Stage 1 - Research - when, why and how.

 You're aiming to produce work that address this criteria...

Stage 1 of our creative process is the activity - Research. 

You therefore need to write about research.

Use the instructions from the session and the prompts below if you need them. Aim to write about 2 columns as a minimum with a column of images.

• When do you have to do it?
• How quickly should you do it and why?
• What do you use to do it?
• What type of resources are you directed to use?
• What are the component parts of your research that you're supposed to identify in your work?
• What does your artist research look like?
• What is primary research?
• What is secondary research?
• What is empirical research?
• Why is Youtube a good resource?
• Why are auction websites a good resource? 
• What are the best ways to research?
• Why are journals so good for researching?
• Where is the nearest Library?
  
• What is the LRC and what's in there for your research?
• How and why do we use the keyboard commands CTRL + F when researching text. 

Use these prompts above as headings aim to write between 2 and 3 columns answering the questions, use screen grabs of resources and Photograph things associated with research practice. 

There is a lot of information about research on my blogs - see the links below and use these to answer most of these questions.

http://btecy01.blogspot.com/2017/09/blended-learning-task-no15.html

Using and searching for interviews 

Using websites for research.

Generally you have to search using the photographers name, that's the best way of doing web based research. The issue is how to do find the relevant photographers in the first instance? The best method by far I find is to start with Journals. The British Journal of Photography show cases the best of contemporary photography and historical photography. I flick through that each time it's published is almost essential when you're studying and if you can get your hands on back-issues -even better! That'll introduce you to a multitude of new photographers working right now! Once you have the names, you can then search wider using their homepage or resources on the web. The chances are, doing that you'll then find the websites that you'll then see are useful for photographic research at this level. 

Some of the better websites include the following...

https://americansuburbx.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/seanohagan

http://www.500photographers.com/

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2020/oct/31/original-observer-photography

https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2395

https://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/photography/

https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/ed-ruscha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M9t2fm__K0                if used properly 

https://vimeo.com/13886050                                                   if used properly.

FAQ's_______________________________

"What do you mean by 'component' parts of the research'"?

That refers to the stuff that you generally have to do when you're researching - (1) Work that meets the criteria, you're asked in the assignment to research specific things, sometimes its MTP's other times it the reasons why the photographers make their work. (2) Images (3) Initial response (4) Quotes (5) A bibliography.

These are generally required when you put your research together. 

"What constitutes primary research"?

Primary research in our case generally means (1) Going to galleries or exhibitions and seeing the work In situ - so that you're able to see the size, scale, materials and the way it's framed, hung, mounted etc, which are all really important, even where the work is in the gallery in relation to window/lights etc. I've been to galleries just to see, how work is mounted, the type of frames, the colours of the mount boards and really fine and precise details that you're never going to see or read about readily on the internet. (2). Meeting the artist and either being able to ask questions or observe their work processes, watch them making their art or in the case of photography assisting the photographer. (3). Emails. some of the photographers you research are quite happy to answer your questions if you email them and that's always worth trying as you get really useful answers if you ask the right questions. (4) Empirical research is primary research - research by doing. So going out with your camera and taking pictures or testing your theory about how something might work is a form of primary research. 

Stage 2 - Reflecting on and making sense of your research.

 Stage 2 of our creative process is to reflect on the research making sense of it, explaining and analysing why and how it's been useful.

For this task you need to allocate at least a column to explain how the Gibbs reflective cycle is used, explain that this has to be done after your research and prior to starting the practical work. 

There are a number of links in my blogs that explain how you use the Gibbs reflection, use the explanations to create your own. (Do not copy re-word in your own writing style). 

It's important to emphasise that the final stage 'Plan' becomes the plan for your first practical activity. The plans are also described as being your 'Intentions' and that it's useful to head this section of your work "Action plan/Intention".  

Click here for an explanation of how to use Gibbs reflections in your work

FAQ's_________________________________

I'm confused about the analysis part of the Gibbs what do I write about this?

So, the Gibbs Reflective part happens after an activity, in some cases the activity is research, but most of the time the activity is practical work... A photo-shoot, a session in the darkroom or a session working with Photoshop and so on.

