I set up the camera in front of the kitchen bench and began the 2 hour process.

297 photos later i had documented every step of the muffin making process. Using iMovie i then collated the photos and set them to 0.1 second/photo, to create the illusion of an animated video rather than a slideshow of images.

Lastly I found a piece of music to soundtrack the video called 'Pogo Sticks', by Animusic. Animusic create videos that bring the instruments playing the music to life, in an animated film. This gives the illusion of the instruments playing themselves to create music.

Research:

I decided to have a look at some clever stop motion videos on Youtube, that are able to make the impossible look real. I came across this 4 minute pregnancy video that shows the 9 month growth of the baby through stop motion video (taking the same photo everyday in the same clothing).

This is the type of thing I want to create in my own work, using stop motion as a illusory device that enables the audience to see something that in reality is impossible in the time frame.

Project Experimentation with video footage

I created a video of myself dancing and positioned it in front of a window to focus on the movement of my silhouette. After filming the footage I went back through and captured screen shots at various points. I wanted to explore cinematography and the ability to reveal movement that without this technology we would not be able to see. The stills show my body in suspended and sometimes abstract positions that once collaborated may create a new kind of visual movement.

Ideas for presentation of stills:

-flipbook

-interactive book

Research: The Illusion of Cinematics

Image 1- Researching types of cinematic techniques used in film and television. How camera angles, lighting, sound and framing can assist in telling a story and adding emotion and context.

Image 2- Andy Warholes' Motion Pictures (exhibition at MOMA in 2010).

A collection of black and white silent film- portraits of celebrities from the 1960's. Through cinematics he is able to bring the portraits to life and reveal their character and personality without text or narration.

http://dialectmagazine.com/2011/02/andy-warhol-motion-pictures-december-19-2010–march-21-2011/

Image 3- Eadweard Muybridges' The Horse in Motion (1878).

A collection of photographs of a horse running, was designed to solve the problem of whether all four hooves of a race horse are ever all off the ground whilst galloping. The use of cinematography not only solved this dilemma but opened up new possibilities of sight, and the ability to observe what the naked eye physically, cannot.

Week 7: Value

In class we were asked to design and create two pieces with found objects. One with value and one without. Catherina and I created four envelopes, two with value and two without. However depending on the audience, the distinction between value and unvaluable could be reversed as the contents of the envelope may be more sentimentally valuable to said viewer than the contents of the generically "valuable" envelopes.

Week 6: Context and Time

For this weeks experiment we collaborated with another group and came up with a design that integrates the two objects given to us; an old watch and a knitted brooch. 

We approached this task with the weeks topic in mind and came up with a design which encompasses the context of each object. Both a brooch and old watch are useless things that we keep around because of their sentimental value. We created a wrist accessory which is ultimately unwearable because of the spikes intruding the mobility of the wrist joint. we wanted to represent the image of time in the way the spikes are positioned on the band, representing a sun dial.

Project 2 Research Questions

Best of YouTube: This amazing video uses stop-motion animation and post-it notes to create a real work of art. You have to watch this video. WOW!

Poster Process

Using a trophy I had at home I traced the outer edge as it would fall on the page. I played around with the angles and shading and shadowing to help bring the 2D sketch to life. after I was happy with the A4 size sketch I moved onto an A2 white piece of card and repeated a similar process. However sketching around the trophy was proving to be quite difficult, so I used my computer screen as a way of referring back to the perspective front view of the trophy.

I also used a torch to get an idea of the trophies shadow.