Lately I have been researching a lot about different design methodologies. I have come across storyboards, design conversations and Broadbents analogical methods. Even through I hadn't studied design conversation and in particular Broadbents theory I found I have been using them in most instances with out realising it. 

Broadbents theory is to create a narrative which can be used to link together the elements of your design. It relates to most of my work even when I have created fine art as evidently when I paint I try to create a story through the paint that people can relate to. This has also applied to my pixilation animation and one shot film but I have been telling the story in different medias to express the narrative, e.g. I used about 400 plus shots with their own unique composition to tell a story (composition, colour, facial expressions etc.) 

In comparison I found that we used the structure of a design conversation without thinking about it. Certain members of the group took different roles as the critic, the learner, the lawyer etc to contribute. Even though it was crucial that we worked in group I find this happens a lot in the design world when designers discuss ideas, for example if they were advertising a shop every person in the group would have a different image of it. Whereas if they drew it then everyone would be limited to the ideas linked to that one image.

Below is a diagram of how a design conversation works. Incidentally this is a basic structure of how we planned our one shot film.

Script

The Meeting

B= boy

G= girl

There is a meeting between B and G a few weeks after they have had a one night stand. G's first impression has changed of the B's and she realises that she was too drunk and embarrassed. She regrets seeing him upon meeting him and wants leaves a.s.a.p. B wants to ask her out again but the Gs scared her flat mates will see. The girl is attractive and confident. The boy is goofy.

SD: CU of girls eye and pans out to MS of the boy just as he approaches.

Why the hell is he waving at me.... oh crap I remember.

B: You alright there, Hayleigh right?

G: Hi, yeah... how are you doing?

Fuck I cant remember his name did we???

B: I'm great did you have a good weekend? Cheesy/ sleazy grin

G: Yeah it was alright, I was a bit of a mess.

B: I think we both were. Small chuckle, grins to reveal ugly teeth.

G: Yeah. Flinches.

Oh god we did, I thought he was better looking.

B: Are you OK?

G: Yeah I just thought I was going to sneeze.

The teeth how did I miss them?!

B: Sneeze away don't stop on my account.

G: Don't worry I wont.

I hope no one looking

G: So urrr.... what are you doing around here?

B: I'm just going to work, I live just up here. points in the direction the girl was walking.

Shit he lives around here!

B: Where are you going?

Lie Lie!

G: Oh err just going to see a friend.

B: Really it's just I remember walking back form around here.

Lie again. 

G: Really it cant be I live quite far away from here.

B: OK I was a state in the morning. Cheesy grin 

That was close.

B: Sorry I left so early. 

G: Its no problem.

Its really not a problem at all

B: Yeah I had to go back early for my Mums birthday. We went to church.

G: Aww that's sweet.

Praise the Lord.

B: Thanks. I don't usually go but she likes me to go sometimes.

G. Ummm

Shit here it comes. Please don't ask... just don't.

B: Look do you want to go out for a drink sometime? 

G: Maybe, but I'm quite busy at the moment. How about I call you when I'm free?

Like in the VERY distant future.

B: Yeah that would be cool.

G: Cool, but I've got to go and I'm sure you've got to go to work.

Please go to work.

B: True, I'll see you around. 

G: Sure you will. See You

B: See you

Good job he didn't stay for breakfast

G exits and B stands there watching her go. End Shot 

Story Board

I really enjoyed making these photos. I choose to use complimentary pairs of colours on the face to show how the face can be highlighted with colour.  I used the theme of contrast. I focused the eyes on both picture as it is a natural focus point in every day life. 

In the top photograph I was inspired by J R Randell who often focuses on distinctive, cheeky and provocative portraiture, which is one of my passions in the art world. He works for dazed and confused magazine dabbling in cinema as well. What drew me to his work was his vivid colours highlighting different ares of the face to emphasis different emotions e.g. he uses dark tones of purple against yellow to make the eye look confused or the cheek bones are highlighted to emphasis femininity. 

I chose blue, green and orange to reflect a sense of fun in beauty and to highlight one of the main features that we all take for granted everyday. In my second photo I wanted to focus on the facial features we use to express our everyday emotions that cause so much controversy. 

