Movies & TV Shows with Meaning

Tara Brandau

Digital Printing Methodology

Movies & TV Shows with Meaning

Artist Statement

            Ever since I was little, there is nothing better to me then a beautifully made movie or a well scripted TV show.  So the idea for this project came very easily for me because I have a passion for cinema.  This project let me combine my love of photography and my love of films and TV shows.  

            This series of images are about the objects, which are from some of my favorite movies or TV shows.  Every image has a still life subject that reflects an important element.  This is about how we get meanings from these objects.  Each object has a symbolic meaning from the movie or TV show that it represents. 

            Harry Potter’s wand was important because it truly convinced Harry Potter that he is a wizard.  And there was no denying he what he was after he had his wand in his hand. 

            When we look at the Tardis we see it as The Doctors home.  He would be lost without it. The Doctor’s home planet was destroyed and the only thing he has left is his Tardis.

            The bottle of vodka in a brown bag represents the weakness of Frank Gallagher from the show Shameless.  Frank is an alcoholic that will con anyone for money to get a drink.

The hockey puck is from the movie Slap Shot and it is about how the Charlestown Chiefs stop playing real hockey and start worrying about making money so the team doesn’t fold at the end of the season.  And to make money they become goons.

            The Apple from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the forbidden fruit.  Great evil happens when someone takes a bite from the cursed apple.

            Thor’s Hammer isn’t just his weapon.  It is also his strength.  He is weak without it .

Flip Cup is from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it is about how the Gang was competing in a Flip Cup contest and it showed off their competitive nature.

            The Queen of Hearts card is from Alice in Wonderland and the Queen is this idea of fear for Alice.  The Queen is standing in Alice’s way from getting home and Alice is fearful because at any moment the Queen could order “Off with her head!”

The Baby Ruth bar is from The Goonies and it is about friendship.  Chuck is first scared of Sloth but when Chuck offers Sloth a Baby Ruth bar and Sloth so excited about the candy bar you see that it was the start of a great friendship.

            The lightsaber is about how it is a Jedi weapon which means the can control the Force.  Also the color of a lightsaber can also indicate if the person is good or evil.

            Each one of these subjects has a symbolic meaning that helps tell the story of the film or TV show.  Simple everyday objects can hold so much meaning and you see that from every one of these.

Harry Potter

Doctor Who

Shameless

Slap Shot

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Thor

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Alice in Wonderland

The Goonies

Star Wars

Final Studio Project

Studio Artist Statement

The idea for my final studio project can from my love of Irving Penn’s flower photographs.  He photographed the flowers on a simple white background.  But the flowers that he took photographs of were unique flowers that you just did not see in everyday life.

So my idea was to photographs ordinary flowers that you find in the supermarket.  They will be flowers that you see a lot and they are not very unique.  I wanted to see if I could photograph these everyday flowers and be able to make them beautiful and interesting just like Irving Penn did with his flower images. 

I decided to photograph the flowers on a simple white background just like Irving Penn.   I photographed the flowers with two beauty dishes one on the left side of the flowers and the other on the right to get an even distribution of the light on the flowers. 

I think that the images accomplished what I wanted because of the way that the flowers really stand out in the images.  And I think that I was able to make these ordinary flowers look beautiful.

Lightsaber Light Painting

To get these images I kept my shutter open for 30 seconds and let it take in the light from the lightsaber.  Then at the end of the 30 seconds I released a flash of light from a small strobe to freeze the person.

Texture

These photos were taken with one light with a beauty dish to help show the details and texture in the objects.

Specular Highlights

I wanted the highlights to give some definition to the skull.  At the same time I wanted the highlights to be small because the skull is white to begin with. 

The idea for these images was to show that in death there is also life.

Strobe

These images were made with one small strobe and I changed the placement of the strobe for each image to try and get different shadows.

I decided to turn the images into black and white because of the strong presence of the shadows because I think it stood out more then if the images were in color.

Three Lights

I used three lights to take these images of still life.  I had one light on each side then one light set up behind me.  I really like how the shadows turned out and how they are very long and on both sides of them.