The Self Perception Theory – Rebooted.

This is the re-edited version of The Self Perception Theory with the colour taken out as suggested in peer assessments.

What I Should Have Exhibited

I took my peer assessment very seriously and took all comments into consideration. I did disagree with some of the comments made, but some of them I did agreed with, as stated in my evaluation. One of the comments I did take on board and agree with 100% was the colour in the background. Unfortunately I couldn’t exhibit The Self Perception Theory as it was intended, due to the lack of space and equipment. I did think of other ways to exhibit my piece, which included; televisions, iPads and iMacs, however every new idea I thought of wasn’t feasible for the same reasons.

When I edited the piece I added colour in the background to break the images up in exhibition. I wanted them all to be one piece, but the images to be separated as they are not the same emotions. The colours I chose also represented those emotions; red – anger, blue – sadness etc. If The Self Perception Theory had been exhibited as it was intended, the colour would have done well to meet my aims. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case and I had to sacrifice quite a lot in such a short space of time, to be able to take part in the exhibition. This being said, I did remake ,y video as it should have been exhibited in the cinema. I removed the colour and it looks much better on a smaller screen now that my piece is one video rather than something that looks broken. I didn’t have access to my final piece, but I did have the uncut footage. I re-edited the whole thing and started from scratch.

I unlinked the sound after inserting the first clip into the sequence.

I then removed the sound.

I added the crop effect.

Then cropped and moved the image into position.

I repeated this for every clip until it looked like this.

I feel much better about my work now that I have remade the whole thing. I have listened to my peers and took their advise on-board. I have learned the importance of critical assessment through this experience and I thank each and every one of them for their support.

 

Bibliography

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Wikipedia. (2014) Sam Taylor-Wood. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Taylor-Wood

Bracewell, M. Miller, J. Taylor-Wood, S. (2005) Body: New Art From the UK. London: Vancouver Art Gallery.

Plagens, P. (2014) Bruce Nauman: The True Artist. London: Phaidon Press.

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Barbara Kruger.(2010) The Art of Barbara Kruger. Available: http://www.barbarakruger.com/art.shtml

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Corfe, C.(2014) An exhibit at the Harris Mueum. Artists on Tour: Bruce Nauman. Preston, Lancashire.

Comer, S. (2008). Film and Video Art. London: Tate Publishing.

Malkeiwicz, K. (1993). Film Lighting. Manhattan, New York. Simon and Schuster. 7-198

Wikipedia. (2014). Self-perception theory. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-perception_theory

Bem, Daryl J.(1967). Self-Perception: an alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review,74,

Bem, Daryl J.(1972). Self-Perception Theory. Advances in Experiment Social Psychology,6

Psychwiki.com. (2010). Self-Perception Theory. Available: http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Self-Perception_Theory

Authentic-Self.com. (2009) Self Perception, How We Perceive Ourselves. Available: http://www.authentic-self.com/self-perception.html

McLeod, S. A. (2007). Visual Perception Theory. Available: http://www.simplypsychology.org/perception-theories

