First attempt at putting footage together.

As I have never even attempted to create a film before or even use a video camera I was a little bit puzzled when the guy with the pony tail in the media block was like "Nah you're not trained up, you can't have one". How hard could it be? So the eagle came to the rescue and informed me that the new Canon D500 in the art block had a video recording feature. This worked out amazing for me because I know every inch of an DSLR and knew how easy it would be to manually use all the features instead of having it on an auto setting which is what I would have resorted to for my first try with a huge media thingy. 

I took Sam out with me to the woods behind his house to try out the camera and see what the visual was. It was around six o'clock which meant the sun had started to dim and the clouds had an almost grey marble effect going on. THE CAMERA IS AMAZING. It shoots beautifully and is the perfect tool to use as I'm so used to handling DSLRs. I didn't even know where to start because I hadn't planned any of the footage or the scenes, I just ventured out with my model and my camera. I had some kind of idea that I wanted it to be more dark and mysterious than jolly and obvious so I decided to shoot in black and white. I knew this would be much better for me to start editing because I wouldn't have to worry too much about the saturation and the levels, I could just play around with the ISO on the camera to get my contrast and darken my atmosphere.

I had no script because I don't want the characters to seem fake and staged, instead I want to create atmosphere with the music that I choose. As neither of us knew what I wanted I started filming without Sam even knowing, so I could get a much more realistic vision from my footage. It worked pretty well and I got much more relaxed, natural movement which flowed really nicely in the finished piece. I had watched pieces of film that the media students had created and they just came across as really fake due to the script and the way they had to have a reason behind everything before they did it. No offence to the students because they ticked all the boxes for the media tutors but at this point I'm so thankful to be an art and design foundation student as the video is my vision. 

I decided against all the media style style shots that were obviously staged and repeated time and time again to get the perfect footage and just simply asked Sam to pretend I didn't have a camera and that we had just gone for a walk. I had to push and prod him into the correct place for the shot at times but most of the time I was capturing natural movement by following him with the camera and not asking him to do anything. I am really pleased with the way the movement turned out. My whole project is titled 'The Illusion of the Image', which means I want to tread on the boarder line of still photography and the video photography. To get people asking the question, 'Is this image moving?'. After all, a photography lover will stop in a gallery and stare at an image for however long they please to try and understand the emotion and concept of why the photographer has chosen than single piece of work. So to challenge this I want to create similar experiences with the moving image. 

By using the slow motion effect throughout all the footage and rewinding some of the footage you get an odd feel. It jumps back and forward through the same set of footage to make sure the experience stays the same. It is still the same model and the same location, you're just getting more of the emotion and atmosphere than in one image. That longing and wanting to share the experience with the photographer that I've been getting for years has finally come to life. This kind of photography is very new and different to me but I want to be able to make it special by involving my passion for the still portraiture and mixing it with something new and much more exciting for myself and the people on my course.

Music that will/should inspire me.

Vultures Like Lovers - Wild Nothing.

Live in Dreams - Wild Nothing.

People Can Do The Most Amazing Things - Kisses

Daydream - Beach Fossils

Dum Dum Girls - Rest of Our Lives

Dum Dum Girls - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (Smiths cover)

Connan Mockasin - Forever Dolphin Love
I have included two videos from Connan Mockasin, the first being his own video for the music and the second being the track.

As I am still stuck on what pathway to go down, I don't know wether to go for all still images put together which music to create a moving image, to stick purely to video footage or whether to mix the two. I need to start looking into what kind of emotion and what kind of themes I can have running through my videos. So far the videos I have found that are made up of a small amount of stills and mostly video footage seem to have a dark theme which melancholy music which is a pathway I could travel down. Or I could mix everything up and do a very contrasting piece. I need to look at the type of music that will inspire mt to create the perfect atmosphere. 

I love love love love this video. Collections by Joost Vandebrug is an amazing example of time and effort to create something amazing. Hundreds of stills were taken to create a moving image which I have previously looked at in the MM6 Maison Martin Margiela x Opening Ceremony. This time I feel this footage has much more quirkiness due to the fact you can see the models face. They play around with not only clothes but letters and objects that aren't really relevant to the clothes but more for advertising the brand names. By slowing down the video you can see how the stills have been organised and put together which is how I will need to plan my own video if I decide to move into something simliar to this.

Perfume Genius - Lookout Lookout by Patrick Sher.
This music video was created for the band Perfume Genius but at the same time has a beautiful artistic feel to the video. Almost along the lines of the new fashion style film campaigns that are everywhere at the moment. As I have been researching so far I have come across a lot of videos that are not mainstream and therefore can do whatever they please. I had never heard of Perfume Genius and when I came across this video on the Wonderland tv blog I immediately saw the distinct emotion running through not only the music but the footage they have shot and chosen for the video. The image itself is very dark which I think matches the mood of the music very well. The artist in the shot doesn't look straight at the camera which you find in music videos. This very small technique has a huge impact on the emotion you can feel coming through the artist. He appears lost and melancholy which, if you listen to the lyrics, he is. I am a huge fan of the way the camera lens focuses in and out, again it feels as if the camera is reflecting what the music means; you know you are missing something. I love this impact and beauty of this video due to the melancholy theme that runs throughout. IT has made me realise how important and effective the right music can be in a piece of footage.

GENERATION Y by Joost Vandebrug - This video portrays a male model talking about his life. His voice is very soft and the way he speaks is neither optimistic or pessimistic althought the music played in the background is a very melancholy piano which makes the video seem very serious. They layer shots up and reduce the opacity of the top layer to create a strange collage of footage which works quite well. Contrasting movement and stillness. In the footage where the model is still the lighting thye have used makes it look like a perfect still photograph, all that is moving is his mouth which creates a beautiful peaceful atmosphere. I want to include either stills or almost still footage in my work to create an illusion.