The part that students struggle with is the analysis section, not knowing what to write. 

In the case of writing a 'Gibbs' after research you basically have to write about what you have learned from doing the research. Why has it been useful to you? What parts of the research are you going to carry forwards and use in your own work? What did you learn that is going to be useful to you, not only now, but also in the longer term? 

Important - also explain where you would be if you hadn't done the research? This is a what if scenario... "What if I hadn't done the research" If you explain the impact of not doing the research the work suddenly goes from being descriptive... I did this and I did that to being analytical - this means you look at the worth of the research in more depth showing that you understand how important the research was. 

Generally, if you question what you do, and it worthiness - asking what if I hadn't done it. Or why does that work so well. It generally means you end up writing a whole lot more on top of a description. Students hate it, but it's the difference between passes and higher grades.

https://www.bradfordvts.co.uk/teaching-learning/reflection/

Stage 3 - Plan/Intention

 Stage 3 of the process is the plan or intention 

For this part of the work explain where and when you have to write plans within your work and list some of the things that you should include in your plans...

Do not copy this list write your own version up and try and add to it. Write it up as continuous prose rather than a bullet pointed list

Typically the things that you should detail in your plan...

• When you plan to shoot.
• Where you're shooting the pictures.
• What camera you'll be using.
• Check the battery or batteries
• Clear your SD card and file the images correctly when you do so
• Check your file type and size is appropriate
• What media your using.
• What focal length you'll be using.
• Whether you'll experiment with different focal lengths or change lenses.
• What kind of lighting you'll be using - soft,harsh, diffuse, point etc.
• If your copying someone's lighting techniques say who's.
• Who your model will be.
• Whether you're using tripods, reflectors, or any other equipment.
• Who your assistant will be.
• Any H&S issues
• What your Intention is, what you're trying to achieve or learn. 
• What you're testing out.
• Transport details
• Rooms/studios booked
• Technician support
• Contingency (Back up) plan in the event of any changes - models/light/weather
• When you intent to have films processed by and the work in your design sheet. 

Note - It's especially important that self-directed shoots and final shoots are the ones with the most detail, make sure these can be described as being comprehensive or detailed as these are often the descriptions used in the Criteria in order to attain merits and distinctions. 

When you write this up in your design sheets use the heading (in bold) "Plan/Intention".

Note the "Plan/Intention". is the same thing as the Action Plan at the end of the Gibbs reflection in Stage 2 but, it is so important that I've drawn your attention to it twice. These plans need to be thorough and fairly detailed explaining what you intend to do in the next practical activity. 

See this link here below with regards the details of writing up your plans and intentions...

Guidance on writing Plans and Intentions

*NOTE Make sure you write up your plans in the present tense, do not write them up using retrospective (Past tense) language, otherwise they're not plans. If you're forced to write your plans up after the event, focus on using the correct language, ensuring it reads as though the plan was written before you executed the work. Top tip - Write them up before you do the work!

Plans sometimes don't go to plan, if they don't - just explain/analyse why in your reflective work. 

Stage 4 - 'Do' Your practical work

 Stage (4). Do. Now you execute your plan/intention - you engage with a practical activity - take photo's, work in the darkroom, or work on some post production work using Photoshop. As you produce this work you write it up in your design sheets and then you...

Stage 4 is you producing the work in response to the research, in accordance to your plan. 

For this section you need to describe and explain the kind of things that happen at the doing stage. 

1. What does the doing stage look like (Use some of your previous examples screen grabs of your design sheets)?
2. What's involved?
3. Where does this work appear (E.g. throughout the work after after the research?
4. What's the guidance regarding the balance between use of images and written work.
5. What's the most difficult aspects of the doing or getting the practical work evidenced?
6. What types of things are typically seen in the practical work - what are you guided to include?
7. How important is it to read the criteria in conjunction with the practical work?
8. Is there a limit on what you can do?
9. What sorts of activities are involved at the practical stage?
10. How long does it take to get the work into the design sheets?
11. What problems do you encounter?
12. What resources do you require to get the work completed? 
13. What do you produce at the end of the practical stage of the work?
14. What do you do with the end product of the practical work?

NEW - Use images to from your Unit 04 work to show what your work looks like when you've done the practical work previously. Use a screen grab from Unit 4. 

Similarly mention the fact that a key part of the practical work is producing final images and images for your portfolio - again use a screen grab to show what they're like typically. 

Write up any other activities or aspects involved in the doing stage that you can think of. Use image from your previous shoots, examples of equipment used at the doing stage - wide shots or the results or parts of your work produced during the doing stage. 

Stage 5 - Reflect (Post practical)

Stage (5). Reflect. 

Stage 5, follows your first practical activity and all further practical activities.

You'll use the same reflective method (The Gibbs Reflective Model) used to reflect on your research. You'll use the same 5 or 6 prompts...

What Happened - How do I feel it went - What was good/bad - Analysis - followed by a plan.

Most of the prompts above, only need to be short responses. The analysis section is the most important as it offers the opportunity to explain and Analyse your work. The plan that follows the analysis needs to be detailed too.

It's important that once you've uploaded your work into your design sheet it's analysed or at least explained in terms of...

1. What have I learned (Photography -wise)?

2. Is the work meeting the brief and or the criteria?

3. What could I have done differently that would have resulted in a better outcome?

4. Evaluate the extent to which the stages interrelate with each other and how important/useful this is. *Use the word interrelate in your explanation.

These four sub-prompts used in the analysis section are advised as the minimum.

The final section of the reflection is the Plan AKA "Action plan" or "Planned intentions".

Finally Explain

After you've done your first shoot you then do a series of additional shoots where you try and improve the work over several stages until you run out of time. Each of these shoots needs to be preceded by a plan and so you go through a process of repeating stages 3, 4 and 5. So, for the duration of  the brief you then...

Plan - Do - Reflect usually several more times until you reach the final stage 6.

That's it, that is your way of working from now on.

1. Research first
2. Reflect on research.
3. Plan 1st practical work
4. Do - produce your first piece of practical 
5. Reflect on your practical work
6. Plan next practical work
7. Do - 
8. Reflect 

Repeat stages 3, 4 and 5 again an again till the end and then write a final evaluation. 

Read this 

If you use this creative process correctly your main body of practical work should have far less written material among the images. You should aim to produce short and concise annotations with your photographs, contact sheets, floor plans and diagram. The larger written components in the practical work should be The plan/Intention (highlighted blue) and the Gibbs reflection. (highlighted pink). 

Stage 6 - The final Evaluation

There is no generic approach to the final evaluations.

It's really important to read the criteria in each brief to ensure you know what is required for that specific brief. No two briefs have the same requirements and this in the main thing you need to understand and be aware of as you go forwards with your assignments.

They're important 

There's a tendency for student to produce excellent practical work and then let themselves down with the evaluation - leaving it till the last minute. You should always try and complete the practical work including printing out your final images for your portfolio a day before the deadline, leaving at least a day to work on the final evaluation. 

Keep in mind that grade-wise, the evaluation is worth up to a 3rd of the grade and if you produce distinction level research and practical work and pass level evaluation - the work is graded based on the lowest scoring part of the work e.g. a pass overall because the evaluation was weak.

Follow the guidance you're given, work hard on it and take it as seriously as you have the rest of your work. There's no word count or page count - but you have to respond to the evaluation criteria.

Top Tip Use the wording in the criteria in your evaluation. If the criteria wording suits it, use the wording as the headings for your response. That's normally a really effective way of working in a concise and to the point way.

Click here for Stage 7 (Putting together the actual Decay project) 

The final evaluation for real._______________________________________________________

Start the evaluation with explanation of what you've learned and gained from this unit, primarily discussing it in terms of what you've learned with regards the Creative process. Then apply the stage below...

If you look through the criteria you'll see that in the Merit criteria a number of phrases/sentences that include the words analyse and evaluate. These phrases/sentences are copied in a modified form below to use as the headings for your evaluation.

(1). How the stages and activities in the creative process were used to develop and refine ideas to realise creative intentions.

​(2). How the stages can interrelate to develop and refine ideas and develop skills and own working practice.

​(3). How the stages and activities within the creative process helped develop ideas and produce outcomes

​(4). To what extent do the stages and activities within the creative process help improve future art and design practice.

Write your responses to these prompts underneath each one. With each prompt ask the question what if and discuss the outcome if you hadn't applied the creative process or some of the components (Stages) of it. How would that have affected the work? 

Finally make an overall judgement on the use of the creative process or any of the components of it, has it added value to what you do, do you think that you're work process will be more efficient in the future and do you think it will make a difference to your grades - how, why?

Stage 6:1 (Practice run - putting the process into action).

 So, at this stage, you'll be given an in-class activity to do on the theme of Decay, where you'll be walked through the production of a project implementing the The Creative Process in full.

This short project we'll try and get through and complete in 2 days if not faster, so you need to move quickly through it. 

(1). Research___________________________________________________________

• Research the work of Chris Jordan Midway https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBfNyq44hWM watch the video. 
• Screen grab images that illustrate the light used and comment on the light.
• Screen grab images that show the use of the camera and the type of camera and other equipment used.
• See this video here re equipment and process.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M9t2fm__K0&t=184s
• 1 - 2 columns of images - 1/2 column of text. Add more images of the birds and the plastic so that you fill the full page - change the size of the text so that the page is full.

Time allocated - 45 mins

(2). Reflect on research (Gibbs)_____________________________________________

• Write up a quick Gibbs reflection - keep it simple and concise.
• In the Analysis section discuss why it was of value - explain what aspect of the work you could adopt...
• Looking down on to the subject
• Consideration of the background
• Use of a tripod
• Type of light used
• The theme dead animals - human activities impact on nature
• Explain in your plan you're going to shot skulls & skeletons.

(3). Plan_________________________________________________________________

• Write up a plan explaining In the next few days...

• Theme/Subject
• Where
• What camera
• What background
• Who your assistant is 
• What media you're using
• Whether you'll use a tripod
• What light
• What camera settings 
• How quickly you'll get it in your design sheets
• Floor plan of the lighting you might use

(4). Practical - Doing it______________________________________________________

• You'll be supplied with a range of potential backgrounds and props - skulls and skeletons and you need to photograph these on different backdrops - shooting from different angles including from above a la' Chris Jordan. 
• Use reflectors and shoot in diffuse light, but if there's an opportunity to shoot in point light do so too.
• Make sure your camera settings are appropriate 200 iso or thereabouts - large files, high quality.
• Shoot at least 2 different objects.
• Get someone to do a wide shot of you taking the pictures - showing the 'Set' e.g. how you're lighting and going about your process. 
• Same day - in the same session get these off your camera into the design sheet.
• Make a contact sheet - have this following the plan + your wide shot
• Tweak the better ones in Photoshop if needed (Sharpening - Auto Contrast/colour) 
• Aim to fill 2 pages with this work.
• Choose the best 1 or 2 shots and Produce 'Final style' full page single images.

(5). Reflect on Practical work_________________________________________________

• Keep the reflection short
• In the analysis explain what value there was in producing the images and then explain the value of going through this process under guidance. Add the what if component. For example -if you've not gone though this quick How to process producing this practice run would you have known how to go about it and how quickly it is to turn photo-shoots around and get them into your design sheets? 
• In the action plan section look at the images you've done and make a plan to now do post-production work using some form of creative approach to make some of your better images look more decayed.

Repeat Plan - Do - Reflect_______________________________________________________

• Plan - 
• Identify the process/s you'll try
• When 
• Where
• What resources
• Do - 
• Make the work - photograph the stages and process (wide shots of MTP's and equipment used).
• Import all the images into your design sheets and annotate if necessary
• Screen grabs of any Photoshop work (If new technique) with brief explanations
• Produce these developed ideas as full page 'Final style' images.

(6). Final Evaluation _________________________________________________________

Write a final evaluation that discusses these points from the Units Criteria. Discuss the work in terms of what value there was to undertaking this Practice task. Use the text below as headings for each of the sections. 

• (1). How the stages and activities in the creative process were used to develop and refine ideas to realise creative intentions.

  ​(2). How the stages can interrelate to develop and refine ideas and develop skills and own working practice.

  ​(3). How the stages and activities within the creative process helped develop ideas and produce outcomes

  ​(4). To what extent do the stages and activities within the creative process help improve future art and design practice.