Final Outcome CoP 1 - Body Dysmorphia Awareness Video

ISSU Presentation

https://issuu.com/alexandragray/docs/issu_presentation

Video Development

Video Clips

Gathering together video clips I initially just used my own with a video of me, another female and two males. I then got other friends to send me videos they've taken privately, often of parts of their body they wouldn't normally expose in public yet the nature of the shot disguises this. I gave no instructions as to which part of the body they should film as this was to be free choice to accentuate individuality, I only asked that they try to use similar lighting. I would then edit their videos often to smaller shots and rerecording them on my phone from my laptop once I'd synched my phone, so the quality was reduced as I tried to maintain the same consistency of poor quality emphasising the dehumanisation of the skin.

Audio samples

Audio Samples

I chose my audio samples from videos I found relating to certain symptoms of BDD, so that I can subtly raise awareness of the symptoms audibly, alongside the visuals of close up shots of people's skin.

Body Dysmorphia PART 1 5

Uploaded by Hayley Draper

25 Jun 2013

I included this as it has a typically dramatic American chat show style, including sound effects for dramatic effect which act as the introduction to my video, as well as mentioning "how long do you take to get ready in the morning?" hinting at the symptom of people suffering from BDD having some form of obsession with mirrors, wether that's because they can't stand to look into them, or they obsess over spending hours looking into them; all because of they're perceived 'hideousness'. 

Classic 1955 Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Pancakes commercial

Uploaded by MattTheSaiyan

 6 Jul 2010

I included this thanks to the immediate contrast to the Dr Phil audio clip, with a traditional 1950s style advertising 'merry' style to enhance the eerie tone, this one suggesting men are in need of a "hearty breakfast", thus reinforcing this idea that advertising often suggests how we live our lives, what we need, and lies to us. It's also sexist in the view of denoting purely to men the require this, and reinforcing gender stereotypes. It's also typically less common for men to express concerns about personal appearance than women as it's more of a taboo, so I wanted to include something purely aimed at men so as to grab their attention, and highlighting  the contrast between in social commentary.

Personal Hygiene: Your Cleanliness 1953 Young America Films

Uploaded by Jeff Quitney

1 Apr 2013

I selected this to indicate the often obsessive cleaning rituals sufferers from BDD have which can be linked to anxiety. This can lead to obsessive habits and can be very disabling and time consuming.

Free Hypnosis Session to Stop Skin Picking

by Free Hypnosis Sessions

14 May 2014

Another symptom is skin picking, as exemplified by Liz Atkin through pieces where she scanned herself with peeled off layers of glue, paper and anything she found lying around. Using a hypnosis soundtrack I thought would be interesting as it seems like BDD in itself is some form of hypnosis, the idea that sufferers literally believe they are physically defected in some way when they're physically not alters and can play tricks with your mind, like hypnosis. However using this in a positive way, it can be used as treatment ironically for things like skin picking, or as the condition is known Excoriation or Dermatillomania; this form of OCD is also linked to anxiety.

Eating and Body Dysmorphic Disorders: Crash Course Psychology #33

by Crash Course

6 Oct 2014

I found this indeed for a 'crash course' myself, however I found it at the end of my research so didn't find out anything more than I had already found out, but it acted as a good way of putting things into perspective as he tells the story of a young girl who developed BDD, as she was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. The audio clip that I used was the biggest shock factor moment in my video in terms of putting things into perspective again. This is thanks to this statement:

"Body Dysmorphic Disorders can kill"

and "Eating Disorders and amongst the deadliest psychological disorders with some of the highest rates of death directly attributable to the illness." 

Exposure- The Broken Reality Tunnel (2015) Leigh de Vris : Artist Inspiration

Not only is the video piece incredibly inspiring, thought provoking and touching; but these posters and further graphics I found promoting the 'Broken Reality Tunnel' raising BDD awareness, capture perfectly and simplistically the nature of this condition in a condensed visual sense. The use of the image distortion mirrors the phycological mind play that one suffering experiences when looking at themselves, in order for us to see what Leigh de Vris sees, Shaune Harrison has to spend months creating a prosthetic she wears on her face through the duration of the video. 

