#my camera can do A4 well enough but not A3

[spielzeugkaiser]

Back to the traditional shenanigans! This one was kind of inspired by a bunch of romeo-and-juliet-esque paintings which I liked the vibes off, but wanted something different storytelling wise. I also think I wanna do another design for female presenting Aziraphale, but for the first try this was fun :)

[denka-kamihara]

Coming Home After a Hard Day At Work

My first attempt at an ASMR script. Feel free to use it, just make sure to credit me. Feel free to change the gender and/or streaming service mentioned. Same for the nicknames used.

Summary: Reader has had a horrible day at work. They're frustrated and are in a bad mood. Their boyfriend (speaker) is there to comfort them and help them calm down. The boyfriend himself is kinda goofy, but really sweet and caring.

[ ] Sound effect ( ) voice sound ... pause, mostly for listener to respond * * emphasis on a word ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ time skip

[Door closing]

Welcome home, Baby.

...

Baby? What happened? Why the sour face?

...

Come on, Baby, I know it's not nothing. If it was, you wouldn't look ready to murder anyone who manages to do anything wrong. So just spit it out while I get us both something to drink. What do you want?

...

They did what? And your boss did nothing?

...

Did you get anything done that you wanted to or did everyone just keep bothering you all day with stupid questions?

...

Oh, my poor baby. They really didn't leave you alone even for a second, huh?

...

Well, now you're at home. No one to ask you stupid questions about work or interrupt you as you try getting things done. Do you want me to think of a solution for tomorrow, or was venting enough and do you just want to relax?

...

Leave the distracting to me baby. So how about you go take a shower and put on some comfy clothes. I'll get some snacks and drinks and start up Netflix. I'll even get extra pillows and blankets so we can get super comfy. Do you want to relax on the couch or in bed?

...

Okay, then I'll make sure everything is ready when you're done. Meet me in the bedroom in like twenty minutes, okay?

...

Okay. [kiss]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ah, Baby, are you all ready for some relaxation?

...

Good, good. Well, come join me in the bed. You can arrange the extra pillows and blankets as you please. Anyway, what do you want to watch?

...

Yeah, we can also just talk. What do you want to talk about?

...

How was my day? It was fine I suppose. There was like this whole thing with Jerry and the boss. Jerry had to copy some papers and print them for everyone, double sided and with a staple to keep it together. However, he (laughs) he printed it in A3, instead of A4, one sided and without the staple. (laughs). The boss was not happy with that and asked him to go to his office. You won't believe what happened next.

...

Well let me tell you. Jerry and the boss went inside the bosses office and soon after we could hear yelling. First it was just the boss right, but soon they were screaming back and forth. Out of *nowhere* we suddenly hear this really loud bang before it goes completely silent. We were all listening while holding our breaths, because tea. After a few minutes we could hear voices again before Jerry scrambled out of the office. Turned out the boss *flipped* and I mean *flipped* his desk in frustration. Like, I knew that guy was strong, but holly. That desk probably weighs like 200 or 250 lbs, and it was just like, flipped. We were all shitting our pants at the sight. The boss looked outside the office angrily, 'cause it's never that silent in the office and we all quickly got back to work.

...

Nah, nothing else really happened. That was at like ten in the morning, so we didn't dare piss off our boss the rest of the day.

...

We didn't see Jerry until like... two in the afternoon. He had the stacks correctly printed this time and handed them out silently before going home.

...

When I got home? Well, I took a shower and made some dinner. While eating dinner I watched some YouTube and after I did the dishes before waiting for you.

...

I mostly watched whatever caught my attention, but there was this one awesome video about police chases in the Netherlands by car. The police was following this one guy down a highway and a chopper was watching from above with a camera. All of a sudden the guy they're chasing loses control of the car and the car just rolls and rolls over the grass onto another road before coming to a stop. The car is totally wrecked, but the guy miraculously gets out of the car and runs into the treeline beside the forest. Luckily the chopper had this special filter on his camera thing which allowed him to see where the guy was and he told the police on the ground at the scene. After some negotiation they manage to arrest the guy, but like. The car was totally wrecked and smocking and everything.

...

I know right. It was like this compilation of some awesome chases over there and one even involved guns and shooting. And I know that's like common over here you know, guns and all. But over there it's rare to see them actually shoot. I do get it though. The guy was driving hella recklessly and just being a danger onto everyone. It was a miracle no one got hurt with that chase. Anyway, I got sucked into this loophole of police chases and it got me like all stocked and excited about car chases and the police.

...

Anyway, tomorrow is your day off right?

...

Goog, good. How about we do something fun together?

...

Like what? Well, I'm definitely going to show you some of those chasing videos. And I'm not taking no for an answer. You are watching at least one of those videos, no if's or but's. For the rest of the day we can do whatever you want, though. So what do you want to do?

...

What I want? Hmm. Well. I was thinking maybe a nice day in. We can just watch a movie or start on some show. A new season of that series we watched a few weeks ago just aired and it's supposed to be really good from what I hear, so we could definitely watch that. We could also play some games together or bake something. Oh I saw this recipe last week for cupcakes with caramel and chocolate. We could bake that or a cake. I mean, we can just Google some other recipe that sounds interesting. Or we can do some work in the garden. You've mentioned a few times you want to plant some new flowers. We could go shopping for some and then plant them if you want. And for dinner I can cook you something if you want. We can also take a bath together or just cuddle up in bed all day. God, there's just so much fun stuff we could do together. What do you say?

...

Babe?

...

Did you fall asleep?

...

You must have been if you fell asleep that quickly. [kiss]. Sleep well baby. We'll have a relaxing day at home tomorrow and I'll make sure you relax from all the stress work has been putting into you lately. Just leave it all to me, Baby, I've got you. [kiss]. Good night Baby. I love you. [kiss].

[tinabritton-photography]

Linda McCartney Retrospective at Kelvingrove 13th September 2019 . . .

