ART130-Digital Studio (HCC-Spring21)

Despite the fact that we have all presented our finals, I think I do have to explain my concept planning a little bit, retroactively for the “Project Plans” credit. Many in the class may have been under the impression that I am anti-vapidity, anti-cosmetic surgery, and anti-sex work. That kind of reading wholly misunderstands the reality of the entire construct of “womanhood” as a political and economic position, and the fact that, at all times, many of us outside maleness are prey animals. Some more intensely hunted than others. But the danger is always present for all. I knew I wanted to frame my piece around the Kate Berlant standup bit about stealing cosmetics, and it felt natural to include tender moments from the beginning of the movie Hustlers , before the robberies. You don’t actually have to know the plot, because there is already something so evocative and criminalized about the archetypical image of a sex worker.  Inspiration for this piece was a conversation with my bes...

  In the past week I’ve struggled to find an idea that I can really connect with. At first, I started with an Among Us project, then brainstormed another idea, and was stumped for a while. I felt like no matter what I did, the inspiration wasn't flowing. So I took a break, I got outside, I surrounded myself with friends and family. That’s when it finally came to me. It’s not just about being creative, it's about having a passion for what you do. If you have that passion, it will reflect in your art. So one night I sat down with my brother and sister and watched a movie called Words On Bathroom Walls (2020). It portrayed mental health in a way I've never seen before, and I respected it so much. It was the most beautiful movie I’ve ever seen.  So long story short, my project is a series of clips and voice overs from the movie that really stood out to me as powerful. Take it as you will, an advertisement for a movie, an edit, but what you are looking at is a form of art. Not e...

 

 

 My plan was to make a video that in part illustrated the impact of fossil fuels over the environment, represented by airplanes, space shuttle and butterflies. After Prof. Saphire mentioned it reminded him of videos his daughter watches, I decided to keep it lighter, cheerier, and more geared towards children. This is not the project statement I will submit as part of the final project submission.

My video was jerky whenever I played it within Premier. When I exported a draft it played flawlessly with the media player. I found a solution online. Changing the playback resolution from Full to 1/4 eliminated the jerkiness.  Playback resolution is next to the wrench, that is the area below the playback window. I am glad that is fixed as now I can record the voiceover with more ease, it was difficult to synchronize the recording to the video. I am improvising the monologue as I had the visuals first. For my prior project I wrote a monologue first and chose images to support it. In case you have the same issue with a jerky playback within Premier, here is the link to the source that helped me fix my issue: https://youtu.be/LSj68RBgb2A   I am looking forward to see all of your creations between Tuesday and Thursday before class.

 After many days of thinking through what I want to accomplish, I realized that the initial idea I had completed was cool, and fun, but that I wanted to tackle something more meaningful.  My first idea was to put myself into the popular online game, Among Us. Not only because it's a fun game, but because it has many great memories attached to it. Friends would come together from different states, all to join a call and enjoy each other's company. When one of our friends left to join the navy, it really hit me how important that time was to spend together, of course now that it's gone.  The problem I came across while working is that, there's so much emotion behind it, but in the video itself, it comes off completely different. It seems cheesy, and unrealistic. Which has no remote connection to the thought process. So when others view it, without explanation, it would be pretty meaningless. I can't have that.  So my new idea, was to go back to my roots. I've been...

I usually struggle to write accurate outlines for the reason that much of the project has the possibility to change in its final stages. Regardless I am creating another music and visual sequence piece utilizing lots of color. I will be using yet another piece of music from Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of The Moon album (this isn't really a super specific taste in music or anything of the sort, I just think it thematically suits the projects I've been working on). Since the theme is transformation, the images will be leading up to a final piece, rather than more sporadically attempting to convey a certain atmosphere without painting a clear picture. I'm hopeful that I will be able to obscure the image somewhat as it progresses, so that the end result is a bit surprising (or at the very least satisfying to behold rather than underwhelming).  As I've been playing with the brushes and colors, I've decided it might also be a good idea to throw a few wrenches in the wo...

