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An Evaluation
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"Hmm?"
Just like the other project, everything about it was based on identity. This time however it was meant to be a direct representation of ourselves in the form of a power animal which we had to then turn into a fully wearable mask. The original intent was to create a stopmotion animation of ourselves doing animal-like movements, but due to the apparently overwhelming amount of annoying paperwork we were stuck with the same goal as the other project, create two still images displaying ourselves which represents our power animals.
The process of deciding which animal represented me the most accurately was rather tough. I didn't want it to be a normal animal you could easily see wherever you went. This way of thinking made certain stages of the creation process rather difficult (like trying to find an octopus in the middle of a park). I finally decided on an octopus because it seemed so random, but as I learnt more about the qualities of an octopus I soon realised this animal matches myself quite well.
An octopus, it's not an animal we normally see, but when we do it's a strange sight. I believe this partly describes me as a person in the sense that I am a strange sight and as you learn more about me, you realise that I'm even stranger than what you assumed which is just like an octopus because of their various weird abilities that are not widely known such as camouflage, wrapping themselves up with their tentacles as a form of protection, and the capabilities to take down a shark. I guess the main thing I wanted to let my audience know is that I'm a strange guy, this is my power animal, he's also strange. There's also a hint of worry and fear in the image below which is portrayed using a dark border around myself that gives off that sense of confinement coming inwards. The radial blur adds some more impact to this as well.
My other image (the one you can see at the top of this post) is actually slightly opposite in the way I portray myself. Rather than being seen as someone with anxieties, I create a stronger image of myself in a more structured manner. I think the colour scheme brings out the strange vibe I wish to convey. Both images also seem to be like it's inside a room, but what type of room is not really being shown here. I'd like to think that rather than a real place, it is actually the inside of my mind.
"Closing in"
Speaking of audience, there wasn't really a specific audience in terms of what type of people I aimed my designs towards. My peers and tutors are obviously part of my initial audience, but then there are future audience members like interviewers for university when they're looking at my portfolio or even a job in the design industry.
The bulk of my experimentation was based on how I should go about melding the different elements of my mask together which included the large head piece, the face mask, the tentacles, and the string to hold it on my head. The tentacles were the tricky part though as I had tried several methods which eventually failed (the tentacles kept falling off ><). Sellotape worked to keep the tentacles in place while I used paper mache to blend in the tentacles with the rest of the mask, but after a 'transportation incident' the mache broke apart from the tentacles and I was left with a VERY noticeable gap. I tried sellotaping them back together which actually worked, but then you could see the sellotape all over the mask so I had to think of another way and that's when the most beautiful material man has ever made arose in my thoughts, double-sided sellotape! I could quite easily stick that on the tentacles, peel off the other side, and stick that BENEATH the mache. This made it appear that the mache and the tentacles never separated in the first place.
The type of paint required some experimenting too because watercolour would just show the newspaper underneath, but then I used acrylic which worked fine. The shade of green was a tough one for me because I'm not very experienced with paints and so I had to try different volumes of green and black to get that dark shade of green I was after. It eventually worked out though, but I wish I had a wider range of paints because the greens that I did have weren't the ones I wanted to use which led to time being used up to create own shade.
There wasn't a huge variety in experimenting on the mask itself since there wasn't really any second chances because once it's been wired and paper mached up, that's it, you can't really go back. So the real experiments were when we had the photoshoot session with our masks and began editing the photos in Photoshop. I tried a few somewhat silly poses in a couple of different areas, but I just wasn't satisfied with any of them except the one where I'm standing straight up. I think that image represents me quite well.
The place with the brick walls was perfect for me because not only would it look good, it also looks like a somewhat secluded place, almost like it's showing you the inside of my mind. The fear, the anxiety, the strange appearance, were all enhanced with digital techniques. But I believe that my mask, the environment I was in, and even myself could be considered materials in which I used to my advantage to convey the message I wanted to send. The somewhat 'shoddy' job I did on the mask made it look odd and not-quite-right, the brick walls created (hopefully) an atmosphere of confinement, and myself acting as a material posed in some particular ways which allowed a clearer message in the idea I am trying to get across.
The wires we used to create the structure of our masks was probably the most accident-prone section of the creation process during the project. We had some experience before from life drawing though with similar wire so we knew what to expect and how immensely annoying they can be to get in the right form.
When thinking about how I spent my time throughout this project, I never really felt like I ever 'managed' it because doing my College work has always come natural to me. I just seem to do it without really considering the amount of time I'm spending on it. In a way, this is probably my strongest asset when it comes to working. I end up doing it all within the time limit and because I enjoy it all so much I don't even see it as 'work' but rather another way to efficiently and enjoyably spend my time (as sad as that sounds).
Soooo much went wrong with the creation of my mask though. The amount of stress I felt when figuring out how to get the shapes I wanted was an utter nightmare! I really wish I could turn back time and add another section beneath the mask where there was a hole the size of my head and I could easily slide the mask on without any complications, but of course I didn't foresee this and getting the mask to stay on my head required me to tie a string through the mask and let the string push into my face to maintain the balance of the mask on my head. Perhaps the poses I did with the final images could have involved some more 'thought' into them too because I'm not very satisfied with them. Next time though I'll make sure I have all the time in the world by doing all my work even faster than I did before so I can spend more of my time on thinking of how I wish to arrange whatever it is we're creating for our future projects.
