Personal Photography Project: Contamination and Catasrtophe

My concept for my Photography project was to showcase worldly destruction through human creation. The beauty of a human has a dark side for destruction. I wanted to show both at the same time so i decided to merge both together.


My inspiration for this project was the 2012 issue. People are deeply afraid of the possible apocalypse so i wanted to make note of that. Also the fact that people contribute to global warming and other environmental issues that cause permanent damage. I chose to do portraits and merge images within the picture to further expand my idea. I wanted to digital manipulate the portrait with photoshop because i thought it would be a great idea to try new effects and test new ideas.

Photography Assignment. PROCESS WORK!

Concept: The concept for my project is: The Nature of Human and Their Worldly Destruction; Contamination, Catastrophe and Wreckage.

Technical Aspects: For the most part I really want to play with merging, and adding other effects such as gritty. I think i will work with some exposure but right now i am mainly focused on merging.

Creative/Design Process: I had to come up with an idea that was appropriate for what i was going to do and my idea started off with the environment. After that i brainstormed possible dangers to our society/environment: pollution, war, natural disaster, disease,starvation/famine etc.  I then explored the possibilities to the project, and came up with various ideas of how to make the images have a lower opacity so the look more "natural." Right now i am experimenting and putting everything together to see if it all fits well. The next step will be redefining it all.

Meaning, Symbolism and Message Behind The photograph: The meaning of my project is the beauty of humans and our worldly destruction. I have chosen to use images that symbolize the destruction of the earth and included them to the photo with lowering the opacity to make the overall photograph look as if the "human" is the destruction. That is also the "behind the photographs" message.

Technical Challenges:  The most difficult part of this project would be the merging. I had some trouble with in during my last assignment, so i though it would be great to  improve and work on it with this project.

Technique: I was drawn to portraits and natural lighting. I thought that natural lighting would be essential because then i can make the photo push more of my concept of the contrast between human beauty and their destruction. When i was taking the pictures i had to make sure that it was a nice day an also i had to position the models with their back towards the sun so it looks like they are almost heavenly or angel like. That was probably the hardest part mostly because i had to take the shots at an appropriate time, which was around sundown for better quality.

Process images: 

Top: Concept drawings

Bottom: work in progress

Animated GIF: The Lovely Bone

Hey, so i decided to create and animated GIF for the Lovely bones movie. It's one of the most important scenes where Mr. Harvey and Susie Salmon have a very close encounter. It's probably the only scene they are both included in. I also chose this part mostly because of the fear in Susie's eyes and the fact that her fate has become clear. I made everything still except for the candles in the background flickering.

TATTOO ARTIST INFOGRAPHIC

   This inforgraphic expresses my career in a simple rendition of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. It show 5 steps of becoming a successful tattoo artist. 

CHOICE: I used the hierarchy because of its importance to the needs of a human. So i changed it too the need of my future career. Like the actual chart this one has the simple need/needs at the bottom and a it works its way up to the top of the pyramid it gets more complex and important such as landing the job.

FONT: for the title i used Apple Chancery mostly because of the fancy effect it has. It would typically contrast with the usual tattoo style.

EMPHASIS: I made the information with a larger font than the titles so the viewers eyes are being lead to the main point.

COLOUR: The colour is the same as Maslow's Hierarchy. It goes from warm colours to cooler one's

SHAPE: I decided to use different symbols on the sides that represent some of the most common tattoos. This makes it more simple because i wanted to define where i am at now in tattooing. The basics.

Daily Create.

This picture was taken because i had the chance to show viewers about "something spinning" so rather than taking a picture of a spinning chair or someone spinning rapidly, i thought it would be a great idea if i spun the basketball on my finger. It's something so simple yet it took me a while to come up with the idea.

Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Research Assignment)

Specific course and institution: Emily Carr University of Art and Design.  

Resident Master of Applied Arts in Visual Arts

Number of works to be included: 18-20 examples of visual art projects. "this may include documentation of static (2D or 3D) and dynamic (sound,video, performance, etc) work."

Size Restriction: Online portfolios should be " approximately 1024 x 768px at 72 dpi and please keep video files under 60MB each." all works must be photographed and arranged as a JPG,PDF or GIF.

Mediums required:

Information specified: During the application process the applicant is needed to have Official Educational Documents or Transcripts which mean that applicants must have sealed envelopes of all accredited post-secondary institutions. The applicant must also include a statement of attempt that is around 300-500 words that clearly outlines their research and/or practice.

                                 

Applicants should also include a resume of their accomplishments, education as well as volunteer service history. Lastly they have to include reference letters from professionals you have studied or worked with.

