independent production

Friday, 2 December 2011

Production schedule

Production Schedule:

· Tuesday and Wednesday are always for photography-find it easier to work on something for whole days rather than a couple of hours every day-get more work done

· . Need roughly 8-10 weeks of working on photography outside lecture/seminar time.

Date week beginning:	Important dates	Comments/what weeks I will be doing photography
19^th December	Christmas holiday	Take pictures of family as part of the body form photographs.
26^th December	Christmas Holiday	No photography work this week as will be revising and writing essay for other modules.
2^nd January	3^rd January-Urban Cultures and Modernity exam.	From the 2^nd of jan to the 9^th will be concentrating on other 2 modules-would be unrealistic to think I could balance photography if I have an exam and a deadline that week.
9^th January	Journalism futures essay-4000 words-Monday 9^thhand in.
Week 13: 16^th January	Shooting	Shooting in studio on Tuesday, and Wednesdays are for photography
Week 14: 23^rd January	Shooting exhibition plans	Shooting – more on skin and body form in studio and more shooting of industrial and polluted area-diptychs as suggested in further research of research report.
Week 15: 30^th January	Exhibition plans	also planning what to do for insulation-at the moment thinking of doing ideas on shiny surfaces-glossy magazine covers, computer/TV screens-how will my pictures be presented.
Week 16: 6^th February	Skiing on the 10^th of February for one week.
Week 17: 13 February
Week 18: 20^th February		Any more last minute shooting to be done-whether it is in studio or
Week 19: 27^th February	Any shooting should be finished by this date in order for editing to start	Manipulation and editing of images
Week 20: 5^th March	Exhibition pre-production should have started	Start designing and organising where I might print pictures or
Week 21: 12^th March		Final editing-Wednesday and Thursday-Photoshop manipulation.
Week 22: 19^th March
Week 23: 26^th March
Week 24: 2^nd April
9^th April	Easter break	During this week need to balance urban cultures, dissertation, and independent production. -by second week of Easter holiday should be no more editing-just concentrating on essay for 22^nd of May and completing blog. In order to balance 3 subjects-everyday different subject. For example-Monday and Wednesdays are photography, Tuesday and Thursdays are urban cultures and dissertation is Friday and Sunday-Saturday day of rest.
16^th April	Easter break
23^rd April	Easter break
30^th April	1^st May-Urban Cultures and modernity hand in date. 2^nd May-Dissertation hand in. 3^rd May-Independent production hand in.

Research Report-Summary of research

To summarise, throughout my theoretical research I explored many theorists as mentioned earlier, Foucault and the gaze, Laura Mulvey and the male gaze, Freud and his concept of sexual fetishism- all of which have helped me identify what I really wanted to base my pictures around. Although I have experimented with lots of ways of how to portray my topic i believe my theoretical and practical research helped me settle on a main subject within the topic which is photographing body form and skin and the way skin is portrayed and should look in the media whether its skins adverts, celebrities and the pages we see about how they ‘look flawless’ or even the shock factor pages where celebrities are seen without any makeup and are made to feel abnormal for not always looking ‘perfect’

Through looking at men’s adverts, fetishism photography and product photography I saw that all the women were thin; all had perfect skin and were modelling in an erotic confident way. To summarise, all the women in these advertising pictures looked as society, the media and men believe they should look.

These theories I have explored have enabled me to experiment through my photographs. They have helped me both challenge the topic and come up with original ways of making a statement. Through my photographs I have explored the idea that we as members of society are mannequins that the media dress up and play with while also exploring young girls wanting to be grownup and knowing how to pose.

Despite the research I have already done, I do believe there is more to be done. Theoretically I believe I can explore Foucault’s concept of discourse and the regime of truth additionally i believe there is further research to be done on photographers who explore the aesthetics of lighting such as Leni Riefenstahl and the pictures of the Olympic athletes.

Research Report-Similar Work

Lauren Greenfield has greatly shaped my own ideas. She documented through photography young girls getting ready to go out, but also getting ready to go to school and the regimes they go through to make themselves look perfect and the pressures they face.

In addition to this she produced a short documentary film called ‘Girl culture’ in which she shot girls dealing with eating disorders. Watching this helped me shape my own ideas as it showed the pressure that girls go through to be thin. Through her photographs and documentary film on ‘Girl Culture’ I learnt that magazines are hugely influential on what girls base their body image on and that sometimes it can push a lot of girls too far.

Ad busters were also a huge influence in relation to my own ideas, they too set out to challenge social norms specifically the social norms of consumerism. ‘We are working to change the way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society’ (adbuster.org). In this sense challenging the norms of consumerism greatly links to my topic. So many women by products because they want to look like the model on the tv, the pop star on the radio- again conforming to the norms of society. From Ad busters I have learnt that the media often doesn’t show us the truth about women and celebrity appearance that so many girls base their own appearances on.

Lastly photographers Jenny Saville and Bill Brandt Show women’s bodies in a way that differs from the norms of society and the way women and the media think they should look. These two photographers helped me develop my own set of photographs on skin and the body. I also wish to further practically research the way we know how to pose and where this knowledge comes from?

Jenny Saville

Bill Brandt

Research Report-Theoretical Context

I have been exploring the Medias and men’s influence on women, particularly looking at the way they should look, the way they are used to sell products and women’s body language. These ideas have been developed through many theorists particularly i believe the most important are:

· Freud’s theory of sexual fetishism

The idea that we are born male or female, but masculinity and femininity is something you earn and are taught through whether it be through societal norms produced and inscribed in the public eye by the media

· Foucault’s theory of the gaze and Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze

I consider that Diamond and Quincy’s book feminism and Foucault is hugely related to my idea as it talks about women as objects under Foucault’s theory of the ‘male gaze’. Women are born into a society where a certain look has already been set out for them by the male. Through both the male and popular culture we are urged to look a certain way, dress a certain way, walk a certain way and if not we do not fit into society and in some ways I believe we are cast out as an outsider. Through Foucault’s theory of the gaze we are always being watched and judged as he suggests we are always conscious and aware of people’s judgements and ‘gaze’.

Femininity

I have also looked at many books on femininity in which I believe these have helped me develop my ideas of how media influence women’s bodies particularly the politics of women’s bodies, and Naomi’s wolfs book ‘the beauty myth’.

Rose Weitz in politics of women’s bodies describes femininity is something you learn whether it be through media but by the pressure of the media and men “We are born male or female, but not masculine or feminine. Femininity is an artifice, an achievement”(page) Naomi wolf describes the way in which advertising and media rely on making women feel bad about their bodies and finding solutions which earn them money. These theories and ideas have helped me gather a better understanding of my chosen topic and what I want to get out of my photographs. One thing that I learned from these theories is there is such a strict rule about what is perfect and what is not that I realised I want my photographs to go against these rules.