Planning where/what to capture -
During Part B of this project I in particuarly worked with a super 8 film camera - so a lot of my time was spent actually looking for locations/images to film. This involved a trip to York and walking around the suburbs of Leeds.
Saves Time
The stop motion software speeds up and makes it easier to animate than tracing on my lightbox. It also means that the drawings turn straight into moving image without having to individually add to final cut. With only three computers the only problem with this space is getting an available station.
Organised Space
I make sure that everything I do is kept organised and in order - I’ve learnt that with stop motion animation and drawn animation organisation and order is essential, otherwise it could take hours to sort out the drawings.
Printer/Scanner
I have invested in a new printer this year, it made it easier to practise animation ideas at home before taking them into the stop motion suite - being able to prepare at home helped me when it came to working as efficiently as possible at uni.
on location
Stop Motion Suite
my bedroom
Where I film -
The majority of my time during Part B of the brief was spent outdoors filming with super 8 camera (Only outdoor/naturally lit enviroments can be captured on the device). It took a couple of times to even get the footage.
Experimental
As I am quite new to the process of animation I find that I am still finding out new ways to work in the stop motion suite everytime I use it. This does mean that sometimes it takes me a little longer to work out how to attack a certain problem - but I do normally get there in the end.
Resources
I have lots of paints/pens/art medias at home as well as a lightbox - which I did need for the drawn animation. All of these which can sometimes be essential with my work are hard to transport to and from the studio.
Laptop
I make sure I work on my laptop at my desk instead on on my bed/sofa as I feel I work best here. I have some of the necessary computer programmes I need to edit and create my work, however sometimes I will have to go into the studio to use unavailable software.
INDRODUCE YOURSELF At the moment my primary practice predominately involves multimedia moving image as well as illustration however I am still experimenting and finding my feet when it comes to having a personal ‘style’. My previous projects from this year have ranged from designing and branding a conceptual company to my latest projects where I worked with digital film, stop motion and analog film processes. I have made sure to utilise the time in second year to visit and work with a wide range of mediums and introduce myself to different techniques and processes as I feel this is the last time to take ‘risks’ before next year where I would like to refine my practice for the real proffessional ‘world’. As a student I am keen to make sure that context plays a big role within my work, my aim is to produce work that intrigues and questions the audience. However I am unsure about where I consider myself as a designer – I am currently in the battle between mediums of working - photography, illustration and moving image. As a second year I’m aware that now is the ti me to experiment what art medium I want to progress in. I have realised throughout this year that I thoroughly enjoy working with moving image, although the process is time consuming and requires the patient of a saint, I just love the satisfaction of the outcome - I also feel that a lot of my illustrations do look better when they move. I am on a personal mission to find a balance where I can use different processes that when combined in a certain way create ‘my style’.
Qu otati on by a C reati ve P rac ti ti oner I chose the quote ‘I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. That’s my intent.’ by Saul Bass. I did not necessarily agree completely with Bass’ opinion - as I have previously stated, I do enjoy creating wotk responding to a cultural and social issues and problems, whether it may be the political system, biographies or exploitations of the infamous - all of which I have visited in previous briefs. However, I have encountered a personal war with the current project. I have often been torn between prioritising the aesthetics over the social and contextual message that the work is meant to be portraying and visa versa.
“I want to make beautiful things, even if nobody cares, as opposed to ugly things. That’s my intent.” — Saul Bass
A n e x a m p l e o f a c r e at i v e p r a c t i t i o n e r s w o r k w h o ’ s intentions i most identify and aspire to Stuart Hilton is a member of ‘FAQ’, a directing duo working in commercials, film, content and graphics. He is an independent filmmaker occasionally and also makes music for film .
The first few days I was certain of what technology and mediums I wanted to explore within the brief however I was undecided of what theme/subject I was going to base the moving images on. At first I spent my first few days researching into Religious creation myths, making notes, watching documentaries and films. However I feel that this subject was too broad and was almost overwhelming for me. It was then when I stumbled across the reading of the Zinn speech. I then spent a couple of days editing and manipulating the sound, collaging it with found recordings. From then I used the speech as a structure - I started by painting with watercolour and then teaming it with a drawing tablet and digital collage process to composite the images to create a poster which illustrated a piece of the speech. Although these images were not ‘literal’ they captured in essence the message of the sentences from the speech.
