So it starts, and after getting an amazing lecture on 'the uncanny' , and speaking to Phil about my 1st ideas.
The 1st idea:
I want to create uncanny scene, where suicide will be present in it, not like in Russel Sorgi work where is explicit in it, but through clues on the scene and lighting work directing the eye into it. creating a present and future thought of the scene.
I took a Crime Scenes book from the library, and phil advised me to not stick with human body as we dont have yet the knowledge to create one, so I thought in this scene will be a minimal use of human parts apart from drawn or only shadows, where the objects will talk for themselves.
I ll update with some sketches soon.
The 2nd idea:
For my second example, I though of creating a scene dealing with alcohol intoxication, in the eyes a little girl seeing her father extremely drunk. Also it would create an uncanny moment so present in people's lives as well as mine.
Also I'll update with sketches.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Film: Invaders from Mars, 1953, William Menzies
On Tuesday, we were presented with the uncanny concept, theory established by Freud that describes an uneasiness that people have when the familiar becomes strangely unfamiliar, weird and ultimately scary. Also to demonstrate this concept we were also presented with another 50s' Sci-Film.
Invaders from Mars is a interesting film, it tells a story of a little boy's dream, where an invasion from Aliens take place near his home. When he decides to tell his father that something weird happened in the fields near his house, his father decides to investigate but suddenly is captured by an Aliens spaceship, which implant a small device that can control his emotions and moves. This happens to a few people of that city when they search the fields. The main objective of the Aliens is to take control of human force to destroy their own experiment, a rocket ship.
It was a good film, with a brilliant use of technicolor depicting the 50s towns in America.
It shares almost the same concept that the previous film we watched, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but this one actually show the bug-eyed aliens in it. The acting was good overall, in some points gave this amazing Uncanny feeling to the main character, the kid, where the town he lives in suddenly drastically changes.
The only fault I saw and many people seen it too, was the infinite repetition of the same scenes, and a lot of time in the film wasted, where they were running around waiting unti the day of tomorrow. About the costumes of the aliens, the zipper didnt go there well I know, but that is what happens when the budget is low. In fact, was not much of a problem, because if it was a child's dream, things could be a bit child-like.
I would say it was a good film, until they started to repeat the same scenes over and over again, wasting a bit of time.
Invaders from Mars is a interesting film, it tells a story of a little boy's dream, where an invasion from Aliens take place near his home. When he decides to tell his father that something weird happened in the fields near his house, his father decides to investigate but suddenly is captured by an Aliens spaceship, which implant a small device that can control his emotions and moves. This happens to a few people of that city when they search the fields. The main objective of the Aliens is to take control of human force to destroy their own experiment, a rocket ship.
It was a good film, with a brilliant use of technicolor depicting the 50s towns in America.
It shares almost the same concept that the previous film we watched, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but this one actually show the bug-eyed aliens in it. The acting was good overall, in some points gave this amazing Uncanny feeling to the main character, the kid, where the town he lives in suddenly drastically changes.
The only fault I saw and many people seen it too, was the infinite repetition of the same scenes, and a lot of time in the film wasted, where they were running around waiting unti the day of tomorrow. About the costumes of the aliens, the zipper didnt go there well I know, but that is what happens when the budget is low. In fact, was not much of a problem, because if it was a child's dream, things could be a bit child-like.
I would say it was a good film, until they started to repeat the same scenes over and over again, wasting a bit of time.
Film: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956, Don Siegel
On Monday, we watched the 1st film set to our new unit, Environment, it was a classic Sci-fi film, where our planet is being invaded by aliens.
Synopsis:
"Held by the police as a raving lunatic, Dr. Miles Bennell recounts to a psychiatrist the events that have turned his life upside down. He returned to his small town the previous Thursday, having been called back from a medical conference by his nurse, who was being flooded with patients. He arrives to find that most have canceled their appointments, but the few cases he does have all have the same story: someone close to them is acting strangely as if they had been replaced. Consulting some of his colleagues, he finds that these types of reports have been coming in all week and they conclude it must be some type of mass hysteria. However, when his friends Jack and Teddy Belicec show him a partly formed body they have uncovered in their home, he begins to realize that there may be some truth to the wild stories he has been hearing".
