The Videos

here are some of the videos that i have shot throughout this project. they are not brilliant but my main focus was for the speech. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwf-cLTKn3s&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed7TIPBU0jY&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0wtLnjd3AQ&feature=youtu.be

each one is just paying attention to her as she talks. i wasn't too fussed with how the video itself looks because i was focusing more on the words.

Is this the end?

Now that my project is coming to a close and i'm starting to complete all the little things and writing my evaluation. it has let me start the reflect on the project and how i personally feel about it.

though it has been a long project as with most things there could be more time but for this project i think that the time scale has suited my work just fine and has allowed me to get to a half way point that i am happy to stop the project at a point that i can then continue later in the year.

i shot alot of images and had to listen to my mums mum alot and although it was all for the purpose of the project it has had a far greater result on my own relationship with her and it has allowed me to not only get to know her but to also learn things and find out stuff about my history and my other family members. it has really given me far more.

I am really pleased with my final product and the images i have chosen perfectly document her house and her. i have been able to capture everything that i set out to do and have gone beyond what i expected to acheive from it.

Last Night

Now last night there was a programme on called Her Majesty's Prison- Aylesbury.

Now i live in Aylesbury and last night i can guarantee that my whole town was watching this programme. i am pretty sure that my friends an i are the only people who wasn't watching it however... we were watching Madagascar instead.

http://www.itv.com/presscentre/press-releases/her-majestys-prison-aylesbury-new-two-part-itv-documentary-video
this link shows the trailer for the programme. it makes me laugh they've made it sound terrible, but most of the people i went to school with live next to the place and i used to drive past it everyday for work. the weird thing is though is that until now no one in Aylesbury actually knows what goes on in there or what its actually like.

The series has been described as this-

Aylesbury Prison in Buckinghamshire, home to some of the most dangerous young criminals in Britain, has allowed an exclusive insight into life for prisoners and staff for a new documentary series on ITV- Her Majesty’s Prison: Aylesbury

 

Murderers, rapists, gangsters and paedophiles are serving time here. So serious are some of their offences, that one in five is serving life or an indeterminate sentence to protect the public. What’s frightening is that the oldest prisoners are just 21.

 

Officers engage in a daily battle of wits, to ensure they keep control. They must also try to help rebuild the fractured lives of these young men.

It sounds terrifying. safe to say. we all walk past the place everyday and dont know. though as long as they stay behind the walls then that's fine. its also mad to think that the oldest person in there is the same age as me. i have finished school, got my a levels, been to college and now i'm half way through my degree, i have 4 jobs and have a future ahead of me. the guys in there haven't done any of that. its such a waste of a life. they have completely ruined their lives and because they are so young will never have a very bright future. its so stupid. Because its their own fault that they are in there.

previously i have thought about doing a photo story about this prison but i really dont think it would be worth giving these boys the time of day. they seem so dangerous and frightening. that not only would access be impossible but i wouldn't even want to go near it.


I am watching it on catch up now and before i even began watching the description made me worried.

and now its just said that Aylesbury has always had a fearsome reputation among the prison population. it is meant to be the worst establishment.

theres gang problems?!

oh my word.

 heres the link. if anyone didn't watch it. they should.
http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/video.aspx?vidid=150360

The Book

Today i have been creating the book.

i have finally finished it and i am very pleased with it. it is exactly how i wanted it to be.

it looks homely and doesn't give away what the book is until it is opened. the theme of clutter follows throughout the book through the use of different textures to make the book more like something from her house and more connected to her.

here is parts of the book being made-

 the images were printed onto A1 paper so all i had to do was cut out the strips. i had positioned them onto the page so that i would have as few joins as possible and so that the joins wouldnt affect the pages that were together.

i wanted my concertina book to look more like an actual book from the outside so i created this book outer. and covered it with brown paper to make it look more like something that would be found in her house. 

as you can see in this image the book has been cut and folded and my focus was on the outside of the book.

i made a bit of mess while creating the book. all of the ribbons and bits of fabric are from what i have collected form my visits to her house. these will be included in the book to make it look more linked to her house and more cluttered.

i stuck the concertiner section of the book to the back page of the cover. it is centrally placed and simplistic.

the book is quite thick and i allowed the cover to be larger so that the inside doesn't get squashed.

the final finished book. hand made, creative. more associated to my mums mum. 

the cover of the book then had some fabrics and ribbon added to it to continue the cluttered feel and the textures. this hints at whats inside and once the title has been put onto the front cover it will be more enticing towards the viewer.

the book is almost complete now and once it is final i will post a picture on here. 

i am very pleased with it and everyone i've shown in my family has said that its brilliant because it shows exactly how her house is and its exactly the sort of book that we'd find in her house. so i've think i've done well.

Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners

Another brilliant programme about hoarding but this time from a different angle. this time it focuses on the people who obsessively clean and have OCD.

the programme takes these cleaning lovers and uses their knowledge and skills to help people who hoard and generally have very messy homes. the first episode showed the house of a man who used to be an antiques collector and after time the amount of clutter in his house just spiraled out of control.

its a very interesting programme and its good to see the other side of it for a change rather than just focusing on the people who live in mess. because there is the same amount of people who have the polar opposite problem so its good that they can help watch other with their conditions.

Programme Synopsis

Linda's first recruit is 31-year-old Richard Searle, who is obsessed with order, organisation and tidiness. Richard is paired with Christopher Sylvester, a retired antiques dealer whose stone Victorian cottage is overrun with collectibles and bric-a-brac.

Linda also recruits germaphobe Michele Murray, who sets off to help Richard Pugh: he hasn't cleaned his flat since he moved in four years ago.

And Linda and her cleaning gang head to Leatherhead to help The Pitstop, a drop-in centre for the vulnerable and the homeless.

SERIES SYNOPSIS

Linda Dykes is a compulsive cleaner from North Wales. She loves cleaning so much she's set up her own cleaning agency.

Linda believes that compulsive cleaners have a special set of skills that could change the habits of the nation, and so she's teaming up with other obsessive cleaners to help clean Britain's dirty homes and filthy public spaces.

Each week these compulsive cleaners are carefully matched with someone whose home is in dire need of a major 'spring clean'.

Here is a link to the page- 

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/obsessive-compulsive-cleaners/4od

The book layout. final

now today the plan was to get my book printed and then i could start creating the book.
however that didn't exactly go to plan. i wanted to get in printed as one long sheet of paper so that i didn't have to worry about cutting and taping it all together, but that wasn't meant to be so now i've had to go back and change it so that the book can be printed in sections. bit of a pain but these things happen.

now the layout looks brilliant.

here are what each page looks like-

here shows each page layout in the order they will be in the book. The wording has been placed centrally on some pages and there is a mix of text and imagery on others. 

i am pleased with this layout now and this will be the final design. 

i have had to layout the pages like this though to get them printed now because i cant get in printed as one long strip

this will be printed tomorrow and then my book can start being made.

Get your house in order

now while i've been researching today i've been watching this series.

its brilliant. each episode focuses on a person that has a hoard of some sort and as an incentive to get them to get rid of things the money they raise by selling things goes on a house makeover. its everything i love watching in one. what more could you ask for!

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/get-your-house-in-order/4od#3361175