Idea 1: Arsenal Project

I am very passionate about football and my team and I feel I can produce a very high standard of work on this aspect. I have thought of a number of pieces I can do on this topic including a documentary, stills, moving image, audio piece. I like the idea of this because this also allows me to use more than one of these types in my piece therefore I can meet more of the criteria set and aim for a higher mark. I will list down all the different things I thought of doing for this piece and make my decision on what idea or ideas I am going to take forward for my final first idea for my final project.

List of Ideas

< Still image piece reflecting back on my journey to Highbury and the Emirates. I will take lots of photographs of the journey I used to do when going to Arsenal games. This includes stills of train station where I got the train from, the train that I am on, the map of the train line and stops that I used to look at, Arsenal station, stills of walking in the Arsenal station e.g. what I used to see, image of the first thing I saw when stepping out of the station, streets I walked down both to Highbury and Emirates, stills of where Highbury used to be, lots of stills approaching the Emirates and of the Emirates.

< Documentary talking about my past experiences at Arsenal matches. I will include moving image footage of streets I used to walk down on my way to matches while narrating my thoughts. I will include interviews with Arsenal fans on the pain of being an Arsenal fan in recent years. this would allow me to use primary research and get a very accurate view of what a range of different people think.

< Moving image piece of talking about economical power, I will look into the state of Arsenal finances whilst at Highbury and I will see how finances have improved since the move to the Emirates. I will contrast transfer budgets between both stadiums and I will also ask a number of Arsenal fans if they are happy with our current economical situation? and the reason we seem to still have no money even though we are doubling match day revenue since our move from Highbury.  

< Short film on a typical day around the Emirates, I can go down to our stadium on match day and film normal day behaviour e.g. what people buy from the Arsenal shop etc.

< Documentary looking into the popularity of the mens and women’s football team at Arsenal. I will conduct interviews and ask fans how much they know about the ladies team to see if they know just as much as they do about the mens team. I will also raise the question, like the mens team we would recognise on the street, would we recognise a member of the Arsenal ladies team if we passed them on the street? I will also look into the constrast of both the mens and women’s football team e.g. wages, training facilities etc.

< Documentary raising the question, how big is Arsenal in the world today? I will look at secondary resources for  information including books and the internet. I will narrate my findings and also conduct some primary research and ask a range of different Arsenal fans on their views on how big Arsenal is around the world.

Resources that has helped influence my idea

I have included as many sources as possible that would help me turn this idea into a great piece of work.

I have looked around for works that people have already done on still photography about football. I have found an artist ’Jaskirt Dhaliwal’ who took a number of pictures of football grounds. I looked at these pictures and drew inspiration from them in the terms of composition, lighting and picture quality. All of these aspects were evident in these pictures and I will make sure my pictures are up to the same standard.

Football stills by Jaskirt Dhaliwal

I have found a video on YouTube that talks to the Arsenal fans like I plan to in my final idea. This video is very inspirational to me because it shows me how to position the camera whilst interviewing people to great effect. It also tells me what to expect in terms of crowds when I go to interview people. This video also touches on the topic I plan to use in my final piece of the pain of being an Arsenal fan in recent years. It tells fans that we used to win trophies but not any more and we see the fans views. I will have this video in mind when I am conducting my final piece when interviewing people.

I have also found an article highlighting Arsenals financial report and linking to the economic crisis. This ties in extremely well to my bit I am going to do in my final piece about Arsenals finances and the improvement in finances since we moved to the Emirates from Highbury. I will learn a lot from this article and it will give me a lot of facts to talk about in my final piece. The report was written in February this year so it is fairly accurate and there is not going to be another Arsenal financial report until February 2010.

Arsenal’s Financial Report 2009

Arsenal Financial report at Highbury

I have looked and found out how big Arsenal’s fan base is around the world today. This gives me a good starting point which I can take forward and look into much more detail.

How big is Arsenal\’s fanbase around the world

I have found an article on the BBC how women’s football popularity is on the rise. Although this does not concentrate specifically on the Arsenal ladies it gives a representation of women’s football in general. Once again this research will give me a starting point to take forward in much more detail.

Womens football\’s popularity on the rise

By researching around it has really allowed me to see what ideas would work very well and what ideas will not. I have decided to use a number of my ideas and mix it into one short film.

Final Idea

I will start with some still photography that I will take of the journey that I used to do when I used to go and watch Arsenal. I will take still images of the train, train station, roads leading to the stadium, apartments where Highbury used to be, stills of the Emirates. I will then conduct some interviews with fans asking them about the current financial situation at Arsenal and if they are happy. I will also get facts of my own from books etc to make my findings correct. I will then look into the Arsenal shop and what sells the most and why. I will also ask fans what products they like best and the reason for being so. I will then go down on match day and talk to a number of fans just to get a feeling of their mood and the happiness they feel about the club. Finally I will finish up with a conclusion of me concluding my findings and then still images showing the journey I used to take home e.g. train station, train, station for home.