I was extremely keen to work with a Super 8 camera however I was aware that the process was to come with a lot of limitations and risks. First of all was, time - It took an unexpected 2 weeks for the films I ordered to arrive, and the film and processesing materials were also expensive, so the economic limitation meant that I couldn’t afford any more materials. The second was the risk that it may not work - I had booked a trip to York for filming so I was excited! Also because I was to process the super 8 at uni with coffee I knew that the film would be abstract and extremely different to anything I had done before.
I was introduced to Stuart Hilton at the end of last year, as soon as I sat and watched through his films, I was captivated - for a number of reasons. Firstly the way the animation/moving image is complimented and exaggerated by the sound/music it is accomponied by - it gave me the inspiration to edit, compile and manipulate sound in different ways using audio editing software as well as taking the time to edit footage to move to the beat and pace of the audio itself (Part A Brief). He also uses an array of mediums and processes in his work - I like the way his style seems ever evolving, combining digital and analog methods - something of which I have been inspired to attempt. I also love the way that his animation’s seem quite childlike and basic, but when the footage is slowed down the amount of detail and design that come with each individual frame is simply fascinating.
What Processes (Technical) will I use for my work - do I need to learn any new ones to do the kind of work I had in mind? ‘Above is a scanned list of the processes I hope to use. I am ambitious to conquer all of the above - I hope to tackle the super 8 analog filming process - something I now will be time consuming and a huge risk since the film I have purchased expired in the 1970’s and so it may not work at all however I hope to be patient and open minded as with all of the other mediums. I am still new to the world of animation/moving image but I am gradually improving in the time and outcome of the process.
I took part in the ‘Poetry in Motion’ brief – The brief was about making a piece of moving image with emphasis on the word ‘moving’ i.e., emotionally. Using the poem, ‘Humanity, I Love You’ written by E.E.Cummings to create a 3 minute piece of moving image. The words of the poem were not necessarily needed to feature within the final piece as long as the relationship between the sentiment of the poem and the image was clear. During this project I created a total of 4 experimental clips; Split screen experimental work with found footage, Meat footage, Fruity stop motion animation experiment as well as a compilation of footage gathered – a visual mind map. These were short moving images that I worked on as part of my general development; they gradually developed and inspired my final piece - which I displayed at the crit, and ultimately the final moving image piece. Looking back at my first feedback entries and ideas I was extremely focused on getting specific shots to create a fast moving exploration of the metaphors used in the poem – taking them literally. Looking back - it was too staged and planned, it was only when I compiled everything I had captured in the first week into a short film when the simple action of the meat cutting stood out for its raw and mundane yet beautiful visual quality. That then gave me a direction to work with, that I was happy to run with. Therefore I think this project has taught me to not be so scared to stick with something simple, to not be afraid to show a slow moving clip for 15 seconds, it can be just as engaging as a flickering, upbeat piece. In my previous moving image pieces I have worked with an existing narrative and illustrated the piece literally and often at a fast pace. This project, although working with a narrative, I gradually learnt that the best way to really capture the emotion and message of the poem was to use subtle, almost abstract visuals – a world away from my initial literal filming I started out with. After messaging my tutor with my first experimental draft, it was her who suggested using the footage of meat being cut-up as it is a ‘visceral and brutal’ image. Another suggestion was made to keep the film simple, using 2/3 other images as well as including some of the words from the poem to really emphasise the message and sarcastic nature of the poem. I tried to take all of the advise on board and worked strenuously on a moving image piece. After sending it to my tutor I received some positive feedback for the music choice, the footage and repetitive nature of the visuals as well as the tones and colour of the piece. During my crit the legibility of the text was discussed – it was a little faint. Although I knew I did not want the words to overpower the moving image I did experiment with different typefaces and darker colours. When I showed the ‘blood red’ version during my presentation some of my peers felt they preferred the white typeface. So I reverted back to white, whilst changing the typeface to match the copy of the poem.
