Project 2 Not all fairytales have a happy ending
I chose the idea of fairy-‐tale’s as I have always been interested in fairy-‐tale’s throughout growing up. Recent films that have twisted certain fairy-‐tale’s into a darker story really grabbed my aBenCon, such as ‘Alice in wonderland’ which was recently re-‐made by Tim Burton into a more dark and twisted film. I then researched more fairy-‐tale’s that I could convert into darker stories and came across that all the fairy-‐tale’s were originally old scary tales wriBen by the Grimm's brothers. This then inspired me further to recreate these old dark tales, which would create a huge impact on viewers that are use to the original tales. I believed this also would have challenged me as I could use more pracCcal developments as opposed to the usual Photoshop I would use. For my photography coursework project 2 I intend to explore a wide use of techniques based on when fairytales go wrong.
Tim Walker Tim walker done a parCcular set of ‘Fairytale’ photographs. I find Tim Walker’s photographs parCcularly interesCng as they are very obscure and unusual to the human eye. They appear extremely visually striking and I find it can link in with symbolism. The majority of the photographs he took portrays people in a different like. In this parCcular photograph he picks out specific features and enhances them with brightly coloured make up, over exaggeraCng those features and then dressing them up with bold frilly clothes and materials which is a lot more far fetched than what people look like. I believe this can symbolise the fact that fairy tales are completely made up and contrast reality and real life, as the model seems lifeless as it has no expression in the photograph. I found it fascinaCng that the bright colours really accentuate the image and make the person seem fairy-‐tale1 – like or dream –like. The white studio wall in the background contrasts against all the bright colours and really makes the subject of the photographs stand out. This has inspired me to experiment with studio photography for this project in my own work as it could make my images really stand out in the photographs and contrast with the bright coloured make-‐ups and costumes I want to use.
Idea 1
Annie Leibovitz Annie Leibovitz has done a lot of photographic work in the film industry, creaCng images from films and other medias and using them to put into magazines. This parCcular I find aestheCcally pleasing as it links in with the fairy-‐tale theme that I am doing. The photograph shows the two characters in a natural looking seTng. I feel that this is very affecCve as it makes the photo a lot more realisCc where there are ficConal characters within the image. The photograph has a high contrast and clarity which picks out the details within the photograph. The bold colours really stand out making the photograph more aestheCcally pleasing to the eye. This has inspired me to use a higher clarity and contrast in my photographs to accentuate the quality of the photographs and bring out all of the details that usually wouldn’t been seen.
EvaluaCon of idea 1. My main intenCons of taking this set of photographs was to experiment with a studio seTng to create twisted fairy-‐tale. I was inspired by Tim walker’s arCsCc photography where his portraits were bold and the white studio wall made the subject of his photographs really stand out. With this set of photographs I chose to dress up in a variety of fairytale characters and take self portraits as the characters. As I used bold colored make-‐up and costume’s I wanted to be able to enhance the colors naturally without much ediCng. With the studio light and the white wall background it proved to make the model in the photographs stand out which I felt I achieved. Using arCficial light which highlights the bold colours and creates depth within the phtoograph with the shadowing, the arCficial surrounding really makes an impact to the viewer as it is appealing. I chose to use a variety of different fairy-‐tale characters to help with my idea 2 and experiment which one I would prefer to use throughout my project. I believe the outcomes came out really well and the make-‐up and the characterisCcs really enhances the emoCons within the photograph and can portray the story within the image, with the same affect that Tim walker uses with his studio based portraits.
Idea 2 ExperimenCng with one character LiBle Red Riding Hood
ExperimenCng with Silver EFEX ediCng
Comic Book
ExperimenCng with re-‐photographing my photos onto a copy of the real story.
EvaluaCon of idea two My target for this idea was to develop my iniCal idea and make it into a story. I chose the idea of ‘LiBle Red Riding hood’ and then made up my own version of the story that would end in a happy ending. A\er I planned this all out I then photographed the images in a natural seTng to suit each scene/chapter of the story. I felt by using the natural background it gave the photographs for life and made the story a lot more real, I feel this would make a huge impact on the viewer as they can see it is more realisCc. I found it quite challenging as I had never done a set of photographs to make up a story before. It was also quite an interesCng task to direct the different models to the posiCons I wanted them to be in. With the first set of photo’s I chose to enhance the color red in ‘LiBle Red’s’ hood and edit the rest of the photographs into black and white to let the subject of the story stand out. I felt this was very effecCve as the Red hood made her the main focus in the story and with all the details of leaves around her in black and white the colors were not too overpowering. With my second development Idea I chose to use silver EFEX to enhance the details that were edited into black and white. I felt that this was really effecCve and the clarity of the photographs improved and where those parts of the photo are not in color I felt it gave them back life and made the photographs more appealing, picking out all the liBle details as I felt to have the whole photograph in color wouldve made it too over powering.
To follow on my next developmental idea was to then create a comic book to put this images into and see as a real story. I used Photoshop to create an A4 sized comic with use of researching other comics to see the layout. Along with the photographs I put text to explain what was happening in the story, I used the thick black outlines and font to create more of an impact and make it more comic-‐like. To make it more authenCc I used the tradiConal comic book illustraCons such as, ‘Bang!’ and ‘WOW’ which made the comics book a lot more interesCng and grabs the viewers aBenCon. I felt the bold black outline that framed the photographs made them really stand out contrasCng the brightness of the red hood. I found this was a successful arCsCc approach. My final outcomes I wanted to use a pracCcal approach to develop my photographs. This is when i used a real children's story book of liBle red riding hood. I cut out my photographs and stuck them into the relevant places in the story. I felt this really work out well as without being planned, in some of the photographs, the models were in the same place as the cartoon sketches. Where my photographs joined up nicely with the real story book illustraCons it make it extremely effecCve. I also put some photographs ie. Wolf dressed as Grandma, right next to the book illustraCons to show the different aspects where the photographs contrast with the act images. I also feel that the text running alongside of the photographs linked really well and made the story work perfectly with the images.