Idea 2: How modern technology and Advertisement has changed the way we live

I am very passionate about new technology and different sophisticated ways of advertisement. We live in a society where technology is forever evolving and we consume to keep up with the technology. advertisements also have developed with the quantities of advertisement growing every year. I can base this topic in the form of a documentary, short film and still image.

List of Ideas

< Still image piece of modern technology and advertisements. I will take pictures of modern-day phones, advertisements and also images os social networking sites e.g. twitter. I will also include stills of websites that have grown in recent years e.g. youtube and BBC iplayer. This idea will show all of my findings in a still image form.

< Short piece showing how social networking has evolved in recent years and is now an everyday part of our lives e.g. Twitter. I will conduct interviews with people asking them if they use a social networking site. I will look into the facts of how many users they are.  like this idea because it has changed society completely because we are able to follow our favourite celebrities on twitter which was not possible before.

< Short piece on the development of mobile phones. I will compare old phones 5 years ago to the phones today. The reason for this is to show the rapid speed that phones are developing by. I will also talk to members of the public and ask them what they think about the rapid developments of mobile phones and also what they think phones will be like 5 years from now. I will focus specifically on the cameras on the phones and the fact that the majority of phones have better quality cameras than real digital cameras. I will use examples where modern cameras on phones have made it easy to record. An example I am planning to use is the G20 summit where a police officer hits a woman protester on with a baton. This was filmed on a mobile, this shows how phones is a part of our everyday lives now.

< Short film looking into the growth of YouTube and watching t.v. programmes over the internet. I will find facts from books, websites etc to how many people use YouTube everyday. This technology allows people to show themselves to the world. It is also a source for people to watch music videos and also comedy etc. watching t.v. over the internet has also become a modern technology. Websites like BBC iplayer and 4od allows us to catch up anytime on our favourite programmes. It is very convenient, this also proves that modern technology makes our lives much simpler. I will also ask members of the public what they think of sites such as iplayer and if they are frequent users.

< Short film looking into how advertisements has evolved from just posters, billboards etc to the T. mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. Saatchi and Saatchi told T.moblie to text everyone that was on the network and tell them to meet at a specific place. Hidden cameras were the in place and a commercial advertising t mobile was created e.g. people dancing in Liverpool street station and people singing in Trafalgar square. I will include an interview with a worker at Saatchi and ask about the adverts. I will get facts from articles, websites about the events and I will also film advertisements e.g. posters, billboards and then show the T.mobile advertisiments. This will show how advertisements go further today then just billboards etc. 

 Resources that have helped infuence my final idea

I have found an article showing how social networking has changed society. Although it gives an American representation it still includes valuable information about how social networking is changing our behaviour e.g. instead of going out to visit people we are staying in and communicated over social networking sites. This shows just how powerful modern technology is changing the way that we go about our daily lives.

How social networking has changed society

 I have gathered some research that I found on the web for Twitter. These sites also give me a great starting point to take forward in the popularity of Twitter around the world. I also found that twitter has 6 million users worldwide and will continue to grow in the future from conducting this research. I am learning so much about twitter from this research and this will help me produce better quality work because I have more knowledge.

About Twitter

I have conducted research around how mobile phones have developed, I have found an article on how it is developing so fast and future development. This is new information to me and I have learnt something  from this and will take this knowledge into further expanding this idea. I have also found a video onyoutube looking at the camera on the sony ericsson c905. The phone has a 8.1 megapixel camera and this video has helped me see just how far technology on phones especially cameras have come on since say 10 years ago. It proves the rate that technology is improving.

mobile phones – future development 

Changes to mobile phones over the last 30 years 

I have conducted research looking into the growth of youtube and the popularity since it was launched. The two internet articles I have found contain very useful information to help get me started. I have also looked at how the iplayer was launhced and how many people are using it now to watch their t.v. programmes. By conducting this research it has really given me facts to start with and take forward should I choose to use this idea in my final piece.

YouTube growing fast in popularity 

YouTube\’s growth continues

BBC iplayers Growth

History of BBC iplayer

I have looked into research about how advertisements are changing. I have especially concentrated on the T Mobile adverts produced by Saatchi and Saatchi for T Mobile. This research will help me start this idea of and lay the foundations for me to push on in much more setail and depth about the way advertisements are changing.

Dance routine at liverpool street station

A look into how the T Mobile advert in Trafalger square was created

All of the research that I have conducted for each potenial idea has really helped me relise what ideas are the best ones to take forward into a final idea. I was able to see that soem ideas did not have that much research material around them and also I could not do much else to turn them into a good piece of work. From this research I have clearly seen the best ideas that I can turn into a final project.

Final idea

 I have decided to base my final idea on two of the ideas from the list above as I feel I can do more with them. I have decided to look into how advertisements have changed over the years, specially looking at T Mobile’s adverts old and new. I have also decided to base this idea on the development of mobile phones and out reliance on them in our everyday lives.

