visual narrative

introduction to photography 

INVESTEGATION:

• PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTOGRAPHY ARTIST INVESTIGATION

INVESTEGATION:

• ARTIST INVESTIGION

• ARTISTS CAMERA EFFECTS

• FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

LEE KIRBY

Lee Kirby, like Gjon Mili (although much more modern), does not actually use the technique of double exposure in his images, yet the images themselves are inspired by photographers who have used double exposures in the past.

Instead of layering images on top of one another, Lee Kirby uses a projector to project the second image onto his subjects in a sort of real-life double exposure. In many of his photographs, Kirby combines the use of projection with blurred movement to create images that sometimes look more like paintings than portraits.

FREEMAN PATTERSON

Freeman Patterson takes an interesting, unique approach to double exposure photography, straying away from the eerie and surrealist qualities of the technique and instead using it to create photographs that look like Impressionist paintings.

Impressionism is a style of painting that originated in the 19th century and was used to attempt to capture the changing effects of light and color over a period of time. Patterson uses two exposures of the same image, layered on top of each other yet shifted slightly, to give the same Impressionist feeling to his images.

 DUANE MICHALS

Duane Michals is an American-born photographer who uses the technique of double exposure to create images that are dreamlike, whimsical, and a little eerie at times. His fascination with the dream state also extends into his fascination with creating and preserving memories, a theme that is seen in one of his well-known books, Sequences.

In this book, his photographs and double-exposed images are coupled with hand-written text that reveals more about his life and what the images mean to him.

introduction to photography 

INVESTEGATION:

• slow and fast shutter speed

• large and small aperture

• low and high ISO

EXPOSURE TRIANGLE 

The Exposure Triangle comprises aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. These three camera and lens controls work together to regulate the amount of light that makes it to the light-sensitive surface (aperture and shutter speed) and the sensitivity of that surface (film or digital ISO). Not only do those three controls affect the light of a photograph, but they also have unique “side effects.” Aperture controls depth of field, shutter speed can blur or freeze action, and ISO can add or subtract film grain or digital noise from an image.

WHAT IS ISO

NYCAMM.PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES

ISO is a number that represents how sensitive your camera sensor is to light. The higher the ISO number, the higher your camera’s sensitivity, and the less light you need to take a picture. The trade-off is that higher ISOs can lead to degraded image quality and cause your photos to be grainy or “noisy.” Along with aperture and

 shutter speed, ISO is often considered part of the “exposure triangle”, and should be considered alongside those two settings.

ISO 200 setting created a smooth quality photo which results in deeper colour

What is Aperture

NYCAMM.PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES

Aperture is a hole in the lens that controls how much light gets into your camera. It’s one important element of the exposure triangle, along with ISO and shutter speed. Aperture also affects your depth of field, which is defined by the level of clarity or blurriness of certain elements within a photo.

aperture f/2.8 captures close up objects and blurs the background

aperture f/22 captures more focus in the background

what is shutter speed

NYCAMM.PHOTOGRAPHY EXAMPLES

Shutter speed is exactly what it sounds like – the speed at which the shutter of the camera closes. A fast shutter speed creates a shorter exposure — the amount of light the camera takes in —while a slow shutter speed gives the photographer a longer exposure.

shutter speed 1/60 captured the butterfly’s wing moving

where as shutter speed 1/4 did’nt capture the butterfly’s moving wings as quick

artist research to Camera Shots and Angles

INVESTEGATION:

• Camera Angles of View

• Cinematography and Photography

• Photo camera practical workshop

• Analyses of the images produced

Eye Level Shot

Our first camera angle is the eye level shot, and this is when your subject is at eye-level. An eye level shot can result in a neutral perspective (not superior or inferior). This mimics how we see people in real life — our eye line connecting with theirs, and it can break down boundaries.

Eye level shots are actually much less standard than one might initially think, because directors often prefer to place the camera at shoulder level to attain a much more cinematic look.

Low Angle Shot

A low angle shot shot frames the subject from below a their eyeline. These camera shots most often emphasize power dynamics between characters — a low angle shot on one character is often paired with a high angle shot on the other character.

