I have provided in my folder a printed 1000 word essay amended-final-draft-its-a-lilly-1 and my Tutor’s report. shaun-mullins-512659-photography-1-context-narrative-assignment-4
For this assessment I chose to print the first page of my essay containing the image on photo quality paper through my Canon printer for better image reproduction as the image was taken from the internet and was only 72pdi in quality.
For my Formal assessment I have sent out the same photos and covering material as originally submitted to my Tutor.
I have sent this work in two envelopes one for ‘The Report’ and one for ‘The Statement’. I have also included my 300 word introduction headed Planning labeled 13 of 14 assignment_1 ,Tutor’s report Shaun Mullins – 512659 – Photography 1 Context & Narrative – Assignment 1
In the envelope for the report will be found the letter to the Newspaper and the appropriate photos, printed by a local photo printing retailer for added authenticity.
The Report the-report
In the second envelope for ‘The Statement’ to the Police, I have included the hand written witness statement with the corresponding photos, printed with the same method through a third part high-street retailer.
A still image from the end of the first act of the epic movie ‘Gone with the Wind’, Selznick International Pictures, Metro Goldwin Mayor, (AOL Time Warner Company).
It’s a Lilly!
The image
This image is fabricated, created from scratch in a Hollywood film studio. The sky is hand painted using a technique called movie-matte-painting. The tree and fence are just props.
The first impression I have, looking at this picture, is a sense of foreboding and a feeling of uneasiness.
What we see: a sunset, a triangular shaped cirrus cloud, a very low horizon, a picket fence and a small female figure. We appear to be looking at her from in front and to her right, so as to see the silhouette of her chest. Her left arm is just out of view, but her posture suggests that it must be mimicking the right. To the far right of the picture stands a tree. Its branches are naked. One branch leans over towards the female figure and ends in a shape reminiscent of a hand-held scythe, with the tip of its blade pointing down on the figure below.
My interpretation
This is the final image from the last scene in Act 1 of the motion-picture ‘Gone with the Wind’. The audience has just witnessed this lady turn from desperation to determination; and the final image is made to look satanical with its fiery sky a witch like figure and a scary looking tree. We are encouraged to draw parallels from our imagination. I see Dante’s imaginable idea of ‘The Inferno’ and to quote from Canto III, lines 1 -3, ‘Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye.’ I am also reminded of the lines from psalm 23:4, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me…..’
I see a lot of symbolism in this image:
From the point-of-view of the movie, The American Civil War was still within living memory of an elderly American generation; and perhaps because it was made with access to living witnesses some of the scenes are so remarkable (the siege of Atlanta for example). Therefore, the movie makers intended that this image translates that fences still need mending between the North and South.
However, I see the picket fence on several levels:
1, As representing home, family and her life; it is rickety and in need of repair.
2, Seen with a stripped tree, the broken picket fence also appears to suggest destruction and hardship.
3, The fences denote a road; and the setting sun behind her, with the fence leading to the foreground, connotes a journey.
The horizon has been set very low to give emphasis to the sky above Scarlet’s head, she stands as a small figure, as if under heaven or a damned soul at the bottom of the pit. The sky is like her name Scarlet; and it is also acts as a signifier for many ideas: the unholy oath she just made in this scene, loss of innocence, war, and a sun setting over a disappearing civilization and way of life.
I see 1939 in this picture, war had been declared in Europe. For many people watching this film, their own civilization was in danger of going the way of the South and the sun was setting over their world and their way of life.
The space for the sky on the left is filled with a triangular cirrus cloud with a faint suggestion of a crucifix in its pattern, strengthening this idea of heaven and earth. This iconic symbol can be identified for denoting, love and peace; but it also connotes hope, forgiveness and unity under one faith.
The lone female stands like the tree leaning back angled in symmetry with its trunk. Her arms hang down by her sides and her visible hand appears clenched. Her posture suggests that she is standing to attention, just as a tired and battle weary soldier might stand. For the American audience of 1939, the woman could be regarded on different levels, depending on who you were:
1 For middle-class white Southern and Northern citizens she is the fair and defiant but beaten and battered South.
2, She could also be symbolic for many working class Americans who suffered during the 1930s economic recession; and could be regarded as a figure denoting a nation that is getting back on to her feet and standing defiantly against her adversaries; thus connoting National strength and endurance.