I will start this idea with filming people on their phones walking down streets etc and give facts from research about how we rely on them so much. I will then ask members of the public how often do you your mobile and can you live without a mobile. I will then also look into how phones have developed over the years and become more sophesticated e.g. camera’s. I will then conduct interviews with some phone workers asking them about the speed that phones are developing by and also how many mobiles are sold roughly everyweek. This will give an idea of peoples reliance on phones. I will also include some still images to show when I giving facts about the phones.

I will then look into how advertisments are changing from just billboreds and posters etc to the T Mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. I will narrate facts that I find and take still photography e.g. billbored advertisements. After I have finished talking about traditional advertisement techniques I will concentrate on the T Mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. I will have a look at the older T Mobile adverts and then take a look at the adverts I am focusing on including dancing in the train station and singing in trafalgur square. I will get an interview with a saatchi worker asking them the reason behind this advert and why they think the advertising technique they used was so successful. This piece will show how advertisements specially T Mobile have evolved and use the public to sell their phones.

Idea 3 – BBC TV licence – Licence fee’s increaing in price every year and do we agree with it

I am very interested in looking into if people are happy paying the licence fee or they are against it. This is a subject I have always been very interested in. I know year after year a fee is required to continue watching T.V. I will look into protesters against this fee and also talk to members of the public and ask them if they agree or disagree with the licence fee. I feel I can produce a high quality piece of work on this issue.

Coming up with this idea

I sat down with pen and paper and jotted down every idea that came to mind reguarding the BBC. I went through the ideas and realised that most of them would not be easy to make e.g .documentary looking at how BBC programmes are becoming more sophesticated. This would not be easy to make because there is not much to talk about and a lot of people would not have a strong opinion on this issue. Also I would like an interview with someone who works at the BBC to get a professionals view, I do not know anyone in this department so will not be able to get an interview. I then looked at my T.V licence idea and this ticked all the boxes that the previous idea did not. People I ask will have a strong opinion on this issue because it is affecting them personally because they have to pay for the fee and also I can definatly get an interview with someone at the BBC to talk me through this licence fee. I am happy with this idea because it allows me to produce a very detailed and interesting piece of work.

I have decided that this is the idea that I am going to take into production. I did like my other two ideas but this was the most realistic idea to make.

Problems with Idea 1 – Arsenal project

< People may not be around to talk to me when I go there to film, also an interview with a person working at the stadium is unlikely becuase they are so busy. I just felt that my BBC idea is much better and I am not going to take this idea into production. This idea is my plan B, but the idea above will be scraped and I will produce a piece of work that reflects my journey I used to take when I attended matches in the past.

Problems with Idea 2 – How modern technology and advertisements have changed the way we live

< I felt that this idea would be boring to the people watching the finished piece. I would not be able to get an interview reguarding the modern technology and I planned to get an interview with a Saatchi worker but this is now not guarenteed because I know people there who work on the designs and not the advertising sector. This means because I do not know anyone on the advertsing field there a interview is not guarennteed and I need the interview. I do not want to take an idea into production where I may not get an interview because the idea is unrealistic and not makeable to the standard I would have wanted it to have been.

I have decided not to take my previous two ideas into production but I am taking Idea 3 – BBC TV Licence into production, here is my research that I did for this idea and also the final idea in detail.

Research and Findings

I have looked at various sources to help me with this idea. This research has given me accurate facts ready for me to produce my piece of work. This research was essential because I need to know what I am talking about in my piece otherwise the idea will be silly and I will confuse people by not giving them correct information.

About the BBC TV Licence

I have learnt a lot from this link, I have found out what stations, channels are funded by the licence fee, here is what the licence fee funds

< 8 national television channels (BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC news, BBC parliment)

< BBC Red button interactive TV

< BBC HD

< 10 national radio stations (Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra, 6 music, Radio 7, BBC Asian network)

< National TV and radio services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and over 40 local radio stations for England

< BBC online, BBC iplayer, BBC mobile and the BBC channel on YouTube.

How to pay licence fee and the increase in price every year

I have been able to see a table dating from 1 April 2007 to 1 April 2012 that shows the increase of the fee every year. It is very important I have these facts because I can highlight these to people etc.

 Spending licence fee

From this piece of research I have seen how the money we pay for the tv licence is disrubuted around the BBC. This piece of evidence is not up to date, reflects the April 2008 licence fee but is still useful to see how the money is distrubuted around.

£139.50: 1 April 2008 – The disribution facts around the BBC reflects an individuals households fee money

< Television: £8.00 per month (includes BBC1: £4.77 and BBC2: £1.95)

< Radio: £2.01 per month

< Online: 61p per month

< Digital switchover and other costs: £1.01 per month 

Threatening letters for not paying licence fee

This research has shown me how threatening the BBC can get if licence fee is not paid, a letter is sent every month and the letters get more severe the longer the licence fee is not paid. This will help me a lot in my piece because from seeing this I can relate to people I speak to who have recieved these letters in the past.