Our class travelled on foot then by subway to Kelvingrove to visit the Linda McCartney Retrospective show. I’ve never been on the subway in Glasgow and my friends from class helped me figure things out.

The show was awe inspiring to say the least. I went around and looked at every image of the show. Though there was no photography allowed, I had to take some, I had to risk it (though one of the students in our group was told by security not to take photos), because we had to write this blog to satisfy our exhibiton brief. So, I DID. Here are the images I hurriedly took. These are images that spoke to me, but I could not capture all of the ones I wanted. Please forgive that some may be blurry. I felt compelled to include them all as a tribute to her.

The images were not all taken by Linda. There are many taken by Paul. The talent runs through their veins as life’s blood.

Linda McCartney was born in New York, 1941. She was wife to Sir Paul McCartney and a professional photographer. She captured many well-known images of celebrities, including the Beetles, and Jimi Hendrix. (Linda McCartney, 2019)

Sir Paul McCartney said: “Linda would have been so proud of this exhibition being held in Scotland, a country she loved so much and spent so many happy days in.” (Glasgow, 2019)

“The real thing that makes a photographer is more than just a technical skill, more than turning on the radio. It has to do with the force of inner intention. I have always called this a visual signature...” ~ Linda McCartney. (Linda McCartney, 2019)

The image of the old golden coloured truck below is superb. The man driving is unknown to us. The man in the back with his bike is also unknown, maybe even to the driver. Perhaps a hitch-hiker. Who in the world knows? On closer inspection of the image, we, the viewer, can tell that it was taken under harsh morning sun. The camera and photographer are inside the vehicle passing the truck, with the window up. We can tell because we can see the reflection in the image. The truck is frozen, so the shutter speed was fast. The trees in the background are blurred giving us the feeling that we are travelling in the scene. I can almost feel the wind in my hair. The print, I believe, was an A4 landscape format. The equipment, a film camera and a moving car.

The tag states that the image of Linda, below, was taken on the tube. She appears deep in thought and not paying any attention to the photographer, Sir Paul MacCartney. The lighting in the tube seems harsh on her face and top of her head and softer on her knee, telling me the light is coming from above and to the right of her body. The shadow beneath her chin and nose and her fingers have sharp delineation meaning the light is indeed harsh. I looked up the lighting history in the London tube in the 1960s, and sure enough, it was flourescent lighting. No matter what the lighting, I am drawn to the deep blacks and high contrast. She seems to be just emerging and I love that quality in images. The print size, if I remember correctly is A4. Linda seems at ease, and unaware, perhaps she is posing, but I wasn’t there. I’d like to think this is unstaged. It’s more romantic that way. I believe the camera taking this image may have been a Nikon film camera as seen in a self portrait above. I would hazard a guess that is was with a 35mm lens.  (Whatdotheyknow.com, 2019)

Here we have a self-Portrait of Linda herself holding her beloved camera (don’t mind the shadow of me). It is a black and white platinum print taken in Arizona in 1991. This is how I imagine my own self-portrait because, a picture cannot tell the entrie story of a person; you only get to see the stark outline.

The lighting here appears brightest in the centre of her silhouette and softening at its ourter radius. It seems harsh, but needs to be to give us a sharp and detailed outline of Linda. This image was larger than A4, more like an A3. (artnet News, 2019)

Glasgow, W. (2019). Linda McCartney Retrospective at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow West End | What's On Glasgow. [online] What's On Glasgow. Available at: http://www.whatsonglasgow.co.uk/event/069450-linda-mccartney-retrospective/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2019].

Linda McCartney. (2019). Linda McCartney - Official Website. [online] Available at: https://www.lindamccartney.com/ [Accessed 13 Sep. 2019].

Whatdotheyknow.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/66598/response/170252/attach/4/Rolling%20stock%20Data%20Sheet%202nd%20Edition%201.pdf [Accessed 13 Sep. 2019].

artnet News. (2019). Linda and Mary McCartney at Gagosian - artnet News. [online] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/mary-linda-mccartney-gagosian-368093 [Accessed 13 Sep. 2019].

[wildchristography]

Enterprice Activity Evaluation

One of the  tasks during the  course  was creating   photography Project which would allow us to earn some money.  The Money was  ment to go to charity.

Then my class was putting into groups.  My group decided to take a photos  of  pets  In costumers homes. Part of my team was responsible for creating a buisness plan and designing the lottery tickets. The Tickes were sold for £2.  Everyone was involved In selling the tickets, unfortunatlry I couldnt find any intersted people. I spend two days traing to sell the tickeds but I could not  succeed. On the other hand my team mates had sold most of their tikets.  The first drawn person won a photo session and Three printed photos.The second person also won a photo session and one printed Picture. To do the first session me and my asistant  Grant and Joan we went to The second winer to photograph a cat.  After we arived at the costumers house we started shooting. I could use my experience of working with studio lighting gaind during the course. In addition, I have some experience with photographing pets, because sometimes I take photos of my friends dog at home .The Cat was willing to cooperate with my camera what give me oportunisty to take some great photos. Cat owners also actively participated in photography session with it. There was onle one think I was disapointed  I could not use the backgrounds which I prepared. It would give a photo of a specific climate. My time decided desine of room is good enought.  Few days later we went to the first winner of ouer lottery where we have done photography session for Springer Spaniel. That was a very challenge for me because  the dog was hyperactive. In this case, tere was no way to use the backgraund. Because dessne of room was not sutiable for me I proposed to the client if I can take the pictures in the garden. Howewer dog’s owner did not agree because the dog can start diging holes and he could destroy the lawn, so we had to stay in the living room. I need admit that it was a horible session. The dog’s owner tried to clam him down used treats, but even that did not work. The dog jumped arround us. I had literally couple seconds to take good enough photos. After one and half hour of hunting I was sure that I had enough photos for our costumer. Afer gather all photos I started edition. When I finished eition of the  photos I exhaled with relief, because it turned out that pictures was very good. Then I prepared my photos to print in order: One dog photo in A3 format and two in A4 format and one in A3 format with cat. I have send all selected photo in accordance with the order to costomers via E-mail. Then I went to Dedly Digital to gave pictures to print.

