72 Hour Film Challenge-2012

At the weekend I took part in the 'Stoke Your Fires' '72 Hour Film Challenge' with 2 colleagues from work. A number of people have asked why give up a weekend?...so I am writing this post to explain and reflect on the experience.

I enjoy learning new things but prefer to use a real project to do so. I find if you have something 'real' to work on with deadlines I experience leaning in a way more similar to students and often accomplish something. We have had a Canon 550d SLR in college for a while (which shoots video as well as stills) and the A Level Photography course I teach on includes a range of lens based media, students have been experimenting more with moving image as well as stills. This project seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get to grips with this camera.

We met up on Saturday morning to plan ideas for shooting our film. We thought about how we could use old cinematic techniques alongside learning new skills:

• One section to be a washed out 'real' view which would contrast against the saturated 'dream'. 
• A silent film using music to build tension and narrate the scenes.
• To incorporate childish elements into the dream sequence almost like a child had scribbled on the film.

The filming itself was relatively straight forward; a number of in house shots were identified and we filmed what was going on around us before we wrapped up warm and headed to Longton Park. When filming in the park we wanted to try and capture a 2 year olds view of the world so everything was filmed from a low angle.

Once back in the warm we identified what we wanted to add to sections of our filming.

To achieve this painted look the frames of the video were imported into Photoshop as layers then these were individually painted in ways relevant to the scene.

The rest of the film editing was done on Final Cut and the music was composed using Garage Band on an ipad and a Mac over the next 48 hours.

This is the final film which we submitted to the competition

The idea behind the film was to try and comment on the world outside that people are missing by staying indoors on snow days and that a journey into a childs mind contrasts against the adult  world.

The things I learned taking part in this project:

• My team (Kim Finn and Nikki Simpkins) have a wide range of skills that I had no idea about.
• Working with children and animals is really not that bad.
• How to film with a 550d though when using photography lenses and tripods that the zooming and panning has a 'steam powered' look.
• How to rotoscope video with CS5 (and how long of a process it is).
• I really am quite scared of ducks especially when surrounded.

This also made me think about how we could use this style project within the college:

• To deliver elements of the BTEC Creative Media Production course.
• Could we set a 'Challenge' brief that allows students freedom to interpret ideas in a far more personal way.
• As a liaison activity to involve local schools/teachers.
• Team building activity to use with other groups of teachers-CPD.
• Could it be used by other subject areas to produce revision materials or produce an assignment.

Presentation for Workshop-Engaged Ideas > Connectivity in Art and Design

Workshop Presentation for St Roberts Thinking School Conference 2011

What to do with left over drawing ink.

Blank Colour Wheel

Colour Wheel Poster

I often use drawing ink in my classroom to demonstrate Tie-Dye and put colour theory in to practice. As drawing ink is not permenent/washable on fabric I use paper napkins as these are also a cheap alternative which means students can experiment with more folds and patterns. Though this method would also work with fabric dyes.

Equipment:

4 Plastic cups, 

Red, Blue and Yellow Drawing ink

Paper Napkins

String

Latex Gloves

Aprons

Method

Fold the napkins in different ways to create patterns. All of the folding techniques I use are based on the basic accordion fold.

   

Fold Pattern 1

Fold Pattern 2

Fold Pattern 3

Once you have folded the napkin you tie it in one of 2 ways (the different ways will also create patterns). You can fold it into a cube and parcel tie it or fold it into a long rectangle and tie it length ways.

   or  







Now you are ready to start dying. Put the primary colours in 3 separate beakers (You can use Red, Yellow and Blue OR Magenta, Yellow and Cyan)

Dip the bound parcel into the different colours one after the other to different depths making sure your final dip completely coats the parcel. (Make sure you have gloves on) The squeeze the excess off into the 4th beaker then unwrap carefully. This part really has the WOW factor as the brown looking bundle turns into a rainbow.

Fold Pattern 1

Fold Pattern 2

Fold Pattern 3

As you will see the primary colours naturally mix to create the other colours.

              

I can do it too...

As a teacher I find you spend a lot of time showing students new techniques and other artists work and they rarely see what YOU can do. They often seem to forget that teachers have talents apart from the ability to 'Teach'.

I have brought work I have done in, in the past as examples for the students. I try to continue to be an Artist alongside being a teacher though this is not often possible.

Last weekend I spent some time producing some web graphics and vectors on Illustrator. When I went in on Monday I showed a couple of my students what I had created. They were really surprised at what I had achieved and it provoked analysis and debate on a level I had never experienced from these particular students. They were very inquisitive and questioned me for a long time about how I used the various tools achieve the overall effect.

 

This weekend I decided to dust off the paint brushes for the same reason. This weeks effort has turned into a very traditional style painting though I plan to develop this further over the next week, so it is very much a work in progress.

What the last week has very much reminded me is that students benefit form seeing the talents of their teachers it makes us more three dimensional to them and can often be used to stimulate inquiry, as they are tangible artifacts not just images in a book/website produced by a faceless artist.

Digital...art?

Walking by Hannah Taylor
I am finding that as an Art teacher many assumptions are made about you and what goes on in the classroom; you either spend all you time teaching Photoshop on Mac's and that everything you do is digital or your teaching is described as "Arty Farty" through lack of understanding.
Teaching for an art teacher is really no different to any other subject. As a teacher you:

• Share your enthusiasm to encourage students to be inquisitive, investigate and develop their skills.
• Use examples from history and current culture to make learning relevant to their lives.
• Employ everything in your arsenal of tools, materials and techniques  to make teaching and learning possible.

Yes I do teach very traditional drawing and painting but I also teach Photoshop. I teach collage yet I also teach stop frame animation. I am struggling to put into words what a 21st century Art Teacher is, all I know is that we can no longer be pigeon holed the way we once were.