  Basically for my final idea I just want to create an animation. An animation involving death, talking about dying, and what it means to become “undead” that sort of thing. I am interested in animation and this is an animation that I have been wanting to make for a long time. As I have always been interested in animation but have never been able to sit down and make it, due to the amount of time animation takes. Additionally, I want to make sure that this animation has the legs to maybe become its own property and maybe even a pilot for a tv show. Also, I am thinking of having some themes involve the idea that there can be great turmoil but also great rebirth.  In a sense, we can see the agony and hardship in the themes as points of true desperation. As there is a way of seeing the world and to go from a constant agony to a new view on life is an interesting theme and concept. Finally, the topic of being a hero is another concept I want to cover as being a hero is something t...

 Do you all write your posts right in the blog? I wrote mine in a word doc and then copied and pasted it into Blogger, and I can't get it any bigger. Sorry about that. (If you click "read more" it's a little bigger and easier to read. Jane

  For my final project I want to continue experimenting with Adobe Premier and Photoshop. My idea is to illustrate a progression of flight from a butterfly, or other flying living being, to an airplane, to a spaceship. The sequence will end on the surface of Mars. The tone I want to portray is light, airy and optimistic at the beginning. The middle will have more gravity as it might present the effects fossil fuels have on life. The use of fossil fuels will be represented by the plane and the spaceship. I envision to end the project in an optimistic note, although ion the surface of another planet. I want to start my exploration of animation of still images using Premier. I will use several sources, including my own photos and photos downloaded from the Internet. I will only use some elements extracted from most photos, and only two or three photos as backgrounds. At the moment I do not envision using sound, but I am open to using it if it fits my video and I find something ap...

Mark Scolari   For my final project I’m hoping to make something that is just fun to watch. Essentially I’m trying to make a meme or a little story, I’m going to attempt to take audio and visual clips from different sources to make a different meaning from the original intention. I notice that the most popular memes on the internet are shot videos ranging from 15 seconds to 2 minutes however any longer than that and most people typically lose interest. The meme I intend to make is going to be roughly 1 minute and 30 seconds in length and will include a yet to be determined reference to recent events as well as a reference to a relatively old meme and considering the lifespan of memes on the internet that would be one from about two weeks ago. While this will sound ridiculous especially in writing I’m going to use the beans meme which is an audio clip of someone saying beans in a weird way as well as a visual clip from a political speech. The speech I will use for the visual clip wi...

 

 I am thinking of a sequence that loosely portraits the evolution of flight. It will start with a butterfly, followed by an airplane, a rocket or spaceship, and finally some scene on the surface of Mars. I know what I want to do, but are having a hard time wrapping my head on how to accomplish it with Photoshop and Premier. My original thought was to use animation, but that seems to be very complicated with Photoshop and Premier, impossible with what I know and have been able to research. I know I can accomplish the animation at some point, but not for the project deadline. Because of that I am thinking on "scaling down" how I am going to present my concept.  I watched the projects from other classes and seems to me many used animations which makes me wonder if they had taken an Animation class already. This is not the proposal.

I think it‘s incredibly lucky to have been assigned, in part, an exploration of Lynchian themes the year Promising Young Woman , by Emerald Fennell, was released. The opening sequence of Blue Velvet , when everything is still idyllic, communicates something I’ve been trying to articulate about my own visual art, and something we see in Promising Young Woman — the same humidity of potential. The tension of an eternal summer giving way to a rock being lifted and turned over, metaphorically.  The sensuality of the classic “Blue Velvet,” the song, is almost responded to by the pan of PYW protagonist Cassie’s braid early in the movie, as the music builds — “Whispered something in your ear/ It was a perverted thing to say/ But I said it anyway” — Met with the chorus of “Nothing’s gonna hurt you, baby/ As long as you’re with me, you’ll be just fine.” If we watched the film first twice within 24 hours like many did, we know the cracking of façade that is revealed. Top of her class in medi...

