Photo Essay Write-Up

The piece I constructed for this project combined two of the choices: using computed generated images along with the concept of a photo essay. This was not part of my planning, but something I stumbled upon as I began to shoot the photos. My original plan was to create a time lapse around a room, encircling my subject, who had taken pills similar to the concept in my new finished product. As I began this, however, I realized the difficulty of changing the same room about 20 different ways, and I started to feel that this did not depict a 'drug trip' as I had hoped too. I had shot the original pieces and attempted to alter them in photoshop, but I was unhappy with the results. On my walk home I looked up at the construction near my home, and I realized then what my project would now center on. The 'drug trip' would now be experienced in motion, as if the drug user set off on a journey to experience these new pills in the world rather than in his home. So, after one photo shoot, I grabbed my drug user again (in character only), and began this next round of shots starting first outside, to signify that the user was intent on taking this 'trip' around town.

The most exhilirating aspect of this second round of shots is that I only had one photo planned, the shot of him looking up at the large apartment building still under construction, also the shot that inspired this entire second round. I had vague ideas in my head of what some shots could look like, but did not know locations or how many I would take. We simply set out on a journy, trying to place ourselves in the minds of this drug user, attempting to discover what a fun 'trip' gone bad may lead him too. However, this gone bad aspect is something I came upon just after the shots in the alley (where the text 'fadeout' can be seen). This was the turning point of the shot. After this my intent was to show how this will not be such a happy ending. After wandering around the campus for a good amount of time, and tirelessly reviewing the photos I had on memory, I discovered that there were three stages of the 'trip' that had emerged in the photos. The first was the enjoyable experience, lasting until the 'fadeout' in the alley, the second was the questioning and paranoia, shown until the Alma mater shot, and the third being a spiritual awakening, culminating to the suicide in the last two photos. I feel as though these three parts compose three entirely different experiences and essays. On pg. 61 of Ways of Seeing, Berger talks of art confronting the user rather than us looking unto it, and these three different photo essays achieve this. I force the 'drug trip' experience onto the viewer, make them feel the experience, both the fun hallucinogenic aspects and the scary paranoia bits. This culminates into a spiritual experience, a 'walk into the light' as shown by one photo, that forces the viewer to understand what I wanted them to see in this experience, the power that these drugs have had over this man. All of this culminates into the final two photos, one of a jump over the ledge (which was a huge obstacle in photoshop) and the lifeless body on the ground. I attempted to make these images seem clear, but have an element of 'cartoon' to them. At first I just saw these images as appealing, sublime in how they charcterize his fated fall. But then I noticed that they took on this cartoon element, which reminded me of the McCloud piece which explained how cartoons and simplified images allow us to envision our self as the character drawn. This struck me as significant since this would make these last two images seem as though they could be you, the viewer. This essentially altered the entire aim of the photo essay, turing it more into an anti-drug ad than the experience of taking drugs. This was not at all my intent, but I feel I stumbled upon an effective anti-drug meaning to this piece.

The last part of the project that was a 'break-through' in a sense was the writing that is hidden and integrated into the last half of the project. This began when I put 'fadeout' into one image, and felt I could tell a story with the last tragic half of the story. The phrases are meant to explain what may be occuring in the mind of the subject while he is experiencing what is happening around him. None of these were envisioned while taking the photos, but were rendered when altering each image indepedently.

and the video...

Written Response...