Low angle camera shots are a perfect camera angle for signaling superiority or to elicit feelings of fear and dread. Here’s a video that dives deeper into the various low angle shot examples and how they have been used by filmmakers like Wes Anderson, Orson Welles, and Spike Jonze.

High Angle Shot

In a high angle shot, the camera points down at your subject. It usually creates a feeling of inferiority, or “looking down” on your subject. But, again, with every other camera angle, there are many applications.

The high angle shot is a versatile shot that can be used in many situations. The most common usage is to make a character seem vulnerable and powerless but there are always exceptions to the rule.

The Cowboy Shot or Hip Level Shot

A Cowboy shot is when your camera is roughly waist-high. Hip level shots are often useful when one subject is seated while the other stands.

Hip level shots can also be extremely useful camera angles for when you have action that occurs near the hip, like weapons being drawn, or someone reaching into their pocket. That’s why it’s also known as a “cowboy shot” — we can’t think of hip level shots without seeing a gun, holster, and the enemy ahead in the distance.

The further away you get from the subject, like in this moment from Punch-Drunk Love, to keep the subject framed with proper head room, a hip level shot will get the job done.

Knee Level Shot

This is when your camera height is about as low as your subject’s knees. They can emphasize a character’s superiority if paired with a low angle. It’s not as extreme as a ground level shot but it gets the same feeling across. These are ideal when you want to focus on characters walking, or in this case from Home Alone, creeping.

Ground Level Shot

A ground level shot is when your camera’s height is on ground level with your subject. This camera angle is used a lot to feature a character walking without revealing their face, but it can help to make the viewer more active and use the actor’s performance to build an idea.

Shoulder Level Shot

A shoulder level shot is a camera angle that is as high as your subject’s shoulders. Shoulder level shots are actually much more standard than an eye level shot, which can make your actor seem shorter than reality.

Because the camera is aligned with the shoulder, it allows the actor’s head to reach the top of the frame (reducing head room). It also places the actor’s eye-line slightly above the camera, and, in turn, the illusion of a slightly lower angle.

Dutch Angle or Dutch Tilt Shot

For a Dutch angle (Dutch tilt), the camera is slanted to one side. With the horizon lines tilted in this way, you can create a sense of disorientation, a de-stabilized mental state, or increase the tension.

Think of the Dutch angle as “emphasis” for any tense or subjective moment. It’s a great way to amplify whatever emotion, mental state, or suspense you’re bringing to the scene.

Overhead Shot or Bird’s Eye View

An overhead shot is from above, looking down on your subject. These are typically shot from 90 degrees above — anything less might be considered a high angle shot instead.

An overhead shot doesn’t need to be super high, but it can be. Here’s an example of the overhead shot camera angle:

Overhead shots are great for providing perspective on a scene — but not just any perspective. It’s often used as either a “neutral” or sometimes “divine” point of view.

Aerial Shot

An aerial shot, whether taken from a helicopter or drone, is captured from way up high. It establishes a large expanse of scenery. Many of the helicopter shots in Black Hawk Down are aerial shots.

Affordable drones have made aerial photography more accessible to filmmakers. Once considered a big-budget luxury or stock-footage mainstay, original aerial photography is now within reach of almost any production, all thanks to the “rise” of drones (and Sky-net).

Camera angles are very important in visual storytelling but they are just the beginning of the options available. When you find yourself prepping a shot list, remember shot size, framing, focus, and camera movement. When filmmakers can combine these elements into a single shot for the right reasons, that’s when iconic moments in film are born.

