Evaluation

Sally Jenkins

 Advanced Photographic Practice

Evaluation

Overall I am really happy with the outcome of my video project. I feel that it tells a story, relates to current issues, is contextualised within photography and technically meets criteria. I have learnt a lot during this process, I had never used film as a medium before neither had I used the video editing software Premier Pro. I feel that I have developed in both areas and iv enjoyed the learning curve. This has now given me the opportunity to use these skills again in future projects or the possibility with more practice maybe paid work.

As far as my research goes, I think my blog adequately reflects my thought process throughout. I have used different reference points including books, online information and newspaper article to source information. I feel like for once I have really worked on my time management skills, arriving early for all seminars and workshops, this has paid off on my final project because I have allowed plenty of time on both blogging and editing leaving no last minute rush or panic. If I was to go back and re visit my research I would have liked to read more texts on feminism and the opposing arguments giving myself more room for debate but in the six week time frame I’m happy with the research I have sourced and feel my video references many of the different arguments I was proposing . Whilst commenting on my research I would like to comment on my development. I feel that my development is shown clearly throughout my blog and project. I feel not only has my technical abilities developed but also I have developed in being able to contextualising my own work. I could have shown further development on my blog by posting what I have learn and created in the first few technical sessions with john and the skills I have picked up from where I began.

My video, I am extremely happy with. I feel my concept is clear, my visuals are memorable and  the audio ties it all together. Iv extremely enjoyed working on a project with Sonny-Jay (my audio man) , It was nice to work with people from a different medium and we both found it helpful and interesting to bounce ideas off each other. He is now using this piece in his portfolio. If I were again to go back and work on this video again I think I would video more than one girl, I would maybe film a group of friend or girls of the same age to see how mixing up the isolated body parts would work . I fell that I have emulated “The Gaze” really well and I have done what I desired in my concept about creating an uncomfortable atmosphere between my subject and the viewer.

Finally when it comes to my concepts about the developing beauty culture and technologies influences on the younger generations I will be using the research I have done in this project as a starting point for my dissertation. I feel like there is still so much to explore in this field and I will be carrying on my research developing my ideas further. I fell that themes explored in this project relate to past work I have done and its something I will be carrying on both in my practical and theory work.

Finished piece with music

Enjoy

Changing the ending

I have finally managed to edit together a final cut or as i thought. Its 2 minutes long , the audio has been finished and is also exactly 2 minutes long but i wasn't as happy with the ending as i would have hoped. The video consists of long shots to start and as the music drops iv picked up the pace, speeding up some of the footage and shortening the clips but because of this i feel like there was no real ending clip . No conclusion because its consistent and just ends. Iv seeked advise and other people feel the same. I need to have an concluding shot of her perfectly "faked up" . This below is the original first finished edit. From this i have extended the second to last clip to make it the final image of the video. It fits with the music but i had to eliminate the "selfie" shot which contradicts my proposals and research. I have decided that this is the end of my video and after that it  rolls to the credits. After the credits i have added the "selfie" clip as an epilogue. An aftermath of the finished product. I aim to add relevant sound effects to the epilogue because i feel the silence makes the clip look misplaced to the other sequence in front. I'm am currently working on adding sound effects and smoothing out the end of my video playing with cross fades and positioning of credits.

Further edit

Here, after much time consumed deleting footage ,i have twiddled my 13 minute long clip down to three minutes! But i feel it is still a tad to long , i want to keep it two minutes or under because i want to keep my audiences attention and i don't feel like two minutes is to long to bore my audience but enough time to fit in the content.The first minute that i have constructed i will be keeping how it is because i like the pace and all the clips used i just have to edit 1 minute out the last 2 minutes of footage. I think that when i start editing the speed of some of the clips this will improve the amount i have to edit out .Its just a case of editing out everything that's un necessary to the story line , and tightening up the edits that exist.

 

 

Draft Audio

I have been sent the first draft of my audio and i absolutely love it ! couldn't of asked for something more suiting . Whilst receiving this i have started editing but now i have it its all fitting into place and I'm getting really excited for the final result. The statements i think work really well i , you have no choice but to listen to what the the female speaker is saying , its not discreet at all . Like the footage . 

 

Eye references

On showing the first 13min edit of my video , The eye shots were particularly commented upon . They were said to resemblance those of both the 1928 Luis Bunuel video "Un Chien Andalou" and a part of the cult film "A Clockwork orange".Both videos reference the eye being forced and held open to be made to see things . The content of what there looking at is irrelevant of my project but the forced watching is.  

Luis Bunuel; Un Chien andalou

This is a gruesome slightly disturbing video for mine work to be refereed to but its in the style of my shooting. My tutor just thought it important for me to understand what other people might be thinking when watching my video .


