Briony Campbell - The Dad Project

This was actually shown in one of my critical approaches lectures by Anthony Luvera, Photography and Death - (Essay question 'Photography is an agent of death - discuss')
This is similar to Ellen Nolan's work where their parent isn't very well and they are using their cameras to cope or understand the process of what them their selves are going through to see their parents going through dramatic changes and obviously for their parents to cope with, helping their children to come to terms with life's changes. I found her work very moving and emotional, her dad wanted to help her, even though he was the one who was terminally ill. He was afraid of leaving them behind, to not be there to support and guide them anymore. Throughout the video you grasp a strong idea of what type of person her father is, he's a strong man, who wants to take care of his family. I like how she has a video of mixed media of still images, audio recordings and video. Its a really beautiful piece of work. For this project we have to develop a digital and printed formats of our chosen narratives. Researching her video gives me a good insight to how to combined all the medias in a particular way. Even though my work won't have an in depth meaning as Briony's or Ellen's it shows me how I can present my work in a professional manner.  



The overview 

Being a good daughter to my dying dad was tricky. I struggled to find the balance between dedication to his needs and distraction from my grief. 

At first the idea of introducing a camera into this equation seemed unwise, but eventually I think it became the solution.

This is the story of an ending without an ending.

And I hope it always will be.

This is my attempt to say goodbye to my Dad with the help of my camera.

http://www.brionycampbell.com/projects/the-dad-project/
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2010/apr/13/briony-campbell-father-cancer

Ellen Nolan - Previous Personality

When I was in a lecture with Ellen Nolan I found her work really fascinating. It was very personal to her and whilst she was telling us about why and how she created her body of work I was really drawn in to her story, the tone of her voice had meaning and a purpose to it making me really respect her work and sharing it with us. I am more of a personal person, it sounded like she was tell us a story from a book. Each word she would have a deep attachment and meaning to it. In other lectures it’s usually about other people’s work so there's obviously not the same attachment and something that is personal that you've achieved yourself.

‘Previous Personality’ explores my relationship to my mother as she recedes into dementia. I started photographing my mother and myself when she stopped recognizing me as her daughter. The documentation lasted for three years, exploring a journey of reversal and erosion. The title ‘Previous Personality’ is derived from a section in the form I had to fill out for my mother, upon admission to her institution.

There is a strangeness of being inherent in this condition, an altered state where the family member shifts into another being, whilst retaining the physical appearance of their former selves.

Photographically, I tried to reflect this state by creating images that are simultaneously uncomfortable and aesthetically pleasing. This mirrored the interior and exterior conflict of the illness.

My clothes were used as a visual reminder that whilst I had the freedom of personal expression, members of staff now chose my mother’s wardrobe, brought from a generic clothing company that visited the home on a monthly basis. I never got used to seeing my mother in these clothes, and together with her growing sense of alienation within her ‘home’, they came to visually represent her loss of self.

What remains when almost everything is stripped away? A silent negotiation took place through emotional and physical intimacy. Few words were exchanged, except repeated uttering’s of love and the remembering who I am and who she was.

Photography as a medium seemed to serve the situation well. It was a record to capture my dying mother, a means to examine our state, and perhaps to create an alternative family album.

Photography also seemed to fit the muteness of illness and ageing.

I felt that by joining the frame, I would challenge my position and safety as a photographer to explore my role as a daughter and my relationship with my mother at this time.

http://www.ellennolan.com/Art/Previous-Personality/previous-personality.html

The difference between time lapse and stop motion

Whilst I've been researching I've thought what are the differences between stop motion and time lapse photography. They are very similar as its 100's of photos combined to then be converted in to a video.



What is Time Lapse?
A video or animation consisting of frames separated by a fixed time interval. For example: A video of the sky in which a frame is taken every x amount of seconds.

The time lapse video was made by some one I briefly know through a friend. This piece of work is incredible and I've asked if I can go along one day to see how he makes the time lapse.. There is a very expensive piece of equipment to create the double movement and you see it when he's filming the time lapse.




