Breaking down the Brief & Research Material

I find that sometimes when I am writing, I lose track of the point I am trying to make, so its really important to me, that I understand the brief completely and break it down into a simplified version to follow easily, step by step of what I need to include and in what particular order.
Here you can see I have taken key important parts from the brief and highlighted parts I need to factor in first and make sure I understand what is expected.
I have included notes from the lecture that focused on the who, what, where, when and why. I found this very important to follow and benefited me to know what information I should include about the subject matter. It helped me develop a deeper understanding into the subject and made me more interested in my chosen subject for the essay as well as my major project.

This method showed that my chosen image, W magazine's fashion editorial 'spellbound', didn't have much, in fact very little, critical debate written about it, other than the fashion garments used and a tagline of 'falls bewitching fashion'. Due to this, I continued my search for something of similar theme but with much critical analysis, and came across Nick Knight's fashion series 'Aquelarre'. Knight has his own website, SHOWstudio, where he posts work as well as many other creatives, and writes about what happened, who was involved, where it took place, why they created the piece, and when it took place. With such a wealth of information, I found the research part very interesting and found out a lot of facts about witchcraft in history. This information benefits making my final major project brief more realistic, as I can take the information I have learnt and turn it into my unique portrayal with aspects taken from my research. Practitioners, books and websites that has been used and benefited my research for the essay and my major project research are:

