PROJECT: tree research

As part of my research I look at trees, because of the symbolism of a family tree. What I found was very interesting seeing as trees are very symbolic of many things. In history trees are symbolic of many things, good and evil, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Relating to family, trees also symbolise growth and life. I interpreted this in my own way, by believing that the growth of a tree can mean the growth of a family, growing together as a closer family. It also can show the circle of life in the way that new family members are born- the seeds of a tree, whilst others pass away- the leaves falling off the tree. i also found that individual trees represent different symbols. Holly for example meaning holy is a very religious symbolism associated with death and rebirth, it implies holiness and in connection with the family, it is said to help people who are suffering from the loss of a loved one. The oak tree represents courage, strength and fulfilment. The apple tree embodies youth, beauty and happiness and the palm tree is said to symbolize peace and opportunity. I found that trees can be symbolic in many ways yet trees are also apparent in common metaphors such as the Tree of Life and our ancestral heritage depicted in family trees.

PROJECT: final piece: my movie

For my final project I chose to create a movie and then paint a canvas to support my movie. Windows Movie Maker was the editing software I decided to use as it was relatively easy to use and contained many features. I liked the idea of a movie maker because there are plenty of effects that you can use such as transitions, titles/credits, and timeline narration, in addition to being able to add your own music.

The idea I wanted to portray was mainly family happiness and home as my sense of place. Seeing as my happiest memories were from childhood, I decided to make a movie from my old family video, and started rummaging through all my DVD’s from my childhood. The next step was very time consuming as I had to download all the videos I wanted onto my computer seeing as when I took the DVD out of the computer my videos disappeared. Movie maker wasn’t much use either when it came to selecting the best parts of that video I wanted to include in my movie. In order to pick the part of the video I wanted I had to edit it, however I had to scan through the whole video and then edit according to the seconds, which was difficult and a great deal of effort . After selecting my favourite memories, which included Christmases, birthdays, and family members, I began adding effects to my movie.

The first thing I wanted to do was add music and try and fit the music around my movie. Adding music was simple enough and I chose ‘John Mayer- daughters’ to start the movie as it was slow and quite an emotional song, and then ‘Daughtry-Home’ to come on as the movie changes. I chose sepia for my movie as it gives quite an old movie effect, yet the newer photos of me and my family at the end I left in colour. Although my movie was quite a hassle to make, I am very happy with it, I like how all the different memories blur into one another, and how the music fit the movie, I also adjusted the volume of the music and video, in order for parts of my videos to be heard over the music. Furthermore I had the music gradually fade in and out as well as the videos.

PROJECT: research into sayings

As home plays a key role in family life and is evident in many childhood memories I wanted to include it in my project.  Home is where the heart is one of my favourite quotes as I believe in it very much.  I wanted to widen my research and look for other sayings that would fit into my project about home and family. I really liked “wherever we are together that s home” and “it takes hands to build a house but only hearts can build a home” I felt they were very sentimental and sweet and really fitted nicely with my theme of family and home. However my favourite was “family: like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one” this saying really stood out to me not only because it is very true about family, and gives me a sort of comfort, but it also fits in perfectly with the symbolism of trees I want to include in my work.

PROJECT: first initial ideas

When I started my project, I had no idea what to do, so firstly I tried to figure out what ‘a sense of place’ refers to. I found that ‘A sense of place’ doesn’t necessarily refer to a physical location, yet it could be a place special to someone. Likewise, it could be an emotion, feeling or connection someone has with a place. As mentioned it doesn’t essentially have to be a place, it is rather a sense of belonging that is unique to individuals. I began brainstorming, trying to come to a conclusion of what it meant to me. I used the program bubbl.us, as it was an easy format to create mind maps using a variety of different colours. Bubble.us made it much simpler and clearer to focus on my ideas. After that I had some idea, seeing as one category fell into all the other categories which was family. I decided on that because I feel a strong connection to my family and wherever they are I feel at home, safe and happy, whether that is on holidays or at actual home. I have plenty of photos and videos seeing as my family like to trac every special event or holiday however old and grown up me and my brother are. I decided to use my own photos and video seeing as they were most appropriate as they were more personal to me. I then contemplated making a collage for my final project from all my photos how  decided  on a movie for the reason that it brought me so many emotions and happiness from looking back at all the old memories.

My Bubbl.us

My GLOGSTER:

PROJECT: inspiration

During working on my project, I looked at Gustav Klimt’s work, as I was inspired by the different symbolism that hid in his paintings. I was particularly interested I ‘the tree of life’ how the painting had different layers, and the tree represented the circle of life. The roots going deeps into the ground represented the underworld, whilst the branches reaching to the sky depicted heaven, leaving the stem, which is earth. Death is also represented through the black bird lonely on the tree, and there are also many religious characteristics. Although interesting none of this was relevant to my project, what attracted me was the tree itself, I liked the way the branches swirl as if reaching out and going on a journey, and the colours are warm and friendly, and creative. I took the idea of the bird representing death and interpreted it in my own means on my canvas. I included a bird yet my bird is colourful, flying and represents independence and freedom. I also liked the peacefulness and freedom of the ‘Birch Forest’ and can relate to it as I enjoyed playing in the forest as a child, as well as the beautiful colours of ‘The Apple Tree’ and it brings back many memories of picking apples as a family activity when I was a child.