Lecture Class

Key Principles Lesson 9 (no.1)
Image & Text

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but the relationship between image and text is something even more powerful that just imagery alone. So what exactly is so powerful about the relationship between image and text one might ask. Well firstly, when one looks at an image they have a set “message” that they feel comes across from that picture. However when text is included in the image, the audience’s mindset of the message and meaning behind the picture is altered. The use of text can be a very powerful tool used with imagery to influence the audience’s perception of an art piece.

The pictures above were taken from a series of photography from a photographer by the name of Jonathan May. Jonathan has taken photographs of different characters that he has bumped into while being on the “streets”. In his photography the use of text is also present. The relationship between imagery an text in his photo series is very evident and I feel that the message expressed is open to different people. His photography in my opinion is highly visually stimulating and I feel he understands the visual relationship between imagery and text, which works brilliantly in this series.

In one of the photographs, we see a young couple standing infront of a lingerie store. From just the imagery itself, me as the audience would assume that the young couple is shopping for lingerie. On the same picture we see the word “Play” at the corner of the picture this alters the message of the picture. It is now assured to us that yes the young couple are infront of a lingerie shop to purchase items whereby they will be able to “play” with after. The typography used in this imagery is also a strong factor. The font used is in italic. It gives the audiences a slight feel of playfulness and cheekiness to the image.

In another picture, we see three men and a dog outside what seems to be a toilet. We are able to know it is a toilet because of the text that is in the picture. The text works well in this picture as it creates a sense of humor as to why the dog is exiting out of the cubical. The reaction of the other two men tells a certain story to the picture. It almost seems as though they are annoyed yet puzzled as to why the dog is in the toilet.

This next picture is perhaps my favourite out of the four that I have uploaded. We see a lady sitting on an empty crate in the corner and she appears to be praying. In my opinion, the image itself is very strong as the woman is not seen praying in a holy place but she is instead praying in a corner of a dirty street. What makes the image more appealing is the text in the image. On the wall we see the word “hope” painted across. The text works brilliantly with the image as it almost seems like Jonathan wanted the message of prayer and hope being intertwined with each other.

Pictures; Artist- Jonathan May

Key Principles Lesson 8 (no.5)
The Experts

Out of all the eight experts given to us, Chris Ware has to be one of my favourite experts. Chris Ware is an American comic book artist that has managed to combine both image and text brilliantly with each other. He has managed to make the two coexist perfectly in his comics. The narratives he uses with his imagery are not only witty it also has this dark sense of humor that works along well with it. This is one of the many reasons why he’s my favourite expert as I feel that he understands how to combine these two factors.

Chris is also my favourite expert as I feel that despite him being an expert he remains as humble as ever and the decisions he makes on his comics are very “human” in a sense that he still finds the joy of drawing his comics as the ideas flow straight from his mind, no research required. His comic, “ACME” is still an ongoing process of his collection of work that he has done for the year. I appreciate that he does not feel the need to be persuaded by the masses to say that a particular project is “done”.

I also appreciate Chris’s characters and the level of truth behind the personalities of his characters. His characters are set in this dark territory and he has portrayed them to be indulged in sadness. He feels that his characters are made that way to express sadness as some people tend to misjudge sadness. In his opinion all he wants is to tell the truth of how life is and how he has experienced it. This has to be the number one reason as to why Chris Ware is my favourite expert. His honestly and humbleness of his craft is simply perfect in my opinion.

Pictures; Artist- Chris Ware

Key Principles Lesson 8 (no.4)
From Novice to Expert

The past few weeks have been tough working in groups but I feel that it has honestly allowed me to understand myself better as a creative. The illustrations above have been drawn by me during my free time and now used for ITAP. I hope to use these images as visual examples to support my argument as to where I would rate myself on the Novice to Expert chart.

In my honest opinion I feel that I would rate myself as proficient. I understand that most people would judge me for rating myself so high for a first year student but in my opinion it does not matter what other people think, as it is more of what I feel I have achieved as a creative. The reason to why I would rate myself as proficient is because I feel that I have the depth of understanding discipline and have an area of practice. As mentioned before the past few weeks have been tough but its during those past few weeks that I have been forcing myself to be discipline and stay on top of things and have always reminded myself that I need to play around with different ideas and designs. This can be seen in the images above that I tend to play around with ideas & designs. This has allowed me to improve on my area of practice.

Another reason as to why I would rate myself as proficient is because I don’t entirely feel that my work is all that bad I admit there are a few areas that can be worked on however I feel that my work is still fully acceptable in terms of its standards and I am able to produce quality work when required. I also feel that I am able to take responsibility for my own work when I feel that credit should be given to the rightful creative.

In terms of dealing with complex situations, I feel that I tend to always stay calm and try to figure out a solution instead of panicking and I feel that that comes across in my designs. I feel the same way when I make decisions for my illustrations. I’ve always felt that there isn’t a point in panicking and instead I try to remain calm and find answers. Overall I feel that I am able to see the overall picture and always hope for the best in my overall illustrations and designs.

Pictures; Artist- Nikita De Souza

Key Principles Lesson 7 (no.5)
Future film digital storytelling

Everyone knows Harry Potter. I am pretty sure anyone with access to the Internet, Tv, Smartphone, dare I say the outside world knows Harry. If they don’t then words simply cannot express the mortified reaction to my face. That being said, Harry Potter first started in 1997. The popularity of the first book eventually grew into seven books and eight movies. The Harry potter franchise is probably one of the strongest franchises based on books and movies.

The Harry Potter franchise did not stop just at books and movies though. There were other mediums and platforms that they used in order to engage with their audiences. One of the other mediums used are games. They created games for different mediums such as PC, XBOX , PS etc. Video games are a great way for their audiences to experience the life of Harry as they play the young wizard guiding him around the magical world. Another medium that they used was to create a theme park based around Harry Potter. Potter World was created as a slightly more realistic and life like experience for audiences to enjoy and appreciate. Fans could walk around and touch, smell, taste, hear and see the magical world of Harry Potter.

Another recent medium that the Harry Potter franchise has created is “Pottermore”. Pottermore is an interactive online website whereby fans are able to read and relive the entire journey of Harry Potter as and when they want. Personally I think Pottermore is one of the best interactive website so far for a huge franchise such as Harry Potter.

Pictures; Pottermore/Potterworld