Hi All, Great to see some notes here about Exercise 3, I'm making my way through in preparation for tomorrow's class. A few reminders about submitting your videos: 1. All videos should be submitted to the shared Google Drive into the folder marked "Exercise 3-Juxtaposition & Sequence." Posting the videos to Blogger is optional, as the platform does not handle video well, unless it is embedded from Youtube. No need to fuss with this step unless you wish, but the shared drive is required. 2. Remember to check your estimated file size within the Premiere export window prior to exporting. I can't imagine any of your pieces should have an estimated file size larger than ~800MB (I would guess they will be between 200-8600MB roughly). If any file sizes are upwards of 1GM or more, double-check that you are using the proper export settings, which can be found on Moodle (H.264 format). Videos will probably take a minute or few to completely upload into the drive, so sta...

I fought with the final product several times. I tweaked things, scrapped things, even decided I wouldn't follow through with completion before settling and deciding it was close enough to what I was trying to achieve. There are a great deal of visual effects which might be especially flashy/bright/difficult to follow, so if anyone has a known sensitivity to such things, I wouldn't recommend viewing it. It's meant to be the opening for a visual novel project I've been working on for a while- it's not meant to be a music video representation of the song segment I used (though the song, and really the entire album does thematically connect to the project itself) It's intentionally vague and confusing, the only thing that can be gathered from the video is a general calm nightmarish tone. The artwork is entirely my own, and the photographs are edited under the CC license. The video probably won't embed (and if it doesn't then my apologies), but I have no oth...

 

 

I had a lot of fun and challenges with this exercise. I had an idea of what I wanted the end to be, but not exactly how to get there. I started taking three videos, taking some photos, and pouring through hundreds of existing digital and paper photos. Most photos are presented in a fuzzy or dreamy way intentionally. I was trying to portray the imperfection of memory, how memory can start fading or changing as years go by, just like old film photographs. I also intentionally used a voice recording to represent who is reminiscing. I might comment more on that at some later time, after everyone has seen the video. The sense of place was important to me. Out of three video clips, two were taken at the Robert's Hill Conservation area in Leeds.  One of the most challenging elements for me was the sound. I wanted some cracking and a loud thump, but did not have anything like that available. What I found on the Internet was not to my liking. I ended up breaking several branches from a dead...

 

Here is a WIP of the Cabinet Man Music video I did, I got done with it early so I am posting it early for critique.  

I am just sharing some photos, it is not part of any class assignment.  Years ago I started taking photos of public art around Northampton. Some were selected by Google to put on their maps, I do not know if that is still the case. Here is one of the first pieces I  "collected". I always made a point to try to contact the artists and ask them a couple of questions. I was able to reach this artist by email and asked him what was represented by the piece. He said the piece represents the up hill struggles parents face to raise a family. This piece has ben moved twice or three times since it was first place in the original location on New South Street, by the old DA Sullivan School building. I took the photo at the second, or third,  place it was moved to, next to the former location of the Registry of Deeds and Probate Family Court on King Street. I noticed recently, it was moved again, but do not remember where. The artist had a landscaping business, he is a great ballroom...

Each video selection had excellent ideas and presentation, and therefore choosing a favorite is difficult, but there are some which I appreciate more than others.  The video on Eisenstein's methods of montage provided a clear and concise look at what makes for a memorable and befitting montage, and what is not montage but rather filler from different angles. Intellectual montage is perhaps the most recognizable in various forms of media (but not necessarily my favorite). I've seen a few animated films and TV shows try their hand at the concept, some were meaningful, others felt too conspicuous. The editing present in Requiem for a Dream is admirable, and has similarities to the editing in some of my most favorite works. I feel that animation often doesn't shy away from this more creative style of editing, but even so there are conventions that restrict many pieces. Below I've attached some gifs from the TV adaptation of a favorite project of mine. You may not like anime...