The process of deciding which animal represented me the most accurately was rather tough. I didn't want it to be a normal animal you could easily see wherever you went. This way of thinking made certain stages of the creation process rather difficult (like trying to find an octopus in the middle of a park). I finally decided on an octopus because it seemed so random, but as I learnt more about the qualities of an octopus I soon realised this animal matches myself quite well.
An octopus, it's not an animal we normally see, but when we do it's a strange sight. I believe this partly describes me as a person in the sense that I am a strange sight and as you learn more about me, you realise that I'm even stranger than what you assumed which is just like an octopus because of their various weird abilities that are not widely known such as camouflage, wrapping themselves up with their tentacles as a form of protection, and the capabilities to take down a shark. I guess the main thing I wanted to let my audience know is that I'm a strange guy, this is my power animal, he's also strange. There's also a hint of worry and fear in the image below which is portrayed using a dark border around myself that gives off that sense of confinement coming inwards. The radial blur adds some more impact to this as well.
My other image (the one you can see at the top of this post) is actually slightly opposite in the way I portray myself. Rather than being seen as someone with anxieties, I create a stronger image of myself in a more structured manner. I think the colour scheme brings out the strange vibe I wish to convey. Both images also seem to be like it's inside a room, but what type of room is not really being shown here. I'd like to think that rather than a real place, it is actually the inside of my mind.
Speaking of audience, there wasn't really a specific audience in terms of what type of people I aimed my designs towards. My peers and tutors are obviously part of my initial audience, but then there are future audience members like interviewers for university when they're looking at my portfolio or even a job in the design industry.
The bulk of my experimentation was based on how I should go about melding the different elements of my mask together which included the large head piece, the face mask, the tentacles, and the string to hold it on my head. The tentacles were the tricky part though as I had tried several methods which eventually failed (the tentacles kept falling off ><). Sellotape worked to keep the tentacles in place while I used paper mache to blend in the tentacles with the rest of the mask, but after a 'transportation incident' the mache broke apart from the tentacles and I was left with a VERY noticeable gap. I tried sellotaping them back together which actually worked, but then you could see the sellotape all over the mask so I had to think of another way and that's when the most beautiful material man has ever made arose in my thoughts, double-sided sellotape! I could quite easily stick that on the tentacles, peel off the other side, and stick that BENEATH the mache. This made it appear that the mache and the tentacles never separated in the first place.
The type of paint required some experimenting too because watercolour would just show the newspaper underneath, but then I used acrylic which worked fine. The shade of green was a tough one for me because I'm not very experienced with paints and so I had to try different volumes of green and black to get that dark shade of green I was after. It eventually worked out though, but I wish I had a wider range of paints because the greens that I did have weren't the ones I wanted to use which led to time being used up to create own shade.
There wasn't a huge variety in experimenting on the mask itself since there wasn't really any second chances because once it's been wired and paper mached up, that's it, you can't really go back. So the real experiments were when we had the photoshoot session with our masks and began editing the photos in Photoshop. I tried a few somewhat silly poses in a couple of different areas, but I just wasn't satisfied with any of them except the one where I'm standing straight up. I think that image represents me quite well.
The place with the brick walls was perfect for me because not only would it look good, it also looks like a somewhat secluded place, almost like it's showing you the inside of my mind. The fear, the anxiety, the strange appearance, were all enhanced with digital techniques. But I believe that my mask, the environment I was in, and even myself could be considered materials in which I used to my advantage to convey the message I wanted to send. The somewhat 'shoddy' job I did on the mask made it look odd and not-quite-right, the brick walls created (hopefully) an atmosphere of confinement, and myself acting as a material posed in some particular ways which allowed a clearer message in the idea I am trying to get across.
The wires we used to create the structure of our masks was probably the most accident-prone section of the creation process during the project. We had some experience before from life drawing though with similar wire so we knew what to expect and how immensely annoying they can be to get in the right form.
When thinking about how I spent my time throughout this project, I never really felt like I ever 'managed' it because doing my College work has always come natural to me. I just seem to do it without really considering the amount of time I'm spending on it. In a way, this is probably my strongest asset when it comes to working. I end up doing it all within the time limit and because I enjoy it all so much I don't even see it as 'work' but rather another way to efficiently and enjoyably spend my time (as sad as that sounds).
Soooo much went wrong with the creation of my mask though. The amount of stress I felt when figuring out how to get the shapes I wanted was an utter nightmare! I really wish I could turn back time and add another section beneath the mask where there was a hole the size of my head and I could easily slide the mask on without any complications, but of course I didn't foresee this and getting the mask to stay on my head required me to tie a string through the mask and let the string push into my face to maintain the balance of the mask on my head. Perhaps the poses I did with the final images could have involved some more 'thought' into them too because I'm not very satisfied with them. Next time though I'll make sure I have all the time in the world by doing all my work even faster than I did before so I can spend more of my time on thinking of how I wish to arrange whatever it is we're creating for our future projects.
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