Monday 7 December 2009

two web sites that i found of intrest.. one on realistice graffiotti work, 2nd on on a foodfootage artist.

http://deputy-dog.com/2009/05/graffoto-photorealistic-graffiti-to.html


http://www.etsy.com/storque/reviews/camera-obscura-found-footage-mashups-with-lineland-4647/

Sunday 22 November 2009

more fun photo editting


this week i have been sloidly been editing my file 'beyond the mile' trying to edit the clips that i have taken and place it all together so it fits and flows nicly i have also added text with the film to explain a little bit of the history

the video is not completly finished but is go enough to put up in the half year exerbition to show what i have been working on up untill now.

i have added sound to the video which consits of recordings from walking down the curry mile. the different music,language, talking and also the nosies from the busy traffic.

the half year exibition is put up in the link gallery and the cavendish mine will be in the cavendish gallery 1st floor and will be showing my film on a tvt set with sound.
today i have been looking at different film makers that work on found footage and editing it to make it's context have a difeferent meaning and outcome..i have also been think of experimenting with found footage and thinging of theme and narritives i could use to produce a video. up to now i have have been looking at different footage from youtube and archive.org

Thursday 12 November 2009





along with the curry mile video i have also been working on photos and editing the photos with in photoshop adding different types of food in to the images..
i'm enjoying doing this and having fun with photo editing..

week 5

i have finished the animation on the old photographs turning the old black and white photos in to neon colourful ones. i have gone to the same spot where the photos where taken and retook the photo as it looks today .. i hope to upload these and include them some how such as makingthe old photos fade in to the new ones and seeing the differece between the photos.

this week i have also taken a file experimenting with lights. i have taken two bikle lights and filmed then in the dark flashing in different ways to make differenmt effects and pattens like the lights down curry mile do .. this film looks a little simmal but added with the rest of the film might look effect and with some editing to it will work with in the film.

tomorrow i plan to take a vioce recorder down curry mile and try to pick up the sounds and atophere of curry mile i will also try and fade the new photos in to the old and i would also like to film up and down curry mile from the top of a bus to get the high and steady view of the street.

Monday 2 November 2009

lectures 5

i found this week lectures particalar intresting and saw that i could use some of the techniques that the film makers hade used in my 'food' themed project.

len lye - colour box - 1936

this one stood out most as it the use of colour and movenment that caught my eye.
the way that he had uysed live action and added bright colours to add an effect and movement.
think about my own pratice i thought of a way to use animation in my film and tried some experimenting with old photos of curry mile that i found in a book 'looking back and fellowfield and rushomle'. and the taking it in to the animation room where i can use stop motion to over lay the photos with bright colours making them more like what the curry mile is today which is all neon lights and very bright.

i did this today in the animation room and i think it worked out quite well as a little section to go in to my finished film. working with the old photographs, using green,pink,yellow and blue highlighters i coloured in the photos step by step taking a shot after each move so that i could capture the image being coloured in to neon style.

pink

over the weekend i went to a music concert to see pink in birmingham on halloween

the show was amazing and she certainly put on a goopd proformance.
the thing thats makes her stand out is the acts and dances she has during the show like aerial acrobatics were she does various moves holing on to just a long piece of materail and also on the last number she span around in the material and then was lowered in to water and then lifted srpaying water all over the crowd.
i thought this was clearfully worked out and very effective to see. also the stage was dressed like a funhouse (the name of the newest album)with two slids down either end of the stage which were used ofter. and heart shaped sofa and decorations such as clows and blow up jokers which were the hight of the venue.

loved every minute of the act and though it was well presented,oprganised and every song sang beautifully apart from one where she forgot the words 3 times but i liked that as it shows where all human and we all can fuck up at some point.

Thursday 29 October 2009

week 4

this week i have been concentrating on my research and trying to find old images of the curry mile.. i found it really hard to find images tat i wanted as there doesn't seem to be many but i did find a really helpful book called 'looking back at fellowfield and rusholme' by peter Helm and Gay Sussex. this book had a few images of intrest to me and also a description of where,when and whats there now.
i have photocopyed these images and also took similar photos of what the images look like today down the mile.

i hope to include these images in my film and possibly animation the older ones using night highlighting colours to make the photos neon and colourful like the road is today.

