ITAP Lecture 7

PRODUCTION AND INFLUENCE

The 5 key principles we talked about in the ITAP lecture this week were Interpretation, Delivery, Medium, Testing and Methodology. I have decided to talk about Interpretation and Testing.

Interpretation

Interpretation is an explanation of meaning and a particular view of an artistic work. Another word which is worth to mention and which is connected with interpretation is Zeitgeist (it refers to ideas and spirit of the age or spirit of the time, it indicates a certain period or place).

The work of any artist is influenced by the surrounding world, it should reflect media, politics, cultural and artistic aspect at the time. Therefore interpretation of one story can be created in various ways. However the content should always match within the era of production. Also the way the story is introduced to the audience is changing. Nowadays it can be expressed by communicating online, magazines, posters, t-shirt prints, film etc. It means it can be displayed on a diverse range of platforms such as photography, media, fashion, advertising, animation. Not only the story interpretation and messages sent are different but also the feedback/response from the viewer is changed.

Interpretation of a historical content involves understanding the character in more defined lines. As my example i have chosen to use the Disney tale of Snow White. It Is a story known worldwide created in Germany and was first originally illustrated by Alexander Zick in the 19^th century. The image is powerful but on the other hand simple and primitive, we can see the lack of techniques which were available at that time. Not long after this we can see an alternative interpretation illustrated by Franz Jűttner.

Below we can see another version of an altered character portrayal of Snow White. This one depicts her as a bad character and is called the Dark Princess. It has been created by Artist Laura Ambros in the gothic approach.

Australian artist Courtney Brims' imagined the Snow White influenced by Victorian style and exaggerated the red apple, emphasising in symbology in the tale.

The Snow White story has been created in many different mediums including film, photography, animation and advertisement.

Two movies where released in 2012.

Mirror mirror is a fantasy comedy based on fairy tale ‘’Snow White’’ directed by Tarsem Singh. In this interpretation the seven dwarfs are replaced by seven resourceful rebels who are enlisted by the Princess, Snow White, to help her win back her birthright.

Then later in the year ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ was released. Created by Rupert Sanders, this offered a fresh, somewhat dark and interesting twist on the old fairy tale. Continuing the theme of a love story the handsome prince is replaced by a ‘rugged’ huntsman who having aided the evil Queen to capture the princess ultimately falls in love with her, helping her to defeat the wicked queen and win back her Kingdom.

Animation created by Disney.

Annie Leibovitz inspired by Disney World created a series of fairytale photos including Snow White. These pictures illustrate well the various interpretations of the ‘mystique’ of Snow White

Barbie doll 'Snow White'

In each example we can clearly see reused and rehashed interpretation which communicate a new deconstructed meaning. Each time it presents a new twist, point of view, more detail and use of technology. 

Testing

Testing is extremely vital for visual communicators. Illustrators,  photographers, animators or graphic designers displaying their work throughout websites, blogs, exhibitions, galleries. this helps to see how it looks integrated in various ways. It enables feedback and reaction from the potential audience. It shows how successful we are and gives us confidence to develop our ideas or plan how to progress forward.

Nowadays it is very popular is to have a personal blog, website, Facebook or Twitter page to post the work. It provides easy access to people around the World. Below is a print screen of my photography page on FB. 

Image source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White

http://clairebeauchamp.deviantart.com/gallery/

http://www.courtneybrims.com/

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/10/06/julia-roberts-evil-queen-snow-white-first-look/

http://htcthemes.org/730/snow-white-and-the-huntsman-wallpaper-2/

https://www.dollgenie.com/doll_profile.php?id=1414

http://collider.com/olivia-wilde-evil-queen-snow-white-images/78948/

ITAP Lecture 6

NARRATIVE & STRUCTURE

During our sixth ITAP lecture we covered the areas of Narrative and Structure. Animation and film were used as an example of this. However, I would like to explore this subject further and examine it in depth from the perspective of a photographer. Two principles I have chosen to write about are ‘Developing Stories’ and ‘Developing Characters’.