That was first project of this type for me. I usually do not work with a team. There was the time in with I wanted to give up. I am glad I did not do it. The pictures bellow went well and the costumers was very happy with photos I have taken. My colleagues from my team also very enyojed . I think it was a great experience and a new skills for me. I am pretty sure that this experience will help me to be better prepared for next project  in the future. I am thankfull for my team and our teacher for their fantastic job and incouraged me to do this activity.

[imogenwilliamsproject4]

Evaluation

Evaluation

•Briefly explain what your final piece is and how you came up with the idea.

My final piece is a documentary is local and focused on homelessness, it includes images of people sleeping rough, possessions left behind and common areas where people sleep rough I’ve named the book ‘modern issue’ I named it this because I think homelessness is a very now and current issue in all of Nottingham and around England it was a kind of play on words of the magazine company ‘the big issue’.  My images are in colour and some are in black and white I decided to have some in colour as black and white doesn’t suit every image and some look better with that pop of colour. I then chose to have some in black and white because it brought out the harsh lines and depth in the image. Sometimes a photograph can rely on the colour to make it interesting so using black and white can decide if in image is good or not and I think my photos were strong enough to be in black and white.

•Refer to research or workshops that inspired you.

I liked the typology’s workshop but as getting my images were hard enough I didn’t have enough images to make an effective typology with what I had and I didn’t have time to go out and photograph more I liked what I had as well and a typology can take away from photos as individuals.

•Why did you decide to use the method of documentary book?

I decided to use print my images onto A4 card. I chose to do this because card is better quality than paper and it looked better for printing. I originally wanted to have a black background but I couldn’t print on black card so I wasn’t able to I did have the idea of printing n white card then cutting the images out and sticking them onto the black card but I thought this wouldn’t look as well done and clear as it just printing the booklet out and leaving it. I chose to print on A4 as I didn’t like how printing on A3 looked and on A4 it looked better quality as the images weren’t stretched too far.

Using the techniques we tried in class for making a photobook I chose to staple my pages together. I did like how the stictching looked but just stapling the pages together looked more professional I didn’t want my documentary to look to hand made. I chose silver staples instead of the coloured ones as I thought using bright coloured staples didn’t fit with the seriousness of my documentary.

I looked at an artist called John Conn he focused on homelessness and issues surrounding it. He inspired me with the using the black and white images his work was really eye opening and gave me the influence to do this project. When going out and taking my images I was nervous about doing so, I felt that I was invading their privacy and I was worried about what people thought and if I was coming across like I was photographing them for a bad reason. I got ever this by just thinking about how it could affect my images. I wouldn’t have been photographing to my best ability and I would have held back. I really wanted to get some dramatic images into my documentary and so I went out my way and just photographed to make sure of this not worrying to much about how it came across to others. Towards the end of the project I wanted to change my idea as I didn’t think the images I had were good enough I tried editing them to look more interesting but didn’t like the outcome. I went out to really try and get some good images I get a handful of good ones I’ve used in my final documentary. I came back after the shoot and reviewed all my images, I had 16-18 images I was happy wit to use but I still kept my camera with me in case I saw an opportunity to photograph something good. I then edited my images to look more intense I kept a theme on a few images of having the clarity at a high number and then the saturation down lower I liked how this made the images look especially in black and white because it just really brought out the intensity and shadows.

Overall I’m really happy with what I’ve created and how it looks I’m happy with all of my final images and my overall idea. This was my favourite project to do as it was open for us to decide what we wanted to do it on. I often walk to the bus stop after college and think about how lucky and fortunate I am to even have a place to go back to and these people have no choice but to stay out all night no matter what conditions all day every day.

[wanderingdyo]

Elyxion Global Package Premium: My Thoughts + Tips

I participated in three days of EXO Elyxion in Seoul Global Package Premium [November 24, 25, 26].

Here are some thoughts and tips I had for the Seoul package. Keep in mind your experience can differ, especially in other countries:

Premium doesn’t necessarily have the best seating. Since tickets are given randomly, you may be “unlucky” and get seats in the same section. Since the arena was so huge, I felt that the Premium seats were too close and had too narrow of a view. I had tickets in A3, A4, and B4, which are off to the sides. Elyxion also had lots of performances in the extended stage and even used that mini stage. That being said, getting tickets to an EXO concert AT ALL is a blessing lol. But for the steep package price, it’s not necessary to get all Premium tickets. There were Premium C area tickets, but I think there were fewer in number than A + B sections.

Since the Ground was all seated, it was harder to see the choreo or what was going on in the other stages. At Gocheok Sky Dome, if you can get seats in the seated 100s, Ts, Ds, and even 200s, you could probably get a great overall view of all the dances and performances. I personally had a hard time seeing “Sweet Lies” choreo especially with all the smoke and the added effects on the VCR.

Arrive with minimal stuff in your luggage, because you will probably have way too much stuff by the end. Bring the max. 2 bags + carry on! The global package gives concert goodies + you will probably buy concert merch + goods at SUM. 

(Just a tiny fraction of the extra stuff I amassed during the trip)

If you have official photo cards you’ve been wanting to trade, bring it to the COEX SUM Cafe and display it! There are usually people wanting to trade.

The tour guides seemed to specialize in Chinese + Japanese. There weren’t as many English-speaking people, so the guides also didn’t speak English well. Keep this in mind as you may have trouble communicating if you don’t speak any other languages.

Go EARLIER than any of the times the guides or schedules tell you. The times are precise and the bus may leave without you. So be sure to go earlier than all the call times!

