More Info on Westerns

I thought it would be a good idea to start to research about the background of westerns and better understand what they were about and what they were trying to show.

These are some bullet points that sum up what i've learnt about Westerns

• Set in the latter half of the 19th century, during the American civil war
• They portray how primitive and obsolete way of life confronted modern technological or social change
• Westerns of the 1940's, 50s emphasise the value of honour and sacrifice
• 1960s, 70s - glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West.
• Depicts a society organised around codes of honour and personal, direct or private justice
• Story that centres on the life of a semi nomadic wanderer, usually a cowboy or gunfighter
• Westerns share many of the characteristics with the image of the ronin 
• Westerns often stress the harshness of the wilderness and set the action in an arid desolate landscape
• Other recurring themes of Westerns include wester trek or perilous journeys or groups of bandits terrorising small towns
• Vast landscapes become more than a vivid backdrop, it becomes a character in the films places like Montana, nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah

My Photogram

Step Test

To find the best exposure time for my photogram i did a step test to find the length of time that would give me the best result.

 This is my step test, with exposure time ranging from 5-30 sec with 5 second increments, looking at the results i can see that anything below 30 sec is not enough exposure time, furthermore even at 30 sec its not quite as dark as i want it, so when i do my photogram i will leave the exposure open for 40 sec.

This is the result i got for my photogram and i am reasonably happy with the results. What i really like is how the bullet and the badge have come out. They seem see-through. It works especially well with the bullets as it seems you can see the inside workings.

The gun is the most prominent thing on the design. i'm glad i only used part of the gun as using the whole thing would have been too much. It clear and in your face which is what a gun is like.

I enjoyed doing the photograms, however i feel for my idea it might not work as i want to convey the idea of the heat and landscape, and i feel the photograms just can't achieve this.

Items For Photograms

We were told we would be creating our own photograms in the following session and that we should bring objects in to use.

Through my research so far i have this idea of some kind of desert environment, thats hot and baron but also a place where action takes place like cowboy gun fights. So this gave me the idea to bring in objects that might belong to a cowboy.

 The most obvious object was the guns, i went to the local fancy dress store and bought some guns, holster, bullets and a badge. I think these will be interesting objects as the gun is an iconic shape, and the bullets and badge are shiny so the results could produce something inspiring.

 Because of the hot whether in that environment, they would have worn eye protection of some sort such as sunglasses. Moreover if you didn't want to be recognised they may have wanted a mask, acting like a bandit. 

Some kind of bandana can be used to protect against the sandy, dusty environment. Also some prayer beads that they might wear especially in the american west.

Man Ray

Man Ray was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and surrealist movements.

 He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographers. he is noted for his photograms, which he renamed 'rayograms' after himself.

Really like the swirling pattern, almost gives it a sense of 3D

 His style included capitalising on the stark and unexpected effects of negative imaging, unusual juxtapositions of identifiable objects (such as spoons and pearl necklaces), varying the exposure time given to different objects within a single image, and moving objects as they were exposed. 

Love the way the letters are transparent and you can see a shadow version beneath it

Photograms

We were booked into a session in the dark room to try some photograms, so i thought it would be a good idea to do a bit of research before hand.

A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light will appear white; those exposed through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey.

Photograms were used in the 20th century by a number of photographers, particularly Man Ray who called them 'rayographs'

Mental Images

I wanted to get across the mental images i had in my head so heres some pictures of what i have in mind when listening to the piece of music

 An environment where the landscape is hot, dry and dusty. Like a desert plain full of dry shrubs and cacti.

I can imagine the landscape to filled with the orangey red glow of the sun

 I can see a town within this environment, sort of like a ranch, old style like from the westerns set in the 1800's

Within these towns i imagine a bar where people gather but also have bar fights as well.

 Most citizens would be cowboys, with the attire such as a hat, jeans and boots, typical cowboy fashion

 Having a rough dirty look to them

And of course cowboy are synonymous with guns

This in the end makes me think of cowboys having a standoff within this hot western desert like environment.

Chosen Words and reasoning

1. Hot
a lot of my words were related to heat however most of the other words were very selective and had a narrow vision. I wanted a word that could be used in many different contexts. Furthermore its a simple word which represents the kind of environment the song conjures  up when listening to it

2. Suspense
The song is very dramatic and the tempo and beat of the music for me makes it feel as if somethings about to happen, plus the flicker of music highs throughout the song keeps your attention as if it could change its tempo at any time. I also think its a good word to use for a story as you can create some kind of confrontation as that is what i have in mind.

3.Ending
With all the dramatic stuff at the beginning, the song soon mellows down into a very calm melody. To me the whole song is like an ending to a story. At the beginning of the story you have the event and then its like everything has been done and finishing up with the music slowly becoming less prominent and fading away.