 

  I just logged into the class blog to see if there were comments on our photo assignment yet, and I saw everyone’s blog posts about the editing videos. I had completely forgotten about that assignment. Dang. I blame it on being on CA time! Here it is…a little late. There’s so much I could say, but here are a couple of things that stood out to me: ·       It was fascinating to become aware of all of the editing techniques, like inductive editing, used by Aronofsky to create discomfort, confusion and disorientation in the viewer. Although this is a movie is in a genre that I wouldn’t watch, it was a great, clear example of how effective good editing can be to create emotion in the viewer. ·       The cleverness of using a prop like a watch to create tension. This film on time drives that home, but even each individual clip makes the point that a clock often creates tension. ·       I found “The Clock”...

  When watching a movie, I never really thought to look at it from this aspect. In the second video, he said within “6 seconds of length this montage includes 12 different shots so roughly half a second each”, basically they took 12 different videos and made them half a second each and then make it around 6 seconds. Which can seem like a lot of work but watching the movie you wouldn’t think so. which is cool because I now can see the work that it takes to actually make a good movie.   The cool part is I totally agree with the person talking it does force you to feel something, seeing the rush of 12 different shots in 6 seconds. The next video I found interesting was the Blue Velvet Opening sequence. They start the video off with music and different scenes, which causes you to wonder what’s going to happen next. Later the man pulls a muscle, and a lot of things happen at once. A dog and baby came, the man was on the ground and the water is spraying everywhere. All of that hap...

When viewing the reference screening in Exercise 3, I was immediately drawn to Peter Mack's work. You can tell right off the bat that he puts a lot of time and effort into the videos. Not only that, but creativity in the art as well as choice of music.  The first film I watched was "Sitting Waiting". In the beginning, I was at peace with the image being shown. The sound was just wind, and a person sitting on a chair, but then the audio was split up. It's like having keyframes all next to each other, then taking out every other one, but with sound. The colors got more violent when the sound changed, and I felt a very unsettling feeling, then the colors began to slowly fade back. I found that with "Blue Velvet" the same thought process was there. You start off in the film very at peace, the music fades into very unsettling, then back to peaceful. But here's the cool part, the peace is different at the end then at the beginning. When you start watching, you...

I was struck by Christian Marclay’s The Clock . The use of sequencing in editing the film to string a cohesive series of scenes from different films was very effective. Even before listening to his interview, I noticed how he used elements from a scene to tie to another one. For example: a lit cigarette in a scene ties to another lit cigarette on the next scene which comes from a different film. In The Clock, the major sequencing element, the one that gives the main unity to the work is the clock, an element of time . Other s equences are less prominent, serving to transition from one scene to another. Among those secondary sequences are: a look, a cigarette, exiting or entering a room, etc. His effective use of editing and mastering of sequencing made for a coherent and never boring film. As an art experience lived in real time, I imagine it would still be more engaging. Another artist that caught my attention was Blu, his street art is impacting, and his editing team was maste...

  From the readings/watches that we studied, I can say that the concept of juxtaposition and sequence are integral to the formulation of audio visual art. Especially when it comes to trying to video art, by juxtaposing certain aspects such as pleasantness and horror. things like the “Blue Velvet” Film by David Lynch, where there is this picture perfect town that is juxtaposed with a man suffering from a stroke and an unnerving close up to ants. This creates this special sort of tension and anxiety that makes the whole scene pop.  Finally, David Lynch uses Contrast in order to propose a message. just like with all juxtaposition, is meant to tell the audience something that we may not have been aware of before the sequence happened. Additionally, with the watching of “The Clock” by Christian Marclay, Juxtaposition can also be used to create additional context from separate media. This can cause the viewer to reflect both on the media that is presented as is and the media that...

 Howdy, I am posting a quick painting sketch that I wanted to share. Critique and comments appreciated. Did some texture tests as well. 

 

 This week was full of many life disruptions, so I suppose posting the final result (which was unfortunately actually available by the due date) slipped my mind.  Regardless, here it is. The background is a photograph I took from a beach in Maine. The tower is actually Pilgrim Tower which I visited some years ago (though the colors and texture have been changed).  I usually like to create whatever appeals to my eye, which means most of my images rarely have a profound context. The only vague thing that came to mind while creating this was how much I dislike the emptiness of beach landscapes, and would prefer some other form of natural beauty being present on the horizon. This does not mean I appreciate people lounging around in mass quantities though. Kills the vibe.