INVESTIGATION PHOTOGRAPHY SHOTS

INVESTEGATION:

• EXTREME CLOSE-UP SHOT (ECU)

• CLOSE-UP SHOT (CU)

• MEDIUM CLOSE-UP SHOT (MCU)

• MEDIUM SHOT (MS)

• LONG SHOT

• VERY LONG SHOT

• EXTREME LONG SHOT

EXTREME LONG SHOt

VERY LONG SHOT

LONG SHOT

MEDIUM SHOT (MS)

MEDIUM CLOSE-UP SHOT (MCU)

CLOSE-UP SHOT (CU)

EXTREME CLOSE-UP SHOT (ECU)

macro etream close up

photography artist shot investigation 

INVESTEGATION:

• artist research

• Extreme close-up shot & Close-up shot

• Medium close-up shot & Medium shot (MS)

• Long shots & Very long shot

“Ice Droplet” by Morey Gers—Shortlist

In his St. Louis, Missouri, backyard, Morey Gers took this image of crystalized water. He was looking for interesting ice formations to photograph, when this frozen droplet hanging from a magnolia tree caught his attention.

“This ice drop, showing the internal crystal formations, is only around a quarter inch long,” writes Gers in a statement.

A iced droplet of water frozen in time, dangling from a magnolia tree.

“Sawfly Larva” by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas—Shortlist

This young sawfly looks larger-than-life as it climbs a blade of grass in this close-up image. German photographer Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas captured the moment in a meadow last summer.

“I decided to leave a black background to contrast the bright green of the larva and went for a slightly wider shot to leave some negative space to one side,” Tinker-Tsavalas writes in a statement.

A sawfly larva slowly creeps up a blade of grass.

“Outer Space” by Alex Pansier—Finalist

Dutch photographer Alex Pansier spied this elephant seal during a photo tour that stopped in South Georgia, an island in the South Atlantic Ocean. With the soft, eerie light, the seal resembles a planet or moon glimpsed from outer space, hence the photograph’s name.

“The beaches were teeming with fur seals and elephant seals. This particular one was so relaxed I managed to photograph it quietly with some nice backlight in low key—my favorite style,” writes Pansier in a statement.

An elephant seal rests on its side

“Murky Waters” by Lovre Culina—Finalist

Standing on a bridge over the Tarcoles River in Costa Rica, Lovre Culina stretched his arms over the bridge’s edge to snap this photograph of an American crocodile. These reptiles often remain hidden and still—then ambush their prey.

“My aim was to depict this incredible marvel of nature in its element, while leaving the viewer slightly unsure about what is being shown,” the German geologist and photographer writes in a statement.

An American crocodile lurks in the water, lying still to surprise its prey.

“Goose Bumps” by Stefan Gerrits—Third Place

On a cold Norwegian night, Dutch and Finnish photographer Stefan Gerrits waited for the perfect photograph. As it approached midnight, he captured this picture of a mountain hare sitting silently in a heavy snowstorm.

“It was a rough winter evening in the very far north of Norway, I was sitting down, and my goodness I was cold, chilled to the bone, waiting for signs of life,” writes Gerrits in a statement. “Thankfully, I got lucky. This hare seemed to have some form of piloerection (the equivalent of human goosebumps), which made its hair stand on end.”

A mountain hare sits in a snowstorm, facing the wild wind head-on.

photography composition investigation 

INVESTEGATION:

• photography composition

• Rule of Thirds

• Centered Composition and Symmetry

• Balance Elements in the Scene

• Golden Ratio

• Golden Triangles

the rule of thirds

You divide the frame into 9 equal rectangles, 3 across and 3 down as illustrated below. Many camera manufacturers have included the capability to display this grid in live view mode.

The idea is to place the important element(s) of the scene along one or more of the lines or where the lines intersect. We have a natural tendency to want to place the main subject in the middle. Placing it off-center using the rule of thirds will more often than not lead to a more attractive composition.

 Centered Composition and Symmetry

There are times when placing a subject in the centre of the frame works really well. Symmetrical scenes are perfect for a centered composition. They look really well in square frames too. Architecture and roads often make great subjects for centered compositions.

This photo uses a mix of the rule of thirds and symmetry to compose the scene. The tree is positioned off-center to the right of the frame but the perfectly still water of the lake provides the symmetry. You can often combine several composition guidelines in a single photograph.