Try to sleep/nap whenever you can, because it’s all exhausting. If you come from further away, you’ll also have to deal with the jet lag, so prepare for it as much as possible. The package tour started at around 7:15 AM, which means you’ll be up earlier to wash up. There is sometimes a short 1-2 hour break after lunch and the bus leaving for the concert. That’s a good time to change clothes, charge your phone, and get your stuff ready to bring to the concert.

Bring your EXO lightstick, backup batteries, phone, backup phone charger, charger cord, water, slogans/goods, etc. There were some smart Japanese fans with binoculars as well- I’ll have to remember that for next time!

Go to the bathroom before the bus leaves for the concert AND before the concert starts. Even though it’s within Seoul, the traffic heading to Gocheok was INSANE. It took over 2 hours on a rainy day when it would take maybe 30 minutes without any traffic. The lines for the bathroom before the concert are also long, so give yourself enough time!

They didn’t do bag check, but leave your DSLR at home… they had a no photo policy even for cell phones. Depending on the staff, some waved the fans down if they were taking cell phones, while others actually stopped to delete pictures off the phone (including ones of the arena before the concert started…hul). If someone was caught with one of the nicer cameras, they were escorted out and had to check the camera at the outdoor tent. Pictures were probably deleted as well.

The Global Package doesn’t offer dinner, so bring along snacks. They also sell snacks at Gocheok for around 5,000 KRW (or $5 USD). They had Korean chicken, ddukbokki, hot dogs, etc. There is a post-concert snack with some water, half a meh-tasting bagel (bagels suck in Korea), Elyxion macaron, madeleine, etc.

Practice your fanchants! Combined, the whole theater was extremely loud, with the upper levels echoing a second behind, but I was surprised by how quiet it was near me. Probably because it was more international fans around and we were all seated, it wasn’t as loud as I’ve experienced before. The EXO concerts at Newark had less coordinated fanchants, but it was much louder individual screaming wise haha.

My hotel was the Intercontinental Coex Hotel, which was the home ground for picking tickets, etc. It was also a close walk to the SUM Artium, which was convenient. DO NOT drink from the stocked mini-fridge unless you don’t care about money. Just go outside to a convenience store and fill the fridge with whatever you want. There was free water, but make sure the bottles are labeled complimentary before you drink it (NOT the Evian). The tea and coffee outside on the counter was also complimentary. Towels + shower toiletries are stocked so you can leave those at home if you want. Just bring your fave facial cleanser + moisturizer, etc.

(Stocked mini-fridge: don't drink! Put your own drinks inside from outside)

Global Package also doesn’t give breakfast, so bring along snacks to your package tour.

The movie I got to see was “From Happiness” Special Edition. It was really cute! I wish they showed the concert movies too though. The seating is also random for this, you pick your ticket along with the concert tickets. I saw some people in the front tried to change their seats, but the staff made them go back, so they seem strict about it.

The lunch at SUM Market was just okay. Nothing spectacular- just bulgogi + banchan, so I skipped the second lunch to spend extra time at Coex.

Keep track of the SUM accounts on Instagram for any special deals on goods. While I was there they had some special events like Spend $20 and get a photocard. The line outside SUM Artium was INSANELY long (spanning different floors and out the door), but if you had the Global Package neck tag on, they let you skip the whole line to enter and buy.

By the end of the concert + package, I had to somehow fit this into my luggage:

That’s all I can think of for now! I'm still looking through pics + videos from the concerts. What I like better about seeing EXO in North America concerts is that I can take pics freely and actually see them closer. But seeing them in Korea was also a unique and exciting experience!

[curiositiesbyzach]

Evaluation

For my curiosities and obsessions project I have decided to explore Food Culture, exploring how people interact with and around food and different culture’s interpretations of food. In our brief we were tasked with taking three approaches to create work for our title, so I took this as a chance to develop areas in photography that I have not explored before.

For my first approach I decided to go to the heart of food culture and make a study into food markets, where people’s sole purpose is to sell and buy food. I chose this as my first approach because I felt as though this would give me a good start in understanding people’s relationships with food and the culture around it. I conducted research into the world’s most famous food markets and was lucky enough to get the chance to go to Istanbul, I created a body of work around Istanbul’s food culture which resulted in a zine documenting my 48 hours of observations. I developed my street photography approach by producing more work My second idea for tackling this project was an editorial approach, with my aim being to create a short magazine showcasing the wide range of independent eateries and bars in the BS3 postcode of Bristol. My perspective on this subject is of being a new resident to Bedminster having previously lived in the city centre during my first year of study, I was immediately inspired by the variety and uniqueness of the establishments in the area and the sense of community they share. I decided to take an editorial approach because I wanted to gain experience in working on a project with a practical and real world outcome such as a magazine that could go out to the public, this would include elements of text that I gain myself.  My third approach to this project was to do a series of studio still lives, utilising the Mamiya medium format cameras that we had workshops in at the beginning of this year. This approach was partly inspired by my summer work which I got good feedback on from my peers and tutors and felt as though it was something that I could take further. I also feel as though this approach was a good project to conclude my work into food culture as it effectively sums up all of the food cultures I have researched and have been influenced by during my time producing work of other countries cuisines. It sums up and shows the wide variety of different culture’s interpretations of ‘food culture’.

