Final Project

For my final project I decided to film myself drawing a fashion illustration, and then speed it up.  Before I started making this movie I thought it would be interesting to see the process I go through to create something. I thought it would also be interesting to see a blank piece of white paper transformed into something.
While making it I kept forgetting I was filming so their are parts of the video where I am drawing, but it is cut off.  It was also  quite difficult to hold the camera and draw with one hand.  I did not think it would be since you would think the hand with the pencil would be all you need.  However, drawing a figure is a very involved process for me- more so then I realized.
After I finished filming and attempted to start editing.  I noticed how much erasing I do.  I had no idea;  I also noticed that I really think about every line, there is a lot of hesitation with my hand before I actually put it to the paper and draw something.  I also thought this drawing took me around 15 minutes, when it actually took over 27 minutes.  I get so wrapped up in what I am doing that I have no idea how much time has passed. I tried editing the movie in imovie and taking out all the hesitations and pauses of my process, but imovie would not let me convert my files to be able to speed up the time.  I ended up using Adobe After Effects to edit my project.  The fastest I could make it be was 5:00 minutes, and I gave it the cartoon effect because I thought it brought out the colors and the light better.

Failure Paper

I think I had a few failures this semester, mainly the last couple projects.  First is MP4.  I think I could have put a significant amount of more effort into the project.  I should not have used an old recording of my friends and I singing.  I think if I had put more time into the project I could have made a much more creative and interesting piece.  I was not as enthusiastic about iMovie and Garageband as I was about photoshop.  My second biggest failure was MP5.  I did not read the directions, therefore I created something irrelevant.  Another failure was the pictures we took at the beginning of the semester.  If I had put more time into it, I could have taken better pictures.

            For most of these failures, I learned that if I am more enthusiastic about the medium used or what the assignment is I put more effort and time into it.  I think I feel this way because this class is not a graduation requirement for me, and I took it solely for the photoshop practice.  Also, since it is not a graduation requirement I know I put the other projects on the backburner for various reasons (mainly lack of time between my other design classes, I work for a start up fashion line, senioritis—I’m graduating Dec. 16th, and the never ending semester by week 11 I was ready to be done with class).  As a fashion major, I think that having that skill is extremely important.  I use photoshop and Illustrator all the time at work now.

            I think my two biggest successes were the two photoshop projects.  I thoroughly enjoyed those two projects and the creative process that went with it.  I learned so many new tools for Photoshop. 

            If I could redo a project it would either be the Garageband project or the last project. 

Brainstorming

One option for a narrative is to film myself drawing a fashion illustration-- just my hand, the pencil/paint and the paper and then speed it up.  I'm not sure what the point would be, but I think it would be interesting for someone to watch the design process and see it from start to finish.  It is definitely a process; there is a lot of erasing and starting over involved, but by the end there's always an interesting finished product.

That's all I got so far..

MP5

For MP5, my words were "to differ" and "entropy."  I decided to create a photoshop image mainly because I really enjoy that application.  I remember learning about entropy in chemistry, and it deals with thermodynamics and temperature.  The idea of heat is why I used the beach scene.  My next thought was to include "to differ," and I felt the North Pole was the opposite of the beach.  This is why I placed Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, and elves at the beach having fun.

Carver Cathedral

The article “Cathedral” was interesting.  I think it somewhat ties in with the last article.  They both deal with trying to understand where someone else is coming from.  The husband is so skeptical of the blind man because he is different that him.  However, this man has stayed constant in his wife’s life, so the husband knows he has to give the blind man a chance.  It was interesting to read about how awkward he felt and by the end they were drawing a cathedral together while he was trying to understand the blind man’s perspective of the world. 

This is Water

I really enjoyed the commencement speech, “This is water.”  The message of the speech reminds me of a quote I just read: “Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim.” I think it is a good reminder to not get too wrapped up in the monotony of daily tasks.  I also liked the description of the average adult life and going to the grocery store.  In high school I used to work at a grocery store, and I noticed the people who went through my line at the check out.  They seemed to hate being there- and the scenario he describes is exactly what happens at a grocery store.  I graduate this December, and I hope this doesn’t turn out to be my life! 

MP4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRSxA1bTWe0&feature=youtu.be


For this project, I used a recording of my friends and I singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."  We were at our favorite restaurant/bar that we frequently go to.  We got the entire place to start singing with us.  In the recording you can't hear any other noises of the restaurant because our loud, off pitch voices cover it up.  However, my favorite place to be is with my best girlfriends, and you can find us singing obnoxiously just about every time we're all together. I thought it would be fun to distort our terrible voices-- and it was!

