Evaluation of Project

Over this project I have learnt so much. I learnt about book binding and how to do it. I found the thinkness of the needle really helps bind the book and having the holes punched to the size of the needle rather than to the size of the string makes it so much easier to thread. I learnt to tighten the string by pulling upwards and downwards, never across the book as it might pull it apart. and i learnt that i really enjoy making books even though i dont like stitching. The printing was so hard to get right and i made many mistakes but i know know what settings to use when printing. I am proud of the books i made.

I learnt so much about using Adobe Premiere Pro, just how to use the basic functions was hard for me and i finally started to get it and i feel i have made a decent video in it.

I have learnt about some artists who use text and different narrative structures from books and films and photography series. I t was really interesting seeing how the different mediums compare to each other and how they can have similar approaches and different approaches to show a story.

If i could go back and change things i would definitely do more research into snpachat and artists who use texts as i feel i could find much more, so i would change how i managed my time as i spent most of my time in this project progressing my ideas and learning new skills as opposed to analysing artists i had not previously heard about. and i think i would do more research into films as they seem like a great example of how narrative structures can be used.

Another thing i would change is my attendance of tutorials, I feel i could have gone to more and seen as many tutors as possible to get lots of feedback but i didnt. Unfortunately some things in my personal life to do with this project got in the way and i was unable to make it to a couple of tutorials and this had a negative effect on my work and it took a bit of time to get back into the swing of things

I have immensely enjoyed this project for the most part, especially how busy it is and how many new skills i have had to learn and re-getting to know my friend was also amazing. on the downside as of course with any project there were downsides when things went wrong and it got stressful to do certain things.

I would like to continue this project and see where it takes me, so i could make lots of books showing a full progression of getting to know someone over a period of years, it would be so interesting to photograph our social interactions over a period of years. Perhaps also i can make different books of different people that i interact with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3_CrfjMFRI
This is a beautiful piano cover and it is nearly as perfect for my video as the original song, I admire the piano players skill so much as they have added the bits that are missing without having the other instruments in the piece, all using the keys of the piano. I feel just having piano might turn my piece slightly cheesy but this is such a good cover. I just personally feel the original fits my video and I chose to use that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gRbHs0mbkg
Despite the name of this video it isnt an instrumental. Its a nice mix but i just dont like it so much and i dont feel the drum track fits for my video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKsLGIeHeCA
This is an interesting mix of the song. I really like it so much! However i feel it is quite energetic and my piece is very still and very slow and lonely. Although this mix does keep some of the chill vibes of the original, its just too much for me to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSH7fblcGWM
this video was recommended to me to try. I dont like it at all, i guess it could feel but it just does not have the same power as Twice by Little Dragon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6bbM5HZz5c
I considered a lot of Bonobo songs especially this song as i love the singer and it is such a chilled out track. I think Twice fits much better than this song however

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edfm9wfE9l8
This is the final version of my video. It is the same pictures as the last video but i just tidied up the text and the type faces.
The song is Twice by Little Dragon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yedD4JsZyT0
This is the original song. It is such a beautiful piece and with these images and text it perfectly gets across the feeling of loneliness. I considered finding a cover of the song or using a sampled mix or instrumental version as some feedback on my video was that having the text and the lyrics to listen to, it was too much. I couldnt find a version that was as perfect as this original version. I considered also finding a different song, but for me this song is just perfect and people will have to pay attention to fully get the video if it is too much, or hopefully watch it Twice (pun intended) if it is too much for them the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5i2yAQA8Dk
This video is another test piece where i was learning to use Adobe Premiere Pro. I was just playing with sample music, the silly music i chose was from a free sample sound website. As the stills are shot in a bedroom it gives the whole thing a horrible porno feel as this is a funny test it is fine

I got the idea to tell the story backwards from watching the film Momento where some of the film is told forwards to give context as to what is happening, and most of it is told backwards leaving the viewer to work out what is going on. I want the viewer to think while watching this piece and to think why it is backwards and why I made up a fabricated story as if it was happening at the time, why am I talking to people via electronic devices rather than talking in person and what the feeling of the song was and what these little things mean overall.

