OUGD405 - If it Bleeds it Leads - Gif

OUGD405 - If it Bleeds it Leads - Gif

This prerequisite to creating zines based on ‘uncomfortable’ images focused on pairing up and comparing one of these images, subsequently finding a word that broadly linked the 2 and then creating a 10 framed gif using collage materials as well as these images.

Based on the word conflict, this gif firstly features an image taken by photojournalist Don McCullin of a christian youth group celebrating the death of a young Palestinian girl during the Lebanese civil war in the 70’s. The second image is of a group of boys stood among the wreck of their destroyed Harlem home, also in the 70’s. The 2 images are similar in composition so visually they worked well together in a gif. The substitution of the backgrounds in both the images for brightly collaged materials represents the conflict between emotions in the 2 pictures. The yellow background represents the joy of the young Christian group, with red collaged shapes symbolising the violence and death of the picture. The blue background highlights the sadness of the young boys in the second picture, visualised figuratively with a rain cloud. 

This activity focused on creating effective imagery in a short space of time and I found it interesting trying to achieve a narrative/pattern between the 10 different frames of the gif, a skill which will be useful in creating the zine later on.