Should the T.V licence be scrapped

I voted yes to the licence being scrapped and the results of the poll came up. Out of 1842 votes 1691 people (91.8%) said yes it should be scrapped, 123 people (6.7%) said it is value for money and 28 people (1.5%) said they do not care if it is scrapped or not. This gives a strong indication that the majority of people do not agree with this licence fee and it is a great starting point for me to take out when interviewing people and also when I talk to the BBC worker.

I really enjoyed watching this video because two people are talking about the licence fee with one agreeing with it and the other not agreeing with it. The man who does agree with it says it is unpopular but tolerant and the other man just does not agree with it. This video has helped me a lot because I now have an idea of what answers the people I ask will give me.

This video highlights key questions around the TV licence and the answers to the questions. This video gives me facts ready to take out into the world when I go and interview people about this issue.

This research has helped me a lot. I have a much stronger knowledge on this issue ready to take with me into production. It was very interesting to see how people are affected so badly from this fee. This research has given me an indication of the answers people will give me when I ask them.

 Final Idea

I am going to start with me narrating facts on the tv licence e.g. what our fees go towards etc and show loads of images and stills whilst narrating. I will show images like t.v. being switched on, images of radio stations, the BBC headquarters and so on. I will then conduct a range of interviews with different questions with members of the public. I will ask questions including do you know what your money pays for? Do you agree with the licence fee? explain why. Thoughts about the licence fee going up in price every year?, also I will touch upon the fact of threatening letters being sent out to people who have not paid their licence fee, I will ask members of the public if they have ever recieved one of these letters and the effect that it has had on them.  By asking these questions I will get a very detailed analysis of what the public feel on this issue. I will then continue to narrate on the publics thoughts and give more facts with various images showing whilst I narrate. I will then conduct an interview with a person who works at the BBC and ask them about the reason why the price is increasing every year and if they are any plans for the fee to be scrapped. I will basically get an opinion on where this licence money goes and if the fee will continue to be charged to households in many years to come.  I will finish with concluding in my own words what information I get from the interview at the BBC.

My aim at the end of this piece is to make people aware of what there money is being used for and the reason why the licence fee is increasing in price every year. I want to give people watching a accurate view on the licence fee and for them to have a much stronger opinion on this issue e.g. agree or disagree. I am very much looking forward to making this idea.

How Realistic is this idea to make?

In order for this idea to work I have to interrogate myself and ask question about its realism to make. I have gone through a number of different elements to help decide weather this idea is feesable

Finance – My final video will cost roughly £77.50 to make. I have broken things down and worked it out like follows. Car travel, driving home to london to shoot from uni and then back to Coventry from London will cost roughly £40 petrol. I will be getting the train into Central London to shoot and production is going to take 5 days. I have worked it out as £37.50 for a weeks travel card. This is the cheapest way to do this because driving into Central London would be more expensive because distance, traffic and also congestion charge. The train is the best option to getting into London. I will have enough money to shoot my final video.

Logistics – I think kit wise I will manage, I will only have a camera and  Tri pod to take with me into London. Although an extra pair of hands will be useful for setting up equipment in order to save time. Also there is a risk if I take the equipment by myself to film it may be stolen especially if I am doing a shot with me walking towards the camera. The camera will be on the tri pod unattended and anyone can run away with it. I will need another person with me to film, I need someone to be the camera operator whilst I talk to people on the streets and also to film the interview at the BBC. I am going to ask friends in London if they can help me out on these days, I have thought about it and they may not be able to help me out on all 5 days so I will only ask them to come and help when they are needed e.g. interviews and me talking in front of the camera. Another option if my friends cannot help me is to look into hireing a camera operator for the required days but that will be expensive and is something I want to avoid. I looked and hireing a camera operator for a 10 hour day will cost between £200 – £300.

Technical Resources – The university has all of the technical resources I need for my final video.

Human Resources – I feel I have the technical ability to produce a high standard of work. I will make sure I teach a friend who helps me out the equipment so he knows it inside out. Just to make sure 100% that I can produce the best work possible I will take the camera out, learn the buttons again and film tests and check white balance, audio levels etc. This is so on the days of filming I know what to adjust the camera settings to so I do not waste time.

Experience and Ability – I feel that I do have the ability to relise this idea properly. I have had experience with shooting out in the world with a camera and tri pod before e.g. college and uni so I am comfotable. I also will take the camera out from the loan shop that I will be using to shoot and film tests. This will remind me of the correct settings and also allow me to know the camera inside out going into production.

Time – Yes this idea is possible to produce in the given timescale. I need a week for production. The pre production will take the longest but I will get the post production in and production in the timescale ready for hand in on the required date of submission.

Output – I will put my final video onto DVD and it will be distributed via DVD.

I know this idea is creative because it allows me to conduct primary research (interviews with public and BBC worker) and also secondary research (getting information from books and websites). This idea is also feesable as it is makable and realsitic. There is also loads of other sources out there which allows contextual research. I have carefully planned this idea and I know that this idea is achievable and I am looking forward to shooting this idea.

