part one of studio shoot: production designer

The Role of a Production Designer:

They are the Head of the Art department and thereby the person responsible for the visual look of the production and the choices made. They work with the Director, Producer and Director of Photography to select the best style to tell the story.

In our Art Department I'm the production designer, Anike is the set dresser and Grace is the wardrobe/make-up artist. As part of our first three studio shoot group meetings the concept of the story kept changing so we were unable to come up with much in terms of a look, so the three of us decided to meet up to discuss the possible look based off the outline of an idea.

First, we researched the photo and Gregory Crewdson's inspiration - David Lynch.

So after this I created a mood board to portray the sort of atmosphere I wished out set to convey in relevance to the story-line of an unusual family in a dystopian type of location.

I also mainly focused on the sofa as I felt within the image it was the most eye-catching piece of furniture and the careless/carefree way the girl lay was very much what inspired most of our ideas.

It's very much the starting days for our studio shoot and without a script and communication it's very hard to come up with much in terms of what the director and dop will want to see.

The next step would be reading through a draft of a script to visualise the story so that I get a better understanding of how the story will unfold.

As it happens at the moment myself, the director and the set dresser have all taken on the role of writing up a broader version of the story line from the previous script-writing team just so we could present a more detailed plot to our group tomorrow.

Based off this I have also created a rough set design and along with Anike and Grace we have come up with a rough list of possible props/wardrobe within a budget of £100 or less that we hope to pursue with the producer.


The list of things I have to do as a Production Designer:

• Envision the look and layout of the set based off the script
• Fulfil the requirements to portray the wanted atmosphere
• Brief the look of the characters
• Communicate this information to the DOP, Director and Producer for approval
• Forward these plans to Anike for budgeting with Producer
• Forward wardrobe/make-up related research to Grace

chapter 0 - belongings & the first look

'Individual contributors were selected and approached with the simple request to provide the artists with an object that had a special story or memory attached. They were asked to record that story, yet not reveal it. The artists used the loaned objects as muse and stimulation for their writing to unfold, creating new narrative potential. The artists publication contains photographs of the belongings and the writings they inspired.'


- Belongings by Lucy May Schofield and Sylvia Waltering

◾ the self illusion by bruce hood - what exactly is 'you'?

◾ what if our belongings own us? when there's too much or they're too precious and we never have that sense of nakedness because we always have something that's ours. who are the people who don't have anything? is it refreshing to have nothing?

◾ do they speak about who we are or are they merely objects? 

◾ does location affect meaning of objects?

◾ objectified memories and ambiguity of belongings

Richard Mosse - The Enclave

'The Enclave, 2012–13, is a visceral and moving work by Irish artist Richard Mosse filmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Commissioned for the Irish representation at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, The Enclave is an immersive six-screen video art installation.'

 IDEA of what I want to achieve: 

 Description:  

An exploration of individuals and their identities through objectified (objectify [verb] - express something abstract in a concrete form) memories to shape a metaphorical and authentic blueprint of people.

The source would be an invite to people to bring in an object of importance or value and vague explanation of their choice. Outcome would be an audio-visual piece using speakers and projection.

 Context:  

I think foremost this work relates back to individuality, self-discovery and self-awareness that has previously been present in most of my written work, i.e. poetry. I’m interested in drawing a visual sketch that portrays the human nature, in questioning ‘US’ as both a large group and individuals that make it.

I believe this work will also push my VFX skills as it requires a lengthy and time-consuming use of After Effect, as inspired by the Pujottelua video. I also hope to pursue this idea further in terms of contextuality as I find using belongings to explore a person to be a very intriguing and obscure subject.

In terms of output I have thoroughly enjoyed Richard Mosse and the way the audience can walk around his projections, thereby almost becoming a part of the piece. 

 Skills:  

I am currently looking into the use of an infinity table within a studio to capture photographs of items to use for the project. To do this I will require the assistance of students who could volunteer to bring in items as specified in a post I will put up online, as well as provide me with a vague explanation of their meaning behind the items.

Furthermore, this piece will push my creative skills as it requires research into the relationship of audio and visuals within a piece that is meant to almost hypnotise the viewer. For the outcome it would be important to have a speaker and projector as I will edit the sound to have specific bass levels and for the video to have a certain level of contrast against a white wall.

