Japanese Urban Legend - Toire No Hanko San

I was having a dig around on my computer and found this old uni work - perfect for a Halloween giggle. Enjoy:

So here it is, script and photos from the Japanese children's urban legend :

Toire No Hanko San

A group of Japanese school girls have crept back into their school at night to do a Wiji board in hope of talking with the ghost of Hanako-San. Hanako-San is the spirit of a girl who committed suicide in the 4^th stall of the loo after years of torment at the hands of bullies.

The girls find a caretakers cupboard which they all crowd into and light some candles.

The Wiji board is pushed into the middle of the circle and a glass put onto it. All the girls join hands. After a few moments the glass begins to move and begins to spell out a name. As the glass moves from letter to letter one of the girls makes a note of the letters. The name Hanako-San is revealed all the girls look frightened. Next they ask the Wiji board to whom she wants. The glass begins to spell out a second name: Mai.

All the girls turn and look at the girl the board has signalled and they give her the piece of paper. Mai slowly gets up, shaking, and makes her way out of the cupboard down the long, dark school corridor,

down a dark set of stairs, to the toilet and tentatively opens the door.

The loo is dark and so, so quiet. Mai knows what she has to do and worried that her friends may be listening at the door she feels she has no choice but to go through with it. In fear Mai is gripped by a sudden urge to use the loo but puts it out of her mind and approaches the 4^th stall in the row and stands in front of it.

The stall bares the sign out of order. After plucking up the courage to speak Mai knocks 4 times and then chants aloud, “Hanako-San”, she waits a moment and then repeats, “Hanako-San”, after a short pause she again, with a dry mouth, repeats, “Hanako-San”. Finally in almost a whisper Mai chants, “Hanako-San”. And jumps back from the door.

Nothing has changed. Mai waits a little longer but nothing. In a sigh of relief she smiles to herself thinking how silly she is. With Mai’s relief also returns her urge to use the loo and she moves into the 3^rd stall and closes the door.

As she feels for the toilet paper, suddenly, all the lights go out....

In a split second Mai is filled with fear and regret....

The dark slowly changes to dimness and Mai feels like she is not alone, in the corner of her eye she sees something behind her, a ghostly figure and as she looks up she is choked with terror as the unearthly form of the being known as Hanako - San crawls down the wall, coming to get her....

Mai screams and nearly falls over herself, scrambling to open the door, she runs from the stall and heads towards the bathroom doors but she can’t get them open

She can hear a noise, a gut wrenching, other worldly noise and she knows she must run. She wrestles with the door but it won’t open and noise is getting closer. From the corner of her eye she sees the terrible white figure of Hanako-San approaching but still she cannot get the door open.

Then all at once is blackness again. Mai stops, it is too late. Icy cold fingers grab her head and pull her back into eternal darkness.

END

No Man's Land

Here are (a recap for those who have followed this blog for a while) some of my favourite conceptually motivated university projects. I blogged about most of these projects when they were in the early working stages and if you would like to see those early experiments please feel free to look back through the posts here.

www.sammisparke.com

No Man’s Land

No Man’s Land is a conceptual project that attempts to capture some of the isolation and confusion unique to the teenage years, which many people will have experienced and can relate to.

In the series I hoped to touch upon the confusion and loneliness associated with being neither a child nor adult and how this existence is a kin to a transient state with no real point of reference. The subject of the series is Natalia, a 13 year old teenager from Poland, living in the UK. She was a perfect subject due to her age and social circumstance. The difficult changes all teenagers go through can be seen as magnified in Natalia who is not only coping with emotional and physical changes of the teenage years but with the added confusion of identity; being a Polish girl in the UK.

The changeable and transient nature of teenage-hood, and Natalia’s personal experience, is emphasised by the use of visual devices including lighting and camera angle. The choice of backdrop or landscape was also very important to the series. Natalia’s playfulness, awkwardness and sometimes loneliness was reflected in these changeable backdrops, which included the sea and tides as well as the seasons and nature.

Kornelia Shoot - No Man's Land Project

Again , this blog is for criticism and I would appreciate any after you have read what i'm trying to achieve (below).

The images here with Kornelia intend to show how teenage years can feel isolating and unsure, this goes two fold for Kornelai as she is Polish and came across here a few years ago with her family.

Kornelia is 15 (believe it or not) and I'm trying to bring out the serious side of her because she is a bit older than her sister and it shows in her behaviour - she is more introverted and serious, quite self aware, much more so than Natalia (not shown here). 

I am also trying to get a feel of  the whimsical, the ephemeral, a soft and hazy feel to show that teenage years are not real as such and full of uncertainty. In a way I want to show how teenage years are for trying things out, playing, moving from childhood to adulthood....that kind of thing.

Any crit very welcome from photography folk. (click on images to see them in detail)

Cheers.

Park shoot with the girls (No Man's Land Project)

This blog is actually to get some crit off my uni mates so I'm uploading a few of the same sort of images, which you wouldn't normally see.

I've decided to play on the different personalities and ages of the girls. For the younger one, Natalia, I'm focusing on her playfulness and with Kornelia, the older one, I'm going for a more serious feel.

My aesthetic is meant to bring out the whimsical, the ephemeral, a soft and hazy feel to show that teenage years are not real as such and full of uncertainty. They for trying things out, playing, moving from childhood to adulthood....that kind of thing.

Any crit very welcome.

Cheers.

Beach Shoot with Natalia and Kornelia

This is a shoot from a few weeks ago.

My flash wouldn't work, which I was gutted about as I think fill in flash is going to be the thing that makes these images look the way I want them to. Basically the only images I've been happy with so far is the shoot before this one with Natalia and her friends.

After a crit at uni, people liked the pared down background of the above shoot because it helped them focus on the subjects better.

With these images, I still really need to get more of a whimsical feel going......and there are a couple of shots that would get near if my sodding flash had worked (It would have gotten rid of the nasty shadows).

Any crit welcome. FYI reminder - the project looks at the teenage years as transient years where nothing is certain and things change quickly and often. I'm looking to get a whimsical feel, dreamy as such, and i've been trying to pick backgrounds that are also changeable like the sea (changes with the tide) and nature which changes with the seasons. Any suggestions of other appropriate settings would be appreciated. :)