New Website

My new website is up and running! I will be updating that website, with my new blog and portfolio, at www.sarahfreelan.com

Material Studies Garment 2

My second garment in my alternative printing class is a two piece outfit with pictures from commonly known magazines we see everyday. The top has sport illustrated swimsuit covers, and the bottom is a collage of various magazines including cosmopolitan and women's health. These images include the text of what women are supposedly interested in, which apparently is only sex, men, and what our bodies look like.
The process was using Gum Arabic and Iron oxide as the pigment

Ratios

This week's studio assignment was shoot portraits with various ratios, 1:1, 2:1, 4:1, and 8:1, respectively
Austin Howard was my lovely model

Studio

Studio Photography is also one of the classes I'm taking this semester, these are some of the things I shot the first few weeks.
There are many things wrong with many of these images, however I believe I've been making progress!

Material Studies

This semester I'm taking a class dealing with alternative printing processes on various printing plans. My goal this semester is to make a four piece collection of various garments, printing processes and issues. The first garment could have gone better, uses xylene I attempted to transfer the snapchat images onto a dress, however they turned out fairly unreadable. 

 

Snapchat

My last project in Digital imaging was taking screenshots of snapchats unsolicited from men on tinder. This is a generation where for some reason men objectify themselves hoping women actually view them as sexual object. When really, they're just unwanted sexual images.

 
 

Catcalling Project

I'm doing a photo project that involves me dressing in what makes me happy and what makes me comfortable and then taking pictures of the men that hit on me, or cat call me. I've only been out shooting one day, but this is what I have.

I live in a world where I dress like this

And men like this

"Imma have to smoke a blunt and think about this"

And this 

"She's the hottest thing out here"

Address the man that I'm with to still degrade me 

If this is the world you're okay with, then you're part of the problem. Men see me as an object, and congratulate  the man that "has" me, out of respect for him, NOT respect for me.

Here's to a new life

Last Photo Projects

These were the last two photo projects I did for my photo class, and I'm really happy the way they turned out. I went around to local businesses both in Cleveland and Columbus and talked to the owners for a bit and got them to hand write a description of their business, and after all was collected, I learned the painstaking process of binding a book. So here are the videos!

Cleveland

Columbus 

Storyboarding project 2

This is my story boarding project that is obviously supposed to be a storyboard, but I feel like it works by itself.

Apologies if it looks terrible, my HD file is so large I can't even upload it to Vimeo. I should probably figure out a different way to export them.

Independent study Spring 2015

Instead of doing a thesis project, I'm looking to do an independent study on my idea, of which I really need to narrow down. Because while the violence in video games lighted this fire, I'm not sure I actually want to incorporate or how to use the comparing of the acceptance of violence and the acceptance of sex and nudity. We're in a strange society where public nudity is frowned upon and even wearing a crop top can get you labeled in a second, yet advertisements in magazines, on billboards and in teen stores, such as Hollister and Abercrombie are half naked men and women. 

Below are a couple articles that I need to read that my dad sent along to me that deal with comparing America's view on nudity compared to other countries. 

I feel like the bottom line, the striped down (no pun intended) message that I want to get across is that nudity and sex will always be a part of our society, or it will cease to exist, and the naked human body doesn't have to be so taboo. 

Or even the way sexually active women are perceived compared to sexually active men, this whole saying of the key and lock is bullshit, sexist, and ridiculous, and makes me more angry than the amount of violence accepted in video games. 

I really want to take a whole semester and narrow down and explore this issues, that very well might always be issues. 

http://www.diyphotography.net/boobies-privates-introducing-your-children-nude-photography-nsfw

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38107946/ns/travel-destination_travel/t/europeans-nudity-just-grin-bare-it#.UvwYWPldXTc

http://mtdremer.hubpages.com/hub/Americas-Fear-of-Sex-and-Nudity

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/11/why_is_public_nudity_illegal_the_offense_principle_the_bible_and_taboos.html

Thesis project

For some reason I keep finding myself in classes that are mostly juniors instead of sophomores, which has led me to thinking more and more about my thesis project. Although I tend more toward commerical photography, weather it be weddings or documentary, I think I want to go in a different direction for my thesis, which probably isn't what I'm supposed to do. I want to explore more, that's what art school is for after all, isn't it?