As of this version of the video it is an unfinished video. I made this video while I was still learning to use Adobe Premiere Pro and I need to update how the text looks, for example it changes size halfway through and the fonts are horrible. I want to use just one easy to read font and have it as all white. I consider using italics for one person’s text and standard for the other. 

However I feel this wouldn’t read well, like having two different fonts. I consider changing the opacity of the font for one of the speakers so one would be clear white and one would be greyer, but I feel it might work with both texts the same, leading the viewer to think more about the narrative. A problem I am also having is the music. It is perfect in one sense that it really gets across the emotion of loneliness, but having lyrics in the song some people feel that there is too much to watch read and listen to. I try to find an instrumental version. I also look for different songs but this track works so well it is hard to find one as perfect. It also makes me wonder does having all the text the same mean it would be too much for the viewer to think about. Also having re-listened to the song over and over the lyrics fit well with the previous situation between the person involved in this project and me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC-CuGR_958

The pictures in this video represent about 6 hours of time, there are pictures taken for about 24 hours but to fit them into a small video was challenging and lost the reference to snapchat where you view each picture for a few seconds. I shortened the video so it fit the length of the conversation.

My idea for the conversation was that it would be the real conversation of what I was talking to people in the video. Here you see I spend all my time texting on my phone or on facebook on my laptop. However it seemed boring to have rather dull pictures of me sitting or laying not doing very much with rather dull text about eating food and kind of describing what I am doing. 

To answer this I made up a whole story in text messages of how I bought a dragon and a whole load of impossible and improbable things. However there are lots of references in the text in the video to our relationship, for example the dragons name is Harvey, which is her dog’s name. The strange tale contrasts with what I actually happening, which is of course me sat on my bed eating noodles and messaging with people online.

The camera settings i used to take the pictures were a slow shutter speed, maybe 1/4 of a second and a 5.6 aperture to have the lens at its maximum sharpness and a low iso. I used a flashgun bounced off the ceiling to freeze the action as i was shooting handheld with a camera and lens combo weighing about 2kg. I deliberately used a slow shutter speed to get weird light effects and enhance the strange nature of the pictures and the situation.

The background sounds for the video in my previous post are from some annoying people on an early morning train, they were being very loud and just insulting each other and disturbing me. I would often see them around the Ash Vale area of the train from Clapham Junction and Farnham. I usually would move so I could have a nap as the train from Clapham takes about an hour to arrive in Farnham. But I think this morning I was not so sleepy so I decided to record them shouting at each other. I wanted to use the recording in some sort of piece of photography art type thing and now seemed a good time as it fits with the video.

The idea for the comments on online presence and online conversation in modern times was influenced by during the course of this project I were sat in a room with some friends, all of whom where on their laptops and talking to each other via facebook on there rather than in person. 

It seemed insane to me and it was like a scene from a comedy show like IT crowd where they are all sat in a room talking on an online media website, come true. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3NmVLYR5pg Here is the clip from IT Crowd of Friendface.

I took pictures as no-one was talking to me and I didn’t want to have to talk to them on facebook when we were all right there, my go to fallback plan is always take pictures whatever situation I am in. When I took the pictures I did not mean for them to be flattering, in-fact I meant them pictures as I saw them, unflattering and capturing quick moments in time of people caught off-guard; sitting there drinking and insulting each other via online media did not seem like a good time. 

Looking at some of the people involved I can see they smile and appear happy when engaging with the laptop and the group activity of insulting each other in a conversation, but when they look to their phone or are in thought away from the activity they do not look like they are enjoying themselves, they look sad. 

The act of being socially involved and talking online were like a front for how they really felt. I made these shots after I had made my first ‘Snapchat Narrative’ and as feeling rather stuck on what I could be doing for a digital piece, before I made my 24hours video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoCjJJ-0x8g

After these pictures were made I had in my mind for them as the book, I didn’t feel they would work as a video, I made it anyway to see perhaps if I could use them for the video piece but I don’t particularly like the result. The orientation of the pictures taken by my mobile phone camera lends itself to portrait orientated book shape. I like this idea as before doing this project I had never seen any Snapchat printed, I have seen lots online on webpages were people have screen-shotted silly ones but I thought it would be nice to make a book of my Snapchats. Doing this project at the start I thought to just make an individual book with my own pictures and leave it up to the viewer as to what the responses from the other person were. I then thought perhaps it would be nice to have one picture of mine on the first page and then the next page would be her reply to it. As there are two pages to each book it seemed it would fit well.

