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

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.

'

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