stop motion reflection

this project was hard for me because it required me to work in a group. i think that it was good for everyone involved though, because it gave us a chance to get to know each other and learn to work together.
i think that during the making of the video, we were a little disorganized and there were plenty of conflicts, but most were resolved in the end and i am happy with the result. i believe that we acurately conveyed the emotions sarah and claressa had in mind when they came up with the story. i think that if we had been able to spend more time editing, the final video would have been able to convey the emotions behind it (loneliness, confusion and finally happiness and belonging) much better.
i am satisfied with our group's video and i feel that it helped me learn more about my classmates and how working with other people in a professional environment might be like.

summer reading editorial (the picture of dorian gray)

for this assignment we were told to interpret our book from the summer reading into a photograph. i chose to photograph the scene of "the picture of dorian gray" by oscar wilde where dorian recieves news of his fiance, sibyl vane's, suicide (the note and the newspaper clipping) and the mysterious "yellow book". this event is an important point in the plot because it is when dorian finally realizes that his portrait has begun to change to reflect his sin; he had been cruel to sibyl the night before, causing her to take her life. the yellow book, given to him by lord henry, corrupts dorian thoughout the book, fueling his mad desire for beauty and pleasure; "dorian gray had been poisoned by a book. there were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could relaize his conception of the beautiful." (pp. 107)
i wanted the yellow book and newspaper clipping to be the main focus in the picture, which i achieved by placing them on a point of interest. the bright color of the book, contrasting with the slightly duller colors in the background, also draws the eye to it. the eye is also drawn to the newspaper clipping despite its neutral color because of the red in it, which isn't repeated in the photograph, and because it is surrounded by the bright yellow of the book.
in this photograph, i am trying to convey the idea that simple objects, such as books and newspaper clippings, can have profound effects on a person's life. to truly understand the concept behind this picture, the audience would have had to have read "the picture of dorian gray" which, in my opinion, is a setback because i would like my audience to be able to understand the work just be seeing it.
this picture was taken indoors, but i wasn't able to get the lighting effect that i wanted. i am satisfied with the composition of the picture, but i know that there is a lot about photography that i need to learn.

fun facts!
- the yellow book in the photo is a collection of "curious george" stories
- the newspaper clipping is really about kloe kardashian