3, In 1939 many people were still denied equal rights. For the audience, this figure in silhouette could therefore be black, white, yellow or any cast the viewer chooses. She is a woman, considered the weaker sex, but seen here to be strong and encouraging hope. “I know I have the body butt of a weake and feble woman, butt I have the harte and stomack of a king, and of a king of England too” Elizabeth I, 1588, Tilbury.
The tree is stripped and broken, yet it still stands, heroically defying the ill winds that have stripped it. In his book, ‘Camera Lucida’, Roland Barthes described a feature in a picture that is a focal-point that he calls a ‘Punctum’ something that makes a nice picture an interesting picture. I see the tree as the Punctum in this picture. The silhouetted woman against the sunset and cloud makes a nice picture which Barthes calls the ‘Studium’ but the sinister tree with the branch hanging over her head turns this in to a more engaging photo (in my opinion). The branch immediately above Scarlet’s head looks like a bony finger; it appears to point down on Scarlet like a condemning finger that is passing judgment. In the context of the movie the tree could also represent the Union with its terrible judicial judgement on the South.
So why the title?
As the Technicolor movie camera began to photograph this scene a technician would have held a card with different colours printed on it in front of the camera to assist for colour calibration later on in development. The Technicolor team referred to it as a ‘Lilly‘ card if the filming was successful at the end of the scene the technician would call “It’s a Lilly!”
Word Doc. Amended Final Draft-Its a Lilly-1
References
Link to Image http://dearmrgable.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/gwtw5555.jpg
The trailer to Gone with the Wind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFu-jemU-bA
Selznick International Pictures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selznick_International_Pictures
David O. Selznick Biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_O._Selznic
MGM history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
MGM website: http://www.mgm.com/
MGM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
AOL Time Warner http://www.timewarner.com/
Movie matte painting video – Gone with the Wind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idQOBhiF-DM
Movie matte painting video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_kaA6250S4
Met Office / Cirrus Clouds: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/clouds/high-clouds/cirrus
Dante Alighieri Inferno, Canto III Lines 1 – 3. Translation by Henry Francis Cary, Published by London Folio Society (MCMXCVIII)
Dante’s Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri
psalm 23:4 – Translation from the original tongues being the version set forth A.D. 1611 Revised A.D. 1881 – 1885 and A.D. 1901 compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1952 (The Bible Revised Standard Version Published by WM Collins Sons & CO Ltd. For The British & Foreign Bible Society)
The American Civil War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War
Atlanta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta
Scarlet O’Hara Biography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarlett_O%27Hara
The South http://docsouth.unc.edu/
Confederate Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_Army
1930s economic recession https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
Elizabeth I Tilbury speech http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/elizabeth-i-tilbury-speech
Rolland Barthes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Barthes
Union Army https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Army
Technicolor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor
Technicolor color card ‘A lilly’ http://oz.wikia.com/wiki/Technicolor
The three strip Technicolor process https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor#Three-strip_Technicolor
Technicolor Film Camera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-T8MVrw1L0
I have just completed a one day mosaic course with an artist called Jane Visick based in Hitchin in Hertfordshire.
It was a great experience and something I believe that I can incorporate with my photography. Jane works with all kinds of materials, glass, ceramic, stone, metal, gems, plastics, resins practically anything you can cut up and glue down. She mosaics floors pots, walls anything and anywhere. I want to use my photography to inspire ideas for images to mosaic.
The course consists of a practical workshop in which the student will have made a small mosaic to take home the course is for 1-3 and I was in fact her only student for my day with her. During my initial conversation I suggested that I send her some ideas for my mosaic and for her to advise which if any was suitable to be completed in a day. I looked through my photo library and offered up these images.
Jane suggested that all the fish and the flowers were possible and I decided upon a fish image and this was the chosen image to use for my mosaic.
This was a blown up section of a larger picture. All the fish pictures were taken using my Nikon D-800e 24-120 f/4 with an attached polarizing filter and the aid of a speedlite. I chose this image for its movement colour and shape made by the water.
On arriving Jane briefed me on the tools and materials she used and books to read an in fact by coincidence her best book to recommend that I obtain, I had already placed on order through Amazon.
We began by deciding on the materials to use and glass was the decision and she then showed me the Technics of cutting glass to shape. We then took my printed photo and laid it with a layer of carbon-paper on to the chip-board base to wish I was going to mosaic and using a pencil I drew around my fish and areas of different colours pressing so that the carbon paper below marked the chip-board with my desired design. Removing the photo and paper I now had my design to mosaic. We then selected the coloured glass and I began cutting up the glass until I had about a dozen small pieces to start choosing and gluing.
