  DMT & DMLEFirecrab
Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: Naboo
Posts: 774
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Avalon Sinclair
Graduated
Ministry RPG Name:
Japser Cohen
Magical Creatures | 
SPOILER!!: Replies Text Cut: Violet Quote:
Originally Posted by MadAlice  Violet was at a loss. She had seen and possessed photographs, of course, both magical and Muggle, but she really didn't know anything about how they were made. Her method of remembering things, analyzing things, thinking things over, and creating things had always been to write them down. She thought of her current journal, tucked into a secret pocket of her school bag, and felt a sudden rush of happiness that she could carry it with her again and not worry about it getting confiscated by the Neo-Alliance.
But back to the discussion at hand...photographs. "Well...I think it has something to do with...developing fluids of some kind. And you have to keep them dark while you're working on them." And that was about all Violet know about photos. Except that she always looked quite dreadful in them.
It was a good start—and Shreya was not at all surprised that the talented Potions student picked up on the chemical combination part of the process. "Very good, Ms. Blackthorne! Traditional film photographs must be processed with three separate solutions: a developing solution, a stop solution, and a water bath." Her eyes briefly flitted to the black curtains at the mention of keeping the film in the dark. "And you are correct: Most photo paper is light sensitive, meaning that you must develop your film in the darkness." There were certainly digital and wizarding solutions to the issue, but traditional developing was still a treasured skill. Text Cut: Ashley Quote:
Originally Posted by astrocat Ash was going to focus on muggle photo development. "Muggles take photos with cameras. Muggle photo developing involves something with chemicals. I think you use chemicals to make negatives, and then do something with light and photo sensitive paper and the negatives." Did Theodore tell her that? Maybe Dustin or Alex? Hmmm. What even was a negative? "I'm not too sure. Most of my pictures are on electronics, not like... printed out." And no, she was not going to mention moving photos. She absolutely did not like moving photos. Nope, no thanks. She'd stick with the muggle version.
Ashley Fox remembered everything.
She didn't need a moving photo to remember. "Excellent, Ashley. The developing solutions that Violet mentioned previously are composed of various chemicals. The chemicals activate the light-sensitive photo paper, allowing the picture to appear." It really was a tricky process, one that required precise timing. Digital photographs were certainly easier, but there was a certain charm that came with old-school film development. Text Cut: Claudine Quote:
Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 The Snakette had never thought about all that number of ways memories could be preserved. It was intriguing, really. Still, it was noted that no one mentioned the obvious method. It was possibly the most common one, after all. Anyway. Her gaze once again went over the classroom’s set up as Varma continued.
Claudine thought about her reply, raised her hand and waited to be called upon. “I think with our moving photos, a special potion is used to achieve that purpose.” She reckoned that the pictures had to be drowned in the potion. Or was it the negatives? It was all sort of confusing.
Shreya couldn't help but break into a smile at the Slytherin's response—she had hit the nail of today's lesson topic right on the head. "Absolutely, Claudine. The developing solution is one way to make wizarding photographs move." Of course, there were special types of wizarding cameras, film, and spells, but the developing solution was the traditional method. The students would certainly be learning more about that next. Text Cut: Phoebe Quote:
Originally Posted by Cassirin Oh, PICTURES. Sure, sure. Phoebe tried not to look at Cooper, who was probably vibrating in excitement in his seat. That kid could explain the whole process to them. In detail. Excruciating detail. So, just to make sure she had a chance to answer the question before he answered for them...
Her hand shot up. "My Uncle Mo, that's Coop's dad, he is a photographer. Like they pay him to do it and everything. And he has a dark room for developing the pictures, only it's not totally dark in there. There's like a red light? It's a murder room."
Shreya's eyes flitted to Cooper at Phoebe's mention, breaking into a light chuckle. "Yes, the darkroom can be a bit spooky. Red light is the only type of light that won't prematurely expose photo paper, which is why that color is used. It's referred to as a safe light." Though a part of her really hoped that it wasn't actually a murder room. That was just a joke, right? Text Cut: Evan Quote:
Originally Posted by Chelliephone Evan was kind of amused that none of them had actually stated photos as their answers, given how obvious it was that was the topic of discussion. It certainly made things more interesting, and it was nice hearing about what people did to preserve their own memories. He had tried to keep a journal a few times, but he seemed to have a hard time keeping up with it. He preferred to save newspaper clippings from days of important and associate them. Which hadn't been offered as an answer either.
Moving on.
He knew very little about the process of developed photos, other than the fact that it seemed complicated. He much preferred old polaroid's which just... popped out the photo. He raised his hand, though he didn't have too much to process. "It seems like a particularly complicated process. Unless someone is like an actual photographer, they don't usually try to develop photos themselves. Opting for either a digital camera where it can all be done electronically, or sending their film elsewhere to be developed." More commonly option number 1 though now.
