Kaleidescope edits

In my production schedule I stated that I would edit my images after each shoot to ensure that I stay on top of the material I have. I also proposed that my website would have an interactive aspect to it, therefore I plan to use several GIFs throughout. I decided the GIF process out with this image by putting it into photoshop and moving up and down the hue and saturation scale. I think this image in particular was a good one to start with because it already has lots of different coloured shapes so the colour change it more obvious. When editing the original image I played around with adding more vibrance to each shape but I found that it didn't look realistic and I didn't want the image to look over edited in terms of losing the skin texture. From this particular experiment I realised that I need to practice my photoshop skills for future imagery. I also need to not rely solely on post production because it is more time consuming, so I need to be less sloppy with my make-up application.

I am going to continue to edit more of the images from this photoshoot until I can do my next shoot. I need to make the most of my time as I am aware that it will go very fast.

I found that by using double and triple exposure with the images, that the focus was less about the make-up application and more about the shapes and colours that were in the image. Out of all the images I had done I felt like the ones with the blue hue worked the most, although the colours of the shapes were less visible. I found playing around with these images gave me a better understanding of what sort of things I would like to do with the website. I know that experimenting with ideas is going to be the best way of finding this out. However, I am very aware that I have a tendency to be very last minute, as those are when my best ideas come to mind. I think planning each shoot will be the best of making sure things run smoothly. 

Next step

This week I have planned to progress my project and get the wheels turning on my entire project. I realise that because I have allocated more time to the dissertation that the pace of the FMP needs to be fast in order to catch up with my estimation for this time period. Week commencing 22nd of February I will complete my next shoot to add the triple exposure image. As the image is meant to be layered with textures, colours and emotions that different ends of the spectrum with the word "Imagination". This image will explore the dream like aspect of the word, using the information from the Synaesthesia FB page I have picked the keywords 'colour' 'pastel' 'fluffy' 'soft'. With those words as basis for inspiration I wanted to experiment most with texture and colour so I have decided to play around with rainbow soap foam which I plan to place carefully onto my model in a tasteful manner. The idea is that the model will be immerced in the soap and be encapsulated with the feeling of "Imagination". I will be using the same model in order to keep continuity but also because I plan to triple expose the images so I feel it would be best to use the same person. I want to emphasise how one person could experience the word, there were so many different responses to the word "Imagination" that I want to make sure at least 3 overall responses are acknowledged and explored. I want to make sure the foam is not carelessly placed otherwise it will look clumsy. Therefore I will work with a fashion stylist to make sure the foam is strategically placed. I will also be using the same photographer for the previous shoot for continuity and because he is aware of the concept and where it is heading.

Dissertation and Practice

The dissertation project has taken longer and required more focus than originally expected. As a film was the chosen media for my practical to occumpany the dissertation a lot of time has been spent planning, design, shooting and editing the film. The film had to be filmed in 5 seperate parts and edited on 2 seperate occasions. In the original time plan created for the FMP it had been anticipated that it would be well underway by now. However, more time had to be dedicated the practical and the written part of the dissertation. I wish I had known how much time to dedicate to the dissertation, as I am now realising that focusing on more than one project intently is difficult for me, especially as I have a high expection for the work I produce. If I were to redo my timeplan I would expect a longer time for the dissertation and intergrate the FMP work slowly, rather than expecting too much of myself each week before the end of February.

First Group Session

The first group session was really interesting as I got to find out what everyone else was doing with their projects and what stage they were at in their FMP. I was happy to find out that I was the only person that had actually started shooting images. But at that stage I was still behind on my blog. Which I need to make sure doesn't happen as I will end up making more work for myself. At this point I am focusing a little more on my other projects just because they have a sooner deadline and I find it difficult to focus my full attention on more than one project at a time. I have revised my timeplan since my proposal as I feel like I needed to be more specific with details of what I would be doing each week. I also need to pin down all of my photographers, models and studio space.

Production schedule revised

·         8th of February- write down and plan out every shoot for the project. Do a call sheet for the models and photographers needed. Research getting a domains pace for the website. Gather all the materials needed for the project. Book the needed studies

·         15th February- Do first shoot and feedback to the Synaesthesia FB group. From there move forward with the story on the website. Begin designing and planning of the website on Adobe MUSE.

·         22nd February- continue with the website building but mainly focus on completing the dissertation and practice. Speak to someone about creating the interactive images. Speak to Joel and Jake about creating pieces of music for the interactive images.

·         29th February- do the final shoot in the imagination series and edit the images individually and then try piecing them together.

·         7th March- relay the imagination images back to the FB group. Shoot an image for interactive purposes. Do another shoot that has the potential for a gif or a cinegraph. Try out putting the images together into a gif. Go to the Vogue exhibition and see Wonder.land

·         14th March- 4th April- 2/3 photo and film shoots a week followed by editing and constant focus group feedback. Meanwhile music will be composed and matched with the interactive images. Once an image of film piece is finalised it will be placed into the website.

·         21st March- continue editing and putting images into the website and writing the content. Do focus groups on the website. Find out what synesthetes enjoy and how non synesthetes react.

·         28th March- continue editing and putting everything into the website. Making sure designs. Making sure all reflective journal posts are up to date.