 Audience:  

The work itself is meant to question how we view each other and ourselves, and whether our identities can be stripped until all that’s left is our belongings that tell a story of who we were as people. I hope that this piece hypnotises the viewer until they look away and question why they were looking at such a variety of objects, and whether it ever meant anything, unaware of the depth of the story behind each individual piece that will fade in this large project.

I have found that the vibrations of a speaker would push the atmosphere of the piece and the projector would involve the audience in a physical way, hence the certain chose for the technical portrayal of the outcome. 

chapter 0 - map of your head

Despite the very unusual and seemingly insensitive title, this short film tackles a dysfunctional family using non-standard documentary/experimental media techniques - it tries to get inside the late father's head by looking at his belongings and possessions, as well as conversations with the family.

The unique approach to stop-motion that seems to relate to the soundtrack is very enchanting, and the mixture of film sources used is both somewhat overwhelming and extremely intriguing. 

I feel like this is an interesting approach to 'getting inside someone's head'.

However, I am looking for a less 'short film' kind of outcome and more of a visual representation of a journey through.

With that in mind, here are questions I'm trying to answer:

1. Who's head am I trying to get inside?

2. How do I do this? How do I draw a map of someone's head?

3. Why is this important? How can it impact/change the viewer?

4. What format is this going to be in?

(Currently am leaning towards an After Effects project with minimum sound (but still present).

However I should probably explore the idea of both visual and melodic journey.)

The style of this short experimental film is amazing and I'm at a loss of words to explain how it's been done. To me it represents a thin wall between two worlds where if you look from a certain angle you can actually see through that layer.

Here are some After Effects experiments I've done, such as smooth zoom and 360 footage turn. I've just done these to get more comfortable with using VFX.

chaper 0 - infinite zooms & antisocialism

i decided to dive into the experiments for maps & networks even before i've quite sorted out the 'whats' and 'ifs'. earlier in the summer i found this video in the staff picks on vimeo and it blew my mind. it was gorgeous, rhythmic and to me looked like a cave into someone's mind. the director was inspired by one of the musicians and artists in the band, jan anderzén. the colours and patterns create a lovely flow that feels almost mesmerizing. 

''Once I zoomed infinitely into a single pixel and felt a path open, leading to the source of an unnamed nutriment.''

so then, obsessed as i was with the colours and the 'cutouts', i decided to make a test project using some photographs (macro photographs of oil/milk/ink and pressed flowers on tracing paper against natural light + quick shots of sunflowers), photoshop and after effects. this involved cutting out a lot of flowers on photoshop and using the camera tool in after effects, which might at first seem obvious and easy but is actually one of the most difficult tools because if you divert your attention for a second, you're most likely going to mess something up.. which i did multiple times.

i love after effects and i think this kind of a zooming in effect is actually brilliant. it creates a path of a sort, metaphorically, and allows one to look inside by pulling them deeper and deeper.

it's fascinating, and whilst i didn't really resonate with most of orlan's work, the one idea that i did enjoy was that the human body and mind should be explored before we get stuck in the bigger picture of online sites and maps of the world. throughout history we've only learnt the tiniest bit of what makes us human, and isn't that crazy? on that note, this following video is also exceptional:

What do we say we’re interested in? What are we actually interested in? In the intimacy of our smartphone or computer, we secretly tell Google what we’d like to know about.
By fetching most looked up words from Google search and Google news in real time, and by bringing them to the public space through visual and sonic signals, visual artist Romain Tardy proposes to the visitors an involuntary self-portrait of our contemporary networked society.

and last but not least, i'm aware music videos are usually frowned upon as they are made for the mainstream/general audience but i found the particular style and ideas of this imagery to be really good at portraying with only the slightest indication the atmosphere of anti-social behaviour. i thought it was wonderful how much attention went into building up this strange character who observed faceless others - their necks, their skin, their legs - and was also alone whilst in crowded spaces.

orlan

ORLAN is an award-winning artist whose work incorporates medicine, science, technology, and often her own body. She was the first artist to use surgery as an artistic medium. Most of her work features her body as an empty canvas, thereby she becomes the piece of art or performance.

 

I found it quite hard to actually look at screen whilst watching the clips from her surgeries, although I thought it's interesting that someone would turn their own bodies into an art piece and document the way it happens, no matter how bloody the images turned out to be.

I suppose it's intriguing that our own bodies are anatomical maps, and that we have to explore ourselves first before we get to explore elsewhere.