I started thinking about this idea when I was talking to Tyler. I was on a spree of asking random questions he never really knows the answer to, but he does his best to explain it to me. He was playing Call of Duty Ghosts on his new PS4 after Christmas and the extreme violence in this game is absurd, I mean truly. There are headshots, you're stabbing people in major arteries, up close and in very high definition, even though it's animated, its disturbing.

it is rated M for mature, which is equivalent to R for movies, you have to be 17 to buy this game and is suggested for those above 17 (but parents buy this game for their kids without even thinking about it).

So getting to the question, I asked Tyler if there was a rating above M, like NC-17 for movies, and there is, it's AO, or adults only so 18+, which I feel would discourage parents more for buying a game for they're children, or at least do a little more research. There are 26 games in the US rated AO, All of them for sexual content. There is only one game on that list that is AO solely for the fact of Violence and Gore, which has a release date that was cancelled however was created at a time where graphics were much worse, this is the more violent image I could find, and isn't half as bad as the recently released Mortal Kombat

Thrill Kill-Rated AO

Mortal Kombat 2011- Rated M

Getting to my main point, violence seems to be so much more widely accepted for the younger audience, but god forbid they see a nipple. 

I feel like violence should be taken considerably more seriously than nudity and sex. Violence doesn't have to exist, even though it probably will. But SEX, and the NAKED body will always exist as long as there are people. We're all naked under our clothes and most of us are a result of sex. Violence is so common place in video games, and especially games with multi-player, you know younger people are playing because there are boy who are on their headset whose voices haven't changed yet! and they're KILLING PEOPLE. If the argument for violence being okay in video games is that it's not real, then the same should be said for the human body and sex. It's not real either, so it's okay right?

I'm probably rambling at this point, but in a nutshell my idea for my thesis project is to take pictures of the naked body in everyday situations, where people expect to see you clothed, weather it be in a coffee shop, grocery shopping or just laying on the couch, where most people still wear some sort of clothing. This will probably require going to a nudist colony, because there are laws of public indecency, but I feel like this is important point to get across. I've already written this much about with doing minimal research, if I really took a whole semester to do research and execute this, it could be a really strong statement.

Music Video project

The next video project is a music video, now I was going to choose between better days, by Skanadian Bacon and 10 things by Paul Baribeau, but apparently better days isn't done yet...
So 10 things it is!
Now this is a fairly fast tempo song so I'm going to have to fit a lot of images into...1:53
but I can do it!
theses are the lyrics

name ten things you wanna do before you die and then go do them. 
name ten places you really wanna be before you die and then go to them
name ten books you wanna read before you die and then go read them
name ten songs you wanna hear again before you die, get all of your friends together and scream them

because right now all you have is time time time yeah, 
but someday that time will run out. 
that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about. 

think of all the things that are wrong with your life and then fix them
think of all the things that you love about your life, be thankful you are blessed with them
think of all the things that hold you back and realize that you don't need them
think of all the mistakes you have made in your life, make sure that you never repeat them

because right now all you have is time time time yeah, 
but someday that time will run out. 
that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about. 

name ten thousand reasons why you never wanna die, go and tell someone who might've forgotten
try to list the endless reasons why it's good to be alive, and then just smile for awhile about them

soon the sun will rise and another day will come 
soon enough the sun will set, another day will be gone

and right now all you have is time time time yeah, 
but someday that time will run out. 
that's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

So now I can start storyboarding and such, my problem is it's going to be hard to convey 10 places I want to go without going there...

I have the camera this weekend so hopefully I'll be able to get some footage together

it has to be extra good because it's below the time requirement, but my professor said it was okay as long as there's lots of time and effort put into it...so yayyy...

(hopefully) final product

https://vimeo.com/76575165

I don't know why vimeo won't let me in-bed it and I don't want to upload it to youtube...

Self portrait

First of all I LOATHE self portrait projects, how reflective are they really? it's how we perceive ourselves at that time, in that moment, the next year you could be a totally different person. How are you supposed to get across who you are in 4 pictures, or 5 minutes. Who we are is how, where, and when we were raised and how we took it. Even if your parents taught you to be an alcoholic, that doesn't mean you have to be one, if your parents were devout Catholics, that doesn't mean you end up one too. Who we are is years of decisions, hardships, and relationships. I never understand how we are supposed to get that across so quickly. My go to fun fact about me used to be I'm a vegetarian, fast, easy, few followup questions and that was that. But I can't make a video about that because I don't know any different.
Any way, I figure there's a few ways I can attempt to go about this.
1. Do a light hearted fun short clips trying to represent who I am or can be, I am daughter, a sister, a girlfriend, a student and an employee.
2. Do a documentary of myself, like pretend that someone is asking me questions but really just talk about myself. I would focus it on the most important decision in my life, so far. Which would be College. Which I know is an important decision for a lot of people. For me, choosing a college was choosing my career. I had a choice between going to art school to be a photographer, or go to engineering school. My whole academic career was focused on going on to be an engineer. I went to summer camps, I took advanced classes, I applied to more engineering schools and art schools. But this is where I ended up, I am very happy where I am, I am happy to be at CCAD and ecstatic to be pursuing my photography career, but you can't help what wonder what could have happened. Will I be successful even though I choose the riskier career? Would my boyfriend and I have stayed together? Would I be in less debt right now because woman engineer scholarships are handed out like crazy?
I think it's obvious by the explanation that the second option is better developed and something I can probably build 5 minutes on.

Update

I feel like I've been taking video constantly, but luckily it paid off
I think I'm done a week early! I'll probably watch it 20 thousand more times before I turn it in, but here's a first (hopefully final) draft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijRivu4XB-A&feature=youtu.be

Video 1

Well apparently I best organize my train of thought with a blog.
So kudos Design for Media
My video project is Time-base still life compositions, or slices of life
My one idea was going to be the monotony the life and just have simple moments that make up our lives, and the song was going to tie it together. Like "Little boxes" an upbeat song about the monotony of life.
I'm afraid that unless it's done amazingly like no one ever has, then it will be LAME
So I need another idea and I'm having trouble thinking of one, right now I'm just trying to gather footage while I have the camera out. I don't think that's the right way to go about it, I think I need a theme before I gather footage.
I think I've narrowed it down to two song
10 things by Paul Baribeau or
The best day by Atmosphere
10 things is a happier song, and I think I can really play off the lyrics
while the best day would kind of go with my first idea, only I could film bad things happen, not even bad necessarily, more annoyances or minor troubles.
We'll see how the weekends goes

Final Product

I also have it uploaded to vimeo, it was just taking longer to load. I ended up using the version from Bioshock because it was a different tone and I liked everything about it, really.
If I had more time, I probably would have filmed it a couple more hundreds times, I was having issues with positions, and even just flipping the papers sometimes, it was truly frustrating and I learned that you should also allot more time for filming than you think.
I had to change a few things, I took some images out and changed the phrases a little bit so they still made sense, because I wanted it to be shorter to fit just those first two verses of the song.
Overall I mostly liked how it turned out, I had to change where the song started so that it would end when I wanted it to, and if I had more time I probably would have experimented more with the lighting again.
I originally just had this done in windows movie maker, because I have a PC and I didn't feel the need to use a fancy program because all I really did was mute the audio track that was with the video and added a song, but then my computer died, sadly, Palmer had to tell me the bad news.
So to the library I went where I had to put it together again in iMovie, another...high tech...program.
I would really like to continue photographing abandoned places, just where ever I end up through travels and hopefully by my senior year I can come up with an angle on it to use it has my senior thesis.
I had a lot of fun with this project, and I feel like I've learned many things about stuff I didn't really know before, like filming, and the amount of takes it takes, and having to adjust your plans when something isn't there anymore. I also learned to always back up your files, because you never know when your hard drive can just crash apparently.


vimeo link
http://vimeo.com/65466967

rough draft

Here is my first attempt at the movie, I just added the version of the song from bioshock, just for placement/timing, I'm still waiting for Tyler's version.
My critques for the video, are the lighting, and obviously I need to make sure shorter, so the song lines up right
I'll probably film it again in more natural light and try to keep my shadow out of it, but this is my first draft

Printing

This is my proof I didn't just think about my nails all week.
I printed all my pictures and text, however did not get a chance to take video as some of my other projects fell apart. I will film as soon as possible because its kind of stressing me out I don't have it done yet. The section of I want to be sung is around 30 seconds, so I have to keep the time in there. Other than that I don't have much else of an update.