You can now find me on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/james__lock

My personal blog is http://james-lock.tumblr.com 

"When troubles tumble in on dismal days remember this: it's not the end of the world and if it was it would matter even less." twitturgies

Class of 2009-10

For those who want the pic taken the day Mark left here it is, click on the pic to load a bigger version.

Updated: Misrepresented by a journalist for a Dutch Newspaper

Update:
I have been in contact with Sanne and it would appear that there is bit of a mis understanding her translation of what she writes is: ‘I’m worried about the violence,’ he writes. ‘And I think young people get a raw deal in the media. It often has to do with violence and stuff. That only gets people into a panic.’ which is a lot close to what I had originally written then the translations that I had before hand. She has also apologised for calling me a T-shirt Designer. I have apologised for getting the wrong end of the stick and I am glad that it has been sorted out, I am going to leave my original post below so that you can read the whole of what I had to say on the issue.

Yeah I know it sounds surreal, but that is actually the situation I have found myself in. Seriously, the things I get myself into. If you found my website through the blog post by Sanne Rooseboom - http://www.depers.nl/buitenland/468022/Bendeoorlog.html I would firstly like to point out that I am not a t-shirt designer, it isn't even a part of what I have done in the past, although it may well become part of what I do in the future, short and/or long term. Also below is my original comment on the situation to Sanne, I feel that my views haven't really been done justice and have perhaps been moulded to fit slightly more in with the views of the main stream media. Me views come from studying Sociology, which included a module on the media including how it reports on and affects minority groups and research that I did for my knife crime project last year.

Below is the original message that I sent to Sanne:

Why are you active against knife crime?:
The Nottinghamshire area where I live in the UK is one of the worst for knife crime. The police and Crimestoppers asked our college to get design students to produce a range of posters for them. Also the view that people have of young people is an important issue close to my heart, I feel that we get a raw deal from the media. It was a project that I was passionate about, I think that as a designer feeling that you are helping to make a difference in a real way is great and will always be the best projects that you get.

Do you think the problem is getting less or worse?
Information that I found when researching the project suggests that knife crime as a problem is not getting worse in itself, but the demography of those committing offences is changing. The statistics have slowly changed to show more young people rather then adults committing offences. The media and government have both released data over the last couple of years to show that there has been growth in recent years and data to show that the problem is being reversed recently. The old adage "statistics, statistics, statistics" comes into play and I think it is possible to read what you want into it. There is certainly a feeling among the public that it is getting worse and has been turned into a moral panic, however I feel that a lot of this is down to the media and the way the issue is presented rather then first hand knowledge and hard facts about the issue. However not living within a city I may have a different perspective on the issue to those that do as gang culture is not such a big issue (especially as I live out of town as well).

What about awareness among young people?
This is increasing with campaigns being run, and education being given around the issue however it is a drip drip process. Again it isn't such a big issue because of my location. However I think there is a fairly wide awareness due to the media attention given to the issue. I do however feel that the media attention often only perpetuates the situation, it also only acts to create a moral panic.

After using a translator this is how the part of the blog that mentions me comes across: Through an anti-knife crime Facebook Site I in the mail with James, a boy from Nottinghamshire who designs T-shirts against knife violence. "I am worried about the violence," he writes. "And also about how young people in the media emerge. Usually associated with violence and shit. If you hunt people just fear. "So he designs T-shirts. Because there was no place for him in my article, at this link.

I'm sure some of it is down to translation errors but even so I don't think it represents my views.

Step by Step

After photocopying my images and printing them using cellulose thinners I scanned the prints into Photoshop. I changed the levels to bring the differences in tone out more in the image. I then scanned in a piece of sugar paper and used the hue and saturation tool to change the colour, saturation and brightness. I then placed this in a layer underneath each of the prints in their separate Photoshop documents and then multiplying the prints to allow the texture to come through on the lighter parts of the image.  

I used Quick Time to save my .amr audio file in the.mp3 format so that I would be able to use it in Final cut pro. 

To import the audio tracks to the time line I set the in and out points in the viewer and then inserted the section. 

I adjusted the volumes of all the audio tracks so that the speech could be heard clearly along with the music. To do this I used the audio mixer tool. 

I added the cross dissolve video transition to the changes between pictures. This communicates the character fading away until he kills himself at the end. It generally adds to the lonely and sad feel of the piece as the transition is often used when showing pictured of people who have died. 

As I was creating the video I realised that some of the images were lasting too long to hold the viewers attention. To combat this I turned on the wire-frame in Final Cut Pro to allow me to change the size of the images. I then cut the length of the photo and made the second part zoom in to a smaller part of the image. This helps to keep the viewers attention through the piece. 

