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.