In preparation for our upcoming unit, we did
multiple workshops on old film techniques. One of the ones we did was with
Peter Renn, who specialises in film photography and spoke to us about lots of
different types of cameras. We spent some time making our own cameras out of
cardboard boxes and a lens, and shining light through to make an image.
We then used photo sensitive paper and large format
cameras to take our own photos.
The first
image we took got pulled out of the _____ too early and fogged half of the
image, as well as it being out of focus.
The second image we took was more successful. It
was however, still a bit out of focus and we left it in the developer fluid a
bit too long and it went too dark.
Our third attempt went well overall but was still a
bit too dark. This one did end up being one of my favourites though as we also
spent some time composing the shot, with the long table protruding into the
foreground and the subject positioned in the dead centre, and at the opposite end.
We then decided to experiment, and took a double
exposure image. We did this by setting the exposure time on the camera to half
a second, and then swapping the first subject with someone else and exposing
the image again for another half second. This turned out very dark, but you can
still see the two faces in the image if you look closely and it make for a
quite interesting photograph to look at.
We then had some other workshops with Nicky Hamlyn,
working with 16mm film. This was my favourite of the workshops, as we were
given old used film and clear film and film that was covered in black enamel
and told to draw on it.
When I say draw I also mean scratch and colour and
sew and do whatever we wanted and see what we create. Nicky had a projector in
the room and so we were able to look at everyone’s films as they made them.They
were all only a few seconds long as we had to draw on every frame, at a frame
rate of 25 frames per second.
I found this
workshop inspired me for what I wanted to do for my project. I had done a
scratch film once before during my foundation and I had forgotten how much I
liked it. It was also a really nice opportunity to get to work with my hands
again.
I have
always loved drawing and painting and have dabbled in hand drawn animation, and
so being able to do this work without computers was something I really enjoyed.
For my short film I chose to use the blacked out
film, as this was what I had used before. This time however I decided to make
more of an animation than I had last time. I used a lot of shapes and even some
small animals through the film, which in total lasts maybe 5-6 seconds. I used
markers to colour in parts of the film to add a bit more dimension to the piece
and make it more pleasurable to watch.