Lighting

For our one shot film we have decided to go with natural daylight as we want our film to be as realistic as possible. Also we are filming it in the street so it is impractical (and slightly impossible) to set up the lighting. The daylight worked against us to start with because the light was too bright so it flattened Sophie's face (the actress.) This was due to the low height of the sun. 

We are also going to include a pan at the start of the film from the first shot when they first bump into each other.

Today we did a second take for the film so the actors could remember their lines therefore we can get the timing right for the subtitles/ voice other. For a comedy factor we are going to make the girl have an elegant air about her but spoken thought will have an annoying London accent. In contrast be are planning to make the guy quite goofy and cringe worthy so the male audience can relate to him. The natural light worked well today as there was an even amount of light and shadow we could work with.

Redness

Redness By Richard Kenton Webb

At first when I saw redness it alarmed me to a note of confusion. It got me thinking emotionally what does each individual tone of red mean? Why is it making me feel alarmed by it's structured form? 

I found this painting to be unique in it's presence as the four tones of red separately have completely different meanings, for example the mid range background red gives me a sense of warmth and love, the deep maroon/ brown colour gives me a sense of earth with its rich underlying red tones. Also the light brown seams quite bland on the big scale of things but once you put it next to the richness of the over tones it becomes a highlight.

By looking at this painting of just four red tones it has got me looking at the colour in its purist form as to me the placing of the colour seems quite natural. However the placing of the colour does make parts of the object stand out more than others. I found that the dark brown shades of what I image to be an open case stands out to me because it contrasts with the other lighter tones therefore drawing it to the eye. I noticed the two darkest maroon tones falls on the vertical thirds which makes the composition stand out. 

In my opinion Webb has focused on the colour red to get a greater understanding of its characteristics. I found once I started looking at each tone that closely it picks up a greater meaning. It breaks down each tones meaning of red. 

To me the object looks like it has some type of pedal attached to the main frame which gives me the sense of movement. Also the pedal seems to be moving because of the mid tone, dark red and light brown makes it look like it is being catching the light. Apart from the pedal the object gives me a sense of confusion as it isn't clear as to what it is. Although it makes me confused about its purpose it is clear to me that it is a traditional machine because of the red tones make it look rusty, as if its something old that man has made.

Overall this piece of art work isn't one of my favourites because of the mechanical structure and a few dull tones. I do like the way it focuses on one colour in so much depth it gives the painting a new meaning.

Planning Our One shot FIlm

The Meeting

Meeting between male and female. thoughts of the female on sound file.

1. They meet unexpectedly on the street. 
2. They walk into shot.
3. They both are nervous walking towards eachother. Thinking about avoiding the meeting.
4. They start normal chit-chat. "Hi. How are you... err wasn't expecting to see you here....umm..."
5. Her thought will be voiced on screen while the normal chat in red (above) will be in subtitles. 
6. She's thinking vain thought like. "OMG is he really that hairy," "What was I thinking," "I'm glad he didn't stay for breakfast."
7. Meanwhile he is thinking the opposite. He doesn't regret a thing. He feels flatter he got a drunken chance with her. 
8. Close-up when the thoughts get personal and zoom out on both of them. Finishes with close-up on her face.
   

Duties

So far we are all going to help direct the film so the all types of audience can relate and it isn't one minded. At the moment we have allocated a few other duties-

Guvy- camera

Gayr/ Matt- script

Sophie/ Alan- lighting

One Shot Film Ideas

The Meeting

1. WAR- Every one is fighting over a possession. The fighting gets worse as the people objects gets bigger and better. The people move around and they fall out of the shot as the next person wins with their better object. Shot with a green screen and the background moving around for added interest. Possible develop into a gangster theme with people wearing suits to symbolise status. 
2. BATTLE OF THE SEXES CONFLICT- One night stand meet unexpectedly on the street. The film is about how people judge each other on first impressions and how they change e.g. the girls thoughts are aired of how she really feels about the situation but at the same time they are having a mundane conversation. He is thinking how attractive she is and how he regrets not calling her whilst she is thinking she made a quick exit and the thinks he is repulsive in a sober state. 
3. LANGUAGE BARRIER- a film shot between two people trying to communicate. Bring in props to show what they mean. Miscommunication.

Rule of Thirds

What is the rule of thirds?

The best way to describe the rule of thirds is to picture a rectangle (your photo) split into thirds vertically and horizontally.