FMP Evaluation

Final Major Project Evaluation

The Self Perception Theory started as I explored the way I perceive myself in a video art project I had made as an experiment, during the beginning phases of FMP. I knew that video art was the foundation of which I needed to build on from the inspiration I had gained, watching a short documentary about artist Sam Taylor-Wood. More specifically, the installation for Sustaining the Crisis (1977). The installation is a two screen piece with one depicting a lone man sat on a chair looking provocatively into the camera. The other screen, opposite the first, depicts a half-naked woman walking confidentially down a busy street. At this moment, I fell in love with Video Art. I loved the way that multiple screens could interact with each other and in turn, the audience. I began to research video art and the artists that make up the movement. A piece that caught my attention was Barbara Kruger’s ‘The Globe Shrinks (For Those Who Own It). This piece is a three screen typography installation that stretches across a huge hall. I decided to then make my own typography installation and began to listen to music and capture dialogue to use as a starting point. However, I felt as though I couldn’t use other artists work to kick start my own, so instead I wrote a poem based on my own opinions about the welfare of dangerous pets. Poetry is something I have always enjoyed and I gained a huge sense of accomplishment when I completed my typography piece. I watched it through and thought about using my other thoughts and feelings to incorporate into my work. A self-portrait suddenly felt like a direction in developing my FMP I should take, so I thought about how I felt about myself and wrote an idea down in my notepad. I never intended in making it due to the fear of losing my dignity or self-respect. However, I did eventually decide to make it and it gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my ideas and develop them further. I created a two screen piece very similar to Sam Taylor-Wood’s ‘Sustaining the Crisis (1977)’. I shot a two screen installation, (intended to be exhibited opposite each other) one screen with a video of me sat in a chair half naked and the other a video of myself (fully clothed) shouting at the other screen about how fat I am. I’ve been called names before and had comments about my weight, but it never hurt coming from other people. However, when I saw myself giving myself abuse, which hurt and really put things into perspective for me. I was fascinated by the way my piece made me feel about myself and how no amount of words could have given me a push to better myself. It was my words and to see those words projected in front of me was extremely therapeutic. My research after this point developed and I looked into The Self Perception Theory. The theory that explains human emotion is only distinguishable after that person has assessed and observed their own behaviour. This became the concept and the title for my final major project.

My endeavours were far from over as I had yet to finalise an idea for my project proposal. I started to look at the different styles of video art, particularly the way in which they are presented and exhibited. My experiments taught me that the most important first step of creating video art is the way it is exhibited as it isn’t a film. It’s art that is intended for exhibitions in museums and galleries. Once I knew how I would exhibit it, I could start working on the content of the piece. I looked back through my work and experiments to find my self-portrait and wanted to create something similar, but in a way an audience can relate to. A multi-screen installation was the most ideal exhibition technique that suited me. Interaction between multiple screens is a beautiful technique and if done correctly can interact with the audience in a way a painting or a film never could. And that is what I wanted for my FMP.

Generating my idea was much easier after finalising the way in which I would exhibit my work. The Self Perception Theory, after more research, gave me the development I needed. I wrote down a few ideas in my notebook, but the one that stood out the most was a four screen installation depicting a man with a blank expression searching three other screens opposite that display the emotions of happiness, sadness and anger. I really enjoyed the concept and in the right circumstances I felt that this would have made a great piece of artwork.

I began pre-production almost instantly. Pre-production was almost exactly the same as it would be for a film, the only difference being was booking the exhibition space and equipment. The first thing I needed to do was casting, I searched some casting websites and unfortunately had no luck as I had to request the emails of any of the freelance actors. I requested a couple of emails and after a couple of days after no reply; I gave up and asked a friend. He would happily do it, but he works during the week and doesn’t finish till late. Luckily he was able to leave work early as long as it was a reasonable time. I booked the studio and white backdrop for the late afternoon, with some time to set up lights etc. I needed to book equipment, but at the time there was none available so I borrowed a Canon 70d from a friend after testing its moving image capabilities. When I was confident it would be good enough, I made the decision to use it for shooting my piece. Setting up the shoot came with its problems too. I originally booked the television studio to make use of the lighting kit installed in there, but I was told to use the photography studio as there were already lights and a white backdrop set up. When I arrived with my equipment, I quickly realised that there was a class taking place and there were no lights set up. I was then asked to go down to the television studio and after clearing it for my shoot and setting up the lights, there was paint all over the backdrop making it unusable. When I got back to the photography studio the class had finished and I managed to get some lights and set them up. I played around with the lights and decided to mount them high up, pointing the light towards the floor. This lit my backdrop and casted no shadows within the frame of the camera. I managed to shoot the video in less than ten minutes and had it edited by the end of the day. I did experiment a little during the edit by adding noise and colour to the sequences. The colour I added were to help distinguish the emotions and to separate the screens rather than them having the same background. The only thing left was getting the exhibition ready.

