Site visit

Last Friday we were given a brief which is called Recorder. Our aim will be to construct some kind of contraption- a recording device which will record something of the site. That could be smell, sound, light etc. Our site will be route from South Bermonsey going along the railway to London Bridge. I found project to be very interesting already, although it sounds to be a challenging one and requires proper time management.
On Monday we visited our site and took some photos. The whole area is very interesting itself, industrial, huge and has its own history. There was quite a lot of bridges and interesting light inside them. Also I've got this strange feeling, because there was so many bridges and they're all looking pretty the same, it felt like you walking somewhere and ending up being in the same place, because of the same atmosphere.
Here is some photos:

Final film.

So after deviding ourselves into little groups based on senses, we had to make our own little videos. At first I found it really hard, firstly, that smell sense is such a hard task to visualise in a 4min video and secondly, that there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm of some of the group members. Also as a whole 20 people group, there was regular people who worked very hard towards this project and few students that seemed to be not interested. Which is fine with me, up to you if you decided to waste your time even being here and not taking anything from it, but its just annoying that somebody counts a group member, gets some responsibilities to do, doesnt do them and later on gets same feedback how hard as a group they all worked. I felt it was hard task for me, but I know for myself, no matter if final outcome would come out looking not the way i want to or something, I put my hardest work into it, and worked so much on it. I'll know that at least I tried, if it didnt work out, i'll know what to do next time, and learnt from it and now its just for other people to be conscience-stricken who didnt work. Not to get me wrong, im also very thankful to so many people from our group helping with a project. Our group as a whole getting along together very nicely, its just so nice when you know that there will be someone to help when you need some help or advice. I think each of our group members was trying to help each other, to suggest something if somebody was stuck with their work.
Although final outcome of our smell trigger looks pretty good, after so many nervous breakdowns :) I'm feeling proud of myself being able to put everything together. Also I really learnt a lot of understanding spaces trough different media. Just realised that sometimes such a little things like light, sound, reflection can to such a change to a whole space surrounding us.

Film project

Few following weeks we started film project. Now this is a bit of a challenge, because we suposed to work as a group of 20 people, which is BIG. We could do whatever we want and the whole idea of this project is to understand the space through different media and be able to interpret some kind of story into diffent spaces etc.
So for a first few days we decided to create our own little story boards with own ideas. My initial idea was to make a film where concept would be that everything has its own rythm. Walking, steps, raining, door swinging, every single sound, movement creates its own unique "rythm" while you have a certain journey, which, i thought, can create something beautiful as a video montage.
After meeting again for tutorial, we had to decide on which storyboard to settle on. After long disscusion, we decided to put our little stories into one. So our main story is a guy, having an ordinary journey, tired of everything, gets certain triggers which takes him somewhere away, as kind of escape journey, escaping his presense and being somewhere where he feels comfortable in. The whole journey is based on four senses- smell, touch, sight, and hearing.
We divided ourselves into four senses groups and people for frames. I went into "smell group".

My influence was a beautiful video advert for Louis Vuitton:
Client: Louis Vuitton
Title: A Journey
Agency: Ogilvy, Paris
Creative: Christian Reuilly
Agency Producer: Laure Bayle

Production Company: Quad Productions, Paris
Director: Bruno Aveillan
Producer: Martin Coulais
DP: Philippe Lesourd
Cameraman: Bruno Aveillan



Inspired by this video I thought I would like to do something similar in my own way. I found it hard to draw a story board showing what I would like to film, so instead of that I made a little video clip to experiment.



After showing it in tutorial, teachers suggested, that smell is this kind of really sharp sense, where if it reminds you of something, you getting this really strong flashback trying to remember there you smelled it or what it reminds you of. So the whole video i made is rather daydreaming, lingering from one dream to another. And I agree with that, it needs some kind of sharpness to represent the sense of smell being so powerful that it takes you somewhere far away.