Forget everything I said about the audio project. Well not everything, but the part about it being the hardest project of the semester. My confidence was proven erroneous over and over again on this project, probably because of my forgetting that the last time I worked on iMovie HD it was senior year of high school. Now, four years later, I ran into quite a lot of trouble. The writing process began with an idea to shoot video on art students. I know nothing about their program, what they do, or what they will do when they receive a degree, so I figured it would be interesting. Then I realized why I knew nothing about them: they are never around and have class or studio 24/7. Even though I have a good friend who lives with me in the art program, scheduling was next to impossible, especially when trying to coordinate three chaotic schedules during midterm week (project critique week for the art students, as I learned). This set Eric and I back… huge. The project seemed to be doomed from the start, but then there was a glimmer of hope as my stomach turned for food early Saturday morning. BAGELS. I realized that I love bagels. Then I realized, “Hey, Howbowda documentary on these loved bagels?!?!.” And there you have it, we were off to the races. Eric and I quickly drafted up question after question that we could use to create this documentary. I swear I could feel the cold, thin air of Utah brush across my face as I accepted my Sundance Film Festival award (haha). But really, I was excited to get going and set up shot after shot. And so we did. The filming was a blast, and the owners and employees were happy to help us out. Then all I had to do was creep around the quad to get a few cover video shots (I learned that phrase from my journalism buddy). This was easier than I had imagined, just point and shoot at anything with movement that looks interesting. After this, and checking out what Eric had filmed (we decided to film separately to allow flexibility and creativity apart form each other), we were ready to edit. This is where the troubles I spoke of above came in. The biggest problem: massive amounts of footage. Eric and I complied so much footage we didn’t know how to sift through it all. We eventually decided to take turns watching the interviews and street/quad shots, recording what we saw, noting a few key words, and writing down the clip number and time elapsed for that sequence. This proved to help a lot in the long term, since our storyline was vague and underdeveloped when we came to this stage. Our biggest mistake was just filming everything, without a guiding storyline or goal in mind. We figured it would be beneficial, but it proved to take up a lot more time than expected. However, once we had the keywords and times noted, the editing was pretty easy. The most fun part of the editing was choosing music. We had a ton of songs to choose from since we did the editing at my apartment, so my whole library was available. Still, the editing took much longer than expected, more because we enjoyed adding effects and music to the max, but this made our project more aesthetic and creative. In the end I realized one very important thing: iMovie HD is leaps and bounds easier than iMovie, especially when it comes to audio mixing.

my first '10 thing'

1) 'REDRUM' - above a urinal, English building, but the R's were the wrong way so it wouldn't read right in a mirror
2) While filming on the Quad, amidst the choas and scramble, in the cold, stood a young guy playing hacky sack by himself. It calmed and soothed me b/c I really needed a break right then with 7 hrs of class to go.
3)4th and Healey - @ least 12 pumpkins smashed in a block span before it was even Halloween
4)4th and Green - Big Brown wig amongst a bed of dying flowers
5)Group of three people, walking in unison, all holding hands... i dont get it
6)An email -> You Vote, Free Starbucks... sooo progressive
7)Two squirrels mating... pause as we walk by... return to the deed when I'm @ a distance
8)Halloween - 3 Dads walk down green street, all decked out in 'Hater's Ball' full-out pimp suits
9)Construction site - 1 digging, 6(!) watching... classic
10)A car w/ a 'I have a son in the Marines' and 'Obama '08' bumper stickers (i love it)

From Aaron:

1. Do you think it's more important to collaborate or to compete in the realm of the arts?

This question is loaded. Both are extremely important. The readings today discuss that collaboration is actually competition, that we compete while collaborating to make our works progress, to make them as good and creative as possible. It is through this competition that we push each other, essentially trying to better the last one's work, not to defeat them but to progress the work towards an ultimate goal. The realm of arts is always in play, in pure competition or collaboration. Both are of equal importance and each works together to accomplish a greater good with the goal of the work.

Questions on Collaboration

1)  What have been some successes and failures of co-authorship in the past for you?  What difficulties/successes have you had with the video project so far in this aspect?

2) Imagine you sit in front of a board of authors, all of whom worked on the same piece you mean to inquire upon.  Do you feel that when you ask a question whoever answers is the most knowledgeable on that topic?  Or would you expect to hear a response from all the authors, since they all comprised this work?  Basically, would you expect a clear line between what each is versed at or what each studied, or do you think they all would have comprehensive knowledge?

3) Interview question:  Where in your life have you found that a collaboration was necessary to complete a task?  How did you accomplish this goal with others, and what skill sets did you call upon to do so?

From Aaron...

