Alifevest

Back to Sculpture, a second day on carving my Life vest from stone.

Look, here is the intermediate result...



Life vest in the make

I'd like to bring in an additional material that would go with the idea of a life vest. I am thinking about SEAWEED.

Seeing the life vest and the seaweed would - to my humble opinion - open up a world of imagination; what happened? where is the sailor? where is the ship? where is the beach, this life vest was found on? etc...

The important aspect though is that the seaweed would also have to be carved, not glued together. Therefore, I have to think of a material that lends itself to be carved / reduced to the shape of seaweed. The color might play an important part as does the texture. Got any ideas, oh dear Bloggers?



Courtesy www.fotografik.com

Seaweed, but what to make it of?

PROGRESS REPORT - TERM TWO [Block 3 of 4]

The jury at the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) has judged again my performance and works from January 2006 onwards and has come to the following scores:

PROGRESS REPORT - TERM TWO

Block 3 of 4

Subject	Work (subset)	Comments	Grade
Core Drawing for Sculpture, Arran Ross		Because of previous lack of experience, this block has been difficult for Willem. It has been a very steep learning curve. He is an eager and aware student and also articulates what he is learning. The understanding is there but it is not yet materialising in an end result. It is considerable progress though. Especially in relation to the start. Well done for the perseverence.	D = the work is of an ACCEPTABLE standard
Digital Imaging, Joanna Kane		Technically very well handled work, well controlled selections, layering and adjustments, and very methodical approach to learning. Exploring interesting ideas around repetition which have potential for future development. Some work perhaps a little constrained by working with Photoshop as an illustrative graphic tool, rather than a more flexible communicative or expressive medium.	B = the work is of a HIGH standard
Graphic Design, Zoe Patterson / Colleen Pugh		A quirky, imaginative project with many levels and mediums. Use of materials was funny yet well thought through. Willem set a high standard for himself, was engaging in class and a pleasure to teach. Well done.	B = the work is of a HIGH standard
Tapestry, Loren Slater		During this project, Willem produced work that showed a high level of artistic development over the 5 days. He is committed and has a good level of creativity. He produced a very successful site-specific piece that was well made, interesting and well presented. He demonstrated excellent making skills and a high level of understanding of the subject.	A = the work is of an EXCELLENT standard
Sculpture, Paul Carter		Showed a high level of commitment during the construction project and produced an interesting and well-executed sculpture. The choice to 'play out' an act of protection between a number of sculptures led to a positive quality of object-base performance which was inherently dynamic, especially due to the kinetic nature of many of the individual elements. The mixed-media elements were well chosen and well used with attention paid to their qualities, both aesthetic and functional. The final sculpture was 'alive' in a number of ways and the level of humanity was evident through the fact that it 'died' when the power ran out. Very good work.	B = the work is of a HIGH standard

In addition I have had to hand-in my Choice-sheet of which two subjects I would like to study in the Second Year. It will be either (1) Film & TV or (2) Graphic Design for me. Animation has fallen back to (3)rd choice, as I found out it is very individualistic, less of a team activity.



My choice, King first, Queen second

Chances are I do NOT get into either of them, because of the vast number of students that apply and the limited number of available seats.

Then.... I would have to steer towards another College or University. Likely candidates are Glasgow School of Art or University of Dundee.

Can did Camera

A fresh start of yet another subject, taught to me at the College of Art; Video, an Introduction to the moving image.

After seeing some really good samples of videos made by others (including a beautiful opening of the series "Six feet under") our tutor Rob Page introduced us to video-making terms like:

ES - Estabishing Shot
WS - Wide Shot
MCU - medium Close Up
CU - Close Up
ECU - Extreme Close Up
CA - Cut Away
EXT - Exterior
INT - Interior

Next we were to play with a semi-professional camera (Canon XM1) and tripod (Manfrotto).



Canon XM1 worth ca 1600 GBP



Manfrotto Tripod worth ca 200 GBP

Presented with a blank High Definition video tape (miniDV) my group (Samantha Whyte, Malcolm Watts and Willem van Heemstra) imagined the following story to record:

DO NOT SHAKE

This story is actually something taken from personal experience, 
when I (Willem) had my interview at the College of Art, 
presenting them with my portfolio of work.

