Research & Work Based Practice - Final Video

I had a look at the suggestion my tutor made and I decided I didn't like it. I decided to add the sound effects anyway of the water dripping and the clock ticking. I found these on freesound.org and will credit the person. I thought I would have to make them louder than the music so they wouldn't be missed but I didn't have to. I am pleased with the result and with my decision but I am also pleased that I tried something different as it is all about trial and error. I have also added a title page at the beginning and end credits where I have added credits for the people who have created the music and sounds. Even though they have come from a website which states I don't have to, I still want to as without the pieces my video wouldn't be as effective.

I am really pleased with my video and the outcome of it. I have picked up on a couple of things which I would improve on. I think I would need to check the focus on each shot repeatedly to make sure it is correct. I had to have it on auto focus a lot of the time as when my model was moving I wasn't fast enough to refocus. I think I could do with practicing more with that over the holidays to improve it. I also think I need more practice in general with videoing. This is my first proper time doing it and I have really enjoyed it but I would like to improve and try again with other ones. I would also like to make more stop motions so I might make that a project for my spare time.
I have played the video to a couple of my class mates and a couple of my friends and they have said they have really connected with it and enjoyed it. One did pick up on a slight mishap where my model nudged the tripod so today I have learnt on Premiere how to remove it and pause the film in that place for a few seconds to make the clip the same length as before but without the glitch. I like to ask people to review my work for this reason as I may have blinked and missed it but they haven't and they have been honest with me about it.

On the whole I hope people at the exhibition will enjoy this and really connect with it like I have done in the making process.

I have named the video Broken Memories...

Unfortunately the file is too big to be added on to the blog but has been handed in on a memory stick instead.

Research & Work Based Practice - Exhibition Label

It is normal for work to have a label when it is on display in an exhibition. I have never had any work on display before so I have never had to write one before. I have had a look online at a few different websites which help you to decide what to put and I have found them all useful. I have decided to show this one as I found it the most helpful..

There are a few questions I constantly receive, and one of the most common is how to label artworks in an exhibition. The truth is, there is no single standard format, though most labels include the same key elements. I have written a previous post on the subject, How to Label Artwork in an Exhibition. Below, I have expanded on some of the specifics, as well included more examples of artwork labels.

The most standard information included on artwork labels is:

1. The artist’s name
This one is pretty straightforward!

2. The title of the work
Depending on your preference, the title of the artwork can be plain, in italics, or bolded. Italics are often used to differentiate the title from the rest of the information, as well referencing english grammar rules for titles. The title could also be in bold as a different method of differentiating it from the remainder of the information.

3. The date of the artwork
Generally, the date of an artwork is the year that it was completed. Sometimes, if a work has been continued over a long span of time and the artist would like to acknowledge that, multiple years can be included (for example, 2012-2014). If the date of the artwork is unknown (usually for historical works), “circa” is included: for example, c. 1919.

4. The size of the artwork
The measurement of an artwork usually refers to the outer size of the canvas, paper, or other material that is the base of an artwork. Unless the frame is an integral part of the work itself, its measurements should not be considered the size of the artwork. The standard is to list the height, then the width. The depth, if applicable, would be listed third. For example, 57 x 46 x 3 inches. Sometimes, there is no specific dimensions for a work (for example, video work, or work which changes size depending on different installation circumstances). In the case of no specific dimensions, it is appropriate to list dimensions variable.

4.a The duration of the work
For durational artworks such as video or audio, this format is often used to list their duration: 00:00:00 (hours, minutes, seconds). You can also simply list 1 hour, two minutes, or however long your work is. It is not absolutely necessary to list the duration of work, however works of this nature are often catalogued in this manner.

5. The medium of the artwork
This seems straightforward, although sometimes it can be difficult to decide what should be listed and what should be left out. It is really the artist’s choice how detailed they would like to be. For example, you can list your medium as simply as possible (for example, oil on linen). You can include more detail, if you feel it is integral to the work (for example, gel medium, tea, sand, dirt, grass on found canvas).