For more information go to: http://www.ecuad.ca/admissions/graduate and https://www.ecuad.ca/admissions/undergrad/portfolio

Calendar Of upcoming Events at Emily Carr

MUSIC VIDEO REMAKE

This is a re creation of the Owl City I Must Be Dreaming song. It took us approximately 2 months to work on it and it took about a week to edit it. I hope you enjoy it. :)
We wanted to use different lighting techniques we learned in our tech class and put them to the test. We wanted to go for a light hearted effect so we shot mainly on sunny days so that the emotion would relate better.

TECH PORTFOLIO!

White Background Setup.


CONCEPT: The concept of this video tutorial is to show viewers how to set up their own lights to illuminate the figure.

DESIGN PROCESS: My group had to identify what we needed to work on and how to set up and then from there we started brainstorming possible ways to film. After generating ideas and exploring some possibilities of where the lights should be placed we then moved around a little to refine the idea and thats when we started shooting.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: My group filmed this video with a NIKON 3100

OPINION: In my opinion this video could of been done better on my behalf. I probably could of done without the Q- cards and i think the video would of turned out better if there was more of a close up.

Forrest Gump Movie Trailer.


CONCEPT: This video is a recreation of the movie Forrest. Gump. We had the chance to change the theme of the original and change it up a bit. So instead of the movie being a romance, comedy, coming of age, drama and Americana i changed it to a suspenseful horror movie.


DESIGN PROCESS: The design process of the movie trailer consisted of thinking of what the theme should be changed too then major brainstorming of movie clips and considering the best choice of clips and then i selected the clips i wanted to add after that i put them all together and finalized the video.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This video was created in IMovie


OPINION: In my opinion i thought i did a good job. At first i was doubting myself but then it started to come together and it worked out in the end.

Art Nouveau.

CONCEPT : The concept was to recreate and art style as well as a self-portrait.

DESIGN PROCESS:I firstly started out with a picture and then i manipulated it with the art styling in mind. After coming up with the general idea i moved on to finalizing it.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: I created this poster in Illustrator. this image was 25x25 cm

OPINION: I thought this was the best i have done in illustrator so far and i am extremely pleased with it.

Blorange Swan.

CONCEPT: The concept of this Lino print was to create a bird of our choice by carving it and then printing it.

DESIGN PROCESS: Firstly we all had the chance to choose the bird we preferred to carve out then after some thought and position i carved it keeping in mind that i had to carve at least 70% in order to creat the focal point.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Linoleum tile with acrylic paint. 

OPINION: In my opinion this was alright. I wouldn't say its my best work and i should of chose different colours.

Chinese Traditional Ink Painting.

CONCEPT:The concept of this piece was to show how much we had learned from the ink painting tutorial and attempt to illustrate a picture with the things we learned.

DESIGN PROCESS: Firstly i started off with choosing a composition and placement. I wanted to come up with various ideas and choose the best one. From there i was ready to experiment with different lines and after that i came up with the final composition.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: Ink on rice paper

OPINION:In my opinion i thought this was a good attempt although i am not experienced at all, this was a good experience 

Fragility.

CONCEPT: The concept of this was to show the definition of fragility

DESIGN PROCESS: I picked the word that i wasted to describe and after careful thought i decided to make the words crumple as if the word fragility was falling apart because of its main weakness.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This was done in illustrator

OPINION: I was very surprised to have come up with this idea because usually it takes me a while to actually choose something that would look appealing. In this case it all worked out.

Owl City.




CONCEPT: The concept of this assignment was to make a poster for the music video my group created.


DESIGN PROCESS: In the beginning i knew i wanted the poster to look as professional as possible so i decided to use the same color concept as the other OWL CITY album and incorporate them into my recreation. From there i wanted to use a symbol that had a dream-like effect so i used 3 dimensional stars. The font i used was asinine, mostly because it was the closest looking font the band uses for their album covers.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This was done in Illustrator




OPINION: In my opinion i think that this is probably the best poster i have ever created...and the only one i have created

Golden Griffin.

CONCEPT: The concept was to design a logo for a company.


DESIGN PROCESS: When i was thinking about my logo i wanted the logo to represent divine power and security as well as my "company" I decided to choose the griffin because it had various characteristics and appealing look. When i decided the color scheme i wanted to be very simplistic and choose white and yellow.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: this piece was done in illustrator and photoshop.


OPINION: In my opinion i highly dislike this piece. I never liked the overall look and i felt as if  i can do a better job now looking back on it.

Richie Valens.


CONCEPT: For this assignment the concept of this was to show how much we learned from kinetic typography.


