Reflection:

I had a lot of fun doing this project, even though I didn’t get some of the shots I wanted to. I’m very pleased with how it all turned out and may work on it a bit more later. I was asked what I was thinking about when i went about doing this, to be honest I’m not entirely sure. When I act/perform I really feel like I become the person I’m portraying. In this case I really sort of became the older brother I always wanted/envisioned myself to be for my younger siblings. This brother isn’t necessarily ideal or perfect in anyway. He’s caring, protective, and strong, but like any real brother can be a jerk, or a show-off, or just a general clown too. I guess my point is that I never had an idealistic view of what a big brother should be. I was probably also thinking what I’d be like as a boy and…well…I’m pretty sure I’d be all of those things too, probably a bit more obnoxious than I am in girl form, but maybe a bit more respectful (cus girls can get away with disrespect a lot easier than guys can).
Even though this project was really fun it kind of creeped me out too. I started having questions about my gender that never occurred to me before. I know that I’m heterosexual without any real doubt, and I love being a female–but I think I really do subconsciously want to play the gender role of boy pretty bad. It just seems so appealing to me somehow.

I wish I had a big brother to…

…keep nightmares away.

…make me laugh.

…comfort me.

…chill with me.

…protect me.

Some Notes: Didn’t get to do any of the shoots with guys cus the male “models” I asked were busy with midterm stuff and I’m very particularly about who I chose D: (I don’t feel comfortable working physically with people I don’t know very well or have that level of friendship with–which is part of the reason why I quit acting XD). I would still like to do those pictures though, but it’ll just have to wait for another time.

Awesome stop motion video

My stock photos are up on flickr as well. I had another scenario, but I didn’t really like how the pictures came out so I’m going to have to take it over.

That makes 4 more scenarios to go.

Thanks to Jazmine for taking pics for me

Bro for the Nightmares

Bro for the Breakdowns
(Not sure which one I like better)

This is what I’m thinking for my contemporary photography project.

At first I wanted to do different scenarios where I was the stereotypical father or boy and do stereotypically male things.

Then I wanted to use pictures I have of my father and put them in modern pictures of me as if he were in my life still.

Now, I’m thinking of creating a male persona of myself that sort of hovers around in my daily activities and looks out for me as I wished an older brother or father would. The situations will be real cases where I’ve had to deal with stuff on my own, but I would have gone to a dad or older brother for if I had the option.

In the original idea I wanted to really wanted to convincingly look like a boy, but I think in this project it makes more sense for me to be recognizably myself to illustrate that these are things I’ve had to deal with on my own.

Here are the scenes I’m thinking of:

A Brother For…

The Nightmares
I’m laying in bed obviously upset. My male persona is sitting nearby with a glass of water, touching my head concerned and comforting.

The Jerks
I’ll have to enlist the help of one of my male friends for this one. I’m sitting on the floor crying or upset. My male persona has some frightened guy up against the wall ready to beat him down.

The Break downs
Me sitting frustrated/angry/sad/upset/or whatever with my male persona sitting beside me with an arm around my shoulder, comforting me.

A Second Opinion
Going to need to enlist the help of a male friend again for this one. I’m sitting across from a boy, on some sort of date. Male persona is a few tables down observing. OR I’m introducing a boy to my male persona. (I think i like the second one better)

A Watchful Eye
I’ll need my friends help for this one. I’m chilling with my girls, maybe we’re dancing, or maybe we’re drinking, or something. My male persona is looking off somewhere as if on the look out for anything threatening.

A Friend
Me giving a pound to my male persona.

That’s all the ideas I have right now.

My sister’s senior class did this in my High School last year. She’s the one that looks like me, but skinnier with the giant pom pom of brown/blond hair attached to the back of her head.

I want to grab the POS comp left in my storage unit and do some stuff like this.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6013541&section_id=5942872
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32142907
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6316301
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6104395
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5101871
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7220193
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=90952
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=72482&section_id=5029384

DIY Hooded Cape

in your own terms and regarding your own work, please respond to the following:

a. how has the term gone so far?

It was a little rocky in the beginning, but I think it’s starting to take off. There’s no doubt in my mind it’ll get better as the semester goes on. I have also decided to push myself harder, because I feel I haven’t been challenging myself enough recently.

b. how do you feel about what you have accomplished

I wasn’t at all pleased with my first project, but the past to have been more satisfying. I was very happy with my second project to the point where I couldn’t think of anything I would like to have done differently or change about it. The third project has been fun to play around with but I don’t have one solid piece that I am satisfied enough with to show. I don’t necessarily think this is a bad thing though. I have wanted to work on character design for some time now and this has been a fun way to start thinking about it.

c. the pace of the class and the amount of work required?

It’s been a bit slow and I think we should be able to produce more in the time given. However, I think this also had to do with us trying to figure out how we were going to go about learning the software. Now that we have found a solid foundation in Lynda.com I think we’ll be able to do a lot more a lot faster.

d. what has not been covered in this first part of the course that you wanted to cover?

My biggest interest was in Illustrator so I’m pretty happy with what we have covered. I am really looking forward to working with fonts, though. Textual graphics aren’t something I’m especially interested in, but knowing how to make them is extremely useful skill to have.

and for the second half, and according to the line up of events:

e. what are you most looking forward to?

Working with fonts and final cut

f. what is not included that you would like to be included?

I would be interested in learning a bit about inDesign and maybe a look at how Dreamweaver has changed, but I could very well do this on my own.

g. how will you keep up with a weekly deadline following mid-term break?

By dedicating a certain amount of time each day to working on the projects, I guess. This isn’t very difficult for me, I don’t think. Between being a TA and working at NCAT I spend about 15 hours a week around the lab computers, so there really is no excuse not to get things done.

h. anything else?

Random fact: I went to hating Illustrator to loving Illustrator in the course of one week. Yay <3