2. When interviewing a subject, when do you think it's better to have previously crafted questions? What about asking questions when 'shooting from the hip?'

I feel that interviewing is essential to any documentary, and you must have previously crafted questions to ask pretty much everyone,. so long as they apply to them. This is necessary to be able to build your video around certain topic(s), and have a foundation from where your video is pointed, essentially a purpose. After such questions it is necessary to have follow-ups, the questions from the hip, in order to further each person you interview and build character around them, so that you can edit them correctly into your narration or the storyline of your video. So the question of when it is better is hard to say, depending on the style of documentary. If it is of a protest or anything of that sense, from the hip may help, so that you can play along with the situation and gage each question depending on whats happening around you.

Hampe reading (s?)

Hampe Questions:

1) Hampe says 'editing is at the heart of documentary.' Since editing is obvious done post-shooting, how does this separation take away from a actual depiction of reality? Or could this editing enhance it?

2) How does one find the confidence in a documentarian to trust what they are showing as a tru documentary? What can one do to instill this trust into his audience, or is this purely a gut feeling or something based on reputation, as popular documentarians are today?

3) What difficulties do you feel you will encounter with the video project between what you intend to shoot, and what you actually shoot and can use to edit? How does this differ from the audio project

This is Hollywood playing in on the current election. As much as I would like to think that they shouldn't they have influence, so it is up to them if they want to use it or not. I know I would, so I can't get to upset about it. This video has been viewed over 6,000,000 times, which shows how far about 45 minutes can go, so long as it is put together well. I think this is a testiment to an old proverb, 'Hot blond plus funny script = youtube gold' OK, I guess its not a proverb, but the Paris Hilton video was the same kinda thing and she had 175 million in week. It's really amazing how different YouTube has made our world (well, at least mine)

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

And a funny play on everything by Hollywood again....

(I think they have to much time on their hands)

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

Of all of the projects that we have done or will be doing in this class, this audio project is what worried me the most. Simply put, I had no idea what I was doing going into this project, nor had I ever played around with audio before. But thanks to a Mac at home and some extra free time, I was able to play around with GarageBand prior to starting my project. I found that this ‘playing’ process was essential to my later progress with the assignment, since I was able to incorporate what I had heard earlier and write my script around it. The whole idea of a time warp came from the discovery of those sound effects, and I simply incorporated it with the weather. This was the greatest difficulty was finding which way I wanted the project to go, especially because I combined with Eric. This made the project a lot more fun, but also more frustrating since we were forced to negotiate and compromise with what to put in rather than just doing as we choose. However, this made the project feel more like an actual news story, since a production team would have to take a similar path and process to create this piece.

As Eric and I progressed through the assignment, we really started with only one minute planned. After recording this we realized we could really go anywhere, so we began to brainstorm different ways we could take it. We went through helicopter crashes, outdoor skyscraper forecasts, and finally time travel. Once this was decided the writing process began. This is where the real negotiation began. As we scripted different characters we were forced to demonstrate each in order to prove the worth and hilarity of this newly developed voice. This is where I feel the ‘writing’ process took place. We had to go with our guts on a lot of this, and ad libbing played a big part, which also led to it being funnier than a straight script since it would come out more natural. But this became difficult when we both wanted certain characters that would send it a certain way. In the end, we both did what we didn't originally want to do, but what we soon found out was the best way to take the project. It was this compromise, fluid-ness, and adaptability of the project that really made the entire process very worthwhile. To be honest, I feel that other students may have missed out on this opportunity. I feel that any industry involving audio or video is a team effort, even if it ends up with just one person on screen or in the sound booth, there is still someone holding the camera or pushing record. If Eric and I had not worked together, I feel that both of our projects would have been less effective (and a lot less funny). Overall, I am very pleased I was able to share this process with Vern and the entire class, because unedited and real reactions are hard to come by, but having the class there gives you a real feel for how well you completed your work. All in all, this has been one of the more enjoyable projects of my college education.

Audio Project - Weatherman News Story

Response

From Eric V... 2. Is reality TV, such as cops, a documentary in that it does show an on going story with dialogue?