What is Stop Motion?
A video or animation in which every frame is taken without consideration for the time interval between frames. For example: You can take a picture of a man in one position, and the following frame could be taken 15 minutes later, or 30 minutes later, and the following could be the following day.

http://www.lemiffe.com/learning-about-time-lapse-stop-motion/
http://studioksi.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/stop-motion-time-lapse-photography-animation/

After my tutorial

Well after my tutorial today I was left a little confused. I had come up with how I want to experiment with my work  using media but it seemed I didn't actually have a theme, so if I don't have a theme how am I supposed to start taking photos? Humm silly Hollie. I think I've also perhaps been over complicating the project and thinking to much in depth about the word narrative and what it means. Who knows. I decided to go and research stop motion  videos about the theme I was interested in exploring which is love, I know its simple but sometimes simple is more effective then over complicating it. I feel comfortable with the theme as I feel I can do a lot with the subject. I was thinking how can I show a original stop motion without using people? I thought about all the gifts my boyfriend has bought me or just random objects that remind me of him, I started thinking about a post it note he had left me and the movie tickets I had kept. I think when we were friends I wrote him a really in-depth card about how much he meant to me. Narratives are usually written out first then go on to preform or change it some how, so I've come up with an idea to create a journey using stop motion, of one or maybe a few of my beloved items. I was thinking maybe to buy a fake look-a-like engagement ring and create a story of the ring being left behind when the boy needs to propose with it that day and some of the items help the ring on a journey out of the house to put itself back in to the boys pocket. Just a quick story, I was also thinking of writing a love letter and it also goes on a journey to the post office because a girl leaves it in her room because shes to scared to post it. I need to start shooting these ideas and see how effective they are. So less thinking and more doing!!!

Getting rather excited now!!

Hollie xD

Potential narrative idea - 'The train station'

I've decided to write out a scene plan for a potential narrative. I've created a simple story line they is easy for me to follow and break down in to simple scenes to photograph. I do like the idea of a simple love story and hopefully I can recreate this, I will be using my iPhone and my Nikon D5100 with a tripod for certain scenes. A few of my scenes will be at a two different train stations and I will also be getting on the train and taking photos. On the in and outside of the train I want to capture movement so I will need my Nikon to capture those particular moments. As I will have to be moving quickly I think it might be easier to use my phone for some scene, this is a challenge that might make things difficult for me just means practice is perfect and I will learn from it.

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This idea is for my digital narrative, from my earlier post Emeli Sande - Read all about it, I went in to detail about why I wanted to use her song for my narrative. I'm not sure if my idea and the song will go together, will just have to wait and see, I hope it does. I might have to consider other songs or change some scenes and actions within my narrative to make sure it flows together. 

I will be writing out my idea for my printed narrative, it will be from the girls point of view, so its the same story just from two different views and what happens to them throughout the scenes. I wanted to keep it simple for myself to follow and to keep to a story that my audience can keep up with and follow, I basically don't want it to be to complicated.. I want it to be effective and for people to relate to the situation and to also enjoy watching it, even if the narrative is as simple as two people meeting at a train station. 

Hollie xD

My first scene layout idea

Emeli Sande - Read all about it

When I first started thinking about the narrative project, which was before I actually received my brief, I was in my mums car at Christmas time and started playing made up scenes in my head of random videos and matching them with songs I liked as well. Even the love to some people is an ordinary topic, love can be an incredibly over powering for some people, obviously there are different types of love that might not make people feel like that. There is an unconditional between yourself and your family, a mothers love will go on forever, the strongest bond I feel is between a mother and her child. You love your friends, you may love food, clothes, shoes, pets, movies, books etc... the list can go on forever of what people say they 'love'. I personally love love! I don't know where I would be without it. What I do love the most is seeing people in love, over the years I've heard the word 'love' being flung around at times like it is nothing. I love a good old romantic love story, whether its with the typical chocolates, candles wine and dine stuff (which is not really my thing) or whether its something really simple like your partner leaving you a sticky note on your pillow saying he loves you. 

Basically whilst I was creating random made up love scenes in my head I was really racking my brains to find the perfect song to go along side it, I remember seeing on Britain's Got Talent a few years ago this incredible piece by a Hungarian shadow theatre group from called Attraction. I remember bursting in to tears at how powerful and emotional the performance was and it truly took my breath away. Their chosen narratives for one particular performance covered the basic's of life, love, romance, marriage and death. The song accompanied by the performance was Emeli Sande's 'Read all about it' the two combined is so overwhelming, bringing in their audience, creating all these different emotions of happiness and sadness. Its something every human being can relate to, we've all loved and lost throughout our lives, narratives are displayed through different types of media as we've all seen.

