Image bank- recreating film stills

I chose this picture taken by Elliott Marks from the film, Starsky and Hutch because it is pretty similar to the one I have that has three people in it. Not only does it have three people but it also is the discipline to one person from a higher power and the third person is just in the picture listening in to what is going on. The picture of mine in which this relates to is the one of Fabrizio, Barbara, and Meghan. The difference between the pictures is that everyone is standing in this one as in mine everyone except the person is sitting.

Elliott Marks, one of Hollywood's most respected film photographers worked on many movies. His first movie that he worked on was in 1971 and it was Chrome and Hot leather. He was thirty when he worked on his first movie. He worked on some big name movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and his last movie he worked on Starsky and Hutch.

This shot is from the film, In love and War. I chose this picture because it represent the picture I have of Fabrizio holding a bottle in his hand. Both pictures of someone staring off into a daze. The only difference of the pictures is that the man in this picture is not holding anything to look at he is just gazing off into the distance.

The film photographer for this movie is Yousuf Karsh. He worked with this film in 1997 and it was one of his only films he worked with. He is a famous film photographer who survived an Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire and came to Canada when he was 16 years old to live.

This shot is from one of the many films done by David Nowell. This shot has been taken from the film tropic thunder. I chose it because it shows one man very interested in something. This is similar to my last photo, the one of Fabrizio smelling the object. Both characters are very interested. The differences are that the man in this picture is not holding anything but we can tell he is focused on something, looking away from the man behind him and using his hands to signify some are the things that can tell us that he is focused on something.

David Nowell has been the director of photography for 137 films. The first one being in 1974 and now working on 7 more for 2010. He has been the film photographer for a lot of major motion pictures like Transformer, Tropic Thunder, Star Trek, Iron Man and many more. He mainly works with action movies.

I chose this photo done by Mirjana Vrabaski because this was the one that stood out to me. It was very different than all the others. All of the other pictures have people either just sitting and standing. The one has a repeated layer and the body is moved to the right a little with a face other than neutral like the other pictures.

I liked how she worked where she would take someone and worked with them trying to get the picture that she wanted. She wouldn't necessarily find the right person right away and this requires a lot of patience, to go through many trials until you find what you want.

Printing Composition- Re-creating film stills

Contact sheet- ap- 8, time- 8 sec

All of my shots seemed to have similar contrast in the contact sheet but I learned later that they all needed different settings.

ap- 8, f- 2, time 16 seconds

This print took a couple of tries to finally get, I had to mess around with the aperture and filter.

This photo didn't require much lighting, just room lights and a back light to serve as a wall light, the prop was just to replace whatever the guy in the original is holding. I chose fabrizio for this photo because he gives the best facial expressions and I needed an expression I could only see Fabrizio doing.

ap- 16, time 30 secs

This print also took a few tries because I also tried combinations of settings, these settings turned out the best.

This setup is as close as I could get to re-create the original picture. I just don't have a desk that they are sitting at but I was still able to show that there is someone in the picture(meghan) who is just listening to what the person standing is yelling(fabrizio) and the final person(Barbara) is sitting there as if nothing much is going on. The lighting for my pictures were all pretty easy, mainly just room lighting and that is what I have achieved.

ap- 8, time- 12 secs

There was a problem I had with this print, and that was no matter how much time I used or what the aperture was, I would always end up with one of the eyes blacked out, so this is what the print was like with 12 seconds, 14 was way too dark.

Like I said about my picture had very simply lighting and in this picture all I needed was a softbox in the back to work as the wall light in the original photo. The prop was the las thing on my mind to get close to the original. They are pretty close though, in the original the man is holding a cup and in my re- creation, fabrizio has a water bottle.

Theory nots- re-creating films stills

This film still is similar to the one of Meghan, Fabrizio, and Barbara. They are similar because they both have someone that is sitting listening to everything that the one person is yelling. The one sitting in this one is compared to Meghan in the other picture. Fabrizio is compared to the guy on the left with the grey hair who is yelling, or dictating, and Barbara is the last person who really is just there to be there, they aren't a very big part of the picture just an extra person almost.

