Portrait of a Person

“ Imagine you’re sitting at a wooden table with a friend you haven’t seen in a long time and you begin talking.”
-Broken Screen-Doug Aiken


Objective: The Objective of this exercise is to make a 1-2 minute video portrait of a person non-fictional or fictional.

Begin with -
Research:
-Who is this person?
-What do you want to say about this person?
-How will you communicate the essence of this person?
-How is time communicated?

Post all responses to questions on your blog.

-Story Board Idea-Draw your idea out-Gives you a plan to Follow
-Make 20-40 Photographs: person, supporting persons, scout possible settings, objects, photos related to idea etc.
-Print 2 Contact Sheets
-Print 4 photos of your choice (photo quality paper)


Due: Wed. March 4
-Story Board
-6 Prints (2 contact sheets, 4 photos 8.5x11” -photo quality paper

-Post 3 photos on your blog.
Resources:

Video/Film Portraits:
www.shortnstout.net/mandala.mov
http://www.dwell.com/daily/video/20610194.html
Film: Tarnation-Jonathan Caouette.

Consider these shots when photographing:

From- Film Directing Shot by Shot-Stephen D. Katz
• Long Shot, Medium Shot, Close Up
• Master shot: the view point in the scene in which the relationships between subjects are clear
• Establishing Shot: long shot at the beginning of a scene designed to inform viewers of a change in location and to orient them to general mood and relative placement of subjects in scene
• Reverse angle: a shot that turned around approx. 180 degrees from preceding shot
• Point of view shot: also POV presents the viewpoint of the character in the scene
• Shallow focus: shallow depth of field-used to isolate a subject from background and/or foreground
• Detail shot: a tighter highly magnified version of the close up used to show a fragment of a whole subject or a small object in its entirety.
• Deep focus: wide angle lens used to keep extreme foreground and background both in focus simultaneously

Wed. March 4th Sound Demonstration and Assignment

PASSAGE OF TIME

“Sometimes I think there is nothing but time, and that what you see and what you feel is what time looks like at the moment.”
-Paul Thek

Objective: The Objective of this exercise is to communicate the passage of time in a series. You will do 5 series.

Method:

Series Links multiple images together sequentially. Each image builds on the previous image and leads to the subsequent image. Like a short film, it tells a simple story using multiple images.

Medium: Photographs (Drawing may be included to support your series)

Topics:

Daily Ritual Tell a Story Light/Shadows
Sell an Idea Follow a character

Make:
-5 series
-8-12 images in each series
-Text may be included but is NOT required

DUE: Wed. Feb. 25
-Print each series on one page 8.5x11” or larger

-Make images 2 x2” -larger than contact sheet size!

-Photo quality paper (matte or glossy)

5 sheets printed- One for each series.

Blog Entry:
-Write about one idea for a series.
-Post One series on your blog.


References:
Chapter 14-Narrative-Non-Narrative

To Illustrate and Multiply: An Open Book
Examines how sequencing, a characteristic of time based media,
manifests itself in various ways in artists’ books.

http://www.moca.org/openbook/

MEMORY

“This man was selected from among a thousand for his obsession with an image from the past.”
-La Jetee-Chris Marker

Objective: The Objective of this exercise is to make a photographic sequence that relates a memory or images from your childhood.

Method:

Sequence n 1: a continuous or connected series: as a: an extended series of poems united by a single theme (a sonnet sequence)...e: a succession of scenes developing a single subject or phase of a film story


Medium: Photographs (Drawings may be included to support your project)

-Make 20-25 images that reflect this idea
-Text may be included but is NOT required

Writing:
Blog Entry-Write a 2 paragraph or more account of this memory.

DUE:

Wed. Feb. 18
-Edit &Print 6-8 images on photo quality paper (matte or glossy)
-Size is your choice

References:
Francesca Woodman
Duane Michals
Sylvia Plachy - Signs & Relic

FRAME, VANTAGE POINT & PERSPECTIVE

Objective: You will research photographers who use frame vantage point and perspective in an interesting way. From this research, you will apply what you have learned in your own photographic study of your environment.


Photography Research:

Sylvia Palchy Jacque Henri Lartigue
Robert Frank Lee Friedlander
Helen Levitt Abe Morell
Paul Strand Josef Sudek
Gary Winograd Henri Cartier Bresson
Sally Mann Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Eugene Richards Hiroshi Sugimoto
Minor White Andre Kertesz

Choose one photographer from the list. Check out their book from the library this week. Study it in terms of Frame, Vantage point & Perspective.

BLOG
-Post the Name of the book and one photograph from your research
-Write a short (1-2 paragraph) response as to why you chose it in terms of Frame Vantage point & Perspective.
-Answer the question-What does it communicate through the frame?

Exercises:

Use your camera frame as a window to the unique way you see the world. How can I see this scene, object, or person in a way that has never been seen before? I am not interested in the expected. Take a risk. Put the camera on the ground. What does it look like under a table? Kneel when you are taking pictures. Stand on a chair. Respond to your environment without inhibitions. Play with frame, vantage point and perspective.

Part 1:
-Make 60 pictures
-Make 3 contact sheets, 20 images on one sheet (Photoshop has a Contact sheet feature)
-Make 3 8x10 prints-color of your favorite images

*Make pictures at the Sand Mandala creation in the Brant Gallery over the next 3-5 days.

Guidelines: Use full frame-Do not crop-Do not use zoom feature

Viewed in Class: La Jetee-Chris Marker

La Jetee