Moving image 3

The Work of Director Chris Cunningham

1.     How did Bjork and Chris collaborate on the All is full of love video?

Chris and Bjork were mutual friends in London and after the Aphex Twin there had been suggestions for this new video. They then collaborated to create All is full of love, they used different lights so it would be bright white and clean like heaven and then a bit darker and change of light to represent lust. They came up with storyboards and then improved on them. Bjork wrote the song and Chris directed the video, it was made from quite a few stills and then once the computer graphics had been done they realised it worked well in the end.

2. What techniques were used on the portishead video to create the unusual slow motion effects.?

In the portishead video they were filmed underwater which is why the hair falls the way it does and then after they were put in to the alley and using different video techniques allowed them to be really sped up or in very slow motion which created different effects throughout the video.

3. What other music video directors have gone on to direct feature films? Name two and the feature films they have made.

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed music videos such as Georges Meilies “A trip to the moon” and then went on to direct Little Miss Sunshine in 2006.

Marc Webb is another music video director since 1997 he was directed music videos for My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte, Yellowcard, Green Day and several more but he then went on to direct the film 500 days of summer in 2009.

http://www.metacritic.com/feature/music-video-directors-turned-film-directors

4. Which famous sci - fi film did Chris Cunningham’s work on before he became a director?

In 1992 a sci-fi film called Alien3 was created and Chris Cunningham worked on the special effects and created the aliens.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103644/

5. What makes his work different or original compared to other similar directors?

His work is different to other similar directors as he has a very distinctive style and you can often spot straight away the work of Chris Cunningham, people can often get upset or offended by some of his work. He also has quite a futuristic look to his work such as the video “All is full of love” and he also likes manipulation and likes to make things a bit odd or have a sci-fi look to them.

Moving image 2

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1             What is the role of the cinematographer in film making?

The role of the cinematographer is to make sure the set is exactly how they want it to look, it is about making sure the lighting is correct to create the right mood or atmosphere, they have to decide what is in the scene and where things are placed to make the film look as convincing as possible and keep the audience involved and as though it is real. This can even include under or over exposure to decide how you want your characters to look.

 2       Why did director Roman Polanski insist on using hand held camera in the film Chinatown?

In Chinatown a hand held camera was used in the bathroom where normally it would be a set on a stage and have walls moving around however the fact that it was in a real bathroom allowed the scene to be very intimate and spontaneous as the camera was in there with them. The use of a handheld camera was said to be distracting but he still wanted to use one as he liked to make people intimidated and liked the effect and look it created.

3       Name two films which use colour in a very symbolic way, and describe what they suggest.

Godfather one used a lot of yellow and red which created a very brassy feeling because he thought it was right. Yellow was related to period movies after that.

The last Emperor 1987 the light was like the stages of life and different light represented different stages. There was also the use of different colours when cut his own vein there was the colour red which is the colour of beginning as he sees the blood remember he remembers the emperor.  Orange was used to represent the warm colour of the family and also the Forbidden City and maternal embrace, yellow is used as a sign of identity and leads you to look somewhere and is also used to represent the sun, then green is used as the colour of knowledge and shows when the tutor is coming.

4       In the film Raging Bull why was the fight scene filmed at different speeds?

This film is based on the Life magazine images as this is how everyone saw fights with flash so they tried to film it in the same way. This was a way of showing off as they used panning and 360 degree filming. It was filmed at 24 frames per second and 48 frames per second, they used two different speeds to create atmosphere and tension as they made the fights quicker and then slowed it down when they were walking to the ropes and sat breathing as it created more drama.

5       Who is the cinematographer for the film Apocalypse Now, and what is his philosophy?

The cinematographer for the film Apocalypse Now is Vittorio Storaro and his philosophy was that cinematography involves a lot of people who all have different ideas. He describes the film as difficult, dangerous, dealing with emotion and uses the light and possibilities to express theirself. He also likes to have the light at opposites at all time, such as hot and cold, harsh and soft.

Moving image 1

THE WORK OF SAM TAYLOR WOOD

1 List two specific key relationships between Sam

Taylor Wood's photography and film work?

Sam Taylor Wood has a lot about her within her work and a lot of it is very personal. It also involves her thoughts on how she sees the world. She uses film and photography because sculpture didn’t work for her in the same way as she thought it was just something to hide behind.

2 How does the use of multi-screen installation in

her work reflect narrative?

Sam Taylor Wood’s first multi-screen installation was called “killing Time” and was created in 1994. This was created by her going to the opera and seeing how thing were totally different on and off stage, as when people were off stage they were nervous and had to kill time. It is showing within the two screens how the backstage and front stages do not relate and it has the use of more than one character to act this out. This reflects narrative as it shows the differences and tells the story between the two screens. Another example is one of her multi-screens called “travesty of mockery” which was created in 1995 and this shows the interaction within the two screens and the two people having an argument and going from one screen to another and it makes it look a lot more real.

3 What other photographers use film as an

integral part of their work. List two with

examples?

John Ford is a documentary photography who also uses film in his work to document situations such as starving children. He is best known for the film “the American West” but has also created and directed films such as “the Searchers” and “grapes of a wrath.”

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000406/

Cindy Sherman is a well known photographer and she did a series of “Untitled film stills” self portrait images from 1977 to 1980 so this would have had inspiration from film and needed to know about film.

http://www.biography.com/people/cindy-sherman-39916

Larry Clark is a well known American photographer and film director he uses both photography and film as part of his work as he created the book “Tulsa” in 1971 and he is known for the film “kids” in 1995. These are both of the same genre and show he has done film and photography.

http://www.biography.com/people/larry-clark-37081

Robert Frank is a Swiss photographer and he is most well known for his book of images called “The Americans” in 1959. After 1959 he turned to cinematography and created his first film in 1959 called “Pull my daisy.”

http://www.biography.com/people/robert-frank-9301000

4 Research three other Video artists and explain

their working philosophy

Steve Bendelack is a video artist and has directed films and several different series and programmes, one example of this is Mr Bean’s Holiday, taking this film we can see that it is obviously a comedy and so his working philosophy for this film would have been to make people laugh. He has used humour a lot in this film and this would be a type of genre that was used within it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453451/

Steven Spielberg is a film maker, producer and director and has won several awards for his films. He is most well known for Jaws, Back to the future, ET and Schindler's List. From looking at these films we can see that he has a different working philosophy to Steve Bendelack as these films are aimed at an older audience and are of a more sci-fi genre.

http://www.biography.com/people/steven-spielberg-9490621

James Wan in a film director and is most famous for Paranormal Activity, Saw and Insidious, he had the ideas and concepts for insidious whilst he was making Saw and then had the opportunity to then do insidious and he says it is “creepy and atmospheric” he also said that he created these films because of a “messed up childhood” and didn’t want insidious to be like Saw. He wanted to create a movie with plots, twists and turns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpyOsv5ULBY&feature=related

5 Show an example of a specific gallery space or a

site specific location where a video artist or film maker has created work

specifically for that

space and been influenced by it.

Matilda is a film that was made in 1996 in USA and is based on the book Matilda by Roald Dahl the film was directed by Danny DeVito. There are several different locations for this film but it is all based on the book. The locations are 15811 Youngwood Dr, Whittier, California, USA, Altadena, California, USA, Arcadia, California, USA, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA, Mayfield Senior School - 500 Bellefontaine Street, Pasadena, California, USA (hospital where Matilda is born)Pasadena, California, USA, Third Street & Pine Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA. The types of locations he chose had to fit with the characters of the people living there. For example Miss Honey who was the nice school teacher had a pretty little cottage surrounded with flowers where as miss Trunchbull had the big house who shows she was more dominant and had power over people.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm83933440/tt0117008

 

The Genius of photography part 6

1.How many photographs are taken in a year?

There are 80 billion photographs taken in a year.

2.What is Gregory Crewdsons modus operandi?

Gregory Crewsdon’s method of functioning is to have a production crew and cinematic lighting to create one image. He uses and gets together all his props, lighting, actors to make it look and sound like a movie. He has his own camera operator and director of photography as he doesn’t take actual image as he believes the camera is just a necessary instrument as he is only interested in the images. After he has the image it then has to be edited and have to put lights back in as they’re the wrong temperature if the real ones are used so it has to be done after. He creates a series of multiple exposures digitally combined to make 6 final images. He creates an edition of 6 prints of each image priced at $60,000.

3.Which prints command the highest price & what are they called?

The prints that command the highest price are usually the ones that the photographer made himself closest to the time the picture was actually taken these prints are known as vintage.

4.What is a Fake photograph? Give an example and explain how & why it is fake.

A fake photograph is a print that is not correct and that was not printed by the photographer who took it. An example of this is “The powerhouse Mechanic” by Lewis Hine as there were several images that contained OBA optical brightening agents that were put in to photographic paper starting in 1955, however he died in 1940 so they wasn’t created by him and were therefore fake.

5.Who is Li Zhensheng and what is he famous for?

Li Zhensheng is a red army new solider and a photojournalist who in the 1960s and 70s found himself covering the cultural revolution he was said to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was very chaotic as one day he was a star and the next day he was in trouble. He didn’t want anyone to find the images because if found the negatives would be burnt so he hid them for protection. He was promoted by a top agency in America but his images were not ready to be seen in china.