I do not believe that this would be considered a documentary according to Hempe. There is no planned shots, so it is real, but there is also no story, just a combination of events. The storyline does not mix it or tell anything, it is just reoccuring themes and low-level interviews. The most documentary-ish style of the show is the post-arrest interviews. The cops generally tell what happened without being led in by loaded questions, so they're stories are genuine to what they can remember honestly happening.

Questions

1. Hampe's section titled 'Good Images Don't Just Happen' speaks of the problems of having a good documentary compared to a real depiction of what is actually occuring in reality. How do you feel the craze of reality tv has played into this theme?

2. What do you feel Hampe would say in response to YouTube productions and the endless sources of video we now have at our fingertips?

3. Hampe says that we must 'plan the visual evidence that needs to be record...and recognize when it occurs.' Do you feel it is a paradox to plan to record evidence without recognizing the reality of it until after the shot? Or is the method it must follow to make the documentary as 'real' as possible?

link

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jsadows2/WAM%20Syllabus.pdf

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jsadows2/WAM%20Syllabus.pdf

1) Prairie home companion represents the last vestiges of the radio drama - an entirely aural mass media story. When television first overtook radio, there were those that said it was less 'creative' because the viewer didn't have to imagine anything and could sit passively. Do you agree with this? Is audio inherently more involved than audio+video?

Television undoubtedly destroyed radio drama, and its influence on the world was unprecedented. Not because it allowed laziness of imagination, but because it transformed ability of foreign images to reach the mind. Although the screen is a passive viewing device, the mind is able to take such images and remember them, far better than the memory of imagined places (similar to how you forget dreams). I do agree that it makes you more passive in your viewing, but overall, I feel the tv can actually inspire more imagination as it provides images we would never be able to produce independently in our minds eye. Still, the radio requires more involvement, but i do not feel it makes us less creative.

THE END.

What do you really see?

2: Druker and Elkins both make the claim that various things have led us as a popluation to stop "seeing" the world around us. Druker makes the claim that this is inherant in the design of our public signs and images, Elkins that it is due to a lack of attention on our part.

Question - is this lack of attention and monotony of signage an oppritunity in disguise. We may not pay attention to the form of every stop sign, but when an object violates our expectations, it is all the more powerful. Can you think of any examples of such violations (eg. putting 'the war' underneath the word STOP on a stop sign)?


I have seen the example of 'the war' on stop signs extremely frequently, to the point that it has lost its luster and is just normal again. This shows how easily we can become accustomed to an object that stands out initially, but then is seen in a repeated fashion, in nearly all aspects of media, people, fashion, and public signage. We naturally group things into categories, and once a practical category is establish within our minds, the subset group now becomes its own identity, no longer stands out, and simply remains in contrast to the others. There are countless examples of this, from anarchy turning to fad, and hip turning to dull. This plays along with the 'merchants of cool' who hope to cash in on the ability of people to catch on to a category as something new, even though once the 'cashing in' occurs, the new aspect of whatever it is has been lost and is just another unoriginal cashcow fad. Below is more funny than a violation of expectations...

check it out

its all an illusion....

http://blog.ted.com/2008/09/rotating_grid_i_1.php

Q no A 4

1) Drucker believes that businesses and public signs have developed a language of their own for practical and pragmatic use, so that the use will be a means to an end (justification of a park by making it educational or drawing attention to business). What does messages in graffiti, especially well constructed or written, do to the language of the public eye? Has it created a realm of its own or does it try and fit in to mesh w/ this other ‘language’?
2) How much of public signs do you believe are for control (Fairey’s ‘OBEY’) or are for edification and benevolent beliefs? What of graffiti?
3)Has the 20th and 21st century migration to cities been a major cause for us to stop 'using' our eyes, in Elkins sense, since those that live there are removed from nature and the beauty he often speaks of?

