Major Assignment - submitted.

Today everyone submitted their posters (well done) and gave a brief presentation on how they went about it, what problems they overcame and a bit of other general information.


It was great to see, most of the work impressed me. Brian seemed pleased, i think.. he's not the most animated dude. No offence mate :]




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Drink Driving poster - finished :]

After having a stack of fun smashing up that glass bottle and then photographing all the pieces i managed to put it all together with all that i had designed previously to produce the following. I am quite pleased with this :]


Hope you like it too.






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Time to break something :]

Okay so since my last post, i managed to resist purchasing (not the fact i'm poor) any wine or beer to help me complete this assignment task and purchased a bottle of sparkling mineral water instead. This was great because i can't recall ever drinking this stuff before, so i got to taste it before hand - it's nothing to brag about, so added a few drops of cordial so i could get through the whole bottle :]


Anyway, here are a set of photographs taken on my camera phone to help show how i went about it all. Enjoy.




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Photographic equipment used for this. Was thinking
of using my speed light, but it has been a while since
i used the Elinchrom kit so decided to let it out of
its box for a bit.

All clean and label removed.

Limited space to work, but it all turned
out ok in the end.

Making sure my lighting and camera settings before
getting down to business. 

Safety first as always - yeah i know i look daggie.

My assistant for today.

Any last words bottle?

Heeeya!

Success :]

Selected pieces positioned on perspex ready to be
back-lit and photographed.

Drink Driving poster (update)

Okay, so after sitting with Brian just a moment ago for some feedback, all is going well. I just forgot that i need to include a second photograph of mine to the poster. So i have decided to add some smashed glass to this image around the area of the road edge and blood, with the odd piece scattered on the bitumen.


I will purchase a bottle of beer made with GREEN GLASS on my way home tonight, because i feel the green glass will stand out in a better way in comparison to clear or brown glass. So tonight should be a bit of fun, because it's not every day a requirement for an assignment is to enjoy smashing the glass bottle you just drank beer from and then take a few photos. Nice huh!
Just not sure if i should use beer bottle green or a wine bottle green. hmmm


I have tomorrow morning off, so this gives me the perfect opportunity to stick at this assignment and try get it completed and ready for submission ahead of schedule.






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Updated poster design: DRINK DRIVING has been enlarged. Tyre tread
detail has been blurred into more of a realistic skid-mark and intensity of
the splattering of red has been reduced/desaturated.

Drink Driving poster (progress)

Okay so after the past few exciting days out of town and away from assignments, i managed to find a bit of time this afternoon to work on my proposed poster design for Drink Driving so that Brian has an idea of how everything is going.


I reckon it is starting to look good and/or isn't too far off being finished, see what he thinks.

Scanning.

Room F26


Today was an introduction to scanners and all they can offer a photographer. I found this class quite interesting, because it has been a number of years since i last used a scanner and i gained a deeper understanding than ever before on how it all works. So cheers Brian for such a detailed lesson as always.


The thing that impressed myself and a few others the most, i felt, was a scanner's ability to scan negative film (colour or black and white) and deliver it to you on screen as a positive image. Must make use of that once i get a bunch of my old photos from back home :]


Made me think next time i go home to Rockhampton, i must bring back all the old film negatives from days-gone-by to Canberra with me, take them to CIT, scan them in and edit them digitally before sending back to family as a gift or something like that.






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Notes from today:


THINGS TO CHECK / CONSIDER.


Scanner.
Flatbed scanner with the ability of scanning transparent film (negatives).


Input. 
Type: Reflective - Transparent - Reproduced (how was it printed i.e. magazine or newspaper)
Size: Is the image you are scanning to then be used at a much larger size?


Output.
Size: What measurements do you need to scan it to? (A4, A3 or a custom size)
Resolution: What sort of quality does it need to be printed at? (150ppi, 300ppi or 1200ppi)
Bit depth: How much colour information do you require? (1bit black and white, 8 bit greyscale or 8 bit colour)
File type: Saving your scanned image as a .tiff file is normally the preferred option.

Tyre reference.

3/5/2012


I had intended to go out and photograph a bunch of tyre skid-marks on roads today, but as it turned out i had a visit from ACT housing to inspect my unit and check if anything required maintenance. All checked out sweet (of course) but by the time they left it was 10am and the rain had begun to fall. So due to the rainy day, i needed to come up with a plan-b.


My backup plan was to hit the road and visit a few tyre stores in Mitchell to see if i could take home a collection of brochures with tyre tread patterns on them that i could then scan in class and blend them in with my poster design as a separate layer that i had full control over - instead of drive around Canberra looking for that perfect skid-mark. So thanks rain !


Here is what i managed to collect (ignore the sultry women).






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Drink Driving poster (rough)

(week 11)


Okay, so i just managed to create a rough design of how i would like to approach this task. I simply combined, then edited, stretched, cloned and tweaked the images i found as part of my research (found in my previous blog entry) to create the following image. It may still require a bit of this and that - might go re-read the information sheet for this i think.


This will do for now though.






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Major Assignment (continued).

(week 10)


Okay, since my initial post regarding this major assignment, i have looked back at my research and sample images, thought a few things through and now have a clear direction of what i want to achieve and how to go about developing it according to the brief given to us in class.


My image will combine a tyre's tread pattern turning into a skid mark that will cross over the line markings and becoming/ending up as a splattering of either red wine or blood. Trying to convey the message of drink-driving normally leads to loss of control and an accident. Hope that makes sense.


I aim to sketch the concept in the next day or two and upload it to this blog to give a visual representation of the idea in my head, but for now, please just read over the following bits of information and try work it out for yourself if you like :)




Photography:

• tyre tread pattern / skid marks on the road across a line-marking (if i find the right one).
• roadside edge with line-markings (where bitumen meets dirt and grass).
• splattered / spilt red wine or blood.

Scanned image:

• tyre tread pattern (from a tyre company mechanic).
• a glass of alcohol (cold beer or wine).
• something else of relevance.

Here are a few images that helped me envisage this concept.






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Referenced images for - Tyre tread pattern / skid marks:

Referenced images for - roadside edge / curb:

Referenced images for - Splattered red wine / blood:

Major Assignment.

3/4/2012
(week 8)


Our major assignment for Technology is now set and it should prove to be a rewarding challenge for most people. I certainly look forward to seeing what everyone creates :)


Some suggested categories for this assessment:
Job Opportunities - Industrial Relations - Smoking Kills - Indigenous Affairs - Achievement - Water Conservation - Climate Change - Fashion - Self promotion - Drink Driving - Architecture - New technology or product - Topic of your own choice..


Not a bad list, but the two that stand out most to me are both something i'm passionate about and they are DRINK DRIVING and WATER CONSERVATION.


A few notes from today's class include:


Process
a) Understand the brief.
b) Research & collate examples of previous ad campaigns/posters.
c) Brain-storm to help create concept.
d) Develop a few rough ideas.
e) Plan how, where & when to photograph.
f) Proceed with photography.
g) Finalise all components & prepare to submit.
h) Submit.
i) wait nervously for a good mark :)








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Drink Driving.


It is something i am very much against.


Here are a collect of advertisements i found online that i may take inspiration from in certain ways. I feel this is my preferred option/topic. 


Not sure i will go to the effort of staging the scene of an accident, so will try to simplify the concept like in some of the last ads. The smashed glass is also very clever.

Water Conservation.

It is something i do my best to support at all times.

Here is a small collect of advertisements i found online that i may take inspiration from in certain ways if i choose to go with this topic.