монтаж

The term Montage is french for "Putting together". So in film making, a montage is when a series of short clips are put together usually to suggest the passing of time. A main pioneer of montage was Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)

Eisenstein believed that he could create a bigger impact and a different emotion by using two or more images to get the point across. This was referred to as "tertium quid" or the third thing so it makes the audience experience something deeper than if the two images were being viewed on their own. Here is an example of Eisienstein's work in his film "October" which he uses montage once again, seemingly using images that are unrelated to create the "Tetrium Quid".

My My Vox Populi

Vox Pop or Vox Populi is a latin phrase meaning "Voice of the People".

These days it is a little more specific. A vox pop is when a member of the public is asked to give an opinion of something by a TV or radio interviewer. The public are usually unaware of what questions they will be asked so they are put on the spot. By doing it in this manner, it means the interviewer will get a wide variety of opinions which are usually short and straight to the point.

On television vox pops are used in a number of different ways. In the news it helps members of the public voice their opinions or concerns about particular stories. In this clip, a reporter has gone around the town of Mansfield to ask the residents what they think of the town and the fact it was voted 9th worst place to live in Britain.



Vox pops do not always have to be concerned with the news. In this clip from BBC Radio 1 a series of vox pops were gathered for comedy and entertainment purposes. As before, the interviewer went out and asked the general public a question but this time they chose to use the most responses and opinions in a facetious manner.

I would like to propose a TV show

Do I Really Need...To Wash?

THE PROPOSAL

Self-hygiene and cleanliness are always an important factor to people. If you meet someone for the first time and you notice they have that subtle aroma of body odour it can really tarnish your first impression of them. When did we get so obsessed with cleanliness? And are we entering a society that is too clean?

The show "Do I really need...to wash?" will try to uncover whether you can be too clean in today's society and whether people are actually doing themselves more harm than good. It will take a look at the history of self-hygiene and how our attitudes have changed drastically.

It is said that being too clean can actually increase the chances of a child getting asthma, hay fever and other allergies as shown in this report.

The show will have an Eco-friendly theme and will try to suggest alternatives to using chemical-based cleaning products. It will also try to uncover both sides of the argument so will look into the down-side of not washing. In order to make a comparison we will follow two people in a 'fly-on-the-wall' style. One of the people would be highly clean and self-hygiene conscious and the other not so. These two would then swap lifestyles for a fortnight and then see if they can learn anything from each other. This would be filmed in the style of "Supersize vs Superskinny" so comparing and contrasting the two opposites with an expert opinion showing them the errors or benefits of their ways and a narrator to tell the story.

The show will be aimed at an audience of 18-40's. I feel that this could appeal to late teens to mid-twenties because this is the sort of age where people move from home and have to start thinking about cleanliness and general household upkeep. This could also appeal to 30-40's because of a general interest in self hygiene.

The outcome of this show will hopefully inform people to be moderate and not obsessive when it comes to personal hygiene. As the show is meant to be for BBC3 it will be delivered in a style which is easily approachable, not taking itself too seriously, yet informative.

Stop in the Name of Animation!

Here is our first attempt at stop-motion animation...

What on Earth is a soundscape?

"A sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an immersive environment."

A soundscape can set an atmosphere to a scene without the audience actually having to view it. Soundscapes can be locational. So for example, the sounds of a jungle or a city or an airport. Whether natural or industrial, these sounds that occur in everyday life make the listener aware of where they actually are.

Here is an example of a soundscape recorded at the Adirondack Bog.

Do I really need....to wash??

Living away from home certainly slaps you in the face with responsibilities. Paying bills, buying food and just generally waking yourself up in the mornings. One thing that got me thinking though was how necessary it was to actually wash. Throughout history our opinions have changed towards personal hygiene. Life expectancy may have been a lot shorter a few hundred years ago and personal hygiene may have been accountable for that. However, right now we are entering a phase where people are health obsessed. Parents have their Domestos poised and ready to shoot at any unsuspecting child who has just walked through the door after playing in the mud. The article 'Can you be too clean?' describes the steady rise in asthma and other allergies due to this hyper-clean attitude.

This lead me to believe that this could be a great idea for a television show. Where one or a couple of people do not wash or clean for about 6 weeks. Instead they could maybe use natural resources. This could probably have an economic theme as well because I'm sure that the amount of bleach people pour down their sinks and toilets is not very good for the environment.

Another idea I had would be to get someone who is hygiene obsessed and someone who is against all of these chemical based products to swap lifestyles for a few weeks and to see how they cope and whether they would benefit from making lifestyle changes. For this idea you would need expert opinions and medical advice too.