 Balance Elements in the Scene

The first compositional guideline was the Rule of Thirds. This of course means that we often place the main subject of the photo to the side of the frame along one of the vertical grid lines. Sometimes this can lead to a lack of balance in the scene. It can leave a sort of ‘void’ in the rest of the frame.

To overcome this, you can compose your shot to include a secondary subject of lesser importance or size on the other side of the frame. This balances out the composition

without taking too much focus off the main subject of the photograph.

Golden Triangles

The golden triangles composition works in a very similar way to the rule of thirds. Instead of a grid of rectangles, however, we divide the frame with a diagonal line going from one corner to another. We then add two more lines from the other corners to the diagonal line. The two smaller lines meet the big line at a right angle as is illustrated below. This divides the frame into a series of triangles, this way of composing helps us introduce an element of the ‘dynamic tension’ we learned about in guideline number 6. As with the rule of thirds, we use the lines (of the triangles in this case) to help us position the various elements in the scene.

Golden Ratio

The similarities with the rule of thirds and golden triangles become clearer once we add a few lines to the diagram. The golden ratio also divides the frame into 9 parts although this time they are not all the same size and shape. The diagonals we saw in the golden triangles examples can also be added here.

It is believed that the golden spiral method of composition has been in existence for over 2,400 years having been devised in Ancient Greece. It is widely used in many types of art as well as architecture as a way of creating aesthetically pleasing compositions. It was particularly well employed in Renaissance art.

photography artist investigation photo story

INVESTEGATION:

• artist research

• photo story

Duane Michals Reveals Gay Hiddenness

One more work from the permanent collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. By no coincidence at all, the piece is included in the museum’s comprehensive survey of the photos of Duane Michals, which closes in exactly one month. Shot in 1970, it is called “Chance Meeting,” and may just be the best of the photographic series that Michals pioneered. The suite lets us watch as two quite ordinary men pass each other on a side street, and in passing exchange a glance pregnant with desire. Or at least that’s the very obvious (and as it happens intended) reading that we have of the series now, especially knowing the other gay-themed images that Michals has shot. But several people who saw the series when it first came out–including Linda Benedict-Jones, the survey’s curator–have told me that they didn’t immediately get the homosexual subtext, although they could tell there was something promisingly queer, in the older sense, about the work. That means that the series itself, as a work of art, played the same game of partial signs and obfuscations that its subjects are engaging in. Right into the 1970s, homosexuality was the desire, that dared not speak its name, or declare itself fully in art. Michals’s series declares that undeclaration. (Collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Courtesy the Artist and DC Moore Gallery)

assingment 1 photo story

name: mark d frankson (friend of family)

Gender: Male widowed

Age: 80 years old

Journey: bus journey from Winchester to Colden common and back

Time of year: summertime

Year based: 2010.

My story is about an old gentlemen who lives in the city, he grew old with his wife in a lovely little house in a little rural village hidden away with the company of his wife and their garden. with his wife now no longer with him, unable to drive and no family he had to move to the city to be more accessible to shops and essential needs.

To reminisce in good times and old memories, he travels by bus to his beloved little house that he used to live in for many many years with his wife, he gets on the bus ready to travel and all the while he smiles and reminisces as he gets close to his once beloved home.

He won’t get off the bus, not being a young man anymore he finds it too much to walk on his own without assistance, so he will sit on the top floor of the bus right at the front so he can have the best view as he goes past he beloved house that he grew old in with his wife. passing the house he always feel’s grief and great sadness, closing his eyes feeling the pain of the past.

but always thinking, it’s better to remember the pain of lose, than to forget a lifetime of happiness.

Nyacmms photography

PHOTOGRAPHY ARTIST INVESTIGATION

INVESTEGATION:

• RESEARCH 1-2PHOTOGRAPHERS

• RESEARCH STUDIO BASE PHOTOGRAPHERS

• SHORT REFLECTIONS ABOUT YOUR FINDINGS

THE BURNING MONK – MALCOLM BROWN

The Burning Monk is a photo taken by Malcolm Brown on June 11, 1963. The photo shows Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, sitting in the lotus position while engulfed in flames. The monk had been protesting the policies of the South Vietnamese government, and his self-immolation drew international attention to the cause of Vietnamese Buddhists. The photo was widely circulated and helped to galvanize opposition to the Vietnam War. In addition, it won a Pulitzer Prize for Brown, cementing its place in history. Today, The Burning Monk continues to be an iconic image of protest and sacrifice.