This photo was taken from the film, "M" it was a film noir and the film photographers took many dark photos, hence the name film noir. This picture relates to the one I have of Fabrizio staring at the bottle because first of all the obvious positioning is the same, they are looking the same way and the lighting is similar. The light is coming from the right side of the photo which is the left side of the man's face. The limitations that they had back in the 1940's is that their lighting was not as sophisticated as what we have now but the low lighting causes a morbid mood, as in my photo the mood is not morbid, the person in my print is studying and focusing on something.

This photo was taken from the film The American Nightmare. This picture relates to the last one of mine where Fabrizio is smelling the object. The obvious ways that they are similar is their positioning, their bodies are facing relatively the same way, and they are looking the same way. The differences is that the woman in this picture is not as focused on what she is looking at as Fabrizio is with smelling the thing in his hand. The lighting is pretty similar but that is because the lighting in my photo was nothing really but room lighting except for the wall light coming from the reflection in the mirror. In the 1960's there weren't many limitations for what photographers could do with their photo's except to digitally enhance them to the extent that we can.

Diary entry- re-creating film stills

This is the first time being in the darkroom after quite a long time, we just got back from break but I was able to jump right into working well in the darkroom. I was able to get a contact sheet pretty quick and started working on my prints the first day. I have been working well in the dark room, I can chose my starting times but I need to work on judging my pictures better, I think that I will do the wrong thing so I need to just try what I think and learn from there what I need to do to improve.

Photo Project layout

This is the layout of my project. The main topic cultures, then branching out to the different subjects.

Cultures- Fashion- trends

contact sheet ap- 4 time- 16

David(scooter helmet)- ap 5.6 time- 16

Dutch Culture

Fabrizio(Baggy and colorful)- ap 4 time- 16

American Culture

The trends of fashion between the two cultures are kind of similar to certain extents. Here I chose more of the extremes, where you wouldn't see an American person wearing a helmet, pretty much at anytime. And as for a dutch person, its not that likely that you see everyone wearing bright, vibrant colors.

Contact sheet- ap 4 - 16

Bikes- ap- 4 time- 16

Dutch culture

Big SUV- ap- 4 time- 16

American Culture

These two very different means of transportation show both the American way of getting around and Dutch way. The dutch tend to ride bikes more than drive cars and this bike can clearly show how unique it is and most likely wont be seen in the U.S. As for the americans who drive more SUVS per one person rather than smaller cars, by looking at what the Americans use as their transportation we can see that they like their space.

Culture project

My main topic for this year is to focus on cultures. Two in particular, the dutch and the american culture. I have many focuses that branch out from cultures. These topics are; the people, the fashion, customs, and living areas. For each section I will give examples from each culture that show the difference or in some ways the similarities of the two cultures.

Cultures- People

First contact sheet- ap-4 time- 26 seconds

Sierra- ap-4 time- 26

American culture

Heather- ap- 4 time - 26

American Culture

Meghan- ap- 4 time- 26

American Culture

Javier- ap-4 time-26

Dutch culture

Contact sheet- ap-4 time-32

Jordan- ap- 4 time- 32

American Culture

Raul- ap- 4 time- 32

Dutch culture

Friso- ap- 4 time- 32

Dutch Culture

From these comparisons you can not see that we the two cultures are relatively similar in appearance when looking at the people. In this section of the project, there is more comparison rather than looking at the differences.

Theory Notes- Dancers

Magenta, Cyan, Yellow filter in photography

In photography we talk about finishing in terms of white light. White light is made up of red, green and blue lights overlapping each other. Along with overlapping all three color and creating white light, when just two colors overlap they create; Magenta, cyan, and yellow.

The combinations 

Red and Green makes Yellow

Blue and Red makes Magenta

Blue and Green make Cyan

Each primary color- Red, Blue and Green each have a compliment that then produces white light. 

The combinations of the compliments are;

Red and Cyan

Blue and Yellow 

Green and Magenta

Filter-substances that absorb light.

Lets say you see a red object, that object is red because it is absorbing blue and green light and the red light is the only part that reflects to you. 

