Maps & Networks: 4th Shoot

Following on from the previous shoot we decided to take the project back to our first shoot and redo it. So a clean white shoot with soft lighting minimal make-up and dress to get a rawness of the images back, as now the shoot with be more focused around the new RED concept for outfits we planned to be an nude as possible as we are now comfortable enough with each other to do so. I Nina decided on a bra and a skirt, this was becuase of even though we are comfortable with each other now we don't want to really be flashing the whole of UCA. I went for grey shorts  and a cropped white shirt to reflect ninas outfit and keep it equal between us, as well as my own insecurity with my chest.  For this shoot We had a similar set up to the 1st shoot just, We had 1 regular light and 1 hexagon softbox on the background to fill the space with light and illuminate shadows. and on the subject We set up a large beauty dish and one regular sized one to create soft molding on the subject. we did this to draw focus to the model and but still have a dynamic 'real' space. We feel this fits the concept better as it is a real personal experience to us both so we don't want the studio to look too dead. In preparation I created some shot ideas of what I wanted to take as well as I created a list of transitive verbs to help nina and myself be able to create more convincing depictions of the emotions we struggle with. 

baby shot list for shoot 4

Transitive verbs is a technique we both learned in the 'Directing Actors' workshop we had for our group studio shoot, and we felt that we could use it in all form of art. It is the method of giving your actor or model a verb to act and then this should hopefully lead to a natural portrayal of an emotion, for example; "to corner" will hopefully get the actor to play the character in a playfully sneaky way.  So with all this we did the shoot. 

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

I think this shoot has gone really really well. The planning helped us greatly as we could keep pace while shooting and take a lot of strong images. This is also supported by mine and Nina's trust in eachother as we know the other will take strong images, as we're both perfectionists this was a small hurdle but now we're over it we have been able to come leaps and bounds. The above shown images are all I feel strong by themselves that might prove to be a problem in editing but I tried to plan images where Myself and Nina are doing the same actions so we can be placed in the same image. to kick start editing. In my shot planning I planned images that're all faceless as I feel it supports our concept stronger. I feel this because hiding emotions are a very private things, that's the point, we don't want to show these potentially unsavoury sides of ourselves so by remaining partially anonymous we keep that private aspect to the piece. Even if that contradicts it self in the fact this is an installation piece to be put on show I still think it works as this is a personal aspect of our lives and we wanna document it and see if by opening up to each other we can almost break down those bad habits. In turn by showing the whole uni of this it could help us be more comfortable in expressing ourselves. As me and Nina like ambiguous images we wanted to shoot things that show the struggle or disassociation that comes with our theme but in unobvious ways. I think we we're successful in this for example the back images or the falling images have this struggle and overwhelming (respectively) feeling to them that adds emotion. 

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

Image from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot - Joe Palmer/Nina Sayuri

These two images reflect our use of transitive verbs in the shoot. During the shoot we wanted to get some raw emotions captured so we tried to think of experiences in which we could place one another in to bring this fourth. and we decided to talk about the most stressful thing in our lives right now, the Studio Shoot. This was a fun exercise and did release some stress. Although as we were mid word in most pictures I dont think we'll use them in the final images. and from this its time for editing.

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

The above images are the first edits I did just to see what I can do with the images, I started withe the first two. With these two I wanted to try and re create the struggle that the 3rd shoot has in alot of its blury images but in this and I feel I did that in the 1st of the two but the second came across as like a weird pile of dismembered legs and, as cool as it looks, just is weird concept wise and does translate well apart from in a murdery way. The last of the two I i made a few days later and Is a throwback to the mix media side of this project and sort of just me testing to see what the paint could look like. I also tried text on the image. This came out as too 'on the nose' and just made the images really obvious to the audience which isnt what I want, I dont want to bore the viewers.

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

We also realised that we both need to be in the images as this is a secondary theme that has sort of crept up on us during this process. We realised that project is also about how myself and Nina have both grow closer together.  So that connection should be shown in the final images. with these edits we started playing around with mix media.

 Mix Media edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Edit from Maps & Networks 4th Shoot 

Above are the mixed media edits we did, The first two are made with ink and we wanted to make images that reflect the frustration around the theme and how it can be very overwhelming not being to express yourself fully, that last note also represents the last image shown. I feel we did this successfully in the last image more then the others. The last image is made with acrylic paint on paper that was then scraped with a knife. I this this shows frustration in the application and the sense of drowning in the outcome. two emotions loosely linked to our concept but not strong enough to be final images. The first two images are good be so messy and We feel that contradicts us in how we wanted to make such a clean shoot just to mess it up. this might work better if the ink was behind myself and Nina as that would represent the hiding aspect of the concept more. The arm picture I think is really interesting and a strong image but for it it has 'coming out' connotations and feel more about self love, which is important, but will be too much of a right turn for the project I feel. Finally the line image I really like as we tried to edit based on the connection aspect of the concept now and I like the direction of using taht as the main theme as it feels fresh and sturdier for the Maps & Networks project brief. the only problem with the image as it has very strong like puppeteering vibes which i do Not like at all, I think the line drawings could work with different image but for this one its just too controlling. Overall I think this shoot was fantastic but we are still very unsure where to go with our final piece.