When you hear a certain song or look at a particular photo, it takes you back to a memory, it reminds you of people who may or may not be in your life anymore, it makes you reflect on the past and perhaps think about your future. I remember when I chose not to listen to a certain song for a few years because of all the emotion and memory that went along side it, I was sitting in a car with the radio on and the song started playing, I felt scared in a silly way, because I knew admittedly how I used to feel whilst listening to that song, I didn't turn the radio off I just kept on listening and instead of crying because I was sad, I just smiled to myself at how far I'd come since that certain time in my life. 

Narrative's are everywhere, hidden within music, photographs, videos and objects. You may forget most of your memories and think about them less then others, with memory attached to different types of media those memories are recreated for you to re-live all over again like a photographic slideshow playing only just for you to watch. 

Hollie xD

Drag Queen Narrative

Looking through the Narratively website, I clicked on the shorts link and started browsing through the short stories, some had videos attached and some didn't. I came across this story titled 'Queens' by Anne Lagamayo, the small description above the video reads;

Sergio Conrad undergoes a transformation every night. Putting on foundation and dabbing glitter around his eyes, he becomes Digna Shei, drag queen extraordinaire, lip synching to Madonna and dancing onstage at Lotus Blue. 

The video is a series of images of Sergio Conrad transforming in to a drag queen ready to go on stage. The images are accompanied by a audio recording of him talking briefly about who he is and how it makes him happy. I was smiling when watching this video because he is describing why he enjoys dressing up in drag, he said once he starts his makeup he's like 'oh not again' but as he puts more makeup on the more excited he gets to go out and preform. The tone of his voice I feel was that of a happy human being who loves life and excepts himself for who he is, he says dressing up in drag is normal.. Normal is a funny word to me, what is normal? I understand that some people in this world still are very 'old fashioned' and don't understand or accept certain people because they are so different to themselves and how they see the world. I think normal is whatever you are comfortable with and what works best for you and in the end if it makes you happy, does it matter what some stranger says about you. Its a very tricky subject, but within every person whether they feel 'normal' or not they will always have a hobby or interest that they enjoy, their own life is a narrative, they might feel their story isn't that interesting and might not want to share it with anyone else, because they might not feel its important enough, but because it means something to them it is as every bit important as a worldwide news hitting story they may effective millions, the simplest stories are probably most effective because people always have common issues within every day life.

Researching this website has made me think more about what type of narrative I want to creative both in the digital and printed formats. I want to explore in to a couple of mini narratives, staged and not staged and see what I feel works best so I can come to a point where I have a solid theme to express my narrative project further.

Hollie xD

https://vimeo.com/67877045

Discovering the website 'Narratively'

Today I decided to come home and start researching about the word 'Narrative'. I've seen some people on other blogs post from the online Oxford dictionary or Wikipedia so I thought I'd research in to more depth to see what else I could come across. All I did was type in the word narrative and 1000's of web pages popped up, in stead of just shoving research on to my blog and just forgetting about it I came across this website in America - New York. The site is called 'Narratively' what caught my eye was these two pieces of text 'Human Stories, Boldly Told'  and below that 'Narratively is a community of talented storytellers who are devoted to uncovering and sharing in-depth local stories with a universal appeal'. I immediately wanted to click on this website and go exploring. What I was drawn in to was that they advertised local stories, everyone on the news we see celebrity stories, the government, what tragedies are happening all around the world, the weather, basically what I get from the news seems to always be negative news, maybe one small piece about a something positive, which I think is rather rare. When going through the Narratively website there are loads of different stories within different types of media to fit a particular piece, the fact that they are local stories makes them for me seem much more interesting then typical worldwide stories and events that I see on the news. I feel a stranger on the street can be more fascinating then a celebrity you see on TV and other medias. 'Normal' people I feel have a lot more creative and wild stories to share with you, but they do not feel the need to perhaps write a book about it or produce it in to a film or share a story to a newspaper for a bit of money and 5 minute fame. I feel personally these people can be more genuine and also the stories they tell could prove to be more positive. I want to research further in to this website and explore in to the different types of mixed media, who knows what journey I will go on with this new found idea, I could meet someone who has mind blowing story they are just ready to share. Narrative is everywhere I feel, I might not get the most in-depth story told to me, I could get some outrageous story that makes no sense, but never the less its still a narrative no matter the concept or person.    

