Journey Through Town

I set myself the task of creating a journey through town and documenting my observations of telling details through photography and film. I wanted to replicate the work of Jonathan Hodgson and Sally Waterman, two practitioners whose work on observation and distraction inspired me. On the first half of my journey, from my car to the hairdressers I focused on still imagery, capturing any objects/signs/people/behaviours that caught my eye. On the journey from the hairdressers, back to the car, I decided to try and replicate the work of Hodgson and film myself walking along the road, whilst trying to capture my observations on camera.

Once I got home and uploaded my images/footage I decided to go through my observations and comment on how, where and what style of animation I could add to the footage and make any notes on areas of improvement and what i could do differently to ensure a more successful shoot next time.

This sign caught my eye, as I found the inclusion of a weight lifting man a rather interesting choice of art in the advertising of a chocolate shop. In terms of animation I feel there is a possibility to bring the man to life and have him working out with the dumb bell and possibly point you in the direction of the shop with his spare arm.

The amount of empty, abandoned shops within Brighton slightly surprised me and I feel the dingy, gloomy-ness of this window works as a metaphor towards the gradual decline in high street stores. I would comment on the isolated and eerie feel of the shop to draw attention to this problem that goes unnoticed by many on a daily basis. 

This image is one of my favourites from the day. It is not often that you see a traditional book store which pleased me, especially after seeing the numerous shut down and empty high street shops. There is a lot that could be done on a animation side to this image. Books could pop up and move around, running on top of each other, jumping around in a fight for attention from passers by. Text (the title or author of the books) could bounce around, fall to the floor, expand and increase in size, again as a way of fighting for the attention of the potential customer passing by.

I have always found this an amusing name for a shop, I suppose that's the child in me, so I felt it deserved a snap. I feel this image has a lot of promise in terms of animation. The building could be illustrated and turned into a 'fat face'. The bottom two windows could personify eyes, whilst the top window could personify a mouth.  

This shop window decoration interested me as I feel it is a creative and playful way to showcase objects that are not traditionally that interesting, i.e coffee mugs. I feel you could also be playful with the animation. The subject could momentarily pause and stare at the cups/mugs moving up and down like puppets on a string.

This shop window caught my eye as I felt the manikins looked remarkably realistic in their stance. To enhance this idea it would be interesting to animate the manikins to come alive, interact with one another, swap positions, pieces of clothing or wave/ talk to the subject.

I took this photo as I found it interesting how the mind automatically pictures an object when they read it in word form. As soon as I saw this sign I instantly pictured a roaring tiger in my mind and I felt this would be a playful animation to include to enhance the idea of the unconscious mind speaking.

This is just a clever way of advertising that the shop is to let. Rather than just using the traditional, visually unappealing, boring 'to let' sign, this shop has been more creative in its advertising, which will consequently a lot more attention from passers by. In terms of animation, the umbrella could rise and carry the bag up and out of the top of the window. Or alternatively the subject could grab the umbrella as he walks passed and use it if it was raining or shake off the water drops and pack it away in his pocket in case it rains at some point within his/her journey.

This image caught my attention as it is a direct similarity to a shot from Hodgson's work of a member of society protecting a car parking space. Similar to Hodgson I would comment on the notion of the protection/marking of territory and hallowed ground.

Again, this shop window reminded me dramatically of the shop window in Hodgson's work. I feel the amount of movement depicted in the still shots could be extremely fun to play with in terms of animation. Balls could bounce along the window pain, onto the floor and kicked away by the subject or one of the racing dogs/horses could run across the shop window, chasing the subject as he walks passed.

Cute watering cans that plays on the childhood myth the pigs can't fly. It would be a fun, playful, childish animation to bring the pigs to life and have them flying around or attempting to fly.

I found this quite an odd name for a florist. The juxtaposition between the danger and evil that is associated with 'guns' to the delicacy of the flowers is something I would like to play on. Tying in with the nostalgia of childhood, I feel I could include illustration, imitation clown guns that shoot flowers rather than bullets.

This advert already includes illustration, which would make it an easy image to animate. The hand could start moving, watch ticking louder and louder to suggest the subject is in a rush or the money could start falling out of the shop window onto the floor of the street in front of the subjects feet.

Candy shops again aid the nostalgia of childhood. Everyone has that inner child in them that's mind gets attracted by the brightness and playfulness of toy/sweet shops. The swirling candy lollies could start spinning , causing the subject to become slightly hallucinated/capture by the sweets momentarily. This would enhance and play on the notion of the inner child within everyone.

