Group Project Artifact

Our group project took an already existing product that was just a hobby but later developed into a perspective small business.  Mary Callahan started off making earring out of guitar picks and slowly increased her skill and ability.  The name behind the product is Groupie Love.  Love being their last name and she was and still is her husbands groupie.  Her unique product is about to make it's grand debut but she needed a little help with marketing her product.  Our group each took a special interest in helping her present her product.  My particular job was to take photos of the product for her new website Kylie created.  Our plan was to do it on a white background as to make the product stand out on the website giving it a more professional look. Tacy aided in setting up the set and lighting for the product placement. Together we created a visual that helps the consumer see the handcrafted detail in these unique products.

With the white background we pull in the Gestalt principles of pragnaz with the simplicity of accentuating just the product.  We also applied the law of continuity with the consistency of white backgrounds again putting the focus on the product.  While editing these picture I wanted to brighten the overall picture while adjusting the contrast to accentuate the earring themselves. Reducing the shadowing and high lights allows for the details of the earrings to be the focal point.  Ultimately the point was to sale the product, so therefore the product must be displayed in the best possible way.

Throughout the product shoot I walked around the area she  made her product and took candid shots of the area of operation to soak in the organic nature of this products production.  Just a mom taking an idea and executing it out.  There are a number of old speakers and records around the house that add to the classic rock feel of the product.  This is something that plays on the emotional side of the products target audience. 

With this picture I really like how it's the Love sculpture which brings in the element of the product name into the picture. The play on the name as well as the product in the background,  I played with the focus on this so the earring in the background got the crisp focus while we see the blurry sculpture in the front.  This in my mind I guess was a way to visual produce the process of these products.  With the play on the word love being both the last name of the couple as well as what brought them together and distally produced these unique guitar picks we see in the background.

Compose Your Frame

Since Professor Young wanted us to execute our own picture I decided I was going to try and capture something from our family trip to Fright-fest at Six Flags in Santa Clarita, California during Halloween weekend.  This particular picture however was captured between Venice beach and the Santa Monica Pier, in fact you can see the pier in the background of this picture.

I captured this picture on my iPhone 5s, and it doesn't seem as high quality uploaded on here as it did in my phone, but alas I still love how it turned out.  I was attempting to use the rule of thirds as well as the use of lines, specifically diagonal lines.  By using the diagonal lines it helps me create the frame of the picture. The intent was to guide the viewers eye to the sign.

The sign being the forefront of this photo for me because of the contrast of the yellow to the blue hues of the sky surrounding it.  It pops out and draws the eye immediately to it.  The arrow on the sign acts as a bonus for this picture by coinciding with the diagonal lines that I created with the angle in which I took the picture.

The vertical lines of the trees and the sign work with the diagonal lines to create shape and dimension in this picture. It's essentially creating an arrow of movement for the eye to follow. Overall the shape frames a shape and a focus to what the picture is capturing.

Everything about this picture makes me happy.  Not only am I on a beach in California (which always warms my heart in more ways than one), but the colors make feel welcomed and happy, which plays a psychological game on me.  Begging me to come back and leaving me with the question of, "Where are the lines guiding me to?", and "What's on the left side past the palm trees?".  Sometimes I wonder if other people take a step back and take a second look at something like I do.  As if they are soaking up the natural beauty of what they are observing.  By taking that second to look at something a little longer helps me see the bigger picture, and I feel at one with myself and the world surrounding me. The use of the lines in this picture guide the eye but leave a sense of mystery, which frames the mind to wonder what else is there.

I'm Your Huckleberry!

Heck yeah! I'll be your huckleberry Val Kilmer. (we're talking in the 90s Val, obviously)

So the scene I picked was from the movie Tombstone. It has always been and always will be one of my all time favorites.  This film debuted in 1993, with some powerhouse actors and in my personal opinion one of the best performances by Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday.  Lora Kennedy did an amazing job casting this film. George P. Cosmatos directed the film and we can see how he really wanted to execute a vintage western movie that John Wayne himself would be proud of.  The entire movie has the rustic western feel that America is known for.  Throughout the movie we get taken back in time to earlier part of western expansion and all the dust that comes with it.  We also see how the director made sure to highlight Doc Holliday's tuberculosis throughout the entire movie, as well as how persistent he was. His overall character is excellently executed by the entire film team as well as the actor himself.

This particular scene has always been one of my all time favorites. SPOILER ALERT!! It's at the end of the film so if you haven't seen it yet, oh well, you'll recover.  In this scene the art directors (Chris Gorak, Kim Hix, and Mark Worthington) and set directors (Gene Serdena and Brian Stewart)  worked well together to create a scene that sends chills down your spine.  Johnny Ringo waits in this natural setting expecting Wyatt Earp, and is surprised to see Doc Holliday step out from the shadows,  I loved how they did the lighting for this scene.  Doc Holliday starts off in the shadows walking toward his reckoning in front of him.  As he emerges into the light and Johnny Ringo realizes who he is there is a lighting behind him that silhouettes his figure more and shows his clammy skin, highlighting his sickness.

The cinematography by William A. Fraker helps bring the continuity of Doc Holiday's sickness throughout the entire movie.  Doc Holliday is always on the verge of collapsing in every scene of the movie and shirks it away as if it's nothing each time.  He still goes and gives it his all in every fight regardless of his weak frame. Throughout the movie he remains the unsung hero in the background. The framing of his figure with the background lighting makes him the most pertinent character in the scene to me.  Shows that he is the one being spot lighted almost eluding the fact that he'll be triumphant in the end.