I was surprised to get the mosaic finished by the end of the day with only the grouting left to do and Jane provided me with a bag of grout to take home and this is the final result of my labors.
For a first effort I am very pleased and encouraged. The mosaic was photographed on the floor inside a homemade light-tent of tracing-paper rolled in to a cone shape with the camera mounted on a tripod above and illuminated by three speedlights operated by infrared controller mounted to the camera. the green glass is a stain-glass and is a mix of green and a white opaque which was perfect to represent the water of a pond. I chose to use a light-tent to create an even lighting without any annoying reflections. I am pleased with the result as it is a good reproduction of the actual mosaic.
For my second assignment, I have been given a choice between photographing the unseen or using props to create a narrative. This is my learning log.
For this project I have decided to choose the first option, the unseen. My reason, is that I feel that this is more challenging and it can help me become more familiar with the theory of semiotics and how to put it into practice in my future compositions. The Unseen is another form of pictorial narrative; but this time I am going about it in another way.
Part of my brief is to make a list of at least seven ideas for the unseen. Maybe my life is a little too ordinary and dull but seven ideas was tough and all I could manage.
MY PLANNING
I first made a note of the assignment criteria to help guide my thoughts.
I then considered technical methods for image making that might inspire some ideas.
I then continued to put my thoughts on paper as to what I could conceder as unseen.
I then made a list of potential subjects.
From these general lists I fell upon the subject of depression and hope in the context of redundancy.
I then decided to write a narrative which I gave a working-title of ‘Redundant Reflections’ . Now I had my first draft of my narrative, I could then start thinking about what pictures I wanted / needed and how they might look like. Therefore, I broke it down in to sections in my mind, then made a list of the images that I believed would complement the text. I initially listed eight images then later decided that seven was enough.
I sketched out some ideas for images. a couple I used and for other images that I later produced simply came out my head as worked with my camera.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
The first image that I made from my narrative represents the beginning of my recovery from my depression. I wanted something to both represent my dog how she has contributed positively to my life. The lead refers both to a dog and walks / exercise, a toy representing fun and happiness / love and a dog biscuit that suggesting reward.
D-800e, 24-120mm f/4, @50mm, 1/80, f/4.5, ISO-320, ambient light, RAW. Adjustments in Lightroom and converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
The second image I created is for the opening image to this project, representing my redundancy. I thought of finding something that I used and is recognized as a familiar object that would be associated with work but now could also be considered redundant as a useful object. A popular object from the recent past that is both no longer in fashion and redundant in popular use was my old Filo-Fax which has now been replaced by electronic diaries. My first idea was to photograph it with other redundant objects such as a feather quill pen and bottled ink, old stamps and old redundant currency. When I put it all together, I didn’t like it. I then realized that I was looking for a strong metaphoric message for redundancy and that was simple. Simply throw the Filo-Fax in the bin! By chance the two pieces of paper that found themselves at the top of the bin couldn’t have been better placed. An eye and a sales brochure with the words “Just You” as if to say, “We just got rid of you.” In order to get a good exposure for the white paper and black Filo-Fax, I used my Sekonda hand-held lightmeter to take an incident reading.
D-800e, 24-120mm f/4, @120mm, 1/125, f/5.6, ISO-5000, ambient light, metered using hand-held incident lightmeter, RAW. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
The next image I created was the second image for the first paragraph to represent my job hunting and the market conditions. The idea for this image came strait off the page of my narrative.
D-800e, 24-120mm f/4, @31mm 1/80, f/8, ISO-4000, ambient light, metered using incident measurement from hand-held lightmeter. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
For the next image I worked on, my initial idea was to play on the words ‘learning curve’ and using a stack of books to make a curve; but as you may see, I don’t think that this idea worked too well; so I stopped and read the book ‘This Means This, This Means That’ by Sean Hall, to get fresh inspiration. The final composition was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, he has used this point of view in a couple of his films. The red No Entry symbol on the front cover of the book, I thought, would look better returned to red. by colour popping.
D-800e, 24-120mm f/4 @65mm, 1/160, f/4, ISO-4000, ambient lighting. Adjusted in Lightroom and converted to greyscale in Photoshop.
