ARD504 Influence Boards

We have been asked to create six influence boards to discover our influences, mine are below.

The 1980's

 

Condorman

I think I was at a very impressionable age throughout the 80's and the films that I watched influenced me. Condorman is one of my fondest memories from my childhood, I have always loved Michael Crawford's comedy and to see him in a film was brilliant to me at the time.

Labyrinth

Another fantastic 80's film that introduced me to the fantasy world of Jim Henson was Labyrinth. I was amazed at how the puppets interacted with the human cast of the film and had a personality all of their own. The soundtrack was good too.

Stand By Me

A story about a group of troubled kids on a journey to find a dead body but turned out to be a discovery of their own personality and fears. Many films have since tried to emulate the feel of the film but not really come close.

The Fly

Directed by David Cronenberg and staring the brilliant Jeff Goldblum, The Fly was one of my favourite scary 80's films. I loved the special effects, which were done well then and still stand the test of time today. The mix between science fiction and horror is the ideal marriage of film genre. It is definitely a film that I watched when I was too young because it scared the hell out of me.

Aliens

Directed by James Cameron and staring Sigourney Weaver, Aliens introduced me to a new type of horror. I like that the film is dark and futuristic and has a female lead role in an action/horror/science fiction film. Again I like the special effects and the directors vision of the future. Another film I watched when I was too young to do so.

The Goonies

I think The Goonies is one of my favourite films of all time. I like everything about the film and just like Stand By Me it is about a journey of discovery with a group of kids. I feel influenced by the characters, especially the Fratellis, an Italian crime family. It showed me that even though not the main points of interest they stole the show for me.

Gremlins

I think Gremlins was the first scary film I ever watched, and yet again was too young to be legally watching. Until this point in my life most puppets had been nice and educational and it was a shock to see puppets tearing people apart or being cooked in a microwave.

Directors 

Quentin Tarantino

When Quentin Taratino's films first started appearing in the 1990's I thought his work to be of a completely new standard of film making. The violence and use of vocabulary seemed quite new to me at the time and I liked the way two people could have a long conversation without even moving the script or film forward.

Stanley Kubrick

I consider Stanley Kubrick films to be outstanding in the use of suspense and the music used. In 2001: A Space Odyssey I liked his vision of the future and the robot Hal, and in The Shining I like the emptiness of the house and the small cast used.

Peter Weir

There are many films by Peter Weir that I could claim influenced me, but the main one would be The Truman Show. I loved all of the humour from Jim Carey, the fact that he was living a fake life as the unknowing star of a life long T.V show seemed a new concept for me. Towards the end the film takes a turn from comedy while Jim Carey is trying to escape the T.V show and turns to the first emotional acting I had seen from him. Many people didn't like this but I thought it was brilliant.

Tim Burton

The reason I class Tim Burton as an influence is because I find he has a very distinct style. From Edward Scissor Hands to the Corpse Bride and from animation to live action films you can see his techniques through these films. I like the darkness and sometimes absurdity of his characters and films.

Francis Ford Coppola

I seem to have unknowingly grown up with films that were directed by Coppola. The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now and strangely another film I love, Jeepers Creepers. I enjoy the way in which all of his films are shot, especially Apocalypse now being a raw war film.

Martin Scorsese

Another favourite film of mine is Goodfellas, which is directed by Martin Scorsese. Other outstanding films he has worked on include The Departed and Gangs of New York.

Alfred Hitchcock

The master of suspense himself. I grew up watching Hitchcock films with my Dad. One that stands out for me is The Birds as my Mum has an immense fear of birds. The special effects for the time were brilliant and I think it was one of the first uses of green screen. Hitchcock influences me because of his pioneering methods and that he used to have a cameo in each of his films.

My Family

Jack my son

Being my first born child I found that the influence Jack had on me was immense. He taught me selflessness, patience and self control and gave me a reason to try and better myself. Without Jack I don’t think I would be in university studying towards a better and brighter future.

Evie my daughter

Evie makes me want to be a better person. Even though Evie 'The Bear' is still only young at three years old she makes me smile and laugh everyday and has showed me not to take life too seriously and to lighten up a bit.

Pat my mum

Being a divorcee my mum showed me that when your down you have to get up and get on with it. My mum passed her G.C.S.E's when she was 45 and later qualified as a Nurse and has worked her way up to sister through her late starting career. My mum has always influenced me showing me that its never too late to start something you want to do.

