Experimentation work. This is just footage from a previous project I did with Phiaddra who will be our dancer in my project. Just playing with Premier trying to get familiar with the tools and what are the dos and dont's for working with layers. I like the look but I think that with what I'm trying to do is best suitable to work on inside the studio that way we have more control over how the background works because in this video it seems to be too busy. This Friday we will be working in the studio so hopefully it turns out better in the studio.
Just screenshot from the video trying to focus on the movement. Looking at the sequence. The background seems to be too busy in this image.
This is a video of Mary Jane Mckibbin title "To Cover dead birds" the dance illustrates the movements of the Manumea Bird. If a pigeon sees its mate fall dead it will drop down from the sky and cover the bird with it's wings to protect them even if it may be dead. I think that this is what Samoan culture is about it's about Family and protecting them. I know in Samoan culture with whatever battle comes their way they will always put their Family first and it's an important thing when it comes to Samoan culture or maybe Polynesian culture in general. Mary Jane's dance was an expression of her concerns for Samoas rainforest and wildlife.
So what I appreciate about this dance is the fact that she has taken something that is true to her and has taken the bird of Samoa and illustrated the movements within her piece. I love the meaning behind the siva and the way she has structured her movement.
I think today was useful especially looking at new works from John Pule, Shigeyuki Kihara and Fiona Pardington.
I really enjoyed looking at how the different works were set up. It gave me ideas about how we want to present some of our artwork. I know that I want to use frames now for my final photographs but will have to discuss that with Peter.
I also took into consideration the use of lighting that was used for Fiona Pardington's work. I really like how she stuck with low lighting for her photographs it drew use closer to the work.
So I will look into how we want lighting for our final presentation.
I really enjoyed a nice small group and just talking a discussing the work with others. I think that this trip helped me on how I want to display and set up. 3
Serve: Art School, Rebecca, Myself, Family
Time: 8 weeks
Ingredients (Tools/Materials):
- DSLR Camera
- Photoshop
- Premier
- Costume (Tuiga, Fala (Fine Matt), Nifo Oti, Knife, Lipstick
- Dancer (Phiaddra)
- Studio
- Tripod
- Exhibition Space
Method: 8 weeks
Week 1: sort out schedule, sus out when we want to experiment. What we need and don't have.
- Gather materials/tools
- Figure where we would like to display our work (Taarati Room maybe) Need to email.
Week 2:
- Book Studio space
- Research more artists till we have a clear idea
Week 3:
- Book studio space.
haven't been able to get together at this point things had come up but we have arrange to shoot next week test out things and experiment hopefully.
Week 4:
Tuesday: Prepare for out shoot on Friday, Get blog up to date things we are looking at.
Friday: We will be shooting our moving image and maybe hopefully photograph as well.
Week 5: Start Editing the moving image, Editing photographs
Up date blog as well.
Week 6: Maybe organise a reshoot, Update blogspot.
Week 7: Working bee with Taarati to clean walls in room/ repaint room.
Set and prepare the space, Look at framing and start to print.
I really enjoyed getting to see Rebecka and for her to give us a deep explanation on the thought process of creating the work as well which was interesting.
Seeing who contributed to the artwork as well and who Rebecka collaborated with.
Meeting two artists from Indonesia and seeing the difference between the two works.
Being able to mix and mingle with other lectures from other institutes.
Adeles new video clip uses various layers which is kind of what I am trying to portray in my final work. I really like the use of lighting also in this video. The amount of layers also works well with the video and the change of colour in the lighting as well is different.
Ronnie Boehm lives in Vienna/Austra. Ronnie doesn't make a living of his photography work. The artist was on his way to finishing a bachelor of science in sports engineering when hes had my first encounter with photography from that point his grades went downhill fast, to the point where he stopped studying. All his efforts went into photography instead.
Ronnie Boehm first encounter with photography was his girlfriend was a ballet dancer and she had a photographer booked to shoot her and three other girls for her company. A few hours before the shoot the photographer had canceled. In the fre hours before the shoot, he looked up everything he could find about aperture, shuttertime and iso. After that he was hooked.
Boehm usully shoots everything that involves people and still prefers shooting with what he started with which was dance, he describes working with dancers the contribute an amount of energy and elegance noone else can.
I really enjoy Ronnie Boehm's photography and I like the way he plays with shutter speed. The way he captures the dancer as she moves through their movement. This something I want to try and capture in some of my photographs hopefully.
I also like the use of his lighting it isn't too high key but it has enough light to capture the bodys movement.
Monday, 16 May 2016
Manipulating long shutter speed.
The two camera men had the camera running and in the video we saw the man named Josh walk up to the stairs anda man named Jacob. Jacob had the job to fire the flash at Josh in a pitch black room on the stairs standing in one position. Josh then quickly moves and because the room is pitch black the camera does not pick up any of his movement. Jacob fires a second flash to capture him in the other position. The shutter has been opened the same time. So it becomes a single image.