Developing Stories

Story is a set of events and a simple way to deliver a message across. Narrative is very important in photography as it helps to create a powerful image. The concept of telling a story can be about everything, personal, emotional or a physical journey. Each photographer has different values, observations and experiences in life, therefore the interpretations and essence of the same subject would be various from each perspective. Creators try to convey their own, individual and unique understanding of the image and connect with the audience. Meaningful pieces of art/photograph enable us to open the door to our imagination which allows the image tells us its story and engage and stimulate the hearts and minds of the recipient. Importance of the message can be in metaphorical, abstraction, documentary form and any other form created in our mind. It is not necessary to create a set of photographs or collage to tell a story. In photography it is possible to achieve this within one frame. In portraiture getting close to the person gives a more intimate view and makes the message more powerful. As an example I have attached photographs of the same person taken many years apart by Steve McCurry. It is the first image I have ever seen taken by this photographer and it inspired my passion towards this documentary.

Before taking the photo each photographer should ask themselves questions:

-Who is it for?

-What is my purpose or intention?

-What emotions do I want to capture?

-What is my message?

-How do I want to approach the composition?

-How do i achieve it technically and visually?

Developing Character

There are clear rules and definition of how to develop characters within a movie, it is either the ‘Hero’ or ‘Villain’. Unfortunately or fortunately we cannot apply the same rules in photography. However in both cases it is vital that characters show emotions which can relate to the viewer. When taking photographs they need to capture the emotional moment of the character. This will result in an emotional response from the audience who empathises with emotion. The aspects worth taking into consideration when developing our character are body language, facial expression, activity, location, background, people within the composition etc.

Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange

Image source

http://www.fivelakearts.com/wavesofgrain/?p=1710

 http://www.artspace.com/dorothea_lange/migrant_mother_nipomo_california

 http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~hamiltr/form_composition_page/pages/Dorothea%20Lange%203_jpg.htm

ITAP Lecture 5

DESIGN PROCESS

 This week ITAP lecture was about the importance of the design process when creating visual messages and building communication with the audience.

The first principle I want to talk about is Legibility.

Legibility is the degree  to which individual characters in the text are understandable and recognizable based on their appearance.

  It is very easy to lose meaning and purpose of our aim if we don’t follow some rules. First of all is to recognise the audience and choose appropriate style. In writing or text and image that includes: typeface, font size, clear image, composition, paragraphs, colour, spacing, alignment, layout of the image and text on the page and additional content together, all the above must be suitable for presented image to communicate the right message. There are other rules when creating magazine layouts: columns, margins, headlines, sub headlines etc. It is good to ask ourselves a question: Does it connect with the target audience? We must decide on the level of legibility depending on the purpose and the audience. It is also used in commercial visual communication such as maps, signs, instructions etc. Each project has a different purpose for instance informative, instructing, persuasive or convincing. If our goal is to clearly inform the target group and enable them to gain information the above rules can help to maintain final outlook. Whereas when we use words overlapping the image it might be illegible.

 I think is very important to make my blog legible and for that reason I have used bigger font size , a clear typeface, chosen colours of font and background.

Tone of voice

Tone of voice must be taken into consideration when we aim to communicate visually with a target audience. Very often, apart from the image, we also apply text which more distinctively emphasises the message we are sending. We do not always appreciate that Typography is everywhere. It is a huge part of advertising, publishing, packaging etc.

It is particularly chosen for certain groups of people create the right impression and reaction, for instance to buy the advertised product.

We can find Ideal connection of text and image in the ‘Sex has consequences’ advertisement for The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Tony Arefin is a graphic designer who cleverly works with typography and very often combines it with photography. The theme of the campaign is to encourage teenagers to have safe sex. He uses very strong quotes and picks out words highlighting the  valuable meaning for the theme. He accentuates the words even more using strong red colour which is a very emotionally intense and stimulates people to make a quick decision but also indicates danger.

Paula Scher is a graphic designer who uses historical design for the contemporary audience. 

 

Rihanna's latest album cover

Image source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legibility

http://web.media.mit.edu/~francis/projects/anthroText/

http://ilovetypography.com/2010/02/02/art-and-text/

http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2402246/caleb-followill-spin-magazine-cover-kings-of-leon-02/

http://sandrarose.com/2012/07/rihanna-covers-harpers-bazaar-magazine/vibe-vixen-rihanna-harpers-bazaar-august/

http://new.pentagram.com/2012/11/paula-scher-and-seymour-chwasts-double-portrait-at-the-philadephia-museum-of-art/

http://www.paperideas.it/paperzine/news/3282-Paula_Scher#.UOSqCYFfaSo