3D

3Rs project

For this project we had to begin by choosing a single object and then using this object to create a piece that corresponded to the field we wanted to go into. In my case, I am doing prosthetic and fx makeup so therefore whatever my object was, it would be created into something in this field. The object that I chose was a pair of tights and was drawn to these as they are easy to minipulate and change to whatever design you desire. My first idea that i immediately decided to experiment with was placing the tights over the head and adding material to the inside to create forms and contours of the face. I made a number of drawings showing that I would aim to make the chin longer, cheekbones higher and generally dehumanise the face. However, as this was my first idea I was simply experimenting with it loosely, not expecting this to be my final idea. My main objective was to give myself ideas on how to expand this idea and use the elements that worked well to produce more ideas.

Once I had experimented with this method, I came across the idea of stretching the material and creating small patterns which i thought would make an interesting design on the face with potentially makeup applied onto it. The pattern reminded me of a sane/dragon like creature so i decided to research this to come up with more ideas of potentially creating some sort of scales in the design.

Research

When looking online, i saw a lot of people creating scale designs using stencil like tools and i thought that this was interesting idea. The majority of the work showed patterns on the sides of the face/cheekbones and I knew that i wanted to create more a bold, full coverage final outcome which even stretched down to the chest and shoulders. However i found research very helpful as it allowed me to pick up various bits of inspiration while also learning techniques which i would use to actually complete the final design.

More experimentation

I began to experiment with the idea of placing the tights physically over my head. A lot of tutorials I watched of other peoples work involved them either placing sections of the tights to the face or actually cutting small parts off and using these to make the patterns in the desired area. However as i wanted to create a creature/character rather than just a design i placed the whole leg of the tights over my head to the bottom of my chest. When doing this, I then blotted light and dark versions of the blue colour I had chosen onto certain areas through the holes of the tights. Doing this was a strange way of working as you have little control of what the final outcome will look like as you can't see how the makeup will come out of the other side of the tights until the end.

I used a hair clip at the back of my head to pull the tights to make the material stretch in certain areas, making the holes bigger or smaller where I wanted. For example, on the forehead and cheekbones, I wanted the holes to be more wide and I wanted these areas to appear larger and more open compared to the hollows of the cheekbones and jaw which i wanted to appear darker and smaller. This allowed me to contour my face in quite an exaggerated way, making it appear less human. 

When i took the tights off i drew two dark lines on the side of my nose to create the illusion of it being very thin and small, my like the slits of a snakes nose. I also blocked out my lips and used a black paint to draw a straight line through the centre of the lips which make the lips appear also non existent. Both of these techniques were the main features that dehumanised the face. Another small element I included was snake like eyes on my eyelids so that when my eyes were shut they appeared as long, thin yellow eyes. 

Final outcome

When my makeup was completed I photographed the design with natural light as fake lights would have reflected the true shape of the lips, cheekbones and worsened the illusion of the makeup. In the end I decided to work on myself as when working in this way with tights for such a long period of time, someone may become claustrophobic. Also, due to the intricacy of the work, i found it much easier working on my own face. The fact that I had a short deadline meant that I had little time to find someone to do the makeup on

Transcription

Ashley Rommelrath - 

I am drawn to this type of photography as i find it to be completely raw, which is not something you often see in other photographers work. A lot of pictures now are styled, photoshopped or manipulated in some way. However, in these pictures it is showing you exactly what is happening in that moment, the way you would see it if you were really there. I find this to be extremely bold and powerful, also holding a great deal of character as you are able to explore the personalities in the photos. I also think that that the use of colour is effective as if it was in black and white, we would not be able to see the picture in very much depth at all.

My Ideas

When considering work that I could use as a starting point as inspiration for my piece I thought that the film Donnie Darko was perfect for this. This film perfectly encapsulates the idea of an alternate reality and not understanding fully what is going on. It follows a young boys life who experiences strange visions and encounters inexplainable situations. It is only at the end of the film when you (the viewer) understand what has happened and multiple mysteries are explained. This is something that I definitely wanted to portray in my short film in my story line. Another aspect which drew me towards Donnie Darko was the camera angles and shots used. During the film it often cuts from one shot to another with no link between them. This is deliberately confusing for the audience and creates a dream like atmosphere as one story quickly becomes another.

