Photography

Unfortuanly I did not get a response from  River Studios, photography .

As I worked on a fashion shoot with Burbo K’ture, I got the chance to experience photography slightly and I really enjoy it and became more interested, therefore I wish to try and get some experience with a photographer soon. 

Evaluation

When I first read the brief I felt I could not engage with the project easily, and even throughout the project I found it very challenging. However, to try and find a way of connecting, I chose a context that I can relate to a lot, this being media pressures.

Creating puppets was a completely new thing to me and I was not looking forward to that element. However, making them was very fun and I was very pleased at the professional outcome.

Creating the intro and video was something I found less challenging, as I had much practice in this area. But my skills developed slightly through the experimentation in this project.

Even though at the beginning of this project I did not have a positive outlook, I am pleased with the outcome and I feel the video portrays the message of media pressure well, especially with the use of my humorous and parody tone.

If I had more time, I would have created more puppets and scenes, of the waiting room and more interviews of the judges accepting the puppets that look like them and turning others down even. This may have made the message clearer. 

The Only Way Is Puppets - Final Video

This Video is also available as a higher quality on Vimeo. Link Below:
(Ensure the HD option is enabled)

https://vimeo.com/64519066

Baverstock Overall Feedback

Overall I feel I got the general feel of what it’s like to be a teacher, however as I was there on university work experience, the children in higher years didn’t want or rely on my help as much as they did their teacher or they was working more independently.

I found teaching the learn 2 learn lessons more fulfilling and exciting, as I really enjoyed the challenge of being a support to students with learning difficulties and even year 7 as a whole, as they needed the most teacher attention.

Observing teachers in action has played a big part in my experience and options too, and I have gathered the positives and negatives for teaching from this and talking to teachers themselves.

Unfortunately I was a witness to some students having bad behavior and language toward the staff, and can understand how it can cause stress and hurt to them.

I feel the staff at Baverstock and generally all teachers are excellent at what they do and I take my hat off to them, as they have to deal and be patient with difficult students, as well as teaching and getting children ready for the real world.

From the whole of this experience I have decided that being a teacher is something I am not comfortable doing. However, learning support and art therapy is something I wish to look more into as a future career path.

Teacher Training Day

Monday 15^th April was a teacher training day, I felt this would be good experience as not only I would see a usual teaching day but the back work behind it.

The day began by an all staff meeting and then a department meeting.

For the first half of the day, I and the 2 photography staff had to assess the AS projects and give feedback, in which they used a marking guide which was similar to our BA feedback forms. I felt very involved, as I was able to give my thoughts and guidance.

Then we had to create a lesson plan for ‘Stop Day’ which is a day that a GCSE year group does one of their options for a whole day. This stop day was for year 10s, in which they planned to do a planning workshop for their mock final piece, along with starter activities. We designed templates of what they need to include in their planning.

In the afternoon all the art staff came together and moderated all the year 10s identity projects so far, we had to discuss and agree if the grade the class teacher had given was appropriate, some of the works got brought up or down a grade.

Putting It Together

I used the software Adobe After Effects to create the final video. 

A Level - Art and Photography

With both AS and A2 levels in art, they are working through their coursework or getting ready for their final exam.

As the A2 level where near for their final exam which took place after the easter holiday, they was very busy planning and filling up there sketch books with experiments, which meant I didn’t have to help them as much, so in this time I was working with the teacher get things ready for the next lessons.

The AS group needed a bit more support and inspiration, in the sense that they needed help on ensure there amount and quality of work is at an AS level and not GCSE.  At this stage, I felt the art students still think in a GCSE mind, in which at GCSE student are given a lot of information, where I had to encourage them to be a bit more independent on their research. I helped and gave them artists they could look at, and then they had to go out and find out about them and why they would link.

The A level photography students was very much in the prime of their work, and needed very little help. I had time with each student (5 for AS and 6 for A2) and discussed their ideas and what they have done so far and how they was going to develop it. In these discussions I gave feedback and tried to help and inspire the students in their progression.

Year 11

Year 11s are getting ready for their GCSE exam, so they were independently planning and experimenting for the final exam piece. I was able to talk to individual students about their interpretation to the project brief, which was ‘Caged’ and how they are developing there idea into a final piece.

They were all an Exam planning sheet and check list to fill in.

At this stage of school they are all independently learning, and I was just there for when they need some help and guidance on the planning for final piece. 

Year 10

Year 10 had was in the middle of a GCSE project about identity, as they were half way through they were independently working. So I took the chance to see what all the students have done so far. They was looking at typography and using it to create a self-portrait.

(This student was my brother so I was able to take pictures of him)

Year 9 - Art and Graphic

In the year 9 art lessons, in groups they were creating big murals of their favourite films, some of them being Twilight, Avengers and Shrek. These where planned to be displayed in the playground so they were created by waterproof paints.

I found myself not as needed with this year group as they understood what they was doing and got on with it. So therefore I got involved with some of the painting and helped students when needed e.g. help creating a skin colour with paint and correcting lips so they look realistic.