Sian my wife

Sian has always been hard working and a very loving partner. I feel that Sian has taught me tolerance and understanding and the ambition to succeed in the area I have chosen.

Sian my sister

My sister moved to Portsmouth to go to university when I was about 15 years old and I feel influenced by her in many ways including the courage to move away to a new and different place and start a new life. My sister is academically gifted and has been studying for the last 20 years in various fields and this displays to me that education is not just for the young.

Adam my brother

After my parents split in 1988 my brother was the 'man of the house', something he didn't take to well at first as I remember. My brother has taught me that responsibility is something to be embraced and worked upon and that there is no such thing as hard work.

Light and Technique

 

Contre Jour

I have produced many photographs in the contre jour style and find it to be very inspirational. I like the fact that the main subject in the photo is blacked out against the lighter background giving an air of mystery about the image.

High Key Photography

I hadn't really used many studios or models until I started at University and high key photography I found very interesting. I found it to be of great advantage when trying to capture fashion images and wish to investigate this more in the years to come.

Light Painting

Painting with light was fairly new to me when I started college, but since then it is something that I have grown to love. The first time I experimented with light painting I was amazed that you could capture movement on a still image.

Long Shutter speed

I feel influenced by long shutter speeds in the way that you don't know what you're going to capture until the image has been finished. This technique can turn car lights into trails of colour or make water appear as smoke or ice.

Low Key Photography

I find low key photography to add a sense of mood to an image. I feel influenced by this in my own work and have found that a lot of my work is in low key. It doesn't have to be just portrait photography that it works well but also landscape images. Ansel Adams shot a lot of pictures with this dark feel about them.

Zoom Burst

Zoom bursting the lens is a pretty new discovery for me. I like the way in which zoom bursting can change an image to have a surreal look about it and can work well with almost any type of shot. However I find that lights work best.

Music

Guitars

Guitars have played a massive part in my life so far. I started to learn to play when I was about twelve or thirteen years old and haven't put it down since. Playing guitar was probably my first step into the arts and thankfully have always tried to be creative since then.

The Kinks

I grew up listening to The Kinks thanks to my parents and it seems to have stuck with me over the years. The record player at home was always on playing other artists like Elton John, The Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

Orchestra

The emotional power that is the orchestra has always overwhelmed me from as early as I can remember. The ability to change mood and tone almost instantly is one of the benefits of the orchestra. For me there is no other group of instruments that can portray the perfect atmosphere.

Piano

I have chosen the piano for the same reason as the orchestra. Along with the guitar and other stringed instruments they are the ideal medium to portray emotion and can change from sad to happy whenever you want.

Slash

The reason Slash is on my list is because when I was 16 I stopped playing the guitar for a while and it is only because of Slash and his guitar playing in the rock band Guns n' Roses that I picked up the guitar again to learn his licks. Without him I may have quit forever.

The Beatles

The Beatles have influenced countless artists over the years including myself. In the U.K and all over the world they are one of the most famous bands in the history of music. Through the 50's and 60's they part of a moving trend which practically invented the teenager. Where would music be now without the influence of The Beatles.

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses are on my list for the same reason Slash is. Yet again when I was 19 I lost the want to play the guitar, and it was their second album The Second Coming that kick started my guitar playing. Much of how I play and the songs I write are directly influenced from their music in the style of fretwork that John Squire uses.

Photographers 

Ansel Adams

I chose Ansel Adams for my influence board because I love his landscape work throughout America . The images I like are the ones with massive black skies and huge mountain ranges dominating the pictures and the feeling of scale portrayed within them.

Alberto Korda

Alberto Korda's iconic image of Che Gevara is known the world over, and for that reason he is on my board. I don't really know any of Korda's other photos so it just goes to show that if an image has a message attached to it then it can also work as a symbol. A lot of people are unaware of the importance of the image so they just like it because its popular, like fashion.

Anton Bragaglia

I like Anton Bargaglia because I find him to be a pioneer in early photography. One of my interests in photography is movement within the frame and this is something that Anton Bragaglia experimented with. I also like his multiple exposure shots and I have recently recreated some of his work.

David Bailey

The influence I get from David Bailey is within his portrait work of famous celebrities that he has created over the years. It is almost like your not officially captured on film unless you’ve been photographed by David Bailey. All of the people he photographs look relaxed and I think he captures the personality of person really well.

Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp is very similar in influence to me as Anton Bragaglia is. He also uses long exposures on his photos to create very surreal images. There is one picture of him sat around a table with what appears to be a group of people, but on closer inspection every person is in fact Marcel Duchamp.

Man Ray

I studied Man Ray at college and found myself to be really interested in his photogram work and his images with light trails using long exposures. It showed me that a photo doesn’t have to be of the standard type like I thought at the time, and opened doors to my creativity that were new and exciting to me.    

Summary

Initially I thought this brief to be of little interest or benefit to me, but upon further investigation I found that I learned a lot about myself and my influences. I have always felt that I never wanted to be categorised by my influences and to have a broad range interests and talents and I think I have proved this to myself through the completion of this brief. My main love is music and I can now see that it goes hand in hand with how I feel about photography and film and how I like to create pieces of work.

It almost feels as if my early interest in music has acted as a platform for the move in to film and photography. I now feel that I am able to bring together all of the elements needed to create something that I am happy with. 

Looking back over what I chose as my influences I now see that I enjoy movement within the frame of a still image, light painting, and in-camera manipulation of the image at point of taking, for example, long shutter speeds and movement blur. And as I expected the driving force behind anything I do is driven by my family and the need to better myself and to find a career that I actually will enjoy doing. 

I have found this brief to be very interesting and important in my personal development as I progress through Glyndwr University.

Creative Futures 2012 ARD 504

Creative Futures 2012

ARD504

I was looking forward to this years week of creative future talks that we have in Glyndwr University. Now being in my second year I feel more of an urgency towards gaining an understanding of my future employers and what my new job role could entail. I was also looking forward to the talks from the people who have started their own businesses, as this is something that would definitely be of interest to me when I graduate.

Wendy Rees - BBC Wales

Getting a Job

The first talk that I attended was by a lady called Wendy Rees, the head of the BBC across the North West for human resources and training. Wendy Rees studied law at university with a view to becoming a solicitor but later gained a role in administration at the BBC and worked her way up the ladder over the term of her employment.

The BBC is one of the largest content providers and broadcasts to a global market, employing over twenty thousand people who are mainly based in the United Kingdom.

One of the comments from Wendy Rees was 'flexibility goes a long way', I found this to be very helpful as I enjoy both the still and moving image but also have a vast knowledge and passion for music including writing, performing, composition and production. It was of great relief to hear that my hobby would go a long way in helping me find employment in other areas. If I was an employer looking for someone with a wide range of talents and interests I would select the person who could bring more input to the company over someone else that could not. This goes to show that in this market flexibility goes a long way and is of great benefit.


The next part of the talk was with reference to the vast opportunities that the BBC offer in the form of training and employment, one of them being the talent pool. This was of great interest to me because it was only an hour before that I was on the BBC  website looking at all the information that she was now portraying to us in the talk.


The additional information that she gave us was that the BBC employ passionate people and that they prefer a good portfolio more than formal qualifications. This gave me hope of a possible job in the future, but then Wendy Rees told us that they only take twelve people a year onto the course, this deadened my spirits a little. The up side is that the BBC accepts work experience and this is a good way into the company because it creates openings, and if you perform well on work experience you are always kept in mind for for future jobs.


I enjoyed Wendy Rees from the BBC giving her talk. It has showed me that the opportunities are out there in the industry that I wish to find employment in when I leave University. I now know that I need to be passionate about my work and career, I need to be different so I stand out and that I need to be interested in the BBC. I found the talk very useful and felt very appreciative that Wendy Rees took the time to come and talk to us.

Matthew Richards - BBC

Piece to Camera

The next talk I attended was by a man called Matthew Richards who was an interviewer from the BBC. This talk was in the television studio in the new creative industries building that is a new edition to Glyndwr University recently. It was nice to be in the studio because, even though we are in creative industries, we are not allowed to use that particular studio. It makes no sense to me to have such a high tech and well maintained place, that would improve my work endlessly in the areas of lighting and green screen, that we can not use it due to health and safety training. I know a lot of students that would benefit from the new studio, so please arrange the ten minute health and safety training brief for us. We have only been waiting for a year.
Rant over.


