My final project is a photo essay showing the reenactment of a fairly frequent occurrence in the lounge of Leonard 8: the busting of so called “hall sports”. In my essay, a young man is shown deeply engrossed in his reading. Suddenly, a friend appears holding a Frisbee, eager to toss despite rules forbidding the playing of sports in the building. The pair become so absorbed in their Frisbee tossing that they fail to notice an approaching RA. The RA catches the students in the act of throwing the disk, and quickly runs in to stop their fun and take their ID’s in order to write them up.
Subway TV Ad
The Subway sandwich chain has been very successfully promoted through its “five dollar foot long” commercials.
Repetition of the “five dollar foot long” hand gesture is very important through the commercial. The movement emphasizes the main message and reinforces the catchy phrase. This repetition is obviously extremely effective as many people instantly connect Subway with this commercial. People often start singing the jingle even without necessarily seeing something related to Subway. The Subway logo is also repeated many times thoughout the commercial.
The colors in this commercial are very controlled. Green and yellow are the dominant colors, as they are the colors of Subway. By using green and yellow for various items in each scene, the viewer will more likely connect the two colors to Subway when seen in other areas of life.
The camera shots of the actual “five dollar foot long” are very effective in making the viewer want to go out and buy a Subway sandwich. there are some extreme close ups that show the texture of the meat, bread, and vegetables. There are also some pans that accentuate the length of the sandwich and highlight the textures of the food as well.
Music Video: Postal Service – Such Great Heights
The Postal Service’s music video for the song “Such Great Heights” makes use of many different camera shots, while also as paying attention to details such as color and repetition. Many of the camera shots used in this video emphasize the beat and emotions evoked by the song itself. The shots of the machines are very simplistic, with the camera mainly remaining still and the machines moving in a way that almost matches some of the techno beats of the music. These shots are very important in establishing the environment as one that is cold and impersonal and not conducive to a human relationship. The song is similar in that it fuses techno music with very heartfelt and personal lyrics.
Some of the shots are used to emphasize the story line occurring in the video. In the beginning, the camera focuses in closely on the two separate people. The camera moves out to a wide angle when viewing them both in the hallway. These two different shots indicate how the woman and the man notice each other and want the other to notice them, yet cannot do more than make brief eye contact while passing each other. There is a distance between them, despite the fact that they apparently want to become closer. There are a few interesting camera shots were the camera dollies in or out, sometimes with the person walking leaving the camera behind. There are also a few instances of point-of-view shots where the camera passes in the opposite direction of the person being filmed.
There are no shots which show both of the two people’s faces together, except for the moment where they are spinning away from each other. The synchronization is almost like repetition, and both people are wearing the same thing and moving in unison, although in opposite directions. Repetition also occurs in the shots of the machines. The color scheme of this video is extremely controlled. Besides a few labels, the only colors are white, black, and grays. This stark, sterile environment adds to the feeling of separation between the man and the woman
The Shining
Stanley Kubrick’s horror film, The Shining, uses many different aspects of film in order to show the mental breakdown of the main character and heighten the viewer’s sense of fear. The opening credits show a distanced shot of Jack Torrance’s car driving on a treacherously winding road. The focus is on the movement of the car, and the scene establishes many facts that are necessary for understanding the story without boring the viewer with back story. We can see how inaccessible the hotel is and the constant twisting and turning foreshadows the plot. The interior set of the hotel itself is very stark and empty, foreshadowing the loneliness that contributes to the plot.
Many of the scenes in The Shining turn normal happenings into psychologically disturbing moment. The scenes of Danny riding his tricycle through the halls, although a seemingly harmless adventure, actually builds on the existing tensions in the movie. The carpet has colors that jar against the other (yellow and orange), as well as bold geometric shapes that stand out. The camera following Danny implies that something other than the viewer is following the child, especially because of the angle and movement of the camera itself.
The mental decline of Jack is shown in the scenes in the bar of the hotel. Jack’s mind creates a deeper and more elaborate hallucination each time he goes to the bar. Jack conjures up the barman, and then elaborates on the personality of the barman, and then imagines a party in the ball room. The scene in the bathroom also alludes to the final snap that occurs in Jack’s mind. The bathroom is two distinct colors, white and red. The contrast alludes to the split in Jack’s head, the red also conjuring images of blood.
Donnie Darko Movie Poster
The poster for the movie Donnie Darko is very simple at first glance, yet upon further inspection, is actually fairly complex. The main picture of the bunny mask is very symmetrical, both in and of itself and in how it is placed on the page. The pictures within the mask, however, are asymmetrically placed. I feel like this parallels to how many different levels there are to the movie.
The color scheme and choice of photographs from the movie do not make a clear statement as to what genre it should be placed in. The cold blue black and white color scheme suggest horror or sci-fi, the choice of font also re-affirming the horror aspect. The mask also points to horror because of it’s distorted nature. The pictures of the people within the mask do not convey that same sense of horror. In fact, these pictures by themselves might lead a person to believe that the movie was some form of drama, possibly even a more teenage-geared film, or even a mystery based on the quizzical looks of a few of the characters. The fusion of genres works for this movie poster because the movie Donnie Darko is just as hard to place in one single genre as the poster.
Title Sequence: Weeds
The title sequence for the show Weeds combines the elements of color control, repetition and the use of graphics in the form of words
The color palette for this sequence is very controlled, using warm, earthy tones such as green, brown, orange, and grey. From scene to scene, these warm colors convey a sense of comfort and made me think of fall and leaves changing.
