O C C U L T U R A L

S T U D I E S

For this brief, the most challenging thing was working together as a group. Collectively we decided to create separate storyboards of the short film we wanted to produce, and then show each other what we had done, and then take a vote on which was best.The idea we chose was to have a girl filming a make-up tutorial, but the lipstick she used was haunted by the evil spirit of Marilyn Monroe.

We decided to go with the Youtube idea because all of it’s content is user generated media, and one of the largest sub-sections of Youtube is taken up by young girls teaching one another how to create professional style make-up via make-up tutorials. They are so popular now that brands such as MAC and L’Oreal sponsor the make-up tutorial channels with the most subscribers.

We had a group meeting before the shoot of the video, as not all of us could fit in a bedroom and direct Grace on what to do. In addition to this none of us could even be in the same room as Grace when she was filming because she would just end up laughing after a couple of takes. In order to make the film fit in with the ‘make-up tutorial’ paradigm we needed to set Grace up in what would appear to be her bedroom, in front of a camera which she could speak into. This was handy because as she would be looking into the camera, we could fill the space around where she was looking with script prompters and hints so that she wouldn’t forget what she was doing (which was really useful as we had to keep out of the area where she was filming so she wouldn’t laugh).

To make Grace fit in with all the other makeup tutorials we directed her to be extremely chirpy and friendly in front of the camera, because if she were a real Youtuber, she would want to encourage as many people as possible to subscribe to her channel.

During filming, all of the group were going to individual workshops to learn how to edit the footage together. The hardest thing for us to get our heads around was the editing software which could cut together the footage, in the end the notes Lauren made for her Premier workshop were so complex none of us could understand them, so we had to use a different software, iMovie, which Louise had used previously in her spare time.

After showing the first cut to the class, we decided not to give away the fact that Grace was being possessed so early on, using jittery sudden 1 second cuts of clips of the oozing black goo out of the mouth.

After the crit we decided to each do a slightly different cut of the footage, as some people thought we needed extras in the footage others didn’t, such as music from the exorcist movie, or close ups of the Tampax box (subliminal advertising).

Group: Ces, Stephen, Louise, Malcisha, Lauren M, Lucy RE.Actress: Grace

I D E N T C R I S I S

I started this project by creating a 30 question questionnaire for my partner and taking some photos of her.My initial response to what she replied was to turn her into a new high street clothing brand as she said she really enjoyed shopping with friends; I came up with a watercolour painting which I though could be used as a starting point and put it on a clothing tag. Then I decided that the idea was stupid, and I couldn’t just focus on one aspect of her personality, as that didn’t really fit the brief of turning her into her own specific brand.I then ended up stalking a couple of her previous portfolios and saw that her work was very clean cut and minimal, this is when I came up with the tag line: Less is More: this refers to her work but also in her questionnaire she said if she could describe herself in one word it would be ‘small’.

My logo design came about after a bit of research into her favourite TV show which was about alchemy. I looked at alchemy symbols and tried to illustrate them in the same way I thought Beverly would, very clean cut and simplistic. The image I chose was then coupled with the idea of procrastination (which she said she did a lot) so I included images of what she did when she was trying to avoid doing her work: making tea, origami, going to the gym and calling her friends.

I used the procrastination theme in the poster, but not in the ident. I sort of wish I hadn’t chosen both of themes (less is more and procrastination) as the work I did concerning procrastination wasn’t minimal at all! And the only thing that really in kept with the tag line was the use

of the logo. But when I built the website for all the individual components to be housed in, they looked like they were part of a set - so I didn’t edit the posters anymore. I thought they were visually interesting because of the separate components that built them - and if it were a real brand and I really wanted people to buy the posters I wouldn’t want them to look less striking.

I had a lot of trouble with the ident, I had a very clear image of what I wanted it to be like: the imagery I wanted to use and the music I wanted to play, however I didn’t have the time to learn how to use AfterEffects fluently enough to do what I wanted; so, I hooked in a person from New Media and directed him after giving him edited sound files and PNGs of the images I wanted to use.

The project has taught me not just to go with my first idea, and not to rush decision making as the first idea is often not the best solution.

Partner: Beverly ChanProducs: T ShirtsFree gift: Teabags

I N O U R T I M E

For this I really wanted to fuse the science mentioned in the programme with some photography; I wanted to widen the audience who listened to IOT to people who would be drawn to image, rather than just information.

I chose to use photography because if the magazine I created was for example left on a table in a coffee shop, someone would pick it up to see the image, not the information. But then when they look inside the information would be there: scientific diagrams would be fused to the images. Hopefully this would make the reader a little bit confused, so they would then read the accompanying text (taken from IOT).

I wanted to show how nature affects the senses in our daily life and we don’t even realise it: this is why I chose to use photography. The place I chose to use after some deliberation was my daily route to University. I firstly tried to take images I found on the internet, couldn’t find any that really would work with my vector drawings overlaid: I wanted the vectors and the photography to work together, and I didn’t want the photos to take too much emphasis away from the scientific diagrams.

I did a number of photoshoots, only one of which I used in the final booklet. I tried out using different lenses from the media store after my camera wouldn’t focus clearly enough on the subject matter.

After collecting the images together and writing all the text, the problem was the layout. I had never done any design like this before, I wanted it to look serious but

not boring, I really didn’t want the amount of information to deter the reader. I spent so much time experimenting with different ways to lay out the text it drove me crazy, I did it for so long I couldn’t tell what looked good and what didn’t anymore. I ended up sending drafts of the publication to my family and some friends. This was a good idea because my dad wouldn’t like the same thing as my teenage brother, who probably wouldn’t like the same thing as an art student.

Chosen IOT Prog:Perception and the senses.