I instantly ran into more problems as the college didn’t have the resources to exhibit my FMP in the way that I had intended. I would need four projectors and a large space, but unfortunately they couldn’t provide it. I suggested a number of alternatives such as; having two projectors, iPads, Mac’s and televisions, but they were all unfeasible because of the funding cuts and the demand of supply. I almost gave up when it was suggested that I used one screen and used a split screen technique so that I could exhibit my work in the cinema, rather than the gallery. I did exactly that as I would rather sacrifice the way I would have exhibited my piece to be able to be part of the exhibition or refuse to do so and not be.

The feedback I received from my peers was great, but I don’t agree with some of the points that were made. I made the decision to cut out the sound as I wanted the character and the audience to interact with each other and I feel that sound would have disrupted that. The self-perception theory is the search of physical behaviour to distinguish the way you are feeling. I feel that sound would have taken that physical element away from it.  Another point that was made was about the colour of the background in each of the slides. My peers felt as though the background should have been one colour in all slides to make the piece one video rather than it looking broken and four different videos. This is one of the points that I agree with. Initially my piece was supposed to be exhibited as four different videos, however due to the circumstances; I had to compromise and make some sacrifices by cutting it into one video. If my piece had been able to go to plan, I feel that the colour would have worked well to break up the piece, however due to the changes it didn’t really work. Which moves me onto the next point of solving my problems had created more problems. I do agree with this to a certain extent; however I feel I could only work with the time that I had.

To conclude my evaluation, I feel that overall, final major project was an excellent experience and I have continued to learn new skills as I incorporated old ones. My final cut of The Self Perception Theory for me worked out a lot better than I thought it would. Just as things started to go south, I feel like I dealt with each problem at a professional standard. If I had the resources I feel my project would have worked out brilliantly, but as I had to compromise, I lost sight of the difference in scale of my exhibition and the consequences that came from it. If I could change anything, I would mostly take away the colour of the background. My peers were correct in saying it didn’t work on a smaller scale. I have learned new skills from FMP which are transferable and will be useful to my photography degree. I am excited for the future and to put what I have learned into practise at university.

FMP Final Cut

It’s been a long ride and has been a lot of stress, but I have finally finished and I am extremely happy with the outcome. I cannot wait to see this in exhibition.

Thankyou AudioNizual

Now, I really struggled with finding the resources to exhibit my work, any idea that I had was unfeasible in some way. I just can’t exhibit my work without making sacrifices. It’s hard and it sucks, but a lot of people had to make sacrifices and I am stupid to not seeing that. Unfortunately I spent some time away from college. One reason was the lack of motivation because of my work. I was scared of failing or not meeting my expectations. How ridiculous is that? I was scared of how I thought about myself. I guess it’s kind of ironic given the theme of my FMP. I missed a lot. I missed building this amazing exhibition and I feel awful. I walked around today and the work is stunning. I know that all these people will succeed in every way because they are all so talented. One of my first posts on this blog was a promise I made to myself. I told myself I would be brave and I haven’t done that. I let myself down. I let my course down.

Everything I have worked for, is for this exhibition. And I want to be involved. I still want to gain the best possible grade and I have a small production group to thank. AudioNizual is a small group of students who have helped me in quite a lot of ways. Their work is great and it is obvious they love doing it. I was advised firstly to cut up my clips in one sequence and then that idea progressed into cutting up the clips to play in four strips on one screen. It’s not what I wanted, but it means I can exhibit my work. I would have never of thought of that and I owe my FMP to them. So thank you. I really appreciate the advise.

Anyway. I ran as fast as I could towards the mac that held my work and I took all the clips from each sequence and put them into the first sequence. I then layered the clips and cropped them. I had to move some of them around to fit, but in the end it looked great. Like I said, it’s not what I originally wanted, but it is at least something. And I am really happy with it, all things considered. And to be honest, I was really starting to dislike the colour in the backgrounds, but for some reason, it looks really good like that. I will exhibit m,y work in the cinema. On one screen. I have had to make a sacrifice and I’m okay with that.