D-800e, 24-120mm f/4 @58mm, 1/80, f/9, ISO-4000, ambient lighting. Adjusted in Lightroom and converted to grey-scale and colour-popped in Photoshop.
Alfred Hitchcock.
However, when I asked my student forum to comment on my work, the consistent opinion was to keep all the pictures in grey-scale except for the last image which they agreed worked in colour; so I changed this back to full grey-scale and made alterations to the text as also suggested.
Camera settings unchanged from above.
I had an idea for the ending as something to suggest a new beginning and optimism for the future. At the time of this project it was early spring with the buds just coming out and ideal for my last image. I decided that although I have chosen to use grey-scale the last image must emphasise hope and I felt that a colour image dominated by green would suggest this. Plus I feel that this change to colour also acts as a full-stop to the narrative.
D800e, 105mm f/2.8, 1/80, f/8, ISO-125, ambient light only, adjustments made in Lightroom.
I then set about trying to create an image to suggest shock, I couldn’t find any examples on the internet other than foolish images of people looking wide eyed and open mouthed. I considered a broken cup or spilt tea / coffee but I wasn’t sure that that would suggest anything other than a broken cup or a spillage. I then had the idea of filling a cup with tea and photographing it as I banged it on a table to capture the shock wave like ripples. But as you can see, I don’t think that the image is powerful enough to convey what I was after. In the end I decided that this image was not needed for the narrative anyway.
D800e, 105mm f/2.8, 1/250, f/3, ISO-800, remote shutter control with remote speedlight in a soft-box. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
I decided to move on to produce an image conveying the business travel and my choice of image with the pillow can also be associated with the sack. I am particularly pleased with this image, it’s simple but I think to the point. (I hope you agree.)
D800e, 24-120mm f/4, @58mm, 1/60, f/4, ISO-800, ambient light only. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
The last image I made for the set was to convey an impression of depression and poor health. This came surprisingly easily, as I recalled that Hollywood movies often uses the symbolism of a tub of ice-cream when the heroin is depressed or sad; so why not use the same idea? My first attempt was okay; but I didn’t think was strong enough in it’s message; so I reshot using a hamburger that really represented bad diet and unhealthy living. This image I believe best represents the result of my redundancy which I think is far better than trying to create something to just symbolize shock.
D800e, 24-120mm f/4, @78mm, 1/125, f/8, ISO-125, remote speedlight in a soft-box. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
D800e, 24-120mm f/4 @86mm, 1/125, f/4, ISO-125, remote speedlight in a soft-box. Adjustments made in Lightroom, converted to grey-scale in Photoshop.
Have I met the assignment criteria?
Yes, I believe I achieved this.
Yes, I believe that my images meet this aim.
Yes, I believe that I have kept within this field.
Yes, x 7 key images consistent with the narrative.
Yes, A 300 word complementing narrative.
Based upon the feedback from my fellow students from my forum, particularly the very helpful and I thought good advice from Steve Middlehurst, who suggested adding the stills as well as the slideshow for the assessors to be able to clearly scrutinize each image. With this in mind I decided to put the slideshow at the very top just beneath the title and as each image represents the unseen I feel it works well and added the large stills beneath the text for closer examination.
I sent away for my images to be printed by a third-party printing company, when they came back I found that the crop they had used was not the same as I had expected and seen on my screen then ordering through their online website. I had waited a week for the photos to arrive and decided that it was too risky to try and get a better print from this same company; so I visited my local Tesco that has a photo-lab but they could not offer a service that included a border forcing me to try and coble one up in Photoshop. Moreover, they could not offer a matching matt-paper, silk being their nearest option. I emailed my Tutor who insisted that my presentation should be consistent. At first I was annoyed and turned to my student forum for advice. They were all great, I got a little from some reminding me that I should be printing my own work anyway if I want to be a professional photographer which I needed to hear even if I didn’t at first like it. A fellow student suggested a Canon printer that he uses and I ordered one on Amazon Canon PI7250 for £50, plus paper and spare inks. Thursday, mid-morning I took delivery of my new printer and after unpacking and setting up spent the rest of the day figuring out the mysteries of printer profiles and colour profiles. Fortunately, I have been in the practice of calibrating my screen using a Colour Spyder4 and by late Thursday evening I printing out my assignment photos for my Tutor. I can truly say this assignment has taught me lots.
shauncn512659 Context & Narrative 