Isaac McGinley – I have looked at Isaac’s blog and again have learnt a lot from the way he constructed his blog. This blog is detailed and shows a clear picture of the journey he took in completing his blog. He planned his artifacts very well and his artifacts were of good quality also. He also did relevent research around the themes in general and used his own research and research from the lectures for more detail. I enjoyed looking and learning from this blog.

Mike LaRosa - I really like this blog as it is goes into a very sophisticated amount of detail. He has really thought about how he wanted to construct the blog and I think the blog is extremely good. He has used research from the lectures but he has also included a lot of his own research and that is really good. I looked at this blog and I immediately knew that he wanted to base his final piece around cinematography. This is because he has done a lot of research around cinematography in his blog and it is very beneficial to him. I have learnt a lot about cinematography from looking at this blog.

Andrew Reeve – I looked at this blog and again I thought it was very good. He  has carefully researched around the different themes. His three artifacts were constructed to a very high standard. What stood out for me especially in this blog is the fact that he came up with at least 8 different ideas for each artifact and showed the journey he took in narrowing them down to his idea he took forward to make. I can take inspiration from this when I am coming up with my different ideas for my final piece.

What has worked? What has pleased me

< The fact that I looked at a number of different sources has worked very well. I have learnt a lot from doing this and it has deepened my knowledge. I am am very pleased that I looked at other artists work because it has given me so many more options for my final project. I have seen how each artist works and what worked well in each piece of work e.g. camera work, lighting, editing. I now have many more options to how to structure work e.g. use of camera, dialouge etc from watching these works. This will lead me to coming up with more potential ideas for my final project. Looking and learning from existing artists works has pleased me the most so far from my work.

What has gone wrong, What have I learnt?

It took me a while to fully understand what was required on my blog. I have learnt that to keep reading the module booklet over and over until I understand. Also I feel I could have included more sophesticated visuals in each of my three artifacts that I produced. In my spectacle artifact I could have used light to reflect the waterfalls on a wall. That would have been a good shot, I missed out on this. In my power artifact I should have filmed the exchange of the actual jeans and the money, this would have also looked much better. In my memory artifact, I feel that my I used to many stills and should have used more moving image. I have realised my mistakes because I now have a good knowledge of professional artists work because I have studied the works in detail and learnt a lot from them.

What Things have I made and what have I experimented with?

I have made three artifacts, one for each theme (Spectacle, Power and Memory)

< Spectacle Artifact – I took pictures of art around the city using still and moving image. I have done a lot of moving image down the years. I had the chance to do experimental work so I decided to use still image in this piece of work. I was very happy wityh how well it worked and knew them then that I will be using still images in future works. I also experimented using stop motion, I took numerous pictures of the water falls and edited them together to create a moving image via stop motion. I am glad I experimented with stop motion and well be using this again in future works.

< Power Artifact – I based this artifact on economical power in the sense of the more money a person has the more power one posesses. I used still and moving images in this artifact, I put them together and I am happy with how it turned out. I also experimented using slow motion when I give the  money over in the  scene at the end of my artifact. I thought of doing this because I looked at a piece of work by the artist Bill Viola and thought it worked very well. I used the same idea of slowing the footage down at the end and it worked very well.

Memory Artifact – I again experimented and used moving and still image in this piece of work. I felt I am improving and becoming much more confident using both still and moving image footage. I also slowed down a scene near the end of my artifact and repeated the clip three times in a row. I experimented in this part, I took a gamble to see if it would work and repeating the same footage simuiltanlesy and it looked really good.

What Work has influenced me and how?

< Cohen Brothers – No country for old man: The scene with the coin toss in the gas station was really well put together. The camera work in this clip was very good because it created an atmosphere. What especially influenced me about this clip was the use of dialogue. The killer was in complete control of this conversation and the innocent gas garage owner did not have a clue what was going on. The dialogue kept everyone intersetsed because nothing was given away in the sense that the killer did not reveal his true indentity and we were left wondering what was going to happen. I will definatly be considering this type of dialogue for my final piece.

Andrei Tarkovsky – clip from his film ‘The Mirror: This piece of work is wonderfully shot and the composition is brilliant. The lighting is also extremly good and the whole clip is wonderful. This piece of work has definatly influenced me in thinking of my final piece idea. The camera work in this scene is magical and it has shown me how to use the camera to create an atmosphere. I will try and replicate the movements of the camera in this clip in my final piece. I can take inspiration from the lighting in this piece of work because it is used to great affect. Lighting is also another important element of creating an atmosphere for the audience so I will think very carefully about lighting because I have seen how well it has worked in this piece. Visual imagery is another point that made this clip so great. I will also take inspiration by picking my locations to shoot because it is very improtant. A wrong location can mess my project up completly.

Bill Viola – Two of his works has influenced me alot and they are ‘Quintet of Astonished’ and ‘Silent Mountain’.