I used the tint filter and used key-frames to set the colour changes, and fade between these, to edit the images within Final Cut Pro. However I didn't like this effect. I felt that the video was more effect without the colour change, for communicating sadness and loneliness.

Evaluation

What were you asked to do?
Create a digital story based on monologues from a film, a poem, part of a script etc...
What did you make/present?
A photo montage film based on the character of Worsly in Caryl Churchill's Owners.
What did you want to communicate?
The character in the play is lonely, he makes many different failed attempts at suicide. I was not trying to take a literal re telling of the play but wanted to explore the loneliness of the character.
What materials and processes did you experiment with?
I used cellulose thinners to print my images. This gives a grainy effect, effective for communicating the loneliness and sadness within my piece. To do this I changed the levels of my photos in Photoshop to allow the differences in tones to come through more. I then printed and photocopied these before using the cellulose thinners to print. Once these were scanned in I changed the levels in Photoshop to bring the areas of tone out more. I then scanned in some sugar paper and multiplied the images on to this to give more of a feel of it being printed
I also experimented with getting the colour of the images to change, slowly fading between one another in the video. I used the tint effect in Final Cut to change the colour and key frames to create the fade between colours.
What materials and processes did you reject?
I rejected the colour changing of the images within the video. I didn't like the effect. I think that the video is more effective as it is. The feeling of loneliness and sadness was distracted from by the colour changing.
What did you do to ensure you worked with tools and materials safely?
Cellulose thinners were used outdoors to ensure good ventilation and care was taken not to spill any of the substance.
How well did you manage your time?
Apart from the fact that I had to compile my portfolio at the start of the project, putting my slightly behind  I think that I managed time fairly well during this project. everything was completed on time and there didn't seem to be any real rush to get it finished.
What were your strengths in completing this project?
I have used Final Cur Pro before and find that I Take to the program fairly easily. This meant that I didn't have to worry about controlling the program and could work on the creative side of the design.
What would you like to have done differently?
If I were to complete the project again I would like to get my own recording of some sad piano music. However due to time restraints I was unable to do this for the project.

This is La Jetee by Chris Marker, which uses the technique of photo montage to tell it's story.


I like the use of photo montage to tell the story, it takes the emphasis away from the action and places it on the narrative. It also allows the viewer to take in each image more thoroughly and pick up on the visual language being used in each shot to enhance the narrative. 


The panning and zooming techniques used with in the montage add movement and interest as do the transitions. The transitions within the montage help to create meaning for instance harsh cuts are used during dramatic events and soft dissolves are used when we are being shown the destruction of Paris - showing the way that the City has come to a stand still. 


I also like the use of sound and music within the piece. The music is used well to build tension as you follow it's flow. It build's up and then relaxes again as it follows the pace of the narrative. Whispering is the only sound used other then music and the narrator and shows the secrecy of the experiments they are doing and  the fact that what they are doing is dodgy. They need to whisper to cover up their act so others do not hear what they are doing. 

Evaluation

I started by researching other animations and how they had been produces. I like the animations using other day objects and people to animate with, so I decided to animate myself.
I found an animation of barcodes, which made me think of the theory that barcodes are actually the mark of the beast. So I researched more into that theory. It worked well with the theme of "The Beginning of the End of the Word". The song I chose was "My Given Life" by Mammuth, with the lyrics "trying to find the motivation, to live my given life" links in with trying to not succumb to the order that the Beast imposes with the Mark.

I conducted some animation tests, looking at how I could get the barcodes to appear in my eyes and how I could get my eyes to animate.

After I had completed my tests and edited my music to the section I wanted to use I animated and then edited the final footage.

If I were to do the project again I would hope to get my idea quicker. I had to put quite a bit of time into idea generation.
I quite like the idea that I came up with for the animation, I feel that it explores the idea in an abstract way, allowing the audience to think about and question the theme that I was referring to.
I feel that the biggest threat to the project for myself was the tutor being off ill, resulting in a lack of input from a specialist animation professional.
The opportunity presented to my in this project was being able to explore ways of animating with a different medium, the human body and learn more about experimental animation techniques.
I would also like to light my animation better if I were to do it again, to give a better visual quality to the final.

Animation Final

Animation tests

Test 2:



This is a test for my animating with bar codes. I had wanted to animate myself so that I boil slightly and have an animated quality to the visuals however when automating cutting out the eyes in Photoshop the head doesn't stay still enough so I have decided to use a still frame within the animation. I used the fish eye effect in FinalCut pro to make the car codes look more like eye balls. 




Test 1:



 I am going to make sure that my eyes open fully in my final. This is just for a short section of the animation. I will also make sure that I am wearing a white t-shirt and have a white background when I produce the final animation to make it look professional.