Journal

East Coast

I chose to name my journal East Coast because all of my pictures are from the East Coast. I incorporated pictures that meant something to me. Alot of my pictures are pictures from New York because that's where im from and where the majority of my life was spent. I also took pictures from Florida and the Caribbean because those are my two favorite places besides New York. All these pictures have a beach theme because the beach is my favorite place to be. This is because I lived on the beach my whole life and its my favorite place, and there's nothing more relaxing.

Vislit final group project

Roster:
Arielle Baker: Creative Development, Writer
Janelle Ligrani: Creative Development, Writer, Actor
Kat Williams: Creative Development, Camera Woman, Editor
Ryan Petrucceli: Creative Development, Actor
Ziona Wright: Creative Development, Writer, Editor

Process:

The process of putting this piece together took more time than one would think. Since our creative strengths all go in different directions, it was difficult to reach one theme, one idea or one message. We spent multiple class periods weighing the options and the possibilities. Once we agreed on this theme of life and death and dealing with suicide everything really fell into place. The song Summertime Sadness played a huge role in the inspiration of our piece. We then created similar piece, but adding own elements making this project our own.

Synopsis:

We created a short film about a couple whose favorite location is a quiet spot by the river, where the go everyday to watch the trains. The couple has recently been arguing and it has become too much pressure on the male actor portraying the boyfriend. He attempts to commit suicide, in their favorite spot, by walking the tracks while the train is coming head on. He then has vision of his girlfriend walking the tracks instead of himself and time rewinds to when all things were quiet and suicide was not a thought.

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Point of View/Perspective - The perspective of this piece is incredibly important. By seeing and hearing the world in the eyes of the main character, you immediately get a snippet of the difficulty and the struggles that he feels. You also have a sense as to why he doesn’t end his life directly. The thought of his girlfriend is something that only he would see and understand and thus reveals why he chooses not to end his life.

 Metaphor- The eyes in our video stand as a metaphor on their own. They are meant to teach our audience to open your eyes to the beauty around you. Life is too short and too beautiful to shut out all of the wonders of the world. Keeping your eyes open is the only way you can see the reason to live.

Multi- Frames -Our project consists of multiple frames that move the story forward. The sequence of each frame completes the story. The evolution of this piece lies within the thought process of the main character. Originally his plan is to commit suicide on the train tracks, but as he continues to move forward, and opens his eyes he sees the beauty of his girlfriend, his dream girl moving with the same intent. His thoughts and the train then reverse ultimately concluding that he still has something to live for.

Framing of the Image - The way each shot is framed is very important. The eyes for example are purposely cropped to instill emotion in the audience. While sadness could also be signified with a sad face, sadness is truly seen within the eyes. This close up intensifies the emotions of the main character and the audience.

Life and Death - The theme of life and death is strong and unsubtle in this piece. It is implied that both the girl and the guy are going to commit suicide on the train tracks due to constant fighting. While he is about to meet the train he sees her on the tracks instead of himself and then everything backs up. A close encounter with death causes the man to rethink is actions on the track and rewinds his decisions.

The Art of Seeing - There are many lines within this composition that direct your eye from one place to the next. From the beginning there are many lines leading your eye from the right of the composition to the left, where the train is heading along the train tracks, as well as many lines doing up and down around the other parts of the bridge, to the skyscrapers in the background. Many harsh lines and squares create more of a sense of distress as opposed to having many curved and organic lines throughout. Not much nature is seen in the composition, instead due to being filmed in an urban setting the bridge, its graffiti and the loud noises can often make one more stressed out than if the setting was in quiet rural country. A lot of the movement in the composition is from left to right, except when we see the girl, the moment of epiphany. There are no especially bringing colors used, except for the girl walking away from us as well. When the girl walks away everything seems to be de-saturated, as if a dream. We use empty space in a lot of the composition to draw focus towards what’s going on. If we had things going on in the empty space such as the sky, the water or areas of the bridge where there’s only graffiti, then it would take the viewers’ attention away from what we are trying to show here. All these elements work together in a way that they don’t make you too comfortable. Our goal was for the viewer to feel the sense of distress and anguish that the characters feel and it was executed well within the elements used.

Sound - From the beginning we only hear the sounds of the train coming from the other side of the bridge. When we focus on the guys eyes for the first time we hear fighting in the background, as if he can hear the echoes of his memories haunting him. The scene changes and we see the boy walking along the tracks. Suspenseful music plays and we see him approaching the train. White noise creates a sense of discomfort and distress for the viewer. The white noise sound is played when we see the girl on the tracks and everything rewinds, once again playing the suspenseful music. The soundtrack of this piece was made to provide more insecurity for the viewer as he or she watches a distressful time between two lovers.

Reduction Form/Symbols - Birds fly away from the tracks at opening as if to disperse at a moment of distress at the train approaching. There is no danger yet but they offer a clue as to how this story will go. The time this was filmed, sunset, offers a sense of ending and conclusion to the characters story. The end of the day can symbolize and reflect the ending of a relationship; this time of day also offered many shadows and harder lines that helped with the final product. The train being yellow offers a color of warning and distress, much like our main character feels as he approaches the train. As he dreams about the girl her purple hair seems to add to the idea that she is a dream, as well as the application of de-saturated colors. The urban setting provides a place of constant movement and stress on not only the characters but on the viewers as well.

Self: I think that I did well in this project. I was a creative developer and actor. My acting skills are compared to those of the greats. I think that the girls came up with the end result and we all did a good job.

Ziona W: She did a lot of the editing and was always concerned about the final product to be made to the best of its ability.

Arielle B: She helped me with a lot of the writing of the final project and, although she did not become as involved in the video making process, she made up for it within the final synopsis.

Kat W: She also helped a lot with the editing. Her excitement and willingness to come up with a new good idea made me a little more excited about doing this project with her.

Janelle:Worked hard and came up with great ideas. Not all of our ideas were the same which gave us alot to come up and work with.

Number

Claire Sherwood Follow up

I thought The Skype Video with Claire was helpful for me. It was helpful because like all the other Skype's we have done, it helped me see the face behind the artwork and gave me a better understanding of why she does certain things. Claire deals with a lot of ceramics and explained the reasons for the meaning behind her work. She deals with a lot of feminine works and likes that to be known. She explained that it is hard for a woman artists to be recognized while also being a mother of two. I had a lot of questions about the frosting in one of her works. She explained that the reasoning behind her putting frosting all over peoples faces was to see if their facial structure was still apparent. I think the Skype videos are going well and I look forward to another one in the future.

Claire Sherwood Questions

Questions

1. When did you first decide you wanted to become an artist and why?

2. What makes you a unique artist and establishes you from any other artist?

3. Why do u like working with rock like objects and where do your ideas for that come from?

4. where did you come up with the idea "winding that loosens"?

5. Why did you make the "Vessel for Mourning"? Where did this idea come from?


Observations

1.I saw that she used alot of rock like structures in her artwork.

2. The artworks are very big pieces.

3. The use of icing i think on a couple of the pieces.

4.  She uses some walls with an attatchment of pointed rock sculptures.

5. There are two different Vessels for Mourning.

Focus

    In our perspective, the pitcher is focused, like a sniper, on the task at hand. He tunes out the world and takes aim as he prepares to fire at his target. In his minds eye the mitt begins to burn. He wants nothing more than to bring the heat and burn a hole through the batter.

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