Research: The Man Who Fell to Earth and Uncertain Times

 When I was a teenager I loved film, and I wanted more than anything a video player.  My mother told me if I wanted it I could pay for it, so I did I worked in a supermarket three nights a week and Saturday and I did babysitting work.  The films I wanted to watch were French and German and Spanish and Chinese and they had to be ordered by post from a place in London that sent me VHS tapes.  I would wait until everyone was out and then I could enjoy these films.  One of these films was 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' directed by Nicholas Roeg and starring David Bowie.  

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) Directed by Nicholas Roeg

This film was released in 1976, and the movie was shot in New Mexico which gave the strange, uninhabited, and alien landscapes.  Singer describes the film as a sui generis classic which simply means 'of its own kind'  it certainly is a strange mix of styles and ideas.  The cinematography uses the light beautifully and Tony Richmond remembers that; 'I just love the way these anamorphic lenses flare, it’s beautiful, the halation. It was a sort of no-no at the time, lens flare, but it’s become a huge thing. We loved that and went for it. I think they were the Panavision C Series Anamorphic Lenses.'(Singer, 2019)  Halation is just when there is a kind of fog or glow around the original photographic image. The images of Newton's home planet were shot on White Sands Missile Range and the crew was not allowed to take anything in there that could not be pulled by a horse, as they were the first people to ever be allowed in. (Singer, 2019) Bowie playing an alien works incredibly well as he plays a kind of vulnerable yet detached character that comes from a planet that is abundant in gold but s running out of water and he comes to earth to find and transport water back to his home planet. 'Newton needs to establish utter mastery of Earth’s technology so that he use its water for his own drought-stricken planet.' (Bradshaw, 2016)and is forced to collaborate with humans to enable his plan to come to fruition. When I first watched this I thought Bowie was a beautiful and strange creature and that this film was really a work of art.  The scenes where he watches many different television screens to see the world are kind of a glimpse into the future as now we have this and we are addicted to those screens.

David Bowie as James Newton in The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)

When I was thinking about the little short I would make for this project I thought of this film as it encompassed many of the ideas I was thinking of about being an outsider in an uncertain world, having a plan for life but the world itself has other plans that are not in our control. I learned through this research that a TV series had been made of this same story and with many of these things, I do abhor a remake! The reviewer Hadadi seems to agree with me stating; 'The Man Who Fell to Earth demands a level of patience that hasn’t yet paid off, and the inconsistencies in its narrative and characterizations don’t provide high hopes for the remaining six episodes, either.' (Hadadi, 2022).  The other reason I believe I was quite taken by the film, when I first saw it, was that it was strange and mysterious, it didn't quite make sense and it was quite slow-paced. Egbert writes; 'As science-fiction films go, this is a unique one. It focuses on character and implied ideas, not on plot and special effects. It’s very much a product of the 1970s, when idiosyncratic directors deliberately tried to make great films.' (Ebert, 2011)  perhaps I like the idea of making something out-of-time as I feel I am not made for this world, this world I barely recognise.

References

Bradshaw, P. (2016) The man who fell to earth review – a freaky concept album of a film, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-review-nicolas-roeg-david-bowie (Accessed: 05 November 2023). 

Singer, L. (2019) Scene by scene: My secrets of shooting David Bowie in the man who fell to Earth, British Film Institute. Available at: https://www2.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/interviews/secrets-shooting-david-bowie-man-who-fell-earth (Accessed: 05 November 2023). 

Hadadi, R. (2022) The man who fell to Earth doesn’t know where to land, Vulture. Available at: https://www.vulture.com/article/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-review.html (Accessed: 05 November 2023). 

Ebert, R. (2011) The man who fell to Earth Movie Review (1976): Roger Ebert, The Man Who Fell to Earth movie review (1976) | Roger Ebert. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-2011 (Accessed: 05 November 2023). 

Project Plan: Uncertain Times (Final Version)

 This is my project plan with timeline for the coming weeks (weeks 5-9) this will assist me in organising my time and work to complete by the deadline of 7th December 2023. I created this plan using Venngage Infographics.

Please find my Project Plan: Uncertain Times here

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 

Software & Editing Ideas and Practice

 I wanted to consider how I would like my film to look and to think about the sort of mood I wanted to create for my film and as I am a fan of Bauhaus (The Band) I thought a short clip that worked with music would be good to create. Songfacts states; 'This was the first single from Bauhaus. The song, which is a very dark 9-minute epic on the death of a vampire, is considered the true start of the gothic subculture. The song's horror-esque lyrics along with the many eerie effects and monotone sound were standards for the rise of gothic music.' (Songfacts.com, 2023)  I liked the idea of a kind of gothic feel for the practice and I sought out this kind of music on the Free Music Archive.  here it states there is a monotone sound I will be going for a monotone look which I think may work for this practice.

Bella Legosi is Dead by Bauhaus (1982)

I thought I would use Clipchamp as per my project sign off and as I can work on this online and at home on my desktop.  It is fairly simple to use and I did not want a particularly complicated edit.

I began by choosing several clips from Pexels but I got this down to two clips as for practice I wanted a a very clear message as there was no commentary - it is more like a music video.  

I added the clips to Clipchamp just by importing them into 'my media in the left-hand menu

As can be seen, I imported more clips than I needed as I was still deciding which clips would really work together and I couldn't do this until I put them together on the timeline. 

I then added as my first clip a black background which I just used from ClipChamp and a text box so that I could add the title.

I then added my first clip which is of a woman dancing - this clip I use this all the way through and essentially just use the split tool to split the clips and create gaps to add in my other clip of the skull which I also split into pieces and inserted into the film. 

I then changed all the film footage to black and white using filters on the right-hand menu and then choosing 'muted black and white' 

I then went to each edit and went to 'transitions' on the left-hand menu and added a crossfade for just over 2 seconds so that the fade merged with the girl's face. 

I checked each fade was working and then I added Credits at the end so I could credit the film clips to the makers on Pexels and also the music I chose which was from the free music archive.

I then added the music on a separate timeline and added a fade in and out at the beginning and end.

I then exported the video to my computer as an MP4 as a high quality HD film.  I also created a link so it can be access here as well. 

Uncertain Times

This is my final practice film 'Uncertain Times' (Version One) It was too large to upload straight from my computer therefore I added this to my YouTube Channel - Please see the final cut below!

Uncertain Times, Edited by Zoe Van-de-Velde (2023)

This was a good practice and it helped me to think about how I wanted to make my longer final piece in terms of mood, style, and message.  The editing process was fairly simple and I wanted to keep it this way in my final film.  It is a little rough around the edges and in the final film, I will spend longer on each edit to ensure they are even smoother.  I was pleased with the music choice as this does work well with the film and the crossfades are definitely going to be a feature in my final work.  

References

Songfacts.com. (2023). ShieldSquare Captcha. [online] Available at: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/bauhaus/bela-lugosis-dead. [Accessed 01/1123]

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.