The Train Of Freedom

After the lecture with Karina Correa it made me look at the world in a different angle. After her experiences and wanting to have her voice heard her documentary states that there is a lot of things that the world is going through which we do not know about, just what we are fed by the newpapers. The first time I was intorduced to documentary sytle making was in the second year of the course and I did find it quite good but the subject we covered did not appeal to me as much as I would have wanted it to. As I did not relate to the subject I didn’t feel as if I didn’t want to do it but once seeing the work produced by Karina Correa it made me think about the life I live and the life of asian girls in general and the things that we go through that people do not know about. I have a lot of asian girl friends that have lots of problems and hides them behind a smile to cover it from everyone around them. It would be a great piece to produce something that I could express myself in and have from a personal perspective which then would inspire me to look at many individual lives that people live such as Afro Carribean, Indian, Pakistani, Turkish, English and so on.
This is something that is already being done on tv but what I feel would make mine unique is that I would try and touch the aspects people do not know and things that I feel the public should know about the people they share the same community with. I always wonder what people’s lives are like and what it is that makes them different to me, why is it that they work where they do, speak to who they speak to, live in the house they are currently living at, what is it that made them make those decisions and if they feel they made the right one. These are the lives that people lead but there is always something that people do not know or see because the chose not to know or ask. Train Of Freedom has made me look at many different types of documentaries and the one that appealed to me the most is ‘Ross Kemp On Gangs’ as he focusses on the wordwide issue and not just in one area, this is the thrill that gets me wanting to get into documentary as you never know what to expect and there is always something there that you will learn from the experience.

http://skyoneonline.co.uk/rosskempgangs/

There are so many unaswered questions that I have and makes me want to answer them, documentary is a great way for me to start looking for a definite career and will help me explore the opportunities out there for me. This is also an option I mat take out for the final project as it is a personal piece and also something that I can enjoy and start up my career with knowing what are my best skills are and the weaknesses I need to improve on.

The Work Of Paul M. Smith

The work that Paul Smith produced was to me very experimental and unusual for work from what I usually see produced in the industry today. I like the idea that he worked round the commercial side but also kept it very artistic and unique. I particularly liked the photography work on Robbie Williams,

                    

             

I picked these images in particular as I liked the repetitive faces in the images and how he uses the same person but different expressions. All his other work is also interesting but the work he did on Robbie Williams is what had caught my attention the most when it came up in the lecture. As he focussed his work more on masculinity it made me want to work around the idea of feminity, which is something I would consider to take on to develop whilst researching for my final project. His work looks very realistic and is seen from a personal perspective, another aspect I would consider when looking at feminity by looking at things from either my perspective or another females’. He also uses every bit within the image very carefully having no distracting empty spaces. As he uses colour photography I have a bigger interest in black and white photography, but after seeing the various subjects he approaches by using colour photography which would be a good approach for me to take experimentally.

As a developing student I found that the work by Paul is what has inspired me to direct myself to the commercial side of the industry. He has worked for one of the most successful and talented musicians to the music industry and that would be an aim I would want to work towards. His work does seem very hard to produce and the fact of him producing something to industry standard is something I would struggle with, this had made me clearly think about making the most of my time and effort to take as much advice and training with the lecturers of the course so then when I am ready to leave my work would be something ready to show the public and is up to the standard of the industry.

Coming Out Of My Comfort Zone

William Burroughs challenged himself by working against how he normally works to make his work more creative and experimental. The piece he created by taking several different pieces of texts and combining them together to produce new words was very unusual to view as I haven’t seen something like that before and also the fact that many other artists have done the same thing to what he has done in his work. They had taken forms of the media to influence their work, I then took this into mind and wondered what type of media could I take to influnece the type of work I produced. It then came to mind how much I enjoy documentaries and using my imagination I would create a moving piece by reading the dilemma pages and putting them together whether it made sense or not. This is one of the many articles I would consider making as it did attract my attention when flicking through the magazine,

 

                  

Whilst reading this article I imagined exactly what had happened but to see it presented to you by moving image would be more affective and the message put across would be more clearer. This article is also something I would consider to do for my power artefact as gossip has more power then expected and could have harsh consequences. This would take me out of my comfort zone as it would make me take someone else’s work and not my own and make it into a piece written the way they see it and not me. I am usually used to making something I have written or at least edited to how I would prefer it to be, I would usually re-write the article into a script and add a little bit here and there but to make exactly what someone else wrote would make it either realistic or it wouldn’t work as well but it would be worth a try to see what other experimental pieces I would then want to produce and develop.