In photography filters are used in a way where the primary or secondary colors absorb their complimentary color and reflect the others. 

Filers

-pass through their own color of light 

-absorb their complimentary color. 

This diagram is an example of how each color produces the white light and how two primary colors combine and make secondary colors.

Printing composition- dancers

This contact sheet is of the slower shutter speed photos, a variation of 60, 40, and 30.  The settings for this contact sheet are aperture 2.8 and 32 seconds

This second contact sheet also has a variety of shutter speeds the highest reaching 2000. This was a very successful contact sheet and the settings are aperture 2.8 6 seconds.  

This small print was the only test strip i needed, settings aperture 2.8 6 seconds

I was very happy with this print since it came out with such good settings, aperture 2.8 and 6 seconds.

This print used the same settings as the last print and the contact sheet which made this project so much easier. 

Image Bank- Dancers

This picture was taking in the street suggesting that its is some sort of street dancing. The angle is straight on which keeps the picture simple. The clothes in which the "clown" is wearing compliment the style of dance, clowning. This type of dance could fall under the category of "ghetto" culture.  Baggy clothes are worn in these kinds of dances, this style is like a fighting dance, there is another type of dance that is similar and it is known as krumping. Clowning is the less aggressive version of krumping. 

A very popular style of modern dancing is break dancing. Many people wish to learn this type of dancing because it looks really interesting. There are many types of people who can do this dance so it is not fixed with one type of culture. This picture is really interesting because of the angle that it was taken, the man's arm looks as if it is broken but he is holding himself up with just his hand, you must be very strong because of the complex style.

This is a photo of the masai tribe doing a small version of their dance. This is a very interesting dance because it has lived through their culture. The face that all the people are wearing the same color clothes could imply that these are the clothes that they wear when they perform their ritual dance. 

The salsa dance is a very formal type of dance. It is a latin type of dance. The clothes that are worn usually match with their partners. The dance flows very well and is done very, very professionally. The dance has evolved over time and has become much more formal than before. 

Belly dancing is a very traditional dance. The dress worn by belly dancers are revealing but this helps get attention, mainly by men, who are watching the dance. This dance has evolved over time like every other dance as its culture has evolved. In this photo their is a light shining on the woman's stomach, aiming the attention on the belly of the dancer, enforcing the style of dance. 

Capoeira is the Brazilian art of dance fighting. This dance is done through the streets of Brazil and as you can see in the picture the two men are as light as they can be by wearing only simple white pants. They wear these pants to be loose as they are doing this dance. The angle in which this picture is taken is interesting where the two look as if one is in front of the other, this is not true. Capoeira is a fast moving dance that is expanding throughout the world. 

Diary Entry- Dancers

This project seemed very quick but I was able to get nice working negatives the first time. The prints seemed to come pretty quickly. I am getting to know how to use every aspect of by camera better to its fullest advantage. My negatives came out very clear and with good contrast. I was very happy with myself when I was using times on my contact sheet like 3 6 and 9 seconds. These are the lowest times that I have ever used. My final prints ended up using about 6 seconds and one print used 78 seconds but it did not affect me with finishing this project because the other print was so short. 

Dairy Entry-Gerhard Richter London

Day 1

The day we arrived to London we didn't really have any specific assignment right away which was relaxing. There was no stress on us the first night. The hotel was different than last years and this hotel was really nice. 

The first day was a really relaxing day. It wasn't very hectic day, the worst part about that day was just getting on the tube and sitting for a while, then walking to the hotel but it wasn't raining like last year so it was a pretty easy walk. 

Day 2

On the second day we went to the National Portrait Gallery where we were introduced to Gerhard Richter's Exposition and we learned about his style of painting. We had a workshop in the National Portrait gallery and this was a good experience to work in the same style in which Richter worked. We made a painting of a picture or a painting of a picture. After the workshop we went to the Saatchi Museum where we were walked through with a guide and the art that we saw was the work of Middle Eastern artists. So far this photo trip has been pretty relaxing and enjoyable. 

