Week 13 Reflective Journal - 1st May - Publishing the Exhibition Website online

At the last stage of building up the website: 

Since I want to include three translations English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese on the online exhibition and allows the visitors to choose the language they want to visit the exhibition, I have asked our IT tutor, John about the method to create different languages on the website in Muse. After he has taught me the method, I understood what I should do next. By comparing to the first time I learn Muse at John's lesson, I remember that I found Muse quite confusing and complicated to function. However, after I have started building up the website, I found that it is actually quite easy and is not as complicated as I thought it would be. After I have got used to the program, my working progress has speed up and since I am planning to do a master degree in Curation, this project allows me to experience how to curate an exhibition and also gives me an opportunity to experience the job that a curator does. I believe after learning how to use Muse, this skills could help me in the future towards my career pathway. 

Publishing the exhibition website online:

I have published the "RED" exhibition website online on the 3rd May and I do make sure that everything on the website is working properly, especially the layouts on the computers and on the phones. I have adjusted the layout a few times to confirm that the artworks on the exhibition website are layout as what I expected and I feel that the outcome of the website looks professional. After the website is published, I have received many compliments and positive feedbacks from different people about my website. This has given me the motivation to complete more artworks in the future and as an artist, I feel very happy that people appreciate the work that I have done. The publishment of the website has met the time schedule and I have managed to get all the things finished on time. 

Updates on social media:

I have updated my social media about the launch of the website and let the audience know that the online exhibition is available for the visit.  

I feel that from the overall project, I have gained many new skills such as building a website using Muse and curating an online exhibition, etc. These experiences have given me a chance to try different job roles, from being a make-up artist to a website builder. Although the process is stressful and organising a solo exhibition by myself is not easy, but I feel that the final project has given a clear direction towards my career pathway and again confirms my thoughts to become a curator in the future. 


On below are some of the screenshots from the exhibition page and they are the screenshots from the Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese Page.






"RED" Online Exhibition Link: http://redexhibition.co.uk/

Week 12 Reflective Journal - 24th April - 6th tutorial with mentor, Continue building the website, Finished Editing Fashion Film & Exhibition Promotion

6th tutorial with mentor

My mentor, Sebastiane, has given me feedback on my website design and my fashion film during the tutorial. He has commented that the masks on both sides are too decorative on the"You, me or her?" page which I do agree with him as it distracts the artworks on the page and has taken away the visitors' sight from the photographs in the middle. He has suggested that I could create some square boxes and make some gif images like the bigger images on the same page. This has inspired me to create different sizes of the square box with some close-up images of different facial parts and create gif images.

Therefore, when I went back home, I have created three different sizes gif images using some close-up images of the masks, a hand and the model's make-up. 



On the "Who are you? My Lover" page, I have asked for his opinion of what he thinks about the layout of the page since I am unsure where I should place the image (the image shown on the right). He has suggested that I could create something such as when click on the image, the image will show in full screen and directs to another page. However, I like the composition where all the images from one series are being placed on the same page. Therefore, I have come up an idea where I could place the image in the middle and at the bottom of the page, so visitors could scroll down to the end of the page. I have also extended the red string longer to make the image more eye-catching. I have taken consideration on what Sebastiane has told me and I agrees with him that it would be nice to click on an image and it appears a more zoom in screen on the photos so visitors could see the artworks more clearly. Since I have not learnt before the techniques to create the zoom in box, I have asked my IT tutor, John to show me how to create it on Muse. 

On the right, it shows the lightbox that I have created on the images for the exhibition website. The lightbox definitely helps to exhibit the work in a professional format and on the other hand, it also allows the visitors to look into the details of the photographs. 








During the tutorial, I also showed Sebastiane some part of my fashion film since I haven't finished the editing at that time. He has commented a scene where I could improve which is the scene shown on the right. He has commented that since I have got some scenes before where the model was flipping through the newspaper, I could do something on this scene to make a connection in between the two scenes. He has suggested that as I have got two scenes on both sides, I could create an effect where the scene swipe to the left and disappear, while the scene on the right could remain the same. I think this is a good idea as it could stand out and create more impact on the goldfish and flower patterns on the garments. 