6. The price or the credit listing
Should you be selling your work and you would like to include a price on your label, place it at the bottom. If the work is not for sale, you can leave this area blank. If the work is loaned, this is where you would credit the lender. For example, Courtesy of Cleopatra. 

7. Additional information
Museums or larger establishments showing artists of historical significance often list further information on their labels. This could be the birth year and death year of the artist (if applicable), the museum’s own cataloguing number for the work, and a credit to the donor of the work if applicable.

Below are some visual examples of artwork labels:

For a loaned artwork:

Roy Lichenstein
Whaam! 
1963
Acrylic and oil paint on canvas
68 x 160 inches
Courtesy of the Tate Museum

For an artwork for sale:

Paul Cézanne
The Card Players
1892-1893
Oil on canvas
38 x 51 inches
$259,000.000

For a durational artwork:

Joan Jonas
Double Lunar Dogs
1984
24 minutes
Courtesy of MoMA

Bruce Nauman
Think
1993
Two color video monitors, two laser disc players, two laser discs (color, sound), and metal table
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of MoMA

(Information found at https://thepracticalartworld.com/2014/06/18/examples-of-artwork-labels/ on 08.06.2016)

Here is what I have decided to have. I thought it would be better to also include blurb so people have some idea of what it is about before they watch it.




Hannah Pidduck

Broken Memories...

2016

5 minutes 30 seconds

Black and White

This short film portrays a little girl who woke up one morning alone. After searching her home for her family She discovers they have gone. She is on her own. She was in a dark lonely place for many years to come. She is no longer that lonely little girl, She grew up and someone finally came along. She was saved.

Research & Work Based Practice - End of Year Show

I have thought long and hard about my end of year show and looked at different options of how to display my work.

These were my initial options...

1. Have my video added to a show reel along with the other TV and Film students work
2. Have it shown on a tv or monitor
3. Come up with something different

It was then decided by the tutors that it would go on the show reel with the other students work however I was not happy about that. I felt that my film would get lost with theirs and I wanted my work to be shown with the rest of my groups and not separately. There was also the issue of this being my first proper film, what if it wasn't at the same standards as the TV and Film students work. It would make me feel uncomfortable on the night and for the entire exhibition. 

So I decided I would have to improvise and come up with something different and more me. I remembered seeing a few old tvs in different exhibitions I have been to and how good they looked showing back and white films. So I thought how can I make mine stand out and be different...

I thought about it for a couple of days and in the middle of the night was woken up with an idea. I would make an old style tv out of a small 19inch tv and a cardboard box. I haven't seen that at any of the exhibitions and it would be fun to make. I started to draw my design and came up with this...

I already have the tv, the headphones, the box and the table. So I will have a look at where to get the other items from and how much they are going to cost. I will also need a couple of stools for people to sit on while they watch and possibly a little separate table to hold my business cards and information. 

Update...

I have had a look around and managed to order an old 1960's looking aerial from eBay for £2 which will arrive tomorrow. I have also found some sticky back plastic to cover the box with so it looks like a wooden tv instead of a plain brown box. 

I will be making this at the weekend ready for setting up the show in Monday. So unfortunately I won't be able to add any images of this before my hand in date however I will add an extra post after the show with some images of it and of the evening/exhibition.

I have decided this would be the best way to present my work as the genre of my video isn't one that would look right being projected onto the wall with music in the room which might echo. It is an intimate video which needs to draw the audience in and let them have an open mind. I thought a smaller scene with headphones would do just that. It would make it intimate as people would have to sit down and quite close to the set up. I have gone for an old tv look as it will help people to connect with it and make them realise that its not a piece about today, its about the past and something that in a different way did happen. 