This day was a really interesting because we got to go see the Middle Eastern art and in the museum before we went to look around we went to a room that had some wax figures of older people who were in powered wheelchairs. This was an interesting piece because it was different and something I have never seen before. 

Day 3

Today we went to another workshop where we learned about studio lighting. This was probably the most interesting part of the trip. We watched how to work with the lighting, then we used the lighting to light up our model, Faith. After this workshop we walked around and when we had our free time we took photos for the project we knew we were getting once we got back. The pictures that we took in our time were focused on people and movement. 

The lighting workshop we had was really cool. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because we learned  to use the lighting and what each light did for the subject we were lighting. The guy who taught us was really helpful and I was surprised that they let us handle all the equipment there by ourselves. 

Day 4 

This was the last day we were there and we did not go to any workshops or museums. We went to a market where we had our last free time where we had to get our final photos of people. we used this time not only to get our photos but to walk around and look what the market had to offer. All in all, this trip seemed to be more relaxed than last year even though we didn't do any workshops last year. 

This years trip seemed to be so much more calm than last year. It didn't rain while we were there and the weather was much better. The pictures we took there were all really cool because they were pictures of movement and at night with the car lights, it seemed like the cars were traveling through lights. I learned how to use my camera better on this trip, so for certain things I can now adjust my digital camera. 

Image Bank- Flash Portrait

I choose this image because this is close to the type of portraits that we were taking in class. The difference is that in this photo there is a shadow on the man's left side as for when we were shooting we were getting rid of the shadows is the background. This image and a whole other series are all portraits, some on blank walls and some outside, and even some with more than one subject. 

http://www.rossphoto.com.au/portraits_large.asp?id=1

Printing Composition- Flash Portrait

Contact Sheet

The contact sheet came out pretty well the aperture is 4 and the time is 13 seconds, the lowest time that I have been able to use for a while. 

Print

This print came our really well and quick for me. The aperture is 4 and the time is 32, the lowest time I have used on a full print, there is also a 2 filter. 

Theory Notes-Flashes

Fill-in Flash

This technique is used to brighten up dark shadowed areas. Usually used outside, when the background is brighter than the subject. To use a fill flash the aperture and shutter speed need to be adjusted and the flash is pointed at the foreground. 

The cat on the right that is dark has not flash and the cat on the right does have flash and there is a significant difference between the two. 

Built-in flash

Built-in Flash is mainly used for shots taken inside, for pretty much all inside shots you will need a built- in flash.  The quality of a built in shot can vary from really great to awful. You will need to know how far you need to be from the subject in combination with how much light there is in the room. 

This diagram is an example of the range of a typical built in flash. The maximum range is from 10 to 15 feet. 

Flash Guide Numbers

A guide number measures the ability of how much the subject can be lit up by the flash. Ex- If the flash number is doubled then the subject can be at twice the distance and still be illuminated the same. The guide number is a product of the aperture and the distance. 

This chart give the flash output level and how far the flash coverage is and also provides two equations, one for finding the distance and one for finding the aperture. For a clearer picture- 

http://www.emmett-photography.com/photos/323798927_Avg9q-XL-1.png

Dairy Entry- Flash Portraits

This project was quick and easy for me. My negatives processed really well and also developed really well. I was able to just get my contact sheet choose which print I wanted to do and get the small A4 size then printed my final A3 print. 

Theory Notes-Narrative Photography

My narrative story is of a band getting ready to play some songs together. The first image that the viewer is shown is a compilation of all the instruments that are going to be played or used through the story. The guitarist then tunes his guitar and warms up. At the same time the drummer is setting everything up around him and then at the end the guitarist and drrummer get together and jam.

Image Bank-Narrative Photography

The narrative photography that I found is very interesting. The author's work "Escape" is a four part story and is a graphic story. The rest of the story can be found on http://www.pbase.com/scared_of_the_dark/escape.




This story is from the same author and is just as interesting as the previous story but to go along with this story there is a poem attached with it. The rest of the story: http://www.pbase.com/scared_of_the_dark/the_forgotten


This last story "The cell" is more like the projects that we are doing, the story is a series of small pictures on one page.