Creating a Website: About Me Page

Zoe began life in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and spent most of her youth nomadically moving from place to place.  Zoe discovered that through the photograph she could create a stillness and permanence to existence, and the camera became an ever-present feature that brought comfort amongst chaos.  Zoe still believes that her camera is a magic box and every photograph she takes is a remembrance, and proof that she existed. 

 

 Zoe has a first degree in English and Media from DMU. She also achieved an MA with Distinction in Creative Media Arts (Photography) from the London South Bank University. Zoe's film 'Let's Eat Hair' was shown at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester. Zoe continues to make photographs and writes creatively.

I completed this and then I added this to my website by clicking on the right hand menu and going into my 'About' page.  I then copied and pasted my test in from blogger to the website page and changed the font to match my fonts on the page. The final page look like this:

I may change the image later but this will work for the moment.

I also looked at the mobile view and adjusted my names and made it smaller so that it fitted correctly on the page

Creating a Website: Contact Page & Social Links

 I am carrying on with website creation and today I am going to add a contact page and social links. 

I used the add button on the left hand menu to add social links icons.  I then clicked into the social icons and deleted ones I did not need.  I then I added the links by clicking on the ones I was using; these were Blogger, LinkedIn, Twitter/X and YouTube.  I then saved my changes and clicked on Preview and Then I checked each link worked.  These are in the footer so they appear each page.

I added a new contact forma and deleted the old one and then I went to settings and email notifications and set the notifications to my email. 

I then changed the font of the 'Get in Touch' to Palantino Linotype so that is was consistent.  I then added an image by clicking on Add and then Image and I uploaded my own image to Wix and added to the page.  I am not sure I liked this yet so may change this to a different image later on. I previewed it and made sure that everything worked.

Then customised my contact form by clicking on the form setting and the 'design' icon and then went to customised and I customised the 'input fields' by added a colour of pale grey and then I customised the font so that it matched the font of my website which was Palantino Linotype 27pts. 

I have checked everything is working and previewed but I may more changed later, but happy with page for now.

I checked the mobile view and on this page no changes were needed.

I updated this page with a new image as I really felt this image did not work - this is my updated page

I also checked the mobile view and I was much happier with this version 

Uncertain Times: Project Plan

 I created this project plan based on my project sign-off using a Venngage Infographic template.  this plan will ensure that I organise my weeks as we have a tight deadline and I need to make sure all work is completed each week. 

Uncertain Times Project Plan

Project Plan Update - 21/11/23

To update and consider the work and how I have managed this over time I went back to my project sign-off from Week Four and Looked at what I had completed

• Project Sign off post - complete

• Initial Research post - complete

• Project Plan - Complete Updating Now

• At least three research posts on other artists/designers - Lee Miller, Daido Moriyama, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Website Research on Katy Grannan and Corrine Day, Sense 8

• A post on your target market - Ideal Customer Infographic 

• at least three process posts - this will include contacts, technical details of original images and sourcing stock images, editing film and finalising  - Collecting Stock Images, Editing Film, Editing Decisions post

• Technical research post on software you will use - Software Practice on Photoshop, Software practice on Clipchamp

• Post on creating your portfolio - Completed website portfolio, Introduction and added the portfolio

• Finalising your portfolio and adding to your website - Completed 

Creating a Website: Photography Home Page

 Today we began creating a website using Wix.  I began by choosing a template. 

This is the site I have chosen to customise.  The next step was to change my name so I selected my name and then on the pop-up dialog box I chose the font Palatino Linotype, I made this larger to 41 pts and I made this bold and adjusted the setting using the transform controls as my name is rather long.

I changed my navigation bar to the same font Palatino Linotype 32pts and bold.  I then deleted any pages that were unnecessary and I just kept Home, Portfolio, About, and Contact. I also deleted the login box so that no one has to log in to view the site.

I then changed the copyright sign to my name and the correct date and I changed the font to match the font on the page. the copyright lives in the footer and should appear on each page.

I completed a change of background image using my own work and then I cropped the image using the Wix Photo Editor so it fitted correctly onto the page. I then used the preview button to see what the site looked like when published

I then saved all my changes using the save button in the top right-hand corner.

I have now completed my home page, I will be adding the social media links later.  I will use this image for now but I may change this before publication. 

I also looked at my mobile view of my homepage and just adjusted the page to get rid of blank space - this is now much improved. 

Initial Research: Marlon Brando Apocalypse Now & Method Acting

 In my performing arts project this term I will be creating a showreel, therefore I want to explore in my initial research acting methods.  I have chosen to look at Marlon Brando and Apocalypse Now (1979) directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as Brando used this acting technique for this epic film. 

Marlon Brando star of The Godfather films, is well known for using method acting. Today states; 'Drawing on inner torment What set Brando apart was the way that technique unleashed his inner conflict. The same qualities that made Brando a world-class actor also made him, by some accounts, a world-class pain.' (TODAY.com, 2004).  Brando used the Stanislavski technique that he learnt as a young actor from his mentor Stella Adler who taught Brando emotional memory 'Adler, argued that the actor’s role was to use emotion to command the attention of the audience as much as possible.' (Kemp, 2022)

Marlon Brando on the set of "Apocalypse Now."