Sunday 18 October 2009

week3

this week i have concerntrated on reseraching in to the curry mile focasing on the history of the mile, halal meat and also a bit in to curry it's self.

i'v found it interesting reading up about how the mile became the curry mile and about the businesses that are there now.also how the culture of whimslow road has changed over years.

this week i have lent a camera from the AV store and i videoed me making a curry. from chopping upo the veg to cooking it altogether in a pan.
while filming me cooking i experimanted with different view pionts and angel just to get use to a camera again and how it works.
i might include some of the images with in my film showing how i make my curry which will seem prity basic compared to the curries you have down curry mile done by award winning chefs. possible at the end of this project i might record my self making a curry and using the nollage of what i've learnt from making the film i might be more experimental with my currys adding more spices and herbs.

this week i think i will containue to work on my researching.looking in to more about curry and the curry mile.
i will also experiment more with filming down the curry mile and seeing what kind of evedence i pick up on the way.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

week 2

end of week two and have been inspired about he project.

tuesdays meeting with jon was helpful.

started off with a piece of bread each and had to close our eyes as we think and listen to him talking about the bread the history and life the bread has gone through to be infrout of us now and how the seed is not alive but becomes alive as it is indroduced to water and warth. i found this queit intresting and made me think about the food we have around use and the thinks that we take for granded.

food is anything.
group work.. we were put in to groups and asked what food means to use.

our group desided on home grown food as we all find it homly and fresher than brought food and listed the advantages of home grown foods.

know where it's from,whats in it, feeling proud of what you have grown,seasonly effective,growing and eating in the right time, effctly better for the world although effect 3rd world exports.heathly exercise,educational. transport friendly,repersents nururing,only eating what you grow,package friendly,imperfections welcome,swap schemes,community base,incourages cooking,respect for the enviroment.

and we desided that it is important where you buy your food from where it is stored and how the animals are treated and killed.

although this is not always easy when you are a student and usally fair trade/organig food are more expensive.

we went on to talk about the relationship with food that we have such as :

metabolism difference,effect moods, food used as a treat,bribe or reward
family sitting down at a table together,celebrations, eating out at a resturants,
as a way of wellcoming some one to your home,
emotionally - comfort eating - eating disorders
cooking carming

Saturday 3 October 2009

start of year 2

the first year is over and the 2nd year has just begun.

week 1

had a meeting on tuesday to welcome us all back and introduce us to some new people.

jon explained about the next year and what plans are taking place,including networking and project work.
for this year we have been given a theme for the 1st and 2nd term which for the 1st term it is 'food' and the 2nd 'site'

since the metting i have been researching in to artist that have worked on food and also taked to people that have worked on food such as my friend's friend did a project on meat and made a dress out of meat. throught the course she planed and designed the piece and in the last week made the dress so that it would not go off. this idea was the thought behind being veggie.

on thursday we were asked to keep a diary of the food and drink that we consume from now until tuesday and bring it to the meeting. i have been keeping a wrighten diary and i might proced with this task through out the couse as consupution to my project and just a personal diary to see how i eat and how i could improve my diet.

for the next week i need to reseach more on food and artist that have worked around the theme of food.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

my youtube channel

on youtube i have now created a channel to upload all my animaytions and short films on so that i will be able to keep all my work together and also be able to link views to the site to view my work

this link is

http://www.youtube.com/user/mugsofgravy

on the cahnnel i have past projects that i have done and also recent short animations i have produced experimation with white board animation

Thursday 21 May 2009

time

comletted the filming of time and i'm happy on how it's all coming together. walking around manchester looking for interesting spots to films is quiet interesting as you spot things and places that you wouldn't usally notice just walking by. found some intresting places to film and now i just need to edit the film in the studio and copy on to disk.

thinking about work experiance for the 2nd year i emails PES to ask if they wo9uld have me for a placement and i got a reply of there not sure what their scetual is at that time but they will keep me in mind and if they are doing anything at that time they would be happy to have me and also asked for link to my profolio so at the moment i'm trying tpo sent up a lil web page of all my videos.

also found other people to email which i will do tonight and hopfully get a reply soon ....

Tuesday 19 May 2009

i have taking some shoots of the idea with the watch in different places such as walking in a park. being in bed, siting on a park bench and reading a magazine. i am pleased with the results and will continue to work more on this idea.

one problem i have found that it always bloody rains in manchester and it's not easy filming in a thrunder storm.

will contain filming in different areas and different places to see where works best and i also what to think about the angels and the directions that i am filming in.
following my idea on the time project i have thought about how to make my video and what the video shall consit of.

i have thought about having a actor and a watch. placing the person in different surondings such as a busy city street, a quite park, walikg in the rain, lying down in bed,reading the news paper,walikg in day light waliking at night.

all the time the actor with be looking at thier watch and very consnats of what the time is where ever they go and what ever they do.

time

time is the name of the 3 week project given to our class for an end of year project .

create a proformance/video/sturcture last last 3 minutes based on time ....

following this theme i did research in to

1) objects of time. how we measure time ??
using objects such as .... sun diles,egg timers,hours glasses,clockes,stop watches
units of time , secondes,minutes hours day weeks years decades.