6.What is the photographers “holy of holies”?

The photographers holy of holies is about Magnum and if Martin Parr should be allowed to be part of it. The fact that they had to expand was essential to creative’s on going survival, although he had a long battle to bring his photojournalism to the holy of holies in the end it was for the best as he got in an was allowed to be part of it and allowed magnum to progress and change.

7.How does Ben Lewis see Jeff Walls photography?

Ben Lewis is an art critic and he feels that Jeff Walls didn’t reinvent photography he took it back to the 19^th century to painting where everything is created, the people the light, constructed for a meaning added a lot of contemporary and theoretical concerns and included how men and women look at each other and Racial stereotyping.

8.Which famous photograph was taken by “Frank Mustard”?

The famous photograph “Camille silvy river scene france” was taken by Frank Mustard and he arranged where the people stood separating them with stereotype and he added artificial sky and more leaves. Many people weren’t aware at the time that it was Frank Mustard who had created this image.

The Genius of photography part 5

1.Who said “ The camera gave me the license to strip away what you want people to know about you, to reveal what you can’t help people knowing about you”, and when was it said?

It was Diane Arbus who said “the camera gave me the license to strip away what you don’t want people to know about you, to reveal what you can’t help people knowing about you.” It was in New York in the early 1960’s when she said this.

2.Do photographers tend to prey on vulnerable people?

Photographers preying on the vulnerable has always been a question of if it is right or wrong or if it is just included in their work. Walker Evens took images of people in the Great depression showing their social, economical and culturally situations. People also photographed homeless people as there was easy access to them. Diane Arbus made a whole series of work called “freaks” in which she photographed people who were “different,” this could be seen as preying on the vulnerable or it could just be raising awareness and not discriminating against anyone. She was just interested in them and what they were like as people.

3.Who is Colin Wood?

Colin Wood is a man that Diane Arbus created a famous image of in 1962 in Central Park. She took several images of him but then in the end she chose the one of him with a hand grenade as it shows the violence that was in America. It shows a humour and was natural as she didn’t ask him to do it. He was just having fun at the time and being himself and she just wanted to take his portrait and she chose this image as she saw part of herself within him.

4.Why do you think Diane Arbus committed suicide?

Diane Arbus ran away as a child which would show that her home life may have been difficult. She used photography and showed herself in a lot of her work but with different people. She did a project on “freaks” so this could suggest that she wasn’t happy with herself and wanted to be someone else. She was very vulnerable and photography obviously just wasn’t enough for her and if she was troubled and had no one to talk to then this could have been a reason for her suicide.

5.Why and how did Larry Clark shoot “Tulsa”?

Larry Clark started by taking images of where he was hanging out and what was going on around him so he would have been documenting his life and environment. He was doing this as an insider as he was part of all of this so it wasn’t like a photographer going in to it so they would have all felt comfortable around him. This was a very personal documentation and could have been instead of keeping a diary. It was very real and close up showing drugs, guns, abuse and sex. This was a very personal and confessional account and was later published in a book called “Tulsa.”

6.Try to explain the concept of “confessional photography”, and what is the “impolite genre”?

The concept of confessional photography is showing people in a different light and how people wouldn’t be used to seeing them. It would show everything that went on and as the word suggests it is confessing what actually went on but through photography. It was also allowing the very private to become very public. The impolite genre relates to this as it is things that can be offensive and very intimate scenes which can include things such as the “Tulsa” book and transsexuals and it is something which is very real and confessional.

7.What will Araki not photograph, and why?

Araki is a photographer who photographs everything around him he takes photographs of his everyday life because he feels that what you don’t photograph you forget so this is what he likes to do and he doesn’t photograph what he doesn’t want to remember.

8.What is the premise of Postmodernism?

The premise of postmodernism is the fact that we live in a culture where there are images everywhere and we could judge someone on the way they are from the way the photographer has portrayed them to look like. We can’t understand now what we see as they can be hidden behind myths and narratives that were created by someone else.

The Genius of photography 4

1.Why did Garry Winogrand take photographs?

Garry Winogrand was an American photographer and he said he took photographs to see what the world looked like photographed. Many photographers had this as a motto when they went on journeys to see man altered landscapes.

2.Why did “citizens evolve from blurs to solid flesh”?

Architecture was the easiest to photograph as it didn’t move and allowed the camera to capture it without it changing. “Citizens evolve from blurs to solid flesh” when the technology caught up, before this cameras had long exposures so if a person moved they would be seen as a blur rather than a person, so they would either have to stay still for a long amount of time or be caught as a blur. This is what was said to be a visual language of blurs and grain that was unique to photography and photographers such as William Klein showed us that you could have fun with the blurs and make children look like they had beards.

