Originality - First Filming

I went out to film the public at different places in London. I knew it was going to be quite difficult and if not awkward trying to get people, because randomly asking strangers if they could stand in front of the camera for 10 seconds could end up very badly. However I took the risk and it paid off. I wanted to film a number of different people, all ages and styles from goth to upper class if I had the chance. I shot in a number of different locations to try and get several different backdrops to keep the background visual aspect of the video still slightly appealing, even though I was shooting in a very narrow depth of field. 

Example of produce

Originality - Initial Ideas

So earlier in the week we visited a number of different exhibitions which would then give us some inspiration for a piece of work to be presented next week. We could either produce a minute long video of choice or two photos which were inspired by some aspect we came across in one of the exhibitions. Of all the exhibitions the only one that really appealed to me to want to explore it further was the "May the Circle Remain Unbroken" by Corinne Day.

This was a photography exhibition which presented a number of photos of herself, friends and family over her lifetime. I really enjoyed this exhibition because of the raw emotion showed in each photo. None of them were staged, they were all shots captured as the event was taken place in the present so show completely natural and instinctive reactions unlike a lot of the stage photography we see now-a-days.

The exhibition doesn't it doesn't try to show a particular style, it isn't trying to be artistic instead remains natural and makes you wonder what it would be like to be there at each individual moment. It gives us an incite into the lifestyle they have. (Photos Below)

However when reading some reviews of the exhibition I came across one that deeply disagreed, and harshly had ago at the exhibition for not being very original. This annoyed me, and more importantly made me think what is originality?

Originally (ironic) I was thinking of taking some photos of my family at unexpected situations to try and capture different reactions (laughter, anger, happiness etc) however reading the article inspired me to make a video questioning the importance of originality and what actually is it. This sent me into a brainstorm of all the different things that are effected by this idea of originality and how its such a a modernistic idea. 

From this I started to experiment with writing a narrative piece I could record over a short video, in which I could film different people of the street looking at the camera (giving it a dramatic edge). 

Summary of Rotation Stage

The Rotation stage has been good because it has forced me to take part in things I would have never even think about doing. Out of the four subjects and stages, I definitely enjoyed the Photography and Broadcasting stages more than the others mainly because I was previously interested in them and had more of a grounding on each of these topics. I therefore found it easier to come up with realistic and completable ideas unlike during the Sound design and Animation stages. 

I least enjoyed the animation stage out of all of them, which was too my surprise because I was expecting to not enjoy the Sound Design. This was mainly because how long it takes to create such a little segment in the animation, and during that week a lot of time was spent sat in front of a computer screen key framing movements and transitions which is something that doesn't automatically appeal to me. The Sound Design stage enlightened me to the complexity of sound and how much it can influence a piece of work. I learned the most this stage and am grateful that we did this before the broadcasting stage because it made me think about how to record the sound properly in a high quality instead of using the microphones from the cameras (which when watching the footage back mainly just pick up the wind resistance). 

The rotation stage has also helped me with my time management and planning skills. Before I didn't really understand and value the point of planning out all projects in as much depth before construction took places so that everyone knew what they were doing and when it would have to be done for. Instead I would let projects go and try and make the best of the situation as I was presented with them. However this usually ended up with me or other individuals being forced to have a far higher work load which was un fair when working in groups. 

Overall I think the rotation was a great idea, as it lets us ease in to the subjects we can potentially expand further. It definitely made me rethink about what I could then go on to do as a bigger project in the pathways.  

Final Chase - RIMMEL