A clockwork orange



I feel that this video relates to my work more . As the main character is being forced to watch some thing by having his eyes held open i think that i am forcing my video upon the viewer. I feel the way i have shot it forces my viewer into an uncomfortable situation where they are watching something they ordinarily wouldn't have the opportunity to watch. Getting ready especially for girls is usually done behind closed doors and only wanting the public to see the finished result. but between making the model aware she is being watch ( way she glances at the camera ) and the viewer watching it i have almost created a "cringy " scenario . That even at times i haven't felt comfortable watching.

This is just a passing comment but the content of A Clockwork Orange " is disturbing and weird . It was banned from cinema when first created and provoked a strong reaction in most who watched it . Women were known to have fainted in the cinema ect. but because it boomed for be infamous in the public eye , popular culture too grabbed the aspects from the fil and something so ugly and contiversial made its way into the beauty industry. Ideas for Halloween make up above but also started men wearing eyeliner and other things ect. Im just commenting on how everything that is seen in the public eye whether its excepted or not worms its way into the beauty culture or shapes a trend. With all the controversy aroung "Geordie Shore" and "Big fat gypsy wedding" this is just history and culture repeating itself.

Starting to shoot

The shoot

Iv have started the shoot and the editing process. I originally wanted this shoot to be a test run but by the time i got to grips with the camera , lighting and directing my model , I was on a roll and just ended up getting it done. The difference between Stills and moving was a challenge at that. Silly things like having to shoot everything in landscape i didn't realise until conducting the shoot. The way a person moves is also alot harder to direct in film. Shooting everything enough times that in post production you have a selection rather than being stuck with one choice. It took me roughly 4 hours to have 20minutes of use able filming i could have had hundreds of images in that time. But overall i feel very positive about the shoot . I feel i have all of the main components to start an edit. The only things i didn't have access to are fake tan , shoes and we ran out of time to do nails but after constructing the structure of the video and these things are necessary ill go back and re-shoot them .

 

First edit

On uploading all my footage , i realised there is a mass so i needed to start picking out the weaker clips , anything repeated or out of focus .Irrelevant or just that i didn't like them. My first cut i have managed to get the 20 minutes of footage down to 13 minutes . I have made this its own untouched sequence so that if in a later stage i edit something i want back here i can find all the good clips . The next hopefully will go down to 4 or 5 minutes and after that I'm aiming for a 2 minute final piece. I have already asked Sonny to work on the audio around 2 minutes. 

 



Revised Proposal , Its becoming serious

Sally Jenkins

Revised proposal

At the very beginning of the project I wrote my proposal wanting to make a light hearted poke at the 21^st century beauty culture and to the extremes young women go to get accepted in current trends like “selfies” and this new “fake” beauty. I wanted the video to be humorous so women could reflect and maybe next time applying all the falsities becomes more subtle. I have read up on current debates , researched photographers ,looked into popular culture and where this trend stemmed from and also a massive r influence for my video will be from the book of essays “visuals and other pleasures” by Laura Mulvey which was written alongside the feminist movement .

I now realise after researching my topic properly I have become to feel quite strongly about my subject. I can see this 21^st century “fake” beauty culture turning into its own conformed mass sub culture and I don’t ever think I will be a part of. I think the use of social medias and Things shown in other medias are a continuing sub message that everyone has to be “perfect” to be accepted and its putting masses of pressure on the younger generations or the more impressionable to change their appearance to “fit in”. These sorts of things are leading to body dismorphia, eating habits , low self esteem ect.

My new video concept is to base my video on the readings from Laura Mulvey. “The gaze” is my main concept and I want to take it very literal in my filming. I want to create an “outside” arcwardness between my viewer and the subject being filmed. I want it to be close up and going past the boundaries of personal space. I want to create awareness that the viewer is looking (gazing) at my subject and that the subject is also comfortably aware she is being watched.

I still want to be the video to be shot around a young female’s beauty routine before going out clubbing. I want to include in depths the amount of make-up she uses, the oddities like body controlling underwear, stuffing her bra and putting in her hair extensions. Things that people wouldn’t normally watch other people doing. Its a very personal process I believe and I think it will be interesting to see how that comes across in filming. I want it to be a studio based piece purposely to isolate the subject from a comfortable environment.

I have gotten back in contact with Sonny-Jay Woodhouse, my audio guy, and have told him the updates that I have made so he will have a better idea of what I want. Its going to be louder and more invasive and I want to avoid it becoming light hearted like I originally wanted.

