Juleon

In the final quarter you will be focusing primarily of making sure everything gets done. This quarter may be your last chance to really push your understannding of your project. You now know what you are doing and have developed some expertise in materials, techniques, and ideas. What are you attempting that is more ambitious than anything else you have completed thus far? Is it more intricate, larger scale, more images, deeper idea, etc. How have you pushed your project beyond its current state?
 * __Ambition:__**

I started using double exposures and other more delicate image manipulation techniques to only change the image in subtle, yet tangible ways. I pushed my concept farther by including more of a desperate or manic feel that wasn't present in the more inquisitive nature of my earlier work. This manic emotion creates images that are much more emotional on the surface, while maintaining the emotional depth of the earlier photographs as well.

How has your project evolved from its beginning stages? What did you change deliberately? What has changed naturally as you got a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish? It has evolved a lot since the initial idea. Whereas the beginning was more focused on a distorted world, my project has changed to include much more of a schizophrenic of paranoid feel than the previous photos. I deliberately began using a lot more mirrors and repeating shapes to give it a two (or sometimes three) - faced approach. The repeating shapes adding an element of odd conformity and normality, especially when seen in the context of the rest of my concentration. I think I have naturally begun to think much more outside of the box in terms of lighting and ways of shooting in order to get the eerie and blurred vision of reality that I want my photos to project.
 * __Evolution:__**



= __**Concentration 1: Generation**__ = Generating something is different from creating it out of thin air. It implies that something needs to be built up over time in order to reach a certain level. How have you gone about generating this project ? What has proved challenging about your materials/ idea/ sources that you had not anticipated? What have you learned that you will take with you into the second Quarter? First I started out with a concept rather than a visual strategy, the innate human fear of the unknown. From this original idea I began to think of different ways the unknown could be presented, and from this, I decided to use black and white photographs. From this basis I started to use film noir, and it's focus on the unknown and duplicity, as a base for my ideas. Using some of the different film noir techniques, such as using mirrors and reflections and distorting the images in order to show a distorted reality, I began to develop my own personal visual strategy to go with my original concept. The challenges are mostly based around finding the perfect lighting set up, as most of my photos rely heavily on intense and purposeful lighting environments. Some knowledge that I will definitely be using in the second quarter is about the way that mirrors and other environmental objects can be used to both frame and augment a photo's contrast and interest. I have learned to try to import more things and take the background environment much more into account.

**__Project 7: Surrealism__** **__ On the wiki, post a statement which starts with a definition of surrealism (look it up), and explains how you think these 5 artists manage to use these ideas in photographic work. What unites them? What is different about them? __**Surrealism is a form of art that relies on surprise, unexpected comparisons, and non sequiturs. It heavily uses unexpected objects or a dreamlike environment to create an alternate and somewhat superior reality filled with things that are "above" the rules of the natural world. The 5 artists that you listed manage to create a very dreamlike or surprising atmosphere in their works. They are united by their use of things that don't normally "belong" in a natural environment, but they differ in the ways that they go about creating these abnormalities and dreamlike environments, some of them just using eerie lighting, and others using digital manipulation.

**__Project 6: Mass Media Culture__**
For both pieces I am going to ask you to think about the relationship you are creating with your source material. ** What are you saying about the images you are using? ** For the television piece, I'm saying that many times advertising campaigns for politicians on television and on the internet are often simply absorbed by the populace instead of being truly understood. I wanted to show that the these ideas are simply poured into their heads, and from this they begin to truly believe it until inevitably it comes pouring out of their mouths, getting more and more distorted along the way. For the book covers piece, I'm saying that often times many books use cover art and fictional characters to sell their ideas. Almost every book presents a socio-political idea and is trying to present it in a light which makes the reader "buy" into their idea. I really wanted to show how hidden these ideas are behind the guise of fiction or prose so there are many layers of text hidden behind or disappearing beneath the brightly colored images.

** Are you glorifying them? Are you critical of them? ** I am being extremely critical in the first piece because I think that the ideas that come across from politicians should be truly understood before simply being absorbed into the public conscious. In the second piece however I am being both critical, yet in awe of the way writers manage to position their ideas behind characters, making their ideas almost subconsciously make their way into our minds.

** Is art more valuable than mass culture? ** In certain ways art is able to show things in a much more critical light than mass culture ever could. Mass culture will always have its allegiance with the corporate world or the status quo, whereas art can be whatever it needs to be. So in the sense of being crucial to the ever changing state of the world, art is indeed more important, but simply because mass culture reaches the most people it retains some importance as the most widely consumed form of visual media.

