Thursday, December 18, 2014

Self Portrait Assignment

Self Portrait Assignment

The Art of Constructing a Self-Portrait
A self-portrait comes from within. Injecting 'those we love' into the portrait steers one away from the harder task to trying to reveal self without adornment.
If you eat, sleep, and live for speed then your self-portrait should reflect motion and movement as one of its cornerstones.
If you are a reflective type, then reflections and patterns and their intersections should occupy a primary space.
If overall you feel more flawed then whole, then you wouldn't want to go about photographing the most pristine parts of yourself; you would want, instead, to capture your essence in a manner that describes and defines you without complaining. I say that because the essence of self-discovery requires you to be a benign observer of self so as not to hone in too closely on this or that part.
A sense of 'wholeness' is difficult to capture at best. Indeed, wholeness is almost impossible for some people to even understand -- let alone capture in themselves -- because their persons and their lives are so fragmented, so disorganized in general.
But that is what self-portraiture is all about, capturing the whole -- the whole of who you are as a person.
Try to be unforgiving in a benign and neutral way. Study yourself in the mirror and paint what you see there. Then go inside yourself and paint what you see there.





 


You will shoot three different self-portraits over break. You need to pick three photo concepts from the following five categories.
1. A self-portrait where color is emphasized. Color may include wardrobe, location, props, or natural objects. Think of your picture as a one or two color concept picture.
2. A picture that emphasizes lighting and shadows. This will be a grayscale self-portrait.
3. A self-portrait that showcases your interests and hobbies. In this picture we learn what you like to do away from school. Think about what interests you and transfer that into a photo.
4. A fantasy self-portrait. Dress up and use costumes. In this self-portrait you can use Photoshop to enhance your picture in any way, shape, or form. Transfer yourself to Hawaii or become a Viking like you have always wanted.
5. The Supermodel self-portrait. Dress up like a GQ or Cosmopolitan magazine model. This can be a grayscale or color picture.  


Hints for self-portraits:
Use colors or lighting to create a concept.
Costumes or uniforms work great.
Change angles.
Use props.
Vary the lighting.
Try different emotional looks.
Pose in action.
Use your PORTRAIT HINTS notes.
Most importantly for this assignment don't forget your composition rules. Use framing, leading lines, rule of thirds, color contrast etc. to enhance your photo. Fill the frame.

Turning in Portraits

Please turn in a Portraits Adjusted Contacted Sheet with your 20 best portraits.
Also, turn in your favorite portrait called "Best Portrait."

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Documentary Assignment

Video 2 Reading: Please take notes
http://cybercollege.com/tvp063.htm
http://cybercollege.com/tvp063-2.htm
http://cybercollege.com/tvp064.htm


Your documentary project will consist of five separate parts.
1. Treatment
2. Intro/Body/Closing Summary
3. List of interview questions for each type of subject (do not create "yes" or "no" questions
4. Recording B-Roll footage and interviews
5. Editing and Post Production

Documentary Treatment

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences. Email your responses to me.

1. What is your documentary subject?
2. Why did you choose this subject? Why would this be interesting for us to watch(two-three sentences)
3. What do you think your audience can learn from your documentary? Why will it be entertaning (one-two sentences)
4. What type of B-Roll will your video need (four to six examples)
5. How will you make sure you can cover all sides of this subject? Who will you interview and where will you interview them? (two-three sentences)
6. What kind of music will you use?

Intro/Body/Closing Summary

Intro
Write three to four sentences describing topic in great detail . Give crucial information and history as needed. Feel free to use documented statistics.
For example, if you are doing a piece on gas prices then find out how expensive gas has been over the last twenty years. Why the change? What are the factors etc? Do cars get more or less miles per gallon?

Next, list at least five specific examples of of B-Roll you will use. Provide dates, locations, and shot type of the footage.
Will you use any footage from sources other than your own camera? If so, what will they be?

Again, if you are doing Gas prices you might want to show people filling up at the gas station, a shot or two of gas price signs, people driving cars, and money exchanging hands etc.

Body
Narrate or use text to move from one interview to the next. If you do your interviews well, the interviews will tell the story and your narration will be minimal.
For today’s assignment, pretend you have three different examples and interviews for your topic.
What will you cover in this section? What will the audience learn? Please list the people who have interviewed or will interview and also list the B-Roll that will play underneath those interviews.

Closing
What did you conclude from your documentary (using both sides of course)? You aren't trying to prove a point here as this is more of a recap of what we saw in the body of your documentary.
What should the audience know that ties all the information together? What is next for your subject or subjects?
Your closing narration should be at least three to four sentences.

First, read this section on interview techniques here. 
Finally, create a list of 20 questions you will ask five different people in your documentary.