GLITCH TESTING

To show how my online world is interfering with my reality, I wish to create glitch effects over the top of images as a representation of how the two are intertwined and causing noise, chaos and unclear visions for me. As I had success so far when relying on only myself to edit and retouch images, I chose to carry on this method as not only was it convenient and reliable, it has given me the opportunity to improve skills, learn completely new ones and boost my overall confidence in all things creative. Within my original proposal I stated how I wished to work with a huge team of creatives to achieve the planned goals, however during the production, this has proved to be a tedious task and as my ideas have grown and developed it has worked as a huge learning curve as I now want to use every opportunity to embrace challenges that I encounter and work twice as hard to learn how to deal with these problems and devise the correct solution that I can.

Within my project proposal I had already experimented with effects within photoshop to create a futuristic, glitch-like images. It was extremely successful considering this was my first-time in doing-so and I still love the outcomes that I produced from them, however I think that they could convey the wrong message to the viewer as they may be perceived as too space-like and futuristic. My project is focusing on my real life, and the present issues I am facing through my over use of social media, so this needs to be shown clearly throughout the imagery. The image in the bottom lefthand corner achieves this the most as I feel it is the closest representation of a glitch that may be found on a phone app or computer screen. I need to experiment further with this technique, exploring colour balances  and hues further to truly achieve a real technical fault vibe to the image.

Still wanting to achieve the outcome on my own, I asked other students within the university for advice rather than assistance as my photoshop skills weren't as advanced as I would like them to be, but I wish to improve through the completion of work. I received some wonderful feedback from a few people (shown below) explaining how there are mobile apps that can achieve my desired look and various ways that it is possible through photoshop. To my surprise, the photoshop advice I was given was actually the same way that I had actually produced the bottom left image from my proposal! 

Mobile app ‘Glitch’ was the chosen tool I used to test out the affects. The app had wide range of effects available to add onto my images, however after testing out various images that I had uploaded to my personal Instagram account, I found that it reduced the image quality quite drastically. Even after taking into consideration that a glitch isn't perfect and it is a faulty image, I still decided that I preferred the image outcomes that were produced within photoshop as all of my concepts so far have been of an industry standard and quality, which I want to keep consistent throughout my project. By having full control over the designs and creative direction of images this will be achieved. I also want this project to be a true representation of my skills and attributes, that I have been worked hard to perfect - by using a mobile app, I almost feel as though I am using someone else work, which I do not want to do. Experimenting further with blurring/glitch techniques, it will improve the consistency throughout my work and project overall allowing concepts to flow smoothly from one another.

FINAL SHOOT NO.2

INFLUENCED IDENTITY

After the success of the test shoot last month, I chose to reshoot these images using the infinity cove at university. The infinity cove is a white backdrop that reaches floor to the ceiling, ensuring that a crisp white background is achieved within images, allowing industry standards to be achieved. I felt that the lighting could be improved from the test shots so this was a perfect opportunity to use facilities to their fullest.

I was unable to confirm an MUA/hair stylist to assist me on this shoot, so I took it upon myself to use skills that I has acquired within my makeup technique classes in first and second year of university. Although I am confident in applying my day-to-day makeup, I felt that this was a little bit of a gamble to be doing on the day of a final shoot incase of any mistakes or mishaps, however it luckily paid off, as the application looked flawless within the images. This is another example of how much I doubt the technical skills I possess. I do feel reassured  that I am competent in carrying out such tasks since the completion of the photoshoot, however I really need to work on the confidence beforehand. By walking into a situation with a positive attitude, I am more likely to exit with positive outcomes than already feeling defeated.

Denby Axam, who worked alongside me previously on the data board shoot, agreed to return to work alongside me again as my previous photographer was unavailable. As I know Denby personally outside of studies, it enabled me to feel entirely comfortable in front of the camera, achieving great posture and poses which I could then work upon within Photoshop in post-production. Choosing the right photographer with skills that match the desired outcome has worked in my favour over the past two shoots, as I have barely had to retouch the images in photoshop as the quality was already of an impeccable standard. Throughout my studies I have found that when the photography/lighting is of a high quality, alongside the make-up artistry application, the amount of post-production and retouching is reduced. This also reduces the amount of time it takes to finalise the outcomes, as retouching can take hours on end which is easily avoided. As I am so far behind on my proposed schedule, it it essential that I take all of precautions necessary to give me a substantial amount of time to complete all aspects of the project.