Shot List

Before shooting i decided to prepare a shot list so that i have an order to follow when i start my shoot , it will just avoid time wasting and so i have an exact idea of what i need , but i also want to experiment whilst going along. I have never used video before so if theres anything i can prepare before hand to help it run smoothly i will because i know ill run into problems technically. I have asked a number of female friend there beauty routine step by step so i could get a better idea of what shots i need and iv devised them into an order. Iv asked for them to tell me from the moment they get out of the shower. In post production some things may brake the order as i shuffle the clips around.

Underwear - knickers
Bra - Added umph. Padding inserted
Fake Tan application
Pants - Control pants
Foundation
Powders
eyebrow - drawn on
Eyelashes- fake ons applied
Mascara / eyeliner/ eye shadows
Cheeks - blusher and or bronzer
hair separated
Hair extensions put in
hair styled - straighten or curled
fixed - hair spray
Fix face - hair spray on face to fix makeup
Dress
Nails
Shoes

Lets hope it goes to plan :)

Martha Rosler 'Body beautiful'

Martha Rosler - "Body beautiful" &"Bringing the war home"

I have looked at Martha Rosler an awarding winning artist and educator working in video, photo- text , performance and installation. The series " body beautiful" particularly relates to my project for obvious reasons But also "bringing war home" showcases the female form , technology,war ,politics all in the domestic  the domestic setting. I find a number of her photo montages interesting and i have used pieces as inspiration for example the one above of the body parts on the wood. She has isolated body parts that she has cut away from a men's magazine . I think her deliberate isolation of the body parts has made each section more provocative. I would like use this as inspiration when I'm filming and try to isolate my models body parts to heighten the appeal. i want the video to be close enough to the model to create an awkwardness which is what i feel when I'm looking at Martha Roslers montage. I think that because the body parts are separated you become very aware of what you are viewing, the fact you are looking at these personal details  and this also heightens that there is a slightly awkward factor.  ( The gaze ) .

I also think this image "cleaning the drapes" from the series "Bringing war home" is worth mentioning because of the relationship exploration between technology and the female form. Iv been reading up on both series and John Perreault interesting wrote:

 " A model prancing with a cell phone (shown in multiples of herself) is in a way an update of “Beauty Knows No Pain.” But in spite of the still-thriving use of the objectification of women’s bodies as sales tools (to both men and women),"

I like how he describes the series as an "update" adding in technology's effect on the objectification of women which is what I'm trying to achieve.

 

 

 

 

Facebook evidence

Ethics ...... Do i have them ??

My reaserch has come to a bit of an ethical stand still . I want to post evidence of the 21st century beauty and "selfie" culture on here to show the solid evidence that it exists because to date all i have done is talk about the subject . As i have previously mentioned I'm only involved in one of the Major social media platforms , Facebook. I use my facebook account more as a living photo album rather than a social site. Iv never conformed to the selfie craze either , i couldn't think of anything worse that scaring the public with my face so close up on a daily basis. When reading through my news feeds there was evidence in almost every post about the subjects i an exploring but i feel its un ethical to take them out of the mass context and discuss them on my online blog . I know these people have publicly uploaded that image of themselves and really theres nothing stopping me using there images but i know if i was online and came across a blog where somebody had used an image of me and discussed it without permission i wouldn't like it . Also when it comes down to appearances it is a very personal and sometimes sensitive subject ,i don't want to come across judgemental or be offencive. I have recently read an article on the guardians website, further discussing what i have said above but instead of using it for public space i am interested in whats acceptable to do with the content people post online . I found the article open to debate and its spurred alot of ethical question within my own practise. Is it moral to use and discuss somebody elses face without permission even though it was publicly accessible ? I feel uncomfortable doing it .

 

Is it ever OK to photograph strangers on a train?

 Nell Frizzell 

 

Boris Johnson is willingly photographed on the tube … 'You do not, legally, have to get permission from those you photograph in the street, on the train or sitting on a bus.' Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