Annie Leibovitz

I never realized how huge the gallery space in the Werner is.  I also had no idea that there is a really awesome store as well.  I think it goes without saying that this exhibit is amazing; every time I thought I had come to the end there were more photographs.  Ms. Leibovitz’ career has been phenomenal.  I really enjoyed the portraits that captured a sense of who the person was.  For example, Miles Davis was pictured laying down with a trumpet next to him.  I felt that this emphasized that who he is is a musician because he's not playing his trumpet, it's just there with him.  Another portrait I liked was Robert Redford because I associate him with everything that was in that picture- his aviators, cowboy boots, denim, and beach in the background.  As cheesy as it sounds, he looked so cool.  When I looked at these portraits I liked that they didn’t feel staged.  I could just imagine walking in on Miles Davis and him having his trumpet with him at all times; the same goes for Robert Redford.  I could see him having a Malibu home and sitting outside with his aviators on.  I also thought the portraits of her family were interesting.  When I realized the person in the picture was related to Ms. Leibovitz I kept wondering who that person was to her, and if they had an influence on her and her work.  As I was looking at all these photos I was also starting to wonder if she goes into a photoshoot knowing how she wants the subject posed or if she goes in hoping to be inspired by the subject and their surroundings. 

           

MP 3 :)

The objects I used are the jewelry pieces I wear everyday. Each piece has a special meaning to me, so I decided to do four different photoshop images. Each image has a different piece of jewelry in it and is placed in a setting that is associated with the place where I got it. I think knowing the story behind each image is crucial to understanding what the original object is and what is in the picture.

I wear this bangle everyday and it has the words "Amore, Amour, Love, and Amor" on it. I love this bangle because I also have "Amore" tattooed on my ankle. I bought it with my girlfriends on my 19th birthday at this little boutique in Granville. Everything is made from France at this store, so that is why I decided to place the bangle around the Eiffel Tower. I love the word "Amore" because my dad used to sing to me the song by Frank Sinatra. This is why I have the musician playing and the lyrics from that song coming out of his trumpet.

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For this image I used my Evil Eye Necklace. A few summers ago I lived in Istanbul and worked as a nanny. The family I nannied for bought this necklace for me, so it means a lot. I picked a picture from the Grand Bazaar where the necklace was bought. These plates are typical for Turkey, so I tried to make the charm look as if it were one of the plates.

For this image I used my Tiffany key necklace.  For New Year's 2011, my roommates and I went to New York to see the ball drop.  We all got matching Tiffany's key necklaces.  I tried to create a scene out of Breakfast at Tiffany's.  I placed Holly Golightly looking at the modern day Tiffany's with my necklace on display in the window. 

For this image I used my two silver rings I wear everyday.  I went to Anna Maria Island for spring break this past year.  One of my best friends and I bought these 50 cent rings at a flea market there, and we both wear them everyday.  Rod and Reel is a famous restaurant there, and we went to breakfast there a few times.  We also rode bikes to get around the island which is why I decided to use the rings as the bike's tires.

Blog 7 :)

This article by Kaprow reminded me of an article I have had to read multiple times in every sociology and anthropology class.  I can’t remember the author or the name of the article, but it was written in the 1950’s and it goes on to explain a culture in the way an anthropologist observes a new culture.  At one point it states that these people put a stick in their mouth, wash it vigorously then spit into a porcelain bowl everyday.  It isn’t revealed until the end of the article that he’s talking about Americans and that this is simply us brushing our teeth.  Obviously we have routinized brushing our teeth because we do it every day and it becomes normal, but seen through an anthropological perspective it sounds weird.  Kaprow’s perspective of brushing our teeth is that because it’s present, of the moment and not an object that it art.  

My Map :)

When I first started this project, I knew I did not want to use an actual map because that meant nothing to me.  The route I take to class everyday would most likely not be on a map anyway.  I take alleyways and hardly pay attention to where I'm going through checking emails, facebooking, twittering, and listening to music.  Life was one of my favorite board games growing up, so it popped it my head to use that as a basis for my map.  In a way it is still a type of map because it takes you from point to point b.  I then added in Ohio State landmarks onto the board game - Mirror Lake, the Shoe, and the towers.  I then added pictures of what I saw everyday.. some I had never noticed before and others are what I notice to help me know where I am.  Then I added the sunglasses because I always where sunglasses everyday, so my view is always behind a pair of sunglasses. If I had a little more time I think I could have perfected the pictures to have a more exact alignment with the boardgame.

Cardiff, Miller & the Power of Sound

This article about Cardiff and Miller I found interesting because I never thought about the use of sound as art.     I have always felt music is an art, but it does not seem that what Cardiff and Miller do is create music-- it's more of a manipulation of sounds and sight to create an out of body experience.  The idea of the walk through the train station is interesting especially to be there yet hearing someone's else's experience of the place. Also, I found the Forty Party Motet to be an interesting concept.  Who knew that listening to another human being’s sounds could induce a grown man to tears at an art museum.  It also intrigues me that the woman who spends the most time with this piece as a security guard claims that people struggle with this piece of art because “some people have no sense of peace.”  I think I would like to experience this for myself to see how inner peace has a correlation.  

 

Blog 4 :)

I really enjoyed “Nipple Jesus” by Hornby.  I liked the comparison of Nipple Jesus to his wife, Lisa.  He stated that Nipple Jesus was beautiful from far away, but as you got up close it was rough around the edges.  The article also led me to the question of what is art because Martha’s artwork was not what she had made physically but the reaction to it- more so the idea.

