18th April 2014
This set of images taken in the school library did not work at all they are far too dark blurry and wrongly positioned. There was not enough space in that section of the library to achieve the images I was hoping to get the desk is in the way and there are too many objects in the way to get a descent camera angle.
The pictures of them in the study cubical worked slightly better however not enough consideration to camera angles was taken.
I am not happy with any of these images and have scrapped this idea and am going to go along a different route in the next series of images.
18th April 2014
This set of images was taking in the school dance studio. I wasn’t as happy with these images as the background is too normal. Perhaps with more doll like makeup they would have looked uncanny however these images just look like normal dance studio images.
I do however like the use of the mirror and the box in the first 3 images I feel this links in nicely with the double / doppelganger part of the uncanny especially in the first two images where they are not actually posing as ballerinas they are in natural poses. I think I like this idea and might take a note of that when doing the next set of images as I feel it works better visually when they are not actually posing and are more natural looking.
The first image has to be one of my favourite in terms of poses again the image are too small and blurry to use and the background needs to be properly cleared. Attention to detail was not key in this image as the mirror has handprints all over it and the chairs in the background should have been moved. These are all things I would have considered if it was me taking the image it is hard to direct exactly what you want from another country. Another idea for this image would have to be lights off, black and white and maybe some writing on the mirror about alter ego. I feel the models face and position is looking unsure at the ‘person’ behind her which would work well when talking about the double.
The last two images I did not think worked at all they are not similar enough to be doubles and again the pictures look to ‘normal’ also the chairs in the background needed to be cleared away or ordered better.
17th April 2014
The next Set of images I feel astatically were more appealing they also fit better with the uncanny theme this set of images were taking in the schools abandoned theatre.
The first image I think works really well. Both the models taking a bow mirroring each other there is also enough in the background to show the theatre is abandoned with no audience. Familiar yet unfamiliar, empty abandoned in a place that would normally be filled with people.
The next three images are all in the theme of doubles using the stages dark background against the ballerinas light skirts I feel worked well. However again the camera angles and lighting were off and the images came out too small and blurry to use.
The final images with the stage lights turned on make the model look almost ghostly. It is also even more clear to see the theatre is abandoned.
Unfortunately all the images were too blurry to use.
17th April 2014
The first set of pictures I created through my family did not go exactly how I wanted them to. Not only was the location not exactly what I wanted the positions and camera angles were also not brilliant. So even some of the images I liked more and thought I could use didn’t look at all how I wanted them to. Some of the issues included; feet / limbs being cut out the picture, wrong positioning of the camera, red eye, blurry images, not enough light etc.
It was obvious I needed to give more training on how to use the camera making sure the whole body was in the image as well as enough of the background I could then edit, crop, sharpen and all that later in Photoshop if they weren’t exactly right. However I didn’t want the image too zoomed out as cropping that would reduce quality.
These set of images were taking in my old high school after school hours so nobody was there. This is again to do with the unfamiliar / unhomley aspect of the uncanny anywhere where you are used to having lots of people around and busy / buzzing; shopping malls, schools and theatres when the people are gone and the places are closed they automatically become unfamiliar and eerie.
I also thought my school is quite modern and different being in Abu Dhabi I thought places such as; the spiral staircase, old school pitch with the mosque in the background and common room with Arabian cushions would make a good start to random places for ballerinas to be while also keeping the background interesting. While there I also got them to take pictures in places such as the library and empty theatre. I feel those images really didn’t come out as expected. The library is in an awkward shape and the desks and lighting also didn’t help.
The First Three images in this set of photos are all too zoomed in the first has the models foot cut off and although I like these images it is not what I wanted to achieve in terms of the uncanny and you cannot make out the background.
The last two images go to the other extreme and are too zoomed out as well as no thought taken to the positioning of the camera, the models and the surroundings. Still not what I am looking for to portray the uncanny in my final piece. I do however like that they are both dressed identically and in the 4th image are both doing the same pose linking nicely with repetition and doppelganger.
17th April 2014
Having lived majority of my life in Abu Dhabi and knowing more locations and places I could do this kind of project over there than over here. In relation to; more open empty spaces, less health and safety regulations so gaining access to abandoned buildings and constructions sites was allot more feasible. However with both work and Uni I obviously wasn’t able to travel over there.
To overcome this issue as it was becoming more evident I wasn’t going to be able to achieve the desired outcomes in the locations available to me here. After speaking to some site managers and the council the verdict was that I would be unable to enter these locations in the type of costumes I wanted the models to be in. They would have to wear helmets and bright safety jackets and that was if they even let me at all after all the letters, dates and planning all matched up and got accepted.
With everyone else doing there dissertation and me running out of time I decided to give; descriptive details of the type of image I want to create, exact locations and positions to my family to then take the images for me. My old camera and tripod was still at home so all they needed was for me to give them exact details of what pictures I wanted and how to set and use my camera. Although this is not ideal and I knew it would be a struggle to get my mother to be able to take the images having barely used a camera and never in an artistic way. I felt that in time I would get a better result just as the background locations would be far more outstanding which is what I wanted.