• How to Write Better Essays - Bryan Greetham - I never directly used any quotes or anything in the essay. The book was used to help me understand how to structure the essay tighter combined with the notes and help provided by the tutors and handbook. 
• The Language of Film - Robert Edgar, John Marland, Steven Rawle - From this book, I took out direct quotes. I looked at the sections relevant to my essay, which was focusing on semiotics, music and sound. I found the information insightful and helpful to back up my argument and question.
• Audio, Vision, Sound on Screen - Michel Chion - I didn't end up using any direct quotes from this book. However, it did give me an insight into the relationship between sound and image. This helped set out further research into sound and how it separates film and photography on the greater impact of emotional response.  
• Sound Theory Sound Practice - Rick Altman - This book looked really technically at the relationship of sound in film. I didn't use any quotes, but I read very briefly, quotes included in the book to see what other people have described sound and its importance. Although I found it helpful, I didn't find it relevant to my argument enough to include in my essay. 
• Photography - Stephen Bull - I used direct quotes from this book and found it very beneficial and relevant to my argument on fashion photography and its point of creation. I used the section about 'photographs in fashion', and the way it is portrayed. I found this very useful and further backed up my point about the true purpose of fashion photography and what reaction it is trying to get from the viewer.
•  Image, Sound & Story - The Art of Telling in Film - Cherry Potter - I used direct quotes from this book. This book was the biggest influence used, backing up my argument on sound being the primary factor on emotional impact between video and photography. I used this in my conclusion and talked about the third dimension being created which creates a sort of reality between the viewer and the video. Photography works on visuals alone, so relies heavily on creating an emotion with subject matter, whereas film entices your attention with both sound and visuals. I found this book to be very interesting also, and has taught me new things about the importance of sound and now, have a greater appreciation for its impact. 
• The Roots of Witchcraft - Michael Harrison - I used direct quotes from this book, as well as developing further knowledge about the history of witches and the portrayal of the goat figure in both a good and dark light. It has taught me a lot about religious reign and how their dominance controlled people and their view of the unknown. It is easy to see how people thought it was unusual and evil and thus lead to rumours and prosecution. This book helped back up my historical understanding of the inspiration used by Knight from Wikipedia. It further explained the meaning of the video and the symbolism used to portray witchcraft. 
• An Illustrated History of Witchcraft - Peter Haining - I used this book to further back up the inspiration used by Knight on the portrayal of witch gatherings. I used direct quotes, explaining what the goat symbolised and understand what actually took place at the assemblies. It helped give a semiotic meaning on how Knight has used colours and props to represent aspects of the gatherings, in a surreal and haunting fashion. This helped me understand what potential meanings Knight was portraying, backed up by his foreword on the project.  
• http://showstudio.com/project/aquelarre - This is the website, in which I found the video in the first place. This is Knight's website, where practitioners in the fashion world, can come and display their projects and share them with other creatives for feedback and acknowledgement. His unique and interesting series mainly portraying the theme of witchcraft, caught my attention as it shares the same theme for my major project. Although it is focusing on a different act of witchcraft then I am, the haunted aspect and unusual technique I found to be fascinating and wanted to explore the project further, for the focus of this essay. After looking through all the videos in the series (14 in total), I picked a video, untitled, that takes inspiration from the Wikipedia page 'Akelarre (witchcraft)'. Knight spoke about how he feels photography can't convey emotion as effectively as moving image, which sparked my interest. I don't personally agree with this statement entirely, so my aim was to prove what differentiates them and what elements makes them different in creating an emotional impact. I took direct quotes from Knight for the essay, discussing his views on why he created the project and why he wanted to create something different from the usual fashion editorial. 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akelarre - I took direct quotes from this page, to allow the reader to understand where Knight drew his inspiration for the creation of his video. Knight used this as the theme for the styling and showed witchcraft in a satanic form. This is because 'Akelarre' was deemed by religious authority as a 'he goat' that comes to the gatherings as a physical form of the Devil. Heavy horror stories circulated and caused a multitude of deaths, with people accusing people of being a witch, especially if you attended a gathering in a succeeded woodland area. This helped develop further understanding of what Knight was considering when he was thinking about styling his video. 
• http://www.wmagazine.com/gallery/steven-meisel-enchanted-fashion-ss/all - This was my original chosen image I was going to analyse as the main piece for the essay. However, as there was not anything written about it, I decided to use it as a comparison to Knight's video on the portrayal of fashion photography and its creation on emotional reactions. Both share the theme of witchcraft, but are portraying them on the opposite ends of the spectrum; Knight's in a horror and Meisel's in a romantic way. Although they are portraying witchcraft differently, the principal on explaining why fashion editorials are created for a different aim then that of an effective emotional reaction, is important as an argument point on not all variations of photography can be ruled out on achieving an 'effective emotional punch', as Knight said. Little description of the editorial was quoted from the blog, http://fashioncow.com/2012/08/steven-meisel-calls-on-the-spirits-of-inspiration-in-spellbound-for-w-magazine/, to further describe the styling of the image. 
• http://www.inspectorinsight.com/semiotics/the-meaning-of-red-the-colour-of-passion/ - I used this web source with direct quotes taken to further back up the semiotic meaning of the colour red. This colour was the only one used in Knight's piece, so I used this to show potential meanings and symbolism. This plays a big part on creating mood and emotion, which works effectively in both photography and video, and further backed up my argument on creating emotions depending on how the art is portrayed and how it is used. 
• http://garagemag.com/cover-archive/ - Knight created the work to show case through 'augmented reality', a new media technique produced by Garage magazine. The series features front covers and most of its content to come to life, through the Garage magazine app. They collaborated with http://www.themill.com/millchannel/276/garage-magazine%27s-augmented-reality-app, a visual effects production company, based in London. Knight wanted to transform photography and make something different, and this new media platform fulfilled his desire. 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5V1o2G4xY0 - For a final comparison, I included a film excerpt, taken from The Crucible, specifically the witch gathering scene. It shows a group of women gathered around a pot on a fire, in a wooded area. They all bring natural herbs and throw them into the pot, casting a wish for their true love to be theirs. The witch doctor chants and the girls dance and laugh to her rhythm. One girl becomes to indulged in the ceremony and drinks the blood from the sacrifice, in return, the girls scream frantically and start to lose control as they scream, dance and take off their clothes, also being submerged by the moment. They see a figure approaching, a man from the village. They scream and run away, scared of the consequences of doing something which is unknown and 'unholy'. The scene was selected for having a similar approach to witch gatherings as Knight. It was also selected to show the impact sound has on gripping the viewer into the visuals, as the screams grow louder, the more panicked I felt, waiting for something sinister to happen. This is where I mentioned about 'the third dimension' and concluded my essay on sound being the extra key element to convey an effective emotional response to still imagery alone, whilst mentioning what the purpose of the image or video is created for. 