As a lifelong cyclist, I'm usually spared the horrors of public transport. Suitcases (and worse) pressing into my coccyx, Metro horoscopes, vomit, delays and the smell of someone else's sweaty armpits – I happily avoid them.
But one new public transport phenomenon has recently crashed into my consciousness. Tumblr accounts dedicated to secretly photographing, uploading and then critiquing fellow commuters, have spored like bed bugs on a bus seat. From the apparently flattering to the supposedly endearing to the allegedly hilarious, there seems to be a blog to capture every kind of commuter.
British law on photographing people in public places is still quite malleable. While the European convention on human rights codifies everyone's right to private and family life, you do not, legally, have to get permission from those you photograph in the street, on the train or sitting on a bus. Meanwhile, despite a European court of human rights declaration that the stop-and-search powers granted under section 44 of the 2000 Terrorism Act were being wrongfully used to target photographers, the law is still apparently misunderstood even by the police themselves.
Frankly, the whole legal issue is murkier than a dimly lit pub toilet selfie. But while the legal argument is fraught, the moral debate surely is not.
Every day, blogs like Men Taking Up Too Much Space On The Train post clandestine pictures of commuters, under the snide and self-proclaimed mission of public shaming. Frankly, if I had a loose assemblage of bulky, heat-sensitive genitals hanging between my legs, I would probably sit with my knees hip-width apart too. Most of these men are doing absolutely nothing wrong. And yet their image, including their faces, is being uploaded to the internet and they are being judged by thousands of strangers, all without their knowledge.
Turn that gender picture on its head and perhaps you'll see why this is unacceptable. Were a man to secretly photograph me – a young woman – upload that photo to Tumblr and invite comments from other users, I think my sisters would be throwing up their hands in horror. And rightly so – the Japanese iPhone has a shutter sound that cannot be turned off, specifically to guard against snap-happy perverts. And yet, I rarely hear the same language being applied to women who upload submissions to Hot Guys On The Train. Last week I saw a man tweet: "Girl sat opposite on tube tried to take a sneaky photo of me. Her flash went off. She was mortified." Mortified she might have been, but was he not also angry?
There is also, of course, the question of money. If these blogs are sufficiently popular to gain advertising space, then those photos are no longer not-for-profit, amusing, public-realm snaps. They are a commodity. And the people in them, by extension, are no longer just strangers on a train – they are models.
As with all photographs, context and composition are key. While it is one thing to take an unidentifiable snap of a fellow commuter's footwear it is quite another to upload a full portrait of a total stranger accompanied by the comment: "Here is the picture of the homeless guy who threatened to kill me after I took his picture."
Of course, some photos taken on transport are funny. Who among us didn't snicker at Hitler on the bus? But that doesn't make it right. Because that wasn't really Hitler, it was just a man, in Plymouth, who got laughed at by millions, without any hope of recourse.
Call me a ludicrous old libertarian. But I, for one, just don't think we should shoot strangers in public spaces.

I 100% agree.

Opening statements ideas

As discussed with Sonny-jay Woodhouse before i have started to look for quotes to begin my audio. researching feminism and the male gaze i have decided i would like to extract my quote from Mulveys book 'Visual and other pleasure'. I have hear looked up relevant chapters and extracted the statements below. I could have gone on forever doing this as virtually the whole book is relevant now and to my project but below are just a few gems i will be sending as a voice recording to get worked into the audio. I have bolded the ones that i think will defiantly work.
ALL extracted From Laura Mulveys "Visual And Other Pleasures"

" Now I'm looking for the ideal man to marry"

"Born to be defined by their physical attributes, born to give birth, or if born pretty , born unlucky; a condition which makes it possible and acceptable , within bougeois ethic, for girls to parade ,smiling silently, to be judged on the merits of their figures and face"

"Pretty girls dont have those problems, that is , the problems that plain girls have in finding a husband or making a successful career.Womens liberation girls must be plain, because only plain girls would have an interest in attacking the system." Bob Hope

"Women may seem to be the subjects of an endless parade of pornographic fantasies, jokes, day-dreams and so on, but fundamentally most male fantasy is a closed loop dialouge with himself."

"They are being turned all the time into objects of display, to be looked at and gazed at and stared at by men."

" Ways of seeing and pleasure in looking"

" The human face, The human body,the relationship between the human form and its surroundings"

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been splitbetween actice/male and passive/ female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simutaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness . women displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle: from pin ups to strip tease, from ziegfeld to busby berkeley,she holds the look, and plays to and signifies male desire."

" The fantasy of a privileged insight that tears the mask away from perceived reality gives way to another reality, that of the mask itself and reality of fantasy ."

"The aesthetic qualities of the photography are to be sought in its power to lay bare the realities."

Voice recording

I was asked to send the audio clips via an apple i phone because that's what Sonny is used to working with . I had three women including myself to read the statements above so that he had a variety to choose from. I also got all three subjects to say the words 'Hashtag' and 'oh my god'. This was an interesting exercise to partake in because until you read Mulveys book aloud you don't realise how difficult it is to say. Defiantly a mouthful so this took much longer than anticipated but we got there in the end. Here are just a selection of the audio clips we sent off so you can compare how these sound to the finished audio.

Audio for my video

Well iv given alot of thought to the audio in my video . Iv been toying with the idea of voice overs , silence and music really. I attended a meeting with salford music students about working together to create this audio, but i felt the meeting was very slow paced and i didn't really get the out come i was after. I want to work with somebody on a personal note where they can give me some ideas because I'm not a pro on audio and i have no distint outcome . I have a friend from Morecambe who i have known for years and iv always liked him style of music, Hes studying music at Liverpool university and he has agreed to produce my audio with me. When i gave a rough idea of the sorts of things i wanted to include and what my video was about our conversation quickly became a brain storming session with ideas flying around. I found this extremely help full and motivational. Below i have included snips of our conversation so you can see the development and process we are undergoing together. All in all I'm really excited to be working with him . Sonny-Jay Woodhouse is a talented god send and I'm starting to get really good expectations for my final video edit.

