assignment 1- feedback and reflections

I have received my tutor's feedback, attached below for formal submission records:

General comments I can extract from Mike's feedback are:

• I need to get more personal. There is a two fold reason here on why I am so detached; first I am and have been for the last ten years an engineer, always interested in arts but not really involved. I'm more a factual, down to earth person... and really really struggle to find meaning and emotions in things, or express the emotions art could make me feel. Will work harder on that! Second reason could be, I think, language. But in reality I think I can also find it difficult to describe, express these emotional, involved perspective of my own (or others) photography in Spanish...
• Editing - I need to work and experiment more with edition. Probably just going for a walk and shooting and then trying to edit and select a coherent set of pictures and presenting them together should be a good exercise. Beginning tomorrow!

I have therefore, based on the feedback, reflected on the exercise and re-edited the images. I have taken out some which were not fitting in the new story, based on my memories and personal experience rather than visual aspect of the images (cats, girl behind the fence, nature vs city). This decision has been tough, as I did liked the images (visually) but it is true that when you create a story and identify what is your personal link with them, some of the images fall out of the context.
Discarded images:

New set

My childhood neighbourhood

To do the assignment of the square mile I have chosen my parents neighbourhood. I moved into this area of Madrid when I was eleven years old. I was coming from an area of Madrid, which is the one I consider as the place I grew up, in the outskirts of the city. In this new neighbourhood I went to school one year, and to high school four more years. It is in this area also where the swimming pool in which I have spent most of my adolescence (I was a synchronise swimmer and practised for three hours every day) is located, so I chose this as the place to re-explore and photograph in this assignment.

I moved from my parents’ home in 2005, and then I moved from Madrid to Cardiff in 2011. It was only a couple of months ago that I came back, so found the opportunity to photograph some of my memories really enthralling.

The photographers I have looked for inspiration were Stephen Shore and Eggleston. Their images of the conventional daily life and the colour of their film photographs is engrossing. Also influenced by them I have researched Alec Soth. I particularly like the façades in his Niagara series.

I also enjoyed Keith Arnett's series of his neighbours, and how captivating are Tom Hunter and Venetia Darden's portraits. However, I found difficult to approach people and asking them for a picture. Also there were not many people in the city as it was a bank holiday this weekend.

While taking the images for the Square Mile I had the photographers mentioned above in mind. In some aspects a couple of the photos taken would have a reminiscence of their work.

This is a retake of the assignment, after receiving feedback from my tutor I realised that my first feeling that the set was not sticking together was right. This set of photos have less visual quality in my opinion, and technically are not good enough yet, but they certainly tell a bit of myself and the area I grew up.

All images are edited with a film filter in Lightroom software (VSCO cam package) so the feel and colour is similar to Eggleston's colour images. This gives them some consistency and continuity.

I have realised I tend to shoot with wide lengths, though I have a couple of prime lens that I love, not particularly wide.

Compared with the first attempt of the assignment, I have included more people, and a mix of architectural and people photos. I tend to find every photo more interesting if it has a person in it. I guess it is a personal take.

Links to references:

William Eggleston - http://www.egglestontrust.com/

Stephen Shore - http://stephenshore.net/photographs.php

Alec Soth - http://alecsoth.com/photography/

Sebastian Wiss - http://www.le-blanc.com/

https://www.instagram.com/le_blanc/?hl=en

 

Comments to images and shooting information:

 

 

assignment 4 - feedback and reflection

I have received feedback from my tutor about El Rastro documentary:

Overall Comments
This ‘day in the life’ of El Rastro market is a fairly convincing documentary. You’ve covered the day with it’s significant events and people fairly well. You’ve also managed to capture the changing atmosphere of the place. The editing is quite fast and jumpy, but suits the filming well and although I find the camera too distant most of the time, you do pick some lovely shots of people and location.
There are a few issues here that you could look at again to sharpen the movie up. 

The issues commented by Robert are mainly about feeding the narrative. I do agree that the sequence of morning, noon, evening does not work just by itself to narrate the day in El Rastro. It would be more complete with further, deeper stories, this is why I tried to shoot the lady, the man going back home, etc. 
My tutor would have expected some interviews, and I think that would have been quite interesting, but believe me when I say that would have been very, very difficult. Most of the people were telling me not to film them at all, giving me suspicious looks. I should have tried, but due to some TV programmes in Spain that make a show of people in the street, many people is reluctant to be filmed/interviewed. 
I am not trying to justify myself, I agree the documentary would be much more interesting with some protagonists, and I should have tried to get them, even if not interviewing them, getting closer as Robert suggests. I was too wary.

Robert mentions that the use of J and L cuts can help to smooth the mix between ambient sound and music. I agree that not using them in this video makes the images quite jumpy, the change in sound is quite obvious between shots. 
"In a J-cut, the sound of the next scene precedes the picture, and in an L-cut, the picture changes but the audio continues" from https://vimeo.com/blog/post/j-cuts-l-cuts

While editing (and even when I was filming) I realised I was taking more "moving photographs" than anything else. I had some very nice shots, but where was the narrative in there? This has been obviously picked up by my tutor:

There are some nice visual moments in the movie but they are random candid market scenes which won’t provide narrative continuity. The kid with Edward Scissorhands, the pigeons, and the bouncing toys. By the time we get to 3 minutes it begins to feel like it isn’t getting any- where and isn’t about anything. It feels shapeless. 

That’s not to say there are not some rough sequences here: the armour and the old lady selling paintings for example. But I don’t think these have a strong enough narrative quality to stand out. 

Finally, I also agree with Robert that my research was quite poor. I merely went through the last chapter of the course as the time I had to finish the course was coming to its end! I'll endeavour to be more organised and constant in my next course, Expressing your Vision, which I begin right away.

