Book-Binding

Our most recent project has asked us to create a Zine magazine [a small publication of self published work]. By collating the work of our summer brief of negotiated projects, we have been asked to produce an interesting and exciting Zine.

To help us think about the design and style of our publication we have had weekly sessions of book binding with Lucy Wilson [http://www.elizabethheart.com]. Lucy has a natural ability of breaking down information in order to teach you the required skills needed to perfect this craft. Japanese- stitching, chain- stitching, copic- stitching and paperweights are all to be considered when producing a book. Content needs to relate to material choice, stitching and book cover. These book- binding sessions have been insightful and we are starting to produce some interesting results. Formatting our work using the Indesign software has been a little more challenging and understanding the printer capabilities has also been a must in order to produce quality prints. They are many ways to incorporate designs to these small publications, hand sewing, paper cutting and collage make the content a little more exciting. I will post pictures later on of my designs and findings.

Work experience photographs

 Using my sewing skills

 The props department.  

Work experience/ Portfolio visit 1.

A new ITV period drama [my favourite] was being filmed in the North West and i pushed and begged to go along and meet the production designer and the art department team. I started the day by showing some of my work and talking about my interests. I discovered quite quickly that the art department was under pressure and working to a tight schedule and that going through all my work was time consuming. I offered to help instead and they happily accepted. After reading the script and forming an idea of what the production was about, i was asked to do some cleaning of the props ready for the set dressing. Luckily for me an urgent request for ten sets of blind to be made quickly gave me the opportunity to offer my sewing skills and show some initiative. They were pleased with the end results and this spiked an interest into my skills, accomplishes and what i hoping to do after my degree finishes. In return i asked about each of their job roles, the hours and the route to take in order to become a production designer or an Art director myself. I discovered that getting your foot in the door is half the battle and being willing to start at the bottom and work long hours for little pay. This information has not deterred me but instead made me realise just how much i want to work in the Art production side of TV/Film industry. The feedback i received was that i was more than capable of working within this area and being a team player [i needed to know this]. This in turn has given me some confidence in the direction i am taken and the whole experience over the couple of days has helped me realise i have more skills than i realised. Life experiences are just as important as my creativeness and being ready to jump in and get involved is a quality needed in such a fast paced industry. As for my own work, i have a varied portfolio of surface design knowledge, photography and illustration. Technical drawings and collating interior and exterior settings are something i need to work on and add to my collection of skills and techniques.

Pin hole photography and Len's experimenting.

Photography

I have been looking at many photographers, artists, directors and illustrators recently while researching the way i view things. Photography has been the most interesting to me of them all as the results are so instantaneous. It had been a while since i had used an old SLR camera and it took a little crash course in order for me to understand the functions of it. I was given the advice that to go back to the beginning of photography and understand how the eye see's [aperture] and how the shutter speeds work i will see things differently. It worked! I have been able to experiment, take my time when compostion-ing my subjects and i have not relied on the 'digital' safety net of many images. I have however been able to apply the basic formats of SLR to my digital based camera and have begun to achieve more interesting results using homemade lenses. At the moment my biggest interest is in dreamy, timeless imagery that will stand the test of time and will still be interesting inn 50 years from now. The photographers Sally Mann and Barbara Ess both produce amazing shots that hold a punctum for me. I am not sure if its the texture, subject or colour yet- i am still finding out!

Taking inspiration from Film.

For me film and photography have always been my biggest influence on the way i visually see the world. Colour palettes of European film and the cinematography of film noir classics have been a major implement and passion that has fed personal taste and the way i approach my own working method. There is something about the way directors like Alfred Hitchcock could visually represent a scene from a film just by the way he angles the camera. Dark silhouettes against a textured background of a corrugated wall, emphasis the industrial, male dominance running through his film 'Saboteur'. This opening scene sets a pre-tense on the mood of the film  The positioning and the control of camera angles, the composition and the colour palette help direct the viewer through the story he wished to be portrayed. Film and photography has a way of capturing so many visual aspects, so quickly that it needs to be  done well in order to captivate  direct the viewer.

 Another of my favourite film makers is Andrei Tarkovsky. His films can be heavy viewing but i never tire of his imaginative Art direction. Long pensive scenes and the mildness of his chosen colour palettes have made his films memorable viewing. He often segmented his film between colour and black/white in order to help translate the context, history and reflectiveness of his scenes. He selected wider shots when explaining the surroundings, year or context of the scenes. This helps the viewer to share the characters view point and the environment surrounding them. This inevitably helps us to see what Tarkovsky wants us to understand about his film,stories and characters. His films Mirror and Stalker have some of the most amazing scenic shots, simplicity being the key to his work. You can watch his films with the volume turned down and still appreciate the beauty of his film making.  

The importance of myself reviewing these films are helping me to understand my own personal taste/view on Art direction, composition and colour selection. This in turn feeds into my working practice and helps me to understand my own personal approach to Art, photography and design to translate to my viewer.