Source: IMDb
At first, I was a bit, ' oh no a Sci-Fi film, with huge bug's eye aliens', but instead in this film takes all the 50's sci-fi films to a different way, where the invasion by aliens is so subtle that they take the shape of normal people of our planet.
Despite not having big, terrifying aliens it wasn't actually really easy to watch, the feeling of fear wasnt there as it wasnt scary, but the 'uncanny' feeling was well presented as the uneasiness on which the spectator as well as the main actor were driven throughout the film to know that once was familiar completely changed.
I really like the acting especially when the actor found that his loved one was transformed into an emotionless alien, the fear in his eyes, followed by the state of craziness in his actions was just interesting.
Also I took Phil's advice and researched how suburban America in the 50's was so obsessed by the fact that every neighbour could be a Communist, and how they feared the place they lived in.
So I found a really interesting comparison between the original 50's original version of the film and the 70's remake of the same to find the differences, where they highlight the communism.
Video Here
Synopsis:
"Held by the police as a raving lunatic, Dr. Miles Bennell recounts to a psychiatrist the events that have turned his life upside down. He returned to his small town the previous Thursday, having been called back from a medical conference by his nurse, who was being flooded with patients. He arrives to find that most have canceled their appointments, but the few cases he does have all have the same story: someone close to them is acting strangely as if they had been replaced. Consulting some of his colleagues, he finds that these types of reports have been coming in all week and they conclude it must be some type of mass hysteria. However, when his friends Jack and Teddy Belicec show him a partly formed body they have uncovered in their home, he begins to realize that there may be some truth to the wild stories he has been hearing".
Source: IMDb
At first, I was a bit, ' oh no a Sci-Fi film, with huge bug's eye aliens', but instead in this film takes all the 50's sci-fi films to a different way, where the invasion by aliens is so subtle that they take the shape of normal people of our planet.
Despite not having big, terrifying aliens it wasn't actually really easy to watch, the feeling of fear wasnt there as it wasnt scary, but the 'uncanny' feeling was well presented as the uneasiness on which the spectator as well as the main actor were driven throughout the film to know that once was familiar completely changed.
I really like the acting especially when the actor found that his loved one was transformed into an emotionless alien, the fear in his eyes, followed by the state of craziness in his actions was just interesting.
Also I took Phil's advice and researched how suburban America in the 50's was so obsessed by the fact that every neighbour could be a Communist, and how they feared the place they lived in.
So I found a really interesting comparison between the original 50's original version of the film and the 70's remake of the same to find the differences, where they highlight the communism.
Video Here
Unit 3- Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson's work of the Twilight Series are really ambiguous, by the way he photographs he tries to evoke something that is not really there.
It puts the spectator in the position, where is almost present in the scene, also provoking the uncanny feeling, where the familiar suddenly changes to something that we are not used to.
Even though, they are all made-up scenes, they look so realistic, making us believe that is actually something happening to what is so familiar to us, It almost makes us want to stop the subject of the picture from their actions but we are not able to , as being separated by a glass.
It puts the spectator in the position, where is almost present in the scene, also provoking the uncanny feeling, where the familiar suddenly changes to something that we are not used to.
Even though, they are all made-up scenes, they look so realistic, making us believe that is actually something happening to what is so familiar to us, It almost makes us want to stop the subject of the picture from their actions but we are not able to , as being separated by a glass.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Unit 3- Tableaux Vivants
Last weekend, I had a quick read through the brief and found a term that I wasn't familiar with. After I have done a few research and with the help of this 2 first lectures of unit 3, I was able to understand it a bit better.
Tableaux-Vivants - Is a french term that relates to a living picture, an ambiguous picture that not only shows an undefined part of the subject but allows the viewer to apply their own thoughts and perceive it the way they want, building their own narrative. Its a picture that evokes something that is not explicit.
Tableaux-Vivants Artists:
Edgar Degas:
Edgar Degas, Ballet Rehearsal, 1875
Edgar Degas' works carry information not only in the picture but also outside of it, by the use of cropping in this picture we perceive that somebody is watching the ballet rehearsal but is a element that is not explicit in there.
Edward Hopper:
Hopper's artworks are based on indication, where the spectator is lead to the main information by clues made by small objects or human gestures around the picture.
Office at Night
In this picture, we can only find clues to perceive maybe what's happening in that scene, while the spectator eyes are lead to the secretary backside, a little hint suggests that is about to happen something that we don't know, added to the paper that can be seen on the floor near the table. Once again, the action is not there explicit, it only builds inside our head.
