The Finished Product

Download the 'Final Piece' here.

First Attempt

After putting the images together in iMovie, I was pleased with the majority of the animation. However towards the end, the gesture I make with my hand seemed a bit out of place and the addition of the UV didn't really add much to the piece. After removing this scene from the animation. I edited the transition from darkness to lightness by gradually zooming into the face and then fading out. This helped iron out the main issue that was on my mind, and I am much happier with the final result, ending the animation on a strong gaze that leaves the viewer struck with this dramatic change of atmosphere from dark to light.

Screenshot from the making of the animation, showing the adjustments I made to the original.

How to Make a Stop Frame Animation

" Studio Set-up for my Final Piece"

Here are some of the screenshots of my editing of the stop frame animation. I had to edit every photo of the frame so to do this I used Batch editing in photoshop to edit multiple files in one go. The process is still quite time consuming, as some scenes had to be edited individually and by hand, for example the transition from dark to light (Example shown below)

I wanted to end the piece with a striking image that would stick in the viewers mind, so to do this I used a hard, strong gaze into the lens; which with the end lighting created this striking image below which I was quite happy with.

Final Idea Testing

With my final idea at hand, it was time for some serious development. I had an image in my head of how I wanted it to come out it was just a matter of experimenting to find the right way of doing it. I liked this idea of positive phototaxis and how, if it existed in humans, it would affect us. For a moth it is just a case of banging it's head against a light repeatedly, but this wouldn't be enough for a final piece to justify it with enough context. My idea was a theory of consuming light rather than just touching it. It would be strange if people needed to actually consume light to visibly exist, which also work better photographically. It was just a case of finding the right product to eat.

Tonic Water

After my researching of different UV experiments, I discovered that tonic water also glows in the dark. This would also mean that it would be an edible form of light that I could eat.

Water Experiment

I set up a scene for my final piece and tested out this idea using a stop frame animation, creating a narrative that would tell some sort of story. The light source comes from the glowing liquid which when drunk gradually reveals more of the figure.

Jelly Experiment

Consuming a solid version of the light would also be an interesting experiment. To do this I used tonic water to produce various colours of glow in the dark jelly, some colours working better than others. The best result came from adding gelatine to pure tonic water giving off a clear, bright blue glow. I could gradually eat the jelly which leaves various shadows as I do. However, I preferred the way the water gradually disappeared from the glass and gives off a brighter glow, so I decided to use the water for my final idea.

Shadows and Highlights

While carrying out these light experiments, I was interested to look at how the light changed the face and the way the shadows can change the shape or look of a portrait. Because the disco lights use colour, this also intensifies the contrast change and shadows that appear and disappear in each photo. Each colour creates a different atmosphere, Blue light creating a cold atmosphere and red light creating a warm atmosphere.

William Eggleston was a keen user of colour in his photos, with a documentary approach to his photos; taking pictures as they appeared. Here my images are much more composed, but you begin to understand how he was so fascinated by colour. This image proving that even slight changed in colour can transform an image. He did this with the environement, sunsets being nature's prime example of colour changing its surroundings.

Here I have produced a stop frame animation which shows the movement of light across the face using an automated disco ball. The light spins and rotates around the room which randomly lights up various parts of the face. This is visually interesting to see slowed down, seeing each frame separately forces the viewer to pay more attention to what the image is showing; in comparison to dismissing the images value when played at high speed as a video.

Under the Disco Lights

Continuing the idea of looking into a light source, I did some thinking and came up with an idea. It became apparent to me that a member of my household was a DJ, and he happened to have a huge variety of disco lights that he used for his events. These would provide great variety in my photos as some of these lights included lasers and reflective LED systems. I set up the studio and used the same previous composition looking into the light but the results were remarkable and I am really pleased with some of the results.

The first image shown below, strongly reminded me visually of the Coldplay, Rush of Blood to the Head album cover. This was produced by famous photographer Sølve Sundsbø, who has been and currently is involved with all the fashion photography for huge brands such as Chanel and Dolce & Gobanna. In the cover art he used a model and created what was thought to be impossible; a three-dimensional scanning machine that produced a 3-Dimensional image of the model. The way the laser in the image below cuts and slices the portrait reminded me of the shape of the head formed in Sundsbø's work.