I knew that legibility was still an issue so I have tried to place the against darker backgrounds, or scale up the footage etc. instead of always appearing when a change in the music occurs, hoping this will enable the viewer to read the text. A peer also questioned the use of the pigeon footage, as it is extremely contrasting to the cellular, ‘bloody’, close-ups I used for the majority of the moving image. However I explained that I wanted to include this footage, not only because I was proud of recording what I believe to be a beautiful moment but also pigeons are considered ‘vermin’ so I felt the footage explores E.E.Cummings sarcastic nature and his love/hate view on society. It also links (accidently) as the pigeons were flying away from a war memorial, and the poem was written just after the war, so it almost demonstrates his cynical view on the war. Initially I looked at filmmakers and animators such as Jonathan Hodgson and Stuart Hilton – I LOVE the way they combine footage with drawn animation, however as the project progressed I felt this technique did not fit with the mood of the poem. I looked at the opening credits of True Blood, I love the way it uses uncomforting vicious images which when united together almost create something visually stunning and captivating. I also reflected on a lot of films that were shown at the Aesthetica film festival 2013 it seemed that the audio/music behind the pieces were key to emphasise the emotion of the films. I made sure that I researched and explored a vast array of musical genres to get the right sound for my moving image, as well as editing the piece to fit and move with the pitch/ tone and beat of the music. During this project I initially struggled with keeping my ideas minimal and simple, however I feel that during the process I have gradually worked on this and I feel like I have progressed from my previous chaotic/immature style. As well as the general challenges of the software, I still consider myself a beginner in final cut, however with the help of YouTube tutorials I got around the issues that arose. Overall I am quite happy with this, even though I’ve been staring at it for weeks I still feel ‘proud’ – I feel this is mainly because the simple style is something I have never touched upon before – I normally use stop motion so it was all new to me but it enabled me to learn lots on Final cut. This project has been thoroughly enjoyable and has made me certain that I want to explore moving image within my self-initiated forthcoming project.
After finding the Zinn speech I spent a couple of days editing the sound with the audacity program. I have added some found sounds and shortened the speech to make it more ‘punchy’ whilst making a more realistic time scale to animate/collect footage for.
Once I edited the audio from the speech I dissected the speech, making notes for possible ideas to take forward. On the left is an example of how my work developed from some scanned in doodles to a collage and finally into an animation. I like the way I can clearly see how my ideas have developed both in the way that it looks as well as the medium that it is presented. On the right is a demonstration of how I start drawing each individual drawing and then take it to the studio where it is developed into a digital piece.
As an individual I love to make work that has social and contextual connotations, whether it be something current or past. I watch documentaries, listen to educational talks/podcasts in my spare time - I feel these ‘inputs’ are the core/ fundamental beginning of my work as it introduces me to a new subject matter, a person, or an opinion of which I can then research further to then illustrate and animate.
During my research I found the ‘True Blood’ opening credits video, as well as how they were made. The design studio used a super 8 cameras for the majority of the shots. I fell in love with the visuals and aesthetics and straight away I knew that I wanted to give this medium, which I had never used before. I found the speech written and spoken by Howard Zinn on civil obedience on the website ‘Art is a three letter word’. It was so captivating and intriguing I was inspired to make a piece of work responding to it.
Above is a picture taken from the Pick Me Up exhibition that I visited as part of my ongoing research throughout the brief.
Research Notes...
The super 8 process was highly experimental - from planning what and where to film, to the coffee processing, I then went through a couple more experimental processes where I scanned individual frames for stop motion animation, projected the footage and finally decorated and drew directly onto the film and then filmed it as part of a collaboration with Jack Moy.
COMBINE ALL...