I was unsure whether the collage elements of these images needed to be tidied up as sometimes the layered items aren't lining up correctly with the outline of the body. After sharing this concern with Jennifer and a few other creative students, they expressed that I need to stop being such a perfectionist as a collage isn't supposed to be neat and things aren't supposed to be perfect. I have taken these comments on board as after reflecting and reviewing the final outcomes I now agree with their opinions as the rough edges are what explains to the collage concept to the viewer.

In future, when I can feel myself stressing over images within the editing and finalisation stage, I will ensure that I show my work to other creative students as well project mentors. This will allow me to gain external opinions on positives and improvements that can be made. I worry too much when it comes to my work. When I send so much time on one piece of work, I start to over analyse the smallest, irrelevant things. This falls back to the issue of using time effectively within this stage of production, as I cannot afford to waste time over editing over unnecessary elements.

IM NOT OK CONCEPT

I found an article online that was explaining how instagram is full of images that are set up specifically for aesthetically pleasing purposes. Individuals will spend a lengthy amount of time trying to create the perfect picture for their followers to like and share. 

Muenter (2014) explains that ‘Instagram, like all social media, is about presenting the ideal version of yourself. It's not not yourself per se. ... It's more like, all the best parts of you displayed to the world and ignoring all the worst parts. Because as attractive as I am while I watch Real Housewives of Orange County and eat random food I find in the pantry, I feel like I should spare the world of that Olivia. So I, like most people, post the things that are going to reflect the best aspects of my life and personality.'

I hadn't given it much thought previously, however I have realised that I do actually abide by this as well within my own social media content. Very rarely will I post something online when I am feeling under the weather or in a sad frame of mind. Purely for the reason that it will ruin the persona and online peronality that I have created for myself.

I gained an idea for a concept to include within my publication from this, which is shown below. It is quite a literal representation, showing how what I post online is only a portion of the true feelings that I am experiencing in real life. Even though it is a small and minimal concept, I really feel as though it achieves the desired outcome as it shows a really power image to the reader that will leave them questioning whether they maybe do the same.

Sometimes I get carried away when thinking ideas, thinking that every idea has to be over the top and have a million different elements to it. However sometimes it is aesthetically pleasing to add in something minimal and easy on the eye as sometimes these are the ideas that are the most relatable and powerful.

MUENTER. O, 2014. What I Instagrammed Vs. What Was Really Happening, Or My Entire Life Is a Lie [viewed: 6 April 2016] Available from: http://www.bustle.com/articles/32177-what-i-instagrammed-vs-what-was-really-happening-or-my-entire-life-is-a-lie

INDESIGN

As I will be producing the publication myself, I knew that I needed to ensure that I had all of the correct skills and software knowledge within Indesign to be completely comfortable with what i was doing and how to produce a high quality of work. I had basic skills within Indesign from previous use in other university units, however dropping into an IT technical class with John Whalvin turned out to be extremely beneficial as I gained new knowledge of shortcuts and improved techniques within the programme. 

I’ve included my notes within this post so that I can refer back to them when I begin to plan my book layout. I am feeling confident and excited to start the process as it is another chance for me to showcase my creative skills and improve within another creative area.

MIDPOINT REFLECTION

What has been successful so far, what have you been pleased with?

The in depth research that I have collected so far during the early stages of this project has enabled me to gain a wide range of knowledge into the working techniques of other creatives as well as the social media dependencies and habits that various individuals have. I still feel that I need to research further into production processes and various cutting edge practices to  assist the progression of ideas and concepts, which I will continue to do over the next few weeks.