Matthew Richards is a reporter and interviewer for Wales Today and has been involved in six to ten thousand interviews over his career, covering a range of subjects from political figures to music festivals. His talk was to be based on good and bad interview techniques that he has encountered over the years.
After watching some footage of various interviews we could see that the bad interview had a number common points, mostly being things that you should not do on camera, these being

• do not fidget
• try and stay still
• no jargon
• do not use one word answers
• do not cover mouth  

There were a lot of points that I would never of picked up on without being guided through it, and it goes to show that everything is important down to the slightest detail. Matthew then showed us a spoof interview with Ali G to show us the extreme side of the interview technique which everyone loved.

I thought the talk was fun and informative and I enjoyed my time there. What I learned was to be in control of the interview and at edit to just use the best bits.

Although being a reporter or interviewer in the future is not of real interest to me, I feel I still gained a new understanding of a different industry and that the new knowledge I obtained would benefit me in the future.

Berwyn Rolands

Ffresh

The talk the next day was definitely of interest to me. It was held in the Nick Whitehead theatre and was hosted by a man called Berwyn Rolands from Ffresh. I know that students from Glyndwr University have had some success at the Ffresh film festival over the years so I was eager to learn more about it.

Ffresh stands for 'Student moving image festival in Wales' and was established in 2002. The festival has strong links between the industry and the students and Ffresh is a platform to help the students realise their potential.

The main point for myself attending this talk was to find out how to submit work for the festival and to gain knowledge of the criteria that they look for. I was pleased to hear that the Ffresh film festival is being held at Glyndwr University on the 13th to the 15th of February 2013 and that anyone can submit work for selection. We then watched films from some previous winners and was impressed at what I saw and felt positive about submitting my work in the forthcoming year. I was also pleased to hear that Ffresh have work experience places available every year, unfortunately only 3 places, but at least they see the importance of giving students opportunities. 

Dan Fox

Digital - Fluid film

The talk by Dan Fox on the Wednesday was the one I was most excited about from all the talks that were scheduled for the creative futures week. Dan fox was a former student of Glyndwr University who studied film and photography there between 1999 and 2003. I have been shown show-reels and other films from Dan Fox within my first two years at Glyndwr and feel he is highly regarded by the faculty and other staff there. He studied the equivalent subject that I am studying and he now runs his own company called Chat Noir Productions, which made what he was going to say, be of great interest to me and my future career.


Dan Fox started with a video showing us the comparison between standard and high definition, and discussed how when he was studying everything was done on film, not digital, and how editing was very different and more time consuming back then. I got the feeling that Dan Fox preferred the more traditional form of film production including the use of 35mm film and felt strongly about visual integrity. We then started to discuss what people thought of the James Cameron film Avatar, a film known to be heavy in the special effects department. I feel that Dan Fox did not like the over use of special effects in the film and he thinks that technology is leading the way films are being made and that it ruined the overall appearance of the film. 
I have to disagree with this because in my opinion it is the special effects that make the film what it is. Without the new technology and techniques that are used in the making of the film it would of been impossible to make the film in the first place. I feel that digital effects do have a place in film and the only reason that they were not used in the past is because they did not exist. All industries have to progress or risk turning stale.

After the discussions about the over use of special effects and visual integrity I was excited to see a short film by Dan Fox. The film was an advert to promote a local council and was about one minute in length. I was surprised to see a lot of special effects being used in the short film. These included, motion tracking, the use of green screen, 3d models designed in Maya and camera tracked into the final piece with after effects software. 
At this point in the talk I started to feel slightly confused about the message that Dan Fox was trying to portray to his audience. He seemed to dislike the use of effects in film but the piece that I was currently watching, which was designed and produced by Dan Fox himself, used them in almost every shot that was shown.
I enjoyed the talk by Dan fox, it was a good insight into the industry and I feel that I gained some valuable information from it. The only criticism is that I left feeling a bit confused. It was almost like two different talks combined into one, the first half being against the use of digital effects and the second half being in favour if them.

Alison McLean

Life in the Afterworld as a freelance artist

Alison McLean is another ex student of Glyndwr University, who studied photography in her degree course. I was excited about the talk as she has set up her own photography company called The Photo Foundry and I have visited her web site on a number of occasions previous to her talk. I found her web site to be very professional looking and easy to use with a number of great images to view.
The main content of Alison's talk was to give the students a better understanding of how to gain business in the future after setting up on your own. These included getting a website, picking a name and promoting yourself.
Alison started off by talking about how to pick a good website name for your company. She raised many points which had never really occurred to me before, one being if someone has trouble spelling your name then they will not find your website. This has made me think about my own name, Paul Lowndes, which can be spelt in many different ways, so using my own name may result in less traffic and less business. Another interesting point was you can also increase traffic to your website by posting videos on them, which is good news as I am studying photography and film and intend to promote both on my future website.
Alison gave us many useful web addresses for finding a good website and name.

