Dream mind map:
Me and my group made a mind map showing what we think dreams are, i like the idea of nightmares because it shows that dreams aren’t always good and can show what fears people have. On the other hand, i like the idea of fantasies such as mythical creators because it shows how creative dreams can be.
What other people think dreams mean:
A friend- They find dreams quite peaceful and relaxing. They also find dreams euphoric in some sense and helps them de-stress after a long day.
My boyfriend- He said that it’s his own safe space where he can control what happens and he can be at peace after a long stressful day.
2nd friend- They think dreams are fantasies, full of mysteries but also a confusion state.
3rd friend- They said that dreams to them are like another universe and that anything could happen.
4th friend- They said that a dream is like a wish but a dream is something you have to set up everything for it to come true.
Secondary research:
We went to the library and we did some secondary research, by looking through books to look for photo ideas for the topic dream. I took the idea of the trees and I’m going to take photos of trees with a pathway to make that creepy and turn it black and white. I like this photo of trees because it works out well with nightmares because if you took photos like that and make the photo darker then it will give the scary and mysterious impression. The photo shows the nice side of nature and how trees are really important for us. It shows the true beauty of nature. The photo is naturally taken and you definitely can’t see any photoshop in the photo. I’m unsure if the photographer used photoshop or not, if the photographer did add some photoshop then it would be the brightness to make the photo look more bright. On the other hand, I went for a darker vibe because I’m doing nightmares so the less brightness and a bit of exposure will make the photo more spooky and mysterious.
My primary work:
These are my photos of trees with my brother in it because I’m doing nightmares so this shows how a little boy (my brother) is all alone in woods and he looks lost which is good for a sense of nightmares because it’s scary. My brother was “lost” in the woods which was the perfect moment to take a photo because it makes it seem mysterious and scary which is amazing for nightmares. Seeing a little boy in the middle of the woods looks scary and makes you feel uneasy. I like the 3rd one (the one on the right) the best because it shows how small my brother is compared to the trees which makes it look as if he’s all alone in an unknown, creepy place which makes it seem as if it’s an actual nightmare.
How i did it: I went to the woods and i squatted down and put my camera down onto the ground portrait way. I also pointed the camera more upwards to make the trees look more big and to make my little brother look more small so that the photo looks more scary. This will make the photo more scary because it looks as if a child is all alone in the middle of the woods and that isn’t right which will make the person that’s looking at the photo uneasy and scared.
Mood board:
I made this mood board to show what photos I’m going for and to show that I’m going for a spooky vibe. I want to create similar photos to this because I like spooky photos and I’m good at them. I like the way the photos give you that uneasy feeling and that mysterious feeling of you not knowing what could come out of that photo. I like the effect that the corridors give you because they make you feel uneasy and mysterious. The corridors are giving hospital vibes which is really good because it gives you an uneasy vibe, and a dangerous vibe. A graveyard is creepy as it is so if you edit it up a bit, it’ll look even more scarier which is good.
Dark room:
I used a bulb, a chain, an old tape and some cloth to make this photo look like this. I did this so that it looks as if a criminal did this because I’m going for photos that are bad dreams because most people think of only good dreams, so I’m going to show the criminal side/ horror side.
I used scissors, a chain and some cloth to give it that criminal vibe because I’m doing nightmares and criminals can also come up in nightmares. I also like the horror vibe so that’s what I’m going for.
Proposal:
In what ways did you decide on your theme/ concept for the project? As a group we made a mind map of what we think dreams are. One of the things we discussed were nightmares because dreams aren’t always good ones. I also just like the scary vibe of horror movies so i want to do that.
Explain your theme/ concept for the project? I chose this because i like the mysterious vibe and I watch horror movies all the time and i like them which is leading me into wanting to design photos in a creppy/ mysterious way.
How have you generated your ideas? (Where did you get your ideas from?) My initial idea came from the mind map we made as a group and then i developed the idea into a mood-board. I have also developed the idea by going the darkroom and doing some criminal ideas with tools. I’ve also taken photos of paths in woods to make it look creepy.
Which artists have you researched and how have they influenced and inspired your ideas? I have researched Joshua Hoffine, he’s a horror photographer and his photography is based off Halloween. I found his work interesting because I like horror movies and his work fits perfectly with that. I like how his work is creepy and mysterious.
What other research have you done (eg. primary, contextual) and how has this helped you decide on your approach or influenced your ideas? I have taken similar creepy photos but of pathways in woods and turned it into black and white because that makes it look spookier and more mysterious. I’ve also taken photos of train tracks and made them black and white to make it look creepy.
Without being too specific, what thoughts are you having regarding a finished outcome for exhibition? I want to take photos of someone walking alone in woods to make it seem as if it’s from a horror movie and make the photo look darker so that it looks creepier. I also want photos of a person in “creepy” corridors and running so that it looks as if they’re running away from someone or something.
