Visual Narratives

Week 1- Juxtaposition

First task- Using smart phones, you are to go out and about in the university campus and report back with 6 juxtaposition images that convey a narrative.

Image 1- University Of West London canteen entrance to library. The reason I took a picture of this is because from far the text was really small as you walk closer, the text enlarges. With a nice contrast of the three bordered windows giving the 'Paul' & 'Hamlyn' text more text and a focal point in my opinion.

Image 2- University Of West London student union bar. I was looking for places/objects to take pictures and walked past the SU Bar. I found this picture quite interesting first thing you see are the variations of colors which could dictate the mood one is experiencing. I then noticed how empty the SU Bar was which is quite unusual as it's supposed to be quite a social place.

This image is one of more favorite pictures compared to the rest I took for this task,

Image 3- University Of West London Sports Centre w/ mini rock climb wall. This picture to me indicates growth, my reasoning for this is reaching the top of the rock climb wall which could be an indication of reaching the top starting from the bottom which could be a struggle. Adding to my explanation, the sports centre could have the same meaning as the reasoning I gave above. For example starting gym is most peoples New Years resolution, and starts as a struggle but with growth through the year they achieve their goals and and go to the top. Which is the same type of message I thought about when seeing the climbing wall outside the gym.

Image 4- UWL Starbucks/study area. I liked the concept of this picture, the plant having different sized leaves; similarly the chair's had a similar theme to the plant. The purple lighting added a little to the contrast of the image too.

Image 4- UWL corridor entrance, with this image I liked the wide range of colours in the image. As well as the triangle shaped object hanging from the ceiling giving the space a sense of depth; I also liked the use of dark/deep colours.

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Week 3- Practice W/ DSLR Cameras

In week 3 we had Canon/Nikon cameras, the task was to take pictures using the ISO, shutter and aperture settings as well as learning how to use them. The pictures taken would need to have some sense of juxtaposition. Below are a few images I ended up producing within the session as well as some pictures I took using my smartphone to show a sense of the different settings you can achieve with alternating between different settings on a DSLR camera (Which was given to us during our seminar).

The camera I used to take the pictures, I was going to use full manual mode to take my pictures however after a little trial and error I found that I needed a lot more practice so I reverted back to AM which stands for Auto Manual. I believe from AM mode the user only adjusts one of the 3 settings.

The three images, shown have been taking with three different settings. To begin with in the first image the ISO was turned up really high, to show what the ISO settings really did to an image. The second image I used a high aperture. Aperture causes the background to blur out giving a depth of field giving the image a focal point. The last image below I took with a high shutter speed, having a high shutter speed allows the lens to capture a picture really quick for instance if your taking a picture of someone running; the image taken will be really sharp being able to see a lot of detail within the image,

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Week 4- Studio

Week 4 we went into the studio within the university, and learnt how to work with studio lighting, background/green screens, positions and a few various techniques.

Image showing the basic portrait lighting positions, which we tried a few within the session we had,

Whenever we changed anything within the scene when taking a shot, we would use a light meter as seen in the image above. Light meter is used to measure light from the various sources of light as well as natural light. We would then adjust the the camera settings correspondingly so the image wasn't overly exposed. We also learnt a few other key things within the studio such as covering wires with mats so nobody could trip over the wires, being a safety hazard.

Above is an example of split lighting styles, the camera is directly opposite the Nathan (Model for this example), with the lighting pointed at an angle.

The image to my left is of one of my class mates, in this shot we were playing with the lighting using the 'loop' technique from the lighting guide image above; testing out various methods of lighting.

Short snippet of the light meter being used within the session

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Week 5- Objects

Week 5 we went back to the studio but this time we used objects with lighting instead of people. We practiced on various objects within the studio, such as a reflective ball, skull, sculpt head and hands. When taking the pictures we had a play around with the different ISO, exposure and shutter settings on the camera. Seeing the difference between the various settings used. Below are photos taken within the session:

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Assignment 1- STORYBOARD

For assignment 1, I went with the third brief "Different Paths". As I was by myself I wasn't able to take any shots of an individual, so I decided to take shots of my journey on the day in first person. I tried using the self timer option to get myself inside some of the shots however I found it really difficult too without a tripod.

I visited one of the most well known parks in London Battersea Park. People go to the park for many reasons such as exercising, walking dogs, taking their kids out for some fresh air, lonesome walks/meditation the list goes on. I also wanted to visit the zoo inside the park however due to the Covid-19 crisis they we're closed as of further notice. Below are the shots I used for this assignment trying my best to demonstrate the various settings on my DSLR camera which I learnt within the sessions at university; trying to deliver shots with various ISO settings, Shutter settings and Shutter settings.

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Week 9- Stop Motion

I used the 'iMotion' app on my iPhone, I took sequence of pictures to make a stop motion animation.

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Influencer

The influencer I chose to write about is, Guillaume Kurkdjian. From Paris, France; the reason I chose Guillaume is because his work is really clean and sleek. His type of 'isometric style' helps him stand out in my opinion, He explores many illustration styles and objects in the isometric layout – ranging from the classic vintage, lego to hyper- realistic. Below are examples of his work, the unique style he has helps him stick out from other animators.

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Assignment 2- Stop Motion Animation

For assignment 2, I decided to go with the third brief which was to 'Your own Idea'. Unfortunately because of the Covid-19 pandemic I wasn't able to leave my house. So I went with the idea of a mini make-over for my room, using stop motion animation; I ordered a few items online for my mini makeover however one of the items was an office desk which required a setup which I thought it'd be cool to show the making behind the scenes using various angles such as extreme closeups, long shots etc...

For the sound I decided to go with a somewhat therapeutic Chinese meditation music for this short clip. The reasoning behind this is because meditation takes time and patience as the setup for this desk took just over three hours it took a lot of time and patience also.

What Is My Story About?

I decided to go with the story about isolation, the reason why is because this has never happened before. A global crisis such as Covid-19 takes place approximately every 100 years from my research. With the holy month of Ramadan taking place I felt the isolation at a deeper level, as I wasn't able to eat/drink from the hours of 3AM-9PM., adding to that I wasn't able to leave my house to get fresh air due to the pandemic. I needed a form of escape and because I was always in my room due to having an elderly grandma within the household making all the members in the house isolate in our rooms I decided to give my room a minuscule makeover. I bought a Steelseries Arctis Pro headset using the Amazon Prime service; as well as bed planks for my bed and a office desk table for my room. (Which would be the main focal of this project)

Who are the characters? / In each scene, what do they do or say?

Due to the isolation I wasn't able to get any characters to partake within my project, however I did get some help putting the desk together. Nothing really was said it was as simple as following instructions from the manual given.

Scene

Almost every scene was taken within my room, the only parts that weren't was me going to the front door to collect my orders. In terms of lighting it was all natural, I would have loved to take out some camera equipment and experiment getting desired shots using all the various techniques taught. Towards to end of my video, I show how my room is using only the light source coming out the TV and a lit candle. I did order some neon lights called 'Nano-leafs' however I had to return them due to being faulty.

Color Scheme

For the color scheme I was aiming to go with a white and black type of look, making my room look professional clean and sleek. The reason I chose white is so the natural light can bounce around the room and the black can give it that subtle shade to give the room the look I was hoping to achieve. As for the room not being to big I was quite limited in what I could order.