• Names.co.uk and 123-reg.co.uk. These are good for domain names.

• Thephotofoundry.co.uk. Alison's website.

• ghotit.com. A website for internet search keywords.

• carbonmade.com. An online portfolio.

• fotoblur.com. Online portfolio and competitions.

 

The next interesting subject to be discussed was the use of the classic business card. They now come in many designs and shapes and are far more interesting than they ever used to be. Alison showed to us something she uses called Moo cards, which are tiny booklets made up of your own work used to promote yourself in a slightly different way. The point of these is to stand out from the crowd and be noticed. One of the failures of some companies is that they blend into the background in an already over crowded marketplace. This goes to show that a bit of individuality goes a long way in the current climate and it is something I will definitely investigate in the future.

The main source of business though seems to be in the ever increasing market of social networking. Websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Flikr have seen an explosion of users over the last few years and contribute greatly to gained business for companies and can only increase.

Another good way to gain business is by word of mouth, if you have completed good work for a client then they may pass on your name and refer you to other companies. There seems to have been a running theme through this years Creative Futures week and that is good referrals and word of mouth are of very great importance in finding more work. 

The quotes from Alison that stuck with me the most are 'tell people you can do it' and 'under promise and over deliver'. I especially like the second quote because that is how I would like to be treated if I was a client.

 

Alison finished by giving us a list of companies she has worked with, these being

 

• redeye.org

• welshotimaging.co.uk

• Photonative

• Inside out art group

• Open eye gallery

• Blank media collective

• Ffresh

 

I enjoyed the talk by Alison and I picked up lots of important information regarding the pros and cons of starting your own business. I feel that this talk was the most beneficial to me of the entire week so far and has made me feel enthusiastic about the future.
 

 

 

 

Minimal Media

Show passion in your next step

The final talk I attended for the creative futures week was by a company called Minimal Media on the thursday afternoon. The company was made up of three graduate students from Glyndwr University that formed the company together after graduating. It was nice to see a group of people that are very passionate and excited about the work that they are now producing together.

The speakers discussed the benefits of a good show reel and a good portfolio, including lots of information about gaining work in the industry. One of the points that I found interesting is when they were talking about gaining work off the back of other work. They discussed how an unpaid job for the hospital industry led to a number of other paid jobs. This shows to me that you should take every opportunity that comes your way and not to be too picky about what you do. If they had turned the first job down on the basis of pay, then the later jobs would maybe not of materialised. One of the quotes from the older man was 'never say no', which is a quote that I will try to adopt. 

The speakers also discussed the benefits of the Glyndwr Job Shop and how voluntary work again led to paid work. I noted down a number of names from the job shop and intend to contact them in the future.

Later in the talk the speakers showed us one of their films that they have been working on, the first being called Resonance, a film they started on whilst in Glyndwr University. The film seemed very good and shot well. The speakers are apparently in talks with an American film company who wish to get involved in the film, and help with financing. A different film showed was an advert for another American company that was only finished the night before the talk. The advert was punchy, load and to the point, exactly what was asked for by the company. I enjoyed both films equally even though they were very different and am glad to see that some ex students from Glyndwr are having some success in the field that I am interested in.

The talk from Minimal Media on the thursday afternoon, in my opinion, was one of the best talks from the entire week. It showed me that if you keep at it, and are passionate about your work and company, then many things are possible. With interest in their projects from companies in America and elsewhere I'm sure they have a bright future together and I wish them all the best.

Conclusion to Creative Futures week

This being the second time I have attended Creative Futures week at Glyndwr University I feel they seem more important and beneficial to me every year. The talks by the experienced professionals gave me an insight into the industry I wish to gain access to and gave me hope of an interesting career. The benefits I feel I gained from the week were learning the best way to promote yourself and your work through the medium of social networking and referral work. I found the links and websites given to us by the talkers of great benefit and they show me that with the right help, guidance and self determination anything is possible.

I have taken on board all the information I gained from the week and look forward to applying that in the final year of my degree course. 

I look forward to next years instalment of Creative Futures week as I find them a source of valuable industry information that I would struggle to find if it was not for Glyndwr University.

