#im largely still working on actual research but my sources are slowly coming together

[hauntedwoman]

i asked for an extension but i have six and a half hours to finish a four page research paper and figure out what the fuck a footnote is

[krystal-mcgregor-blog]

2807QCA Task 04

Final image:

Title: Money Hungry

Post production/editing:

For this image I didnt really want to edit it much in post as it doesnt have many objects in the shot anyhow. This is done on purpose to really highlight the meaning behind it.

I brought up the contrast and lowered the vibrance to give it a more dirty feeling and to make the money seem gritty and I think thats as much as I like.

I do like how everything around the money is obviously fake and I see that as being another part of the idea of the money being the most important and valued item within the shot. I also love the idea I had about making the window look like prison bars with the theme of being trapped.

What I would do differently next time:

I honestly dont like the image that much at all. I do like the message and I believe that the message is obvious but a part from that this is the first image I have taken anything close to this and I just struggled creatively to produce an idea that I felt motivated and excited about.

Other compositions tried:

Settings and equipment:

As I orginally had a large amount of props I decided to shoot at home in a makeshift studio I have in my spare room.

I hired out the Aurora light kit, tripod and gels from Av dispatch and felt quite excited to have this all set up in my own space where i have all the time in the world to try new things/change things around.

As i developed my concept and decided the composition I wanted i really liked the idea of having the light source as natural as possible, and only having it come through the window, therefore I placed a strobe to shine through the window directly to create a bright white light symbolisng ‘freedom’ and ‘the outside world’, and shot into that from the other side of the set.

equipment:

Canon 5D iii

Sigma Art 50mm

Aurora light kit - one light head with snoot, facing down into the window and through crepe paper.

(the images below were taken after i had taken the black out curtains down and disassembled the set)

The equipment needed was actually quit small, as the feeling was mostly conveyed through the props i made.

Developing my concept/ the idea process:

So my ideas for this brief changed dramatically about four times until I ended on my final image.

My first idea was to create a 1920′s themed vanity scene with a mysterious figure in the reflection of a mirror. This image is still probably my favourite, but it more ‘still life’ than a ‘set still’ so wasnt suitable for the brief. I am still holding onto this shoot concept for a future assignment. 

It took me a while after this to accept that and actually come up with a new idea.

I thought about topics that are close to my heart and an idea that would allow me a lot of creativity and I came up with the idea of using small toy animals in various scenes. The first was under water, so I did some research on under water shoots and movie stills and painted the inside of a box very painterly and abstract and gathered other props such as blue satin, a bubble gun, the animals etc.

MY SET ^^^

 Though once I started to put it together I wasnt happy with the feeling as it didnt set an obvious feeling to the scene. 

So i started looking at other scenes..

So I thought about what other scenes the little animals would fit into and it struck me a good one would be a kitchen scene. I drew great inspiration from previous students work that I had seen in the lecture. 

I felt this would be a great scene to get across my passionate stance on animal agriculture (I am a vegetarian/vegan) as the small wild animals would juxtapose with a stereotypical yet slightly abstract hand crafted miniature kitchen set.

I started to make all of this; cutting, painting, glueing etc etc (the day before due date) and as I slowly started to create this set I knew I wanted it to be eerie and dark to provoke thought. I painted everything dark shades and created a window frame resembling prison bars. I knew I wanted the light from the window I cut out to shine directly on the table where some animals will sit on a plate. But I also created a fridge (wasnt easy) where I had placed some animals poking their heads out that needed light to illuminate them. As I put this together and finalised the set I wasnt happy with it...

It didnt have the right feeling and I hated the furniture I made.

I annoy myself sometimes. If Im not liking a shoot Im working on, i just stop and just dont want to go ahead with it. I just need to feel something coming out of it as Im working on it.

I paused and just looked at the scene I had created, I took away the bench, the fridge and the chair and I rathered the simplicity as it made the intention of my image more obvious and also more angry I think. Just the table, knife, fork and plate in front of the illuminated window looked better and it felt more like everything had a purpose.

I took a few photos of just the animals on the plate and didnt mind what was happening but then I thought about other objects that are exploited that could all work on that plate. I went into my room emptied my money jar and got a few coins and started to shoot that... and i just knew this was the shot. 

I tried many many angles, gels to portray a deeper feeling (eg. red for greed). But my favourite is the original coloured image, from a slight above angle showing the coins and table clearly.

This was the longest process Ive had to go through to get an image for this course, I hope this never happens again and I would not recommend.

Inspo:

I drew a lot of inspiration from naturally lit dining room scenes that had a light source coming through the window.

Next I drew inspiration from the Corpse Bride movie, where the whole movie is a miniature set. With either natural looking light sources or just white lights conveying another space outside of the shot, I liked how even though the whole movie was pretty dark, the light sources worked perfectly to light just the right areas to make the scene.

I love the simplicity from my chosen inspiration images, and the eeriness of another world, even though they do seem slightly realistic. i also like the freedom of how i could create the window to allow a certain amount of light in, to create a pattern in the shadow, to give the light shape etc.