After finishing Part A it was clear that I wanted to stick with working with moving image as I felt that although I was happy with my outcome of the brief, I recognised that my technical skills still needed improving, as it is seriously affecting my time management and in turn quality of the outcome. It was nice and refreshing to try something new with Part A of the brief – I had never spent a long duration working with film without complicating it with other processes and mediums – and after learning so much throughout the tutor led brief I knew that for Part B I wanted to do something new and risky. In the last two years I feel my best projects have been when I have taken a gigantic risk by throwing myself into something that I have never tried before, taking the time to teach myself the processes and finding out what works and what doesn’t. I still consider myself a beginner with moving image – not only in the making but the knowledge of current and past animators and filmmakers. So when I came across the True Blood opening credits I was captivated. I love the way that the visuals represent dark imagery such as death, the devil and decay yet to me they seem so intricate, beautiful and delicate. I think I had subconsciously tried to recreate this awkward paradox during the Part A brief – teaming a blood like, meat cutting visceral images but trying to create a ‘beautiful’ piece of work. So I researched more into how the opening credits were made where I found out that they design company mainly device used was a super 8 camera, I knew that this was the risk I wanted to take, to use this as a medium to create my films. I had to learn the hard way that working with Super 8 comes with a number of risks and limitations. The first being price, I ordered some on eBay that were very pricey and I also had to buy the ‘ingredients’ for the ‘at home’ coffee process. Time was also a restraint, as I had to wait for the films to be delivered, although it was only approximately 10 days it still was aggravating, as I couldn’t get stuck in when I wanted to. I did make sure that I kept myself busy during this limbo time by researching into the content side of my project and producing other work however I feel that this going in and out of two completely different medium processes negatively affected my work. The second being that the films I had bought had an expiry date in 1970 – so may not work at all, this unfortunately did happen to me. I had made the decision to film urban textures with my first film, to really get to grips with how the camera works, and I was hoping to then progress to a more constructed contextual film with my second film.
However I still think that I was too precious with my first attempt, I took it around both Leeds and York exploring and capturing interesting textures and visuals. I then went through the long time consuming coffee process. I had never been so excited about a piece of work – I the combination of putting in the effort and consideration to get the shots I wanted teamed with the risky and unpredictable process caused me utter heartbreak when after all of my work the film came out completely blank. I honestly think that this set me back a couple of days, I was my own worst enemy because I had become so passionate and excited about the outcome of what I was going to produce that when it came back completely blank I almost wanted to give up – I had become to precious about it. However after a near mental breakdown I decided I owed it to myself, and my bank account to give it another try. This time the process seemed quicker, I don’t think this was because I became any less precious with it, but because I knew exactly what shots I wanted to get and where to go to get them. It was then when I processed the film and I saw a slight image on the film that my motivation and excitement came flooding back to me. I did however endure many complications in the recording of the film, I did not realise that something that seems so easy can take hours/days. I have been worried with the amount of work I have produced, because on the face of it I have not created as much work, as I would normally do. I do believe that this is because I encountered many time consuming problems, for example how the projector was jamming and stop/starting and in comparison to Part A of the brief where I stuck with digital media the speed of producing finalised ideas and work. When it came to deciding what theme/subject I did struggle with what to focus on. At first I wanted to create short films exploring creation myths, I spent a couple of days watching films, documentaries and reading articles on the different stories. I was really struggling to find a specific place to start my project because the subject was so broad it almost was daunting for me. It was then when I stumbled across a reading of Howard Zinn’s speech on civil disobedience by Matt Damon where I was instantly engaged and exciting about the message that he was getting across. I have previously worked at creating an animation on the EU economy so I had some basic knowledge and a general interest in the make up of the past and present social and cultural hierarchal systems. It seemed a perfect coincidence because the speech was written and originally read in the 1970’s and yet is so relevant in today’s society. As well as the link between the fact that it was written in 1970’s and I had decided to use the super 8 cameras, which were popularly used in the seventies – a metaphorical and literal link. I spent a lot of time editing and manipulating the sound from the reading of the speech. For practical reasons – i.e. cutting it down from six minutes to a reasonable couple of minutes so that I can realistically create a moving image piece in the short space of time - I was inspired by the filmmaker, Stuart Hilton (who I have previously spoken about). I wanted to have a chaotic soundtrack with abstract layers, not just a narrative with a soundtrack.