The final result is the image that is above I think this may be another experiment I want to try again with movement.
This is a carved wooden war club called the "anava" The anava and talavalu were Samoan clubs that were carved with serrated or braced edges that were more than capable of decapitating enemies.
The functionality of the weapon is unique to Samoan military history. The weapons main advantage was the design. A blade like weapon which had to sides with primarily opposite functions.
The Taupo plays a part when it comes to the war, she shares her advice, peace making vision it brought up by the nifo oti, she is showing that she can be strong, cruel and just as powerful as a man. It displays leadership. In the taualagua some dancers believe that you should hold the knife gracefully holding the weapon at the finger tips, others believe it's a weapon that should be wheeled out with stride. The taupo carries her ancestors with her when she dances.
This is just an example of what the taualuga dance looks like with the nifo oti.
The Fala/Ie'toga is usually the costume the dancer (Taualuga) usually uses when she does the siva.
I have been looking at how the costume or mat is made.
The difference between a ie'toga and a fala?
The Ie'toga is the Samoan term for a fine mat. Fine mats in the Samoan culture are considered more valuable than money. An I'e toga is used in special occasions. These occasions include weddings, funerals, building of new houses, church events, tattooing and appointing a new chief village.
The I'e Toga was originated from Tonga. The I'e toga was originally brought to Samoa by a Tongan lady named Fuka. Fuka's older sister, Lautiovogia was married to King Fonoti who was at the time King Of Samoa. During Fuka's visit to Samoa, she gave her sister an Ie'Toga as a gift. Since that day they have used the name I'e, meaning cloth or mat and Toga, meaning the country Tonga.
Fala Mats are made from laufala which is the leaves of the Pandanus tree. They are usually mats made for sleeping,sitting or carpet. Regular mats are woven with inch-wide strips of dried leaves and they vary in size tend to be about 4 feet wide by about 8 feet long.
Ie'toga Mat
Fala Mat
Which mat does the Taupo use?
The Taupo usually wears a dress made from fine mats at occasions like ava cermonies and fiafias.
The Ie'toga are woven with much thinner strips, which are used for formal purposes like the Taualauga dance.
Background
The value of an ie'toga is defined from the knowledge, skill, patience and love that go into the process of making the fine mat. Some mats can take up to a year to complete. In the past almost every village had a designated spot (Fale Lalaga) where women would gather to make the mats. These women would teach their children the art of making fine mats.
An ie'toga is never used as sitting mats. They are valued because of the quality of the weave and the softness and shine of the material.
Just a video of a Samoan woman who is in the process of creating a fine mat.
I've been looking at abstract movement photography and came across an artists called Kristin Smith. Kristin Smith is an interdisciplinary artist. Smith investigates the complex constellation of relationships between mind, body, experience and consciousness.
Kristin comes from a diverse artistic background with training in classical and physical theatre, visual art, and movement. Smith has worked in Masion, Wisconsin, Calgary, Alberta, Canada and San Francisco, California. Kristin Smith earned her MFA in Mixed Media from the university of calgary, and earned her BA in bother Theatre Arts and Art from the university of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
I really like the look of the abstract movement in these photographs. It creates a different feel to the photographs. Instead of freezing the movement of the dancer we can now use a long shutter speed to create an image from the bodies itself. I like the technique of capturing the bodies move. I really want to look into experimenting this.
This was a few experimentations I worked on with movement. Playing with barbaras movement in her hands and just laying photographs on each other and playing with the opacity tool. I really want to keep working at this. Try different backgrounds and movement in my next experimentation.
This is a documentary about the dance Taualuga in both Samoan and Tongan culture and what it means to women. It shows appreciation for the dance and how much of a privilege it is to do it. I want to look into the movement that the dancer carries with them. I want to study the way the dancer moves with the taualuga because each female has their different styles of performing the dance.
Raymond Sagapolutele is from the area of Manurewa, South Auckland. The photographer refers to himself as a "brotographer" as he used to be known for saying 'bro' all the time. Raymond use this term to describe himself. I really like his work because he takes a raw approach to his work he mainly captures public spaces.
He started off taking photographs of landscape and realised that every photographer seemed to be also doing that. So he looked for subjects that would separate his work from everyone else.
The artist really appreciates photographing places that wouldn't be considered photographic. Raymond seems to shoot a lot during the night when the places become empty.
I really like the way the light falls from the top and the light focuses on the face. I want to try and practice with this sort of lighting in my photographs or moving image.
This is some work off Raymonds instagram. Taken by an artist named Linda Lepou. I really like the way the light falls from above and drops on to the red silk dress.
This was an experiment I did. I worked with video layers on Premier. I wanted to get comfortable with using the tools for our moving image and to see what It would look like and what I need to work on next time trying to use it.