ORLAN physically alters her body to question the idea of beauty and the real reason why we see certain things as beautiful. She aims to evoke her audience to question and challenge their knowledge of what is important in the world / the art, and attempts to break the barriers of gender, generations and general art practice.

elections & t-shirts.

Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room - The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (2013) is a mirrored installation that you have to physically enter - and close the doors to after. It's almost hypnotic and alluring, and the viewer becomes part of the artwork in the mirrors. I think it's fascinating when the artwork actually invites you in.

 I found this video really interesting because of the point it was making - these days people are more interested in art that can guarantee a good photo, rather than a good experience. In all honesty that is very disappointing and disheartening but on the other hand it opens up a whole different possibility of sharing art and its message. Something that is easily accessible and visually pleasing would thereby gain more coverage.

 

This is an older performance & installation that I went to see at the Barbican a few years back but it always comes back to me as it changed my opinion of viewers interaction with the art. It saw multiple rollerskaters and naked dancers move around the venue whilst the viewer could walk around and explore different corners and messages left by the artist. Sometimes the viewer would have to stop and move aside to let the performers get past them. It was strange to see how uncomfortable some people got when the performers were close to them - almost as if they thought they were to become a part of the performance.

I'm interested in that discomfort. How could I make something accessible yet uncomfortable?

My own answer to this question was - location.

At this point I had already gone outside and taken some 'product' photos, and I found it interesting how unusual yet natural they looked at the same time.

It reminded me of shoe tossing, and made me think of how strange it is to see clothing outdoors when it's not actually worn by people.

And so I thought - wouldn't that be an interesting concept for presenting images?

It was actually this, together with my confusion leading up to election month in Latvia that made me decide that I wanted to take portraits of Latvians and Latvian-Russians. I decided that finding three patriotic citizens who displayed Latvian red-white-red flags in their cars and three Latvian-Russians who felt confident enough to display Russian flags in their cars would be a good start.

...To be followed by printing their portraits on t-shirts and placing them in opposite locations, and to make matters more challenging and uncomfortable, I thought that the other side of the t-shirt should feature the flags of the countries. What I mean by opposite locations is different cities within Latvia with different Latvian/Russian percentages, so for example Daugavpils is a mainly Latvian-Russian city near the border of Lithuania, thereby I'd place the Latvian t-shirt in the town centre there, and do the opposite in Smiltene, which is a mainly Latvian city.

It sounds very confusing indeed, but I feel like it almost perfectly captures the strange, bitter and diving atmosphere in Latvia at the moment as the October Parliament election is coming up, and I'd be very interested to see the reactions concerning these issues when provoked.

[in memory of my grandmother, 17.09.2018]

the line.

I'm very interested in the limits of what is and what isn't acceptable.

Am I a bad person for my opinions? If I can argue my case, does it make it acceptable?

I had some friends over and was getting to know a girl who shares my hometown. We were both asked about our opinion on Latvian-Russians, and both of our answers fell in the lines of 'We're not bad people but we loathe them'. Another friend butted in and said, 'That's what they all say'. 

And so surely that makes us horrible people. How stereotypical of us to loathe 'foreigners'. Isn't that how Brexit happened, anyway? It's all brought on by that feeling of 'strangers in our homes'.

So where would you draw the line?

 - Someone rolls their eyes as cars and people flood their small village. 'Tourists,' they say. 'Hate them.' 

 - An older lady gives a student an evil look. She mutters incoherently under her breath. 

 - 'I hate them,' she says. 'They're everywhere and it doesn't feel like home anymore.' 

 - Another headline flashes. 'Standoff in Italian port as Salvini refuses to let refugees disembark.' 

It's hard to figure out the right things to say. How come the world's become such an uncompassionate place?

Of course these are all very different situations but they still bring in the same kinds of human characteristics.

But if I gave you my case for the third one, perhaps you'd find it easier to forgive the statement?

If I told you that more than half of the people living in my hometown are Russians with Latvian citizenship who refuse to speak Latvian, or that it's almost impossible for young people to find work unless they speak fluent Russian, or that the current leading party in our Parliament is mainly Russian -

- and knowing that we only gained our freedom in the 90s, and that thousands of Latvians were wrongly imprisoned and slaughtered, and that the rest of the world still finds it amusing to compare us to Russia or only acknowledge us as 'one of those Soviet Union countries'?

Would that make that statement acceptable?

Then again most countries have had difficult pasts so how come we're allowed to complain?

The more I think about this, the more confused I am. I feel that perhaps we are bad people after all.