Again something I had not done before. This took longer than expected, as I was new to the sound editing software it took a little while to really get to grips with the program. However I am quite happy with the outcome I produced. During the period where I was waiting for my super 8 films to arrive I wanted to produce work. So I started two dissecting the speech, taking sentences from it and illustrating them. I began by illustrations. The two quotes I particularly concentrated on illustrating were; “This world is Topsy Turvy” and “The wrong people are in charge.” For the first illustration I hand drew and watercolour painted most of the components, scanned and then ‘collaged’ them together, after I emphasized the lines and colours with a drawing tablet. For the first illustration I tried to portray an idea of how the ‘snakes in suits’ were brain washing and controlling society, and who are in charge of the world. I was cautious of not wanting to give these ‘controllers’ any physical/literal identity to represent the how the general public are normally unaware with who they are actually voting for – the men in the political campaigns that can pretend to ‘relate’ to the average person is actually only a façade for the real invisible money makers of the economy. I was careful in the colour palette I used; I wanted the red to stand out, for its significant connotations to danger and alarm. The second illustration based on the quote ‘The wrong people are in power’ is also a sarcastic response to the government of today, I tried to make subtle connotations to Hitler with the only symbol linking it to the dictator being a ‘scribble’ for a moustache. I didn’t want it to overpowering or too obvious, but at the same time I wanted some link. I also created a nuclear bomb pattern, I purposely used bright stereotypically vibrant and happy colours to introduce the concept of how the nuclear bombs are so powerful and every country needs them like a fashion accessory. I wanted to portray how I think that the people in charge are child like and immature in the values, policies and views that they stand for. I wanted to keep it within a similar style to the previous illustration, so I used similar methods of process, from watercolour to illustrator and finally a collage and composed them on Photoshop.
Raphael Vincenzi
Vincenzi was my contextual and visual stimulation to create the above pieces, I loved how he created a colourful, fun and captivating image whilst getting a sincere message of his views on the political system across, something which I aspire to be able to do. After reviewing these two illustrations I felt that especially the first would look better moving, it would be more dynamic and get the message I wanted to portray across. I tried to animate it using stop motion as an experimental idea for the initial opening to my animation. It was a great chance to revisit stop motion animation, and reinforced how long and time consuming it is, taking me a massive two whole days to produce a 0.09 second piece - which I was not overly happy with. The disappointment was mainly due to how I edited the proportion and the image quality, so I made it a priority to revisit it if there is enough time within the project timeline. (Some screenshots from this animation are pictured below)
Finally, after three attempts I successfully made a complete, working super 8 film. I was happy that I was experimental with what footage I tried to get as the wide range of textures I collected taught me what was successful and what was not. For example the signs and bold graffiti/ text I recorded were visible whilst the more intricate footage such as water in the fountains of Leeds and flowers swaying in the wind were too abstract to see, however to produce some lovely abstract images.
I edited and enhanced the film but tried to keep it as organic as possible with my first film, making sure I don’t put lots of effects on it with final cut as I wanted it to be the raw outcome of my experiment – as true to the analogue process as possible. Plus I was really pleased with the textures and the natural movement within the moving image. I was extremely happy with Aiden’s positive feedback that said that he thought that my film “is beautiful. It’s atmospheric and abstract but there are some interesting figurative bits that come through [especially the words]” So I was proud that I stuck with the process and was persistent about it. Most of the moving images I captured were ‘urban textures’, like wires from power lines, rusty paint and flower beds as well as images of poverty for example, trainers hanging from the telephone lines and graffiti. I wanted the first super 8 film I made to be random, simple and ‘beautiful’ - which arguably doesn’t match to ‘narrate’ the audio content however I never worried about trying to illustrate the words with the super 8 film. There are a number of reasons for this - firstly I want to process the first film first to see how it comes out, so I can learn from that to improve the final film and the second reason was that I wanted to keep the link between the fact that the speech was written in 1970’s and I personally think that not much has changed between then and now so I like the way that it is in the same medium as it would of been 40 years ago.
I was then shown a video by Cherry Kino called Nail Art which is a 16mm film made entirely using nail varnishes and nail stickers directly placed onto the film. She describes the film as a ‘visceral response to the craze for nail art, and considers whether nail art is wholly at odds with female freedom, as an activity that requires maintaining a veneer at the cost of empowered physical action in the world, or whether it’s a modern-day equivalent to patchwork and a piecing together of feminine community and the emergence of a fresh and active aesthetics.’ I love the way she explores something with such depth and meaning and in doing so creates such wonderfully vibrant images and patterns. I also loved how she stayed true to the analogue process; the entire film is the original, which gradually becomes worn down by the projector. This is something that I related to but did not feel entirely confident to leave my film completely unedited and un-enhanced. Maybe it is because I am slightly insecure with my work? Maybe I like the way the computer can instantly ‘make it better’ but I hope that in the future I can stay away from the computer completely, and only use it to display the final piece. I did however want to try and attempt to manipulate the film by personally handling it.