TANK MAN – CHARLIE COLE

Tank Man is one of the most famous photographs of all time, capturing a powerful moment of resistance in the face of political oppression. This image has been frequently referenced over the years, holding particular resonance in modern political debates about human rights and social justice. But where did this photograph come from and what was its original context?

The story begins in 1989, when pro-democracy protests were sweeping across China. At that time, hundreds of thousands of civilians gathered on the streets of Beijing to protest against communist rule, with many calling for democratic reforms and an end to government corruption. During these protests, known as the Tiananmen Square uprising, protesters faced violent crackdowns by Chinese authorities and experienced countless acts of brutality and intimidation.

One such incident occurred on June 5th, 1989 when a group of civilians blocked a convoy of tanks as it moved through Beijing. The iconic photograph that we now call Tank Man shows a lone man standing in front of several tanks, stopping them with nothing more than his own two hands and determination. While the identities and fates of those involved are still unknown today, this image continues to resonate as a powerful symbol of courage and defiance in the face of oppression. And while it originally captured a specific moment in history You may well have seen this incredibly famous photograph, but did you know it was cropped?

LUNCH ATOP A SKYSCRAPER – CHARLES C EBBETS

The famous photograph Lunch atop a skyscraper was taken by Charles C Ebbets in 1932. The image shows workers taking a break from their construction work on the 69th floor of the Rockefeller Center in New York City. At the time, the Rockefeller Center was the tallest building in the world, and the workers were risking their lives to build it. The photograph captures both the majesty of the cityscape and the human spirit of those who built it. Today, Lunch atop a skyscraper is one of the most iconic images of 20th-century America.

This photograph as staged as part of a publicity stunt for the new RCA building in New York. Here is the crazy man himself taking the picture.

PHOTOGRAPHY PORTRAITS – ASSINGMENT 2

INVESTEGATION:

• PHOTOGRAPHY COMPOSITION SHOTS

•  CLOSE UPS

•  PORTRAITS

• CAMERA CANON D5 MK1

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NYCAMMVFX

the next 2 shots were not staged and was very random trying to capture the bird of my friends head before it flew away , the similarity’s between the scruffy bird and my friends scruffy beard makes the shot

PHOTOGRAPHY PORTRAITS INVESTIGATION 

INVESTIGATION:

• FAMOUS PORTRAIT ARTISTS

• FAMOUS PORTRAITS

Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

“Girl with a Pearl Earring” is a testament to the Dutch master’s ability to capture light and emotion. Painted around 1665, the subject’s beguiling gaze and the play of light on the pearl have captivated art enthusiasts for centuries.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Our journey begins with the grand dame of all portraits – the Mona Lisa. Crafted by the genius Leonardo da Vinci between 1503 and 1506, this painting is shrouded in mystery and has sparked countless debates and conspiracy theories. Some believe that da Vinci used his own face as a model for Mona Lisa’s enigmatic expression.

The Scream by Edvard Munch

“The Scream” (1893) is not your average portrait. This iconic artwork is an expressionist masterpiece that captures the raw emotion of existential dread.

‘Abraham Lincoln’ by Thomas Hicks (1860)

This the one portrait on our list that isn’t a natural photograph which is ironic given that it is the oldest image in our list.

Lincoln’s portrait was actually a composite using the body of another politician John C. Calhoun. A lot of Lincoln supporters felt that, though his ideologies were popular with the voters, he didn’t look very presidential or statesman like so they wanted to create an everlasting image of him appearing to be heroic.

This iconic portrait of Lincoln was published multiple times after his death in 1865 with the aim to perpetuate this heroic status.