Research & Work Based Practice - Revised Filming

Since I have changed my idea I have also decided I am going to go about filming in a different way as well. Instead of doing entire shoot after entire shoot, I decided it would be a better idea to film one clip at a time until I was happy with it and only then move on to the next one. I chose to do the shoot in the afternoon when I knew the lighting in my house would be as best as possible without needing to use artificial lighting.

I feel the shoot went much better than the previous ones. I had the control to make everything the way I have visualised it in my head. My model was very well behaved and very cooperative which was a great help. I did half of the shooting on one day then the next day I revised it and called in the help of a friend for advice. I asked what she thought of each scene and if she could see any which didn't work. There were two scenes that needed retaking and one more adding. I added the shot of the light turning for effect and had to retake the shot of the piano and the "home is where the heart is" sign. Once we had sat and looked through all of the I narrowed it down to 38 clips to edit and put together. A lot of them needed a second or two taking off either end of the clip as added extra time filming to make sure it didn't get cut off or anything.

Yesterday and today I have been editing the clips and putting them together one by one in Premiere. I have actually rather enjoyed it. I filmed all of the clips knowing where they would go and how they would fit together to compensate each other and the film run smoothly. I think the most difficult bit to put together was the end of it. There were two which I knew should fit together but needed a slight gap in between. I tried a space but it was too harsh so I asked my tutor for some help with how to fade out from one and fade into the next. She showed me where it was in the effects side of the program and we were able to add it.
Once I was happy with my video I added an adjustment bar to make it black and white then had to check to make sure the clips where the right light and contrast. There were a few that needed to be brightened using levels so I sorted that out.

Next was the music side of things. I had sat the night before listening to music on a free music website. I found several different pieces of music which were similar but also very different. I had these ready to try once the video had been put together. I started with the one I thought could work but might not because it could be too much. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. It was a track called Paranoia by Kai Engel. There were two more tracks by this man that I tried but they didn't seem to fit the mood of the video like this one did. I then also tried a couple of pieces by Ludovico Einaudi, one seemed to fit but not as well as the first piece. As I watched the video repeatedly with the music and to check for faults I really started to connect with the video and music more so than I have done so far.

I decided to render and export the video so I could watch it properly on a full sized screen. It took about 14 minutes to do a 5min 30sec video which I was pleased about as when I made the stop motion it would take 30-60mins. I sat and watched it and realised there was a gap that shouldn't have been there so I reopened the video and corrected it. I rendered it again but then noticed the special fade out and in effect had disappeared from me moving the clips again so it was straight back into the editing program to correct that as well. Another 14 mins later I could finally watch it again and again to see if I was happy or not. I have since noticed a slight glitch where I think my model nudged the tripod slightly so tomorrows job will be to get rid of that.

I asked my tutor to have a look at the video to see if she could see anything major that I might have missed. She only came back with one slight error and a suggestion. The error was that one of the clips was ever so slightly out of focus but not enough to warrant reshooting that scene. The suggestion was about the sound/music. She suggested leaving the first half of the video silent bar putting a tick in for the clock and a drip for the water clip. Then introduce the music midway. I am going to try this as it is experiencing and maybe developing but I'm not too sure as I filmed the entire film without sound as I had no intention of having any and also it would have made things a lot harder when shooting as I wouldn't have been able to guide my model through each little bit at a time. I think the film without music will be too quiet however I will give it ago.
I had thought about adding those effects in as well as the music though and maybe having the music quieter so the sound effects stand out more when its those scenes.

I have had my heart on music being all the way through since I first decided I wanted to do a video. Music is as much my passion and soul as photography is so to me it would be wrong not to include it all of the way through but it is one of those wait and see situations. You might be wrong...

Research & Work Based Practice - Updated Ideas

I have reviewed and decided that I need to update my Learner Agreement. I have made another one with the updates on it and I have changed the storyline, location, mode to shoot to solely black and white, high contrast.

Here is the updated copy...

