Final experiments |
Following your final photo shoot, you now need to refine your ideas and complete your final experiments before producing your final piece.
Use the guide below to help you structure your experiments. Also read the questions at the bottom and use them to help you reflect on what you have done and how to improve. |
How to structure your final experiments |
1. Firstly, print and annotate your contact sheet. Use key terminology and identify your best photographs. Are they good enough for your final piece? If yes, proceed. If the answer is no (be honest with yourself) you need to re-take you photo shoot asap. You MUST have good photographs to work with to have the best possible chance of a good outcome.
2. Refer back to your artist influences before you begin experimenting. You MUST link to photographers, taking inspiration from their style, techniques and content in order to secure good marks for AO1 (artist research). You should really have your artists by now, if you need another, do this outside of lesson - remember you will need to analyse and create your own version of their work if you choose to use another artist. 3. Make sure you have in mind what you want to get out of your experiments. All experiments need to be relevant to developing your ideas along your chosen final concept, purposefully trying out different techniques to help you get to your final piece. 4. Keep all experiments. Even the ones that don't work - they can go in your sketchbook as back up work which will help to go towards your final mark. 5. Do a variety of Photoshop AND hand manipulated experiments (plus darkroom if appropriate). Quality is important but so is quantity to some extent. you should be producing a board like below before creating your final piece. 6. Review each experiment before you move on. What are the strengths and weaknesses? How could you use one of your other artists to help develop from here? What other techniques could you try? What do your classmates think? What would they do if it was their work? etc. Make notes on these - they will form your annotations later. OR annotate as you go along to make the end bit easier! 7. How will you present your final piece? The students that do something more creative than just presenting photos in a frame tend to get the higher marks. Explore installations and other exhibition/gallery style presentation alternatives. 8. Present all experiments as final portfolio boards. As usual, make sure they read like a book, from start to finish, left to right. Everything should be annotated and labelled where appropriate. Have high expectations of yourself - straight edges, even borders, tidy titles etc. |
Click the pictures below to see these student portfolios. look at how their ideas develop through a range of experiments.
Questions to ask yourself to help you get the higher marks |
Regularly reflect on what the strengths and weaknesses of your experiments are.
Are you showing a wide range of skills and producing outcomes of a sophisticated, professional standard? That is what you are aiming for if you want a C or above. Do your experiments read like a book from left to right, beginning to end? Are your ideas clear? It should be clear to anyone looking at your work how your ideas have developed. How has each experiment led onto the next? How have you reflected on your experiments in order to move forwards and improve? How have your artists and photographers inspired your ideas? Have you carried out a wide range of photo shoots in different locations and of different things linked to your ideas? Are they inspired by your photographers? Are your photographs skillfully taken? Do you use the formal elements to help you take effective photographs and talk about them in your annotations? Have you shown lots of different skills when editing or hand manipulating your photographs? Have you edited purposefully in order to enhance your idea and concept? Have you avoided being repetitive to make sure that your ideas are developing forwards rather than just staying still? Have you taken inspiration from a range of carefully chosen photographers? Can you explain why you chose those photographers fluently using technical language? Have your ideas developed effectively as a result of different photoshoots and experiments? Have they moved forwards rather than just stuck with the same idea that you had at the start of the project? Are your final piece ideas exciting? Do they bring together all of your experiments? Is your final piece the best experiment? It should be! Does it showcase the best of your skills? Have you evaluated your final piece using the writing frame on this website in 'help with writing', making clear reference to artists, explaining your thought process and the journey you went on, and using technical words to evaluate the strengths and areas for development? (AS - 1 year course only on this project as A2 will write an evaluative essay). |