This was also the case when it came to year 9 graphics. They were creating a sporting brand, a logo and products. I spoke to the student about the project and their work and what they planned to do next.

As it was the last lesson of the day, some of the boys started messing around so I sat down with them and helped them calm down and do some work. 

Year 8

Within year 8 art lessons, they were looking at the Fish artwork of Vincent Scarpace. They had to draw a fish in the style of Scarpace, and use different techniques with paint to create patterns and texture. 

When the lesson begun I introduced the project and worked on a quick example in front of the group. Through the rest of the lesson I went from table to table giving support and talking to the student about their work.

Year 7 - Art and Learn 2 Learn

Within the year 7 art classes they was looking at the artist Shauno, and creating a self-portrait in the style of the artist.

Below are images of the project mood board and the Year 7s works in progress. 

Learn 2 learn is extra lessons set up to specially teach Maths and English to children that need extra support, due to learning difficulties and lack of concentration in actual class. Within this lesson tasks are taught slightly different than in a normal lesson, as they engage the children more and explain in simpler forms, the use of art is sometimes involved as visual learning seems to be more successful with the children.

Within my lesson of learn 2 learn, we was looking at converting bar chart information into a pie chart.

The lesson began by a simple starter task of answering questions about results of a bar chart, for example what breakfast was the most popular? (Look for the breakfast with the highest amount on the chart), this task was easy as the answers were all there on the bar chart, however some of the children needed guiding to the answers.

Then we moved onto the main task. They used a bar chart they made in the previous lesson, about separating a pack of Smarties by colour, and tried to transfer the information onto a pie chart. The formula  was discussed as a group a couple of times and then they had to work out their information. Even though the task was explained very clear and a hand out of the formula was given, and they all said they understood, a lot did not know how to go about it or they needed guiding.

With both art and learn 2 learn I work with a small group, which were the same children in both classes. I had to give them support, guidance and motivation to help them complete the work, but it is important to not become too involved as the students need to build on independence. However some of the group would keep asking for more and more help even though they understood, but they just didn’t want to try. 

Baverstock School and Sixth Form

6x 6 hour days (excluding lunch) -  8:30am-3:30pm

Monday 25th March                   (3 days before the easter holidays and 3 days after)

Tuesday 26th March

Wednesday 27th March

Monday 15th April

Wednesday 17th April

Friday 19th April

From  getting the opportunity of working in the art department at Baverstock school , I aim to get the general understanding  of what it is like being an art teachers and get a detailed knowledge of all that’s involved with being in that role, from actual teaching to teachers meetings, lesson planning and moderating etc. 

As a CRB check was not necessary if working under 10 hours, I didn't have to apply for one, but this meant I had to be with a member of staff at all times and escorted to and from each classroom.

To structure all my experience, I have categorized it by each year group. (I had the same groups for a couple of lessons, in which they was still completing the same projects)

Voices

As ‘The Only Way is Puppets’ is based on my home town of Birmingham, I needed the voices to reflect this as well as the characters style.

For example, Abigail  will have a very strong brummie accent to give the impression she is common, whereas the judges will still be brummie but will put on a fake posh voice to give the impression they are higher class.

I was fortunate to be able to use professional radio recording equipment, this created a clear voice over.

Filming

I had help from 3 people to perform the puppet show; I found this quiet a challenging task, getting across how I wanted it to go etc.

As the voices of the puppets are very important at getting across their characters, I decided to record them separately to the filming. 

When I began to film, I noticed that it was hard to capture everything in one set camera angle (like a puppet show). Therefore i decided to use various camera angles, very similar to the filming used in TV shows which included full scene and close up shots of the characters.

Kim's Boobs

When I began to film, the boobs of Kim didn't look right or sit correctly on the arm and as the puppets where behind a table they weren't very clear, so I decided not to use them.

The Set

I decided to use a plain black background for the set as I wanted the emphasis to be on the puppets. However to create the office setting the auditions would be in I included certain props, E.g. a desk, pens, pads and posters.

On most TV auditions shows e.g. X Factor or Britain’s Got Talent, the Judges always seem to have a drink on the desk, usually a can of coke a cola which is also for advertisement. Therefore I will include a cola can. 

Final Story Board

I took the advice from the group crit and developed my story board, creating a bitchier up to date script and adding a humorous climax at the end. 

My Intro

From looking at the intros for ‘The Only Way is Essex’, I used the software’s Cinema 4D and Adobe After Effects to create a parody title into.

Group Crit

Below is some of the feedback I had from my group crit:

•       Edit script, make them bitchier and mean
•       Have a climax at the end. ( have them being hypocritical, eating donuts.)

Story Board

The Only Way Is Birmingham

In the summer of 2012, there was a lot of advertisement and hype about a Brummie version of reality show the Only Way is Essex that was due out soon. Billboards and buses were plastered with posters and trailers were made viral. Many people from Birmingham (The Only Way Is Essex fans) got excited about this new series being based in their home town.