Contextualising Design. Reflective Journal.

Well, Back to Glyndwr University for another year. This is level five now (year 2) and starting to feel considerably more important than the first year. Its a scary feeling to think that what I produce from now on will count towards my final grades. 
As part of this years work we have been asked to produce a blog on the lectures that we receive on a Thursday morning. These lectures are from 11am and last for only one hour. We will have to produce a 2000 word critically reflective piece in the form of a blog, and yes you guessed right, you're reading it now.

6th October 2011 - Beautiful Losers 

The first lecture I attended was held in the Nick Whitehead Theatre just the same as the previous year, and I was happy to find that we were going to watch a film over the next two weeks. The film was entitled Beautiful Losers and I will admit I'd never heard of it before. The film was a documentary style film which follows the lives and careers of a group of artists and designers from America in the 1990's.


Beautiful Losers was directed by Aaron Rose and has won a number of awards including the Cinevegas International Film Festival in 2008.
I found Beautiful Losers to be quite inspirational and heart warming, with such quotes as "You don't have to be smart, just have a heart" and " If you want to see something, make it".
Beautiful Losers was filmed in a kind of 'vox pops' style which I found gave the film a more raw and artistic feel, also the depth of the artists or 'characters' used in the film added very different dimensions which enabled the viewer to retain interest and to keep watching. The film emphasises the need for artists all around the world to keep on creating art in all forms as a state of release. 
The film Beautiful Losers shows the lives of many artists including Barry McGee, Aaron Rose, who also directed the film and Mike Mills. It was Mike Mills who stood out for me because he was always wearing a suit when he was on screen, that is not to say that all creative people are scruffy in any way. But most of them are. 


Also featured heavily in the film was Margaret Kilgallen, an artist from Maryland and married to Barry McGee who also features in the film. 
Below is a picture of Margaret Kilgallen and some of her artwork. 

Margaret Kilgallen

Towards the end Margaret is diagnosed with breast cancer but opted to forgo chemotherapy because she was also pregnant and wanted to carry to full term. Unfortunately she died 3 weeks after giving birth.
Beautiful Losers is a film about artist struggling in the world but is also a piece of art in its own self. I really enjoyed Beautiful Losers.




                                    

 20th October 2011 - What is design

Another cold and dreary Thursday morning in Wales as I made my way to the lecture theatre wondering who would be presenting this weeks instalment. As I entered the Nick Whitehead theatre I was pleased to see that it would be Marisse Mari (Maurice) who would be holding this weeks lecture.
"Oh no death by powerpoint" was my first impression, but as the slides progressed I found myself more and more interested in the subject matter in front of me. The lecture was based on Design and featured a man called Victor Papanek. 

Victor Papanek

Victor Papanek was born in Vienna in 1927 and studied Design and Architecture and is one of the more well known designers who believed in a design ethic. One of Victor Papanek's quotes reads "We are all designers, all that we do, almost all of the time is design, for design is basic to all human activity". This shows to me that Papanek was a strong advocate of socially responsible design, thinking about the environment while fulfilling the needs of people more than what people think they need.
Victor Papanek's revolutionary book on design called Design for the real world, Human ecology and social change and is a bench mark in design.







As the lecture progressed Marisse moved on to other designers including Sir George Cox who said
"Design is what links creativity and innovation. It shapes ideas to become practical and attractive propositions for users or customers. Design may be described as creativity deployed to a specific end'. This says to me that we rely on creative people for new innovative ideas that will progress us to the future and that without creative designers not much in the world would change, at least not for the better anyway.

At the end Marisse showed us her 'design tree' that she created, showing all the aspects a responsible design. 

Marisse Mari Design tree

                  

10th November 2011 - Designers and Ethics

Yes you guessed it, thursday morning again. I can see the start of a pattern emerging here now. In the Nick Whitehead theatre, at the front stood Dave Gill. The lecture today was about designers and ethics and the information received that day was from the Designers and Ethics paper, First things first 2000, a design manifesto. This manifesto is an updated version of a 1964 paper that was written by Ken Garland.

The aim of this manifesto was to raise awareness and to kick start the debate that was started by Ken Garland almost fifty years earlier. The manifesto has been originally signed by 33 high profile designers and hundreds more since.