All of these books and websites, helped me have a further understanding on the impact of sound and helped me decide that I wanted to create a short video for my final major project. Although I did not agree with Knight's opinion of photography not being able to achieve a greater emotional impact as video does, I do however think it applies in terms of drawing fear. I think I will achieve a more fearful reaction from the viewer in my video, as I play on the use of sound and make sinister and surreal sounds to create tension and suspense in the viewer. With the book I'm creating, I want the images to be haunting and having a magical element to them, both of understanding the herbal woman wrongly accused of practicing and cursing the forest. They have helped enrich my own practice in understanding the facts and fiction of witchcraft and taking inspiration on styling, colours, composition, props, location and narrative structure. 

Research Materials - Changing ideas

Originally, I wanted to write my essay about my favourite photographer, Tim Walker. Analysing his image, 'Alice Gibb in spiders web, Englingham Hall, Northumberland, 2008' taken from his 2012 book 'Storyteller', I decided that I no longer wanted to use this image as the basis for my essay. This is because the theme of the image does not relate to my chosen concept for my final major project for PHVP 3409. I wanted it to be similar in style and research so it could strengthen my knowledge on witch history and gain ideas and inspiration based on composition and mise-en-scene for my video and photography projects. This image however, helped me practice critically analysing a photograph and investigating deeper into potential meanings. I compared my ideas with another student and it was an interesting exercise to see what someone else saw compared to my own thoughts. This helped through my essay, deconstructing the chosen video and speculating potential meanings whilst backing them up with facts and critical debate. 

I moved on, researching into witchcraft themed photography and came across fine art photographer, Alex Stoddard. In 2014, he created a series called 'tiny fluttering wings' that was about a witch luring a child into the woods and stealing her youth. I thought this was such a great concept and inspired me on colour, location, lighting and composition. Unfortunately, Stoddards work is not widely known and there is very little written about his work. To gain more knowledge and put in my research for 3409, I emailed Stoddard to ask about the project and he replied, giving me insight into what it was all about, what worked, what didn't and inspiration. As well as this, a short film was made to represent the photographic series with the same name, edited by Devin Schiro. He also emailed me back, telling me all about the project throughout production and how it never was finished which is why they didn't push it out for review. This series really inspired my research and styling and although it did not benefit my essay, it was a great discovery that inspired my own practice. 

I then decided to look more into fashion photography and the way they portray witchcraft. I chose this because I like how fashion can transform a theme and make it lavish and beautiful, engaging the audience to buy the product. It really works!! I found an editorial series in W magazine, photographed by renowned fashion photographer, Steven Meisel. The series, entitled 'Spellbound', for fall 2012. the image showed a group of witches gathering around a fire with a male goat leering over as if controlling the women in a trance. It really captivated my attention, and furthered my research into a greater historical background knowledge on witches, their activities and how religious authority at the time of the witch trails, convicted and prosecuted many people, especially women.

It also inspired my practice in composition, colour, location and the gloomy atmosphere. I took elements of both the horror side and the innocent nature in my own practice, whilst keeping my piece more realistic and periodically correct, as apposed to a fashion portrayal. I chose not to use this image as the focus for my critical essay, as there is little written about it critically, only from fashion blogs. I did however, use it as an example of witchcraft fashion photography in my essay, to show how it is portrayed in fashion editorials. Meisel, I found in my research, is known for never talking about his fashion editorial projects. This is because there is one aim and that is to sell the garments whilst displaying them in an exciting themed location and connecting the viewer with popular current fads. Witchcraft seems very popular in fashion, especially richer around halloween. It fades in and out of fashion but has been very popular since the 90's and remains to this day. another fashion portrayal of witchcraft was shown in the fall/winter 2007 runway of designer Alexander McQueen. 'A 45 ft inverted black pyramid suspended over a blood red pentagram, traced in black sand, set the stage for a collection that combined the religious persecution meted out by seventeenth-century Puritans with ancient Egyptian paganism', as stated on the V&A museum about the show. The collection was entitiled,  'In loving memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem, 1692'. This was because McQueen discovered his relative Elizabeth Howe was tried and convicted during the witch trails in 1692 and this fascinated and inspired him to create and dedicate a collection to witchcraft. 