This rule give you for points on fours lines that will give you four focus that will emphasis the photograph. Not only does it create points of interest in create a structure for proportion.

The theory of the rule of thirds is that if you place objects on the line or between the section then the photo will become more balanced therefore will look more natural to the viewer. The eye is usually drawn to one of the sectioned outlined rather than the centre.

My Version of  The Rule of Thirds

In my rule of thirds I have kept the Sannah (the girl in the film) in the first to thirds. Her head is on the top horizon line and the base of her arm so that the movement catches the audiences eyes as it moves across to the right hand third. I think this works as the focus point becomes her smoking.

My favourite part of it is the contrasting colours of neon green and bright pink. I choose these colours to reflect his fragmented state of mind. Also I have changed the hue and saturation so the pixilation reflects a impure, fragmented state of mind through the unnatural colours. I wanted this look to show the musicians pathway is distorted by drugs and critisms of society.

My ideas have gradually changed whilst taking the photos as the narrative changed when I used props such as shoes, the guitar, and body movement. For the me his lose of his guitar shows he is loosing his way and is doomed. On the other hand I chose pink and green because they are both fun, vivid colours but I darkened the background to create light and dark shadows. Looking back I would have made a stronger source point of slight to draw your attention to his movements through more of a contrast.

Musician's Game

Ideas for the pixilation

1. People changing into props e.g. shoes. Shoes unravelling. Trainer meets high heel (boy meets girl.



2. Guitar turning into broom.



3. Moving in the air.



4. continuous snake so it changes perpective.

After shifting through these ideas I took over 400 shots to make the pixiation. I added diferent movements with the people and shoes as puppets to change the perpective.

Now that I finished this and altered the pictures on photoshop I worked with them on premier pro. At first I found this quite difficult as it is the first time I have used this but I got to grasps with it to make a title and edit the pixilation. I speeded some shots up to match the (body snatchers by radiohead.) i chose this song as it revealed teh confusion the creativity created for the musician. The jumpy beat also added to teh mood

"A Day In The Life Of A Musician"

Moving onto the next stage of developing my piece I have decided to go with the idea of "A Day In The Life Of A Musician." I think this leaves me versatile in the number of probs I can use and in what way.

I want to start off with a close up of a guitar so the audience are left wondering what it might be but have a clue. This will get the audience interested. Also I want to experiement with colour, contrast in light and dark and movement within the piece.

Firstly, I started off with a close up of the guitar and gradually expanded the shot to include the finger tips moving to create the beat of the song. The only thing about trying to match it to a beat of a song is finding a song that matches the creative/ active mood of the song I want to create.

I thought a lot about how the colour will express the mood when we came across The matrix in one of our lectures. It got me thinking about how colour and how much light is in the shot can express the mood and narrative in the film. The matrix uses blue when it's in the matrix and green for when it is inside the matrix. I thought I can experiment in photoshop with different colour that people don't associate real life with to show he is in a creative, imaginative fun state of mind. Maybe...

Blue- cold drowsy thought

Green- natural thought process

Red- raw emotion

Pink-dreamy, happy/enjoyment (note I won't use all of these colours.)

In the end I went with contrasting light and dark tones of pink to express an upbeat, 'trippy' side to creating music. It reflects the creative part of the mind.

Design objects taking over the world

Ever since I've known it in the world of technology there has always been the debate about whether a PC or MAC is better? To me this question has one answer- A MAC. It is easy to use, it's beautiful, it's every designers friend. To me a PC is a design that just functions well, it is what everyone is used to but a MAC functions well and looks stylish in the publics eye. A MAC is one of the the products that doesn't just produce beautiful graphics, it is beautiful in its own right. In my opinion the public want this to make themselves look better, to boost their egos. To show off to the guy next to them. The most important reason why I think people buy MACs is because they are unique. No other computer is white, no other computer has apple designers and engineers working on its progressing mechanisms. This grabs peoples attention and leaves them wanting to find out more. All apple products are linked so once people buy one apple product they want to find out about the rest.

Every one is willing to pay extra for a MAC (for example) because they are always striving to improve their designs. The type of technology you buy is also growing into a symbol of how much money you have, who you are in the world and your position in society. Technology is continually a way to show who you are in more ways than one. We build societies on the internet, creating new identities in the process so we want what we do that on to look good. In a way it becomes who you are so why not pay extra for its appealing forms?