As suggested reading and viewing, my tutor suggests David Campany’s Whitechapel books “Cinematic” and “Photography & Cinema” may be pertinent to you if your focus is mostly on photography but you have a fascination with moving image. The first of these is probably the most difficult.

Edit 29/11/15 to attach copy of my tutor's report:

assignment 2 - feedback and reflections

I have received the feedback from my tutor, Robert Enoch, on assignment 2. In summary:

Well done:

• confident use of lighting and composition - This is a good improvement from the feedback received in assignment 1 about the use of lighting. 
• Scene 2 - well edited transition scene. Good use of dark and lit sides of the images. 
• Good use of 'absence of diegetic noise' when needed by the story.
• Under the sheets shot - Illness really can be isolating and makes one feel overly ‘in the body’ and this shot expresses this well. Good use of your imagination here. And the fade out works well to suggest a time has passed. 
• Last scene - excellent use of light as a symbol of health

To work on:

• story rhythm - The film is again, as it happened in assignment 1, a bit slow. I must keep on working on length of shots to generate the adequate rhythm of the story. 
•  The beginning is way too slow and empty 
• narrative - The film starts somewhat strangely in an empty kitchen - away from the main story of the sick man in bed. And that disrupts your use of a ‘narrative of light’ because you needed to begin the story in the dark room and then progressively bring the light in. 
• about the scene of the tea - Is this really meaningful? - No, actually it isn't. I thought it would be interesting to have an introductory shot, but, as also Robert comments, the kitchen is too 'domestic'. He's got a point, as this breaks the hospital environment I wanted to create. 
• acting - it's nice that Robert has appreciated the acting in both assignments. This is mainly thanks to Juan, main actor. Well done Juanito! and many thanks for your help!
• mise-en-scene - I could have improved the first scene if I had given more importance to the pills, which are in the scene but don't get prominence.
• camera viewpoint in scene 3 - should have been modified when she takes the thermometer and when she leans forward, to keep the focus on the sick person. Keep your audience in the privileged position of zoning in on all the key actions unless is a deliberate reason to obscure it. 
• Increase content in your Research section - so true. I should report much more my work.  

If you want to contract time in a scene, you can use either:
a) Jump cuts: cutting only the most pertinent and telling actions together.
b) Cutaways: cut away from your scene of making tea to a shot of something related, like a clock ticking. When you cut back to the scene, you have shifted the action further along: she’s finished the tea.  

Suggested reading and viewing

Mood and atmosphere is very strong in Ridley Scott's movies. He was one of the first directors to make excessive use of light and often smoke (it makes light 'visible'). 

To work on this proposal I've watched two Ridley Scott movies (the two ones available on my online TV subscription), paying special attention to the creation of atmosphere and use of light: Thelma & Louise & A Good Year.

Use of elements to "show" light
We can see some examples below of how Riddley Scott uses the elements (dust in the air, or water, or smoke) to depict the light. The result is kind of magical and not obvious if you are not looking for its effects.
Curiously see how even when he wants to film in rain, he is using rain as a way of showing the sunlight.

Edit 29/11/15 to attach copy of my tutor's report:

assignment 1 - feedback and reflections

I received the feedback from my tutor, Robert Enoch, on assignment 1. In summary:

Well done:

• push the limits in the story
• experiment with framing, reflections, background and foreground 
• Last scene: "I really like this shot, the evening light, the framing of the horizon and the edge of land and sea that once again has a metaphorical value here about frontiers. But you’re doing something very special with this shot, keeping the audience waiting, thinking about these things, thinking about the woman’s situation. When the guy comes along, and just sits there silently and they slowly turn and look at each other, there’s a wonderful comic philosophical question mark hovering over the whole scene about whether this is actually what they want. It begins to bring up questions about body and soul. There is of course a mystery here about whether this guy is the one who sent the message. But in a sense that doesn’t matter, because in this context we know little about the girl either and he is only the second person we have seen."

To work on:

• think further the different shots that might be required. At the beginning, in the shots of the received message, the woman picking up the phone, the woman tapping, why not one single shot, zooming in? 
• Work on the flow of the scenes. In general, the shoots are too long, for instance the first scene, with the phone on the table, or the sequence of the woman putting on make up - only the action of the lipstick would have been sufficient, with a "beat" lapse of time after she closes the lipstick. "All you need is the most telling moment"
• light and exposure. Work on lighting the scenes, not only to allow adequate exposure but also to create the desired emotional effects. 

Suggested reading/viewing
Take a movie which has a strong sense of atmosphere and analyse one or two key scenes asking the questions:

• What does the lighting and sound contribute to the mood of the scene?
• Is the location, set or ‘mise-en-scene’ affecting the atmosphere?
• How do the actor’s performances and the dialogue (if present) affect the atmosphere?
• How does the montage (i.e. the sequence of shots) develop the mood?

To work on this proposal, I've watched Her, written and directed by Spike Jonze, cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema. The scene I've chosen is that one when Theodore, the protagonist, has a blind date with a woman.

While they are at the bar, the date seems to be going well. They drink and chat and seem to be having fun. They are comfortable. The mise-en-scene shows a futuristic restaurante, with warm lighting, which helps to the feeling of comfort.
The lighting elements also helps to make a kind of magical, futuristic environment, as the lights seem to be floating in the background. The fill in light is warm, as are the colours of the scene, most of them yellow and red.
The curved walls create a closed, embracing feeling.
The actors are both showing that they are comfortable with their body language (see the first image above when both are leaning forward, to each other, which express interest).
The montage moves from a wide frame (first image above) to every time more close close ups, until it ends with the face only of the protagonists. This sequence does also help to move us from seeing the ambient, the environment, to perceive their feelings closer from their expressions and looks.

Edit 29/11/15 to attach copy of my tutor's report: