Super 8 film in a day

I found this project a very interesting and fun way to use film. Using the super 8 meant that the whole group had to think differently to when filming digitally as it had to be shot in chronological order, and made sure everything was perfect when actually shot as we wouldn’t be able to edit the footage.

Originally, I was put into a different group to the group I ended up in so I wasn’t a part of the original thought process, but I had a part in the story board making, working out the times, filming and developing the film.

We decided to make a horror film, where a girl went into the woods with a Ouija board and awakened a spirit.  This spirt has a presence throughout the film even before the girl appears in the film.

Equipment for shoot:

·      Super8 camera

·      16mm film

·      Nikon D90 (DSLR camera for back up)

·      Ouija board

·      Spirt costume

·       makeup/face paint (for the spirt)

the day of the filming started out really well we made a decision of which woods we should film in, walked there and started talking about the compositions and where we would all stand and start. When the camera needed to be filming and when it would cut out, put the costumes together and did a run through with the D90 to prefect what we were doing and each person knowing where they needed to be we did this about three times.

Sadly, when it came to filming with the super 8 we were a little rushed as there was a local primary school teacher told us she was going to be teaching where we were, luckily we had enough time to film and apart from the fact it was rushed it went smoothly.

Another thing that didn’t turn out the way we wanted was when we were developing the film wasn’t rolled out completely and we lost some of the film as was stuck together and didn’t develop. With this the bits we did have looked good.

our final outcome has footage from both the super 8 camera and DSLR camera.

Cyanotypes

Process to creating a cyanotype –

The cyanotype is made up of mixing the two chemicals Potassium ferricyanide and Ferric ammonium citrate (green)  and are mixed with water separately. The two solutions are then mixed together equally.

For the canvas, you can use many types of materials, (such as paper, card fabric) as long as it can absorb the solution that will be coated onto the canvas, then it has to dry in the dark ( I suggest doing the twice).

To make a print an object or negatives is placed on top of the canvas and exposed to UV light (this could be sunlight, a light box or a UV lamp)

To process the cyanotype it should be placed into water and rinsed by continually dragging the canvas through the water gently (the water should be changed when it starts to become yellow) when doing this a white image should appear on a blue background. Once the image is clear all that needs to be done is let the print dry.

Equipment needed –

• 25 grams of Ferric ammonium citrate (green)
• 10 grams of Potassium ferricyanide
• Water
• Scale or measuring spoons
• Measuring jug
• 3 glass containers for mixing ingredients
• Plastic spoons
• Face mask
• Goggles
• Rubber gloves
• Apron or old shirt
• Newspaper to cover work surface
• Cleaning cloth
• Brushes
• Clothes pegs
• Washing line or rope
• Art paper or fabric for coating
• Glass or a contact print frame
• Sunshine or a UV light source

My first print originally came out really well before and after I rinsed the print but as it was drying it started to fade, I realised this was because I only painted one layer of the solution onto the fabric, I then realised for future prints I would have to paint two layers instead onto the canvas.  

This is my second attempt at doing a cyanotype, for this I used to layers of the solution as well as a photo with a High Dynamic Range, as it looks really good with this technique. I used the same material as my first attempt (fabric).

 For my third attempt I decided to map paper as my canvas, I think it came out really well and I would defiantly think about using it again if it was related to the subject.

Over all I would defiantly use this technique again as it is an interesting and different way to show images and is easy to transfer both object and photos (either from a digital shoot or film shoot). Creating a cyanotype is also a very hands on process which is a really nice thing to do when I tent to be working through a screen for a lot of my work.

Printing With Acetate

Using acetate in the dark room is a technique that I have never used before, I have recovered it is a good way to transfer digital images onto silver based paper giving that film feeling.

• first I chose a picture I wanted to print in the dark room them printed it off.
• I then photo copied it onto acetate.
• When into the darkroom.
• Got a small piece of paper to create a test strip.
• when I looked at the test strip I decided to go for four seconds as the image was bold and didn't have very much detail.
• Just to check that i had the right exposer time I used slightly smaller paper so that I didn't waste it.

High Speed Photography

Doing this type of high speed photography is something that I have never done before and this is useful information to help me if I decide to re-do this shoot.

For high speed photography the room needs to be dark so when the flash goes off the image keeps in focus and not appear blurry.

The kit that is needed for this is a DLSR camera, put on manual setting, tripod, flash gun, two fill lights on stands with soft box and a dark backdrop.

The camera settings should be:

• The shutter speed should be about 1/125
• The aperture should be F8 or above (make sure there is a wide depth of field)
• Try the ISO at 200 but if its too dark put it up but only do that if you can't do anything else with the other settings as it adds noise to the photos.
• The camera should be on manual focus as auto focus is too slow to catch the action.

Arnolfini

              Daphne Wright: Emotional Archaeology                         

This was my first trip to the Arnolfini and wasn't sure what to expect. Going there I found a new artist work that I really enjoy. Even though Daphne's Sculptures are very dark and hard to get your head around what your looking at, they also have this eerily calm feeling to each piece.

Going into the second room was slightly different feeling and was very child like from the sculptures that looked like 2D child drawings to the sculptures of Daphne's children.

 My favourite room we went into could only take 5 people at a time as there were sculptures hanging all around the wall like wallpaper, going into that room a beautiful experience. When you would have a close look you would see sculptures of hearts hanging around the room.

Printing Workshop

  Printing is something I have never done before, so I was looking forward to this workshop the most.

For this work shop the tutors spoke to us all in a big group and took us through the process of printing. Once the demonstration was over I went back to the class to fine one of my images to recreate. 

I found out quickly that I should have used less paint, as it took a while to dry, but my print ended up being very textured, which was the affect I wanted it to have.

If I was to redo this work shop I would probably choose a different Image to recreate, i would have liked to have used Mark Rothko as inspiration for this work shop, as I used him in my research in the 'land and sea' project. I feel that Rothko's work would be very good for this workshop as he uses block colours. 

3D Workshop

 The 3D workshop was something that I surprisingly enjoyed and got into very fast.

Before we started doing the work we all had a talk with the tutors so we could have an understanding of two basic machines worked, and then had a go at using them ourselves, so that we could uses them at a later time.

Once we where finish with the one to one work we could then start working with the cardboard. for this I decide i wanted to work with layering things up, and create a cliff formation, using a scalpel to cut out each rock to give the definition the cliff.

Once I had sucked each piece of card onto the main card, I went back to the class and used a fine liner, and ink and water to create the sky and grass/shrubbery.