I apologise for the unprofessional language used in the conversation below but because we have been friend for a while that's just how we chat. These are snippets that i thought might be interesting to view for the development process so you can get whats going on. I particularly like his opinion on the "Selfie Craze"

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

Just a few things I need to have in my head in order to get a workflow going. Could you draw me a brief outlining the elements of the video that are going to be there. Slapstick moments such as that comedy factor (Ill have to source some SFX for enhancement etc)

A few songs that fit the vibe your describing?

Length?
Maybe a list of key descriptive words an shizzle.

 Sally Jenkinsthe overall quite reveiw of the video is how the 21st century beauty routine ( aka false eye lashed , fake boobs , fake hair , fake tan ect.) are developing into a new kinda reverse sub culture where everybody looks the same . im poking fun at the idea women are doing this to either a appeal to the oppisite sex or b fit into a club enviroment. Yet if you strip away the club enviroment they actually look slightly odd and weird.

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse
 

bit geordie shore?

 

Sally Jenkins

it needs to be about a minute but if if was a minute and a half it would give me some editing space if i shoot more than antisapated :) . yes the geordie sures effect of inpressnable young girls hahahaha

god i sound like a feminist !!!!!!!

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

You are a feminist. Could take a quote from geordie shore to start it thats utterly ridiculous? Recognisable etc.

Then im feelin like a jackass party boy style tune (obiviously not the same) with funny almost pornagraphic SFX and cheeky hits of lip smackin etc.

But feel good at the same time. have you got any images your going to use availiable?

Sally Jenkins

sounds sweet to me sonny :) i also want to touch on the photographic subject of the dreded 'selfie crazy'

 Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

I delete people that constantly post selfies. Attention seekin ugly bastards.

Sally Jenkins

so at the very beggining and end will be a still picture and all that hashtag crap . wonder if we could incorporate that into the sound ?

i know thats why im touching up on it because it annoys the fuck out of me too hha

 Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

haha g'lass. even more of a nightmare when ya see fellas doing it lookin like joey fuckin essex. Daft bastards.

Sally Jenkins

i couldnt agree more sonny jay :)

-Jay Woodhouse

But so far this is what im working with : emphasis on hashtag, camera clicks, club bass sound, military elements, makeup sounds. Oh do you have an iphone.

are your transitions going to be similar to that of the dexter title too? cause i can base my arrangement on that

 

Sally jenkins

yeah the transactions are going to be very dexter like . well if i can . iv never worked with film before hahaha

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

Ill go mad once I get going tbh brucey! If you could....get an iphone or someone with a dictaphone and record some voices of what you want like and send me them, Ill edit them and add them into the audio. And as its recorded on a phone it will sound like a phone which is where most of this selfie craze took off (Y)

Sally Jenkins

 yeah that would make the video origanal alright . I wonder if i could get almost the geordie accsent (dumbish) and get them to say a quoted femanist remark . So making say the 1970s femanist writter laura mulvey quote .sound really odd and almost clashy

bringing some contexual referencing into the mix ? 

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

Find me some quotes I can work wonders with acapella.

 Sally Jenkins

im on in ! ill scan through her books now and see what i can come up with . its all old fashion talk about women being objects and men being comsumers. like how women have to look persentable in the chance of a marrage proposal !!!

Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

haha. It will be great. If you listen to http://youtu.be/yeh6jhHLgtg?t=3m30s

Elements of that through the image, but where the vocals are it would be your quotes.

in conjuntion with the hashtags and OMG and the tune of which is to be created. and in a completely different vibe obviously. Morely focus on the effect of how the vocal is appearing in the music.

 Sally Jenkins

that was the kind of thing in my head to be honest

 Sonny-Jay Woodhouse

sweet, will be better. remember that.

Ill look at some early 20th century classical pieces around the time of your feminist bird. Add elements of that for the introduction, then in an almost skitzophroenic fashion pull it into the 21st centure.

romantic classical pieces actually as that was the 'in' thing for a female.

Leland Bobbé- Half drag ... A different kind of beauty

I have found this series "Half Drag... A Different Kind Of Beauty" by Leland Bobbe extremely interesting and actually quite comical. These fabulous drag queens have aloud to show themselves as males and there female alter egos in the same unstitched picture. I think the style of these images is beautiful and tastefully controlled but what i find quite amusing about these photographs is that the female side of there persona's are actually the same as what most women look like when glammed up. Its almost as if the women's 21st century beauty routine is inspired by drag . Excessive make up , fake fair, extravagant jewellery nails ect.  

 

 

 

Underneath The Half drag image by Leland bobbe i have placed an images of Geordie shores holly to look at the resemblance in styles. Geordie shore is a massive hit reality show in which are influencing a large population of its watchers. I just wanted to show the comical similarities of this young Drag male and young female. I think this is first time in fashion history where the majority are using Drag as inspiration possibly without even being aware of it .

popular culture and its influences

Its not just drag that's influenced this 21st century new beauty culture celebrities in the media , television programs and the media as a whole are all responsible for this 'new add on fashion'. I have looked at various aspects of the media for research on where this "false" craze has brewed from and its everywhere you look its no wonder everyone is starting to look the same when most people in the public eye are conforming too. A major influence i believe targeting women in the twenties and even younger is the British "reality" telivision series Geordie Shore.
From what i grasp Geordie shore is about a group of twenty somethings from Newcastle , living a party lifestyle and going out to get drunk and to pull the opposite sex. It was commission by MTV in 2011 and is currently on its seventh season with no signs of slowing down . It has been massive in the UK and has viewers worldwide also it has stormed many if not all of the social network. Personally i don't watch the show , but id say over 60% of my friends do and the influence is evident even ever so slightly in the way they dress, act etc.  i found this quite amusing ,In a column for Metro, Christopher Hooton described the show as "a gaudy kaleidoscope of six packs, shots, fights, simulated fellatio and exposed breasts," but said that criticism of the show was futile given its intent, noting that "being shocked by the lasciviousness of Geordie Shore is like being shocked by the lack of nutrition in a Pot noodle." Also to show on a scale how big the show has gotten Central MP chi  onwuran has described the show as "bordering on pornographic," and announced she will be raising questions in Parliament about the issues raised by the programme. On watching a episode of the program it made me cringe and also think i could never do things of that nature on a show my mum could be watching!!!!! It doesn't make me proud to be British, young or i hardly see why people would use it as beauty inspiration but each to there own i suppose.

I understand that in theory this is just a more extravagant version of the things young people do but i believe some things should be left unsaid. The last thing we want is for these people to be seen as "Role Models" to more impressionable younger people. The fashion style as i am discussing has caught on but has there extreme lifestyle become a reality for some people ? getting that drunk you pee yourself, pass out or trash a house or even sleeping with anything with a heart rate. Yes I'm not denieing these things happen but not on a regular basis as this program radiates nor is it something to be seen as "cool" which is also something this program promotes.

Clearly its not just me that feels this way I have read this article by Andy Dawson called Geordie Shore; Doing for Newcastle what Burat did for Kazakhstan.I found it quite amusing and the comment below from real Gordie's are funny.
http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/geordie-shore-doing-for-newcastle-what-borat-did-for-kazakhstan/

Geordie Shore Rant over , moving on .....

Another Major influence to this false beauty sub culture i believe is Katie Price. For years you have not been able to walk into a shop or turn on your TV with out her face (what the surgeon has created anyway) popping up with the most ridiculous story's about her personal life . Some would say she is shameless for sharing the nitty gritty details of her divorce(es) , battle with plastic surgery and overall love life. The ironic thing about Katie price is before she costumed all the 'Add ons' like her false boobs , cheek bones , nose , lips , hair etc she was a model based on her natural looks . She started modelling young before the opportunity of all the cosmetic procedures and she was naturally beautiful enough to become a famous  glamour model. She is known to have had her first breast enlargement at 18 and has various follow ups going bigger and bigger until problems recurred forcing her to have them to reduced to a normaller size.
But even apart from the boobs Katie price is very public about the amount of plastic surgery she has. She has a full head of hair extensions and botox treatment every three months . She also uses the sun beds 4-5 times a week being full aware of the risk of melanoma and other cancers. All that in the name of false beauty. Being a female myself and watching the infamous Jordan grow into to the still infamous Katie price i feel pity for her but at the same time understand the social pressure surrounding her. Looking at her when she was natural, it makes women question why somebody who's famous for there looks has to have plastic surgery to become "perfect". Putting rings of social pressure and doubt to more normal looking people . Were not all naturally glamour models but her need to correct herself is really promoting that everyone should be having plastic surgery to become prettier. The beauty culture I'm exploring in my project is a less permanent add on fashion as to Katie prices. That could be through the price of plastic surgery alone. In a sinister way its almost lucky that some of Katie prices surgery's have gone wrong so the public can also see the down side to cosmetic surgery rather than people just promoting it . Katie prices face has defiantly changed from the beginning of her career to today and so has her body. In my opinion She is the queen of bad fake tan , excessive eyelashes and an un human amount of hair mainly concocted of extensions.

EyeLashes, Hair , Lips  

Tan , Hair Makeup design

From  that to this

 

Big fat gypsy wedding

In February 2010 channel four broad casted a British documentary that explores the lives and traditions of different Irish and British rohmanichal traveller families eg, Gypsies. Its main revolved around the preparation they undertake before marriage from the courting stages (grabbing) through to the actual wedding day . Gypsy's have a certain style which is how most people stereotype and the show almost reinforces that. Before this documentary gypsies were almost a taboo subject in both television and in British culture, the show helps normalise there status in the community and show us non travellers an understanding of there different lives. I am particularly interested in the extremes they go to on there wedding day to look "like a princess" or like "Barbie" and how i feel it is an influence on today's 21st beauty culture. The show takes us the viewing public from there extravagant handmade dresses to there grooming routine of fake tan , nails and hair. Are people aspiring to be something that was once an unexplored subject , and if so why ? Without being to stereotypical the "gypsy fashion" is defiantly made its stamp on the high street and popular culture.

 

 

The "selfie" craze

The "selfie" is now a worldwide phemominom which is slightly alien to me . Through development of technology which has lead to the disposability of photography , social media platforms such as instagram and twitter and the need for people to have a ongoing perfect online persona the Selfie was created and has no means of stopping. This is something i defiantly want to comment on in my video because i believe through this technology is one of reasons the 21st century beauty culture has spread to almost everyone in its grasps. People (particularly women) see what other people are doing/look like and mimic what they see. "Trending" is something  developed through twitter where things are categorised and circulated creating a trend which is exactly what has happened with the "selfie" and this new "fake" beauty culture. I have read an article on the Observer website by Eva Wiseman and everything she writes relates to the attitude i have towards "selfies" . Iv included it below because i found it quite enjoyable . I particularly like the concept of "Social Needier".

What your Instagrams and selfies reveal about you

Your Instagram feed – revealing, intimate, immediate – shows everyone what you think you are, and everything that you're not. Take, for instance, Kim Kardashian's selfie, which Kanye West tweeted to his 10 million followers…

Eva Wiseman: 'Lady Gaga told a story on her Instagram last week. Pages from a notebook, a pressed joint as a bookmark'. Above: Lady Gaga in London this August. Photograph: FilmMagic

Our lives wobble on, three-wheeled. We eat, we sleep, we chat, we eat. But all the time, there's a second plotline, unravelling on our phones. My friends preface any conversation about these stories with a brow-raised phrase: "Meanwhile, on Instagram…" These are the DVD extras to the box set of your life. These are the photos revealing the beginnings of affairs. These are the double-clicks documented in the "Following" column, the "Likes" on every cleavage selfie of one particular High Street Honey clicked during their baby's nap time. Meanwhile, on Instagram, the truth of the thing is revealed – the mask you wear (the fabulous meals and grinning fields) and the sad crap behind it, too. We're not fools, us humans. We can read a picture of you thumbs-upping with an elaborate cocktail as both a document of a glamorous night and a telegram to all acquaintances alerting us to how absolutely, completely fine you are and not thinking about your ex at all. Not at all. Fine.
And as with friends, so with celebrities, the people who live in houses made of slate and mirrors, whose lives you understand better than your own. Last week two celebrities uploaded Instagram photos that simultaneously hid and revealed the truth about their lives, and the lives they want to project.
Much has been written about the selfie. I may not have read the pieces, but I imagine they discuss things like narcissism in an age of Twitter, our personalpopularity campaigns, our search for approval, the way we are writing our autobiographies in careful pouts. Maybe not. There's this disturbing phenomenon on YouTube where teenage girls ask the camera, with its anonymous auditorium of spear-wielding bastards: "Am I pretty?" Artist Louise Orwin has based a whole show on it, investigating ideas of performance, anonymity, and responsibility, and how it feels to be told: "You're a 4."
So: to the centre of all things, Kim Kardashian. Around midnight she shared a photograph of herself in a backless thong leotard, her arse – a phenomenon in itself – to camera, her newly blonde hair over one eye.
The reaction varied, from the people who told her she was a bad mother to those who told her she was looking disgustingly fat; to date it has had 911,000 "Likes". Within minutes her boyfriend, Kanye West, had retweeted it with the line: HEADED HOME NOW. This photo, of two-thirds of a bum and one-fifth of a breast, was a story about the things Kim and Kanye want to project about their relationship. This was the biggest thing to happen to sexting since phones started carrying cameras rather than torches. This was the Beveridge report of sexting, the document that would change everything. And it was an "Am I pretty?" on an international level.
Similarly Lady Gaga told a story on her Instagram last week. Pages from a notebook, a pressed joint as a bookmark. "Each day I cry," she'd written, "I feel so low, from living high." Those who speak internet recognised it as a future classic in the genre of "social needier". People who claw for attention and sympathy through cryptic messages and pictures, people who inspired the now infamous @UOkHun Twitter. A typical exchange would be: "U ever been somewhere and feel unwelcomed?" "U ok hun? *hugs*" Or indeed, a verse of hand-written poetry. Except, because she's HER and has more than 2m followers, Gaga's "U Ok hun?" response was a concerned letter from Instagram itself. It lives! "Members of the Instagram community," it wrote, "have raised concerns for your well-being after seeing posts you've shared. We're reaching out to provide you with some important safety information." Tweeting the email, oh how she laughed.
It was a masterclass in brand management, a millefeuille of meaning. Meanwhile, on Instagram, we document everything we want to be true. We seed in subplots with two careful clicks and a Valencia wash. In saying: "I'm fine! I'm totally fine!", aren't we, sort of, asking: "Am I?"