"Major Laser"

"UFO"

"Awe"

"Moonlight"

"Scanner"

Physical Attraction

Playing with the initial idea of positive phototaxis and being attracted to light in the natural world, I decided to create some form of initial response that would get my ideas going for my final piece. I have decided to choose the idea of phototaxis and experiment with the idea in the human world. Seeing what it would look like if humans suffered from this condition. Thinking about the moth idea, I grabbed a light and set up a studio to get some shots. Here I have created a series of photos to get an idea of movement towards the light without using a video camera as I feel using photos helps the viewer to pause on each photo and take more note of shapes made by the body in each of the shots.

Eadweard Mybridge was an English photographer, known best for his important pioneering work, with use of multiple cameras to capture motion, and hiszoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible perforated film strip that is used today. When producing this work it reminded me of the way Mybridge would present his work, presenting the photos as a series which shows each stage of the movement; almost like a dance. I used this idea to present this simple movement toward to the light to see the change in shape and composition at each stage.

'Series'

"Headspring"

I chose this still below, as it shows the best example of figurative movement. I wanted to experiment further with this idea so I decide to see what would happen if I put the full movement into one frame . For this I used a long exposure and a small aperture to capture the movement and see what happens. The experiment worked well after several attempts, as the skin tone created a warm brushed colour towards the light. The infrequent facial expressions help the viewer to make sense of the mass of colour. I experimented looking at how I could highlight these faces more; using a simple filter effect on Photoshop to enhance this idea.

"Still No. 5, From 'Series'"

Thinking of this idea, I thought it would also be interesting to experiment with the source of light. Changing the source of light changes the atmosphere of the picture. My dad happened to have a FlyKiller light. When thinking back to the moth idea, this linked into the natural world context, creating a sort of narrative in this image. Seeing as we know what will happen if I touched the light causes a sense of drama or tension, as if the viewer would either be willing me to not touch it or in some cases, may want me to touch it.

"Zapper"

Phototaxis

Phototaxis is a kind of taxis that occurs when a whole organism moves in response to the stimulus light. This is advantageous for phototrophic organisms as they can orient themselves most efficiently to receive light for photosynthesis. Phototaxis is called positive if the movement is in the direction of increasing light intensity and negative if the direction is opposite.

Two types of positive phototaxis are observed in prokaryotes. The first is called scotophobotaxis (from the word "scotophobia"), which is observed only under a microscope. This occurs when a bacterium swims by chance out of the area illuminated by the microscope. Entering darkness signals the cell to reverse flagella rotation direction and reenter the light. The second type of phototaxis is true phototaxis, which is a directed movement up a gradient to an increasing amount of light. This is analogous to positive chemotaxis except that the attractant is light rather than a chemical.

Phototactic responses are observed in many organisms such as Serratia marcescens, Tetrahymena, and Euglena. Each organism has its own specific biological cause for a phototactic response, many of which are unintended and serve no end purpose.

Cockroaches are an example of a negatively phototactic organism. You've probably noticed how they scurry back into dark corners and crevices when you illuminate their late-night snacking party in your kitchen. Moths are positively phototactic. They seem charmed by your porch light, your headlights or your campfire (even if it leads to their untimely demise). While there is no definitive explanation for this phenomenon, there are some interesting theories. Below is an image I found of someone looking into this theory.

"Long exposure shot, showing flight paths of moth"

Tigger

Continuing the experimentation with portraits, I tried to use this idea with my cat Tigger. He was more than happy to just sit and pose for me without a care in the world, as long as it ended with something tasty. For these experiments his bright fur would make a really nice contrast with a dark background but intense light. His whiskers picked up the light really well and help distinguish the figure. My personal favourite is the image immediately below as he sits well in the large black area and the way the light only hits him in places creates this suggested figure that doesn't tell the whole story of the image, but the parts that do show up are bright and defined which create an interesting portrait.

David Weissman was a photographer that used his infamous dogs in his work, this occurred to me as I was taking the photos. Although I could not dress up my cat in different outfits, taking the photos did feel like I was Weissman on a photo shoot. It was interesting how Tigger just sat there without care in the world. Rather than manipulating him by clothing him, I used the light in various different positions to reveal certain parts of his figure, which created different portraits of him and therefore changed his image.

"Stare"

"Jump"

"Pose"

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