Monday, 28 June 2010

THE FOCUS

After having spent some time in sunny Spain with the family over the last couple of weeks - It has given me some time to reflect on what I would like to achieve from this final dissertation in my MA in Communication Design.

Having spent most of my working life within the design and advertising industry it will come as no surprise that I have tried to avoid taking on any project that I undertake in my normal working week. For this reason my original goal when starting down the path of this MA was to push myself and take on projects that I would never have the opportunity to during the Monday to Friday 9 - 5 life that I lead.

With this said I am still drawn to the use of film and Super 8 Cine - even more-so now that I have been asked to produce a music video for one of Joe Galen's tracks off his recently released album "For Triangles". This will hopefully be one of the main focuses of the final Dissertation. I would also like to expand on the experience from the second semester and produce a series of short films on narrative (something I wanted to create out of the last semester but unfortunately ran out of time).

I have a meeting with Joe over the next couple of weeks, when I will then be able to start putting together the video - I am really exited about the prospect of producing something that is "Commercially driven" as (if good enough) it will be released to the public to be viewed and commented on.

I had a meeting with my lecturer today (Monday) and it has helped me to focus more on what I want to achieve and more importantly gain from this MA. I can now begin to do some deeper research work into this subject and start to formulate some initial ideas to move forward with.

Thursday, 10 June 2010

TRACEY HOLLAND

Some of the work I have been researching into over the last couple of days is the work of Tracey Holland.

It is very similar to what I produced in my last project in terms of appearance and aesthetic.

I have tagged a few of her short films below.



Wednesday, 9 June 2010

THE FIRST GROUP MEETING

Today was the first group meeting for our final dissertation and it was an opportunity to discuss where I was up to in terms of the direction I wanted to take this final project. After a discussion with my piers and our lecturer (Lawrence) I had a clearer idea on what it was I actually wanted to achieve and here it is...

As the last project was a taster of using super 8 cameras and cine film as well as diving into the deep end with editing and final cut pro. I felt I needed to expand on it more as it was such a wide subject to cover.

I have chosen to focus in on the narrative and the use of film as well as still photography for this final dissertation. I will be researching into story books, poems and lyrics/songs to find a way of re using such narrative with a different twist.

I will be looking at other artists who use this form of media to produce their art. I am interested in the work of Julie Holland and I am keen to make contact with her with the possibility of meeting up with her and watching her at work.

I will also be looking at more work from William Burroughs such as "Drug Store Cowboy" to look at how the home movie footage is executed. Snub TV through Youtube and researching music videos such as Echo & The Bunnymen's - Crocodiles. Other useful examples that where name dropped by Ian Noble in our external examiner meeting where: UBU.com which is a sight where you can download experimental sound snipits. Also Dead City Radio was mentioned in a conversation with the Thanksgiving Prayer for America.

There is lots of research to undertake before I have a clearer picture of were this "Visual Narrative" (working title agreed on this afternoon) is going to go.






After the soup kitchen event I previewed my semester 2 videos at a couple of weeks ago I met up with a guy called Joe Galen who was also projecting still camera images onto a backdrop whilst bands where playing acustic music. I also discovered that Joe was signed to a Swiss record label and was soon to be releasing his first album "For Triangles" this would be a good starter for this project if I was given the opportunity to produce the video for one of the tracks? (Watch this space) The music is almost folky in its sound with injections of electronic and experimental sounds thrown into the mix - this fits in really well with the aesthetics of cine super 8 film.

VISUAL NARRATIVE (The beginning)

Having had a meeting with the external examiner yesterday (Ian Noble) it was encouraging to hear that he enjoyed watching the cine film footage I produced for the final work in semester 2.

We discussed where I was going next with my final dissertation and I explained that I was unsure if I should carry on with the Cine Filming or go in a different direction and try something else I have been thinking about for the last few weeks. "Hand Made" was an idea I have been thinking about for a few weeks now where by all the work (practical and written) would be undertaken without the aid of technology. No computers, faxes, photocopiers, emails or printers. It would be back to the days of magic markers, drawing boards, CS10, typewriters - back to the traditional "craft" of true Graphic Design.

Although this sounds very exciting and I must admit I was very enthused by it. I would be setting myself up for a great big fall and it would be open to a very big caveat "due to the process involved - I was unable to finish this project"!

Because of the big unknown within this brief and after speaking with Ian I am warming to the idea of putting a true narrative to a piece of cine film and re producing a poem, story or book or even a piece of music. More though will be going into this self directed project over the next few days and I will hopefully have a clearer picture of what it is I will be pursuing for my next and final semester (dissertation).

We have our first group meeting tomorrow with Lawrence to discuss the final dissertation and what is expected of the project. This will hopefully again help to fine tune the project?