Sun Worship
While in the 1st picture the artist gives clues to what is the intention of the actions, in this one the spectator sort of invades a private space in the woman's worship, but in fact she seems indifferent, it seems like its a thick glass between the spectator and the subject, which connects but doesnt interfere.
Russel Sorgi I:
Suicide,1942
Sorgi's picture creates a really disturbing feeling to the spectator, it freezes the moment giving the spectator the opportunity to see the 'calm before the storm', in this picture we can perceive how calm the street is, and how it will change in just about seconds, it was a lucky shot but really disturbing.
Jeff Wall
The Destroyed Room, 1978
Insomnia
Tableaux-Vivants - Is a french term that relates to a living picture, an ambiguous picture that not only shows an undefined part of the subject but allows the viewer to apply their own thoughts and perceive it the way they want, building their own narrative. Its a picture that evokes something that is not explicit.
Tableaux-Vivants Artists:
Edgar Degas:
Edgar Degas, Ballet Rehearsal, 1875Edgar Degas' works carry information not only in the picture but also outside of it, by the use of cropping in this picture we perceive that somebody is watching the ballet rehearsal but is a element that is not explicit in there.
Edward Hopper:
Hopper's artworks are based on indication, where the spectator is lead to the main information by clues made by small objects or human gestures around the picture.
Office at NightIn this picture, we can only find clues to perceive maybe what's happening in that scene, while the spectator eyes are lead to the secretary backside, a little hint suggests that is about to happen something that we don't know, added to the paper that can be seen on the floor near the table. Once again, the action is not there explicit, it only builds inside our head.
Sun WorshipWhile in the 1st picture the artist gives clues to what is the intention of the actions, in this one the spectator sort of invades a private space in the woman's worship, but in fact she seems indifferent, it seems like its a thick glass between the spectator and the subject, which connects but doesnt interfere.
Russel Sorgi I:
Suicide,1942Sorgi's picture creates a really disturbing feeling to the spectator, it freezes the moment giving the spectator the opportunity to see the 'calm before the storm', in this picture we can perceive how calm the street is, and how it will change in just about seconds, it was a lucky shot but really disturbing.
Jeff Wall
The Destroyed Room, 1978
InsomniaJeff Wall's work is quite similar to what we have to produce, creating sets to evoke something, for example, at first the first picture, looks from a real scene but as we perceive it better small clues help us to understand that is a made-up set. However, we aren't able to create humans in Maya just yet, the use of shadows or digitally paint them is a possibility.
Unit 03- Environment
After a delayed start in this unit because I wanted to finish my Maya tutorial from the previous unit, I have already a new brief for a 8 week project throughout the Christmas Period and onto next semester.
As the name say it this unit takes our own knowledge of the space unit and add it to the new skill of modelling in Maya to create a 3d scene.
On the Creative Design part of the project, we are asked " to produce a tableau vivant-style scene that combines a digitally modelled set with a digitally painted background... scene should demonstrate clearly your understanding of the various ways in which environments may derive and communicate their identity through their mise-en-scene."
Concluding that we have to create an ambiguous scene, which the objects present in it will tell a story.
As the name say it this unit takes our own knowledge of the space unit and add it to the new skill of modelling in Maya to create a 3d scene.
On the Creative Design part of the project, we are asked " to produce a tableau vivant-style scene that combines a digitally modelled set with a digitally painted background... scene should demonstrate clearly your understanding of the various ways in which environments may derive and communicate their identity through their mise-en-scene."
Concluding that we have to create an ambiguous scene, which the objects present in it will tell a story.
Maya Tutorials: Street Project Finished
Street Project Final Scene
Street Project Colour Pass
Street Project Occlusion Pass
After not meeting the deadline for the tutorial, due to have really busy weekend with my new job.
I was trying to finish it on Monday until 6 AM but I couldnt make it for Alan to check it. Anyway I arrived home from Uni and got on again with it because being the 3D one of the bases of our next project I didn't want to to just leave this really helpful tutorial undone.
It was great fun model everything, specially the house facade, and not so fun laying the UVs, but its a job that has to be done so its better if i just get used to it now. And just the feeling you have when you finish your scene and cant believe it was done by you, its worthy.
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