A girl (Samantha) has her acceptance interview at an Art College 
and is bringing her portfolio (read: bag with art work) along with her. 
When she enters the waiting room she meets another interviewee, 
a guy (Malcolm). 

They wait for them to be called into the examining room. 

Malcolm seems enthusiastic and is convinced of passing the test in the interview. 
Sam is not sure at all, she is nervous. Malcolm is called inside by the interviewer (Willem). 
Sam has to wait... and wait... and wait. Her patience is not under her control 
and she starts fidging with her hair, biting her nails, watching her watch, moving her feet. 

She then decides to move one seat closer to the office, where Malcolm had sat. 
This gives her some reassurance. We as the audience hear her rethinking all the encouraging comments 
she had received before going to the interview. Friends saying that she would surely pass 
as her work was so nice and delicately painted. 
She calms down. 

Then Malcolm comes out of the office... devastated. His head down, 
his mind set to leave the place as soon as possible. 
The interviewer asks Sam to wait yet another five minutes before entering, 
in the meantime she could drink her coffee. 

Wrecked from nerves after seeing Malcolm fail the test she is trembling and shaking 
... and so is her can of coffee.

The interviewer tries to catch her attention, but Sam is paralyzed. 
She is shaking her can of coffee forcefully and just about when she is knocked on her shoulder, 
her portfolio with all her work open on the chair, 
she breaks the lid of the can ... WHOOOOOSHH.

A close-up of the can 'Do Not Shake'.

This can does exist and it has smudged me on more than one occassion.



Kenco, Cappio iced cappuccino



Read the warning on the back! DO NOT SHAKE

And this is what the manufacturer says about their product:

Kenco Ice Cappio is the perfect indulgent treat for your customers. It’s an exciting taste experience for the summer months as it is served straight from the chiller.

Kenco Ice Cappio is presented in a 200ml can using the world’s first ‘widget’ in a non-alcoholic drink. Your customers will love the distinctive ‘whoooooshhh’ sound on opening and the rich, creamy, coffee aroma which gets the senses tingling the moment the can is opened.

As the drink is poured and allowed to settle, two distinct layers are formed with a smooth velvety texture beneath a soft frothy top.

Source: Kraft Foods - Away from Home

The storyboard and shooting is due tomorrow... I got four cans, just in case ;o)

+++ Six Feet Under +++
source: http://www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder/credits/index.shtml#

watch it



=== Six Feet Under ===

Save Our Sculpture

SOS SOS Save Our Sculpture

Hello there! This is your captain speaking:
"All aboard a new five weeks of Sculpture !"

Yes we have been handed a brief for this class:

BRIEF: REDUCTION PROJECT
Think of a place that is special to you and produce a piece of work which draws on the history, geography, atmosphere or culture of that area or environment. Keep forms simple and symbolic, chose appropriate materials.

Looking at the blocks of stone what would speak more to the imagination than having them float...

Therefore, I will set off and sculpture diving gear from the stones. Starting with...



A Life vest

And here is proof of my first carvings ;o)



Start with a block



Carving the neck space

Film Analysis

Trembling on my feet after landing on Edinburgh Airport I just visited the Film & TV Department of the Edinburgh College of Art. Noe Mendelle (Head of this Department) showed us a little bit of 'Angelmakers', a documentary directed by our Dutch post-degree student Astrid Bussink.

This was to introduce me and seven more attendants to what Film & TV would be in the Second Year at the College.

Mainly storytelling and visualizing these stories, either in fiction or documentary. Also learning about the context and buildup of film. And to a degree, learning about TV.

However..... in August some 150 applications will compete for the 12 seats in Second Year. Of these 12 seats, 10 will be given to Home (i.e. Scotland) Students, 2 to Overseas students. Taking into account that of these 150 applications, 100 will never pass for an interview, I am still faced with 50 competitors for 2 seats.


It is, a chance of 4 % to become a Second Year Film & TV Student at the College of Art.

But chances don't count, quality does. So does aptitude and ability.

Noe praised us First Year Students lucky that we could sit for an interview at least. Now I am even more aware of the stiff competition and the high mark that I should score to have a chance.. at all.

