Wednesday 6 February 2013

Development - silent films, sketches, prop gathering, teeth photography


Been watching silent films for research to get a better feel and look at peoples expressions and body language without spoken word. One film was that of  'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' (1920) which is a German silent horror film with the heavy style of German expressionism. The sets are all hand made and have surreal perspectives and jagged edges making a bizarre environment for the characters. The actors also use very excited and exaggerated gestures to add to the strange mood. It was interesting to watch a very dark but beautifully crafted film that had the same tones that I felt related in ways to my project.



These are the sketches I did based on the photography of myself in various different poses. Their to express negative body language and to get a feel for what I want to do when I get into the photography studio. I have did some media tests with ink since I'll be using this and other medias for further studies and for the Photo shoots. Also to practice being more expressive artistically and to ease into drawing for when I'm story boarding.



 
Also have made a small advertisement to ask for models around the art university. Some have been put up around the building now and I have had some interest already which is exciting. Some classmates have volunteered also to help out and I'll be doing a photo shoot with one shortly which I hope goes well. Not actually did a photography series with models before except myself so I feel positive about learning in this experience.


These are some sketches that I have done for the storyboard of each shoot. Their may be more planned as I have been still gathering materials and planning out each shoot. I find drawing storyboards for the model's to look at to show what is inside my head is very useful. As a visual representation of what I want to achieve and how I want them to be posed and also for the props. I'm open to suggestions for the models as well as trying out different things with the angle,lighting,props, etc. Since this is all for experience and learning.






These are planned out to relate to different types of anxiety illness's and disorders and I will be using different medias and plans for each one. As well as planning how the props will represent each meaning and what they represent. As an example the image right above this one is about how depression controls us and how it effects our lives. Part of the symptoms is high phases of fatigue, Insomnia, unhappiness, agoraphobia, and difficulties in commitments or relationships. As experiencing this myself and researching it seems a big part of it is being so unhappy you cant get out of bed and face the day. And the model being in a bed with chains wrapped around that is supposed to represent this. But this may be elaborated on further with props or meanings and the storyboards will be worked on further.


This is also my work space just now in the studio I find its its better organized and to get my thoughts and ideas better together. The sticky notes are ideas and findings on what I have found inside the symbolism books and are ones that struck me the most for imagery and attainable props.


These are the props that I have managed to collect in the past couple of weeks which includes different colors of fabric, black and white paint, a spice rack, a mirror, butterfly stickers, tea set, a mask and false teeth.

The teeth were kindly given to me by the dental hospital and they were really helpful and friendly and even showed me how to make my own. They gave me plenty of sets and molds to use as I please.
The reason I have asked for teeth in the first place is because teeth have a high meaning in the unconscious and especially in dreams. If you dream about loosing teeth this is because your unconsciously afraid of what others perceive you as and aware of your self image. It can also represent growing older and loosing power since bearing teeth is a sign of aggression.


I have started to paint one of the sets to see how well the clay can take paint and they may be used for a photo shoot. I plan to try to make them look more realistic in color and use varnish to make the teeth have the slight gleam they have. These may be used for installation purposes and if the project goes well.

As for the first experiments with photography I used a set of the false teeth since they were the first prop I managed to get a hold of. I would like to use them in a studio setting with models but these were just tests for something simple with simple lighting.








How the tone of lighting can set a completely different feel and mood to an image and the context of an image even if its simple. For instance how the different way the hands are holding can convey a different meaning and gesture. This will be explored further as I get more lighting and photography tutorials in University. As well as more experimentation within a studio environment and with different props and lighting. I will be looking into lighting a lot further and will be experimenting with a model in the studio shortly.

No comments:

Post a Comment