To the left are screen grabs from Cherry Kino’s moving image ‘Nail Art’ It was at this point that after conversations and realizing a similar interest in Cherry Kino’s work that Jack Moy and I decided to do some collaborative piece using a range of materials such as sharpies, glitter glue and spray paint to physically manipulate one of the super 8 films. We were both really excited about the process was uncontrollable and similarly to Cherry Kino we allowed for the film to burn and evolve whilst recording the film. We worked good as a team, as we encountered a couple of technical problems but helped each other to get produce a unique and exciting outcome – which is still being worked on. I love how the side project with the Super 8 naturally evolved without planning in advance - as previously stated I feel that the ‘unexpected’ work comes out the best. I also spent hours scanning in the individual frames from the original 50ft of film and creating a stop motion with the images. This was really temperamental as the scanner kept changing the colour and quality of the scans. I did however get to make a short stop motion which I feel works quite well however I did not persist in carrying on with this idea as it was too time consuming. I was so excited that there were just so many possibilities and experiments I can do with the film. I am also going to use the scan and stop motion method with the product of the burnt out film that Jack and I created to create stop motion as I feel this will naturally exaggerate the detail of each frame that we hand drew on more than just ‘filming’ it.
Side project - Super 8 Pac kaging -
I scanned in the packaging that came with the super 8 films from 1970’s, which I believed to be so beautiful and authentic. I wish design was as raw and considered as it used to be! Although this has nothing to do with my project I thought it would be nice to at least capture and show off the packaging of the product.
“Semiotics is an investigation into how meaning is created and how meaning is communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create meaning.” It is a way of seeing the world, and of understanding how the landscape and culture in which we live has a massive impact on all of us unconsciously.
Going back to a more literal illustration to narrative of the speech I had a go at creating a drawn animation segment which is illustrating the Howard Zinn speech, this part is focusing on the issue that the wrong people are in power, I chose to recreate an infamous moment where a police officer abused his power and pepper sprayed innocent youths who were peacefully protesting. My colour palette was considered - using red paints/pens/mediums to stand out, to highlight certain aspects of the animation at specific points. At 15 drawings per second, it is a very fast moving image but I like this as the ‘flashing images’ - I feel grab the audience’s attention, almost making them feel uncomfortable. I hope to extend this and look to layering and combining with the super 8 footage for the final animation, which I am still working on finishing during my final week of finalising work.
As a designer I feel that I am learning to consciously use particular colours or signifiers to imply and indicate a hidden meaning, or even to emphasize a visible one. For example I have noticed that I use a lot of red against grey scale backgrounds – obviously it is primarily an aesthetic decision, however, red connotes danger, death and alarm. All of which link to my personal view on the economic, social and cultural hierarchy we are currently living in. I also have tried including ‘crowns’ above the ‘people in power’s’ heads, almost like halos. I want it to create the idea that they consider themselves god like and above the rest of society. My super 8 film used obvious signs and motifs connoting poverty and the need to change for example the ‘No entry sign’ as well as filming barbed wire to imply entrapment and how society is contained and controlled by a bigger power. The link between how the speech was made in 1970’s and the issues that were discussed have not been dealt with and are so current in todays society, for example how the wrong people are in power – I personally believe as an individual that the smartest most educational people should be the decision makers, not the people who have inherited the money to control the system selfishly. So I believe that the use of the super 8 cameras is almost ironic – that in 40 years as a society we haven’t evolved or adjusted our political system.
I would love to see my work displayed by projecting it to create an installation type exhibition, something which I hope to do in the final week. I feel that the colours and fast pace of the images would be appreciated more by the audience if visible on a massive and almost suffocating scale. I have tried to edit my sound so that the sound plays with direction - for example the collage of sounds coming from the right whilst the narrative coming from the left. I would love for my work to be considered an ‘experience’..
