Software Practice: Ruby Tuesday

 I created a video in Clipchamp, this was a two-shot edit.  The two pieces of film footage I acquired from Pexels and are copyright free.  One was of a rose and the other a woman on a car.  I used the red coloured theme to create Ruby Tuesday. 

Ruby Tuesday By Zoe Van-de-Velde

I created this on Clipchamp.  I began by importing media using the top left-hand menu.  I imported my two clips and the music that I intended to use was from the Free Music Archive.  

I then began by adding two Text boxes (Typewriter template) to add my Title with a black background, I adjusted the duration using the right-hand menu and the font to Playfair display.  I then added both clips split them and rearranged them so that the edit was fairly quick.  I then went to transitions in the left-hand menu and added crossfades and adjusted the fade in and out so that this would work with the flowers and the woman.  I then added three new text boxes at the end, the same as the beginning ot add credits.  I added the music and then previewed and adjusted it before exporting it to my computer as an MP4.  Once I had done this I added to my YouTube channel and then added here to my blog. 

This was a practice and demonstration so it is a little rough and ready but it shows how a very simple edit can be effective. 

Footwear Experimentation Example

 In this post, I was just experimenting with footwear and looking at the anatomy of the knee-high boot and looking at color and texture using Photoshop. 

As you can see I had a selection of sketched knee-high boots and I added colour by using the quick selection tool and adjusting using the add and minus functions in the top menu.  I then changed the colour and used the paint bucket tool to add colour in sections.  I also used filters and 'noise to create texture, I can experiment more to make this more subtle or more textured in my final collection.  I also kept some white areas and tried to ensure that there was a reflection of the material and that the boot looked 3d.  I studied the anatomy of the boot so that I could discuss this further in my research. 

This was just a practice now I will begin working on my own designs and I will begin considering a colour palette and the structure, form and materials I will use on my designs. 

Experimental Music: Erik Satie and Software Practice [Music Students Example]

 In my project, I will create an EP of three pieces of avant-garde experimental music.  To understand and to consider how I might do this I will begin by discussing the music of Erik Satie.

Erik Satie (1866-1925)

Erik Satie was a French composer whose music was; 'anti-emotional, anti-virtuosic and anti-Wagnerian music, basically rejecting all the major trends of 19th-century classical music and blazing a new trail — maybe unwittingly — for modernism.' (Rowat, 2019) Satie was prone to a joke and often created ridiculous titles and poked fun at the audience and other composers. some of those titles included;  'Trois morceaux en forme de poire (1903; Three Pieces in the Shape of a Pear) and Embryons Desséchés (1913; Desiccated Embryos), and directions to the player such as “with much illness” or “light as an egg,” meant to mock works such as Debussy’s preludes.' (EncyclopædiaBritannica: Erik Satie, 2023) Satie was also a favourite composer of the surrealists who found an affinity with his experimental work. He drank with Man Ray and contributed to Dadaist publications. Satie himself, in life, was eccentric, not allowing visitors into his apartment, he founded his own mystical sect, when he started out his acquaintances called him 'Mr Poor' and he carried a hammer with him at all times for protection which he continued to do even as he became well-known (Alper, 2023).

Satie's music could be considered the first example of minimalism in music, there is a simplicity and beauty to his work.  His chordal changes and reputation for repetition reach their peak in his work Vexations (1893) 'this piece consists of a single bass phrase to be accompanied with chords notated above it. It is assumed that the piece was written for keyboard instruments, but the score does not specify. Text instruction above the staff reads as follows: “In order to play the theme 840 times in succession, it would be advisable to prepare oneself beforehand, and in the deepest silence, through serious immobility.”'(Alper, 2023)

A piece I would like to share here is Choses vues à droite et à gauche (sans lunettes) (1914) - this translates as 'Things seen to the right and to the left (without glasses)' which is a three-movement suite for violin and piano. (Please listen below)  This piece again is simple, and minimal, and reworks the fugue and choral forms.  The set of three he used often which reflected the Trinity and also Satie was working on the idea of music and The Golden Ratio.

