Thursday 30 October 2008

week 7

Rolling onto the next week i have already come up with some ideas i quickly drew into my book they are really detailed describing the main details picked up from the Brave new world books paragraphs however eventually I'll pick out of 3 of these thumbnail drawings and will develop them more further on Photoshop, all these drawing are ideas that appeared in my mind whilst reading through what i have gathered so far basing the designs on the paragraphs i read through.

Scene 1 – chapter 1 – ‘central London Hatchery And Conditioning Centre’

The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north. Cold for all the summer beyond the panes, for all the tropical heat of the room itself, a harsh thin light glared through the windows, hungrily seeking some draped lay figure, some pallid shape of academic goose-flesh, but finding only the glass and nickel and bleakly shining porcelain of a laboratory.


keys words :
-Enormous
-faintly purred
-Harsh Shining porcelain
-Frozen
-Dead
-Ghost
-Machinery thin glare




Scene 2 – chapter IV – ‘The view from the helicopter’

The liftman was a small simian creature, dressed in the black tunic of an Epsilon-Minus Semi-Moron.
"Roof!"
He flung open the gates. The warm glory of afternoon sunlight made him start and blink his eyes. "Oh, roof!" he repeated in a voice of rapture. He was as though suddenly and joyfully awakened from a dark annihilating stupor. "Roof!"

keys words :
-Warm
-roof
-Afternoon sun light
-Hastening rocket planes
-Hum of passing helicopters
-Dark lift



Scene 3 – chapter V – ‘The view from the helicopter 2’
An incessant buzzing of helicopters filled the twilight. Every two and a half minutes a bell and the screech of whistles announced the departure of one of the light monorail trains which carried the lower caste golfers back from their separate course to the metropolis.

keys words :
-Light was falling
-Incessant buzzing
-Bright sun of western sky
-Crimson horizon
-Sunset faded
-Thought orange into yellow
-Pale watery green







The Night Of The Hunter
Dir. Charles Laughton
1955


My experience and knowledge watching black and white films are very limited i have mainly disliked them and this classic bring back my memory's of the whole black and white film genre, this film was the least interesting film so far for me , i found it quite strange when the priest comes into the picture becoming a father to the children, my favorite part of the film in terms of the lighting and the scenes was the escape of the children as the traveled down river the light had changed with the day as it become dark during the night.



The Haunting
Dir. Robert Wise
1963

I found The Haunting to be much more helpful and useful contrasted to the content of the other films in terms of what we have watched so far, the lighting and scene are much better there were moments in the film for example the angle of the camera from the top of the spiral stair case looking down onto the actors with there shadow casted behind them really stood out the reason why i remember this and chose to write about this scene is because it gives me an idea of the type of angles i could base my concept art on perspective wise.


I feel that the film finished too quick, there was something missing as if the story wasn't told fully in my opinion, although there are some more element missing I'm not quite sure what they are from the top of my head, however I'm keen to see the remake.

I'm now beginning to see the aspect to look out for in the films that we watch and will remember this for the future and for the next couple of film that will be viewed.



This list below shows some of the conceptual art designs i looked at from more inspiration for my designs i have also added some picture references taken from the Internet.

http://features.conceptcar.co.uk/rca-vehicle-design-2007/seidl.php
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3780
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXpALt_m9P1Vz5VA-xzZMH67TCgQ5gvdXbeJvVY0Rju0jPInLUkTCg0UipCU033xtZBCsAznRzescVri-BZfrqsIxjbXRTV4F1MVnibrJPB9Poi4H9kgn4-1_uYv7N_nSOElCOzFxfwwU/s1600-h/Star+Child.jpg
































Wednesday 22 October 2008

week 6 Space Project

Space

Missing the first vital day of the new project was a shame this day included the briefing into the new project which was very important ,understanding what needs to be done also i didn't really know what was except from the new tasks ahead all i knew was is was something to do with digital environments and sets ,just by looking at the timetable for the next couple of week i notice there are a lot of films that we will be watching thought out the project i knew then theses will give use the understating we need for our scenes.


