#fdmedia

I think my 6 final images are really successful. I set out to use media to recreate the busy atmosphere of my location, and also showcase the the happy, bright bursts against the vastly grey and negative space. Media is all about framing and reframing, and I think this technique of distressing photographs and re-photographing is a perfect example of the media process we have studied.

On the analogue experimentation day we were shown some artists for a starting point, but I was still unsure where to start. I liked the look of stitching over photos and had never tried that before, so I started with that. After also experimenting with scanners, Polaroids, re-photographing, I came away from this day with a good idea where to go. Digital experimentation day was interesting- I leant to use Premier for editing videos and I feel my video adds a lot of variety to my project. I had never used film before at all, so I found it hard to be decisive about how to edit the clips together- I feel like imagining a moving image composition is much harder for me, as I would consider myself to be a Fine Artist. I generally preferred using more traditional media methods, although the graphics tablet was easy to use and is so versatile, I can definitely see myself using it again in the future.

I used two artists initially (Van Beek and Ed Ruscha) then was prompted to Stephen Gill by my tutor after talking about my idea. Gill turned out to be the most relevant artist for me, as he had done a few photography series very similar to my idea. Next time I’d like to find references not just from artists, but literature, music, film perhaps, to gain more of a range of contexts.

I found using the blog rather than sketchbook really helpful for this project as I didn’t have to worry about keeping the book neat, or printing out lots of photos. I evaluated and annotated everything on my blog, as it makes it easy to view the image and type underneath. I feel my journal fell a bit behind as I had already written about each piece I uploaded, the journal didn’t feel as important.

During the Critique the response to my project was very positive- the tutor thought my final outcomes were a successful end to the project, and my classmates said they liked the film, particularly with the repetition and hazy, jerky visuals.

Video Experimentation

I wanted to recreate the hectic, fast-pace atmosphere of my location by using my time-lapse videos. I Had never used Premier before and I found it fairly tricky to get the hang of. Most of my videos were taken portrait so it was harder to get a sleek look with the widescreen, landscape template. I played around with lots of effects, many of which I thought looked childish and didn't add anything to the videos. I stuck to using opacity to overlay videos, and simple dissolving transitions.