DESIGN PROCESS: We spent weeks learning about helvetica and kinetic typography with audio so we had the chance to put what we had learned to the test. We had the chance to choose a song or poem and display it in words. After taking some time to decide what i wanted it to be i chose the song Your Mine by Richie Valens.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This whole video was made in flash.


OPINION: I thought that this was very hard to accomplish and i think that i could of done better.

Fasai.


CONCEPT: The concept of this piece was to get a basic knowledge of painting.


DESIGN PROCESS: I wanted to paint someone so i decided to paint someone. i used a basic color palette  and from there i didn't exactly put too much thought in my next steps. i just wanted to accomplish a regular fast painting so i can get an idea of how to learn from what i have done.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This painting was done on New Print paper with acrylic paint.


OPINION: In my opinion i thought i did well because this was the first painting i have ever done of someone.

Still Life

CONCEPT: The concept of this piece was to demonstrate our use of gradient as well as composition.

DESIGN PROCESS: We had the chance to choose from a variety of items in-which we were going to attempt to sketch and then and from there we had to use a gradient scale to understand where the darks would go.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This piece was done on new print paper with HB.6B 3B AND 4B pencil

OPINION: I thought this was a great piece. I really liked the outcome of it.

Pencil.


CONCEPT: The concept was to make a new symbol for L.C.I Cyberarts


DESIGN PROCESS: The class had to go through alot of idea making until we decided to used the pencil. From there i took it into illustrator and filled it in to look like a cartoon picture of a pencil. Once it was done we had the chance to make a bigger scale poster with our finger prints.


TECHNICAL INFORMATION: This was done in illustrator.


OPINION: In my opinion i didn't think it turned out too good. I feel as if i could of done better with this assignment.

3 POINT LIGHTING VIDEOS

The first video is a white background setup. This setup consists of the key light and the fill light which are directed towards the back of the subject and to only light the back. both lights are on full power as another light acts as the fill light directed towards the subject. In most cases it is good to use a reflector to eliminate any "under chin" shadows although we didn't need too.

The second video is the Black background setup. This setup consists of the fill light the key light and the hair light. In this case we used a mirror to be used as the hair light instead. The key light is positioned around 45 degrees and about 1 meter away set on full power on the subject causing a harsh light on the side of the subjects face. The fill light helps even out the brightness. Although the fill light is only set to half the power as of the key light. The hair light or in this case the mirror is used to illuminate the subject so their body does not fade into the background.

The third video is the film Noir setup. The key light is positioned right in front of the subject and it will light them and it is on half power. The brightest light is positioned towards the black background and it is called the fill light. The third light is the highlight or in this case the mirror. this is directed a little further behind the subject and angled towards the camera on the lowest setting.

Owl City Poster

Artist Statement 

My design: For the overall design of the poster i wanted to stick with the same color as their actual album which is :blue and pink. I figured that since the lyrics of the song seemed out of the ordinary and colourful i wanted to go with a patterned background to show how scattered yet fluent the feelings are of the song. The stars finished and brought the piece together. The stars symbolized the "Dreaming" portion of the album name. I tried to stay simple with putting the font directly in the middle so it leads the viewers eyes down towards the stars or vice versa.

30 Best Music Video

so these are the top 30 videos in the past 3 decades. We were suppose to take a look and analyse different aspects that make up the videos.

1980's

Talking Heads 'Once in a Lifetime' (1980)
So i think it would be only right to start off with the first video of the segment which is: Talking Heads 'Once in a Lifetime' (1980)
as you can see the use of the Green-screen is in full blast as well with his corny dancing makes for a huge success. In my opinion i was thrilled to watch this video and it was boring. It seems as if he stayed in the same place the whole time, and although the camera did some close ups, it wasn't exactly satisfying. It was exhibited in New Yorks Museum of Modern Art. This video was recognized as "brilliant bizarreness". People enjoyed the video because of it.

Michael Jackson, Thriller (1984)
Michael Jackson is known as an icon in the world of music and the King of Pop, so it would make sense to take a look at his well known song Thriller. In my opinion this video was pure genius. From start to finish we see an engaging dialogue, anticipation, amazing costume and makeup as well as an impressive plot. Not to mention the lyrics and the camera angles. We can tell that this videos style originated in the 1980s but the artistic expression definitely evens it out and accommodates the video with suspense as well as good visuals.

1990s

The Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' (1994)
The Beastie boys are at it again with their "mischievous humor and anarchic energy" we get to see them as mustache - donut- eating cops. In my opinion i think this video was well done. It was simple yet different. They had impressive technical precision with the different camera angles and spinning. It had a variety of close-ups far shots as well as a man falling from a building. Nothing is better than the action and the characters they portrayed. The pacing was fast and up beat and the style was so 70's.

