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Level 4 Visual Messaging and Communication

Visual Messaging: ‘Sell your house and buy gold’ week 2

This was a continuation of last weeks work on the story ‘sell your house and buy gold’. We moved on from using figure drawing to represent the emotions and atmosphere of the character in the text to exploring the space depicted in the text. We were split into groups of 4 and made a model using a range of materials which we then photographed using different lighting and angles. In the text the space is depicted as dark, gloomy and very atmospheric as well as with the looming sense of danger and fear. We tried to capture all of this through our model.

Our model was a representation of the house that was depicted. We made 3 sides of the house to allow for an open side to make it easier to photograph. Also we distorted the shape of house and the windows to add the the eerie feel. We cut the windows out and used different materials to cover them such as a thin fabric to look like a curtain, a thin red plastic and a material with lots of holes on it. On one we added a cross over the window to try make some interesting shadows. We added a range of geometric shapes to represent the objects in a house and create a sense of chaos. Around the top of the model we put wires and a fabric to look like spider webs. All of this paired with the messy red and black paint create the scary, dangerous atmosphere that we understood from the text.

After completing our model we then photographed it, experimenting with different ways of lighting it. We used a range of larger and smaller lights and hard and soft lighting to see how it interacted with the model. After experimenting we found that the smaller, more concentrated lights worked better as the were able to light only 1 part and add to the eerie dangerous atmosphere. We were able to get some interesting photos from different angles. The windows really helped when photographing as we could get some interesting angles of the model.

This was a close up photo of the window to get the irregular shape and rough painted texture. We put a red sheet over the light to give this bold red which I think represents the space in the text well.
Here’s another close up of the window. I particularly like the bits of light shining through the window which creates some nice shapes and shadows. This is an edited version of the photo below. I turned the brightness and saturation down on photoshop to create a more gloomy feel to the photo.

This is one of my favourite photos we took. I really like the shadows cast by the objects and windows and the soft lighting. I also turned down the saturation on this one. I like that some of the details on the floor are cast in shadows helping create the sense of impending danger.
Similar photo but from a higher vantage point to get a different view of the model.
I like the strong lighting coming through the window which to me gives the impression of a eerie moonlight night.
For this one we used multiple light sources to really show off the details we made on the floor and walls of the model.
I think the cross shadow from the window works really well on this photo.
Another experiment with the red lighting. I turned up the brightness on photoshop to emphasise the red and sense of danger.
I like the low vantage point of the photo.
For this photo we experimented with using both blue and red lighting and I think the combination was very successful is reflecting the mood of the text.

I am happy with the model we made and think we got some good photos in response to ‘sell your house and buy gold’. However, if we were to redo this I would suggest a few changes which I think would help improve the outcome. I think I would add more windows and cut outs as they worked as good vantage points and creates some nice shadows. Also I think I would reduce the amount of black paint used or at least be more strategic about its placement to allow for more bold and obvious shadows.

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