First shoot

My first shoot for the SYNAEVISION website was very successful. I used Pinterest as the basis for my initial research and experimentation. In terms of the execution of the hair and make-up I forgot to bring my Suprapalette which meant I had to improvise with using powdered pigments. The colours and shapes came out well but they would have been crisper if I had greasepaint. But I feel I can correct any errors in post production. I was very pleased with the design of the hair and it was executed well but I could have made it more precise by sectioning the hair better, as some of the sections were equal and didn't look as clean as they could have.
My photographer did an amazing job at capturing the images just how I wanted them. I think by sending him some images beforehand gave him a better understand of how I wanted the images to look. We experimented with different shoots- Close ups and body shots as well as coloured gels. We tried images without gels and then with red and blue. It turned out that the blue images looks the best. They created a really interesting mood within the images. Overall, I am happy with my first shoot for the FMP. However, I think I need to work on perfecting my make-up skills and making sure everything is precise and not relying on the post production stage. From this point I need to keep the momentum up with the images I am producing. I am very keen to complete the other two images so I can complete the triple exposure outcome. I know I need to work on my organisation skills by making sure I have everything in my make-up and hair kit before I leave the house. I also need to work on my creativity to make sure I have original images. As much as it is helpful to find resources on Pinterest, I don't want to copy anything that has already been done.

Imagination

I decided that I would go through the Synaesthesia Facebook page and find some information I could work from. I came across a post in which a member had asked everyone 'What colour is imagination?' I thought this was really interesting to read because it prompted a variety of responses and explanations. From the answers people gave, I wrote them down and picked three contrasting answers. I wanted to create an image that explores 3 different versions of the word 'imagination' so it opened up the possibility of interpretation. 

I then turned them into three different looks:

Look 1: Rainbow/Kaleidoscope 

Look 2: Pastel colours with fluffy and soft hair and make-up
Look 3: Sparkly blue make-up with angular hair.

I then want to overlay all the images together to create a triple exposure effect. Taking the information from the Facebook is an inventive approach to creating my first look for the website. Although the word is 'imagination' I think the image will be open to interpretation. I will play with coloured gels when photographing the images and then in post production I will play with gels. I feel confident that this concept will look interest as I am going to experiment with a variety of colours and textures. 

Alice in Wonderland Exhibition

I decided to take a trip to London to visit the Alice in Wonderland pop up exhibition at the British Library. I have always taken an interest in the Lewis Carroll classic as it was something I read as a child. The original illustrations by John Tenniel show the true nature of the character Alice, which is more dark and mysterious, unlike the way Alice is depicted in the later Disney versions. Among the exhibition there were the original diaries and books written by Lewis Carroll filled with notes and stories of Alice. There were also different illustrations by different artists who had interpreted both Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the looking glass. I was surprised to find that among those artists was Salvador Dali. When I had planned the visit to the Alice in Wonderland exhibition I was merely going out of personal interest. But the paintings, which are the one of Dali's rarest collections, are vivid and unusual yet they perfectly encapsulate the dream like state of the Alice in Wonderland stories.

When building the website and choosing the content for the images and films I am unsure of how to develop ideas. I want everything on the website to be relevant to the realm of synaesthesia rather than just do images for the sake of doing images. The Salvador Dali images are a perfect example of an interpretation of story. The technique of melted colours and made up creatures are Dali's exploration of the classic tale. Using this concept I want to apply this to the images I create. So by taking an element of a synaesthetes encounter I will create an image that explores and emphases that. 

I also want to think about it in reverse. So by creating an image concept from scratch and then seeing how a synaesthete would react- What colours, emotions, tastes does the image evoke? Does it call upon memory recall? Do you understand the image? But also applying the same questions to a non synaesthete. So when I create my first few images, create a survey with the images and put it to both groups of people and compare the reactions. I will also think about the comparison in images that are based on people's experiences against the ones I have created myself.

The exhibition really opened my eyes to the possibility of interpretation. How so many artists could interpret one story and how different the illustrations are. I want to create this type of versatility on my website. Moving forward from this point I want to begin exploring the idea of taking the information from the Synaesthesia Facebook page and seeing what I can create from that. 

As you can see from the images, they are extremely abstract and they are open for so much interpretation which is an attribute I admire and one I wish to portray through my website. The colours and shapes are so beautiful and never exact, unlike a lot of art it isn't telling the viewer how to feel, it is just letting the viewer make their own decisions.

The proposal

After submitting the FMP proposal I am feeling relived to have the whole idea into place and a clear plan for the next few months. But I am also aprehensive of the grade I will recieve. I had several tutorials the week of my hand in which Sharon gave me helpful feedback. In the first tutorial I was given a lot of information about what to improve and how to make my tone more academic. This feedback encouraged me to re-read through my proposal and figure out where I was rambling and over-explaining certain things. By the second tutorial Sharon was impressed with the improvements I had made and said that my writing was potentially MA standard. By the time I was ready to submit the proposal I felt happy that I had included all of the relevant information in order to get an overall understanding of the project I intend to undertake. If I were to tweak any areas of the proposal I would liked to have more diverse visuals and maybe done more test shoots of the variety of work that would be featured on the website. As I feel the screen shots of the kaleidoscope projection weren't high quality and aren't necessarily what I would have liked to explain the concept of a Synaesthesia inspired website. However, I feel like I showed good representation of the website through a WIX and Pinterest mock up of the website. 

One element of the proposal I would have liked to expand on was the story by Proust. As it is very much an explanation into how we make memories and personal connections with our senses. And how it feels to recall a sense that it related to a memory. Although it was a good basis for the context of Synaesthesia and how I hope to connect with the audience, I think I will explore the Proust story in a specific area of the website. And maybe include personal connections with different senses. 

Moving forward from the proposal I am looking forward to beginning my project. I am confident that I have enough material through the informatiom gathered from the Synaesthesia Facebook group to begin piecing concepts together in order to plan and design shoots and then the website.

I realise that I have other projects which will require my attention for the next 2 months but I am determined to keep up the development of the proposal until I can give it my full attention.