Quintet of Astonished – I really like this piece of work because of the simplisity that is involved. The piece of work is shot in high speed film and slowed down consideribly to slow motion. This allows us as the audience to fully see the emotions of the subjects faces, this makes the work more powerful and immediatly draws people in. I can take a lot of inspiration from this piece because from this piece of research I have seen that  a camera close up to the subjects and slowing everything down can work a treat. I will definatly consider using this technique when I come up with my idea for my final piece.

Silent Mountain -  I found this piece of work very inspiring beause it is a man screaming without the audio. So as the audience we see the man screaming with facial expressions and movements but actually do not hear the sound. This could be another possibility for my final idea, I could not include any sound so it will leave the audience surprised and extremly interested in the visuals. The visuals immediatly become the dominant theme without the audio because the audio is not there to set the tone and mood of the piece of work.

These pieces of work will always be in my mind, I have drawn huge inspiration from these works. I have seen how lighting, camera work, editing, dialogue and no audio can work very well. From looking at these clips I can think of a range of ideas for my final piece. This is because I have seen how well all the elements have worked in the different works I have seen and will use them in the same way when I come up with my idea for my final project.

What new things will I try? What am I going to develop?

I will start to become much more experimental and take more risks. I plan to get lighting out from the loan shop, go into a room with a camera and experiment with the different lighting. I will look at 3 point lighting and also cast a shadow of an object using the lights e.g. like a projection. I really like the thought of using a shadow shot because I feel it would work extremely well. I will also start to write some little scripts to help develop my dialogue in films. I will also start to look at more of a range of sources included art gallaries etc to further my knowledge on what constitutes  good art. I will also experiment with the audio, I will film someone screaming, just like Bill Viola did and slow it down consideribly to catch the emotion of the persons facial expressions.

I will develop my location for my shots. I have seen examples of works that without the location would not be that good. This made me realise that the location is extremly important and I am going to develop this skill by doing a number of location recces before I film. This way I ensure I have the best location possible for filming. I will also develop my editing skills. The editing is crucial to how the final piece turns out. I will brush up on my editing skills to make sure I edit my final project to the best of my ability. I will also develop my creative skills in the sense that I will take risks and become much more experimental. All of the artists took risks to what they believed in and the final pieces came out brilliantly. I will begin to do this and I know some work I will not be happy with but some I will be extremly proud of.

This piece of work is wonderfully shot and the composition is brilliant. The lighting is also extremly good and the whole clip is wonderful. This piece of work has definatly influenced me in thinking of my final piece idea. The camera work in this scene is magical and it has shown me how to use the camera to create an atmosphere. I will try and replicate the movements of the camera in this clip in my final piece. I can take inspiration from the lighting in this piece of work because it is used to great affect. Lighting is also another important element of creating an atmosphere for the audience so I will think very carefully about lighting because I have seen how well it has worked in this piece. Visual imagery is another point that made this clip so great. I will also take inspiration by picking my locations to shoot because it is very improtant. A wrong location can mess my project up completly.

Coen Brothers – The coin toss at gas station

I saw this clip in lecture and it has really stuck in my brain. It is a wonderfully shot scene with a brilliant use of dialogue. The two characters do not know each other but the killer has a plan when talking to the gas station owner. He flips a coin and asks the innocent man to call it, the man is reluctant at first but eventually calls it by saying heads. The coin is showing heads, this is a lucky escape because the innocent man does not know that if he calls it wrong he is dead, the audience and the killer no this but the innocent man does not. So many different elements are happening in this clip although it is one converstation between two people that gets the audience involved. This is inspirational to me because the dialogue in any piece, especially my final project is very impoirtant and shapes how good the piece of work is. This clip will forever be in my mind when coming up with new ideas. I also notiched how artists have inspirations in all of their works. I noticed  this coin toss issue being replicated by ‘Christopher Nolan’ director of  ”Batman, The Dark Knight”. One of his characters Harvey Dent replicates the coin toss by flicking a coin and tells people to call it and if they get it wrong they die and if they get it right they live,  just like this scene does.

All other works that have influenced me are already on my blog, these works include ‘The quintet of the astonished’ and ‘Silent Mountain’ by Bill Viola. Two further works by Andrei Tarkovsky from his film ‘Solaris’ including ‘The last scene’ and ‘Full highway scene’. Michael Landy talking about his work ‘Break Down’ and also a clip from Derek jarman’s film ‘Jubilee’. I have also come across some big names that tie in with my other module including ‘Michael Foucault’ who write ‘Disipline of punish’ and ‘Guy Debord’.

All of these clips have inspired me and have definatly opened up my options to what I want to base my final project on. I will continue to look for clips by artists to further my knowledge even more. I have learnt so much and feel very good to how much I have learnt from looking at these different pieces of art.

I have also read the module blog and found out that filmmakers, visual artists, animators and photographers all develop from influences, obsessions etc. I have taken this on board and have further researched into this fact. I was told to watch the ‘Louise and Jane Wilson’ presentation about their work and see how they have been influenced by the works of Tarkovsky. I have watched the presentation by the two contemporary artists Jane and Louise Wilson and seen how they have been influenced by the work of Tarkovsky. I will link Tarkovsky’s work ‘Solaris’ with how Jane and Louise works follow a similar trail.