 I played around more with the crashing water images but couldn't get the effects I was going for, so I ended up omitting them. I spent way too much time trying to get realistic shadows on the sand for the cigarettes and gull, but I kept messing up my whole piece, and they kept coming out orange. So, there are still things I'm not understanding. The only shadow I was able to get was for the figure. (This isn't me, btw. Since we have never seen each other in person, I just thought I'd mention that. My husband asked if it was Bo Derek. I don't think he had his glasses on, as it's definitely not her, either!)

 

 

 My landscape is a somewhat creationist allegory A post apocalyptic world where children are healing nature after inheriting a polluted environment. The bubbles are the vehicle for the children to green the world once again. You can also view it as children carrying on with their lives in an infernal world which they are unaware of , for the most part. There are some children trying to escape the unsafe environment and join the ones playing. I prefer to view the landscape with the more hopeful lens expressed in the first paragraph. This was time consuming as I had over a dozen sources, I think as I lost track. I had to tweak many things. Still, I am not satisfied with the end result. I think it looks better when viewed as a Photoshop project than as a jpeg image.

 

 

  Here's a quick sketch so far. Will post more progress throughout the night and day. So far, I am really digging this idea. Trying to go for a sci-fi 1950's deal with this concept art.  Edit: Here is an update 

I just sent this message to you all in an email, but thought I would post it as well. I've  added a link on Moodle to an Adobe tutorial on adjustment layers. I'm about to present a similar demo to another class and I'm having a lot of fun toying with the capability of masks (associated with the adjustment layers) to apply the effect to the layer beneath more selectively. Also, point of clarification, applying a 'clipping mask' allows for your adjustment layer to only effect the layer immediately below, as opposed to all layers below. Take a look if it applies to your project, email with questions, and we can explore it more fully on Thursday.

 I am almost done with my project, but have an issue. I do not have any photos taken by me that can be used as a prominent feature for the composition. I am currently using smaller elements from several of my own photos. The more prominent photos are from free third party sources. For example I have a tiny blue heron, a few leaves, etc. They do fit in the concept I have in mind, that is they are part of the story. My tiny images are from 5 or 6 of my own photos. I am using about 5 photos from other sources: Pexels.com and Unspalsh.com. Does it matter that the elements from my own photos are minor as long as they fit in the narrative I am trying to  illustrate?  Thank you Vanessa

Please keep me posted this week as you gather images and begin to stitch them together in Photoshop. My demo went longer than I had planned yesterday, and there were certainly techniques left out. I will be posting some Adobe tutorial pages on Moodle shortly, but reach out with specific issues or questions you're having about how to make your composites come together. We'll have time for some technical refreshers, as well as in-progress crits/screen shares on Thursday, before the due date of Friday.

 Here is a 3D sketch that I am going to use for my project, going to combine Photography and Painting.

I uploaded today's  Zoom recording to our class Google drive, under the Zoom Recordings folder. It is still being processed, by Google I assume. Give it a try in an hour or so although I have no idea how long the processing will take. Vanessa

As I was viewing the different photographs in the slideshow, one in particular really stood out to me, called, "Beneath the Roses" by Gregory Crewdson. At first, when I saw it, I was immediately pulled to the vibrant colors and an almost unsettling atmosphere. But as I took the photo and zoomed in on key details, it hit me that this isn't just a photograph, it's someone's life, only portrayed in photograph form. We all have such different lives that it's IMPOSSIBLE, that at least one person in the world couldn't relate to that exact scenario in the photo. First, we have a mother intensely staring at the bleeding roast set near the edge of the table. I believe that the placing of the roast was very intentional, though to some it would go unnoticed. The bleeding roast could be the mother's bleeding heart, suggesting she is in pain. The placing of the roast could show how close the mother is to falling off the edge. Notice how the roast and mother are dre...