During this trailer for the film all you see is people's reaction which is unsettling as it shows every single head turn in slow motion, and fixate on the physical form. Ironically Leigh found it a relief, showing what she feels is her face to the public proves to them what she believes she is a "monster", BDD sufferers do not agree with any compliments given, rather they spend their lives trying o convince others of their 'hideous' disposition. 

CoP Essay Feedback & Alterations

Essay 1&2 Feedback

"I have read through these and I think they show a good grasp of triangulation, using research to support an argument. you make your points fairly clearly throughout but it would be useful to know which quote you are responding to and how that has led you to the subject material. It would be improved by using theories of the male gaze - John Berger or Laura Mulvey to support the points that you make. The use of women and sex within advertising is often geared towards a male audience despite the actual product in question, the body shaming is a direct consequence of these perceptions of bodies and relationships. I think this will help underpin your current argument. There are quite a few typos and 1st and 2nd person references that could be dealt with through a proof reading, the academic style is in the 3rd person.  The pieces of writing could be concluded or summarised more effectively by simply rounding up the points you have made. I do think that the male gaze will help you put this all in perspective. "

After this feedback I decided to investigate this further and edit in a text surrounding the male gaze. I took out the text I concluded to be the least relevant 'New Research by Marlene V. Kindes (2006)'
as I had included the least amount of quotes from it so it would be easier to triangulate the new text with the remainders. The text I chose to include was 'Visual and Other Pleasures' by Laura Mulvey, feminist film-maker and theorist. This and many of her other books contain information about the male gaze or 'Scopophilia' as Freud named it. This was where women are subjected to objectification, viewing becomes pleasure, the cinema or screens are particularly an ideal place for this.

I would agree that the addition of this text really brought the essays together. It took a while to re-triangulate the references and so on but found it was worth it as the make gaze is clearly relatable to all sources, particularly the imagery in the visual analysis essay with the Tom Ford advertisement. It added another dimension of theory to my research as I began to consider not only the implication of advertisements, but the desires of the audience.

Eleanor Fay from Oslo - Colour Technologist

Colour technologists tell companies which colours they can use, look into the science of pigmentation.

CMYK is called subtractive colour because wavelengths are being subtracted.

https://www.oslo.agency/

Research Studio Brief 2- Body Dysmorphia

Rylsee
http://www.ifitshipitshere.com/typographic-illusions-drawn-by-hand/

Typographer who experiments with perception, optical illusions and distortions of lettering. This image of his containing dysmorphia I felt was an accurate representation of the condition through a more abstract aspect, looking at the word as opposed to the body and picking apart the connotations of this. 

Liz Atkin
https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/body-dysmorphia-disorder-and

Liz Atkin in the above images uses a flat bed scanner to capture her compulsive skin peeling obsession manifested from BDD, using glue, milk, paper and anything around her she creates these haunting intimate photographs symbolic of her personal torment.

"I had to confront the illness head-on when I started a masters degree in dance when I was 29, and it was then that I realized I could use the illness and study it in terms of a movement pattern in and on my body. I had no idea that was going to turn this disorder around... it was life changing."



Leigh de Vries

BDD sufferer and artist Leigh de Vris sought no form of therapy for her condition but medicates herself through her art. In her video and audio installation piece Exposure- The Broken Reality Tunnel she wears a prosthetic around the streets of Manchester and records her journey.

"I wanted to create the monster I perceived myself to be and physically wear it in public to create some mending in my mind by having the actual experience," says Says de Vries. "When we have something in our mind, versus the physical, the version in your mind is way worse. Shaune and I worked through a mood board of what I thought I looked like. I imagined I looked like someone with Elephantitis, with huge growths coming out of my face and body. The closest we got was a huge tumor growing out of my face. I had the idea to work with secret cameras—I wanted to capture my own journey of isolation but also make a social commentary on how people react to people with deformities. We had these great secret cameras called pivot heads, on glasses that have full HD and motion, and I had a little button camera on my blouse so we had three camera points. It was possibly the scariest day of my life so far."



Justine Khamara

Khamara starts with a photo of a face or body part, and then takes a knife, or laser cutter to the photo, slicing, rearranging, and distorting the image into a sculpture that is often three-dimensional. This purely abstract way of picking apart the body makes you question what we're made of, this I felt really relates perhaps unintentionally to Dysmorphophobia as a once 'normal' face has been dismantled through perception and somewhat broken which could be metaphorical of the mental affect the condition has on it's sufferers.