I have decided to make a video to show feeling alone and lost. Lost in life and in your head. This piece will have a lot of meaning to me, my life so far and as it continues. I have decided I need to do this as it might help to express how I feel I have felt over the years but never been able to make other see or understand it. I have decided use my daughter as the model again as she will represent me as a child. Photographers use their skills and photographs to represent themselves as well as their feelings. It is seen as art and can help people to have a view of their world and their thoughts. The lonely place that I went to as a child is one which is truly misunderstood and can be looked over very easily. I think me doing this could help those who have had a 'great' upbringing (if there is such a thing) to look at things through my eyes and see that even children can go to the lonely places at times in their lives. 

There is only really on downside and that has proved once already to be an issue. My model is my 5 year old daughter and if she decides she isn't going to do something, she won't do it. 

If the first shoot works I will look at moving straight onto the final piece, if not I will plan a second test shoot. Once I am happy it will work I will shoot the final. Then it will be all about the editing and processing in Premiere. This program is complex compared with photoshop to me as I do not know it very well however I will be able to look at online tutorials to help me along and I can ask tutors for help if I get really stuck. The video will be shown either on a tv or via projector. This piece will have music to go with it or at least sounds. I would love to be able to pair a piece of piano music to what I will create as it is another passion of mine which if people know me they will already know that. 

I want to make sure I have plenty of time for post production work. It is crucial I get it right and have plenty of time for errors or retakes of certain parts if it doesn't look right for whatever reason. 

I have decided to move this video to my home, I have much more control with just about everything here. It will also help my daughter to calm down and help me. I have also decided rather than using the steady cam to just use my tripod as I can hold it steadier with that then the gadget. 

Story line : 

A little girl walks up one morning with a feeling of being alone so sets out to find her parents. She looks out on to the back garden to see there is no one there and it looks cold and miserable outside. She goes onto the landing to find her favourite rabbit teddy sat there on its own so picks it up and carries on looking. First the bathroom, then her parents room and with no luck there she heads down stairs. The family dog is no where to be found and neither are her parents. She find the family portrait and sits thinking, then it hits her and she starts to panic. She runs back up the stairs, looks at herself in the mirror thinking who are you and why have they left you. Is it something you have done wrong, don't they love you anymore? She takes out her newly found emotions by pulling a mattress across the landing. Next she crawls through the tunnel to go back to her bedroom, the only place she felt safe and warm. She slipped into a lonely place sat there. Years pass, she grows, but her room stays the same. She is still in that same place years later and still feels alone. A little hand reaches out to her and comforts her as an adult. She starts to overcome the feeling and gradually feels the warmth in her heart again. The hand was that of her own child...



I think this story line is closer to me and relates to me and my past more. I spend no end of hours a day in my bedroom listening to music as thats where I felt safe and comfortable in my own bubble. The tunnel in that represents the change and the feelings that come from nowhere.

With these changes as already stated about I will be changing the video to black and white to give it more of an effect of being a lot of years ago. I think it will follow on more now as well from my stop motion which I made earlier in the year. That was based around bad dreams and thoughts I used to have. This video is looking more at personality and mind set rather than the subconscious. 

Research & Work Based Practice - First Shoot

Before starting the shooting I spoke to a couple of people I know to have done film before and asked them for any tips. I also went online and had a look at what suggestions other photographers have made when shooting. Advice like try to film at the same level so there is a consistency throughout, make sure you repeat each scene until you are 99.9% happy with it, try new and different angles and have a look at buying a steadicam. I looked at what they were online and decided to purchase one to aid me whilst filming. When it arrived I was very impressed and when I tried it at home it seemed to do the job of holding the camera still enough while I was moving around so £16 well spent.


Shoot number 1...