This is still a work in progress.......

Me, myself and eyes

A self portrait, you ask?? I think this had to be one of the most difficult photographs to take. Instantly a stream of questions enter the self-conscious mind. How do I want myself to come across? Do I do my whole face? Are my ears really that big?

For inspiration we looked at a few examples of self portraits. One that really stuck in my mind was Noah Kalina who took a photograph of himself everyday for 6 years and then played the images using stop animation to show how he aged. While watching the video I felt a sense of emptiness, 6 years of this man's life were whittled down to 5 minutes. However it also felt rather inspiring, Kalina's dedication to this project has earned himself well over 13million hits on youtube.

For me though time was a factor. So I thought I'd focus on the eyes, being the 'Window to the soul' and all that jazz. My piercing gets quite a bit of attention which can be a good thing, it's a great conversation starter but can get tiresome when people think that it is the only interesting thing about you. "You know Keiran with the piercing" is not how I want to be remembered. But then again it is kind of a signature and the thing that stands out most on my face. I did not want to take myself too seriously hence the wide-eyed look, because I'm not an overly serious person. I also tried to limit myself to taking just a few shots and picking one quickly because I knew I'd get too finicky. So here is me, trying to be me.

Ah...serenity!

For our latest photographic exercise we were asked to take 6 photos of a place or location trying to capture the atmosphere. I decided to take a stroll in to the city of Bath, not sure of where I'd end up but on the lookout for a great atmospheric location. I ended up at the Royal Crescent which had a beautiful calming, relaxing atmosphere. I felt somewhat dwarfed by the huge repetitive structures which surrounded me, not in a bad way though, it felt incredibly comforting and serene. Then with a stroke of luck the most peaceful form of transportation ascended in to the sky..the hot air balloon. It was a beautifully clear day and the balloons were a tranquil addition which made the atmosphere dream-like.

Photography Marathon

Our big photography Marathon!!

1st October 2009.......So our first mission as University level students was a 'Photography Marathon' around the city of Bath. We were given a list which had certain themes and it was our objective to interpret those themes as we saw fit and to take a photograph for each of them. One main snag was that we had to do each theme in the order that they came on the list. This added to the challenge as it was more difficult to plan what we were going to do. However, I rather enjoyed this photography marathon because it meant we had to think on our feet and it also gave us the opportunity to really observe the city of Bath. It was just a bit of a shame I had to take my photographs on an iPhone!


Autumn: Definitely my favourite season. In this picture, rather than capturing the beauty of the natural yearly cycle where leaves drop to the floor, there was also the unnatural cycle of people dropping their litter on the floor.



Activity: For this theme I wanted to capture peoples' everyday activities. I chose the barber shop because I liked the way it looked. It wasn't your typical down-town barbers, the staff were well-presented and they all looked like they were very dedicated to their job.





Colour: This sweet shop made me instantly regress back to childhood. I was blown away by the amount of colour and varieties of sugar-coated goodness. If people think banning commercials aimed at kids is going to stop them wanting sugary treats, then they should step foot in here. It was a massive sea of colour which could potentially satisfy all the senses.




Water: There are a lot of beautiful water features in Bath. However, I decided to look elsewhere for this theme and take a shot of some puddles. With a cheeky guest appearance from a pigeon.





Repetition: For this theme I feel I could have looked for something a bit better. I was wandering around Bath trying to find a good photographic opportunity for 'Repetition' and this fence was all I could come up with. A bit disappointed with this one. Not really sure what I was trying to say.






Musical: I remember seeing this mask on a day trip once. It really stuck in my mind, really impressive. When I took the photo I wasn't too sure how it would turn out because of the reflection through the shop window. However, I am really pleased with this as it makes the mask look really eerie and haunting.





Light: While we sat in a park contemplating where to go next this flock of pigeons kept fluttering from one building to the next, circulating around us. I had to take a few shots to try to capture them and this was my favourite.





Contrast: For this picture I tried to get the contrast of the lush green background against the industrious building in front.





Decay: Trying to think 'Outside the box'. This will apparently prevent tooth decay.





Self-Portrait: I took this shot down by the river, patiently waiting for a leaf to shield most of my face. This was a difficult one to take because the camera I had to use couldn't quite pick up the reflection. However, I feel it turned out ok.





Old: This was also taken down by the river. This made me think of how I want life to be like when I'm old. A leisurely stroll down by the river, or sitting on a bench reading a book. Bliss. Just a shame I got my finger in the shot too.




Flash: Another 'Outside the box' idea. I like how it's perfectly acceptable for a mannequin to be semi naked in a shop window but if that lady was real it'd cause an outrage. What a shame.