Repetition is a major element used in the Weeds title sequence, especially with the rooftops of the suburban houses, which exemplify the conformity of housing developments. Movement is incorporated into the repetition through having the same car drive past and the same jogger running past multiple times. The repetition emphasizes the way this place is being portrayed as one where nothing is out of the ordinary and things happen based on schedule and predictable paths.
The words used in the title sequence are fairly non-descript, but they also play a role in the movement of the clip. Some of the words are carried in and out by the repetition, as in the case of the identical cars and the jogger. The words are also a stark white, in contrast to the other colors.
Photographer Timothy Allen
http://www.photojournal.co.uk/timothy_allen_photographer_home.html
The photographer that I chose to discuss, Timothy Allen, is a photojournalist for the Axiom Photography Agency. His latest work has involved working with Himalayan monks, but he has photographed indigenous people is many different part of the world. His first photojournalist project took him to Bosnia, although his primary focus has become India and Southeast Asia. Allen’s work looks at the cultural aspects of the different societies he is photographing.
From an artistic standpoint, much of Allen’s work has some similar characteristics or techniques that he is good at making use of. color is extremely important to many of the pictures, especially those that involve a primarily white backdrop. Some of his shots are dependent on foreground-background, often where the foreground is blurred like in one where the foliage in front of the man is not in focus, which I find very interesting as it is usually the opposite. The placement of the objects or people is very important to Allen’s work, as is the backdrop which often involves geometric shapes that compliment the object placement. He is also very good at using reflection off of mirrors and windows, such as in the picture of a heterosexual couple looking at two female statues kissing.
I think much of Timothy Allen’s work is very effective in conveying a message. Quite a few of the pictures are slightly ironic, such as the protestor condemning freedom of expression. Some of the irony is fairly disturbing, like the the boy monk pointing a gun at a fellow monk and also the child pointing a gun at an unknown target. To me, this is almost reminiscent of the movie City of God in which similar scenes of children with firearms are shown. I most of Allen’s work, however, the view gets a sense that culture is integral, even in pictures taken of “western” people. One photo shows a woman in some kind of supermarket, her cart filled with beer, looking at an overwhelming selection of wine. One of his photos in particular shows the collision of culture; a group of monks surrounding a black macbook, gazing intently at it.
Steve McCurry Photograph
This photo of an Afghan refugee girl was taken by Steve McCurry, a photographer for National Geographic magazine. The photo was on the cover of the magazine and remains one of the most famous covers for National Geographic
Part of the reason why this photograph is so effective is its use of vibrant color. Red and green are on opposite sides of the color wheel, making for an eye-catching picture. While the red of the head scarf and the girl’s eyes could not be purposely chosen, the green backdrop both accents her stunning eyes, making them even more piercing and haunting, and creates contrast for the scarf.
The photographer also uses texture to his advantage. The folds and tears in the girl’s head scarf are in great focus because of the extremely close range of the shot. The closeness of the shot also means that every crease and blemish on her face is easily visible. Instead of airbrushing these imperfections away, these textures add to the purpose of the photo; to show a real girl in the midst of a terrible war.
I think this photo is extremely effective in making the viewer feel the intensity of the emotions inside this unnamed girl. The viewer is immediately drawn to the girl’s eyes, and can see the suffering that this girl has endured. This image is haunting because of its ability to emphasize such feeling that no girl so young should ever have so plainly written across her face.
Photo Essay: Spinning Girl
(To see the photo essay, go to the “photo essay spinning girl” link under “blogroll” in the right-hand collumn)
My photo essay shows a girl sitting on a bench, reading the newspaper. The girl watches a person walk past her, then looks around to make sure that no one else is walking by. Once assured that she is alone, she puts down what she is reading and starts to spin, her skirt billowing out around her. She becomes dizzy and falls, smiling, to the ground. In these pictures, I chose to place emphasis on the skirt by making it the only object in color. I chose orange because it is such a vibrant color and I felt it worked well with the action in the essay. The pictures were taken at night because I liked the lighting better. The pictures are slightly blurred, which I feel gives the photo essay a dream-like feel, which added to the “story”.
Magazine Ad for Kashi
This ad from a Runner’s World magazine promotes the Kashi company, which sells food made from natural ingredients. Part of the reason why the ad is effective is because it is in a magazine read by athletes, who are more likely to be fairly healthy people. These people are probably more susceptible to the claim of “natural cereals, snacks, and entrees.”
Kashi’s message is that simplicity is the healthiest way to manufacture food and that by tampering with natural food sources such as whole grains by adding man-made ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. The ad is successful in portraying this message because of its minimalistic design. Most of the page is a solid color, except for a spoon-full of kashi cereal and some text accompanying that image. The cereal is intended to look wholesome as well as tasty, which is accomplished by artful placement of the oats, almonds, and fruit on the spoon. the font is also well chosen because of its natural and handwritten feel.
The background color is extremely important to this ad because most of the add is that single color and it sets the mood for what people will associate with Kashi. Blue is a good choice because it is a very calm and serene color, but it can also be a bad choice because this particular shade blue is cold and slightly industrial because it leans a little too much towards grey. I think the ad might have been better in green because green conjures images of the environment, which Kashi uses in other parts of its ad campaign to emphasize the natural ingredients in all of its food. The green would also contrast the red of the fruit very well.
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