This is what my piece will look like in the exhibition. I’m happy with it. It still works. Maybe not as well as it would if I could exhibit it in the way I originally wanted, but it’s good! I’m happy and thats all that matters right?

iDon’t Know What to Do Anymore

So the iPad idea was a no go. The administrators for the network have restricted them to save battery life and the technician can’t change the settings. Absolutely ridiculous. How can they honestly think that this technology they have invested in could be useful with so many restrictions. We are adults and we deserve better. Granted there are some idiots in this place, but not on FAD! Anyway, I’m back to square one. I did ask about Macs, but they can’t give me four macs. They can’t really give me one mac. This upsets me. To the drawing board I guess.

An Idea Could Easily Save The Day

So, I have an idea! I think I’m going to be saved. I realised that I don’t need this huge space to exhibit my work. I could easily exhibit it in a hallway using the great technology we have. I could use iPads! An iPad would look great on the wall, one on one side and three on the other. I need to discuss this with the technician as the iPads belong to him, or at least they are his responsibility. I have hope!

Exhibiting Aint Easy

So I’m having some issues with the feasibility of installing this piece in the exhibition. For some stupid reason I assumed four projectors would be easy enough get a hold of, and the space. I also assumed exhibition space grew on trees. Of course it isn’t that simple and my naivety is causing me drastic problems. I’m not sure what I’m going to do and I’m getting rather worried.

Editing Art – The Edit

I looked over the footage and I’m extremely happy with it, it looks amazing and I’m really excited to see it set up as an installation. Firstly, I put the clips into different sequences named: Sequence One, Sequence Two, Sequence Three and Sequence Four. Then I experimented a little with the clips. I played with some of the video effects just to see what kind of difference it would make. The first thing I did was made the clips black and white, but as I watched them through, I felt that the video needed to be in colour as they are supposed to be projecting powerful emotions, so I removed the black and white effect. The uncut clips really seemed that it didn’t give off the effect I wanted. It’s supposed to be grungy and look like it was filmed on an old VHS recorder. I’m not sure why I want that sort of style, I just really like it. I guess it’s probably the influence of older video art from artists like; Sam Taylor-Wood, Bruce Nauman and Gary Hill. Their work seemed very grimy and gritty and I really enjoy that style. So, in retrospect to this, I added noise. Not a lot, but just enough to give it that grunge effect.

Screenshot of the clip with no effects.

Screenshot of the clip with black and white.

Clip with noise at 36.0%

I continued to experiment with the clips and my experimentation led me to the three way colour corrector. I just wanted to add a more vibrant colour to my character. So I took the Midtones eyedrop tool and selected a colourful part of his face and then played with the wheel. Obviously I didn’t really want to add colour’s like green or blue, so I added a little bit of orange to lighten up the skin. I really liked the effect and when I was happy with a setting, I copied the clip and pasted the attributes to the other sequences. I continued to play with the three way colour corrector. This time, I selected the highlights eyedrop and clicked the blank background. I realised that these kinds of backdrops are great for playing with as there is nothing there to distract you. there is all that space to lay with. I decided to look into the emotions and add the colour associated with that emotion. For example; red is the colour of anger, blue the colour of sadness etc. I carefully added these colours and played with the settings. If I turned up the transparency too much, the colours would bleed into my character and I really didn’t want that. So I had to take extra care when adding the colours. The end result for me was quite satisfying. I feel as though I had met my aims in making this video. The colour added depth and the noise gave it that grainy, retro look I wanted. I’m happy with the outcome. The final thing I did was removing the sound. I unlinked all the clips in the sequences and deleted the sound.

Screenshot of the anger clip with the red colouring in the background.

Screen shot of the three way colour corrector for the anger clip.

Overall I am extremely happy with my edit and I cannot wait to exhibit it and see it in action. It has been an absolute pleasure working on this piece and I can already see the progression in my technical and editing skills. This has been such an amazing experience. Next is installing it!