I feel as though my first approach of street photography was successful, however the outcome could have been more refined and had more time spent on it. I produced a virtual zine which although was engaging could have been more potent and done the photos better justice if it had been in a physical format. The images were taken on a full frame digital camera so I could have printed the images on A3 spreads to create a folded A4 scale magazine to compliment the resolution of the images. I have not had much experience with making zines, so this is something I wish I had dedicated more time to on this project. Despite being dissatisfied with the outcome of this approach I am happy with my process and research leading up to it. I studied Joe Greer’s and Martin Parr’s work in street photography prior to my own, analysing what makes their work successful, the aesthetic devices they use and their method of creating street portraits. I related and was interested in these two practitioner’s work partly because of their bold use of colour in their imagery which is a device and a post-processing step that I use myself. This translated well to my desired output of a zine because it makes the images engaging for the audience and allowed me to group certain images together through a shared colour. Another aspect of Joe Greer’s photography that I took influence from was his use of frames in an environment to isolate/draw attention to an individual or group of people, whilst at the same time using the environment to compliment the story he is trying to tell by including additional pieces of information which add to image’s narrative. Istanbul was a new environment for me to create photographs in so I wanted to convey as much of what I was observing to the audience so they too could experience the culture that I witnessed; by including signs, shops or people interacting in the frame. I decided to develop my street market photography by carrying on this approach back in Bristol, choosing the Tobacco Factory Sunday market as my next subject. From my photos in Istanbul I felt as though my most successful images were the ones of people interacting in purchases/discussions and the portraits I took of store owners, so this is how I approached my development of this approach. Again, I focused on bold colour for this photo-shoot which helped to create coherency with my other street photography. The skills I gained in Istanbul such as how to approach people with the intention of taking their portrait was useful in allowing me to create images in Bristol with a similar style of composition as I could take my time to compose once I had gained permission to photograph. In my opinion this was a successful approach to my title of food culture as I clearly documented ‘food culture’ in different cultures in a refined manner and then presented these images in an appropriate format. Something that I could improve on for this approach would be my image selection, I came away from Istanbul with one hundred plus final images a lot of which I included in my final zine; resulting in almost 40 pages. This may be too long to be a practical zine which holds a viewers interest, I could have found out if this was the case through peer and tutor feedback which I did not receive because I finished my outcome so close to the deadline.

For my second approach of editorial photography I did not take in to account the amount of time my desired outcome would take to produce and the hours of back and forth communication with clients it required. I feel as though I went about it in the right way, by producing formal letter invitations in the style of my intended magazine and handing them in in person, but I attempted to take on more than I could feasibly handle in the time I had for this module. I engaged 33 BS3 independent businesses and less than 10 followed up my invitation which left my idea of creating a magazine showcasing the area’s indie eatery scene less than I had hoped for. My personal most successful images are the series of three I took at the Southville Deli on the Mamiya 7 ii, depicting a man sitting down looking out on to the street in the first frame, the next frame is partially covered by a waiter in an apron approaching the main, and the final third frame shows the waiter handing the man his coffee and the two sharing a warm exchange of smiles. I feel as though these are the most successful images from this approach because they show the sense of community and genuine care that I was initially inspired by from these independent businesses. In the end I only managed to work with four businesses which I decided was not enough to produce a magazine from. I had hoped to document the behind-the-scenes of each restaurant so I could give the viewer of my magazine an insight they might not otherwise get but this too proved difficult to follow through on. In the end I feel as though this approach resulted in a handful of successful individual or small series of images but not anything more that I thought justified being made into a magazine. Some feedback from an edit tutorial session I had with my tutor and peers was a suggestion to create large spreadsheets of aesthetically laid out images instead of producing a magazine, however this was not something I had time to do as I wanted to focus my attentions and remaining time on my last approach to this creative problem.

So far in this project I had not done any studio work, which is an area I want to continue progressing in. I therefore decided to create a series of still life images depicting the uniqueness and variety of different cultures interoperations of food, which in my opinion is a fitting conclusion to my creative exploration of this title. My intention for this still life series was to print the final images large, A2, so that they could be shown in an exhibition or a gallery. In order to ensure the resolution was high enough and to choose a format that was complimentary to the shape of the flags that are the background to each of my country’s cuisines, I decided to use the 6x7” medium format Mamiya RZ67. This studio project was inspired by my typology of beer mats that I did for my summer work, I had positive feedback from my tutor and peers for this work and I personally thought as though they translated well to a gallery space due to their regularity and a clear and consistent focus in each image which made them work well as a series and draw the eye of the viewer in to the centre of each image. The use of flags also makes this series relatable to people of many different backgrounds, which again reflects on the diversity and how unrestrained by cultural differences food is as a photographic subject. This studio still life approach was also intended as an accumulation of my whole project, collating different cultures, the use of bold striking colour and food to convey the idea of food culture. I feel as though this was the most successful approach and the appropriate one to end my project on because it communicates to the viewer how vast the concept of ‘food culture’ is and just how many ways it can be interpreted by different cultures; this was my initial goal setting out on this project and I am happy with how I have portrayed this through my series of 10 images.

In conclusion I am content with my extent of exploration into this creative problem that I set myself, I attempted three different approaches that each resulted in a very different outcome which allowed me to decide which was the most successful. For my first two approaches I commented that I needed to improve on my final outcome, this suggests to me that I did not plan my time effectively or did not consider well enough how the final images would be applied to my desired finish. To improve on this next time I will better plan out each set of my approach to a project to make certain that it is doable in the allocated time, if not I will reconsider the format of the final outcome through discussions with my peers and tutor. My most successful images for this project were my still life series which is something I have not done before so this is something that I would like to revisit in the future, as well as revisiting producing physical zines and experimenting with the types of finish you can achieve. I am pleased with the practitioners that I chose to research for this project because ‘food’ is such a saturated photographic subject and their influences helped me to produce work that was different to the majority of people who’ve produced work around food. Although I took three different approaches to this title I carried on using the influence from all of my research throughout this project which helped to create a coherent and related body of work, aided by the fact that my approaches led on from each other to reach my final outcome.