Lens based media - The Anamorphic World

(In Greek, the word “ana” means “again” and “morphe” means “shape” or “form”)

When beginning this project we had to question the world around us and see things that we would usually ignore. Literally or conceptually we had to look through film or photography at things not being as they seem. This could be something small or large but has to be something which makes you question it or take a second look. We looked at work such as Hans Holbein's “The Ambassadors” 1533 which presents a simplistic, traditional painting however with a very obscure, disproportionate skull. It was painted in such a way that only when you look at a certain angle can it be seen correctly. This cleverly plays with the norms of perception which is something that was uncommon in paintings at this time. The artist has painted it in a way that hides it at first glace as at first, the focal point is on the two men in the painting. It is only when you look closer that you see the skull and this is a perfect example of giving something a second glace and looking deeper into the work.

The National Gallery

At the national gallery I was able to observe older paintings that usually appear to be quite generic however when looking closer you are able to see a number of things that are not as they seem. This may be through the way the artist has painted (colours, textures) or through the subject of their piece. When in the gallery i found this piece which was a small sculpture which appeared to be 3D and have a lot of depth, however when looking from another angle you are able to see that it is very 2D with only a very small amount of depth.

I found this interesting as it intended to be visually confusing for the viewer. I knew that I wanted my piece to make the viewer believe that they are in a certain world or reality when they are not and I thought that this piece perfectly symbolised this.

Experimentation 

We had a range of photographs of models that we had to use a 2D mannequins to make garments on. These has to relate to the previous work we had explored so could contain the same colour, shapes, sizes or type of clothing.

After this we had to begin to plan our final task which was to create a garment of our choice, create it and photograph it in the style of fashion photography. The piece has to be 'wearable art', meaning not something that would be worn typically but something to be used only for the picture in the final outcome. This meant that we had to think in an abstract way when coming up with designs. 

We had to make a mood board of pictures which we used as inspirations when we were coming up with ideas but also showing what we had based out piece off of. My theme was based off a range of existing work. One being the Lady Gaga video featuring rico zombie, a model covered in tattoos making him appear as a zombie or skeleton. In this video there was him and Lady Gaga stood next to each other representing the 'man and woman' which was something that I wanted to incorporate by making a menswear and womenswear garment. Mostly, i was interested in the suits they were wearing and how I could use them in my piece. When looking into artists for inspiration I thought of Klaus Nomi, an artist who often worked with extreme suits, makeup and clothing so this was something I was interested in using. Finally, i also included Matt Bailey in my research as I wanted there to be a clear theme in my work and as his illustrations are cartoon like and somewhat childish, i thought that this would be an interesting aspect to incorporate.

Final outcome

Fashion - (Pathway 4)

The first task that we had to do in fashion was to chose a piece of existing artwork and create that into something that could be shown as an abstract garment. For this I chose to use work by illustrator Matt Bailey who's work i like very much. He has the perfect mix or beauty and horror in his work and I thought that this would be an interesting concept when creating my work. 

I chose this piece called The Lovers:

After making small 3D designs which I believe related to the piece i chose, I then photocopied these to make interesting and abstract patterns and designs. Using the photocopier I was able to distort the images in interesting ways to form something interesting to put on my mannequin. 

After teaming up with two other students we made a final garment made from only our photocopied work. 

Photo sequence

For my photo sequence I decided to make them extremely simple and did not make them show something happening. I thought that having my sequence tell blatant story was something that may be predictable so i preferred to show something that was subtly altering rather than ending being something els.

Animation

we had to make an animation with only 12 drawings, then take 24 pictures of them to make in into a loop. The animation had to show a change from one thing to another.

For my animation i decided to make a woman fall through a mirror and come out of the other side as a cat. This shows a clear change and is simple but effective. This, much like my vine also creates an illusion which I think is something important in film or animation as it is something that is not real life so gives an opportunity to present something impossible or abstract. 