This a the final scene from Tarkovsky’s film Solarias. I have watched this clip and found how Louise and Jane Wilson would have been inspired by this piece of brilliant art.

< In this piece of work we as the audience are left guessing what the scene is about until we see at the end the man hugging as I will presume his father. This is present in some of the works shown at the presentation by Louise and Jane Wilson e.g. the two split screen pictures of the room where it is symmetrical apart from the lights. it is a piece of art so it does not have to make sense. 

< Tarkovsky uses a range of different camera shots in this clip e.g. close ups and long shots. From my own experiences this combination has proved to work extremely well. The two artists showed a lot of their different works in the presentation and the work did vary between zoomed in shots and long shots.

< In this clip we get the sense that the man is revisiting real spaces and the actions of the man suggest that significant events have taken place here and there is defiantly traces of the past marked in the structure e.g. the man walking about outside the house and looking into the house through a window, this is memory based because he is revisiting the old. Again this influenced the experimental artists work because there is a sense of a link back to the past from their own experiences in their work e.g. the moving image of the lift going up and down in a split screen.

This is the highway scene from the film Solarias by Tarkovsky.

< Tarkovsky is again using the element of keeping audiences guessing what the scene is about and the purpose of it. Jane and Louise Wilson use this same sense of theory in their work. An example of them using this theory is the work they showed that consisted of four screens and different things happening at the same time in each individual screen. The audiences are again left wondering what the purpose of the work is about.

I have learnt a lot from conducting this research and I have seen the pattern in how up and coming artists are influenced by legendary artists. I saw how Tarkovsky kept the audience gripped in anticipation by not having a narrative form most of the time and I have also seen how the two experimental artists are now using the exact same theory in their works. I will start to do this from the works that I see over time and start to link theories together from established artists to create a piece of art that is good and keeps the audience interested.

Experimental Work

I have read the text in the module blog concerning how peoples behaviour changes in music and experimental work. If audiences watch an experimental piece of work that does not make sense the first thing they would ask is ‘what is this about’? They would not behave this way towards a music piece if the lyrics made no sense. They would just accept the song for what it is and enjoy it. I have responded to this issue below.

< I do think asking the question ‘What does it mean’ is a wrong starting point. I think audiences should try and look deeper into the experimental works connotations to make up their own mind how they want to perceive the work.

< I think people should look at experimental work the same as music. Music is there to enjoy but just like experimental work, music does not always make sense. If the lyrics in a song do not make sense people would not ask what does it mean. they would find an alternative to like the song and that is the songs beat. If people do not like the lyrics in a song they can still like the same song because of its beat. This should be the same in experimental work by people not asking what does it mean if a piece does not have narrative. They should look at the visuals of the piece and like it because of the visuals if the piece lacks narrative.

< To conclude, I am saying experimental work should be viewed in the same way as music. The lyrics of a song is similar to the narrative of an experimental piece of work. The beat of a song is similar to the different visuals in an experimental piece. If audiences like a song for its beat and not the lyrics people should not ask ‘what does it mean’ about an experimental piece of work that lacks narrative. They should like it for its visuals which accounts the same as people just liking a song for the beat without asking any questions.

I have been told along with my classmates a number of times not to do the bleeding obvious. This means when coming up with an idea to think of doing something different to keep people interesting in your work.

I have done some research and found two artists that do work that is experimental and avoids the obvious. I can take inspiration from these pieces to develop my own thoughts when thinking of an idea that avoids the obvious.

Micheal Landy

He is an artist and the example I have chosen to look at is his work ‘Break down’ 2001, where he destroys all of his belongings in public view. He wanted to destroy all that he had so decided to destroy them in order for him to move on with his life. This is his most famous piece of work and it is completly opposite to the obvious. I am not saying that I personally would consider destroying all my belongings but it was interesting to see how far people will go to make their work stand out from the rest. I can definatly take inspiration from this piece because it is different and original. Landy even said in the clip that people do not even remember his name, they know him for the guy who destroyed all of his belongings. The idea was very extreme but it worked because remember the idea very clearly, they do not remember his name but his work so this makes this piece of work a major success thus being Landy’s most famous piece of work to date.

Michael Landy – Talking about his work ‘Break Down’ 2001

Derek Jarman

He was a film director, stage designer, artist and writer. He combined the use of super 8 with 35mm to produce both personal movies about his own memories or reactions to the world around him and movies that combined the look of the school play with little known actors to comment on the recent events of the past. I have chosen to look at a scene from Jarman’s film ‘Jubilee’ (1977). The film is about a girl Elizabeth I who is transported forward in time and moves through the social and physical decay of the city observing the activities of a group of sporadic nihilists. This is a personal movie with Jarmans reations to punk rockers at the time. I can again take inspiration from this film because I can take the route down using a personal theme with my own thoughts and displaying them in a piece of work. This is out of the ordinary and it will keep people interested in my work. This is because it is from my point of view so it will differ to other peoples opinions and beliefs so they will keep watching.