The paper reads "We propose a reversal of priorities in favour of more useful, lasting and democratic forms of communication - a mind shift away from product marketing and toward the exploration and production of a new kind of meaning". What this says to me is that designers should consider designing not just for financial gain, making products that no one really wants or designing something that they are ethically against e.g cigarette packets, alcoholic drinks and even packaging for birth control or the morning after pill. The message of the manifesto is a shift towards designing for the better, with so many problems in the world today do we really need more unwanted consumer greedy product's shoved in our faces. 

I have read the 2000 manifesto a number of times, and upon reflection, I am struggling to fully agree with the points that are raised. Firstly my stand point on the ethical reasons for the changes away from consumerism and financial gain are that people have to earn money to live, and to say that we should design for the greater good and not financial reasons seem far from what I am looking for in a creative roll in future employment. I don't know where I stand at the moment and unfortunately I appear to have a low ethical viewpoint. We all need to earn to pay our way, to be good citizens and fulfil a roll that we have gained. 
To say that I wouldn't design a packet of cigarettes because I didn't like the thought of smoking to me seems absurd when I have been asked to do so by a future employer. Would I jeopardise my chances of employment because of my ethical standings? No is the answer. Maybe in the future when I have earned enough and feel financially comfortable or that when I am no longer in the industry then that might give me reason to debate the argument, but at the moment I am swaying away from ethical design in the sense.
At the end of the day I still have to pay back my student loans (which will be massive by the time I have ended my degree) and I have come to University to better my chances of more beneficial future employment. Unfortunately a lot of people can't afford the luxury of taking the moral high ground.
So, to sum it all up lets say at the moment I think I'll just "sit on the fence" until my ethical and moral viewpoint catches up with me.

17th November 2011 - Norman McLaren

Its the middle of November now and this term is quickly drawing to an end. The lecture that we are going to receive today is mainly made up of short films, which makes a nice change from the last lecture we had. At the end of the day I'm a film and photography student, so it is always nice to be able to relate and to fully engage with one of the Thursday lectures we attend. 

The first film started and it was by a man called Norman McLaren,  a Scottish born film maker and animator. The film that we were to watch was called 'Neighbours', a 1952 production from the National Film Board of Canada. At the start of the film I felt initially put off by the music, however when the visuals started they brought all aspects of the film into context. 

The visual side of the film consisted of two men fighting over a piece of land, but instead of being shot normally, the director, Norman McLaren had shot it with the stop motion technique. I found this gave the film a very unique look and feel, being something that just isn't seen all that often. Even though the film is eight minutes long it felt much shorter than that while watching, which proves to myself that I must of been enjoying it. It was Einstein that said that "Time is only relevant to the observer", and in this case proves to be very true. Below is the full eight minutes of Norman McLaren's short film 'Neighbours'.

Norman McLaren's earlier films through the 1930's is where he really perfected his technique. with some great titles such as "Camera makes whoopee" filmed in 1935 and "Hell Unltd" filmed the next year in 1936 shows the progression he was making with his film and animation.

The film 'Camera Makes Whoopee' shows his techniques in film making, having bought a Cin'e Kodak Camera, McLaren was able to execute a number of special effects including superimpositions, animation and pixillation effects.
I found Norman McLaren's work to be really interesting and I feel like I have learned that you should always experiment with different techniques and not be so shut off to influences outside of your own interests.

Thomas Wilfred

The next person we were to investigate was Thomas Wilfred, a Danish - American, born in 1889 and the pioneer in developing what he named as the art form Lumia, colour - music projections or the art of light. 
Below is a picture of Thomas Wilfred at his colour organ, also known as the Clavilux.

Thomas Wilfred at the Clavilux

This part really interested me, being a musician myself I found his work with music and light compelling. One of Thomas Wilfred's quotes reads "Light is the artists sole medium of expression. He must mould it by optical means, almost as a sculpture moulds clay. He must add colour, and finally motion to his creation. Motion, the time dimension, demands that he must be a choreographer in space".
Below is a short example of his work.

I have always thought that without light there is no form, and without music there is no colour in the world. It is this thinking that helped me create a music video for one of my assignments in the first year at University. Set to a song that my friend Ashley best and I recorded and produced together I created the following music video, just as Thomas Wilfred used light with music to create visual stimulus.
Below is the music video for one of my first year assignments.

I have enjoyed some of the lectures from the first semester of my second year at Glyndwr University. I feel I have learned a lot about design and design ethics which I will try to implement in the future.