The Herbert Gallery

Visiting The Herbert Gallery helped me come to my final ideas for the theme memory as it inspired me to be creative and also imaginative. The artists I particularly liked that were shown to me were Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin and Richard Billingham.

CINDY SHERMAN

‘Untiltled’ #199, from the series History 1989

The image above is by Cindy Sherman, Sherman focusses on masks and disguises to create questions on female identity and gender stereotyping. She looks at how individuals change their identities when it comes to their locations and who they are in the presence of. She looks at the identity of these individuals by looking at the way they dress and their make up and then performing them by dressing up like them. With this she combines the form of reality and illusion in her images, the viewer actually does not know that she has staged the picture until after they have read about the image.

NAN GOLDIN

‘Jimmy Paulette on David’s Bike, NYC’ from the series of The Ballad Of Sexual Dependancy, 1991

Nan Goldin took images in her life so she never forgot a single event in her life, she went in this direction as at the age of 14 her older sister, Barbara Holly Goldin committed suicide, which then lead her to create her family within her friends who she was always with. As her memories became obscure she began to take images of everything that happened in her life. The image above is apart of the series of capturing her autobiographical life with her friends. Being able to catch everything that happens in life is being able to hold onto memories and could be a good idea for this project when looking at memory as I could capture every event in my life the way Nan Goldin did, I could show the memories I hold from being at University and the times I would want to treasure.

RICHARD BILLINGHAM

‘Untitled’ from the series Ray’s A Laugh, 1994

Richard Billingham took images of his family as a documentary style focussing more on his mother and father and their everyday lives. He looks at the relationship between them and capturing the emotions that occur between them from humour and dramatic events within his household. Billinghams use of documentary style is useful as he focusses on the reality of his life, and the images he takes affects how people would look at his work. The image did at first come across as disturbing as his mother seemed to blend in with the puzzle and it seemed as she became one with the puzzle as that was a hobby she carried out whilst at home. This work again looks at capturing the moment in life and being able to hold on to it wether it was a good one or bad, as Golding looked at her friends Billingham looked at his family and both had a strong connection with their subjects whilst taking the images which I feel is vital when it comes to taking images as you have to feel close to your subjects to understand them.

CHRYSTEL LEBAS

Abyss, 2003

Chrystel Lebas had taken a series of shots in the forest at the hour of twilight. What I liked about this image is the memory it gives you when looking at the image of when you were younger camping out in the middle of the forest. The forest is presented as a ghostly and creepy place as the image is captured just before the sun is about to set. I also liked the the camping fire set near the middle of the image giving off a glow but also an uncomfortable look as the fire is usually the security and also the main source of light once the sun has gone. She uses long exposures, effective use of positioning the camera and the right time of day which is something that will be useful when it comes to me taking my images.

Little Otik

This screening to me was quite unusual but also something I would not attempt to make. The film did not really inspire me, as it represented the time of the difficulties Eastern Europe were going through it did not make it clear to me until I was told about it. I have seen this piece before the screening and found it a little disturbing as the tree stump was representing the desperation of a mother wanting a child and bought a tree stump to life with the love she provided. The part that did disturb me was when the child became out of control and began eating everything in site. To focus on a folk tale I feel is something that is imaginative but not an approach that I would take.
The only aspect of the video that I did like was the mixture of stop motion, animation and live action. It helped the story move forward and make the tree stump look realistic and created the right type of atmosphere for the piece.