I have filmed the clips for my first shoot and I am not very happy with the outcome at all. I started by doing a practice shoot to the park walking and I didn't feel I was walking fast, I thought it was a good pace. When I uploaded it, it looked like I had held the camera in front of my face while running. I thought I would give it another go but going slightly slower. This time I took my model and a second model with me. I was using a second model as a parent so to push my model on the swing and help her on the park and with the hand shot at the end of the video. I took my time to walk slower but it just did't work again. It might have been how I was holding it but I wasn't going to waste valuable time trying to figure something out that I probably wouldn't be able to work out. I carried on with the shoot at the park and it seemed to go well. I had picked the worst time of day to do the shoot though as the sun was starting to set so there were very long shadows stretching across the floor and there were only certain angles I could shoot from without the glare of the sun. As it was my test shoot I wasn't overly concerned as you would still be able to see how the video went together in every other way.
As I carried on I started to pick up on other issues which were bothering me. One was my model, I couldn't control her on the park as she was so excited to go (what 5 year old wouldn't be) so what I wanted her to do she wouldn't and she also wouldn't listen to my other model either. I also noticed that there were a lot of children on the teenager side to the park with the skate ramps but none in the section we were in. That wasn't very helpful as I couldn't test my scene with everyone gradually going. A second thing I had no control over was the weather, I would have to shoot at the same time so it would look the same and would match up properly but with the British weather being as unpredictable as it is, I would struggle in the filming time I had set myself.
When we returned home I set about putting a trial run together on the laptop but found I wasn't very happy with my video at all and no amount of editing was going to save it or help.

With that in mind I decided I would have to go back to the drawing board and start looking at a different storyline...

Research & Work Based Practice - Learner Agreement

My learner agreement...

I have decided to make a video to show feeling alone and lost. Lost in life and in your head. This piece will have a lot of meaning to me, my life so far and as it continues. I have decided I need to do this as it might help to express how I feel I have felt over the years but never been able to make other see or understand it. I have decided use my daughter as the model again as she will represent me as a child. Photographers use their skills and photographs to represent themselves as well as their feelings. It is seen as art and can help people to have a view of their world and their thoughts. The lonely place that I went to as a child is one which is truly misunderstood and can be looked over very easily. I think me doing this could help those who have had a 'great' upbringing (if there is such a thing) to look at things through my eyes and see that even children can go to the lonely places at times in their lives. 

There are two downsides and they are if I cannot get the models together for the park scene and if my daughter decides she doesn't want to help me. In which case I think I will have no choice but to find an adult to represent me instead.

If the first one works I will look at moving straight onto the final piece, if not I will plan a second test shoot. Once I am happy it will work I will shoot the final. Then it will be all about the editing and processing in Premiere. This program is complex compared with photoshop to me as I do not know it very well however I will be able to look at online tutorials to help me along and I can ask tutors for help if I get really stuck. The video will be shown either on a tv or via projector. This piece will have music to go with it or at least sounds. I would love to be able to pair a piece of piano music to what I will create as it is another passion of mine which if people know me they will already know that. 

I want to make sure I have plenty of time for post production work. It is crucial I get it right and have plenty of time for errors or retakes of certain parts if it doesn't look right for whatever reason. 

Story line : 

There will be two sides to the piece, one being my daughter portraying a young happy playful child and then withdrawing from the world into the shadows. The piece will start in colour where I'd like it to my model to walk to the park followed by the view of a child from behind running away from the camera to the swings to play, going round on a roundabout, going down the slide. I want there to be other children playing on the park and parents stood around, I'd like my model to be in focus and the rest blurry. I would then like to have the children and parents to disappear one by one until the model is left on her own. I want my models face to remain hidden to bring a little mystery to the piece. As the parents and children disappear I'd like it to change from colour and be de saturated until it is black and white. I want the child to be left on the swing, swinging slowly and looking from side to side. 

I then want her to run off the park to look for people but find no one not even a parent. Next she would be running through the gardens at the park and out to where there is a line of trees. She will go and sit under one of the tree with her head down resting on the top of her knees.
I would take the camera around the base of the trunk a full 360 degrees and then stop on the model again. Finally t a hand would come from the side to the childs hand, she would look up, smile and see a familiar face come to help her. the last scene would be them walking towards home together holding hands.