This is a very small and inadequate introduction to Satie however I wanted to include this before I added my own experiment with music.  I created this with Satie in mind and I was hoping for something simple and also, I am hoping with a little aural beauty.  I created this on Ampedstudio which is a quite basic online music studio.  I played with the various sounds available and placed them on the track timeline, as it was an experiment I was very much just sketching an idea in sound.  Once I had layered the tracks I downloaded this and I opened this in Adobe Audition as I also wanted to work on this software to create my music this term.  

Please find my two finished sample pieces here these are in G Minor and Eb Major

Betel Nut Blues

Prelude to Pleasure

I want to expand on this sound continuing to work in G minor and considering further the form and structure of the piece.

References

Alper, M. (2023) Composer Erik Satie was so much weirder than you realize, Flypaper. Available at: https://flypaper.soundfly.com/discover/composer-erik-satie-was-weirder-than-you-realize/ (Accessed: 07 November 2023). 

Rowat, R. (2019) Essential Erik Satie: 10 pieces you should know | CBC music read, CBCnews. Available at: https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/essential-erik-satie-10-pieces-you-should-know-1.5053020 (Accessed: 07 November 2023). 

Encyclopædia Britannica (2023). Erik Satie, Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erik-Satie (Accessed: 07 November 2023). 

Software Practice Photoshop: Portfolio Concept

 Today we are creating our portfolio introduction page with the concept of my project on Photoshop.  I will begin by creating a blank canvas to work on.  I did this by opening Photoshop I clicked in new file and this opened a dialog box.  In the box I clicked on print in the top menu and chose A3.  I then checked that the resolution was 300ppi, this creates a high quality resolution. I then chose the orientation as landscape as I am doing film and photos and these will be landscape. I then chose a custom background colour of slightly off white which I think will work for my portfolio page. 

I then added an image from my desktop.  By clicking on File and then Open, I then went to Select in the top menu and then Select All and then I went to Edit in the top menu and then copy.  I then clicked back onto my canvas tab and then clicked on Edit and paste. I then clicked on the move tool at the top of the left hand menu and then I clicked on Show transform controls in the top menu.  I then could move and enlarge image so that it worked on the page. 

I then added my title, I clicked on the Text button in the left hand menu and then I clicked into the canvas.  I then changed the font by clicking into fonts in the top menu.  I used Bookman Old Style 60pt and then I added my own name underneath in smaller font of 30pts

I then created a logo of freelogodesign.com and used the brand name De Velde Productions and I liked the tagline of 'The All Seeing Eye' I then added this to Photoshop.  I clicked on Open and then I repeated the steps I took for adding the image. 

I then used the text tool to and clicked onto the canvas and changed the size to 24pts and kept the font the same. I then wrote my introduction to my project.

This still needs work but is a good practice for the portfolio concept.

Photoshop: Class Practice Portfolio

 Today we looked at Photoshop and how to create a page in our portfolio depending on progression route.  I began by opening Photoshop and creating a canvas to work on.  I created two canvas One in Landscape and one in portrait both A3 in size. One I created with a white background and one in pink.  I did this by clicking on new file and then in dialog box 'Print'. I chose A3 and then the orientation and then background colour and clicked on create.

My next job was to pick an image and then add it to my canvas I did this by choosing a digital asset from Unsplash and Pixabay I added Interior design image by clicking on open and then choosing the file from my computer I then clicked select and select all and then copy and then going to back to my canvas I pasted this in.  I then clicked on show transform controls in the top menu and then adjusted the image to the size I wanted on canvas 

I then added the title of my projects, using the Text tool in the left hand menu.  I just clicked on the tool and then clicked into my canvas and then changed the font and the size of the font.  In the Interior Design Canvas I used centaur at 60pts and added a subtitle at 36pts.  On the fashion I used Copperplate Gothic Gold 72pts.

Then went to freelogodesign.com and created two logos with my brand name De Velde Design.  I customised each logo and then downloaded and uploaded to my canvas and used the move tool and the transform controls to put this in place. 

I then added another text box and wrote the introduction to my projects, this is not complete and I will return to these when I have completed my work and adjust according. 

I have saved both of these as a psd file so that I can edit later.

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