A selection of shots

I went to Bath and took some photographs for the quotes/phrases ideas. I feel that some of them are very successful and will use Photoshop to manipulate them slightly to slightly improve them.

                                                                  Paint the town red

                                                                      Sitting ducks

An Apple a day keeps the doctor away

                                                             Like a duck to water

I have thought of a few phrases/idioms for these images... Face the music, music to my ears, fit as a fiddle..Once I have edited them, I will select appropriate idioms for them.

This foundation course has enabled me to experiment and work with mediums I haven’t previously used as well as mediums I am experienced with. I have been able to experiment with various techniques, which has widened my range of skills immensely. Before the course, I had only worked with moving image once as a mini project using stop-frame animation. Despite moving image being a challenge, I enjoyed working in this medium and found that stop-frame animation was a successful medium for me. Each project has been a learning curve and has challenged me in various ways. The variety of mediums we have been able to work and experiment in has often opened my eyes to new ways of working and presenting work. The projects have often had us thinking on our feet and kept us interested by having different elements that we have to include and mini projects alongside our main projects to widen our skills.

For the confirmatory project, I have decided to go back to stills photography, as this is what I enjoy the most. I am going to focus on idiomatic expressions as my starting point, having an idiom as a title for each image in the series. I may present the photographs as greetings cards, as this would contextualise the images and fit in well with the theme. I have always been interested in idioms and will research the origins of a selection in order to widen my knowledge. In French, we learnt idiomatic expressions to widen our linguistic skills and fluency. The French idioms seem peculiar, however the French would probably have the same views on English idioms. I also briefly studied idioms in English Language and Literature.

I feel that this project will be a success, with a variety of different outcomes and that it could be an ongoing project I take on after the course finishes alongside my university course. The course I have chosen is Journalism and Media & Cultural Studies. I feel that this choice of focus on my project relates to the course, as idioms are a part of many cultures and it will be interesting to find certain origins. This will help me to interpret and convey the idioms further and in a more successful manner.  The project will showcase my research skills as well as photography and English language skills. It will be a challenge, but very interesting to bring together.

As a whole, the course has enabled me to focus on my strengths and has often given me areas that, if I choose to, I can revisit in later life to improve on. I will always have creative practices in my life, whether I take on a career in the field or I just continue with a few elements as a hobby.  This project with idioms should engage the viewer, as they will be able to identify with the idioms and I am hoping that it will be a very light-hearted and fun experience for them.

Shoot

I am going to do a shoot on the quotes/phrases idea. I feel that this could be a very interesting and varied subject and I could take the idea far. I will shoot in a variety of locations, places like the beach, the river, city centre.

This quote relates to me, and probably a lot of other people my age. It relates to me because of my indecisive nature. At the moment I am deciding whether I should go to university and, if not, what I would want to do otherwise. I am finding it to be a very difficult time, as I feel that I have very little time and am too young to decide what to do with the rest of my life.  Many people I know have known from a young age what they wanted to do with their lives, but I have always been indecisive and have kept changing my mind throughout my life. When I was little, I wanted to be a zookeeper, a jockey, a princess (like most 5 year old girls), an athlete, a teacher, an actress and many others. As many children do, I had an idealised view on becoming an adult. I didn't see the hardships adults face with careers, having children, their families, personal lives etc. Children seem to have a fantasy of what their adult life will be like, similar to Disney films when everything works out in the end. Looking back, I can see that the optimism I had as a child has changed. As an adult, I set myself realistic goals, whereas as a child I would think of fantasy situations. I could do a project based on what people wanted or thought they would do as a career as children and compare it to what they are doing now. I could do this by taking photographs of people holding a small chalkboard with a profession written on it.

Use of the French Language/ Development

In some way, I would like to incorporate the French language into my final project, as it has been a prominent feature in my life since the age of 4. I am very interested in the language and Culture of France, and would like to portray this somehow within my work. I sometimes struggle to think of ideas for projects, and this is often my downfall. I can think of components of an idea, yet find it challenging to create an entire successful idea. I am determined that, in this project, I work to my full potential and create something that I am immensely proud of and will be for the rest of my life. Different factors I would like to include are: French language, light hearted attitude, photography, sunshine, phrases, my friends, influence from my experiences/memories. I would like to have a title for each image which has an effect on how the viewer perceives the image.

Music

I may have a CD playing French songs as background noise for the viewers of my work. I will only do this if the music fits the titles of my work and the atmosphere.

I have done some test sketches and paintings. I used oil pastel for one and acryllic paint for another. I am comfortable in working with these materials and would like to continue with one or both of these for the stop-frame animation idea.