Leacock and Drew

As Leacock and Drew set themselves some boundaries whilst film making:

hand held cameras

ditch the tripod and dolly

don’t use overlaid sound

don’t ask any questions

don’t ask anybody to do anything

‘The concern of many cinema verite filmmakers is to make it possible for people to see how other real people live.’ (Avilable at: http://kpnmstudio.co.uk/310mc/?paged=4)
The quote I have taken that I have given above is something that caught my eye and is something I think of on a daily basis. Documentary style making appeals to me because people don’t see what they have and when they do they still do not appriciate what they have. The problem with this to me is that even though it shows how people live it is not appealing and many people today would change the channel as soon as it comes on. It then came to my attention to want to make something that would appeal to people by presenting them something that would make the watch and understand the intended meaning of the piece.
On the other hand the piece shows me a different way of making your own unique and imaginative piece, their work looks realistic and casual giving you the urge of wanting to know what happens next. Whilst watching the piece it did bore me and wasn’t exactly the type of thing I would watch but has inspired me to look at pieces like this to broaden my imagination and the ways I think of making my own work. The hand held camera rule is one rule I would consider to take on board as it puts the audience in the film makers shoes and it is as if they are there themselves. The other rule that appealed to me is ‘Don’t ask anybody to do anything’, the reason for this is because then it is an original piece and it is not staged, for the piece to be stage then does not make it a documentary.
The problem I find when it comes to work like this is that when a camera is present people tend to act up to the camera so to catch the whole event from the beginning to end is something that would be hard but will be experimented with. Not knowing what would happen next whilst film makes the editing and sense of the documentary even more exciting then making a mainstream film.

Dogme 95

After viewing ‘The Five Obstructions’ and seeing what Jorgen Leth was up against I found that making a Dogme film would be harder then making a commercial film, as there are hardly any rules to work against.
As he challenged his creativity he took the rules to an advantage such as no shot can be longer then 12 frames, it gave a very unique look and using natural sets made the piece look more realistic and original like a documentary.
The Dogme 95 I orginally knew about was ‘The Vow Of Chastity’ which was produced in 1995.

“I swear to submit to the following set of rules drawn up and confirmed by DOGME 95:

1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).
3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place).
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35 mm.
10. The director must not be credited.
Furthermore I swear as a director to refrain from personal taste! I am no longer an artist. I swear to refrain from creating a “work”, as I regard the instant as more important than the whole. My supreme goal is to force the truth out of my characters and settings. I swear to do so by all the means available and at the cost of any good taste and any aesthetic considerations.
Thus I make my VOW OF CHASTITY.”
Copenhagen, Monday 13 March 1995

On behalf of DOGME 95

Lars von Trier Thomas Vinterberg

(http://www.dogme95.dk/the_vow/vow.html)

I have attempted to make a Dogme film before but the rules were very hard to work against as you would have to find the perfect location to work in and not only that but you have to work with what you have. I actually found that these type of films would be boring but after viewing ‘The Five Obstructions’ it has inspired me to look towards that direction when it comes to finding inspiration. If I do build up the courage or am challenged at any part of this course I would consider to produce a Dogme with any set of rules given just to see what my strengths and weaknesses are. For me to find my strengths and weaknesses it can help me find out what skills I need to develop and how I should go about developing them. To be able to know what I am up against I would need to do more research on Dogme film makers and how they went about making their films and what had inspired or challenged them to make one. To do this would help me think about what I would want to do for my final piece and not to always look in the commercial direction as there are better and creative opportunites out there for me.

The Five Obstructions

After watching ‘The Five Obstructions’ I found it was a very good way of challenging yourself and making yourself be able to do something you thought you’d never thought of doing. Lars Von Trier challenged his mentor, Jorgen Leth, to produce a creative piece giving him a set of rules to follow.

The Rules
1. No shot can be longer then 12frames
2. Has to be shot in Cuba
3. He is not aloud a set
4. He has to answer a set of questions

1. He has to re shoot the film in the most miserable place on earth (Bombay)
2. Not show the place in screen
3. Leth needs to play the role of ‘the man’
4. The meal must be included but not the woman

These are very hard rules to follow when it comes making a film but as he tried his best he did quite a good job even though he did fail on the production of the second set of rules which he then had to re-make as he failed it quite poorly.

Reflection
The Five Obstructions is a very inspiring piece to work against; it was a good challenge to take upon as he was then able to see his strong points and his weak points. This is a task that tested a great film maker out of his comfort zone. He was able to work against his challenge which is what makes him a good film maker, one of his strong points. He didn’t forfil the task as he decided to change the location on the 2nd set of rules, which is weak point.