About Narratively 

Narratively, named one of TIME's "50 Best Websites of 2013," is a platform devoted to original, in-depth and untold stories. We launched in September 2012.
Narratively slows down the news cycle. We avoid the breaking news and the next big headline, instead focusing exclusively on untold, human-interest stories—the rich, intricate narratives that get at the heart of what a place and its people are all about.
Each week, we explore a different theme and publish a series of stories—just one a day—told in the most appropriate medium for each piece. We might feature a long form article on a Monday, followed by an animated documentary on Tuesday, then a photo essay, an audio piece or a short documentary film. Every story gets the space and time it needs to have an impact—an approach we call “slow storytelling” or “slow journalism.” (Stay up to date on our latest stories by signing up for our weekly and weekender emails.)
Our community of writers, editors, photographers, filmmakers, illustrators, and designers have worked extensively for top media outlets like the New York Times, New York magazine, CNN, NPR, MediaStorm, the New Yorker and the BBC, among other innovative and experimental publications. And we’ve subsequently gotten press from leading outlets like Forbes, PBS, Yahoo! Finance and others.

http://narrative.ly/

iMotion Experiment

I was just playing around  with my iPhone 5s on an app called iMovie, I started messing around with it and saw how much fun and also how easy it was to create a short movie or a pretend movie trailer. After experimenting with this app I started to think whether there was a time lapse or stop motion app on iTunes. I soon discovered  iMotion and iMotion remote, the short description on the apple store website says: Take pictures, edit your movie and export HD 1080p & 720p videos to your device or directly to Youtube. iMotion HD is an intuitive and powerful time-lapse and stop-motion app for iOS. Since starting university I've wondered what type of photography it is that I am actually interested in, what do I want to learn about, what makes me tick. When I discovered time lapse and stop motion photography I was really taken in by and the whole process of how 100's or even 1000's of images can been turned in to a video. I had never studied photography before I started uni, I just would point a shoot and be happy with what the result was, I've soon come to realise there is a lot to learn within the technical side of photography, it can be very over whelming as most of the time people want to perfect their work quickly and effectively.

For the narrative project I'm now deciding whether I should use my DLSR Nikon D5100 camera or should I use my iPhone 5s, I'm thinking maybe I should practice with both and comment on the negatives and positives of both media practices.

What does this mean for photography though? If you can do most things quickly on a high end phone? Is my phone better then using the long process of a camera, bigger tripod, computer editing etc...

I created a quick video driving to uni this morning in my boyfriends car, its a bit wobbly but I just wanted to test a quick experiment of how my iPhone creates a time lapse. As I have created small time lapse pieces in other projects I'm wondering what will be better for my narrative project. I'm thinking about buying a mini iPhone tripod so I can create quick time lapse or stop motion videos when I'm on the go on public transport. With a smaller device for capturing images I feel I might be able to capture smaller details as people might not notice I'm recording them, when you have a huge camera out people play up to the camera and don't act so natural. Will be an interesting experiment.

Hollie xD

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/imotion-hd/id421365625?mt=8

Narrative spider diagram

To make things a little easier for myself I've decided to use two separate sketch books to record my narratives. The reason I've done this is to keep things simple when creating my digital and printed narratives, so that it is easier for me and the people who will  view my work to have a clearer understanding of what I am trying to achieve within my work and to show the journey of how I've used different types if media and how they turn out.

This is a quick spider diagram in my digital sketch book. I'm going to have to start researching to soon so  I can get a solid idea of how I will create my digital outcome. I am still interested in taking the time lapse/stop motion route all I need to do is starting experimenting with different digital techniques to see what I feel will be best for my narrative.

Hollie :)

Photography and narrative: What is involved in telling a story?

In telling visual stories about the world, photography is narrating the world. Of course, narrative is something that is far larger than photography. Social communication is one of the defining characteristics of being human, and narrative stories have long been a common and powerful mode for transmitting information. As such, there is much we can learn from the likes of anthropology, history and literary theory.

Here I want to lay out some of the points I discussed yesterday in a lecture to Jonathan Worth’s innovative class on photography and narrative at Coventry (you can listen to the lecture via the#Phonar Soundcloud site – it draws on recent presentations to the IOPF multimedia workshop in Changsha and the MA/International Multimedia Journalism program in Beijing).

A narrative is an account of connected events. To think about narrative, however, involves more than reflecting on how a series of events become connected. We also need to think about how something is constituted as an event in the first place. Events are not found objects waiting to be discovered. As Allen Feldman has stated “the event is not what happens. The event is that which can be narrated” (p. 14).