I was going to use this as an extra argument factor as how witchcraft is portrayed in fashion. As this is a live show, and the runway is to showcase the witchcraft inspired clothing, the imagery for it is a typical runway snap to see the outfit. However, there was a video playing overhead, with cryptic sounds and whispers, haunting the atmosphere and creating the tension of magic and evil. This created such a captivating enticement to his collection, as the viewer is engaged by the theme and understanding the lust for the magical world even though it was such a taboo subject. As my research developed, I didn't use this as part of my essay argument. I didn't have enough space to use it, as well as the other portrayals I used to back up my reason and answer the question within the word count. However, this did benefit my research for my PHVP 3409 module, as it helped give me inspiration styling, the cryptic sounds and unusual display of exhibition.
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I watched the film 'The Crucible', 1996, and took inspiration from the scene where the women come together in the woods to give offering to the witch to create a love potion to attract their desired man. This portrayal of witch gatherings, shows the historical setting of the witch trail era in 1692, Salem. It gave me greater inspiration in understanding how religious authority at the time ruled and banished any acts that were considered unholy and branded as 'worshipping the devil'. This included women dancing naked in a forest and gathering together, making any potions and herbal remedies. Wise women who practiced with these mixtures, were considered a witch, accusing them of making potions of evil result and cursing villagers, cattle and crop. This film heavily inspired both my research and development for my critical essay and final major project, in developing a further understanding of witchcraft accusations and prosecutions. As well as this, I took inspiration on costume, location, props and language to make my piece periodically correct as much as possible.

It helped my critical essay argument, in understanding the difference between film and photography and how it entices the audience in on an emotional level. With further research and back up from sound theory books in film, it helped me determine the key elements that divide the media platforms and how this works differently through stills and video, with sound being a primary factor. I learnt through this, the 'third dimension', where Ingmar Bergman suggests the primary factor is the image, the secondary factor is the sound, and both of them together creates the third dimension. He is referring to how film creates another world, that the audience can familiarise with and captivate them in, as if it was a real life situation in a new time and space. I found this research very fascinating and incredibly helpful in developing my own practice. I am creating a video for my final major project, as well as a series of images that will be presented in a book. This research of the importance of sound on an emotional impact and connection with the viewer is what I found inspiring, as I want to create a horror, and to achieve the fear factor I now have a new found appreciation for the significance of sound (though I already knew how important it was!).

I finally came across a series called, Aquelarre, by fashion photographer, Nick Knight. This series instantly caught my attention, as their was rich context about how and why it was created and the aims and understanding of why he wanted to come away from doing the usual beauty driven fashion editorial, and create something unnerving and surreal which he is not used to making. My question arose from when reading Knight's synopsis of the project, where he mentioned that photography is not as effective when aiming for an emotional punch from the audience. I disagree with this statement, because I believe the emotional impact stems from the purpose and content of the image on how it will make you feel. For example, documentary photography aims to make you feel emotionally connected with the image, as the viewer can understand what the circumstance is and know that it has happened in real life. Fashion photography does not aim to make the audience emotionally aware, as it aims to sell the product. So, in this sense Knight's statement in my opinion is false, as it seems, he didn't take into account the many styles of photography and their purpose of emotional response. However, I do agree with the power of video creates the fear factor that I want to create with the theme of witchcraft, that my still imagery won't capture. I think this is because the power of sound is timed to create suspense and this impacts and heightens more then one sense like my book would not achieve in that emotional reaction. Although Knight's piece is not exploring the same area of witchcraft as my project for 3409, the way in which his video has been edited and the sound used has been very inspirational to my own practice and helped inform and enrich my research and development. As well as this, the composition, styling and where he drew inspiration from has helped my research into witchcraft history and enabled me to discover further about the accusations and convictions of being accused as a witch. This is what my final piece is about, so the research that helped inform my essay has strengthened my piece and investigate into folk tales and real history which has benefited my project in both aspects of understanding my chosen subject in detail and applying that information into my own practice and unique portrayal of witchcraft.

