Moving image

Thursday 20th October

Today we explored moving image and where it all began. Moving image developed from photography and is an illusion of movement, it began as a novelty and has gradually developed over the past 100 years to one of the most important elements of communication and entertainment. One of the first films to be captured was by the Lumiere brothers capturing a short film of a train pulling into the station in France at La Ciot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlb3XKjnZkE) When people first saw this video they were frightned that the train was coming towards them and ran away because they were so unfamiliar of moving image. For the first 30 years of film it was not possible to capture sound aswell as the moving image so instead non diagetic sound was seperatley recorded to assist the film. different sounds were used to illustrate what was happening in the different scenes.
Humerous phases of funny faces is is a silent cartoon by J. Stuart Blackton in 1906 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dRe85cNXwg). Blackton used early stop-motion techniques to make a series of blackboard drawings appear to move and reshape themselves. The film is 20 frames per second and is regarded as the first animated film. 

Final cut pro is one of the various software facilities that allows you to edit and create your own video clips. After experimenting with some video clips to create my own, it is fascinating how much the program allows you to edit and create.
[screen shot]
technology has developed so much over the last 100 years that things that were seen as impossible then has been developed for everyone to use.

Today moving image is not discussed it is just accepted where it has become such a big part of everyday life yet it is continuously developing for example video mapping is a new form of moving image. It is a projection technique that that can turn almost any surface into a dynamic video display. Specialized software is used to warp and mask the projected image to make it fit perfectly on irregularly shaped screens. It has recentley become a very popular advertising technique an example of this is a Ralph Lauren's projection in Bond street and in New York last year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7ryMzZQICA&feature=related) at one point in the advert the building is turned into a 4D catwalk.

Photograms

Thursday 29^th October -

Firstly we listened to a song from the 60’s called ‘ill be your mirror’ by Velvet underground.  Whilst listening to the song we had to write down images and words that came into our heads. The reason for this was to help with a potential design for an album cover. What i got from the song lyrics was that a woman was trying to help someone she knew see that they have good in them for example the singer uses the words ‘ il be your mirror’ which sugessts she wants to show them what they cant see about themselves.  

Using a box of scraps and acetate I created a collage/image that I would then use to create my photogram. I chose various materials for my photogram including a flower which I cut petals from and scattered across the acetate. The reason I chose a flower was to symbolize the good of the person and to contrast with this I used chicken wire which is sharp and jagged to symbolize the use of the words ‘twisted  and unkind’. I also used a freyed ribbon to create the shape of a heart which symbolizes the love she may have for the person she is singing to. The use of beads was to wind through the chicken wire and to pull the overall image together.

To create the final outcome of the photogram the image had to be developed in the dark room, so once I had created a test peice I set the filter to 3 and the timer to 12 seconds. Then I opened the lens to the widest and brightest aperture and set the height of enlarger so that light went beyond the masking frame. I then placed a peice of photographic paper underneath the frame and then placed the acetate image over the top. Once I had positioned the photographic paper and acetate in the correct position I then turned the timer on for 12 seconds only. I then placed the exposed image in the developer for 2 minutes, the stop for 1 minute and the fix for 4 minutes. Finally I placed it in the water bath.

I was pleased with the overall outcome of the photogram however where I had used such a dark peice of card in the image it exposed to create a harsh white shape as opposed to the use of the flower which created a softer image. I then created another print the same way but without the rectangular shape, which created a more successful image.

library visit

We visited the Bower Ashton campus to explore the Library which specialises in Art and Design, Culture, Media and Drama. The library offers a wide range of resorces which will come in useful to us when we  do research and when we need to use resorces such as books, journals and printers.  The library also offers:

• 1000s of books - including e-books
• A wide range of databases to search for articles on your subject
• 10,000+ journals - online and in print
• Audiovisual items including DVDs
• A range of study spaces - silent, quiet, group
• Internet access and Wifi
• Online help with referencing and other information skills
• Printing and photocopying facilities
• Alternative formats service

Library Services Values: A desire to deliver the best service possible to all our users A dedication to teamwork and collaborative working to achieve our aims A commitment to continuous learning to realise our potential in everything we do A work culture that is based on mutual respect, inclusiveness, trust and openness The effective use of communication to enable and recognise achievement and to encourage individual, team and library development An understanding of the changing environment and the confidence that we can make a positive difference.

University Aim: “To raise aspirations and widen participation in higher education.”

I found the visit to the library very useful as I now know what is available for me to use and that there is a wide range of resources that will be helpful and an later be an important part of my study. 

Visually communicating

Visual communication as the name suggests is communication through visual aid and is described as the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon. Visual communication in part or whole relies on vision, and is primarily presented or expressed with two dimensional images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, colour and electronic resources. It also explores the idea that a visual message accompanying text has a greater power to inform, educate, or persuade a person or audience.

In this workshop we were focusing on how to visually communicate using images and symbol. We started by illustrating a visual journey of how we got to Filton collge that day using only pictures and symbols.  Below is an image of my visual journey. I decided to start drawing from the bottom of the page because on my journey to collage we drive up the Gloucester road which is up hill.

We then got given separate instruction tasks in groups that we had to draw. We were given the task of drawing how to brush your teeth.

digital workshop presentations

The focus of this workshop was power point presentations. The software is run by Microsoft and available on windows and apple mac. The commercial presentation program consists of a number of individual pages or "slides". Slides may contain text, graphics, sound, movies, and other objects, which may be arranged by the user. Powerpoint presentations allow us to project ideas in a simple and easy way. The program is often used in business and classrooms and come of use for training purposes.


Projections onto a screen have been around since 1600's. In the mid-1980s developments in the world of computers changed the way presentations were created.


A Powerpoint can be images in a sequence on a wall or it can be on a PC in an exhibition. Dougg Fishbone is an example of how presentation can be used as art. Below is an example of Fishbone using powerpoint to illustrate a talk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nub5EKhL-oQ. Dougg Fushbone also focuses massivley on the presentation of his work.


Using presentations on a Mac can be done using Microsoft power point or by using Apples very own power point presentation program, called Keynote. Which allows slide layouts to have a variety of templates.