[gracehubbardproject3]

Evaluation of final piece

My final piece is based around the theme of identity, so I took portraits of everyone in my class, I then uploaded them all onto photoshop, I followed the same steps with this as I did when learning how to do nets earlier in the project. But this time I used a cube net. So once I had edited all of these, I printed them, I printed 6 in A3 and then 1 plain cube net, then the other 7 in A4. I printed them onto 140gm card for the A4 and then 280gm for A3. Once I had printed them out I cut the nets out, then scored them, then made them into cubes. So I used the plain cube as the base then built the others on top and around it. I used the net workshop we did in class as my main inspiration for the initial idea. But I did research into photographers/sculptures that used this technique in their own work and found Rebecca Chews work which gave me the idea of using faces on the cubes. I decided to use this method because I thought it looked really cool the first time we did it in class so wanted to experiment more with it and see what I could achieve from using it. So I used card for my final piece, as I knew it would be sturdier than using paper. I then used super glue to stick all of the nets together and the cubes together as it is secure and I can guarantee that it won’t fall apart at all. Ideally a thicker card would’ve been better, as it would have given more of a professional look with the quality of it. I decided to use this method because I thought it looked really cool, the first time we did it in class I enjoyed it so wanted to experiment more with it and see what I could achieve from using the method. So I used card for my final piece, for the A3 cubes it was 280gm in thickness and for the A4 it is 140gm. I wanted to use card instead of paper as it makes the sculpture a lot more sturdy. I then used super glue to stick all of the nets together and the cubes together as it is secure and I can guarantee that it won’t fall apart at all. Ideally a thicker card would’ve been better, as it would have looked more proffesional and feel like really good quality.  I decided to use this method because I thought it looked really cool the first time we did it in class so wanted to experiment more with it and see what I could achieve from using it. 

I placed my sculpture in front of mirrors, as it revolves around the theme of identity and I wanted to create reflections of my piece, as I thought it would look effective with the shapes, and maybe create some sort of illusion. So I went into a room with a wall of mirrors, then put a table in front of the mirrors and placed the sculpture on that, with a white sheet underneath it, laying over the table. I then got another tall mirror and layed it on the table, I tried landscape and portrait way. Landscape worked a lot better with the reflections and we could capture it from many angles. I then moved my sculpture around to try and position it so that the reflections looked effective. I had to use a tripod so that I could use a slow shutter speed. But it was difficult as the camera was seeing it from different angles than us, but I managed to do it in the end and I am happy with the final shot I captured. 

 I feel like I did quite well with this assignment as I experimented with the things I had enjoyed doing previously in the project and feel like my final project was a success as it incorporates a 3D sculpture and is quite experimental yet has a meaning behind it. However I did find the process quite challenging as it was difficult to get the structure to stay together without something/someone holding it up, but I overcame this problem in the end. Additionally if I had more time to complete this project, I would have maybe played around more with the photographs I used, instead of just using whole faces and eyes, focus on features too, such as lips, nose and hair. As this would have been slightly more appropriate to the meaning behind the piece and would have stronger links to my inspiration, Rebecca Chew. I could have also experimented with the shapes I used, instead of just cubes, I could have incorporated cuboids, cones and spheres but I did not have enough time to try this out. But overall I think it was a success as I enjoyed making it, and came out with something I am very happy with.

[shinyquagsire23]

Picking apart the Joy-Con: Wired Protocol and Firmware Dumping

For the past few days I've poked around a bit with the fancy new controllers that ship with the Nintendo Switch, the Joy-Con. My primary motivation in looking at these devices mostly come back to the fact that they're almost everything I wanted in my VR controller project: analog joysticks, four buttons, and grip buttons (to a degree). Position tracking aside, I think they're basically perfect for VR and have huge potential as a standard Bluetooth controller as well, with some interesting bits added in like linear resonant actuators for HD rumble, an IR camera and NFC. And while they do work out of the box as Bluetooth controllers, there is no real analog Joy-Stick values, all of the extra peripherals are still locked off, and the Joy-Con don’t send data fast enough at times, resulting in missed button presses.

Unfortunately, at least until the Switch is fully cracked open to the point where normal Bluetooth communication can be observed, the only means of communicating with the Joy-Con aside from Bluetooth is through the wired protocol present under the rails. When the Joy-Con are docked, a 10 pin connector is used for charging and data transfer as opposed to keeping Bluetooth on constantly.

Before I go too far in though, I'd like to send a huge shoutout and thanks to dekuNukem and his repository at https://github.com/dekuNukem/Nintendo_Switch_Reverse_Engineering, he got much farther into Joy-Con protocol reversing before I even started, and I doubt I would have been able to get this far without some of his data since my logic analyzer is fairly weak and can't capture a whole lot at a time. However, for some simple debugging it and some wires is more than good enough to recreate his experiments and try things on my own:

The Joy-Con rails communicate wired to the console via UART, with an initial baudrate of 1000000bps (1Mb/s) and with flow control for both sending and receiving. The Joy-Con Rx and CTS lines are also inverted (possibly for easier detection?). To talk to my Joy-Con, I opted to use my ESP32 which actually supports inverted UART lines, however a bug in uart_set_line_inverse did end up causing errors regardless of the masks I sent, and it turned out to be a driver bug which nobody has encountered since inverted lines aren't used all that often.

To begin communication, an initial test packet of A1 A2 A3 A4 is sent from the Joy-Con to the console, and following this a packet requesting the device’s MAC address is sent, which it promptly returns:

Additionally, these handshaking packets can be sent repeatedly, however the final handshake command must occur before additional commands are opened. This fact at least makes while(1) debugging while tweaking UART settings possible.

Once handshaking is done, different functionality of the Joy-Con may be polled. Most notably, full input can be retrieved with analog joystick values and 6-axis values (though it seems the IMU is off by default and needs a command to enable it). Additionally, one of the first things done after initialization is reading calibration and identification values from the inbuilt Joy-Con SPI flash. For my initial test case, I wanted to try grabbing some input values before getting too crazy:

With that done and working though, my main goal in all of this is Bluetooth, and once again it's not something that can easily be observed. What can be observed, in this case, is the Joy-Con firmware which resides in the SPI flash. By using the same packet used for reading calibration and identification data from SPI, the entire SPI flash can be dumped.