My work- Inspired by Luke Gram:
Canadian photographer Luke Gram, creates serene images by combining landscape imagery with silhouettes. Using the technique of multiple exposure, he manages to achieve photographs with a dreamy touch. I did this for a try but with a sunset and didn’t place it over all of my friend’s body, I did it just on her face which makes it look better in my opinion. I used a sunset because I feel as if the sunset fits in with my friend’s face and it makes her smile stick out a lot.
How I did the photo:
I took a portrait of my friend and then I put the photo into photoshop and made the background really white so that
Photos I want to recreate:
I want to recreate these photos because they suit my vibe of nightmares, these photos look creepy and scary which is the point of nightmares and I like these types of photos because they make the person that’s look at it uneasy. The photos also look mysterious and I like that, it gives me horror movies vibe which I like. I would recreate these photos by taking photos of pathways in woods/ photos of corridors and turn the photo black and white then make the photo darker to make it look more scary and mysterious. I might also add some colour like red or blue to make it look more creepier.
Creepy pathways:
I took this photo to represent creepy pathways and this is right next to an abounded building which makes it look more spooky and scary. I put my camera in portrait and took the photo at a low angle so that it looks like a mysterious pathway just like I had on my mood board. If i edited them to black and white and also make the photos more darker than it would be creepier which would make them look better.
I took these photos of multiple corridors around the college because it gives off hospital vibes which is good for nightmares because lots of people are scared of hospitals. As well as I can edit these photos to black and white, then make it look darker so that it looks creepier and more mysterious. It also gives off a vibe of a horror movie which I’m going for. Lots of horror movies have hospitals in to make the vibe more scary so I’m going for a similar vibe. If i edited them to black and white and also make the photos more darker than it would be creepier which would make them look better.
Final product idea:
This is my final idea, I did secondary research top find this photo, I found this photo on Pinterest and loved the idea. For this i need candles, a mirror and a person. However, I want to make a person look into the mirror with a mask to make them look scary and give that idea of nightmares. I will add designs onto the mirror in photoshop to make it look more spooky. I will also make the photo a bit dark to make it look more scary and more mysterious.
Tried different poses:
Final product:
How i did it: I got a mirror, candles and a black cloth. I also had a radio box behind the mirror and put the black cloth over it so that the mirror can stand still while I take the photo. I put the black cloth over the radio box so that it would be a black background so that it looks creepy. I put the continuous light over the mirror so that the light shines onto my friends face so that you can see her reflection in the mirror and she wore a crown to make it more interesting and more of a royal vibe.
Evaluation:
I interpreted the theme dreams by doing nightmares because I like the scary vibe that nightmares give. I like to show that dreams aren’t always good because you can have a reoccurring nightmare that scares you each time. I went for more of a horror vibe because I like horror movies which helped with taking photos. I got inspired by photos on Pinterest that looked creepy which I wanted to recreate or at least make it look similar. I also got inspired by horror movies because I liked all the creepy sketchy areas in horror movies because it gives me more ideas for photos. I explored my ideas by trying different photo techniques such as I did the dark room which i tried to make the things in the dark room and I used different tools to make it seem like a murder scene because that also links with nightmares. It links with nightmares because people could dream about criminals murdering you or a criminal breaking into your house which can lead to being scared. I also tried doing portraits and then layering other photos onto the portrait so that it looks like Lukes Gram work. I did this by going into photoshop and layering one of the photos onto the other photo and then i would choose if i wanted to add more brightness or contrast and then i would save it and upload it. I also tried different lighting techniques for the last product so that it looked creepy but also a bit of light had to be on her face so that you could see her. I faced problems such as lighting in the last product because I only needed a bit of light on her face but then we used a continuous light to shine on her face so that there would be a reflection in the mirror of her which worked perfectly and made her do different poses and I chose the perfect one. I had problems with not knowing what to do with photoshop and I solved that by asking the tutor for help or my friends. I think what went well was that I tried lots of different photo techniques so I didn’t use just one, I think i explored pretty well with different shoots. What didn’t go well is more photo shoots outdoors for Luke Gram but that wasn’t really my fault, it was horrible weather or I was busy so I couldn’t do it. What also didn’t go well is the photos of my friend for the portraits, because she was too happy, whereas I was going for more of a scary and mysterious vibe. I learnt that you should plan everything out before you do a shoot and most of the time you should think of how dark you want the photo. I also learnt not to over contrast because the photo won’t look real and it’ll look really bad. I experimented with my work by trying different settings and poses which lead to some really good photos, even some mysterious photos. Next time I would research more about photographers instead of getting the photos from books/ movies/ Pinterest and I would also try and take more photos. I would also try and edit more of my photos so that they would look better. I would also try and manage my time so that I would have enough time to edit my photos so that they would look better. I believe that I was successful in the last photo because it was a good sense of imagination and creativity.