Next Step: 
- Finished the editing of the fashion film and the exhibition website. 


Editing of the fashion film has finished

At the same week, I have managed to finish the editing of the fashion film and is ready to upload on the website. I am glad that I have learnt the techniques last year of how to do video editing on Premiere Pro CC and After Effects since this time, the process of the editing takes a shorter time than last year. 

During the process of uploading the fashion film on Youtube, I have got a problem on making the video to fit in the frame and remove the black bars on both sides. I have found a method to sort out the problem at the end, however, when the black bars disappeared, the fashion film was stretched out and the video was in poor quality. I have asked our IT tutor for help, but at the end, it is still not sorted since there are some problems with the format of the video and this issue has become a regretful thing that I felt on this project. 

Overall, I do enjoy the editing process this time and I am proud of myself that I have learnt the skills at university and the final outcome of the film is done successfully. Since previously I have mentioned before my model is a Drama Student, her acting skills have helped me to convey my idea effectively. Through the use of the storyboard and the planning before the shoot, it helps the editing process faster and during the editing process, I have made some arrangements of the scenes to make the film better. 

Exhibition Website promotion

Poster for the "RED" Exhibition Website

I have created a poster for the exhibition since I have considered the power of social media and it allows me to promote my website to other people who live in different parts of the world. I have uploaded the poster to my Instagram and Facebook page so that people could be aware of the publishing date of the "RED" exhibition website. 

Interview with the exhibitor Hoi Io Leong

Two days later, I have also published an interview about myself talking through the ideas behind the exhibition to promote my website and provide the further details about the exhibition to the audience. This has helped me to convey my concept of the exhibition to the audience more clearly and makes interaction with the audiences. 

Fashion Film "RED" Trailer

On the same day, I have also published a short trailer of my fashion film on my social media page to promote my exhibition website. After these three promotions that I have done, I realised that there are many people from different countries have liked my posts and also I have gained more followers on Instagram. There are people from Japan, America, UK, Vietnam, etc. who have reached the post and I feel that I am working towards the project aim successfully through the idea of cultural exchange and sharing my artworks to a wide range of audiences. 

Week 11 Reflective Journal - 3rd April- Interview video, "You, me or her?" Photoshoot completed, Start building up the website, finished illustrations and Fashion FIlm Shooting

Exhibition promotions - Interview video

Refer back to the tutorial with Sharon, she has suggested conducting an interview talking through the ideas behind my exhibition and I think this idea would help me to convey the concept of my exhibition to the visitors more clearly. Therefore, during Easter, I have conducted an interview with me talking through the inspirations and details about the "RED" online exhibition. I have asked Mihaela Solomei, to film the video and interview me. She has experienced with the camera and is confident with filming. I have prepared a list of questions for her to ask me and planned out the settings for the video. During the shooting day, the process went smoothly and successfully. 

On below, it shows the questions which I have planned and the  things would like to include in my interview video. By doing this, it will give my videographer a clear script about what she has to say and asks me. Since I have planned that my videographer will not appear in front of the camera, she can then carry this sheet with her and ask me questions behind the camera. The purpose of the interview video is to explain what the concept "RED" Exhibition is about and inform the audience when the exhibition will be available online.

By doing the interview video, it helps me to explain to the audience what the exhibition is about and I have planned to publish the interview before the online exhibition publish since I want to use the interview video as one of the promotions for my project. It will be uploaded to my Facebook and Instagram page and inform the visitors when the exhibition available online. From my time schedule, I have planned to publish the exhibition on 3rd May and it has been confirmed from now. 

Finished the "You, me or her?" photo shoot and editing 

I have finished my last photo shoot for the exhibition and the images on above and on the left are the photos which have been edited and ready to put on the website. Compare to the last test shoot, I have come up with more idea when doing the shoot. I have asked my model to do more poses such as on the first photo where she is holding the Chinese opera masks high up in the air. During the photoshoot, there is an incident happened and is that I have booked a studio for the shoot. However, when I went downstairs to the studio after I have finished the make-up and hair, someone was in my studio and told me that their friends have booked a whole day in the studio that I have booked. I have confirmed that I have booked the studio with the university staff and then the students have asked me if I could give them half an hour to complete their shoot. At the end, I rejected them since I have booked the studio in advance and I do not want my model to wait too long for the shoot to get done. 

 In Photoshop, I have also experimented more with the compositions and layouts of the images. In my estimation the shoot was successful. The model was professional and was able to transform the poses that I showed her what to do. The outcome looks like what I have expected and imagined. 

Building the Exhibition Website:

In Week 11, I started to build my website on Muse. Since it is my first time using this program and also building my own website, I have gone to see our IT tutor, John for support in using Muse and on above are the photos which show the things that I have done at the moment. There are still areas of improvements that need to make changes on and I will continue to experiment with the layout and the effects on the widget library. 

Illustrations:
On below, I have created some illustrations to put on the exhibition website. 

The Chinese Masks 
"The Chinese Masks" takes inspirations from Chinese Opera Masks and it has created an illusion of moving patterns within the image. The black brush strokes on the image reminds me of the Chinese paint brushes and the image takes inspirations from the idea of Chinese mask-changing as well because it presents the mystic atmosphere and the way the masks are overlapping with each other.

Delicious
"Delicious" presents as a gif image to create a surreal and innovative pattern on the picture. The strong bold red color represent the person's passion for food and the food on the mouth is some pictures that I took last summer when I went back to Macau and ate Chinese food. 

2017 The Year Of Rooster
"2017 The Year Of Rooster" takes inspirations from the Year 2017 and in Chinese culture, it is the year of rooster this year and I want to create a piece of artwork with this idea. The picture features a layer of fur like texture and I want to use it to represent the fur of the rooster. I have also make the picture into red tones to match the project title "RED". 

A Wealth Wish
"A Wealth Wish" creates a surrealistic atmosphere by combining the lucky cat with a candle, while there are blurry block tiles on the lucky cat's face. This helps me to demonstrate the weirdness side of surrealism to the audience.

Fashion Film Shooting

Since my model was only available to do the filming in one day, time management and planning which scenes start film filming is crucial. I have booked the infinity studio for a whole day so that we could have enough time to complete the shoot. The model was very professional as she has experience in acting and she is a drama student. Although there were just two of us doing the filming, we managed to get the filming done even earlier than the studio closed. I found the storyboard very useful as it helps me to record the scenes that I will need to do during filming so that I won't forgot or miss out any important parts. On the other hand, since the filming lighting is different comparing to the photography lighting, I have asked our Photography tutor, Chris about the lighting techniques and showed him what kinds of lighting I want to achieve in my film. I have gone to his lessons every week and ask questions that I am unsure about with the camera and the set up of the lighting in the studio. These have helped me a lot because, during the shooting day, I know how to set up the lighting and go straight away to set up for filming after doing the make-up and hair for the model without wasting time. On the other hand, the make-up, hair and styling appear polished and overall, the filming was successful and the next stage of the progression will be the editing. 

Week 10 Reflective Journal - 27th March - 4th & 5th tutorial with mentors, and 2 series of photos are ready to put on the website, film treatment sheets fashion film storyboards and styling designs for the fashion film

4th tutorial with mentor

This is the 4th tutorial with my mentor Sebastiane and today I have shown him the "Who Are You? My Lover" photo shoot which I have done on Monday. The photo shoot has involved many photos where the red string is hanging down from the mouth and Sebastiane has suggested a website to me to have a look where there is a page that you could scroll down for one mile measurement. The reason he showed me the website is because he told me that the advantage of having an online exhibition is that it is very different to an exhibition as you could make something creative with how you are experimenting with the layout of the websites and your artworks. To make this relevance to http://onemilescroll.com/ , he came up with an idea where I could do is that I could extend the length of the red string on my photo and make it very long. After I have listened to this idea, I think it is inspiring and I believe that it could make my work more unique and fascinating. 

Next step: Experiment with the layout on the website and test out how to do the effects. 

Reference: Eatock, D. n.d. One Mile Scroll. Available at: http://onemilescroll.com/


5th tutorial with another mentor

I have a tutorial with another mentor, Sharon, today and I have discussed with her about my project. She has suggested that I could make an interview video talking through the ideas behind the exhibition. I could also explained and tell the audience a bit of my background, therefore they will know more about the artist (me) and what the concepts of the exhibition want to convey. I think this will help my exhibition website more interesting since at first, I just wanted to put words on different pages and then explained the exhibition concepts. But then, when I started to think from an audience insights, some people might prefer watching a video rather than reading. I believe this idea will make my website more appealing, will also make more interaction with the audiences and also connects to the fashion film and the gif images on the websites. I will still put descriptions on the website, so people could read the information about the artworks along the exhibition. She also commented on the profits pouring from all sides shoot where one of the photo, she thinks the pose looks a bit awkward (the photos on below) and I do agree with her thoughts as well and therefore, I am going to choose another photo for the layout. 

"Profits Pouring From All Sides" & "Who are you? My Lover" 's photo shoots are completed and the images are all edited and ready to put on the exhibition website. 

"Profits Pouring From All Sides"

The photo on above shows a Chinese tile-based game, Mahjong,  which was taken by me during last summer when I went back to Macau. The reason I combine my model with mahjong is because during Chinese New Year, it is one of the things people would do and I think the combination of my model and mahjong have demonstrated the idea of Surrealism through the presentation of irrational imagery.
"Who are you? My Lover"

During week 10 and Easter Holiday, I have chased back the time schedule and back on track again. Two series of photos are edited, ready to post on the website and I have edited more images to go on the series. While for the fashion film, the shooting was finished and ready to move onto the next stage of editing. In my opinion, the photo shoots was successful and it has strongly demonstrates the idea of Chinese culture and Surrealism into a contemporary and innovative art form. The concept has clearly demonstrates to the audience and it features appropriate styling in working towards the theme of the images. 

Film Treatment Sheets:

I have created a film treatment sheet for the fashion film and it has helped me to organise and demonstrate professionally for the project. 

Film lighting test shoot:

Since I want to include red color gel lighting within the film, I went to our photography tutor, Chris to ask him if he could show me how to set up the lighting. The screen shot on above is from a video that I shot after he showed me the techniques. The lighting looks exactly what I want it to be. 


Fashion Film Storyboards:

"RED" fashion film allows the audience to explore Chinese cultures through a surreal modus and sees the combination when the Western Art Movement, Surrealism, meets Chinese culture and create a new form of art. Make-up & hair designs and styling takes inspiration from Chinese traditional costumes and traditional items. In the film, it features many red tones to emphasise the concept of the film and mirrors the 2017 Fashion Trend where Red has taken part as a constant trend throughout the year.

Storyboards:

On below, I have created a storboard for all the scenes in my fashion film "RED". I have listed the duration of each scene and also what music and when the music will apppear. Changes of the outfit also wirtten down and by creating a storyboard, it could help me to refer to it when I am shooting the film as it could make the whole process faster. In the film I have created links in between the movements and the accessories or the garments such as the scene where the model has got words on her back which mean love and dreams. Then, later in the scene where the model's pinkie was tied with red string to symbolise the idea of love and refers to the Chinese traditional legend of the red string of fate. The sunglasses that the model was wearing features the words love and dream on it as well. 

In the film, you can discover several Chinese traditional items and cultures such as the red pocket money envelopes, paper dragons, Taichi movements, Chinese opera masks and Chinese vase patterns on the dress. Red gel lighting and the color tones in the scene helps to focus on the color theme and the title "RED". Irrational music ( a woman's voice talking about the platform numbers at the station) suddenly appears in the scene creates contrast and surprising effect to the film. Distorted imagery such as the model's licking the masks, the eyeballs turn into white presents the idea of surrealism as well. Unusual atmosphere also features in the film where the model was acting like a fish and create a link to the texture of the garment 
(Fishtail dress) and the fish scene. While on the next scene, she was sitting on the floor reading newspaper which shows the irrational features within the film. On the other hand, there are close up on the patterns of the garments and while combines with the body movements, it helps to present the concept of the garment to the audience more effectively. 

Changes in music choices:
At the beginning of the project, I want to choose music such as Chinese flute music and combine with the sound of a crowded place. However, I have changed my idea now as I want to make the fashion film more surrealistic and matches the body movements and the garments' style. 


I have chosen the music on the left as the main music background for the fashion film. I like the way how it presents a peaceful piece of music but also shows gloomy elements within the music. I also like how the music is slow so that I could match the model's body movements in my fashion film. 
Chinese numbers by Irdial-Discs

Within my fashion film, I want to combine two pieces of music and for the second music, I have chosen a recording in a Chinese station where there is a woman's voice talking about numbers and the platforms in the station. The reason I choose this piece of recording is because I think when combined with the first music, it will make the film atmosphere more surreal and uncanny. The music also presents Chinese language and Chinese culture in contemporary society.Copyright problems are under considered and the music are free to use on creative projects. I will reference the music on my website and Youtube video to avoid the copyright problem. 

Face charts, hair charts and styling for the fashion film:

Red color is one of the fashion trend throughout the year of 2017.

First Look: The first design's hairstyle takes inspirations from ancient hairstyle. On my design, I want to use black card papers cut into strips and then create the structure like the picture on the moodboard on above. I also want to put the chopsticks on the hair to embellish the style. For the make-up, I want to use red lips, pinkish red and gold eye shadow. While for the outfit, I want to choose a red playsuit with patterns like the red Chinese paper cut design. The design creates a modern style while incorporate with traditional Chinese culture features. 

On the second design, I want to use Chinese red cheongsam since it presents the traditional features of Chinese culture. For the hairstyle, I want to use a log ponytail and without any parting on the hair. A big golden clip is pinned on the side of the head . For the make-up I want to use the dewy skin, a pinkish eyeshadow, no eyebrows look, small lashes and red smudged dewy lips to create a weird character in the film and combined with the fish scene. 

Second Look:

Third Look: On the third look, I want to use a black short blunt hairstyle and create a modern touch to the design. For the make-up, I want to keep the eye make-up simple and features red lips. And the reason I do this is because I want to focus on more the costume. Red pompoms are used for accessories and I want to make a choker like accessories for this design. I want to use a red color pyjamas-like dress with flowery patterns to present the 2017 fashion trend as the floral pattern is on trend this year. I want to match the dress with a see-through mesh top as it reminds me of the texture of the Chinese red lanterns. 

Forth Look: For the final design, I take inspiration from traditional Chinese blue and white vase. For the make-up, I want to use blue and white color paint brush stroke to match the color of the Chinese vase. For the outfit, I want to find a dress which features the Chinese vase color and pattern. The hairstyle will use crown braid to present to give a soft texture and elegant style to the whole costumes. 

All designs will feature red nail color. 


Reference: 

• Track Info:

- chinese numbers by The Conet Project 
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The...

Free Music Philosophy License.
https://irdial.com/free_and_easy.htm

Music provided by Free Music Archive
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The...

- Music: Gymnopedie No. 3 - Wahneta Meixsell https://youtu.be/6RevYn8Mhkw 

Music Provided by Audio Library – No Copyright Music from YouTube Audio Library http://goo.gl/YmnOAx

• Steele, V., Major, J. (1999). China Chic - East Meets West . United States: ISBN
• Garrett, V (1994). Chinese Clothing - An Illustrated Guide. New York: Oxford University Press