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Posted on December 9, 2015 by Anna Osborne

When searching for moving portraits, I did not find a huge amount that was particularly interesting. However, I did find this moving portrait of Ellie Goulding:

I think what was most interesting to me was the fact the lighting and set up is very similar to in my own moving portrait. She is also listening to herself, which is similar to my first shoot with Tessa where I got her to listen to a sad song. This is a way of evoking emotions within someone, which seems to be what my video and this video of Ellie are trying to achieve.

Not-so-golden oldies

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Anna Osborne

You may be thinking while reading my blog that I have not particularly included much with a historical context. There is a reason for this.
For the first blog, as I explained in my sketchbook for photography last year, I hate the old, pained still life pictures. A fine example of one being this:

This is a painting by Pieter Claesz and I do believe he was a rather famous Dutch painter. However, I thoroughly dislike how dull this painting is. There is a severe lack of colour in it and the most commonly used colour appears to be brown. I know the objects have been arranged and the man probably spent hours thinking about it but they just look like such a mess and it is not my sort of thing.

For portraiture, I did not particularly cover paintings either. I have been to see the Mona Lisa but it was probably more just because it is famous and not for the actual portrait itself.

I think the reason I am not particularly interested in painted portraits is that it is not something I can particularly achieve myself – I can take a photo of someone’s face but I definitely could not paint one, or not well anyway. There is no doubt that the lighting in painted portraits and positions in which people sit have been an inspiration and have heavily influenced certain photographers, but I find more current things are more relevant for me.

As for typologies, I have previously looked at Bernd & Becher and their study of types. I do like how unusual their typologies are, like their ‘Cooling Towers’ piece which sold for a $150,000 in 2004! I think they showed how it is a way of making a boring subject more interesting by being able to compare it to others.

Typology

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Anna Osborne

So I may have completely changed my idea for my typology. When I went in town earlier to today to take my photos, I noticed something: no one was wearing a hat. It would take ages to find enough people willing to have a photo taken in a hat. So I changed my idea and decided to look for something that is common in Lincoln, as it is a typology of Lincoln, and something that I did not need to ask about or waste lots of time on. So I chose doors and here is my typology:

I noticed whilst walking up Steep Hill that there are a lot of pretty and relatively grand/nice doors. So I took loads of photos of them from various different distances and created this typology. I have noticed that the vast majority of the doors are either a green or a grey colour – this may be down to taste or just fashion of front doors at the moment. I also liked to try and keep the detailing in above the door as this sometimes added to the interest of the photo.

I have an interest in interior/exterior design anyway and feel this was a good way of investigating it but by using photography. I am pleased with my typology and am glad I had 16 decent photos to use as I believe typologies look better with more photos (generally). If I were to do it again, I perhaps would not leave it to the last minute and would give my subjects slightly more thought.

Robbie Cooper

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Anna Osborne

For our final project, I want to show different emotions of people, a bit like in the film Inside Out. In class, we were shown a video created by a man named Robbie Cooper of kids playing video games. The way the kids reacted was incredibly interesting, especially because they were looking at the camera which made it appear as though they were looking at you. Cooper has also created other videos in the same way (using an autocue machine).

It is so interesting focusing purely on the way people’s faces react and the different emotions that come across their faces.

I love the black background as it does not detract from the attention of the faces.

Cooper created 3 different immersion videos, including clips of people watching films like Paranormal Activity, playing call of Duty and babies watching Peppa Pig.

Here is his archive:

Second Moving Portrait Shoot

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Anna Osborne

This time, instead of just filming one person doing loads of things, I filmed 6 people all eating the same sweet. I also used the LED lights as they are supposed to look better in videos. Here is my finished video involving 4 of the original videos I shot (I couldn’t work out how to make a 6 shot video and found making a quadrant a lot easier.

I still had a few issues when shooting – I used 2 LED lights and had them both on 15 on the little back monitor and still found the shots to be incredibly bright. I have since dulled them down in Premiere Pro and turned down the exposure and white balance but I still do not like the harsh white light that comes off them as much. Some of the people I recorded did not show many expressions when I filmed them so I decided not to use them – I wanted the most expressive people so that you could compare the 4 videos.

Even though the shots are a little bright, I am happy with my final product and find it incredibly interesting comparing everyone’s reactions as they all started eating the sweets at the same time. I also like how all the people look at the camera as it makes it more personal, adding to the interest of the video.