So, I'll write my BRIEF TWO for Film & Design:

Film analysis of the film Bin~Jip (i.e. empty house) [max 200 words].

As I had never written an analysis of a film before I was glad to find some guidance at Yale Film Studies, Film Analysis Website (see http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/index.htm)

BASIC TERMS

I. Auteur

French for "author". Used by critics writing for Cahiers du cinema and other journals to indicate the figure, usually the director, who stamped a film with his/her own "personality". In my case this is director Kim Ki-duk.

Courtesy CineKorea (see http://cinekorea.com/filmmakers/kimkiduk.html)



Director Kim Ki-duk

A filmography of Kim Ki-duk:

Year	Korean Title	International Title	Set Designer	Actor	Set Decorator	Production Designer	Art Director	Producer	Editor	Writer	Director
1996	Ag-o	(literal English: Crocodile)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
1997	Yasaeng dongmul bohoguyeog	(English: Wild Animals)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
1998	Paran daemun	(English: The Birdcage Inn) (informal literal English: Blue Gate)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
1999	Seom	(English: The Isle)		...	...		...	...	...
2000	Shilje sanghwang	(English: Real Fiction)	...	...	...		...	...	...	...
2001	Suchwiin bulmyeong	(English: Address Unknown)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
2002	Nabbeun namja	(English: Bad Guy)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
2002	Hae anseon	(English: The Coast Guard)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
2003	Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom	(English: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring)	...	Adult Monk	...	...	...	...	...
2004	Samaria	(English: Samaritan Girl)	...	...		...	...	...	...
2004	Bin~Jip	(English: 3-Iron)(literal English: Empty House)	...	...	...	...	...	...	...
2005	Hwal		...	...	...	...	...	...	...

A biography of Kim Ki-duk:

Kim Ki-Duk was born in Bonghwa, north of Kyungsang Province. Growing up in a mountainous village, he was a mischievous boy who occasionally broke other children's arms, or show his peers strange electronic gadgets of his own creation. When he turned nine, he moved to Seoul with his parents. He entered an agriculture training school, but he was forced to give up junior high after his older brother was dismissed from school. Going through factories during his adolescent years, he joined the marines when he turned 20.

Kim adapted well to military life, spending five years as a noncommissioned officer. This experience may have served as material for the rich details of brotherhood shared among the men of his films.

After leaving the marines, Kim spent two years at a church for the visually impaired with the intention of becoming a preacher while continuing the painting he started as a child. In 1990, with only a plane ticket in his possession, he left for Paris. He manages to earn a living by organizing ateliers or selling his painting. When Kim arrived in Paris he considered 'production by manual labor the only worthwhile thing in life, while regarding culture as a mere luxury,' but his experiences in the city inspired him with new views.

Upon his return from France, Kim focused on developing a film script for the next six months. He received the good news that two of his scripts had been selected in a contest.

Accordingly Kim's film life began in a manner quite different from the channels other filmmakers took. Free of any institutional education in film, he never served as assistant director or developed film mania. But this is precisely the reason for the freedom he was able to embrace as a filmmaker. His films can be considered as autobiographical writing with a film camera. This is why Kim describes each and every one of his films as a'sequence' within his entire body of work.

The cruelty that has become his trademark was impregnated with the harsh reality that inundated his life of thirty some odd years.

The angry energy overflowing from his earlier works shifts to a careful fantasy seeking co-existence and reconcilation in Birdcage Inn. In this film, Kim attempts to draw in sex as a 'part of life' and transform it into a 'medium for understanding each other.'

His fourth feature, The Isle, serves as a significant turning point for Kim. Once again the views directed at his film were divided into extremes, yet his entrance into competition at Venice, and the international sales scores became an opportunity for Kim to be acknowledged as 'a filmmaker who may not be fully understood but should be accepted as talented.' This film brought the breath-taking, piercing images appearing occasionally in his earlier works to the surface, earning him a reputation as 'a filmmaker who contemplates through images,' an expression never used since Yoo Hyun-Mok, the master of Korean cinema during the golden days of the 1960s.

An Italian journalist commenting on The Isle which stated that "the distinction between loving or not loving someone has become meaningless." In this film Kim returns to the sadomasochistic relationship between man and woman. He explains that such change "isn't planned but something that just jumps out with the immediate response from one's sensory and nervous systems."