Comic Response - It's not funny

1.) What happens when a cartoon takes on a realistic form? In the case of Rex Morgan, as well as other comics like Prince Valiant, etc., how and why do we interpret them the way that we do? In the case of Calvin and Hobbes, why is the selected cartoon all the more hilarious? (Consider the statement that we envision ourselves as cartoons before you answer).

The Calvin and Hobbes cartoon below is unique in that it combines the realistic and comic forms. The realistic form makes the other characters appear as someone else, unlike me, since I can not relate to their looks, age, or demeanor. With this I take the comic much more seriously, as I would with a film, since it appears as a depiction of reality and, thus, something I believe could actually happen. McCloud references this in how using these realistic appearances can separate our character from the one on the page, but when it returns to a simple comic, we begin to believe that maybe we could have acted in that way. The return to the classic Calvin makes what I saw as horrible as funny, since I could never see myself as what the 'real' doctor was, but I could picture myself as Calvin when I was a child.

Q no A #3

1) How do you feel the representation of written language as symbols, which technically speaking English is as well, could effect the representation of comics or other iconic images in different cultures?

2) Do abstraction or iconic forms of symbols require more participation from their audience? Which would be more effective in fields of art or advertising or anything else that may come to mind?

3) Do you believe the ability to reproduce images has destroyed the uniqueness of art or has it opened the door to innovative art in new forms?

My stencil is a responsive to an obvious and immediate problem facing our nation and the world at large. At initial reaction to the piece is predictable, as the concerns over gas prices have been on the lips of ordinary citizens for a time now. Still, the stencil reiterates these concerns, not only redressing the concern over their deflating wallets, but of the American culture and economy. And by culture I mean consumption, since that is what we want and need, even if we end up in a noose for it. The fact that ‘Uncle Sam,’ an American icon for the strength and determination of our country, appears dead signals the dire situation we have put ourselves into. The gas pump noose signifies what has brought about this downfall.

The wording of “NOW WHAT?” is intended to send a message of diminishing hope and direction. The red text color is intended to draw attention by contrast. I also hoped that it would signify the failing of the economy in an oil-dependent state, as red is the color of a failing business. In the post-mortem state of Uncle Sam the text signifies a lack of plan to solve the situation. So far the directives and initiatives have not provided any hope for a viable and sustainable solution, leaving the scarcity of oil as the most dire resource depletion we have. The text should force the audience to assess what they and their government are planning for the future. It should also signify the vulnerability of our future, as so many indicators point to a less prosperous quality of life then than now. This lack of understanding of what our future holds combines with the knowledge of our lack of planning, creating an uneasy feeling with the audience. This fear could drive people to stop and think instead of acting like the problem does not affect them.

I believe this image could be placed effectively pretty much anywhere, even on clothing. It should force a reaction from literally every adult who sees it, and may even drive a child to question the image to their guardians. Still, this image would produce the most shock value if it was placed at gas stations, possibly on the pumps itself or in between pumps, where the front and backs of cars would not cover the image. It would remain in sight and would be the first thing seen as a customer pulled up to the pump. This strategy is difficult due to the blatant vandalism on private property and the video surveillance at nearly every gas station. Still, this image placed on sidewalks, billboards, or buildings will still draw the intended reaction. A favorite place to put this would be on the signs of gas stations themselves or on truck gas tankers, since it draws the direct connection between the resource and our troubled future. For now I’ll stay local and legal.

Response #2

From Aaron:

2. Knowing what trends people use to identify what kind of a book you're buying, for example, is it wise to buck the trend financially? For instance, what if you wrote a children's book that didn't LOOK like a children's book. Would you even be published?

Our adaptation to common mediums of academic text compared to others, be it fiction, comic, or children's allows us to categorize the media we are approaching. This grouping allows for a certain frame of mind to be engaged prior to reading. In the instance of the children's book, I do not believe it would be published, but this may be an error on the point of the publisher. This expansion on the typical medium could confuse children at first, but could expand the child's mind and show them creativity in a simple sense. This could foster artistic ability and 'out of the box' thinking that may lead to innovation later in life. Still, in a culture resistent to change (unless its a campaign slogan) it is unlikely that parents , child shriks, and more importantly, publishers will not be accepting of this theory.

Q no A #2

1) Would the ability to choose the platform of your readings assist you in understanding them better? In a sense, what would be the implications of removing academic texts from the typical academic platform and style of publishing?
2) What do you believe are the practical applications of the standardized texts of academia we are so used to? If another form and style was found to be more productive do you believe the application of such would be beneficial or detrimental to those adjusted to our standardized format?
3) Do you feel that function, deadlines, or requirements can retract from the artist's vision and creativity in a given piece?

Banksy

My favorite Banksy work.

I believe that the people on the platform are responding to this stencil, which shows how badly people wish for a change to their current situation.

The signs on the road and pathways of our world are writings of control. Banksy is showing that these controls have forced us to act certain ways, removing originality and liberty. He has a series of these including "This is not a photo opportunity" and the 'destructive' "Designated Graffiti Area," which opened a blank wall to graffiti art overnight. These walls filled overnight with those who did the graffiti believing they had following orders, taking nearly all the art, and essentially point, of graffiti out of the work.

Champaign Street Art

Our world is a machine.... pay me what i tell you.

banksy copy... good effort.

Q with no A

1) Transparent immediacy has become a norm for our daily multimedia experiences, especially as mediums become of 'random access,' with no "physical beginning, middle, or end." But do you feel that as the line that distinguishes the interface of the medium delivering the media blurs with our real world the effectiveness and willingness of the consumer/user to interact with such media will increase or become less effective?

2) Since photography, at least unaltered from its original state, depict the world in perfect linear perspective does this take away from the artist's expression and depiction of its display? In connection, what is the artist value and connection to the actual world created by graphical designs and CGI?

3) Do you believe there will ever be a point where a medium is in perfect sync and immediacy with the external world making it appear as though the medium is in fact not a replication or outside object, but an entity interacting within the external world? If so, would such a device still be considered media or will it become something else?

Response to Remediation

1. Does photography really make the artist obscure like the author says? Can photography and real art i.e. paintings, sculptures, etc. be compared with the likes of photography? Are they really trying to achieve the same results?

All artistic work strives to produce something, whether it be a replication of something that exists or a replication of a combination of existing thoughts and appearances in one's mind's eye. With that each attempts to tell some form of a story or description, depending upon which the artist wishes. They may hope to show a struggle of life or a drastic change in nearly any and all forms of life.

The photographer has the same purpose. Although the photographer may not rely on as much talent as the sculptor, painter, etc. they do intend to depict a story, event, or interpretation. Their medium is different and much less subjective, yet the photographer is still able to add subjective telling of what they see depending upon how they film what is they hope to.

Intro

People call me Justin Sadowski, which also, conveniently, is my given legal name. In my final year here at the University of Illinois I have become attune to certain websites more than any others. As a Political Science major I find myself first, with out a solid career choice in mind, and second, with a noticeable slant towards political news reporting and blogging. With this in mind, its not a surprise to find me at sites such as CNN.com, BBC.com, RealClearPolitics.com, and LiveLeak.com, which is an ‘underground’ style website geared towards those who enjoy shock value in their videos. They meet these shock junkies’ standards by releasing raw footage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and classic video of explosions and political meltdowns from the eyes of politicians and citizens. LiveLeak.com is a good reminder of what can happen when order turns to chaos and ‘civilized’ society decides to release their repressed aggression all at one time.


The previously listed cites I enjoy for news articles, but each, with the exception of RealClearPolitics.com, have made a massive shift to broadband-video reporting, allowing my news to play to me, rather than forcing me to strain my eyes into a type-riddled screen. Still, some of the best reporting is done on print, but I enjoy watching an event unfold via video and then reading responses and reporting in print after-the-fact. This is how I fill my days on the web, comparing news stories and sources, looking for slants and bias, and watching how poll numbers (RealClearPolitics.com is great for these) affects editorials and coverage. If any enjoys news, they’ll love these sites, regardless of their place in the world, as these sites offer a cross-continental view that can keep my attention for days.