I consciously edited the footage in my response to the EE.Cummings war poem to exaggerate the reds, to connote the brutal blood shed in the war.
I visited the Pick Me Up exhibition at Somerset House which is a festival of Graphic Arts. It was so refreshing to be introduced to new and original works from up and coming artists. Such as; Andy Martin, Julia Pott and Jessica Dias their work really made me feel motivated and excited to be a part of the design industry. The main reason I attended was to take in a workshop run by ‘Anthony Burrill’. Although Burrill is famous for his clean-cut typographic posters I came across his moving image pieces. I was instantly drawn to their simplicity and focus on shapes, lines and colour. During the workshop we created patterns in a grid formation, simply by cutting an sticking (this also has given me ideas for a future animation), but what fascinated me most was the projection of his moving images that covered an entire wall and gave the room such excitement, colour and drama without having any serious meaning. His work really encouraged me to work into my Super 8 film with shape and simple pattern, although my attempt was arguably completely the opposite to Burrill’s work as it was all done using analog methods and came out extremely abstract. On reflection I like the way that I was influenced by an established artist but with my own personal take on the method I came out with a completely different and unique outcome. I would like to try and work with digital animation in the future; the colours sharpness and clarity from Burrill’s moving image were simply captivating. Although I do find it difficult to work the software with digital animation, I hope to learn and progress in future projects. Visiting ‘Pick Me Up’ reinforced the importance of attending these events as I left the event feeling excited and fired up to do work. It was also a chance to network and introduce myself to other designers.
As an animator/illustrator I am anxious about working freelance in the industry - this article made me feel comfortable that even renowned artists feel the same way. I am keen to get myself into a strict routine when it comes to creating work, as I know that in the big wide world d this can make or break a designer.
During one of the contextual lectures we looked into how propaganda posters were used to directly address and emotionally blackmail the target audience in a number of subtle and direct ways. A direct threatening example is by directly pointing at the viewer the two most famous examples being the 1914 Lord Kitchener - which is considered one of the most iconic and enduring images from World War 1. This poster was so successful in increasing the British army that in 1917 an American version was created, their version featured ‘Uncle Sam’’ (a national personification of the United States, both with the same initials.) Recruitment posters in general were often seen as the main driving force helping to bring millions of men into the Army. I personally thought it was scary to think that approximately 100 years ago a single poster would have such a dramatic affect on the population, as I feel (/would like to hope) that the majority of todays society would be able to recognise that the advertisement is propaganda. Another one of the most iconic British World War I recruiting posters had its ‘goal shaming slackers’ into enlisting by reminding them that, at some future time, their children would want to look up to them for their war service. It was also pointed out that the designer had used subtle connotations to the war by painting toy soldiers into the composition. This lecture really made me realise the power of design and how it can subconsciously form an opinion just by looking at a poster. I do, however, believe that the change in societies perceptions makes it harder for designers to successfully alter the general publics opinions. The Internet has given our society of today access to the ‘truth’ and with the ever growing freedom of speech and opinion in society, especially in our country, it now requires more imaginative methods of ‘recruitment’ for example the fast moving adrenaline filled adverts made for todays territorial army. I feel this is just one example of many how the modern world pushes today’s designers to think faster, more imaginatively and produce original outcomes to get the necessary results, especially in the advertising industry.
LAURA PANNACK Laura Pannack is a London based photographer who studied from the prestigious establishments Central Saint Martins and the University of Brighton. The most intriguing thing that I took from Laura’s lecture was how she is so driven by working in a documentary way in her self initiated briefs. I found it so engaging how she is so committed to sticking with a project to really get to grips and understand how and what she is documenting. I also loved how she was so particular and made sure that she developed a strong relationship with the people she was documenting. In her own words, she does all she can “to understand the lives of those captured, and to present them creatively”. I do think that often photographers can take photos that manipulate the situation to create more enticing work to attract viewers to ‘make money’ but I really felt that Laura’s work was so committed to portraying the truth and reflect the diverse and intriguing personalities. Really making the audiences think about certain subjects. She described her gigantic commitment to the Young British Naturist society project not only by physically putting herself in a vulnerable position by being naked as well but also in the time that she spent making sure she got the pictures she felt best documented the society. It was also really nice to see that even though she is making her money with commercial work you could visibly see that she cares more about her self initiated projects. She also gave advice on practical and logistical problems that she has encountered from being a freelance artist for example chasing up invoices and issues with copyright etc. - it really was an extremely helpful and insightful lecture.