Complicated it was, which was probably why traditional film development was becoming a bit of a lost art. "Very true. It requires quite a bit of finesse, and a lot of expensive equipment. Digital cameras can often be an easier and more convenient option." Or sending the film elsewhere, though that could cost a pretty sickle. "But you have to admit, developing a photo on your own gives you a great sense of accomplishment." Or so they'd soon discover! Text Cut: Lisa Quote:
Originally Posted by Watson Lisa was all ears has she heard the Professor offer her even MORE pearls of wisdom. She scribbled them down into her notebook. The curious hunger was satisfied for now and she offered the Professor a satisfied nod.
So the topic was developing photos..... Lisa has no clue where to start with that question for she didn’t know too much about the camera and developing process. Her cousin, Cora, was a photographer but Lisa spent most of her time IN front of the camera and not BEHIND it. The Ravenclaw, surprisingly to some perhaps, was the model and the beautiful Aphrodite in their family..... She would have flipped her hair for effect but it was in a low ponytail.
“I don’t know much but it IS in a dark rooms so I assume you can’t show them light until the process is completely finished. Will we have to brew the solution or thing in the dark? I guess the night vision charm could come in handy.” She murmured the last part, thinking through how exactly to approach said issue.
Interesting.
Her eyes twinkled a bit at the young Ravenclaw's curiosity. So bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It was refreshing! "Yes, Lisa. You are correct that it must be dark to develop a photo. The only time photo paper can be exposed to light is when you're transferring the film negative onto it and after the paper has been through the developing solutions." She chuckled a bit at the question about brewing the potion in the dark. "Not to worry. The potion does not need to be brewed in the dark." Text Cut: Kinsay Quote:
Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Yes, Evan, Kinsay had LOTS of preliminary guesses on how this would all tie in. Most of them had to do with photography, something she knew about (sort of) thanks to Uncle Mo and Cousin Cooper. They were the best photographers Kinsay knew. And even if Kinz didn't understand all the intricacies that went into taking pictures with the fancy lenses and vintage cameras, she knew how to point and click. That was half of it anyway. Just as she opened her mouth to offer up her many preliminary guesses, Professor Varma began the class and Kinz had to turn to pay attention.
Big sigh.
Kiz listened super respectfully as everyone offered up answers, but once Phoebe mentioned Uncle Mo, Kiz couldn't think about anything other than CHRISTMAS. Because hopefully Uncle Mo and Aunt Cat would come for a proper visit during the holiday. Riverwalk Cottage was always so much better when they had company.
"I don't think anyone has actually gotten murdered there, Professor" she chimed in right after the Pheebs, incase Professor Varma was worried about it. "Uncle Mo would tell me if there was." She was sure of it. Maybe she'd ask him during the holidays.
Shreya's eyes flashed over to Phoebe, raising her brows in curiosity. "I would hope not, Kinsay," she said with a laugh. And hopefully if there was, there would at least be some photographic evidence of the crime so the perpetrators could be caught. Text Cut: Nemesis Quote:
Originally Posted by Felixir Still just sitting quietly in the back corner of the room, Nem was watching their hand as they listened to the lesson. They'd taken one of the metal matchsticks from their pocket and were walking it with preternatural precision over their fingers and knuckles, with only the slightest of finger twitches now and then.
Nem could not claim any expertise about photography itself, or the process of developing photographs. They'd never been particularly interested in being behind the camera, or in front of it; it was such a niche and, as far as they were concerned, unimportant area that they'd also not bothered to learn anything about it. Most of what they knew was information that had filtered through during everyday life or the context of other pursuits, largely unintentional, like this stuff about dark rooms, and the potion to develop magical photographs. Nem knew all their school textbooks cover to cover, and then some; it was no surprise they ended up knowing things they had not set out to learn. All things considered, there was nothing they wanted to add here, even if they felt like speaking up.
As they watched the small metal shape balance, tumble, and roll end-to-end over their fingers, Nem recalled the last time they'd been home and had happened to note some of the family photos around the house. Almost every recent photographed version of themselves had abandoned the scenes, especially the group scenes - it was interesting to note the parallels, or maybe the foreshadowing. Jake and Becca, of course, had always kept regular muggle photos around as well, so it was hardly an issue.
But it was an indication that, in some cases, it was better to not have moving photos at all, if it was memories you wanted to capture. The subjects could bail out just as easily as their real life counterparts. Conversely, it was better if someone magically developed a photograph of you, if that version of you was likely to act appropriately and walk when the time came.
Which led to the question of exactly how and why that occurred, what kind of magic was picking up on what aspects of a person's behaviour. How much of the subject they could see.