Even with the SPI flash dumped, however, I am having difficulty finding any code to reverse at all. There are definitely strings to indicate that there is code, and some things almost appear to be proper Thumb code, but nothing quite makes sense or flows at all. However there are still some notable things in the firmware:

Strings for "Joy-Con (L)", "Joy-Con (R)", and "Pro Controller" exist, which seems to imply that all three share the same exact firmware (though probably with configuration blocks tweaked to identify what device it is)

A string for "Joy-Con Charging Grip" exists, possibly implying that it can (or originally was planned to?) bridge two wired Joy-Con connections into one wireless connection? Or at the very least, the grip may identify itself to Joy-Con for the console to know a charging grip is being used.

The Joy-Con serial, color, and MAC are all stored in SPI flash. It’s possible these blocks are write protected, but somehow I doubt it.

Some guesses with Bluetooth:

The protocol is probably fairly similar if not identical to the wired protocol.

The Joy-Con work, by default, as game controllers, but my guess is that there is something similar to UART where it will not display an extended set of commands until a specific handshake is done. Hopefully a firmware RE will reveal any nuances required for this...

While I won’t have my SPI flash dump uploaded with this post, I’m more than willing to send it the direction of anyone who is interested in reverse engineering it. For anyone who wants to dump their own Joy-Con, my ESP32 source can be found here.

[alannamedia-blog]

MEDIA STUDIES COURSEWORK EVALUATION

I chose the music video brief because the audience wanted to direct it at would be more inclined to watching a music video – I think it’s more fun and visually engaging for people age 13-20 that I would be aiming to appeal to. The forms and conventions of a music video to me can be more interesting than those in a short film for example music videos are fast paced compared to a film and can keep the audience’s attention for longer. Music videos I think can be sort of a diversion a way to have a short moment to escape normal life (Blumler and Katz’s theory). I also chose to produce a print task and I made an A3 magazine page. I think that it was better to do it on A3 because I could make it look like a double page spread of two A4 pages that would be side by side in a magazine. I think the print I decided to make is appealing also because it includes pictures and colours and would be interesting to the people who would be viewing the video as well.

I think that I aimed my video from the start at popular YouTube watching age which is roughly between ages of 13-20 because my video includes people age 17 so not a lot of older viewers are going to relate to that kind of content. When doing my research I looked at videos that were directed to an audience of around age 15-18 because they were for viewers a little but older than my age bracket. My video would be aimed more at girls because the people featured in the video are all girls so viewers could have a sense of Blumler and Katz’s personal identity whereas if they’re boys not so much. Also people interested in quite quirky colourful videos that don’t have a storyline as such but a continuous theme. The video that includes a fashion and props might visually attract people interested in that as well. I tried to at a lot of scenes to l keep the viewers engaged. I wasn’t necessarily making it appealing for girls but because I am a girl I made a video that I would like too so I guess it ended up being mostly for females. I wanted to keep Richard Dyers utopian solutions in mind when filming/directing the video. I thought of his utopian solutions; energy, making sure the video was active, engaging and interesting: intensity, having lots of energy and happy emotions throughout: community, a sense of common interests and the people in my video being friends and showing togetherness.

My research beforehand helped me because I got to create images in my head of what I wanted it to look like because I saw other videos and got ideas from them. The videos that I looked at I took certain bits put them in my video but in my own way. For example in the music for the Hinds band I really liked how the band seemed really good friends and like they were having fun and that’s what I wanted to be presented in my video so I made sure my band looked like they were having a good time. Also in the Marina & the Diamonds video there was a lot of different shots and so I made sure there was a variety of shots in my video even though I could have incorporated even a vaster range of shots. With my secondary task, the magazine double page spread, I looked at about Nicki Minaj I liked the use of bright, bold colours so I did that in my magazine. I added elements of colour as I didn’t want to just have white and black I love how it’s not too colourful but it presents the band well. With the range of magazines I looked at I took ideas from them such as colours or the layout but overall my magazine is pretty unique.

I chose to use jump cuts to reach my target audience because jump cuts have connotations with youthfulness. I also used close up shots to let the audience engage more with the band and panning shots to show different perspectives of the shot instead of focusing on one which makes it more interesting. I used a few panning/tracking shots which lets the audience see the video in different perspectives it also added more movement to my video which appeals to a younger energetic audience. I used birds-eye-views to give the audience a different view point from above rather than looking straight on, I did this in the scene where someone in black boots is walking over the grass I preferred this angle than a straight on angle because it is more unusual.

The locations than I chose to use were quite urban. I filmed around Bristol and mostly in a garden. I liked filming outside because I think the lighting was better than inside and it is more engaging to an audience as in my opinion the surroundings are more interesting. Also, the music videos that I researched beforehand had were mostly filmed outside and I thought for me they were more enjoyable and had better locations and because my video age range is around my age I thought it would be more enjoyable for my audience too. I chose to include lots of props in my video because it allowed me to communicate a sense of fun and again youthfulness. The band had quite bright and unnormal make-up like glittery lips/eyebrows and bright eyeshadow this is the image I wanted to give my band quite cool personalities and the way to communicate that through the video was props, costume, make-up and body language.

The music song that I chose for the band that I created was a pop/rock song I chose it because I thought I could create a fun theme around the idea of ‘money’ to appeal to a younger audience. It is quite an upbeat song that repeats itself quite a lot so therefore is quite catchy and I found that a younger audience is more engaged and can interact with a song that is catchy. There was only non-diegetic sound in the video which was the music I didn’t add it any voiceovers or have talking in any part of it which might have been effective. For example, there could have been diegetic laughing at the start or end which happens in music videos sometimes and just lets the audience know it’s going to be an exciting video. In the video, I had several clips of lip-syncing but not as many as I would have liked to. I think to have more lip-singing would have been more effective as you would get to see the band more which would appeal to the audience.