Eleanor Langley Graphic Communications - London College of Communication Year 3. Although, not my assigned ‘buddy’ I had a conversation with this up and coming designer which really gave me determination and motivation for this project with some amazing advice that I wanted to include - especially for my own personal future reference. “I used to work for myself, creating imagery ad finding my own style. During third year, I realised that I had to learn to adapt and evolve in order to really consider and work to specific client requirements. However, I’ve also learnt that if you have a strong fresh new idea that you really want to take forward then propose this to you client - generally I have learnt that sometimes you need to get some balls and put your opinion forward. Risk taking and pushing the boundaries are the ingredients for successful design.” “I take a film camera everywhere you go - I capture anything that inspires me, textures, typography, people - anything! Using a film camera make you appreciate them more compared to using my iPhone!” “Make sure you do work over summer, apply for internships, keep busy, network, collaborate visit exhibitions and draw every day. The summer prior to third year I made sure to get stuck in to my self initiated projects, this made the transition into third year as I had materials and ideas ready to edit and take further.” “Contact and network. Many of my friends in the years above have had the opportunity to intern at many design agencies just by contacting the visiting lecturers, their favourite practitioners and socialising at exhibitions.”
Tomorrow I am set to edit the film I created with Jack Moy, compiling every thing we filmed across the whole day into the ‘best bits’. While also experiment with scanning in the individual stills from the burnt altered films to create both images to use as possible posters or prints as well as a stop motion.
Next Week I am going to finalise and bring together all of the work I have produced over the last few weeks and create the final film for the ‘Civil Obedience’ speech, ready to showcase for my presentation.
Summer I am keen to continue creating work throughout the summer, making sure I keep motivated ready for next year. I know this is essential as I found it hard to get back into the creative flow after coming back in September last year. I have applied for a number of internships in design studios around Leeds, where I shall hopefully gain experience and inspiration to take forward into third year. I also hope to become technically savvy in a number of the software programs for example final cut and after effects.
The Dream I hope to work in the moving image industry, working on music videos creating new and experimental ways to create moving image. I know I have a long way to go to progress from my rough, experimental film style however I hope this will be a natural progression to find my feet and my style.
Websites/Online Articles LICKENS, ALICE. (2012). ALICE LICKENS BLOG. Available: http://www.lickens.co.uk/. Last accessed 1st May 2014. Pannack, L. (2012). Laura Pannack Photography. Available: http://laurapannack. com/. Last accessed 30th April 2014. Dan Oliver. (2011). Creative Bloq. Available: http://www.creativebloq.com/aboutus. Last accessed 30th April 2014. Voices of Peoples History. (2012). Howard Zinn’s speech reading by Matt Damon. Available: https://vimeo.com/48834336. Last accessed 25th April 2014. Infomation Clearing House. (2012). The Problem is Civil Obedience. Available: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36950.htm. Last accessed 20th April 2014. Netflix. (1997). Netflix. Available: http://www.netflix.com/WiHome. Last accessed 28th April 2014. Alice Lickens. (2014). Freelancing: what to do when it all goes quiet. Available: http://www.creativebloq.com/computer-arts/freelancing-what-do-when-it-all-goesquiet-4148398. Last accessed 28th April 2014. Jurksaitis, Martha . (2010). Cherry Kino . Available: http://cherrykino.blogspot. co.uk/. Last accessed 25th April 2014. Vincenzi, Raphael. (2007). Raphael Vincenzi Website. Available: http://mydeadpony.com/. Last accessed 21st April 2014.
Books Hollis, Richard (2001). Graphic Design: A Concise History (World of Art) [Paperback]. Thames and Hudson Ltd: Thames and Hudson Ltd. 232.
Films Zeitgeist: The Movie, Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told , Part II: All the World’s a Stage, Part III: Don’t Mind the Men Behind the Curtain, 2007, Peter Joseph Religulous, 2008, Larry Charles/Bill Maher
Countdown to Zero, Lucy Walker, 2010