Missy Elliott, 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)' (1997)
Missy Elliott also known as the Queen of hip hop made the Turn -of-The-Century music video which included extended booty dancing hummers and outrageous outfits. In my opinion this is what makes up for a good music video. Almost everything is incorporated in it from garbage bag suits to stutter-step choreography. They used a tremendous amount of harsh lighting, and the pacing is different from most of the traditional videos.

2000

Johnny Cash, 'Hurt' (2003)
Johnny Cash was well-known for his classic songs throughout the decades such as: ring of fire. The inspiration for this video would have to be his overall health and mental state throughout the years. I thought this video was genius because it showed us his timeline through pictures while he sings aboutu his past feelings and "stains of time" The style is modern but contrast with his age so it becomes more appropriate to watch.

OK Go, 'Here It Goes Again' (2006)
When i first watched this video i thought it was amazingly different mostly because i found out that the whole video was taken in one shot! It took them 17 times to get it right but when they did, viewers were amazed with the choreography and this earned them 50 million views as well as a grammy!
I think the most artistic aspect would be the use of treadmills while dancing from one to the other. You can tell that the lighting is very basic and harsh at both sides.

STYLO

This is the Chair i designed for the Media Chair assignment that my class did. The chair was suppose to represent our personalities, so i decide to create a Heel chair. I really like shoes and they go well with different outfits. I named it STYLO. it was hard to make this chair because of the many curves and such. It took me sometime to finish, and it is still needs a little work. STYLO is pure white with no colour because people are suppose to recognize the chair and not the colour of it.

LIGHTING

">

This video shows you how you can make a Softbox light that is affordable and works well. In the first part of the video the boy explains that you have to cut out 4 trapezoids from a cardboard box and then from there you put aluminum foil on the pieces so it can reflect the light. From there you use black tape to connect all 4 trapezoids together. From there once the trapezoids have been put together you hook the light up to the surrounding cardboard pieces. When that is done you put plastic wrap over the "light" and then you are ready to turn the light on.

">

In this video Ryan Connolly discusses how to set up a green screen.

Forrest Gump Trailer

In our class we had to compose a video trailer of any movie we wanted and change the theme of it by using music to imitate the emotion. I decided to to choose Forrest Gump not only because it is my favorite movie but also because it had so many genres included such as: Romance, comedy, coming of age, drama, and Americana. there was a lot to work with so i decided the make it a horror. The concept of this trailer is that forrest was an outcast that no one could relate too, until he met this girl named Jenny. She accepted him for who he was. He ended up running away but still kept Jenny in his mind. She had moved on to someone else. Forrest came back for her but he became obsessed. So he ends up stalking her through the whole trailer.

the original trailer



This is the trailer i first watched in order to come up with my genre.


QUESTIONS
The mood has been changed from light and playful to suspenseful and creepy
I added the voice over at the end. I used different parts from the movie and put them in certain parts of the trailer so it would look more intense in some areas.
I wanted to make sure that the trailer would convey what i wanted it too. I wanted the viewer to see that he was progressing into a man who had an obsession. The music was a perfect fit because it linked everything together. It made everything more dramatic. It wasn't the easiest to find a scary song that matched my video. It took me about 3 periodes of searching in order to finalize the music. When i put it with the video it was a perfect match.

Trip to the AGO #3

Last Thursday our class decided to go on a field trip. We went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) we saw many pieces such as renaissance, European Old Masters art, Thompsons Collection as well as Industrial Photography. The piece of art that inspired me the most was by Anthony Van Dyke called: Daedalus and Icarus.
Made in 1620, oil on canvas.




When we were looking at the Industrial Photography I happened to notice a photo by Jesse Boles called: Crude Landscape. It was taken in Downtown Toronto during the night. this pictures angle is straight on as if it was a car on the road. On the sides of the road it shows faded trees possibly due to the cold weather. No one is on the street. The street lights are on, there are no cars in the area and there is a electrical tower that looks as if it is in the background sectioning the road in half.

The composition is even (good symmetry), simplicity and the time of day are all good factors that i looked for when looking at it.

Artistic inspiration # 3

While venturing through my class wondering what to do next, a fellow student that i work with had suggested that i should do a portrait of Justin Bieber. Since it was his birthday that day i decided that it would be an excellent idea to illustrate this famous person face. He had been my artistic inspiration that day. I painted for 2 periods and at the end i had completed a portrait of justin Bieber.

It was a good opportunity to test my skills.