In fact, his films seem to follow this course. The characters in his films continued to betray and disappoint the audience by shifting between good and evil, beauty and ugliness. Likewise, instead of defining them as good or bad, we as an audience are urged to suspect the boundaries of class, gender, normality and abnormality, order and disorder, the center and the margins themselves.

In his fifth feature, Real Fiction, Kim explores the boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, reality and fantasy.

Kim Ki-duk's films are often defined as 'grotesque.' This word, which had lately become a fad in Korea, is now the significant key word representing the fall of mental stability and its various cultural expressions.

To Kim, his life, his films and cruelty are intertwined with each other. The cruel reality he expresses may be feared by the audience and abhorred by the critics, yet if the energy that inundates his films should be acknowledged as dark and wrongful, it cannot just be a matter of his films. Rather it must be seen as his attempt to address the cruelty of our lives and of the world we live in.

He takes us to that reality, into the direction of self-reform. Such modest effort for Kim is a starting point, foreseeing the revolution of the world. Like Antonin Artaud, who at the beginning of the 20th century introduced the theater of cruelty as a means to find a cure for himself and others, Kim, whose films are filled with destruction, rape and murder, used bloody terror and sadism not as a means to an end but as a sacrifice for returning humanity to a state before being defiled by a cruel reality.

This is the reason why Kim responds to the hateful criticism directed at him by saying, "Have you ever really seen the lives I present through my films? Have you ever truly looked into the desperate messages contained in my work?" He adds that filmmaking to him is " a process to change his own misunderstandings into an understanding." Through film, he has finally begun to experience the beauty and warmth the world has to give. He explains that filmmaking to him is repeating the process of "kidnapping those of the mainstream into my own space, then introducing myself as a human being also asking them to shake my hand so that they will be able to forgive my threatening position."

British film critic Tony Rayns, who knows Kim Ki-Duk all too well, describes him as an interesting person. His sensitivity, stubbornness and aggressiveness often make it difficult for others to communicate with him. However he is capable of becoming an angel with his innocent and soft expression when he is aware that he is being loved and understood.

Kim relies on his inherent sensitivity, direct observation and personal experience. Now finally receiving local and international attention, it seems that he is going through an unsetting tug-of-war between 'the gaze from outside' and his 'inner-self.' For those who are willing to give advice to Kim Ki-Duk in the name of life or art, the most important point is focusing not on the aesthetic exterior of an object, but on the inner fire that may be easily destroyed yet is rigorously burning with life. This is precisely the reason why Kim Ki-Duck is often compared to another master of the golden age of Korean cinema, Kim Ki-Young.

What Kim Ki-Duck truly longs for is a gentle touch that will soothe his ragged inner world, yet keep his spirit intact. Sincere criticism along with encouragement from the heart is also a necessity.

This enigmatic filmmaker is adding to his filmography with incredible energy and at an amazing pace, but it is yet to be seen whether he will continue the diabolic desire and aesthetics that disappeared with Kim Ki-Young.

Kim So-Hee (Film Critic, cwgod@hanmail.net)

II. Diegesis

The diegesis includes objects, events, spaces and the characters that inhabit them, including things, actions, and attitudes not explicitly presented in the film but inferred by the audience. That audience constructs a diegetic world from the material presented in a narrative film.

...

Positions and Possibilities

Today I had my Mid-Session Interview with Rebecca Halstead (Head of Design) and Stephen Hunter (Mentor).

It turns out they like my portfolio (i.e. all drawings, paintings, collages, etc) but recommended me to provide more sketches (surfaced on board) to show the 'process' of a drawing or painting coming to its fruition.

In addition, I should group my work pieces by subject area.

Overall, they congratulated me on my originality of ideas and professional approach in presenting these ideas. My (life) drawing still needs attention to get me into the 2nd year, though.

That said, Rebecca stressed the fact that the Film & TV Department are very reserved in taking in new students (last two years 1 student could come in!). Therefore, as a backup plan I am advised to look for alternative colleges/universities to study film.

Taking this fair comment and putting it into practice these are the 'schools' that provide Film courses in Scotland.