Nem's hand stilled. The metal matchstick fell from their fingers with a tiny clatter, and they stared without really seeing it.
Every so often, Shreya shifted a subtle gaze toward Nemesis. It wasn't that she was concerned—they often displayed pensiveness during a lesson. But something about the Slytherin seemed particularly contemplative, and Shreya couldn't help her mind from wandering in curiosity. What were they thinking about? It was unbelievably hard to tell, and that frustrated her.
The professor was making a round around the classroom, listening to other students' answers, when the matchstick fell to the ground. But she wasn't close enough to their workstation to see what it was. Text Cut: Heath Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMadamMalfoy SPOILER!!: catchup
Christmas had always been special for Heath, but the holiday took on s different meaning over the past few years. This Christmas marked two years since he started dating Claudine and three since he fell in love with her. Seeing the festive decorations instantly brightened his mood, but it was the photo studio setup that piqued his curiosity. Were they doing a Christmas photo shoot? That sounded fun… also sort of sounded like something his brother would set up for the family to do.
He was already reminiscing about Christmas before Professor Varma mentioned nostalgia, and as he thought, he realized he didn't have any bad Christmas memories, not really. The worst that had happened to him was not getting the present he wanted or doing something awkward in front of the family, like accidentally breaking an ornament or singing the wrong lyrics to a Christmas carol. Even last Christmas stuck here at Hogwarts wasn't completely terrible! Thinking of the holidays with his family hit a bit different now that his experiences last term and the war in general changed the dynamic of his family relationship. What was Christmas going to be like now?
Pushing the thought out of his mind, he focused on the question. Judging by the classroom setup, photography seemed the most obvious answer… maybe a bit too obvious. He also thought of things like pensieves, art and journaling, but those had been said. Maybe he needed to look at the question from a different angle. He considered what he himself did to preserve memories, and his thoughts turned to the collection of theatre programs he kept from every play he was ever in and every play he saw with his dad. His hand went up, and he said, "Some people preserve memories by keeping objects associated with specific memories."
Heath was not the slightest bit surprised when Professor Varma zeroed in on photography. With a setup like this, where else could the lesson possibly go? With the next question in mind, he considered how pictures were taken. Having grown up with a brother who dabbled in photography, he'd picked up a few tidbits of information along the way. He knew photo development was done through a series of chemical baths. He knew there were multiple methods, and each one involved different chemicals and steps, though he didn't understand the process enough to come up with any specific examples. Ugh! He hated no knowing what to say in class! If only Fiyero was here to help him with this question!
As Heath's thoughts turned to his brother, he remembered a specific camera he once used. Not a digital or a magical camera. It was a big boxy-looking one that spit the photos out when it took them. What did Fiyero say about that camera again? Raising his hand, he said, "There's the instant camera, a type of muggle camera that, as the name suggests, develops photos instantly. It uses a special film with the chemicals needed for development already included, and the camera develops the pictures itself. I don't know how it works exactly."
Shreya was glad that someone had brought up an instant camera. Such a convenient way to capture memories, and a charming one, too. "Wonderful, Heath. There are even some wizarding types of instant cameras that produce moving photographs—no developing solution needed." She had considered bringing some today, but she wanted the students to get the experience of developing a real picture from scratch. Shreya had started to make a move toward the chalkboard, ready to jot down a couple of notes, until she figured that it wasn't really relevant to the subject at hand. They were talking about the developing solution today, not photography as a whole. But at least it was a fun discussion—no need to spoil it with notetaking. And by the looks of it, the students had already learned something new.
"There are a variety of methods we can use to develop photos. Some digital and instant cameras can do it immediately: no special processing methods or spells needed. Other methods, like the one we will discuss today, take a bit more time." She returned to the stool and took a seat. "But there is one distinct difference between mundane and magical photographs: Our photos can move." Whether that was a good or bad thing, she would leave to the students to decide for themselves.
"While there are several magical methods that can be used to enchant a photograph, such as special cameras and spells, we're going to be focusing on the most traditional method: the developing solution. This potion will make a moving picture." She gestured to her own cauldron in the center of the classroom, which contained a thick, ebony concoction. Although nothing was stirring it, it continued to slosh around.
"We're going to capture and develop our very own pictures today. But the first step is to brew the potion." With a tap of her wand toward the chalkboard, the instructions appeared. "You'll start by combining some liquids in your cauldron. Then, you'll need to crush some dransul leaves and proceed from there."
"Keep a close eye on the color of your potion. It should start clear, but transform into burgundy, and then black as you complete the process." With a clap of her hands, she sent the students off to prepare their cauldrons. OOC: Mini-activity time! You have approximately 48 hours (probably a bit more) before we move on. Feel free to brew in as many or as little posts as you prefer. Shreya will be making the rounds in case you have any questions! |