 Here are some quick thumbnail ideas that I have been working on. Got some ideas for the project that I look forward to drawing up/ getting the reference materials.

My first thought, with the Henri Cartier-Bresson quote, is the idea of “when.” I’d say I grapple with it more than “why.” I’m a self-taught photographer, and I’ve been able to photograph a variety of pro-wrestlers, burlesque performers, sex workers, cosplayers, comedians, and other friends who do me the favor of being my subject (like when I’m prepping for wedding/engagement shoots). I discuss this with my grandmother, whose uncle and father were photographers, and we’re always talking about the mystery of “when,” in my own photography. As in, what happened before? What is implied about a backstory? What does time look like before this moment? Oftentimes in my work, people are wrapped in tulle, or covered in fake blood. How did we get to this point, and why did I choose the final photographs I did? (A Crewdson-esque liminality, perhaps.) It brings me to ethics. I could very well be creating a Lewis Powell moment.  I am often creating a fiction with real people, and, for the longest...

  While I was not initially impressed with glitch art as a whole usually giving pieces a cursory glance rather than actually appreciating them however I've come to see the art in it where I did not before. I used to view them as just corrupted images but now I see in a few distinct parts, the original image as the canvas, the text software as the brush, and the distortions that come from tampering with the file as the brush strokes some of which can make or break the composition of a piece. I found it interesting how Nick Briz drew a distinction between glitch art generated by a computer program which he claimed not to be glitch art a statement with which I can agree as well as foresee dispute over from glitch art created in the traditional sense which would be a human manipulating an image by using some kind of software to translate it into another medium which gets edited and returned to the image cause some kind of chaotic change. Manipulating an image if done with precisio...

 

 

 

 

           Something that drew my attention in some of the videos is how the topic of politics was brought in while talking about glitch art. I've always known art was a very large platform for people to express their feelings towards what ever topic that's brought by a crowd. In Glitch art I never thought of it in a way for people to create platforms to talk about their political views in the world. But the way use this form of art to start a big conversation it's surprising to me. Technology has become a very large platform for people to demonstrate their art without needing a brush or pencil. These next generations have a larger advantage than the past because whatever art they create using a skill of this form will be seen any where around the world. But also another thing that I was surprised to see was how a simple code changes the entire energy of any image by just deleting or adding some to the original code. The Glitch that it creates on the image ...

 

  Thoughts on Glitch Art as art: The word "beauty" is often included in definitions of art. This is odd to me since beauty is a subjective concept, but beauty is also often at odds with another part of the common definition of art: expressing important ideas or feelings. Feelings can be dark, ugly, conflicted, etc. I think Glitch Art can be random acts of experimentation or it can be something deeper if it is taken beyond the random steps, to include some intellectual engagement. At that point it can be considered art. I don't think all painting is art, either. We have probably all seen portraits that are simply accurate renderings of a person's likeness and then we have seen portraits that seem to look into a person's soul at the same time. The former is more craft and the latter art, in my opinion. This goes for Glitch Art, too. One can play around, or one can get at something deeper. And, the fact that technology dictates the glitch art to a large degree doesn...

  Hi everyone. I finally figured out why I couldn't log onto the blog. So, here's my greeting. I am in an MFA program at another school and have always wanted to both learn photoshop and understand how digital art is made, so I am taking this class as part of my coursework this semester. My son took digital design classes in high school (yeah, I'm probably wayyyy older than you all), and did some very cool things (like a mock ad in which he had liquid pouring into a glass). I'm excited to learn how those kinds of effects are created. Jane

  This is a representation on how I see my past, present and future if I continue eating processed and non-organic food vs. wholesome  ones. It is a fictionalized progression from "normal" to creeping health issues I could have if continuing in that path. The first manifestation is a significant gain in weight and sadder appearance. Subsequent stages show droopy and red eyes, yellow skin and color inversions representing how health issues could escalate further. The green mouth and whiter eyes represent the beginning of the gradual healing process after embracing a wholesome lifestyle incorporating a green diet. The end result would be a thinner, healthier, and once again happier me.