I didn’t include many post production words onto the video apart from at the end I added the song name and band name. I think that it looked more professionally edited this was as it would have been unnecessary and of looked out of place if I’d had any writing on the screen. I used a plain white font that was slightly different to a more common font - I didn’t want to use anything to outstanding. In the video, I also wrote the song title ‘Money’ in pink paint which I put at the start of the video, then also showed it being painted further on in the video. This I used instead of font over the top of the music video because it added to the rustic and craziness of the band.  

In my opinion I would say that the transitions from each shot were mostly quite smooth and looked professional I didn’t add too many unique transitions because I didn’t want them to take away from the actual video so I kept with the quite simple ones such as fade to white/black and the blur transition. The editing I made sure was quite fast paced so that it did not become boring and it stayed attractive to my younger audience.

In my proposal, I talked about my audience being age 15-25 however now I’ve filmed it I think it would appeal to an audience slightly younger just because of its youthfulness and the fact that the band members are age 16/17 so older people cannot relate and may enjoy a video that has a story line and is more serious than one a bit crazy and creative like mine. I also think the age range 13-20 is more of the typical YouTube viewer age and that is the platform that the video would be displayed on. I also said I would use a tripod but ended up not as all the shots I was able to do hand-held. Although I didn’t need one or have one for the camera I was using it would have been helpful and may have made some shots steadier. In my proposal, I talked about how I wanted to make a music video that didn’t have much of a storyline but related to the song with a theme and I think that I did that quite successfully. I said in my proposal also that I wanted to use props and costume/make-up as a main element but not let that be more important with the number of shots that I filmed. I decided that I had to film a second time and get lots more shots because I didn’t have enough to work with the first time. By doing this I could create a video with a wider range of shots. In my proposal, I also explained my video would be filmed in mostly urban areas it was. I think overall my video came out how I hoped and even better because I didn’t think I’d have any lip-syncing at all so to have included any at all I think is an improvement because I think it can make the audience feel like the video is more personal.

I think a main strength of my video is the energy that it includes which is purely down to the fact the editing was fast and didn’t stay on a shot for too long. The transitions worked well with each shot and wouldn’t distract an audience from the content of the video. The band was interactive and confident and interesting. I made sure the performers in the video where comfortable in front of a camera and for that reason it made the video easy to make and the end result came out with a realistic looking band. The colours in the video also showed a sense of energy for example a black and white video would have come across as serious and dull, whereas in my video I added elements of black and white to have contrasting scenes. The props communicated a sense of wildness and non-seriousness. I liked the props because I think they are appealing to a younger audience I wanted to connect with. The fake money used was also very effective because it related to the song and showed to overall theme of the video

I think another strength is my location I made sure that it was light and I filmed with the band in mainly one place which was the garden. I filmed other shots elsewhere but they all fitted nicely together and I didn’t have any random scenes which were random or out of place. I did try to film inside but it didn’t look very good quality and so I didn’t add those shots into the video because it would have made the audience think the shots were added in because there was not enough footage or because I didn’t want them to be as appealed as they would be without the bad shots. The outside is also quite playful and fun because it is where younger people tend to hang out so very relatable to some.

My magazine is successful I think because it, like the video, appeals to a younger audience. I included colour to made it more visually attractive. I used a lot of pink and the pictures are of just girls (the band members) so therefore may be more appealing to girls that will experience personal identity or relationships. I included about five pictures because there is quite a lot of writing I wanted to keep the reader fully engaged and because I’m aiming at an audience of 13-20 pictures might be more interesting to them. I included bold writing on important parts which draws the reader to certain sections making sure they read those parts such as ‘tour dates’. I also think my magazine is appealing because I include personal messages from all the band members which makes it more intimate and I did this because it allows the reader to get to know them and feel more included and more a part of the ‘fandom’.

My weaknesses within my video would include not having enough lip-syncing I think it is much more personal and is much more like an actual music video with a lot more lip-syncing for example when looking at the marina and the diamonds video she lip-synced the whole song and it just looked a lot more professional and you see the band/singer more as well which is more appealing to an audience. If I were to make the video again I would also make sure the quality of the video was better I don’t know whether it was the camera or that it wasn’t bright enough outside but it could have been more visually appealing if it was less grainy and more HD. I would also have gone more dramatic with the costume and make-up because on camera it didn’t look as effective and it was a main part of the theme of my video. I would have also made the band more interactive such as added in some slow-motion dancing shots or more close-ups of facial expressions just to make the audience closer to the band. Also, to make my magazine better I could have added in certain features to make it look more like a magazine page such as better column structure and more boxes with quotes or little additional information.  

If I were to use a third media platform and created a website I think that it would have appealed to an audience because online is a popular platform that will appeal to a younger audience as technology is very popular. Online platform (a website) is also very easy to access for most people and is usually free unlike a magazine which you must purchase and it also better for the institution because they do not have to pay a lot either. The website, if I were to have made one, would be promoting the band and have tour dates, an about section, tickets, new music tabs which would allow audiences to find out more about a band or get tickets easily to their concert. Like the music video and the magazine would have made the website bright, colourful and edgy to reflect the personality of the and appeal to the bands target audience. In my magazine, I added links to the bands social media such as Instagram and Twitter, however online this can be clicked and directly accessible which is appealing to a younger audience with phones who can access the sites immediately. The third platform would also be accessed buy a wider audience range because it is more popular therefore gaining more viewers, money and supporters.

Overall I think my video successfully targeted my audience and the video specifically met the audience needs that I needed it to. The video related directly to the theme of the song and the video communicated the ideas of freedom and fun and youthfulness that I wanted to show. The music accurately gives an upbeat representation of teenagers and the bands identity. – They are slightly crazy and childish. The magazine links well with the video and shows the bands personality. I wanted to make both of them look professional and well-made but make sure they are exciting products which I think was achieved well. 2716 words