However, the “show” was a nothing more than a stunt to mark the founding of a new super-college in Birmingham.

Below is a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QPjYADVx8Y

The Only Way is Birmingham hoax, The Birmingham Mail, Website, Veiwed  30/03/2013.(http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/the-only-way-is-birmingham-is-a-hoax-college-189714)

Finished Puppets

Amy 

Kim

Abigail

Final Puppets

As the process of making the finalized prototype was going really well and the puppets looked well-made and professional I decided to use them as my final puppets. This decision was also made as cost and time was running low.

I created the puppets head first, while all the face of the puppet was at a good standard, I unfortunately came across a problem with attaching the polystyrene balls to the breast area on the Essex style puppet. They wouldn't sit right on the arm and when I removed them, some of the polystyrene stuck onto the fleece. 

As I was already so far in the making and time and cost issues, I chose to improvise and covered the stuck polystyrene and stitch the outline of the breasts. It didn't turn out how I wanted and I wished I had tested it out before hand, but now I will use this incidence as future reference. 

As I had to stitch on an extra bit of fleece to cover the mess, the stitch was on show, so I chose to apply a bead necklace around her neck to cover it. 

Kim

 As I designed this puppet to only have lips and boobs to connote how much work she had done, I could only use the YouTube instructions for creating the mouth as a basis which then I experiment and worked until I created the lips that I was happy with.

As I didn't have any advice how to create the boobs, I had to just experimented using covered half’s of a polystyrene ball and a bikini top.  Fortunately, they both worked out well. 

Abigail - Continued

I also used hair extensions for on Abi; however I rolled the strip to create a pony tail style which I then wrapped a feather ribbon around to make a hair bobble.

As I've created character Abi as being  chubby, I created this effect by layering wadding in-between the body of the puppet and her t-shirt, putting a few tacks to secure it place.

I chose to replace her black eye lashes with brown to make the puppet look more natural, as from a previous crit it was brought up that black lashes represents mascara.

Amy - Continued

I stuffed the felt lips with wadding to make them fuller, and then hand stitched the edges to ensure they were secure. This also defined the lips.

For the hair of the puppet I used real hair extensions, this is so I was able to style it how I wanted before filming.  I stuck 2 strips of the extensions along the middle of the head, which created a parting. 

Finalized Prototype of Amy & Abigail

I began to make a finalized prototype using all the final materials.

The  making of the head and bodies of Amy and Abigail.I carefully stuck to the instructions of the YouTube video.
(I mainly used a glue gun to attach different parts to the puppets)

Mac Overall Feedback

I found this experience very interesting and enjoyable, as I was able to not only just see what a day is like for a visual arts technician at mac but connect with the public and artists. i noticed that the technicians formed a positive relationships with some of the public as they offer good support though their creations and experience. i was able to see loads of different styles of work from all different types of people, and I was a pleases to get the chance to be a support.

Even though that element of the experience was really interesting, I found the general tasks of a technician  very repetitive and could become boring if done more than a couple of days, this is why the staff at the mac work shifts. After completing this work placement I was not as inspired as what I thought I would have been. But I am very pleased with the experience and what I have learnt, like how to complete the different tasks of a visual technician and how to use different equipment e.g. kiln, and knowing when it’s done correctly.

Day at Mac

I began work at 9am and was introduced to Graham Handley, whom I will be shadowing for the day. After I signed in and had a quick tour around all the studios, I had to check what classes was on for that day and had to set up some of the studios ready for the 10am workshops (pottery, textiles and jewellery), ensuring all the equipment needed was out and available for the visitors.

After all the classes were set up and the leader had all the equipment required, i went down to the kilns which had been firing pottery the night before and was ready to be emptied. This process took a couple an hours, as a lot of the pieces where very delicate and it is the technician’s reasonability to ensure the works are safe. The pieces needed to be transferred to the storing shelves within the pottery room, this was happening while a class was taking place. I was able to get the chance to talk to the leader and visitors about their connection with mac.

(When chatting to the leader of pottery, I found out she was a student at BIAD and completed the same foundation course as me) 

During this time, we received calls for errands from other workshops, fetching equipment e.g. clay, We had to change the acid wash within the jewellery workshop, for health and safety reasons I just has to observe the technicians do it.

By this time it was afternoon, and I had to set up the studios for the afternoon classes (textiles, jewellery and life drawing). 

The afternoon was very similar to the morning, however, as the kilns where emptied, the awaiting pottery to be fired needed to be structurally stacked into the kilns. Filling them was a lot more time consuming and difficult as you have to ensure  the pieces on the same level are all about the same size and there is space between all the pottery but trying to put as much in at the same time.

(we had to ensure the shelves where clean, any clay or glaze that had stuck had to be removed before use)

(This is a tool used to check if the kiln has finished its firing process, as each spike softens at different temperatures)

After all the workshops ended and was about 2 hours before i finished, i had to clean all the studios that had been used and get them ready for classes the following morning, to reduce the amount of work the next day.