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, is the main source of my project the book consists of scenes that i will have to create using my imagination combined with the information given in the book ,i have read through my brief and have read the paragraphs allocated and finding it hard to understand as i have not read the book before, i cant really create a clear image of the scenes yet as i have a lack of knowledge of Brave New World however I'm going to research into it more and find out some of the themes that relate to the book, i feel that is a good place to start.


Scanning the Internet i came across some themes, to be more precise there are actually 12 different themes to the book in totally they vary discussing a totally new topic for example (the denial of death) this shows me the complexity of the books content and so Ive narrowed it down to 3 themes that relate to the designs I'm going to create, the themes are:


1.COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY- VERSUS INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM

2.SCIENCE AS A MEANS OF CONTROL

3.THE THREAT OF GENETIC ENGINEERING



After looking into the themes of the book it lead me to another source of information, book reviews i found a few interesting view about the Brave New World the reason why i have been checking out these reviews is so it gives me a more clear image and understanding of other peoples personal view of the book so i know i am doing the right thing also gained a clearer understanding of the books story.

'Brave New World begins with a tour of the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre. Society has finally organized itself according to rational schema's: the birth process has been mechanized.'

Book review by James Schellenberg 1998
http://www.challengingdestiny.com/reviews/bravenew.htm

'Brave New World is set in 632 A.F. (After Ford – after the first successful mass-produced car built by Henry Ford). After several wars and advanced technology Huxley’s Utopian state rejects the past, is controlled by ‘happy’ propaganda and promiscuity is the accepted moral. People are not born; they are hatched from bottles. People are genetically engineered to carry out tasks that relate to their IQ level. Everyone takes Soma (Fordian dope) to heighten their happiness. A utopia, you could only dream about.'

Book review by Nicky 2001
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Brave_New_World_Aldous_Huxley__Review_5142974
The current status of my project at this stage is gathering information to greater my understanding of my book.

whilst looking around the Internet the words utopia and Dystipian appeared allot around the subject of my book here are the definitions for them just so i remember what they are for future reference.


Utopian:
An ideal place or state. Any vision of a socially and politically perfect society. From Greek roots, it derives its meaning from the words outopia, meaning "no place" and eutopia, meaning " a place where everything is right." In a sense, a Utopian land in fiction becomes both a place that never quite existed as it is portrayed and a place where everything seems perfect. It is an imagined world.

Dystopian:
Dystopia is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia. A Dystopian society is one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution.

Film Metropolis

Dir.Fritz Lang

1927


Now this film was very interesting when you think about it the film isn't that great(acting wise)however during that period in time it was excellent famously known for its futuristic elements such as the huge building structures ,machinery and so on, whilst watching the film i noticed the contrast of black and white int the scenes and the use of lighting in the scenes, the one that stood out in my mind was the part where Maria/Robot was being chased around the cave with the spot light coming from Rotwang, this film was the beginning to all the fantastic films we watch today ,I'm not a huge fan of black and white films to be honest especially if they don't contain verbal language in them but i could easily capture the clear message the film is trying to give to the viewer.

Overall the films view of the 1930 future is the main interest I'm going to look into and help me.



Workshop

Concept Art

Intro to Digital Painting

Experiencing the new conceptual art class i found very useful and interesting as i have never used Photoshop in this ways before Ive picked up lots of new skill and techniques for this one class alone and is it probably the most enjoyable particular work i have done so far at the university.I'm hoping this excitement will carry on thought out the duration of this unit and that I succeed with what I'm planning on doing with my ideas.

My first sample concept design playing around with the new tools i have learnt.





Monday 13 October 2008

Final week of Portrait Project

just finishing up essay ready for critique on friday





what is the perfect image?





is there a perfect image?





if so how can i create a perfect self image?



Self-image: An individual's awareness of, and attitudes toward, his/her own physical or biological person; an individual's perception of him/herself, such perception being learned in social interaction, mostly through the medium of language.
http://www.unk.edu/offices/aaeo/index.php?id=1548




these are the question i ask my self which will help me decided my portrait image

Wednesday 1 October 2008

week 2 Portrait Project

On week 2 after the picture identities lecture i really started thinking about my portrait and what i need to produce for it ,i started off my preparation by just noting a few ideas on a page and then decided I'm going to work from there and begin the development.