Despite the issues with unreliability of others on test shoots, I think that the images produced so far have been of great success. They have proved to me that my ideas have some substance and are relatable to the topic I have chosen to represent within my work. I often doubt my ideas, as I feel they aren't good enough, however after being proven wrong and having mentors/tutors praise my ideas, it has given me to confidence boost I need to propel forward and continue to produce innovative objectives to work on.

Are you on track with your original production schedule, if not why and what do you need to adjust?

I am ridiculously behind schedule at this stage of the development time. By the end of this week the following points should have been completed:

Planned shoots

Finalised ideas

Models sources

Photographers sourced

MUA’s Sourced

Other creative help sourced

Locations confirmed

Materials sourced (clothes, props, etc)

Shoot one – six complete

Edited images

Planned book layout & typography

Circumstances outside of my university studies have been a huge factor as to why I have fallen so far behind on my project schedule. Procrastinating so drastically has meant that none of the above is completely finished, and I am now halfway through the allocated production time and have nothing to really show for my work. I understand that this is not acceptable within my studies and definitely will not be within industry, so I have had to work extra hard to devise a new strategic way to achieve the goals that I wish to achieve within this project along with the guidance from my mentor Jennifer. 

How have you resolved major issues?

The issue of being totally unfocused was resolved after I created specific questions that I needed to use a basis for my creative concepts.

Why is society so obsessed with social media?

Why do people feel the need to share so much information online?

Is it making an impact on their life, their jobs, their relationships?

By having these questions to refer back to it will ensure that I stay on track and am always producing work that fits the ethos of the publication. As a result, the end product will have a steady flow from concept to concept as they will all relate to one another.

Another major issue that I recently faced was that the course tutors thought that my project and my ideas were ‘too moralising’, explaining that I was generalising all social media issues as if everyone in the entire world was going through the same thing. I could understand their point completely, as I had been struggling to come up with fresh concepts that were relatable, without using myself as a foundation for those ideas. This was resolved by deciding to change the perspective of my final major project from an objective one to subjective.

“An objective perspective is one that is not influenced by emotions, opinions, or personal feelings - it is a perspective based in fact, in things quantifiable and measurable. A subjective perspective is one open to greater interpretation based on personal feeling, emotion, aesthetics, etc.”

After the success of using myself as a model prior to this, I felt that this would be an appropriate decision as it would also resolve a recurring issue of unreliability that I had to deal with previously. Having one less team member to depend on will allow me to use the energy I would of used stressing and worrying about the whereabouts of others on another area of production that will be more beneficial in the long term. Learning to adjust to stressful situations and make informed decisions like this will help the production of the project move smoothly and efficiently to a professional standard.

What requires further improvement?

I need to ensure that I am working at a fast pace now that half of the production time has past and deadlines are approaching. My confidence is improving everyday within my ideas and since changing the direction of the project I feel positive that all of my aims are achievable and am excited to finally produce some outcomes that work on all levels and aspects of the brief.

Developments, feedback and ideas - big and small - need to constantly be noted within this blog so that I can continue to refer back to ideas and reflections. This will help improve my thought process  as I can work  and build from all of the constructive criticism and praise given to me. 

You may also want to suggest ideas for further development of your project.

 Since altering the perspective of the project to a subjective viewpoint, it has allowed me to personalise my ideas and the creation of concepts has improved immensely. Below are the notes that I have made that I wish to represent within my work. Having a subjective perspective has made it a lot easier to justify within the production of concepts, as they are all a part of my life and situations that I am personally going through. If I was to still have an objective perspective to work towards, I would need to continue to collect endless amounts of data and research to ensure that I had facts and statistics to relate back too at all times.

FINAL SHOOT NO.1

SOCIAL MEDIA TATTOO

I decided to shoot this concept on location and within the studio, so that I could review all of the images afterwards and decide which was the most aesthetically pleasing. Due to studios being fully booked and limited space available, I was unable to test shoot beforehand so the decision worked well to give an extra chance at producing images. 