Stalker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1BwUuZp0XA

Previous Friday I've been watching Andrei Tarkovsky film Stalker (1979).
"It describes the journey of three men travelling through a post-apocalyptic wilderness called the Zone to find a room with the potential to fulfil one's innermost desires. The title role is played by Alexander Kaidanovsky, who guides two others through the area, the Writer, played by Anatoly Solonitsyn, and the Professor, played by Nikolai Grinko. Alisa Freindlich played the Stalker's wife.
The film is loosely based on the novel Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. An early draft of the screenplay was also published as a novel Stalker that differs much from the finished film. In Roadside Picnic, the Zone is full of strange artefacts and phenomena that defy known science. A vestige of this idea carries over to the film, in the form of Stalker's habit of throwing metal nuts down a path before walking along it. The characters in Roadside Picnic do something similar when they suspect they are near gravitational anomalies that could crush them."
I thought the whole film was amazing, although very physologicaly strong. The use of poems in dialog enriched the whole story, fulfilled concept behind it. Although I had to stay very concentrated and focused on dialog to understand it because it was very easy to loose the clues what they're talking about if you miss a few lines.
The whole set was just amazing- no special effects, just natural light in a dark space can create something just unbelievably beautiful. Dump, darkness, water drops, mist- just a simple things and such an amazing effect. I liked that there wasnt any sound tracks or so, just a natural ordinary sounds. When its dark and you cant see, your hearing senses is getting stronger. I think thats why its so unique listening to just those simple sounds and realising how beautiful they can be.
Another thing that I realised and while discussing about film in class- that director makes such an uncomfortable things looking so simple and comfortable to watch, or at least makes you believe that its comfortable, like person just sleeping in a bog, talking about life like there wouldnt be anything.

Group Crit

After finishing with an induction project, there was group crit on Friday. I think it is very useful and important to hear other people opinions and advice on some of the stuff that you've been doing.
We already had few crits and I found myself that being helpful to myself.
Our idea was to play with lighting and mechanisms to allow it into a dark space, be concentrated on light and hearing. There was so much to say and we found so many ideas and concepts to base our structure on. In a crit all of us kind of had different perceptions on its use. So teachers suggested to be concentrated on one concept and search it into depth rather than have so many things that sometimes dont even agree with each other.
Previous weeks I've been working really hard on drawings and feeling proud to learn so much in so little time as well as produce pretty good drawings. Other people's critisism helped me to see my own mistakes and correct them. Teachers suggested to take details into account and play with them- even take my imagination and think on how it could be improved, how mechanism works visually, what its scale to human body etc. That little critisism and suggestions on my work, even on others still helped to find my bits of mistakes and redraw them.
At the end one of my drawings were hanged on the wall as an example for fellow students which i was really proud of. I never drawn drawings like this and had time to learn as long as project lasted. I think as long as you have passion and inspiration for something it can be easily achieved.

First project

First group project that we did was called Inbetween the Places. Our aim was to find a space, which has some sort of left over space in it that can be used to create something exciting and could fit human body into it. We found it hard to decide on one location because there was some possible locations already and each of them had its own concept. Because we were running out of time we decided to settle on one space and develope it a bit further. After few drawing days our class made pinhole cameras, which I found really exciting and creative thing to do really. Was so pleased with its results!

So our final cardboard structure was on the staircase, with little shutters and hidden place to control it. It was really exciting to see final result after quite a lot of disagreements or just simply lack of enthusiasm from all of us.Making process

Weaved wall

Few following weeks there was continious drawing project and we had few lessons on how to draw plans, elevations etc. At first I thought its gonna be a disaster for me because I'm being really impatient drawing with ruller, measuring everything etc. But after a week, I really enjoyed doing it and even surprised myself how much did i enjoy even drawing for hours and hours. I dont know if thats because im feeling just so inspired and want to do things and dont mind sitting for hours doing it, or its just some of the skills that you kind of achieveing after certain time? I guess thats because of both :)
Even at first week I kind of realised that there always will be people who dont feel like working, late, unenthusuastic (if thats whe word?), but its really about you and how dealing with it, how much work you putting in it and what you learning through the process, and if there will be no process, there will be no success. And its up to people to decide if they wanna find something new maybe even in yourself and in their way of working, or if they just wanna be just for being sake.
Over all I enjoy being here, learning, meeting new people and having fun. Its just amazing to be in class and be inspired just by surroundings of yours, with different people and their experiences.

How do we learn?

Through looking/ searching.
Reading.
Discussion/ peer/ lecturer/ other.
Practice (through doing).
Experimenting.
By mistakes.
Listening.
Teaching.
Analysing.