Location Project

For my Cinematography module of the Film and TV Production course, one of my assignments was called 'The Location Project'

The brief that we were given was: 'You must tell a story about a location that is personal to you. The location may be a busy place or a quiet one - it can be constructed or already in existence. It is essential that the viewer is able to understand something about your connection with the location.'

I shot this film at my grandparents' house just outside London.

Unfortunately Blogger will not allow me to embed it but here's the link: https://vimeo.com/55030764 

Vans Off The Wall Tour - October 17, 2012

I went to the Vans Off The Wall Tour last night at the O2 Academy in Sheperd's Bush Empire in London. The line up was Marmazots, Your Demise, We Are The In Crowd, and Young Guns. IF you haven't heard of any of these bands then stop reading right now and check them out. I took my small Canon digital camera and took some photos. Here are some of the better ones.

Gustav Wood and Ben Jolliffe of Young Guns at the Vans store signing

Simon Mitchell and Fraser Taylor of Young Guns

Group of friends I made before the gig

Katie and Naveena

We Are The In Crowd

Taylor Jardine and Jordan Eckles of We Are The In Crowd

Simon Mitchell of Young Guns

Young Guns

Young Guns

Young Guns

Gustav Wood of Young Guns

Simon Mitchell and Fraser Taylor of Young Guns

Gustav Wood of Young Guns
(Favourite photo of the night)

Gustav Wood of Young Guns

Second favourite photo of the night

The venue

Rob Chianelli of We Are The In Crowd and myself

Taylor Jardine and Rob Chianelli of We Are The In Crowd

London

M & M World

Just a couple of photos from M & M World, London from when I visited back in October. 

Occupy London Protest: Part 3

Occupy London Protest: Part 2

Occupy London Protest: Part 1

Back in October there were protesters camping outside St. Paul's cathedral. I went to see what could be photographed with a friend and here are some photos that I took that day.

Portfolio - Location Shots

Girl's boarding corridor

Portfolio: Story

Seeing as the requirement for the portfolio is that the storyboard is of a narrative drama, I've decided to take a Skins take on this, also I am currently attending a boarding school. Being at this location gives me an advantage that many girls are full time boarders and therefore are around in the evenings and are willing to take part. The story is from the girls' point of view and what may happen which people may think only happens in the male side of boarding school. None of this happens here though.

Story:
A girl, Rosaline, arrives at a boarding school, brand new. She is greeted by Matron, a woman who looks after you, and is taken up to her room. As she's walking down the corridor with Matron there is a girl, Vanessa, down the corridor watching them. They enter her  room which is very bare and quite uncomfortable because it is rather empty, with exception of a desk, bed and a wardrobe. Matron leaves Rosaline to sort her things out. Rosaline sits on her bed looking around the room and then a girl, Clarissa, takes her by the arm and pulls her off the bed, taking her to Vanessa's room. In this room there are cups lined up on the desk with a bottle of alcohol at the end of this line of 10 cups, or a water bottle with water that's supposed to be vodka. There's a group of girls standing against the wall opposite to the desk, arms crossed with a smug look on their faces. The reason why there are cups on the desk is that Rosaline needs to prove that she's worthy enough to be part of Vanessa's gang and not be picked on for the duration of her time at the boarding school. Rosaline starts to drink the alcohol in the cups and it goes right through her system as she's quite a small girl. As she gets towards the 7th cup the alcohol is starting to get to her system. Vanessa then assists Rosaline by holding her head back by pulling on her back and forcing her to open her mouth. Vanessa pours the alcohol into Rosaline's mouth. Matron walks in when Rosaline is taking her last cup of alcohol. Matron pulls Rosaline out of Vanessa's room by her arm and that is when Rosaline is sick right by Matron's shoes.

This may not be the most complicated of story lines but it has potential. It is easy to picture but being able to take photos capturing the facial expressions and the actions could be challenging. The smug looks, the scowl, the fear etc. 

Life's not all what it seems

There isn't much I want to say about this photograph. His eyes are open which I found a little odd as he did go in to kiss her but I may have caught him at the wrong time. They weren't too happy about me taking a photo I don't think because she gave me a funny look when they turned around to continue their artistic journey.

I suppose what I like its that both love and hate feature in the photograph; love being the love between the couple and hate being the two birds pinned against the wall with arrows. Thinking about it, the way that I've interpreted this piece of art is that its the opposite of life. What grabs your attention when you see this is the fact that the birds are dead due to the fact that they've been struck by arrows. Once you get over the initial shock, you then notice the drawing of the buildings in the background. We always notice buildings around us but we don't see the destruction that we're doing; we may think we're doing the best and have the best intentions at heart but we need to look at the wider scheme of things.

Mirror, mirror on the wall..

Standing on the other side of the corridor at the Tate and watching people pass this mirror amused me. This is purely because a lot of people seemed to stop, look at themselves and adjust their image. I said to Adam, I bet the next woman who passes the mirror will fix herself; which of course did happen, she fussed with her hair and make-up and then carried on. I think having just a mirror on the wall is actually a clever idea, as I said in one of my earlier posts, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. Beauty is all around us, even within ourselves; we just need to find it.

Art knows no age

I have already posted a photo of this piece of art but it was this little girl. Prior to taking this photo I had tried taking a photo of a mother talking to her daughter about it but it didn't come out too well. However, this one was perfect. You can see the thoughtful and puzzled look on this little girl's face. I'm not entirely sure what she was doing at the museum as it is not a place where children would normally go as they tire their parents very quickly if they're bored. I stood in the corner of the room and watched people trying to capture their reactions as they came across this particular piece of artwork but I think this is the best one I was able to capture.

Stairs

When you walk into this room at the Tate Museum there is a slight pink tint to the room and you look up and this is what you see. It's mesh fabric make into stairs going up to the floor above; the detail on this is incredible. A fuse box, a pipe, the banister, the switch, it was all there. This is as if you've got x-ray vision that's red as you are able to see through the ceiling/floor and there's all the detail of the banisters up at the top. Simple yet complicated at the same time.

What is art?

When I saw this, I wasn't too sure what to think. Did the artist see a pile of clothes just sitting on the floor of their room and thought, 'Hey, that pile of clothes look pretty awesome, I'll make a large mound of clothes and put it next to a statue. Maybe one day it'll be on show at the Tate Museum in London!' However, upon inspection, I saw that the pile of clothes were not just a pile but a pile of clothes that were put together with precision. Towards the bottom of the pile I saw a denim jacket and it had actually been cut to what look like a strip of fabric. This piece of art was no mistake. I suppose anyone could of done this, but it was the artist who actually did. 

Today, art is what you make it. Asking 'what is art?' is like asking someone to 'define normal'. It can be interpreted in many ways.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.