Media Product - Vanilla Twilight - Image Reel

"When Violet Eyes Get Brighter,

And Heavy Wings Grow Lighter,
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again."

Image and Lyric Breakdown:

• When - Clock / Time representation
• Violet - The plant, Violet
• Eyes - My dog, Bailey's eye
• Get - Online Adobe download message
• Brighter - Two versions of the same lightbulb in my room, with altered brightness of lens flare

• And - '&' key from my iPod Touch (took a photograph)
• Heavy - 'Heavy Load' sign
• Wings - Bird in Flight
• Grow - Plant Growing
• Lighter - Feather - as in 'light as a feather'

• I'll - Photo of me
• Taste - Two angles of a mouth tasting a lollipop
• The - 'Highlighted the T, H and E keys on a standard laptop keyboard in red
• Sky - Sky shot and edge of Victoria Mills, Saltaire
• And - '&' key from my iPod Touch (took a photograph)
• Feel - Hand feeling fabric
• Alive - Heart-monitor to represent life
• Again - Cover of the DVD '17 Again'
  

Below is the background image, so you can see what it would look like without the image reel over the top - although, again, I have kept it in the same comic-book style as the rest of the images. It is supposed to represent the song - by depicting a 'Vanilla Twilight'.

Vanilla Twilight - 'Oh, Darling, I wish you were here'.

The Lyrics for my Media Product

I have chosen the song 'Vanilla Twilight' by Owl City to base my final media product on.

There is only one key verse that I want to use, however. I will make a storyboard / image reel of literal photographs (in comic style) to accompany the lyrics below:

"When violet eyes get brighter,
And heavy wings grow lighter,
I'll taste the sky and feel alive again."

Photograph Analysis

Purpose

The purpose of the image was.... well, honestly?? Not a clue. I saw an opportunity and I took it. Inspiration for another blog post was scarce, but here I was, sat in front of a Mac at the University and suddenly I noticed just how obvious my reflection was in the monitor.

Production

The only piece of equipment available to me at this particular moment in time was my Samsung smartphone. This will, therefore, serve to provide demonstration to the belief that you don't need state-of-the-art photography equipment to create an attractive image. Though I suppose having a state-of-the-art Mac suite would be immensely beneficial in this instance.

Framing

The image is as close to centrally aligned as I could manage, bearing in mind certain factors; the desktop of the Mac I was using had a number of icons available along the right side and along the bottom. These reduced the space I could use if I wanted to ensure no icons made it onto the image.

Lighting

There are three sources of light within this image:

• The Window - Natural Light Source
• The Phone's Flash - Artificial Light Source
• The Mac Screen - Artificial Light Source

In short, the image contains a combination of both natural and artificial light sources.

Much to my disbelief, the only source of light I would say is most affecting the image directly is the natural light coming in through the window behind me. It helps to provide contrast to the rest of the image, making my figure stand out against the background. The Mac screen provides a much subtler source of light - most predominantly on the right-hand side of the image, whilst the flash of the phone served to create a (deliberate) lens flare. In reality, I was slightly out with regards to framing: I had hoped that the lens flare would have completely covered the mouth area. However, I am still happy with the location - rather than leaving out a body-part, there is the subtlest hint that it exists, and so viewers are aware that behind the camera is the mouth that would normally be there. It almost feels like a sneak-peak.

Signifiers & Signifieds

• The figure (aka ME!)
• The phone
• The glasses
• The stars

The figure is the main part of the image (and this isn't me being egotistic, so just work with me). In terms of photography, it should represent a memory that is to be saved, else there is no point of taking the photograph. In this case, because I'm the one who took the image, I will always associate the image with writing this blog entry. It was created specifically for a piece of work, and thus has little to no other significance in my life (although I really like the image, so might choose to make it my Facebook picture). But to someone who doesn't know me, it could signify something completely different.

From a subjective point of view, if I was looking at this as an outsider, I would see the figure and think; 'Student'. Mainly because of age. Also, the fact that the figure appears to be sitting at a desk (though this is not made obvious - you can partially see the chair but not the actual desk) helps to narrow down options to one of two - either a student, or somebody who has a desk-job. Thus, age and location make me think of a student.

Typically, glasses are associated with intelligence. I have no idea why this is, it could be a stereotype that just happens to have lasted world-wide. Nerds and geeks are often seen wearing them, and these types of people are stereotypically fairly smart in certain areas. It is widely assumed that those who wear glasses are generally 'smarter', or at least are trying to make themselves look more intelligent by wearing them. In my case, I wear glasses because I have to, not because I want to. Without them, I'm blind. But as an outsider thinking stereotypically, I would see the glasses and think the person in the image was intelligent; now, of course, I know myself and how untrue that statement is. So here is an example of 'inaccurate' stereotyping in action.

The stars are symbolic of space and the worlds beyond the one we know. I can see stars in the image, and I think of how life at University can be like living on a whole new planet. It really is an out-of-this-world experience; something that will only ever happen once and should be treasured: the tiny smile on my face and my neutral expression should represent my contentment, as well - another signifier!

The phone signifies communication. Or lack, thereof. On a way deeper level, it can represent the module I am working on - how images can communicate with viewers without words. But at the time, I was happy to settle for the idea of mobile communication overwriting physical human-interaction (which is why I deliberately tried to place the phone over the mouth area). After all, who needs a voice when you can email, text, Facebook and Tweet from your phone?

Funny. All those little representations. I'd never have thought so deeply into the image, were I not required to do so for my coursework. But it is interesting what you can come up with, even with the vaguest of images...

Composition (Sort of)

Right. So, this is me trying to be intellectual. Forgive me if it doesn't quite go to plan.

The image on the left is one I asked my friend to take a couple of months ago, but it has stuck with me for a very specific reason: that reason being, I was very explicit about just how I wanted the camera to be positioned when the shot was taken.

At the time, I wasn't completely certain about why I had to have it the way I described it. It just seemed important, though not for any reason I could fully comprehend.

However, after many takes, I was finally satisfied with the positioning and framing of the image - much to my friend's relief.

Up until recently, I have admired the image for its content, mostly; they are my favourite pair of boots in the whole history of boot-shopping. But after a few discussions about Composition in imagery, I began to wonder if perhaps my nagging for the perfectly angled shot may have meant a little more to me subconsciously than I'd ever realised.

I suppose, in all honesty, it is true. It is virtually impossible to take a photograph - or at least, an effective one at that, one which fully depicts the content you want to display - without first considering the framing and composition of that image. By this, I mean everyone who takes a photograph looks through the viewfinder and carefully aligns the perfect shot. It's natural; a force of habit, for many people. In fact, we are so used to the concept of aiming the camera to the correct spot and snapping that memory up to save for millenia to come, that we do it without even thinking about it. There need be little more than a split-second decision- if that - to agree upon the best angle to hold the camera at, the best lines to follow to make sure the main area of interest is correctly placed into the image, and to ensure that nothing unwanted makes it on-screen as well.

Professionals and amateurs alike, whether it's a multi-thousand pound camera set for taking Wedding photographs or even a cheap disposable camera for a Friday night out, the prospect of taking pictures to treasure happy memories is the same universally. We want to get the most important part of the scene we are witnessing into the frame before we take the shot. This is why composition is so important. Without it, the image could miss a vital piece of informaton which helps the viewer to solve a little more of the mystery that is that specific image.

Take a look at the image above; I have deliberately thought about composition to ensure the key item in the image is centrally-aligned: the boots. Everything else around it is of less importance, hence why I requested that the boots be centrally located in the image. To further enhance this, I have edited the image using post-production techniques to reduce the clarity of the background; including the floor, the table, and the chairs down the left side. I wanted to make sure the boots were slightly more in focus, suggesting to the readers that they are the key element in the image.

Decisions, Decisions....

Coldplay - Fix You

Keane - She Has No Time

Owl City - If My Heart Was a House / Vanilla Twilight

Snow Patrol - You Could Be Happy

You Me At Six - Fireworks / Liquid Confidence

All of these are (in my honest opinion) lyrically beautiful. They all also effectively tell a story, which is, I guess, the whole point of Visual Communication, when you get down to it. So to have a song where they lyrics are going to be supportive of any imagery added in (and here I'm thinking about Barthes' theories of Relay) will make the story that little bit simpler to understand in the long-run. They are also mostly fairly slow songs in terms of pace and tempo. This would be greatly beneficial to me with regards to how I could go about making the hypothetical video. For a fast-paced song, a lot more images would be required to coincide with the lyrics. But with fewer lyrics, I can use fewer images, thus subsequently making my job that little bit less complicated.

Considering time-scales, I'm still uncertain as to whether or not creating an actual video is going to work out. Perhaps I should start off by creating a storyboard to accompany my chosen song. Then, I can decide whether or not to make an increased version of that storyboard, or work on turning part of the song into a music video.

Either way, I will still be making the content in the same way as I had originally planned: photogaphy / moving image representative of individual lyrics to then be manipulated into a comic-book style using computer software. Mother Earth, help me. This is going to be the longest few weeks of my life.

Media Product Ideas Generation

This time a year ago, I was super excited about the new series of Doctor Who. So excited, in fact, that I worked on compiling a trailer containing a mash-up of existing BBC official trailers to help quench my excitement.

Truthfully, this was one of my first ever forrays into the realms of Editing. Hence, it isn't the most technically fantastic piece I have ever created. However, at the time, I was simply happy to have created a video that was in-time with an accompanying piece of music - which was my ultimate goal for the project.

One year on, and I'm still in love with music videos. So much so, that I want to create one to be my final media project. Though this time, rather than using clips from a television show, I plan to focus on the lyrics a lot more and create graphics to accompany them. As of yet, I am undecided about the track to use. Though I do have ideas about the style I want my video to be in.

Stepping back a couple of blog entries, the entry containing my Flash-drawn Suzuki Bike has inspired me to create a comic-style video made purely from photographs that have been manipulated to suit this style. There is scope to include moving imagery, as well, though this would take me longer to create and edit. Whereas, were I to use still photographs, I'd be able to compile a video fairly easily, as well as correctly manipulate each photograph to suit my desired style.

The benefits of using still photographs would include being easy to obtain, and also to create a video that is fast-paced and purely representational of the lyrics, themselves. In many modern-day music videos, there is little relevance in terms of content when compared with the lyrics of the songs. For many artists, it is merely a demonstration of personal interest and investment - i.e. "I have all this money, look how wildly I can spend it to create a music video with little meaning and a lot of special effects".

I plan to do the exact opposite.

I want to create a video that contains graphics that completely represent the lyrics - even if those graphics are representative of an alternative meaning; for example, have a picture of an 'eye' for the word I, or such like.

This image is a close-up photo of an eye which I have altered by adding on 'Comic-book' and 'Film-grain' effects, as well as altering the colours to mix black-and-white with a little additional colour.

In more adult-themed comics (often japanese Manga), it is common practice that the majority of the comic's content is in black and white, but stark contrast is provided through sharp splashes of colour - for example, blood is red to make it stand out clearly. I would like to work on incorporating this somehow, into my video.

The benefits of combining black and white with splashes of colour is that the eye is automatically drawn to that which differs from the rest of the image. Taking this image as an example, I immediately see the eye itself when I look at it, before I take note of the surroundings, because the use of colour against the black and white backdrop draws me in. This style of dark and light contrasting so strongly inside the image reminds me of Caravaggio's works, as mentioned in my previous blog. His use of dark and light tones combined to manipulate the way the viewer received the image, telling a story about the graphic simply by hiding some sections from sight whilst showing other sections in clear, bright view.

The fact that the area of colour is centrally aligned also helps with this instant focus of attention: so that is something else to consider when lining up for photographic shots - I can play around with alignment of the most interesting section of the image to get the maximum effect, and also should consider the 'Rule of Thirds' to ensure the image is making full use of the canvas.

To summarise, for my media product, I hope to create a small music video (as of yet, unknown song choice) with a black/white/colour contrasting comic-style theme, which contains photographs of literal images to represent the lyrics (perhaps so literally it is almost extreme). Of course, this idea could change dramatically over the next few blog posts, but we shall see how things go...