During tutorials it was suggested that I consider having two books one for my pictures and one for hers. I like this idea as you could read the books together or read them separately and it would keep my original idea of not knowing what the other person was saying, yet at the same time you had the option to read them as a conversation. This is useful as my conversations with this person are not linear, as sometimes one of us will send two or three pictures in a row before the other person replies. It can get difficult to read it with a simple flow, I really like the books to be like this it also references my ideas for my video piece where it is meant to be slightly difficult to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToU_vp7jgc4

The music in this video is the ending of the song Aqueous Transmission by the American band Incubus. I chose this song specifically as it has emotional value to me and the person with whom i am conversing. We would listen to this song often when we were together and we would lay and be silent and listen to how the song sounds and let our senses respond to the music. I deliberately just used the end of the song as it has a long ending where the lyrics have finished. I wanted the viewer/listener to solely concentrate on the music and not on the lyrics of the song, though they are appropriate lyrics for the connection between me and this person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k0-sGqxIiQ this is the link original video of the full song.

I started this Narrative Project with the idea of a simple journey as a Narrative structure. Simple being a Joke as train travel on a Sunday is rarely simple. I thought to record my journey through the use of the mobile App “Snapchat” I use this app regularly to send and share funny pictures and random moments with my friends. I thought it might be interesting to have a conversation with someone via the App as you can add text and draw on the image you have taken before you send it. The app allows you to save your images before you click send, and I would do this in reply to each of the snaps I received. I focused the conversation on one person, although I sometimes have multiple conversations with lots of people, this app gave me a useful catalyst to converse with someone important. I chose this person carefully as I need someone reliable whom I can have a conversation with over a period of a few hours that would respond to my pictures. The person I chose I knew would respond as long as she saw the image, as there is a deep emotional connection between us. I have only just started to re-get to know her as we had not spoken for 3 years so this project became more about getting to know someone and conversing with them rather than just a simple linear narrative of a train journey.

I am a photographer called Peter Thornton, I take pictures of people and landscapes - specifically musicians doing gigs, the modern wilderness of the English countryside and abandoned places. As part of my BA degree in photography I have been set the project on narrative and as part of the project to write a blog

I will start this blog with some research into artists to help me make my own work

As narrative within photography is quite broad, with most photographers and photographs showing narrative of some form within the pictures, I must be careful with my research and apply rules to define what about the work is relative and specific to this brief, how it influences me and what about it I like.

Alec Soth

I found re-found Alec Soth’s images from him being recommended as a related artist from Paul Graham. I was looking at Graham as one of the photographers from the introduction lecture on Monday. I had looked at Soth’s images previously on the project called Vision and Knowledge where I had to present photographs representing truth for the viewer to find knowledge within the images, and they hadn't grabbed my attention much and I found them fairly unmemorable at that time, I re-looked at them in relation for this project and found them very interesting

How are the images relative to the brief? They are relevant to the brief as they show a little a bout the people in them as they are photographed in a comfortable location for the people, it seems like they are in their homes, and it has a picture next to it of an outside location seems to be the place where the people live, they are naked and their characters are shown by their poses and looks on their faces, I fins this interesting as they look some comfortable and these pictures show little, but at the same time show so much by leaving a lot to one’s imagination.

This influences me as it is something I could emulate in my own work, by following a person or people and getting to know that person in their own surroundings like in the Stranger project in 1^st year of my degree, where I had to find a stranger to follow and get to know and present a narrative of 8-10 photographs on this person. I would love to get in and photograph people who are different to me and have different interests and jobs, and to show what it is about that person that makes them tick, but at the same time leave much for the viewer to wonder and yet still be interesting for someone who doesn't know what is going on behind each image.

I like these images for their simple beauty, they look so simply set up, not basic snapshots and at the same time not studio settings that seem forced, they are relaxed. I also like the locations that to me are different that I have seen before – I looked at specifically Soth’s NIAGARA and Sleeping by the Mississippi projects. And even though I am vaguely familiar with American things as America is often in tv shows I watch and in films, indeed I am listening to an American band as I write this, but I have never been there and to me all these pictures are strange places.

Alec Soth images: