RESEARCH INTO UTATANE

1. "Utatane", which means “nap”, is the first Volume of the trilogy and shows snapshots of everyday things. Especially striking in this book are the connections and juxtapositions of images (SOURCE)


2. The years 2001 and 2002 will be unforgettable for Rinko Kawauchi. In October 2001, publisher Little More put out three books of her photos at the same time (two of them are reviewed on this page). A few months later in spring 2002, she won the prestigious Kimura Ihei Award for two of the books from Little More. And if that wasn't enough, the Photographic Society of Japan later voted to give her the Newcomer's Award for 2002 (along with Yuki Onodera).

Her name and photos subsequently appeared in all the major camera magazines and she will have photo exhibitions at major photo galleries such as Fuji Photo Salon in Ginza, Tokyo and Minolta Photo Space in Osaka in May 2002.

What an incredible chain reaction it has been for this relatively unknown (but now known) photographer. It's like she's the new darling of Japan's photography world which has showered her with awards and lots of recognition.

For what, you may ask. Well, those books which started it all seemed to have clicked with the powers that be in Japan's photography circles. So what kind of photos are they?

It's sort of difficult to explain. Utatane shows miscellaneous snapshots of everyday things such as the sky (and birds), the shimmering surface of a lake, sunny-side-up eggs, carp (lots of them with mouths open) feeding in a pond, someone's hand, a party popper, people inside a train, and laundry spinning inside a washing machine.

The usual photo diary-type photos you might think. Well, that's what it looks like at first, but if you look at the pictures side by side, there seems to be some kind of visual or underlying association between the two photos on the facing pages. (There's one picture on each page.) As you go through the book, it becomes obvious that she put the photos together in deliberate pairs on facing pages.

Some of the pairs I can figure out. For example, there's a photo of a large tree's roots on the left page, and a close-up of a girl drinking a glass of water on the right page. Both are sucking up water, right?

Another pair: A close-up of a net (such as on a tennis court) with one string ready to break apart. The opposite photo shows a girl blowing bubbles. Both objects are on the verge of breaking, right?

Another pair: Many carp with wide-open, round mouths jostling in the pond for fish food. Opposite photo is many sunny-side-up eggs cooking on a grill (upside down). Both have a lot of round spots, right? Visually, the photos are a nice contrast.

Another pair: A car being filled up at a gas station. Opposite photo shows a kitchen sink with water dribbling out of the faucet into the drain. Both are spewing out a liquid, right?

Another pair: There's a girl jumping rope on the left, and a truck's tire spinning on the road on the right page. Both things rotating, right?

The last pair of photos show two rainbows on the left page and a car's windshield photographed from inside the car. The residue on the glass left by the windshield wipers have the same shape as the rainbows on the opposite page.

So it is possible to figure out some of the photos. But for most of them it's near impossible to see the connection. For example, there's a picture of tadpoles in a muddy pond on the left page, and a shot of a horde of people crossing the street between Shinjuku Station and Takashimaya Times Square. Gee, what's the connection here?

The publisher says that it is a book that conveys life and death. Yeah, but I'm sure there's more to it than that. The book's title is also puzzling. It means "catnap," but you don't see any people or animals taking a nap. Perhaps it refers to the state of being alive, but essentially dead while you are asleep. I hope I can meet the photographer someday and have her answer all these questions (SOURCE)

3. Carps, clouds, a curtain, a tire, fried eggs, a grandfather, a butterfly. These are the  details of the everyday life that are too easily missed. Seen through the lens of Kawauchis camera however, the ordinary shines with patterns of light; even an ant transforms into a statement of style. This thoughtful debut photo book won awards for its graceful contemplation of mortality (no text in book). (SOURCE)

RESEARCH: UTATANE BY RINKO KAWAUCHI

As mentioned before the idea for this project was derived from this bok Utatane by Rinko Kawauchi and it finally arrived in the library so I could take it out. I was really interested in the relationships between the images on each of the pages and how their subject matter differs. A similar idea to that of my project. Below are some examples of the imagery. 

IDEA PROGRESSION - CONFUSION

After discussing with Shirley, my tutor for this project, I have thought much more indepth about what I will be doing. I'm not sure exactly what it is about yet but taking inspiration from Utatane by Rinko Kawauchi I will be adding shots together of quite random things to bring a piece together.

When originally thinking what I could do I had this vision of an egg breaking and frying. I was very confused about what this could really be about but I had this visual in my head. I also had the idea of running a shot of myself throughout the video piece.

When thinking into this more I thought about how these shots together could be quite confusing and thought that potentially this is what my film could be about. I thought about the idea of mixing up the sounds and how this could work well to add to this idea of confusion. With this idea the majority of film effects will be put together in post production and really I won't be able to see fully what it will be like until it comes to that stage.

In a recent tutorial we discussed the shots that could be added with the egg shot that I had already filmed (I filmed it close up which gave it an almost abstract quality, you knew what it was but actually you had never looked at this process in such a way, it makes you look at it in less of a way that you normally would, much further from normality). We discussed some of the other shots that had been filmed (the gas cooker turning on, and washing up - filmed mostly for the sounds) and how they could work with other shots. We talked about lights, still space - all filmed within the confines of my house, mixed together with close up shots of myself - eyes, back of my head etc. We also discussed how pace would play quite a big part in this project, perhaps the slow running of water dripping down contrasting with the sounds of the fast paced gas cooker turning on. It will have a really interesting effect and I can imagine it would change your emotions and feelings while watching the piece.

I need to produce a lot of shots and this should be done on impulse to have a greater effect. Intuition rather than planning it too much... Seeing what works and what doesn't.

INITIAL IDEAS - MIXED MEDIA PIECE

After discussing the project with my peers and friends and thinking about other possible branches I have been thinking about a mixed media piece which could incorporate both video, photographic images and sound. It could possibly cut between moving images and stills while still using an ambient sound. I am unsure of the subject matter at this time - this could also work with the 'personal journey' idea but I almost envisage it a little different. Again, I'm not quite sure on the exact visuals or idea yet but this definitely could work with most things.

INITIAL IDEAS - 'PERSONAL JOURNEY'?

To come up with some ideas I started by thinking about why I wanted to work within the film of screen. I have started making some personal VLOG's on YouTube to go with a personal blog that I have been running for over a year. I have added my first video below for reference purposes.



This made me think about perhaps taking the project on a 'personal journey' rather than a literal one. I'm really interested in how the editing of this potential piece can effect the film and I think it should be a big part of this idea. I was thinking about a photography book that I have seen previously where the images on either pages were contrasting but still linked up in some way and also thought about how this could work within a video format. Completely contrasting shots while still linking to each other and linking to me in some way?  I'm pretty lost with this idea, but it could work somehow, I just need to think more into specific branches of the idea and work out how I could portray it.

SCREEN BRIEF

BRIEF 

You will work on an individual or group video piece that should be between 3 to 5 minutes long. The subject area for this brief is Maps and Journeys you are encouraged to use the metaphor of journeys in the production of a time-based piece of work. The idea of the map or journey can be used as a starting point for ideas that may explore themes around architecture, landscape, territories and borders, inner and outer spaces, cities, countries, maps and also virtual worlds, such as the TV, computer or cinema screen.

You will need to consider and explore different ways of working, looking at the possibilities offered by the medium. Narrative sequence, the single shot, montage, constructed imagery and experimental uses of the medium are amongst the approaches you could explore. You must identify a specific audience and context for your project.

Video is historically concerned with a critique of the mass media, television and mainstream cinema, often attempting to subvert or disrupt the traditional devices used. You are expected to produce work that is critical and challenging to the mainstream.

If your piece is a short film then you will have adopted strategies of using text in the form of a title at the beginning and credits at the end of the video. If it is intended for a gallery audience as an installation then you may submit your piece as a continuous loop with a separate title panel, which states your name, the title and length of the piece for the wall.

RESEARCH FILE

Containing Project Proposal and Critical Self-evaluation (templates provided on Blackboard), and your visual references, critical references, notes and reflection on how your research informed the development of your piece, treatment, drawings or storyboards and logging sheets for sound and images in the form of a coherently edited workbook, binder, PDF on a memory stick or a Blog. (If you have produced a Blog please make sure to include the link with your submission).

We are interested in your reflections on the development of your ideas and why you chose to make specific decisions in the shooting, soundtrack and edit of the work. Consider the conceptual strengths, the coherence, realisation and the appropriateness of your strategies in the construction of the piece in relation to the audience and context.

You should include any thoughts and reflections developed from feedback received from tutors and your peers in the critical review.

CHOOSING A PATH

For the module Wall, Page, Screen; one of the 3 paths must be chosen and the module will change accordingly. Each route is different and within each you will have different workshops.

The syllabus content is as follows and depends on the chosen route:

General
• Scanning and preparation of photographic images for output.
• Image management and workflow
• Digital Compositing & Retouching

Wall
• Introduction to historical and contemporary conventions of photographic display and gallery 
installation
• Fine printing for exhibition (including archival, large scale, analogue and digital processes)
• Mounting & presentation - conventions and techniques

Page
• Introduction to conventions of magazine, book and publishing.
• Intellectual property rights, copyright laws.
• Page design and layout for print and electronic contexts.
• Introduction to fonts and basic typesetting.

Screen
• Screenings of a range of contemporary digital and video practices.
• Workshops in story boarding, editing, camera and sound recording.
• Video editing using Final Cut Pro.
• DVD authoring.

At first I was torn between Page and Screen, both teaching things that could potentially be new to me and also refresh things that I have done previously. I have no specific ideas relating to each at this current time and so the decision has to be made on the skill sets that I am most interested in learning within each route.

I have worked with books before and have had my own printed but actually the idea of book binding professionally is new to me. I'd love to be able to learn this skill along with the skills within the route of Screen. I have used Final Cut previously but it was quite a while ago and so would love to learn these skills again. But after much thinking about each potential project I have decided to opt for Screen. Although I'm not sure exactly sure what my film will consist of yet.