Collecting Ideas

The focus for this critical essay has changed a few times when trying to find a practitioner with a substantial amount critical debate about.

At first i looked at Tim Walker, as his style of work is very creative and fantasy themed which is what I'm most interested in. As previously shown in my research, i looked at an image taken from his photo book series Storyteller. The image had the right elements in terms of lighting, styling and location but it didn't fit in with the theme i have chosen for major project. 

For my major project i have chosen to base it on Witchcraft. I have always had a great interest in witches and the way they were convicted and tested and i want to create my own fictional story with elements of history and tales of witchcraft around the 1500/1600's. 

I then looked at fine art photographer, Alex Stoddard. He created a series called, Tiny Fluttering Wings, which is a fantasy piece taking elements of witches and the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood. I love the piece as it is beautifully shot, the composition of the images are eye catching and the colour palette is moody yet hazy. With the bold colour of red in the costume, it symbolises danger to me, creating a sense of fear and suspense. Because i am already familiar with the fairytale story it draws inspiration from, I'm already in a sense of understanding the semiotics within the series. I think this works out well in his favour because his reimagined version is new and combines old stories together, making it exciting to see if it is different and has originality. This series worked perfectly with my chosen theme. Alongside the photographic project, Stoddard collaborated with cinematographer, Devin Schiro. They created a short art film, like an introductory piece to the images. This was an amazing discovery because for my final major project i want to create a picture series with a short introduction video. However, Stoddard doesn't have a critical amount of debate about his work, as he is still up and coming in the photographic world. I was able to find out primary information from both Stoddard and Schiro but there was not any critical debate other then student blog posts. 

After coming to a bit of a holt with what direction i should take, i started looking at some inspiration i had collected for my major project research. One in particular was an image taken for W Magazine's 2012 issue, Spellbound photographed by fashion photographer Steven Meisel.  I started looking at what the potential meaning behind the image was and if there was any debate on it but no results showed. Meisel is renowned for not talking about his work so i started looking at alternative routes. I found out who the set designer was on the shoot and emailed her in the hope she would tell me more about the series. She got back to me and told me more about the inspiration behind the piece and so in response to this new primary information, i decided to find something else to be the main focus of the essay and use this image as a comparison, relevant to the argument I'm trying to make. 

I then continued my search, looking at fashion photographers who use witchcraft as their theme. I came across an article online about fashion designer, Alexander Mcqueen, who created a set in fall/winter 2007 entitled, In Memory of Elizabeth Howe, Salem 1692. What i found really interesting about this media platform of portraying witchcraft was it was all about the costume and the runway set up to captivate the audience. The runway was in the shape of a pentagram, where the girls walked in the lines showcasing his . Above in a three dimensional triangle, playing a surreal video of three girls with eery music playing causing a sense of suspense and power. Again, like the Meisel image, i wanted to use this as another argument point on a different media platform that uses witchcraft as its theme. I wanted to include this as how fashion portrays witchcraft and what kind of reaction this form of media receives from the audience. 

From looking at the Mcqueen research, it led me in the direction of fashion photographer Nick Knight. In a great turn of events, i discovered that Knight has created a witch themed mini series called Aquellarre. This really sparked my attention as Knight has a substantial amount of information about himself as a practitioner and this project is shown on his website, SHOWstudio which tells me all about the project: inspiration, collaborators, location, the client and where it has been showcased. This is a really interesting piece to focus my essay on because it has a lot of depth to talk about and i have similar work to argue the ways in which paganism and witchcraft is portrayed in fashion lens based media platforms. 

Inspiration - Tim Walker

Tim Walker - 'Alice Gibb in spiders web, Englingham Hall, Northumberland, 2008'.