SILVER SCREEN COLLECTION VIA GETTY IMAGES

Method acting can be a gift and a curse, as essentially, the actor, becomes the person they are playing and this scenario went to extremes when Brando played Kurtz in Coppola's Apocalypse Now (Based on Joseph Conrad's book 'Heart of Darkness' (1899).  Coppola's own vision for the character who is lost in the jungles of Vietnam was a "lean and hungry warrior" (Madden, 2022) . Brando had put on a lot of weight and refused to memorise his lines; 'Brando didn’t connect with what Colonel Kurtz..and decided to rewrite his entire character from the ground up..often talking about reformatting the character in his vision. Though they may not have had time to overhaul the entire story, Brando’s plans for Kurtz came entirely from improvised dialogue, often taken from those rambling tangents that happened to be filmed in between takes.' (Coffman, 2023).  The film itself became a nightmare, the budget began at 12 million and became almost 30 million and much of this was Coppola's own money, Coppola faced financial ruin if the film was not completed, and 'the calamitous shoot gave Coppola an epileptic seizure, and on three separate occasions, he threatened to commit suicide' (Madden, 2022) Brando also refused to work with Dennis Hopper who was always high on cocaine and insisted on a continuous supply on these. Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack and nearly died probably brought on by the very stressful conditions of the shoot and Coppola's 'manipulative directing style '(Madden, 2022)  Coppola wanted the actors to become the characters he envisioned, however, Brando had resolved to become the character he envisioned and through the method acting of Brando many actors wanted to follow his lead;  'He [Brando] changed the idea of the type of person male actors wanted to be. They to be visceral, not polished; they wanted to be masculine; they wanted to be intense.' (Kemp, 2022).

Apocalypse Now was a metaphor for the times, and this highly intense and now classic film has stood the test of time just as Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I leave you with some words from Conrad:

“I don’t like work--no man does--but I like what is in the work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself not for others--what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means'  (Conrad, 1899: from Bookroo)

References

TODAY.com. (2004). Marlon Brando redefined acting. [online] Available at: https://www.today.com/popculture/marlon-brando-redefined-acting-wbna5354214.[Accessed 26/10/23]

Kemp, S. (2022). How Marlon Brando changed Hollywood acting forever. [online] faroutmagazine.co.uk. Available at: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-marlon-brando-changed-hollywood/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2023].

Coffman, T. (2023). A Match Made In Hell: Marlon Brando in ‘Apocalypse Now’. [online] faroutmagazine.co.uk. Available at: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/a-match-made-in-hell-marlon-brando-in-apocalypse-now/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2023].

Madden, C. (2022). The Apocalypse Now Controversy Explained. [online] SlashFilm.com. Available at: https://www.slashfilm.com/783841/the-apocalypse-now-controversy-explained/ [Accessed 27 Oct. 2023].

bookroo.com. (n.d.). The 25 Best Heart of Darkness Quotes. [online] Available at: https://bookroo.com/quotes/heart-of-darkness [Accessed 27 Oct. 2023].

Project Sign Off: Uncertain Times

 After considering my ideas I have now signed off my project on 'uncertain times'  This will be a short film using still images.  here is a quick mock-up using one of my images from the sequential work and a stock image of an explosion.  This is the kind of look I will be trying to achieve through my film. 

Please find my Project Sign Off here I will be working on this throughout the term and I will post my project plan in the next post.

Initial Research: Lee Miller The Aftermath of World War II

For my photo/film project I will be creating original photographic images therefore I am looking at the images of Lee Miller, specifically the photographs she took at the end of World War II, as these show the aftermath of war. Lee Miller began as a model and muse of Man Ray but later she also learnt photography and became a prolific and exceptional photographer working for Life and Vogue magazines. 'She started her career as a fashion-model in New York, later moved to Paris to try her hand in fashion and fine-art photography and was then appointed as war photographer on the front-line in world-war II by Vogue on behalf of America.'(Kapoor, 2020)  The image below is shot using natural daylight coming from the large windows.  The image has been taken top down so Miller (the photographer) was probably standing on a staircase looking into the room.  The rule of thirds has clearly been observed with the three bodies coinciding with the points of the golden ratio.  

 Deputy Mayor Ernst Kurt Lisso and his family after committing suicide by cyanide to avoid capture by US troops, 1945 by Lee Miller

In the image above the three high ranking Nazi offers are laid out and Calvocoressi states; 'Leaning back on the sofa is a girl with extraordinarily pretty teeth. waxen and dusty.  Her nurses uniform is sprinkled with plaster from the battle for City Hall (Calvocoressi: 2002:P62)  The aftermath of the final battle is palpable and this is the consequence of defeat shown in poignant detail here in Millers image. The object on the desk show a previous ordered life, the telephone, the stamp paper and pens, an in-tray.  The mayor sits at his desk for the final time and now there is endless darkness. Like the photographic shutter there is a light, a moment and then a moment of complete darkness before the next frame appears, which is never identical to the last. Alllmer argues in her paper that 'Miller composed images that destabilised Nazi iconographies and explored the breakdown of Nazi aesthetic representations.' (Allmer, 2012).  The power of the image was used through propaganda from all side in World War II and now images are so prolific and with social media manipulation of events and 'fake' news has made our times even more uncertain.  

In my own work I will be looking at more research on Lee Miller and her images and I will explore further techniques and skills to inform my own photographic and film work for this project. 

References

Kapoor, M. (2020) Lee Miller: A woman who took 60,000 WWII photographs and also bathed in Hitler’s tub, the day he..., Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/the-collector/lee-miller-a-woman-who-took-60-000-wwii-photographs-and-also-bathed-in-hitlers-tub-the-day-he-b7f04f07c137 (Accessed: 18 October 2023). 

Calvocoressi R. (2002), Lee Miller: Portraits from Life, London, Thames & Hudson.

Allmer, P. (2012) Lee Miller’s revenge on Fascist Culture - Edinburgh Research explorer, University of Edinburgh. Available at: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publications/lee-millers-revenge-on-fascist-culture (Accessed: 19 October 2023).