** How does this position fit in with Rauschenberg, Warhol, and Koons? Explain your understanding of their positions. **I would definitely say that I am at the opposite end of the spectrum of Koons because I am often critical of mass culture, but in some ways I wrap around the spectrum to to agree with with his sort of admiration of it despite some of it's faults. My position is closer to Rauschenberg's because of the way he doesn't provide any apparent order in his compositions to tell what he is saying, yet he still is managing to make a strong statement. The same with Warhol, he is showing a fascination with the popular world, which I also share. **__Project 5: Symbolism__**I came up with this idea while I was sitting in math class looking at my teacher's desk where her hand rested comfortably on her mug, and it struck me how much simply a hand and a cup can represent someone's personality, position, and situation. I would title the series "Cup 1-8" to keep it simple and not distract from the focus. They each contain some reference the the "hand's" personality and activities, so the cup stands to represent an entire person, situation, or time. The group of images together further emphasizes the idea that even a similar hand placement and glass can hold a completely different meaning considering the environment

**__Project 4: Still Life Narrative__** ** The first 5 images are supposed to convey the story of someone quickly leaving a room after getting dressed. I really wanted to stress the fact that the exit was urgent and the person didn't have any time to worry about cleanliness, so the compositions are purposefully cluttered, yet carefully planned. I tried to use angles that would emphasize the amount of clutter while still showing the action. The manipulated images change the meaning of the story entirely. They drastically alter the colors so that they story is completely distorted, so that the viewer has to decipher more of what is going on. The drastic contrast between the harsh colors is supposed to accentuate much more of a quickened pace than the cooler green and blue tones that are present in the real images. When the two interact you can clearly see the way in which they compliment each other, with one seeming more realistic and calm, while the other takes the position of the harsher and quicker story. ** Real Color:    Edited:    **__Project 4: Cinematographizzle__**Creating these images was an extremely difficult task, mostly resulting from the difficulty of getting the lighting exactly right. I never expected that I would need such total control over lighting, and so much time manipulating in photoshop. The amount of control I needed over the color and contrast balance was insane and I have gained an immense respect for any cinematographer that does this for a living. Their role seems as, if not more, important than that of the director in order to set the tone and ambiance of the scene. The aspects I ended up drawing from the most were the depth and the colors used in The Dark Knight. I would proceed with the project by taking photos with much more drastic light and depth in order to get a good range of those shots that I would be able to manipulate. I would also begin, not only enhancing these photos, but integrating some of them together. __**Project 3: Multiples**__ I usually was inspired by using that one shape to create one slightly more intricate shape or line pattern and just let that evolve over time into more and more interesting shapes. These shapes are all related by the way the lines interact. The way I put the images together used the repetition of the shapes in order to emphasize one shape or pattern that presented itself in the piece. I tried to use each of these projects to try to use the chaos of very cluttered or stacked images in order to try to create some semblance of order at the same time, using the different shapes to separate the image into distinct parts. For example, using the stacked moons to separate the basic shapes surrounding them and the simple white shape on the inside. If this were the beginning of a concentration I would continue looking into using what seems to be disorder to try to accentuate an order, probably by continuing to use very simple shapes and lots of repetition. As I went further on in the concentration might start to add very simple, and non-distracting, landscape backgrounds to add greater depth to the meaning of each image.

**_**__    **How would you describe the lighting? **The lighting remains dark throughout the film with spotlights often cast to silhouette the main subject (often Batman). This use of light creates a deep contrast, often purposely losing information in the darks towards the background, adding an extra feeling of space.What colors are used? What moods does this convey?The colors are pretty restricted to white, black, and blue, with red and orange making guest appearances during the action sequences. This really helps to convey the somber mood of the entire film. It also helps the underlying theme in the film in that it tries to show these characters that are totally white or totally black, with no gray area in between. How would you describe the camera angle? How does this affect our reading of the image or scene?The camera angle is often in a high position in order to show depth. This allows for a clear foreground and background, and it helps us to see the massive loneliness that accompanies Batman throughout his adventures. In other scenes, however, the camera angle is much more straightforward in order to emphasize a silhouette, yet it still adds the same depth and creates the same feeling as the high angle shot. Even looking at a still, what gives us the impression that something is happening? How would a still image from a film be different from still photography? How can you recreate this effect? In all of these stills there is a sense of intent to act that leads to the conclusion that something will start to happen in the future. Both when Batman is crouched on a rooftop or you can see the silhouettes of the SWAT team about to break the glass. I think that a still image from a film doesn't have to be as intentional because it is more focused on the ongoing action rather than that one specific moment in time. The fact that there is only one moment that can be preserved in a still image adds an extra element of thought that isn't required for a film still. This effect could easily be recreated, however, by simply "playing" out a scene up until the still needs to be taken so every action is as if it were in a film