Personal Inspiration #2

For my personal inspiration i decided to paint a portrait of Pokemon. I was in class one day and i was finished all my assignments so i decided that i would try to paint a portrait of someone to test my painting ability. I sat in a position that would be a good angle to start. from there i made my palate of black white and grey as well as purple and some colours i had mixed together. I wanted to paint Pokemon because her style is influential and i admire her.
I decided to have a dark background so that she would stand out more in the foreground. :)

Tips and tricks #1

So, in our tech class we had the chance to make a black History video for our assembly. We had to come up with a plan. We had to make the portraits of these people into a trace of their face but it still had to look realistic. So while i was questioning what to do i learned a tip to how to turn a photo into a traced black and white photo using illustrator.

Object>Live Trace> Tracing options>
From there you can select the Preview box and that will show you the gradient in which you would like to create on your photo or image. After that click OK and then you will have a black and white traced picture.

Although this may sound easy to do, i found it incredibly hard to learn at first until i got accustomed to using it. Hopefully you have an easier time learning it than i did. good luck :)

Billy Collins: Now and Then

DESIGN ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES:
At the beginning of the video the lines lead into the animations and they guide your eyes to the next frame.The paper and drawing consists of traditional Chinese water paint. The design is simplistic and the lines are brushed thick.It changes from traditional Chinese water paint to an animated cartoon to a realistic scenery. He emphasizes "loud cartoons on television" as if he is implying that they are a joke.
It emphasizes that life isn't what it used to be like. And how the traditions and lifestyle back then is different from today's society.

ANALYZING:
In my opinion i think that the artist demonstrated good transitions throughout the video and a good message. It was something understandable. The colors are very organic and earth like. I think the video is about understanding different times, or making sense of it all.

DISCUSS THE USE OF SOUND:
There is no music whatsoever but Billy Collins (narrator) describes the poem through the images. The emotion of his voice in monotone but i find it easier to connect too.

SEQUENCING:
almost each sequence is around 7 seconds apart this means that it is a short period of time but it doesn't bore the audience.

OVERALL OPINION:
I think this video and poem relate well with each other because it is amazing how we learn how differently we live throught the years and centuries.This inspires me because it gives me an outlook to do more timeless art pieces.

the Missing Pages Poem Assignment

Our assignment in class was to research 4 historical figures. This poem is about making Black History heritage more defined to not only Canadians but others who are unfamiliar with it. it is as if the author is making a metaphor to how the pages of history are being lost like the pages of a poem. The 3 people i decided to write about are:Stanley grizzle, Viola Desmond, Henry Bibb and Domestic Workers (not a person). I used the 5 W's to further my research and make it more clear.

Who: STANLEY GRIZZLE

What: After serving in Europe during WW2 Grizzle started to be involved in the Union more. He opened management to black people and he was also one of the leaders of the Civil Rights in 1950. Grizzle worked with the Labor Committee to Combat Racial Intolerance.

When: (Birth year) 1918

Where: (Birth place) Toronto, Ontario

Why: Grizzle wanted society to be more opened to diversity.



Who: VIOLA DESMOND

What:Viola Desmond refused to sit in the assigned area in which black people were supposed to sit which was the balcony of the theatre. The theatre had been segregated this means the black people had to sit in a different area that the whites and this caused a separation of colour between the two.Desmond decided to sit in the floor seats where the white people did.She was removed with force and arrested.

When:July 6 1914- February 7 1965

Where: Nova Scotia

Why: Viola wanted to change the way things were and also to make a stand for what she believed in.



Who: HENRY BIBB

What: Henry Bibb was a slave who served a white woman in a Kentucky Plantation. Henry was born into slavery and throughout his life he had encountered many memorable things.Bibb published his autobiography called : Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Henry was later known as " One of the best slave narratives." After writing his autobiography he felt that his life would be in danger so to ensure the safety of himself he migrated to Canada and lived in Windsor Ontario.

When:1815-1854

Where:Kentucky

Why: Henry wrote his biography in order to show people not only what he had to live through but what other slaves experienced on a daily basis.



Who: DOMESTIC WORKERS

What: Domestic workers worked within a household of their employers, this is another term for a servant. They provide childcare, cleaning, food preparations, shopping, laundry and other errands.Woman were typically known as domestic workers but they were also reffered to as "Woman-Mistresses"

When: Domestic workers were most commonly recognized in the 1800's and 1900's. Slavery also started before the 1800's and it also still occurs in various countries today.

Where: South America and some parts of Canada in the past.

Why: Domestic workers/slavery were used for trading. They traded slaves usually for cotton, tobacco and sugar.The British had captured African tribes and put them on slave ships with about 400 and more people being sent to the West Indies,America and Canada. They were sold to owners with plantations.