Photography student Dionne Lockyear assisted with the photography side of things while in the studio, as I didn't have the skills and knowledge to achieve the best lighting for this type of imagery that would capture the right shadows and highlights. I paid attention while on set, taking mental note of set ups, and camera settings she used, as I never know when that information may be of use to me in the future. Throughout the development of this project so far I have grown to love gaining as much information as possible from situations and problems I find myself within as they are all vital learning curves that are helping shape my intelligence and research skills.

Location:

The location shots weren't as successful as I had hoped they would be, as the various backgrounds drew the attention away from the body and the text written on it. The lighting on location was a lot harder to control, due to natural lights, shadows and reflections. I attempted to play around with the camera settings and reflectors to alter this, however it just wasn't producing the desired effect.

The studio based images on the other hand - taken by Dionne - came out even better than expected. The lighting set up worked amazingly well with the models body and posture, causing the shadows to fall in all of the right places to create a moody, artistic finish to the images. These haven't been retouched yet, however I don’t feel as though they need to be put through much post-production as I don't want the images to look too polished and perfect. Some text from the tweets have a quirky and edgy context which I think works well with a rough image to truly reflect the individuals personality.

Studio:

I think that the image outcomes would have worked better  if the model was nude, without any styling, as the clothes and accessories take away more attention from the main focus which is the text. The styling was intended to be natural and have an everyday look to it, to carry on reflecting the individuals personality,  however I just don't think it works as it was intended too.

I think these communicate the concept really well, as it makes the viewer think 'I wonder what all this means? Why did he share that on his twitter?', without having to take the concept so literally and using photoshop editing to incorporate the online posts onto the body. I'm pleased with the outcome, but still feel that improvements could be made within styling and makeup aspects to ensure that the images are of a professional standard. I had stated that this would intact be one of the final shoots for final imagery to use within my publication, however I am not entirely happy with the quality of the images, so I am looking to reshoot this so that improvements can be made. The sooner I look into booking studios to reshoot, the better as it is becoming difficult to book the required space now. 

SOCIAL MEDIA TATTOO PREP

‘Anything we choose to upload, tweet, reblog, favorite, "like", is going into an endless record. One that will be very, very hard to erase…With the touch of a button--you can take down your career, you can take down your boss, you can ruin a relationship--romantic or otherwise. And these things won't go away.

One of the things I tell my clients every single day--it's a lot easier to control the conversation than it is to change it. But in the world of online--it's ten times harder. It's not a speech that will go away after you deliver it--it's one that could be transcribed, uploaded, quoted--for however long the public wants. It'll pop up in search results for a decade, if not far, far longer than that.’ (Fineman, 2014)

My personal way of thinking of the online footprint we all leave behind us is that everything you post online is with you forever – almost like a tattoo. Tornoe (cited by Hue, 2013) explains how majority of posted web content is on a hard drive somewhere in the world. It is almost impossible to remove it once it has been shared, as even when a disk drive is erased it is almost as easy to retrieve, as it was to remove.

My concept that I have created from this information is that the chosen models twitter feed will be exposed all over their body, as if they are branded with whatever they post online. Using makeup to handwrite the tweets works well as a connotation of Twitter's diary-like format, as only small posts of 140 characters can be made – similar to a physical diary. They are short and to the point, which should translate well onto the body when handwritten. I want to refrain from using programs such as Photoshop to embellish all images, as I want to add variety to the outcomes. If every single result has the same polished look them, it will make my project look predictable and too literal to the social media/online topic. Even though this idea is quite literal in itself, I think that it will work well as it is quite abstract and should create an artistic translation, causing the viewer to rethink how much they wish to post online no matter how small and irrelevant it may seem at the time.

FINEMAN. M, 2014. What We Post Online is Forever, and We Need a Reminder [viewed 12 March 2016] Available from: http://www.inc.com/meredith-fineman/what-we-post-online-is-forever-and-we-need-a-reminder.html

HUE. N, 2013. Digital Permanence: What Goes on The Internet Stays On The Internet [viewed 11 March 2016] Available from: http://threesixtyjournalism.org/digitalpermanence