3.What was/is the “much misunderstood theory”?

The much misunderstood theory is Henry Cartier Bresson’s decisive moment. This was about being in the right place at the right time but people have different views on this and some believe that is was just luck and not planed so this is why it can be seen as a misunderstood theory.

4.Who was the godfather of street photography in the USA?

Garry Winogrand became a leader for a generation of young street photographers, he photographed a lot on 5^th avenue which was then made popular as a result. He was said to have a wild wit and a good generosity and appetite for life. He was compared to a godfather in street photography. There was always things happening where he was and he upset and startled people with what they thought was un true.

5.Who was Paul Martin and what did he do?

Paul Martin was a candid British seaside photographer in 1896 he explored Great Yarmouth with a camera disguised as a brown paper parcel. He liked to show images of the magic of a beach at work and allow people to forget what it was like to be Victorian.

6.Who said “When I was growing up photographers were either nerds or pornographers”?

Ed Ruscha was the one who said “when I was growing up photographers were either nerds or pornographers.” He created several photographic books in the 1960’s he included taken for granted backdrops, and showed the blank reality rather than people. He documented petrol stations and travelled a lot on route 66.

7.Why does William Eggleston photograph in colour?

William Eggleston decided to photograph in colour in the 1970’s this had a lot of shock and criticism when his images were shown in MOMA in 1976 and were published in a book called William Egglestons Guide. Colour photography was only really found in advertising and glossy magazines, it was also said to be the amerture snapshot. Colour images were also harder to create. He used colour to show the visual hierarchy and importance of some colours to others.  

8.What is William Eggleston about?

William Eggleston photographed his home city Memphis and its surrounding area and says he is at war with the obvious and is about photographing life today.

The Genius of Photography Part 3

1.What is described as “One of the most familiar concepts in photography”?

This is an image by Henry Cartier Bresson and is called “Gare Saint Lazare” and was created in 1933. This was known as the decisive moment and this is one of the most familiar concepts in photography. He saw himself as a painter however this image transformed photography. It is about being in the right place at the right time, or he would wait long enough until something like this happened or seeing the possibilities of an image and it is the moment in which you choose to take the image that is decisive. 

2.Should you trust a photograph?

There are different views on trusting a photograph and some people say it is a mistake to trust them however others believe they capture reality and are able to be trusted as you have to have a photograph on your passport not a painting so a photograph is more trustworthy.

 

3.What was revolutionary about the Leica in 1925?

The Leica was revolutionary in 1925 because it was compact, quiet and had the latest lens technology so it made way for a new style of instant photography as they were easier to carry around and didn’t always require a tripod so it also allowed different levels and angles of photography. There was also the fact that the viewfinder was on the left of the camera instead of the middle so you could still have one eye seeing the world instead of the whole camera blocking your vision.

 

4.What did George Bernard Shaw say about all the paintings of Christ?

George Bernard Shaw said that he would exchange every painting of Christ for just one snapshot which shows the power of photography and how they are more trustworthy than paintings.

 

5.Why were Tony Vaccaros’ negatives destroyed by the army censors?

Tony Vaccaro had 10 rolls of film destroyed by army censors because they contained images of dead GI’s which was a moment he decided to capture that the world was not ready to accept or to be faced with so for that reason they were destroyed.

6.Who was Henryk Ross and what was his job?

Henryk Ross was a polish Jew who along with 164,000 others had to stay in a Nazi ghetto for 4 years until it was shut down in 1944. He was a photographer and kept a unique record of the events that actually took place, he also had to document the production of goods which were sold to make money.

7.Which show was a “sticking plaster for the wounds of the war”, how many people saw it and what “cliché” did it end on?

The show “The family of man” was an exhibition in New York in 1955. It was like a walk through version of life magazine and was said to be a “sticking plaster for the wounds of the war.” It contained over 500 images from 273 photographers both amature and professional. There were five travelling versions toured worldwide and by 1964 there had been 9 million viewers. It ended on the cliché of an image by W Eugene Smith, of his children walking through his garden in to the light to show the start of their sentimental journey through life.

 

 8.Why did Joel Meyerowitz photograph ground zero in colour?

Joel Meyerowitz wanted to photograph ground zero and was told no photographs were allowed as it was a crime scene but he disagreed as it was a public place and if there was no photographs there would be no history. He wanted to make a record through his images so he spent 8 months with a large format camera on the site photographing the aftermath of the event. He wanted to photograph it in colour as he felt keeping it in black and white would make it still seem like a tragedy as it has a tragic element to black and white images.