            The only issue I had with this article was that when I finished reading it I felt sorry for Dave.  I felt bad that he had invested so much hope for this piece of artwork and ended up so disappointed.  He had fallen in love with this artwork because he thought it was beautiful in its own right when the physical piece of art was not the point.  Martha’s point was to show people their intolerance to something different.  The picture was comprised of nipples but as a whole it was still Christ, and the onlookers had stamped on Christ. 

This experience was different than the other experience because I was focusing more on how the picture was taken rather than what I was taking a picture of. I enjoyed making the "Sam" Collage. My favorite is the close up of my friend because it was so much fun to take.

Walker and Barrett Articles :)

The first article, Big Ideas and Artmaking by Walker explained that there must be a bigger meaning behind the art.  I think this idea is important because otherwise you just have paint on canvas which anyone could do.  Obviously it takes a certain skill or natural talent to be able to paint a scene or draw the human body, but these basics can also be taught to some extent.  Without emotion or an idea behind a perfectly painted landscape then you have nothing- it would be a very boring painting.  The artist puts meaning into that invokes emotions into the person looking at the art.

            The only issue I have with this article is the “What’s wrong with this Picture” paragraph.  This section states that the student is wrong because she thinks Kandinsky’s work represent chaos when it supposedly does not.  I have taken art classes before, so I know that in the art world there is a right and a wrong at what each painting is supposed to say—however if this girl thinks this painting says “confusion” I don’t understand why that’s wrong.  Art speaks to every person differently

The second article, “Interpretating Visual Culture” by Terry Barrett brought up interesting points about detonations.  I thought it was interesting that there were so many contradictions within each image.  For example, the Destiny’s Child Rolling Stone cover conveyed sex yet girl power and was advertising the Dali Lama all at the same time.  Another contradiction is that real bears are frightening yet teddy bears are the exact opposite.  I liked how the analysis of the Ohio State and Michigan t-shirts went in depth.  I never thought about how blocky letters could represent a lineman or scroll could represent academic excellence.

            I think the conclusion was a bit of a stretch.  I do not believe people “will be unwittingly buying, wearing, promoting, and otherwise consuming opirions with which we may or may not agree.”  I think that would require images and advertising to be so obscure no one could understand it.

The second article, “Heresy of Zone Defense” by Hickey somehow miraculously construes the game of basketball to be more rebellious and more culturally sound than fine art.  Hickey states that the rules evolve in basketball to liberate the game- to make it more “joyful, various, and articulate.” While on the other hand, fine art is supposed to be an expression of oneself without rules, ends up being governed by rules.  I really appreciate Hickey’s observation of the vitality of basketball.  The rules are changed not to benefit the coach or the sponsors, but to keep the game alive.  I also liked his comparison of the rules of basketball to the rules of life as a freelance writer.  I thought that the last paragraph was extremely well said and tied the entire article together.

 What I did not like about the article was the Jackson Pollock comparison.  I found it to be confusing and irrelevant to the rest of the article.  I did not understand it no matter how many times I read it. 

The third article, “Why is this Man Smiling,” by Lawrence Weschler provided an interesting perspective on animation.  I think imitating life will always look slightly off or creepy because it will always be just an imitation.  What these animators are trying to achieve is commendable, and I have never put much thought into what it would take to create a face.  However, I appreciate the theory that the face cannot be exactly replicated due to the lack of soul.  The article mentions that the animators’ goal is not to simulate the face but to merely fool everyone.  The rate they are improving characters is astounding.  Even the movies I grew up with- the difference between Aladdin and Shrek is awe-inspring.

The only issue I had with this article was I kept asking myself why bother? What is the point of replicating a face? Then again that could also pose the question of “why bother doing anything then?”  

The first article I found to be extremely puzzling.  I did not understand what context it was written in.  The first paragraph mentions an enemy, however I have to ask who is the enemy and who is the writer- and why are they “at war?” Also, the logic that everything is left to right is a cultural component of the Western World, but how is it “a given in this class,” and how are we to “use it.” I find it also confusing that top to bottom, left to right, and big and small are seen as universal truths, but in front of and in back of are lies.

 I liked the authors thought that top to bottom is how we read and write but that at the same time it is un-American.  The American dream is built upon starting from the bottom and reaching the top.  

Hi, I'm Sam! My friends and I call ourselves "the Divas" we live in the Diva Castle. 

I am a fashion major with an emphasis in merchandising and will be graduating at the end of this semester.  I am originally from Pickerington which is about 20 minutes southeast of Columbus.  I am currently helping develop a new fashion line called KiK Vantage.  Our website launches in a few weeks,  and as long as this new business endeavor is successful I will be sticking around in Columbus. Otherwise it's off to either New York or somewhere in Europe! I love traveling -- my favorite thing is discovering and exploring a new city.  Two summers ago, I was a nanny in Istanbul, and I would love to get back there sometime soon!  I also love shopping, reading, and running.

Top 5 things that make me smile :)
1. Disney World
2. anything leopard print
3. Pumpkin Spice Lattes
4. Fashion Week in New York City
5. exploring new coffee shops, vintage stores, bars, and restaurants with the divas and/or my amazing family!