James Stolbom Midterm Assignment
The first picture, of the gate, was actually not part of my original idea. It was taken outside of the Scholar’s Inn, and is the front gate leading up to the door. The funny thing is that I had originally gone to the Scholar’s Inn to take a picture of their “No Vacancy” sign, to go along with the lyrics in I’ll Follow You Into the Dark. But when I walked up, I went to open the gate, and it was locked. It felt very symbolic to me, especially in the fact that the song talks about how the person passing away is not able to enter Heaven or Hell because there is no vacancy, just as I was unable to enter the Scholar’s Inn. So, the picture of the locked gate was symbolic of not being able to enter. It was taken without flash, and centered because I felt it would feel as if you (the viewer) were standing right in front of it. I played with the color a little bit to make it look lighter in some spots, and darker in others. The picture of the two hands has a much simpler explanation. I centered the hands only because I liked the symmetry it helped represent. On top of this, the interlocked hands and linked fingers showed the idea of unity, and the fact that the man passing away (this will be obvious later) is not actually alone in death. As much as I tried to take the picture without a flash, I failed miserably because you could not get the detail on the linked fingers, something I thought was most important in the picture. So, I gave in and took the picture with the flash on, but did all I could in Photoshop to make it look as though no flash was used. I never thought I’d say this, but here it goes: This was inspired by Twilight and ONLY Twilight. The third picture portrays the mysteriousness of the dead, as well as the loyalty the woman has to the one who left her. It is easily the “face” of the whole assignment, as it clearly shows the woman following an unknown other in the dark. “I will follow you into the dark,” she says. In the movie Twilight, you could take a still shot of almost this EXACT image. Edward reaches out of the darkness at Bella, and she reaches out to take his hand and follow him. I tried to find the image online, but was unable. Still, every time I look at this picture, I can’t help but think of Bella, The Cullens, and the deep woods of Forks, Washington. The picture of the tombstone was taken using the rule of thirds. The tombstone represents death and passing, a main theme throughout the entire song. I took the picture using the rule of thirds because I thought it looked best, and I always specifically chose that tombstone because I liked how you could easily read the name on it: Mary. It was dark and I had to use the flash, but again as mentioned before, I dumbed down the light as much as possible to make it look like the flash wasn’t used. I messed around and thought I eventually did a good job making the tombstone look interesting. I was taught that the color white draws the eye, and since the tombstone is the important part of the picture (obviously), I left a little bit of the white light from the flash on the top of it. Finally, a picture of darkness in its purest form, and the number one theme of the entire song. I simply closed the door to my room, turned off all the lights, turned off the flash, and snapped this shot. It’s true, and honestly, part of it was because I didn’t know what else to take a picture of. But after I took this, I couldn’t help but think it was genius. I’m not proudest of this particular picture; my favorite is still the Twilight one. But, this one is definitely up there.
“I’ll Follow You Into the Dark” – Death Cab for Cutie If Heaven and Hell decide That they both are satisfied. Illuminate the “No’s,” On their vacancy signs. If there’s no one beside you, When your soul embarks. Then I’ll follow you in to the dark.
My visual aesthetic was based entirely around the movie Twilight. This song itself does not make me thing of the movie, but the pictures I began taking quickly reminded me of the literal darkness of Twilight, as well as the romance between Edward and Bella. Each picture was darkened, and the love between the two people in my pictures was very mysterious and almost forbidden, just as Edward and Bella’s is.