2) linking to my quotes theme in my main prject this year i've looked at quotes about time for example -

time flies
time of war
hard times
time spent with a cat is never wasted
time is a illions ect ect

.........

this research mafde me thing of numorous ideas on how to creat yime in to a 3 minute video.

such as finding all the clocks in manchester and taking short 10 sec videos of each one ticking away. looking at the different shapes,sizes and colour clocks there are in manchester.

creating a human hour glass. - drawing the hour glass on the floor with chork and video from above getting about 50 people to move for form one side of the hour glass to the other like sand moving from the top to the bottom of the hour glass.

also thought about making a human sundile and mixing that with varous different ways of telling the time. taking snap images and placing them all together in a sequance.

Tuesday 17 March 2009

from the drawings talk previous 2 blogs ago , i have created a little book. this book contains childhood photos,letters and drawings from my past . i have made the book so that the photos are random and not in a time line so that it is flicking continuosly from the past and present. i have also used text to show what the photos mean such as 'my first birthday' nad 'spice girls'.

will upload photos soon

i have also created a few posters relating to my life , one based on my childhood -


on the childhood poster there are memories from living on a farm,being happy and young,photos of my 1st birthday and frist pair of shoes. i have made this one more colourful and bright as it is my childhood and happy.


this is the poster of me now at the age of 20....including topics such as music,manchester, 'country girl city life' and art


this is the start of the furture poster, what i would like to be and where i would like to be in the future.... commenting on such thigs such as working hard and playing hard,quit smoking,be happy have a family and kids and be my own boss in the artist business.
this is a random poster that i have made about farward and backwards. the poster is coverd in words that mean farwards and backwards in different ways.



























Tuesday 3 March 2009

hello
i am an art student from manchester metropolitan university and i at the moment i am procedding on a project based on my childhood and growing up. as a child i recived patches for swimming and as i would like to keep the origanals for personal purposes i wish to purchase a second lot for my art work.
i have tryed adding ... teddy bear 1 and pool frog 3 to my shopping list and then registering with the website to buy them but every time i click on the link to creat a new account it just goes to the same page.
i hope you can help with this problem
thank you ffion

Thursday 19 February 2009

folling the phlosophy project i have developed on the living farwards but understanding the past quotes.
i develoed the idea of carving in to newpapers and cuttting out arrows from newspapers. i thought about having a time line of my life with child hood photos of myself growing up.
i am now thinking of making an animation of my time line with arrows and other symbols that say 'forwards' and 'backwards' such as traficlights and road sighs. the animation will show the aroows and my childhood photos,birthcirtificates and other mile stones in my life.
i might also include text such as my birth date and frases such as 'my 1st shoes' and having a close up of my shows and then zooming out to the whole photo.

what i need to do now is to develope ideas for my animation and different ways i can show the arrows and shape the photos in to the animation.

i have also started to draw some innatations that relate to the animation like the examples below whcih i might make in to a book.

Monday 16 February 2009

Andy sykes

andy sykes is an awrd-winning indepentent animation,illustrator and self - published author based in leeds.
He is a prevoius interactive arts student and graduated in 2004.during he's student years up to the present time he produces 2d flash animation mostly personal once about his child hood and growing up. he has producesfilms for mobil phones commissioned by the 'pocket short' scheme founded by nasta in 2005

andy is also a member of a animation network run by animatiors for animators in yorkshire and the humber .

Andy’s films have been shown on BBC2, Channel M and the Community Channel, along with festivals worldwide.

His films have won awards at Dublin's Darklight Festival and Texas' DCI Mobile Content Fest. His film 'Evil Fun With Zimmy' was shortlisted for Noise Festival in 2006, being screened at Urbis and the ICA in London.

As well as animation, Andy self-published, ' The hexjibber colouring and activity book' in 2006, which has been on sale at Amazon and independent bookshops across the UK. He produced this book for children and adults as colouring in books are maily for children but it is a relaxing past time and andy saw it as adult should be able to do it as a relaxing stress relief.
In 2007 he organized a giant interactive colouring-in-event in a shopping centre, for Leeds' pioneering cultural event, Light Night, organized by Leeds City Council. In 2008, Andy returned to Light Night with an interactive animation, made on the fly, using drawings submitted by the public.

within his persentation he showed some of his work and i fopund the short 2d animations well made and commical.the vocie over the animation fits in with the age group of the animation and it works well.

after veiwing his videos i decided to try to look at animation and work alittle bit in the animatuon room making and sequance with my arrows and photos.