Journey Home

‘Journey Home’ is another interesting way of visually portraying a day to day journey that otherwise seems the norm and dreary for the subject. Journey Home is "a visual diary of a series of ritualistic journeys made over a five month period between London Waterloo station and Ryde Pier Head on the Isle of Wight, drawing upon Waterman’s experience of living in both urban and rural environments and the tension between how these two cross cultures is explored and represented by the transitional time and space of her monthly journey home to visit her family.

Whilst the destinations and paths of each journey are similar, each one is a unique, individual experience. Although a sense of routine is omnipresent - with recurring images linking all the journeys together - different exterior elements are constantly changing; the weather, the people around her, her mood, the things she notices out of the carriage window, the book she is reading and the clothes she is wearing. As time passes and the seasons change, the passing scenery beyond the window seems to disappear as autumn approaches. When this occurs the images begin to focus more upon the interior of the train carriage itself, her fellow passengers, the ghostly reflections in the window and the fleeting illuminated station platforms".

This project by Waterman also ties in with the notion of the conscious and sub-conscious mind. When we religiously make the same journey our mind tends to switch off as we become comfortable within the environment we are travelling in. However, by doing so the observations we make become blurred, almost non-existent as our minds feel that we do not need to be aware of the now so familiar surroundings. This is often the case for most individuals within their day to day tasks/journeys and I feel this is why a lot of my friends do not notice things that go on around them. I want to examine and play on my skill that my mind seems to be aware a lot more of the time and does not seem to fall into this state of sub conscious viewing. Therefore, I have set myself the task of recording via photos, sketches, notes my journey walking through town, walking through the university campus and the car journey from home to university. I will then gather, analyse and compare my findings and see if I have a basis to form a project or whether a more vigorous, detailed documentation is needed.

Passing Through

"Passing Through" by Sally Waterman is a video that traces the artists journey on a bus through West End London. However, Sally then superimposes this with footage shot out of a train window leaving Waterloo station. By doing this Sally creates a fluid, fast paced, chaotic visual that is seen to represent the multiple perspectives of city life. Sally juxtaposes the chaotic environment of central London to the rural, somewhat peaceful environment that is viewed once you escape from the city centre. 

"The incessant movement of the abstract shapes and colours of the rapidly fleeting traffic and pedestrian activity, ends with the unexpected appearance of distorted, passing trees from the over layered train journey that seem somewhat out of place, yet competes for attention against the dominating street scape, creating a kind of dichotomy between these urban and rural environments, revealing the artist’s inner longing for escapism from her ritualistic city commute." 

The portrayal of a dichotomy between urban and rural environments interested me as it is what I observe and often feel whilst living in Brighton. The general perspective of Brighton focuses around the busy tourist town full of flashing lights, the pier, unlimited shopping and being a party capital full of youth and exuberance. However, from the first hand experience of living in Brighton I have learnt that it is actually rather rural. Just fifteen minutes from the sea front is our University campus which is extremely green and surrounded by the vast Sussex downs. Similar to Waterman's work, I feel that this juxtaposition could make for a very interesting and visual account of the differing environments that surround Brighton that often go unrecognised by many. 



Passing Through, 2005 (Clip) from Sally Waterman on Vimeo.

From beginning to end...

To incorporate the idea of observation and distraction I felt the best thing to do was to base my research around the idea of a journey. During a journey from A to B how many objects/signs/distractions/odd behaviours do we notice ? Do they register into our thoughts or do we just merely notice them? The idea of the conscious and sub conscious viewing is something I have always been interested in and I feel this subject would provide a good base for my project.

My research led me to an animation by Jonathan Hodgson found on vimeo. The video animation is footage of the journey from home to work, as seen through the filter of the conscious and sub conscious mind.



Feeling My Way from Jonathan Hodgson on Vimeo.

This piece of work is hugely inspiring for myself as it focuses on very similar aspects of the conscious and sub conscious mind that I am keen to focus on. Being a very observant individual I feel I notice a lot of minute/ telling details whilst in a social environment that a lot of my friends do not and I am keen to look into and experiment with this skill.

Below I have picked out pieces of the video that interested/attracted me or techniques/ideas that I feel could be useful to experiment with and potentially incorporate into my project.

• Video footage of the first persons feet walking along the road. Creates a first person perspective for the viewer.
• Hand drawn, illustrated map of the area the subject is walking. Simply drawn map but adds a creative and opposing visual element to the journey.
• Handwritten words/observations.
• Illustrated shadow as he walks up the stairs. Adds to the visual aesthetics of the video.
• The combination of illustration over the video background provides an interesting visual juxtaposition of the real and animated world. 
• Commenting on the attire/ behaviour/ appearance of people that walk passed. I do this a lot and I like the idea of physically providing the thoughts that are normally contained solely within the mind.
• As he walks passed the betting shop, the illustrated movement of the shop window provides visual entertainment. 
• Use of background noise (foot steps, cars, rustling, animals) keeps the footage interesting and the viewer engaged. Also maintains the notion of the first person perspective and ensures the viewer feels that they are within the footage.
• Insertion of noises to enhance an observation. Rattling bins, telephone ring etc.

Think it. Post it.

Getting my hands dirty

I felt it was time to get going and give myself a direction to go off and experiment and play with over the next week ahead of the week 4 workshop. Although I can not say that I have fully decided upon an idea, I managed to brainstorm glimpses of themes/ideas that gave me enough to go away and experiment on. I wouldn't know how I felt about an idea until I physically got my hands on it, so after consultation with my tutor I decided to go off and document/play with the following;

• Observation-Procrastination-Distraction
• Telling details
• Experience of a journey-noticeable objects
• Collecting objects-Flyers-stickers-leaves-rubbish

I would do this by documenting my observations in the form of photography, note taking and sketching and then combining the results together to see if a form of narrative or possible opportunities for animation could be produced. 

Research Research Research

I spent a day web browsing, searching different types and styles of animation that caught my eye or interested me in the hope of finding a style, theme or concept that would inspire my project.

From previous years of work, I have developed a strong interest in stop motion photography and thoroughly enjoy the fluidity and freedom you can have whilst experimenting with stop motion. Below are a few examples of work that interested me...


Photobooth Diary from Jonathan Hodgson on Vimeo.

Hodgson created this piece of work by compiling together photographs taken once a week for the period of two years in a local Woolworth's photobooth. Although it is such a simple idea, merely the repetition of similar images provides an interesting synergy that captures the attention of the audience well.



This stop motion interested me as it played with the juxtaposition of the newest phone technology (an iphone) and presented it in cardboard form. I find that contrasts to the norm of what we are use to seeing work effectively in capturing the attention of the audience. However, although I found this interesting to watch, I feel as a project it would have no real substance to it.


Although I have a keen interest in stop motion photography, I have come to the conclusion that it is often hard to think of an interesting topic of why you are producing the work. There were many stop motion animations that I enjoyed watching but at the end questioned the point or reason for the video. Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, I feel I would like my work to act as a metaphor for a problem/issue/subject within society that I have a personal connection to. I feel this would help me become embedded within the project and consequently ensure I put the most in and get the most out of the project.

Capturing Movement

Etienne Jules Marey:

Etienne Jules Marey was a French physiologist (a scientist who studies the functions of the body), who was inspired by Muybridge's work to think of new ways of studying movement through photography. He had the same problem as Muybridge, though - the glass plates used for taking photographs at this point could not be changed quickly, so fast movements could not be captured easily.

Marey came up with two solutions. The first was to take multiple images on the same plate, so that all the movement could be analysed on the same print. This worked well for images with a movement along the plate, but less well for more static images. You can see that here: the man jumping over the chair shows the movement well, but the picture of the fencer is less easy to break 

down into the different movements of the subject.

Marey was the forerunner for capturing movement within photography. He discovered ways in which 

to record several phases of movement within one image.

Chronophotographe:

Marey's chronophotographe gun was created in 1882 and was used to effectively capture movement within one image. The gun had the capabilities to capture 12 consecutive frames per second, with all of the frames being recorded upon one picture. This result of this is shown above in which the movement of the man jumping over the chair seems slow motion.

The visual effect that is created via this use of photography interests me and I feel it is extremely successful in capturing the eye of the viewer. It would be interesting to try and incorporate this technique of movement into an animation as I feel the trail of movement would look slightly ghostly and eerie within an animation rather than on a still print. 

Ideas. Use stop motion photography to capture the movement of...

The journey of a free runner, leaping from building to building/ wall to wall. 

The trail of domino's or a another object consecutively falling over. Possibly chasing a running animated character who is fleeing a scene ? (Slightly Hollywood but could be exciting).

How people react to a physical space- Routine of someone waking up, getting out of bed, making the bed, getting ready, looking in mirror etc. (Would be more interesting if the figure was invisible and you just saw everything in the room moving/ coming to life). Think Toy Story.

A subject in their room/cafe interacting with a range of different media all at the same time. Which media takes priority, how the media objects react to being ignored/given attention. I feel this is an interesting idea, as with todays society a range of different media is constantly being produced/ updated, which causes the user to dump his old equipment and replace with the new, best, coolest product. I feel it could be interesting to personify the objects and give them 'emotions' that differ depending on the attention/ lack of attention they are given or what features they have to show off and highlight in order to gain attention from their user. Toy Story is also a good example of this idea, in how the protagonists toys are personified and react differently to one another depending on the attention they receive from their owner.