Here's the first quick sketch i done in my sketchbook which is a study of my face using a mirror trying to capture the main details of my face structure in its normal form ,at the time of this portrait my face was very still and motionless my mind was just concentrating on the image i was drawing ,i think sometimes i feel that whatever is on your mind can impact your drawing , for example with some portraits only the painter knows what the meaning is whether it is sad or happy like the famous Mona Lisa is it a frown or a smile?

Optical illusion of the Mona Lisa taken from
Mona Lisa Smile June 04, 2006 by Vurdlak
http://www.moillusions.com/2006/06/mona-lisa-smile.html

Claerwen James (Research)
I've located an artist Claerwen James via the Internet, you can see how she is dealing with the issue of identity in the work these two portraits showing the same girl are very detailed in there description of what the young girl is about, my first impression is that she is very lonely, perhaps she has lost someone close in her family, the colours look quite dull giving me the impression that Claerwen James wanted to show depth in the paintings however it is clear the portrait lies as a mystery, hence why i could not find an answer for the true meaning of the young girls identity.



'At first glance, these portraits of children and adolescents offer their subjects up in a direct, even vibrant way. A longer look reveals withdrawal; there is a disconcerting watchfulness about the figures as they stare out of the picture into a future they cannot comprehend. However hard we look at them, we cannot hope to match their questioning gaze.'

quote taken form - Allison Pearson
http://www.clivejames.com/gallery/painting/claerwen-james/pearson





Egon Schiele (Research)
I like the way Schiele shows himself in his art work, in a way i think it is very dramatic, he stares at the viewer of the portrait as if to say 'what are you looking at? this is my true identity also he is not scared of showing himself to the world during the 1900's period ,compared to this day n age it is very different in comparison everybody cares about self-image and the way they displayed (including me) which is why Egon's style of portraits link in well with my idea of self-portrait as I'm trying to show myself.

Another way of hiding my true self (identity) is shown here this face of me is capturing the motion of closure and secrets in a way, as there is no mouth you cant totally tell wot the image is about.I also think you can tell what a person is like by there mouth shape size like if they are smiling they are a very happy person and so you assume there life and identity is good however for me the image is like a mystery nobody quite knows but you can make an assumption about them and this is what i fink this portrait idea is portraying.



Rembrandt (Research)

Some say that Rembrandt was the best self portrait painter of his time in fact even all time.just by looking at his art work you see why people would say this. i like the way he deals with identity in his art work particularly the oil paintings of when he was a young lad looking healthy and confident.however the older self portraits look as if they have lost these features to ageing leaving his past behind which i think gives a real impact to the viewer.This aspect of youth and old ages is a very strong area of identity which i might have to look into.

quote taken from national museum Liverpool
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-month/displaypicture.asp?venue=2&id=300

'He used his painted self-portraits to explore the effect on the overall mood of an image of the fall of light and shade over the face, before embarking on commissioned portraits.'

The next stage of the portrait projects was to examine my face and so i picked out this self image amongst a few others and found that this image is the best that reflects me 'my best side' ,the three images are the same the reason i chose this image is because it reflects who i am right now caring about the way i look.

As you can see my mobile is part of my final idea as it is the centre of me, i carry it everywhere i go and use it also, i first came up with this idea as i was walking to the university in the morning i saw around 10 people using a mobile phone for example in there cars, this was a sign to carry out my idea, so i drew my mobile in my sketch book and added my idea into it.

Statics showing seriousness of how technology is taking over the world.
'The number of mobile phone users world soared to over 3.3 billion by the end of 2007'

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23755088-5001028,00.html



My mobile phone is a significant part of who i am and so trapping my portrait in the screen has in a way taking my identity away from the outside world in real life. Similar to Dorian greys in the way his sees his soul is in his portrait ,i see my portrait is in my phone(the phone has taken my identity)watching the Dorian Greys film inspired my main idea, in some cases i hate it when pictures are taken of me as i don't like the fact i might look like an idiot, however so this is all self identity a judgement i make about myself and i feel others share the similar opinion.




http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_life_and_work.htm
http://www.veritus.org/rembrandt/book.php
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/S/selfportraituk14to19/