This image comes from British fashion photographer, Tim Walker from his published book, 'Story teller, 2012'. This image was chosen because it relates to the chosen theme i want to create for 3409 based on the theme of 'witches'. The dark beauty look of the image inspires me for its use of lighting, styling and location.

"As a photographer, I work on a scale. It is as if there is a sort of bell and some pictures will ring that bell louder than others. I think all the pictures in the Story Teller exhibition are pictures that have always instinctively been valuable to me for one reason or another. They really hit something personally for me. If someone else was going to curate a show of pictures I’ve taken in the last five years they might not choose these – but, for me, this is it." - Tim Walker, on his work 'Storyteller'.

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I notice that: 

- The lighting is used to create a misty effect, making the image feel 'moody' and 'haunting'. 

- Her expression is calm and confident, like she has created the web like a black widow spider, representation 

- Mysterious and dark beauty-esque, leaves the viewers imagination to create a story

That suggests to me:

- To create this image, location, costume, styling and props were carefully considered to give it the right look; to show the fashion, creative set up and imaginative theme. 

- Combining the 'horror', 'haunted' feel with 'dark beauty', brings fear and beauty together, making the image very interesting to look at

I see it that way because:

- It is the type of photography i really enjoy to look at and practice, it combines the elements of imaginative themes and dark beauty that is the area i find the most interesting

- It creates a 'magical' and 'mystical' feel of make believe, whilst combining real objects in an unusual situation, over exaggerated and a big, extravagant idea. 

- Adding autumn colours to the image, breaking up the blacks creates a 'halloween-esque' 'witchy' essence, which is why i chose the image because it has similar style and has added inspiration for the choice of theme for my final major project. 

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Working with a partner - Katherine Bramall -Getting another persons opinion on the image

Kat noticed that:

- The image is 'dark and eerie' yet delicate. Reminds her of a ballerina, the way her hands and feet are positioned. 

- Comparison to the film 'Coraline' of the character 'the other mother', not afraid of her surroundings, like it is her creation and in control 

- Compared to styling of the renaissance period, 'old fashioned' historically beautiful 

This suggests to Kat: 

- That the image has a 'twisted' style, horror-esque
- It makes her feel calming yet unnerving, with its haunted style but the models expression and body language makes her look in control
- We agreed this made the model look like a black widow spider because of her confident and calm posture, luring in the viewer

Kat sees it this way because:
- The lighting; first thing she noticed was how the web stood out as the lights were positioned on either side of the model draping through the web and creating a mystified effect over her. 
- The colours were eye catching even though they were 'drained' and dull, from her hair and tights. this breaks up the dark shades in the image and makes the fashion 'pop'.

Image research - Alex Stoddard

Alex Stoddard 'Tiny fluttering wings, 2014'

This image comes from American fine art photographer, Alex Stoddard and taken from the series 'Tiny fluttering wings', 2014. I chose this image because i thought it fit so well around my chosen theme of witches. I found this image a while ago on Pinterest, but only recently discovered it was created by Stoddard, leading me to view the series and other projects he has created. His style and themes are creative and eye catching, very inspirational to the type of portrait photography i want to develop for my final project. 

I have selected this image out of the series because it reminds me of the film 'Hocus Pocus', where three witches lure in young children with a song, so they can breathe in their youth and make them young again. This is one of the myths associated with witches, which is fantasised in some horror films themed around them. I find the image allows your imagination to create a story and ask questions about what might happen next, or how did the young girl slip into the unseen woman's clutches? 

I really like the mystery element of the image, by not seeing the woman's face, the viewer is left to wonder what she might look like? Her hands are wrinkled and nails over grown, gives the illusion that she is 'creepy' and has a sinister motive. The gentle, cradling position of her hands speaks to me that she is possessive of the girl, by making her believe she is in 'safe hands' and not to be alarmed by her appearance. This to me makes the image seem both 'dreamy' and 'scary', showing how she has allowed the woman to control her and put her in a place of security, so that what may come next, she won't scream of show any fear, but simply fade away. 

The lighting, costume and over all styling of the image has been carefully considered to achieve the 'horror-esque' look. The old victorian style dress the young girl is wearing sets a time period for the viewer. I think that by the styling of the image, it sets more of an emotional connection with the audience. In my opinion, when things are styled in old fashioned times, it makes me think of how people didn't see the dangers in life as much as we do today. However, when they did sense that something was out of the ordinary or strange, the reaction and punishment was far worse and potentially fatal. 

I think his conceptual theme creates a surreal feel to the image, making it stand out in a league of its own and capture my attention whilst inspiring me on how to get the right look i am trying to achieve in my own project. 

As well as my own interpretation of the image, i did some research on other people who has analysed it and see what they think about it. I came across a blogger, 'spec3photographytenillea' - Tumblr blog, who has a very interesting view on what he thinks about the series. 
"These photos seem to me like they could be stills from a movie and I really love that movie-like quality. Some of them are scary, moody, beautiful; I get lots of feelings from these photographs. I also like the quality of the blacks and the sharpness of his images. On the other hand, I also like the blurrier photographs because I think they feel very dream-like so they are a nice contrast to the more realistic, movie-like photos." 
"Stoddard also creates stories with his photographs, which I enjoyed looking at for my own project. My favourite is ‘Tiny Fluttering Wings’, I love it because it’s creepy and unsettling; the woman in this story reminds me of the movie 'The Woman In Black’ and I loved that movie for the same reasons." 

I thought that the comparison to the 'woman in black' was really accurate, i didn't think of it before because i was stuck in the 'witch' theme. The woman in black used to steal children away because her son was taken away from her in life, so she came back to haunt the place that she cursed and if any one was to see her, a child would die. I think thats a similar idea with witches stealing the youth of children, taking souls for personal gain. I agree with his thoughts on his images looking like movie stills also, thats a great thing i noticed Stoddard does, creating a story with his images and opening up the imagination, so a film could easily be made from his concepts. 

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Whilst researching into the project to see if i could find any information about Stoddards reason for creating this project and chosen theme, i came across a collaboration with cinematographer, Devin Schiro, who has made a short film on these images. I thought this was a great discovery as it is exactly how i want to portray my final images, by making a short promotional video piece as an introduction into the story sequence of the images. 

https://vimeo.com/97131240 "Tiny Fluttering Wings - An incomplete fairytale". 

Above are screen caps taken from the short film, 'Tiny fluttering wings', directed by Alex stoddard and cinematography by Devin Schiro. Whilst watching this short piece, a whole new meaning behind the images has been revealed. As it begins, we can see a girl walking happily through a corn field, holding a basket. Now, instead of thinking about witches like i originally did looking at the images alone, its apparent that elements from the fairytale story, 'Little red riding hood' has been reimagined and a whole new story has been created from it. The red dress symbolising the red hooded cloak, semiotics suggesting the colour red means danger. As she continues her journey, you can see she has sensed a feeling of being watched, as she slowly enters the forest. When she is deep in the woods she notices an illuminated area, where she wonders over. At this point we are introduced to another character, a wrinkled hand comes from behind a tree and we can see the scary face of woman, lurking in the shadows as she spots the young girl. The young girl notices the woman, and frozen she drops her basket. The woman comes over and touches the girls face and the shots become blurry and drained of colour suggesting she is taking the young girls youth, going back to my first theory. 

What i find most interesting about this video piece, is how Stoddard has mixed certain fairytale and folk-tale stories and combined them to create a new one. The sound in the piece is really engaging, as it grows more eerie as she gets deeper in the woods and closer to the witch like woman. I like the use of whispering voices as the woman touches her face and blurs out of focus, allowing the viewer to imagine what is happening without being physically told to us. 
The use of lighting as well, going from light to dark lets the audience know straight away that something sinister is around the corner as the music grows more intense as she walks into the darkness. All the elements of the piece, make it engaging and exciting, a reaction i hope to achieve with my final piece. I love the intensity of the sounds and whispers, as in my piece, i don't want any narration either, leaving it up to the viewer to create their own story before learning what its all about.