Sunday 15 February 2009

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

went to the cinima to see ' the curious case of benjamin button' that has been adapted from the 1920 story by F.scott fitzgerald.

a film about a baby born in his ages and ages backwards. his mother died during child birth and his farther was so scared and horrified by the look of the wricked aged baby that he left him at the steps of a old poeples homes for them to look after him.
the doctor at the house discrpeds the baby as having the simtoms of an 80 year old with atheritas and only gave the baby a few days to live. as the day went on the baby became more storng and started to look younger with each day of growing older.when the young boy was only 7 he has little hair and walked with a walking stick but still had the playful mind of an child. as the years past and benjamin got older/youngs he gets a job, falls in love, goes to war and has a child.At the end of the film you see benjamin as a 5 year old little lad with dimenta and he can't remeber anything of his life or who he is and everyone around him.at the end he is a baby and then he closes his eyes and dies.

opinion of film..

this story is quite a sad story as he is groing younger and seeing everyone around him die and as he didn't want his wife to have to look after their child and him as he gets younger he goes away and has to miss his doughter growing up. i found that the film was to long and at parts i became unintersted in it. also as i knew what was going to hapopen it became a bit to predictible as if i new what was coming next as he gets younger.i also found that there was no real action or exitment to keep your attention it just flowed through the film at a carm peace

Friday 6 February 2009

week update

this week i have focased more on the quote
'life must be understood backwards but it must be lives forwards'
i have collected lots of newspapers and magazines and have been experimenting it cutting them and carving in to them .. i thought about the idea out using arrows as a abvstract take on the quote and arrows going difefrent directions so i have experimented with that idea.

war musuim

arrows out of newspapers waves

time line of life

Tuesday 3 February 2009

feed back from half year review

had a tutorial today with hazel where she went throught my work and and my journal and also the feed back that i had from the tutors and peers at the presentation.

the feed back from the journal .....

over all good work
lost of research in the source list section.. but should make a like form some of the artist to my own projects.
could contextual studies.

and committed that i need to do more work on my projects because with out that i can't really add to my journal cos it all feeds each other. so generally need to do more work.


feed back on project work ....
need to do more development and experiment more. let my self relaxe and try things out rather than trying to find a out come straight away. researtch in to paper cutters and paper sculptures such as david Mach and also john heartfield.

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Half year presentation

half year essesment was a 5 minute talk about all the work io have done and how i have researched and developed my work.

i presently think the taljk wemt well as i am a nevous talker but i felt conferdent and happy with the work that i had done to that point...

i had some usefull feed back from john who say that i might be taking that quotes to literly and that i should try so hard to get a fginal out come but just relaxe and let the idea develope them selves and try diferent technique and experiment with the newspapers and vcutting as there are many different techniques to explore with paper cutting.

he also comitted that making the bombs out of bible pages and usimng religion symbols might be a dangerous route to go down and people mighht take offence from it.

but all in all i think it went well

Monday 19 January 2009

whilst working on the newspaper idea i also worked on developing another quote which is
"we have enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love one another"

for this idea i related it to religion and war and how some people blame wars on religion.

so i developed this idea and made some bombs out of bible pages, using photocopys of bible pages and a cooking timer and some wires. i also made some hand granades out of clay with religouys symbols on them form various relgions so that it would show that i was not only basing this idea on one relegion.

Monday 12 January 2009



from developing my ides in my sketch book i have found some other quote thats i felt i could devolpo a lot with and really go in depth with the quote. one is " life must be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards" by Soren kierkegarard.


for this i thought about having a pile of calanders dating back years and years becuase calenders show peoples plans and how they structure there life and ii thought about carving it to the paper with the quorte on the side of the pile of runing throught the middle of the pile... thinking about this idea i thought that it would be hard to find that may canenders dating back years and yrears so i thought about news papers as they have peoples lifes in and how they are trying to learn form their mistakes and try to make the world better and then the world dose more mistakes which is wrote about in the paper. so i have started collecting newspapers and experimenting carving in to them .

think about having a pile of say about 10 news papers and then carving each word of the quote in to each of the piles and having them along the floor so that the viewer would have to walk past the piles reading the wordsa and then would probbley look back at the piece to see it all as one so the art work would be making the viewer do what the quote is saying.




Monday 5 January 2009



for w0orking with the sculpur ideas i have developed them and deided to use ceramics and also other sculpture materials. i have researched it to more quotes and developed a few in to ceramic pieces such as




'all science,arts and religion are branches from the smae tree'


i tryed developing my idea from the drawing of the tree below and creative a 3d sturucture out of clay and other various materials.