Though this, forgery of sought, was ground breaking when discovered, it has been a common practice for heroic figures to be given a more impressive appearance prior to the digital age.

Portraits of General Ulysses S Grant, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitle

r have all been doctored in some form to improve the image and myth of their character.

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal (1945)

Four days after invading Iwo Jima, American troops planted a small flag atop Mt. Suribachi. The flag was ordered to be replaced with a larger one that could be seen by troops across the island.

Rosenthal’s iconic photograph is actually a restaging of the original flag planting. He was subsequently was accused of staging the moment. The image went on to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Three of the Marines in the photo were killed in action on Iwo Jima. The other three survivors were sent back to the U.S., where they were treated as heroes.

photography artist stop motion investigation

INVESTEGATION:

• Research stop motion photographers

• what is stop motion animation

• stop motion

• analog and digital

analog stop motion

Wallace and Gromet – A Grand Day Out 1989

written Nick Park Steve Rushtonand and directed by Nick Park

The story of Wallace and Gromit began when Nick Park was a student at the National Film and Television School. When deciding what to do for his graduation project, he chose to animate a couple of characters he had been sketching and writing short stories for – a man with a flat cap and his cat. The cat later transformed into a dog and the man lost the moustache that Nick had originally drawn him with, but the idea of the ingenious inventor and his cautious canine was there in Nick Park’s student sketchbook!

After doing a 3-week attachment at Elstree Film Studios and seeing how all the special effects were being created, Nick began to piece some ideas together about a man who builds a rocket in his basement and flies to the moon to stock up on his supplies of cheese. At the same time that Nick was developing his short film, Peter Lord and David Sproxton (the founders of Aardman Animations) went to give a talk at the National Film School, during which Nick took the opportunity to show them what he was making for his final year project. At the time, Nick had barely shot the construction of the rocket sequence – a paragraph on paper had taken him a year and a half to complete. Pete and Dave realized Nick’s project was overly ambitious for the timescale he had been given and so they offered him an opportunity to work at Aardman animating commercials in exchange for studio time and additional resources to finish his project.

A Grand Day Out was finally finished and transmitted on Channel 4 on Christmas Eve, 1990 – 6 years after production began! The iconic voice of Wallace was provided by

Peter Sallis, who had helped Nick out as a favor during his time as a student. Peter helped to direct and shape the character, but once he had recorded the voice he heard nothing more. Naturally, he was very surprised to hear from Nick 6 years later with a transmission date. A Grand Day Out became a major talking point, along with another of Nick’s creations, Creature Comforts, and both stunned the public by being nominated for Academy Awards®. In the end Creature Comforts won the award in the short animated film category, but Wallace and Gromit had captured the public’s heart and it wasn’t long before the next short film was in production

digital stop motion

coraline 2010

written and directed by Henry Selick, based on Neil Gaiman’s novella of the same name.

The techniques used to develop the Coraline puppet are the foundation of all of LAIKA’s future work.

When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true. When the Other Mother invites Coraline to stay in her world forever, the girl refuses and finds that the alternate reality where she is trapped is only a trick to lure her

• Coraline is the first stop-motion film to integrate visual effects and 3D-printing rapid prototype technology into traditional stop-motion production.
• Coraline is the first-ever stop-motion animated feature to be conceived and photographed in Stereoscopic 3D. The process included shooting two pictures for each frame – a left-eye frame and a right-eye frame – with the same camera.
• With Coraline, LAIKA was one of the first studios to film a stop motion feature film on Ones instead of Twos. Ones are shot at 24 frames per second with movement in every frame, which registers naturally to the human eye. Twos means movement in every other frame, resulting in 12 fps and actions that are less smooth.
• Ones = 24 frames/second Twos = 12 frames/second

assignment 3 – stop motion

investigation:

• object toy car

• car will move on its own

• car will drift around object

• I will do 50 – 100 shots

objects for stop motion: toy car and plastic tub

story: vw Golf mk2 drifts around a object forming a power slide and loops continuing the drift like around a roundabout

frames: 64 shots

stop motion by nycammvfx