This means a narrative constructs the very events it connects. For example, when people stormed the Bastille on 14 July 1789, they did not understand themselves to be taking part in the first day of an event already known as ‘the French Revolution’. The idea of the French Revolution was the product of historical and political narratives looking back on particular happenings, connecting them in specific ways.

Narratives are not found objects either. They have to be constructed by participants and observers, actors and analysts. Recognising narratives as constructions does not mean anything goes or that anybody can make anything up. It does mean that we cannot escape the clash of interpretations, and that simple-minded appeals to ‘the facts’, ‘objectivity’ or ‘the truth’ are themselves narrative claims that have to be argued and justified.

In photography, narrative is related to the idea of context. No matter how complete or comprehensive a narrative appears it will always be the product of including some elements and excluding others. Inclusion/exclusion is part of what construction is all about, but knowing what is best included or excluded requires an understanding of context. And an understanding of context requires visual storytellers to be highly proficient researchers. As Stuart Freedman recently declared, we need “a return to a storytelling in photography as rigorous in thought and research as it is beautiful in construction and execution.”

Narratives can be structured in a number of ways, but the classical form is that of the linear narrative – a story with a beginning, middle and end, strong characters and a story arc along which elements of the narrative run.

Narrative stories will also likely have within them the following moments:

• exposition
• conflict
• climax
• resolution

If one were following this classical structure, then the key stages in structuring a narrative would include:

• introducing the location
• giving the story a ‘face’
• letting people tell their own story
• contextualizing those stories
• following a dramatic form

It is vital to stress these are not rules to follow or templates to apply automatically. These are the elements of common and traditional narrative structures. However, whether linear or non-linear (the latter being exemplified by flashbacks, memories and other arrangements of time), whether they have a resolution or are open-ended, narratives can contain the following dimensions:

• time
• spatiality
• dramaturgy (the ‘art of dramatic composition’)
• causality
• personification

One of the most important dimensions is that of personification – does there need to be a character who embodies the issue and gives the story a face? Or does potentially reducing everything to a series of portraits cut us off from the context and individualize what might otherwise be regarded as a collective or social issue? Is it the case, as Robert Hariman has argued, that sometimes  “things speak louder than faces.”

For someone developing a visual story, the most important thing to ask is ‘what is the story you really want to tell?’ Answering that can mean working through these questions:

• what is the issue?
• what will be the events/moments?
• if needed, who are the characters?
• what is the context?

The relationship between story, event and and issue requires knowledge of the context above all else. That demands research because not everything that drives photography is visual.http://www.david-campbell.org/2010/11/18/photography-and-narrative/

My first post!

My first blog post on my  narrative project  is about the start of my first idea.

The goal is to create two visual stories in two different formats, one in digital form either using a slideshow, single screen projection, ebook, pdf with 3 different tableau images. And also one in printed form using a bound publication, booklet, newspaper or newspaper.

After my lectures and writing down ideas in my work book I've decided I've wanted to go down the route of experimenting with stop-motion, time-lapse, video and still images not in a time-lapse or stop-motion form. I feel this will give me a wide range of experiencing with different techniques to visual understand and see how the outcomes will turn out and what will be best for me to display my work. I would like to experiment more with stop-motion and time-lapse as they are still one image capturing one moment of time that can then be converted in to a video format by using CS6 Abode Lightroom or Photoshop. Lightroom will help me make sure all my images are correctly edited all at once instead of individually.

For the printed outcome I would like to experiment with creating my own book either by hand or get help from my graphic designer contacts to help me organize my images so they tell the narrative how I want it to be viewed by the persons who view it. I was thinking about trying to incorporate panoramic images within this book as well to make it flow more, instead of having one or more images organised on the page.

For my idea I wanted to use  the concept from the film '<em>Sliding Doors</em>' where the woman is rushing to get on a tube in London and how she misses the tube by a few seconds because a child on the stairs was in her way, the next scene reverses backwards to her at the top of the stairs walking back down and the mother of the child this time pulls the child out of the way and the woman manages to catch the tube. This film shows two different stories of what happens if she caught then tube and what happens if she missed the tube.

I want to create a very similar narrative but one story in a film format and the other within the book.

I will need to watch the film and look at forums online and see what people have to say about the film and what they think about it and why.

This is a good start for me and fingers crossed it will be effective.

Hollie xD