I have found this artical in the metro , a free news paper created to entertain city commuters on there jorney with funding from advertising. I found this artical called #MeAtGrandpapsFuneral. Highlighting that the main picture on the riht is of a girl wearing skimpy clothing saying a very public goodbye online for the world to see. 1. i very much doubt her grandpa would like the way she is dressed ,In my opinion there is no respect as she is not wearing the tradition moaning colours of black and 2. This is an amazing example of "social needier" .She is trying to create empathy very publicly between her friend and family . A public cry for attention and sympathy  This just shows to me that some people dont know when it is appropriate to post "selfies" of themselves . In this case i find it completely inappropriate . The article also featured other "selfies" posted on the day of funerals one being "# Black lace: Am i going to hell?" Stupid girl is the only thing that enters my mind !

Laura Mulvey- Visual and other pleasures.

I have been advised to read up on Laura Mulvey to give my video piece real content . I have already expressed my 'point of view' on 21st century beauty and the need for females to adapt but Laura Mulveys book of essays 'Visual and Other pleasures' has helped me start to get the grasp of the theory's on 'the gaze' particularly The Male gaze. The book contains historical content and was created as apart of a feminist movement. Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist who examines women's roles in both social and film. The collection of essays found in 'Visual and other pleasures' were written between 1971 and 1986 giving the book a documentary style historical content. After reading snippets of the essays on show i found myself comparing what she has written about and relating it to issues now. The male gaze is still in full blaze , women are still dressing to appeal to the opposite sex and also women's still have the need to be gazed at. There is a newish photo craze called "selfies" where people and i would say the majority women take pictures of themselves usually on a camera phone and post them to on line social networking sites. This i feel fits into the gaze because it illustrates the need to be gazed upon. Photography has become so disposable now that people are taking pictures of themselves hourly (in extreme cases). Is this completely devaluing photography as a practised art form or is this just a craze that has come with the development of technology? I for one could not think of a worse pass time than taking photos of myself and posting them publicly , i feel it could leave you venerable. On the other hand many people who might suffer from low self esteem might upload pictures online to receive comments or likes again the need to be gazed upon , admired. But with online "selfies" you are in control of the gaze, you choose with sides of you the public wants to see. The effects of the male gaze idea can be found massively in the advertising industry ,women are used in advertising as a sex symbol to both men and women. Women gaze upon other women wanting to have whatever the model is advertising , wanting to be her. And men gaze well because they are men wanting the sex symbol.

Here is a classic example of wear "the Gaze" comes into advertising . As the models gazes into the camera the second model (the male) is almost pushed way into the background. She is the main feature to be gazed upon, she is also holding the gaze with the viewer. Girls want to be her , guys want to be with her. Which is a quick overview is the point Laura Mulvey is making in her collection of essay 'Visual and other pleasures. Clever to use in advertising , still being practised in modern culture.

Frieke Janssen

The beauty of an ugly addiction by Frieke Janssen
Following the general smoking ban in Belgium and the shocking you tube video of the two year old Indonesian boy who chain smokes 40 cigarettes a day , Frieke Janssen cleverly produced these disturbing images of young 'cute' children smoking to evoke a reaction on her idea that grown adults are being treat like children. Minus the smoking content the pictures are executed beautifully and i think they portray there message perfecting. Using the children adds the shock factor to work which in a twisted way is pobbably the reason i like them as a series so much, its surreal. I wonder that if i use children in my work ,would that add more visual interest to my piece? But as i have mentioned before i would like to keep this piece light heated would adding children make the matter that i am addressing more serious and like Frieke Jannens work , disturbing.

I have noticed that Frieke has also realised a video of the making of her images. Shes added music and images of her  taking the images , getting the children ready ect. Could my video be of me creating my video. Giving it a second prospective?