Derek Jarman ‘Jubilee Film Scene’ (1977)

I am very proud of this piece of work because I feel I have meet all of the criteria that was set. This idea came about after a chat with my seminar lecturer. I had an idea before this one but my seminar teacher said he liked the fact that I have linked an item with my own memory. This was the foundation for how this idea came about. This piece meets that requirement because I am linking items with my own memories.

Feedback

I showed my artifact in class and everyone really liked it. They liked the fact that I have used personal memory in order to express my artifact. I was very happy with the response I recieved for this piece of work.

Picture 1

I really like this picture because I feel it is well shot and clear. My artifact is linking memories with each other from my point of view. I needed a picture of a car engine to show after the moving image of me driving the car. This is because when I am driving I remember when I had to check the engine oil before I drove the car in many occasions. This is why this picture is needed and I really like it. I will be using this still image in my memory artifact. 

Picture 2

I also really like this picture that I took of a pub. This picture comes after the moving image of me remembering working in the alcohol section at sainsburys when I was at college. This picture is needed because when I was working in the alcohol section at sainsburys, it made me remember coming to the pub with friends and having a drink. I will also be using this picture in my memory artifact.

I have taken  this into account and will start to think of my idea with this obstruction in mind. Before I start to think of an idea I will list the different types of memory I can think of to give myself a starting point.

List of different type of memories

< Human memory, computer memory, technological memory including phone, camera etc, alarm clock

From this list I found that I wanted to do a piece revolving around human memory. I feel I have much more creative freedom with this type of memory. I will began to research around human memory to come up with an idea for my artifact.

I want an idea that has a sense of amnesia and nostalgia. I searched around for material relevent to these issues for my idea.

My first idea was heavily influenced by the Bourne identity because Jason Bourne has amnesia. I watched this film and thought the amnesia concept would work extremely well. nostalgia also works well in this film because Jason Bourne is told about his past and he gets a sense of nostalgia.

Coming up with my idea

First Idea – Man (me) sitting down in front of a psychologist, the man is suffering from amnesia and does not remember anything about his past. The psychologist will be showing the man different objects to see if the man can link them back to anything in his past. The objects include a pen, driving licence and football. The pen and driving license will be shown to the man and the man would not recognise these at all. He is then shown a football and this time he is able to link it back to his past when he went and watched Arsenal play at Highbury. The man gets a sense of nostalgia because the football memory was always in his head but he needed to see an object (football) to trigger the memory off.

Seminar feedback and change of idea

I told my seminar teacher about my idea. He liked the fact I was linking an object to another e.g. football to the past. He did not like the amnesia part because he felt I was contradicted myself because one minute I do not know anything thing and then suddenly I do. I agreed that my idea could be better and started to think how I could change it. I knew I had to think of something that linked a memory to another. This is because that was the strong point of my first idea and I had to lay that as a foundation to make this artifact the best it could be.

Final Idea – I am going to mix still image with moving image, All of my images are from my point of view and what they remind me off. I am going to link items with what they remind me of with past experiences influencing my decisions. For example my first shot is going to be of a petrol station, when I see a petrol station it reminds me of cars so I will then film cars, cars remind me of engines so I will film a car engine etc. This idea allows me to link items together with my memory choosing the next item I film. I really like this idea and look forward to shooting it. 

Here is a list of what I am going to film and in the order I am going to film in

Petrol station, car, car engine, a heater, a warm top, snow, christmas tree, watching t.v., beer and chocolate, Sainsburys, beer being put on shelf, the aardvark (pub), football fixture (Arsenal vs Chelsea 29/11/09), football being kicked in a park

That is the full list of what my artifact will include. All of these items come from my memory and is what I think of when I see these items. The last item (Beer being put on shelf) may not make sense but it does for me because I used to work in a supermarket on the alcohol section where I packed alcohol onto the shelfs.

Producing my idea

23/11/09 – I planned all the shots that I wanted, I come up with my narrative structure. I wrote both of these down and memorised them for the first day of shooting tommorow.

24/11/09 – I shot most of my still images, The weather was overcast and that helped a lot in the quality of my photos. I did not have to worry about any sunlight ruining my images. I was very happy with the images I got, I am going to film the moving image shots tomorrow as I need someone else filming for me.

25/11/09 – My friend agreed to help me out and I filmed the remaining moving image footage, I was again very happy with the final outcome of my footage.

26/11/09 – I went and filmed one last shot that I forgot to get on the 24/11/09. I then edited my piece and added my music. I am extremly happy with my final piece as I feel it fully meets the criteria that my seminar lecturer told me to base my artifact around. I also added the music to completly finish my artifact and uploaded it onto my blog.

The Music

I wanted a calming song for this piece because it is all about memory. I am showing the journey I went through by remembering things when I see a image and linking them to what I remember. The music I have decided to use is called ‘Time to pretend’ by a band called MGMT. I felt this music goes well with all of the images I have included and feel this is the best song choice I could have chosen.