Making a Vine

For this task we had to make a vine of 6 seconds which could only contain 3 cuts maximum and the theme could be anything we chose. due to the short films we had watched in class I decided to make mine involving some kind of illusion. 

Link to Vine -  https://vine.co/v/5rKviV2V95i

I roughly planned what I wanted it to contain which was someone going up to another person, tapping them on the shoulder then when they turn around they are gone. Then the second shot would be a pan across the setting to reveal that that they had teleported to another floor far away. 

For our next task we had to take 5 images which represented different things, however these things were to be inferred, not presented obviously. These things were fall, happy, sad, echo and jump.

My fall image:

I found the fall image most challenging to come up with. This was due to the fact that it was hardest to portray in a vague sense rather than the obvious (someone in the air, an object falling) However when considering what I would do for my fall image I decided to photograph the end or result of a fall and i found that my hand landing in water was the perfect was of representing this. I also found that although the photograph doesn't represent the actual act of falling, the movement of the image speaks for this instead. I had to use a very high shutter speed to capture the water in the air as I didn't want the picture to be blurry. I also used a lower ISO as the light was very bright in the room where the photo was taken. 

My echo image:

While taking my echo picture i used a slow shutter speed to ensure that there was an extreme movement and blur from the figure as i believed this perfectly represented a sense of echo. In post production i also brought down the saturation to make the photo have a much gloomier and eerier feeling as this is something that I believe comes to mind when thinking of the connotations of the word echo. 

My fall image:

I particularly enjoyed taking my fall picture as i believe that it represents the theme in several different ways. One obviously being that the word fall is an american term for autumn which may be a very literal interpretation of the image, however this was not my intention when taking this image. I was interested in the way that the angle of the photo shows the perspective of someone who would be falling, rather than simply showing someone physically falling. I find this effective as it juxtaposes the elegance and fragility of the leaves and sky with falling which usually holds dangerous, negative and harmful connotations. I also find that the red colour of the leaves add to this notion and add further elements of harm and negativity. 

My happy image:

My happy image came accidentally when I was taking pictures of my friend during the day. Personally the picture perfectly represented the theme of happiness as the subject is my close friend therefore this a personal perception of happiness. However, to a wider audience the warm colours, rays of sun covering the camera and the subject being a pretty girl, the picture may also be seen as happy.

My sad picture:

My sad picture was the first image i took and was not planned. While walking past my brothers bedroom in my house I noticed the blue light from his tv which automatically reminded me of sadness. To get this picture on my SLR camera i had to use an extremely low shutter speed as it was so dark, therefore i put the camera on the floor on a timer so that there was minimal camera shake. I did this rather than using a tripod as I wanted to image to be from the perspective of someone looking up at the light. As the picture was taken I had someone walk through the shot and as the shutter speed was so low it made them very blurred. I really liked this effect and thought that it added to the overall sadness of the picture.

My crush picture:

I found that i could be most experimental with my crush photo as it is not something that could easily be shown in a literal way. The first thing that came to mind when considering the word crush was broken or breaking glass however I did not want simply capture this physically. I decided to project an image of smashed glass onto my friends face so that I could not only include the broken/crushed object but somehow symbolise a crush within someone emotionally.

Lens - based media - Pathway 3

We were first asked for our first task to go around with our cameras and take pictures including elements of various themes that were told to us by our tutor. Whilst doing this we had to consider lighting, camera angles, setting, emotion and most importantly camera settings.

photographs of symmetry: (taken 26/09/2016)

The following images were taken by me when i was considering the idea of symmetry which to me suggested a sense of conformity, pattern. Walking around the college i found multiple examples of this and some stood out more than others. I considered depth of field when taking the images depending on how they would compliment the photo and also tried to capture a sense of conceptual and physical symmetry.

This image was taken in the O2 to see what photo opportunities were in there. Before this, i has mostly been considering physical and literal ideas of symmertry however when i saw Liberty look up at the virtual advertisement bill board I automatically saw a connection between the two. I saw a conceptual symmetry between the obvious happiness of the ad and the happy nature of her, so this was a more personal perception of symmetry to me compared to previous pictures I took.

Photographs that represented texture, conformity and lines: