Doing this project has improved my knowledge and use of my SLR camera. Here I was experimenting with the shutter speed, exposure, etc... and it's helped me to realise how to create different effects using the camera settings.

A shorter exposure means darker images. Less light reaches the camera.

A long exposure means the camera takes in more light. This can make the lights brighter but can also make them blur.

This has taught me that for my light paintings, to keep them from becoming too bright and the outlines not being very clear, i'll have to draw them fairly quickly.

Campaign Ideas

For our main poster, we first though of taking photos of some of the main venues for Alight, and then having a dancer or musicial in front of it, creating patterns with light or playing a light drawn instrument.

We have now developed this idea to have members of the public walking past the venues. We will then add various light painting designs over them instead of having an actual musician or dancer. This will represent the involvement of everyone in the event.

 

Instead of flyers, we will have stickers which will contain the Alight name, the date and the website for people to find out more information. These can be handed out at schools, in the street, at shops/theatres etc... I think being handed a sticker, you are much less likely to just throw it away like you would a flyer.

We are focusing on social media due to the budget restraints. We will have a Twitter page, @AlightMusic, which will include a competition to photograph the sticker in the most interesting place in Yorkshire. This should also mean that the sticker will be seen by other members of the public once they are stuck in various places.

We will have a facebook page which will have a competition to create the best light painting. Facebook users can upload thier pictures into a gallery for everyone to see. We can also put information about the event and link it to Twitter.

We will have a youtube page which will feature a flash mob. The Sheffield Philharmonic Choir would sing in Meadowhall Shopping Centre and be filmed. This would then be uploaded to youtube and hopefully go viral. This can be linked with the facebook and twitter pages which will get more people to see it and create interest in the event itself.

The backgrounds images for the social media pages will have light drawings on a black background. We will create abstract and non-abstract drawings and use some of those created for the facebook competition.

The Light Painters

The light painters are a group of 3 people who create art, and images for advertising campaigns and animations, using light. http://www.thelightpainters.com

Their website offers some good tutorials on how to create light paintings which will help us a lot.

More light painters...

The image below is called "Painting MUSIC with light".

http://www.artreview.com/photo/painting-music-with-light-3?xg_source=activity

This is a good example of how we can represent movement and sound through light without just drawing images of musical instruments.

Social Media

We are focusing a lot on social media to try to get people involved in the event and keep within the demands of our budget; social media is a cheap way to connect to people. We will be using Twitter, Youtube and Facebook

For facebook, i've been looking at various apps that could be included on the page to add interest. They include things like competitions and ways of including the Twitter and Youtube pages on the facebook.

http://involver.com/applications/

https://promos.wildfireapp.com/dashboard/contests/new?contest_format=photo

Twitter has a way of linking up what you say on it with facebook so this could be a good way to connect the two together.

An idea we had was to make competitions where people can create their own light paintings and upload them onto Facebook. The prize for the best could be free tickets to one of the ticketed events at Alight. This would get people onto the page either to take part or to have a look at the entries and could promote interest.

Practising with light painting...

I had a quick practise with light painting and it is much easier than I thought! Though, it would be a lot easier if I'd had more space and had someone to work the camera...

I tried to spell out the word "Alight". I had to spell it backwards so it would be the right way around for the camera.

In this image I tried to draw around myself, which was quite hard but I'm sure would be a lot easier if I had someone else to draw around.

Musical pattern

Trying to draw a musical note, got it the wrong way round!

Jade and I bought some multi-coloured torches; red, green, blue and yellow, so we can create images in various colours.

We have decided with the light paintings to focus on how the light can represent music. Bright lights can represent intensity and also symbolises loud and intense music, movement and energy. We also want to include different cultures and get people involved.

I have taken a look at some Photoshop tutorials which could be used to create the effect we want should it prove too difficult to do it with lights.

http://www.maxafter.com/tuts/car_lights/car_lightspeed.html

http://www.sculpture.uk.com/artists/michael_craigmartin_1/

http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tutorials-effects/glowing-light-painting-effect/

Light Painting

Whilst researching rhythm and movement of sound, I discovered light paintings. They can represent a physical  thing or they can just be representative of movement/sound.

I had a basic idea of how to do light paintings but I did a bit of research to see how best to do it.

Light painting is created with a camera at night or in a darkened room. You need a slow exposure on the camera (where the shutter stays open for a long time) to capture the light. This is done by either moving the camera or moving a light source, such as a torch or sparkler, in front of the camera to create an image. Due to the long exposure, you will usually need a tripod to keep the camera still. Also by using a tripod, you can create multiple exposures (several pictures taken using the same camera) and lay the images on top of one another to produce more complex designs.

A recent example of light painting in advertising are Talk Talk adverts which are shown during the X Factor.