Thursday 3 October 2013

Feedback • Initial Ideas 01/10/2013

I presented my Powerpoint to my peers and Lawrence today during a discussion and feedback session, and was surprised by the ideas that were given by my fellow peers and some ideas that stemmed in my head because of critical feedback. I developed three ideas over the course of the weekend based on my keyword of "Seat" and took photographs to begin with.


My first idea focuses on the concept of the repetition of the daily routine. I decided to photograph an armchair as the first in the narrative as a lot of people have a morning coffee or their breakfast whilst sat in their houses, so I thought the armchair would be a good indicator of this. I also researched into Autism and how people who have Autism display some signs of repetitive behaviour, as well as people who suffer from extreme OCD who follow a ritualistic routine daily, and get upset or anxious if they do not.

I discussed this idea with my group, and I was given feedback to continue with this narrative, but concentrate more on OCD and the clinical methods that they use throughout the home. As my peers could see, this photograph is very clean and clinical, and although this was intentional, people commented on how some features are distracting, such as the view of the television in the far right hand corner, and the power box next to the curtain. These can be easily Photoshopped out or moved, but I left them in in this particular photograph to set the entire scene, and then flaws could be seen by my peers and changed. Warren came up with a good point of taking a series of static shots, of the exact same scene, and changing something in every shot, like the person suffering from OCD has to constantly correct their living space. I like this idea, as it really makes the person think about what is different and why things have changed.

I am going to experiment with different ideas and concepts for the next few weeks, and see what works best. I plan to place some leaves by the window, and have them being moved in the second shot, and repeating itself during the narrative. I also mentioned to my peers that I wanted to experiment with film and make a narrative film based on this persons experiences, I have worked with Premier Pro before and would like to learn more about sound and the uses of it. I plan to read more into OCD and look at the medical side of the condition, as well as reading into how sound can impact a film and change emotions.


My second idea is relating to the idea of memories that individual people have of the same place. I photographed a bench in a park as people can have good or bad memories about that particular bench i.e. first kiss, broke up with boyfriend, found out bad news etc. I was thinking of photographing a series of events on this bench, where the start and end is the bench being empty. Maybe a argument between two people, which ends in the two people walking away and leaving the bench empty once more, or a family growing up and the problems and happy times they face on one particular bench. This bench is actually where me and my fiancé first kissed, and probably holds many more memories for us as well as other people.






I then photographed this from three different angles. The first angle was sideways from above; I felt that this gave the photograph a sense of spying on someone, like a bird watching over someone. The second is of the actual benches structure, where you can see the grain in the wood of the bench and the depth of field compliments this. However, I don’t think this would work as part of a narrative; it is too close and doesn’t give any sense of story behind this. The final viewpoint I took was a slow shutter speed of someone getting up from the bench. I thought this was a good idea if I wanted to use a model in my narrative but the model would not be recognised, and the blur gives a sense of secrecy.


My final idea, and granted not my strongest, is based on the idea of Duane Michals and his thought provoking narratives where you zoom out in every image. I took a photograph of this desk as Michals often started with a normal scene and a desk was something I see all the time and I am sure everyone else does too.  I then plan to zoom out and make a confusing narrative, which then relates back to the first image, much like Michals did. I’m not overly keen on this idea and it’s definitely my least favourite one to pursue.




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