The Milgram Experiment

The Milgram Experiment is one of the most shocking experiments that I have come across as it shows how much power an authority figure can have over you.
The experiment consisted of a number of subjects who were told to electrocute a person (who was an actor) if they got a question wrong, everytime the question was wrongly answered the voltage of the electricution would get higher. This experiment is a test on how far people would go until they were ready to say stop and not the authority figure,

http://www.new-life.net/milgram.htm

After looking at the experiment I found that many others had reproduced this experiment to represent greed or to find specific subjects for another test. Cildo Meirelles and Derren Brown had re-invented this experiment for other reasons.

Cildo Meirelles is a Brizillian artist who produced very creative, imaginative and inspirational installations, whilst looking at his work I found an installation called ‘Occassions’ which was consisted of two chambers separated by a mirrored glass, one room had a bowl in the middle of it with notes and coins in it with a statue standing by it as if to be gaurding the money. The room is surrounded by three glassed mirrors which the visitors are aware of, this is where the temptation would hit the visitors to see the money and want it but wouldn’t want to touch it as they would feel as if there is someone behind the glass mirrors watching. Not only was it a installation piece but it was also a test of greed and if the power of temptation to touch the money. He presented the milgram experiment in another form but used the same aspects as the subjects would be feeling the same, it would be the same as being in the big brother house if you were pressured by someone or yourself to do something that is not acceptable even when you know that there is someone watching your every move.

http://www.portikus.de/ArchiveA0124.html

The experiment carried out by Derren Brown was exactly how the milgram experiment was done but he had other reasons for why he carried out the experiment. He was planning ‘The Heist’ and needed vulnerable subjects to take out the positions that needed to be filled, he found that the milgram experiment would be the best way to pick out who would be the best to work on and the most easiest to influence to carry out the heist.

This shows that the milgram experiment could work on anyone especially if you have never heard of the experiment before, Dan Brown took it to his advantage to find vulnerable people to help him do a real life bank robbery. He was more powerful then the position of the experimenter in the milgram experiment as he was able to make people believe that anything was possible. His power is creating illusions and many people would say that they wouldn’t fall for what he does but he doesn’t have to say or do much before you begin agreeing on what he wants to do next.

Big Brother

Big Brother has been a big hit since it came to the screens but also has had it’s controversial times which caused channel 4 and many members of the public a lot of offense and trouble. One event that got out of hand was the racial abuse of Jade Goody towards Shilpa Shetty. To me it was an arguement that got out of hand and also the fact that the two of them clashed as they had nothing in common and chose not to get along. Once they had separated themselves from one another they began to take parts of each other and abuse verbally but Jad Goody not knowing what she was doing to her reputation made her become a racist along with another few housemates.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SPew_SyG6As

After watching the clip it makes you also see the power of peer pressure and how all of a sudden parts of the house pulled themselves to one side forming a group against Shilpa. I find that Big Brother is an entertaining show but the producer does not have all control of what happens in the house and that once it is blown out of proportion and should have another type of approach to it that will still entertain the viewers but not put the housemates at risk.

‘The Stanford Experiment’ in 1971 should have proved that people can lose control and things could get out hand when a roll is given to particular people and they go by it even if they know they don’t have to. The Stanford experiment was about a group of researchers that built a prison cell environment beneath their university and began to adapt the roles that they were given. After six days into the experiment it had to be put to a stop as it was getting out of hand and becoming dangerous for the researchers. As they played their roles as expected the prisoners did not fight back as the guards went hard on them as they were forfilling their roles.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

Once looking into the experiment I found a website that details the experiment thoroughly about how they went about to set up the experiment to the conclusions of the experiment. It is in a process of how Big Brother works, such as selecting your subjects to who is the most suitable to be in the experiment and the most entertaining to be in the show and the conclusion would come to who is the most patient in the prison to be let off of being punished to who holds the best character to be able to win the show and be accepted by the public.
Even though big brother has psychologists to support the show and it’s housemates I find that things were not thought out properly as they put the wrong characters in together which created one of the world’s biggest controversy’s that will always be remembered. The problem with big brother is that only the attack on Shilpa Shetty was foucused on and not the whole idea of isolating a group of people who are capable of doing anything in a house that they have no official power over.