NINE FILM SCHOOLS IN SCOTLAND

• [I] - The University of Aberdeen


• [II] - University of Dundee


• [III] - Edinburgh College of Art


• [IV] - University of Glasgow


• [V] - UHI Millennium Institute


• [VI] - Napier University, Edinburgh


• [VII] - Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh


• [VIII] - University of St Andrews


• [IX] - The University of Stirling

[Source: UCAS at http://www.ucas.ac.uk]

And this is an overview of Scotland, land of the Brave ;o)


Scotland

This needs some sinking-in and thinking-through IF I were to change school.

I do not hope so ...

Dutch Mounting

In preparation of tomorrow's Mid-Session Review, I have had to mount (i.e. put in a cardboard frame) all my 2 dimensional work over the last months.



Starting to mount 28 drawings!



Burning the Midnight Oil ... again ;o)

For the 3 dimensional work I have used photo's and made collages out of them, all to display my progression in Art & Design.

Prepared to meeting my mentors (Rebecca Halstead and Stephen Hunter) on this Friday 1.00pm !

P.S. Happy Birthday, Father !


My father has turned a year younger today ;o)

Return to Film and TV

The Film & TV department, part of the School of Visual Communication, has provided me with 3 Briefs (read: assignments) to be completed over the next 5 weeks !

BRIEF ONE - SUNDAY
Produce 30 seconds of pictures and sounds that represent what 'Sunday' means to you. It would be too easy to wander the streets with a camcorder so the creative challenge is to use another medium. This means acquiring moving images on video are banned. Whatever images you create will be transferred onto video, edited and a soundtrack of your choosing will be added. You will have to negotiate, plan and organise how much edit time you will require in order to have your work completed by the deadline; March 15th 2006 at 12.00 noon.

BRIEF TWO - ANALYSIS OF A TV PROGRAMME OR FILM
Write an analysis (i.e. a deconstruct the elements, describe the decisions made, etc in a work) of a television programme or film that you have recently watched [200 words maximum]. Pay particular attention to the way the piece is shot, edited, th characterisation and how they are portrayed, and how the story is structured. Please have your analysis typed and provide a word count. Your work has to be completed before the deadline; March 15th 2006 at 12.00 noon.

BRIEF THREE - SELL YOURSELF
Write a presentation selling yourself. We will not ask you to present it, but if you were, the presentation has to last 30 seconds. So this does not mean 25 seconds or 35 seconds! In television we usually average out spoken words to be three every second so you have approximately 90 words to write. I don't want to hear about your skills, I want to hear about your abilities and aptitudes (i.e. ways of doing things; being bossy, being organized). These are for living life and not just for working in the medium of moving image. Have your work completed before the deadline; March 15th 2006 at 12.00 noon.

Ooofff, better start early on ;o)

WilmStrip

Hooray!

My Return-block wish list has been honored by the College of Art, I am following another 5 weeks of Film & TV.

Along with me are; David Meckaniuk (always good for Scrabble ;o), Flora Mackay, and Vicky Reid.

The lucky few!


Five more weeks of fame...

Favorite Icon

How to display the ChewChew web site logo on the address bar and in the favorites list?

As we want to make the new ChewChew web site standout in crowded favorites lists in browsers and address bars, this is how to display the logo next to links to their site.

First, I had to create a logo for their site; a very tiny logo to be specific.



ChewChewIco.gif

The size of the logo should be 16x16 pixels and it should be saved as a Windows icon file (ChewChewlco.ico for example). If your image editor doesn't support saving files in Windows icon format, you can use the following online tool.

Source Image :   Scrolling Text (optional) :

Preview:


NEW! Animated Favicon (optional):



To add this favicon to their web page:

• I clicked "Download FavIcon" and opened the package. favicon.ico is included in it.
  
   


• Uploaded the favicon.ico file to the folder on their web site where I have the web page.
  
   


• Added the following HTML tag to their web page after the <head> tag, before the </head> tag:

<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" >

That's it! To test our new favicon in Internet Explorer, add the ChewChew site to Favorites and reopen the page. To test it in Firefox or other Mozilla-based browser, simply open their web page and watch the address bar or the page tab. More information is available on the help page and the Favicon Validator page.

Courtesy - www.html-kit.com