One of my favorite experts is Michel Gondry. He is a french film, commercial, music video director and screenwriter. Known for films such as Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind and a range of music videos for Björk, The White Stripes, Daft Punk, Foo Fighters ect. Michel Gondry's imagination is inspiring to me. What I like about him the most must be the playfullness of his work. Gondry is not afraid to experiment with different materials or techniques and shows proof how you can mix handmade work with latest technology. This makes it clear why he's so successful and stands out. Every single film he's done is full of new exciting ideas how one can create an imaginative environment. His style can be described as some kind of playful surrealism. I think you can learn a lot from his work and since i'm interested in Moving Image and Illustration it is important to research how he's done some scenes, what are his tricks. Gondry plays a lot with optical illustion and it is always interesting to look behind the scenes.
I found this video on youtube where Gondry explains how one scene is constructed in "Enternal Sunshine."
As you can see are the elements of the kitchen in the back is much bigger so that the actor Jim Carry seems to be as little as a three year old.
In this example below, The Making of the Hardest Button to Button by The White Stripes Gondry shows scetching the structure of the video.
Another good example how Gondry works is this HP commercial, in which he had the opportunity to show what he likes, how he works, how he uses a computer and what he relates on. His personal style is even in a commercial clearly shown.
HP commercial with Michel Gondry
Making of the HP commercial
Each expert has it's own workflow which also developes through years and experience. What is achievable? In terms of production, a workplan is indispensable so that it is important to get used to a working routine. Also to prioritize is most of the time the reason some people struggle. My own workflow is to start with Brainstorming at first, draw intitial ideas and to experiment. An important part in this stage is to research and to ask questions, otherwise questions will be ask later which can't be answered.
Below you see my own workflow I had when I was given a 3 week project.
week 1 - Brief - Brainstorming - Research - initial ideas and experimenting with materials - Tutorials and Feedback
week2 - Developing of initial ideas - Research - Production of Ideas - Tutorials and Feedback
week3 - Tutorials Feedback - Presentation of ideas - Further Dvelopment of Ideas - Presentation of the final outcome - Feedback
Donnerstag, 13. Januar 2011
ITAP 8/Image and Text
In Illustration, Typography and text can be used to suport a content. To underline the content of the image below, the line "thought of you" emerges out of the her hair and reminds of twirling while thinking about someone. I researched artists that worked with illustrated type and found Teagan White and Tae Querney. Both worked mostly in black and white and used thin lines to create illustrated type.
In the story of the Zine the girl is waiting for a call, so that the line of the telophone creates the word waiting.
Richard Avadons was able to show the true face of someone through one shot. He waited for the right moment to catch a private intense moment like a voyeur. for a fotographer it is important to create a relationship between him and a model.
Marylin Monroe, who suffered through depression, was molded into what people expected her to be. Avadons took a shot where you can see Monroe's confusion and despair. The content here is created through the fame of the model. There's no need for explanation, as if it was someone unknown.
In his other work, he took fotos of people living in the American West that interested him. They normally wouldn't get any attention, but he made them silent stars. He showed a different side of the American Way of Life making nobody into somebody, giving them a context by taking them out of context. Many people disapproved of the perception given by his photographs. But he only showed what is behind the patriotism and how the world sees America.
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| Thought of you by Christiane Matz |
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| Teagan White |
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| Tae Querney |
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| Tae Querney |
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| Waiting on the phone by Christiane Matz |
In the story of the Zine the girl is waiting for a call, so that the line of the telophone creates the word waiting.
Richard Avadons was able to show the true face of someone through one shot. He waited for the right moment to catch a private intense moment like a voyeur. for a fotographer it is important to create a relationship between him and a model.
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| Marilyn Monroe by Richard Avadon |
Marylin Monroe, who suffered through depression, was molded into what people expected her to be. Avadons took a shot where you can see Monroe's confusion and despair. The content here is created through the fame of the model. There's no need for explanation, as if it was someone unknown.
In his other work, he took fotos of people living in the American West that interested him. They normally wouldn't get any attention, but he made them silent stars. He showed a different side of the American Way of Life making nobody into somebody, giving them a context by taking them out of context. Many people disapproved of the perception given by his photographs. But he only showed what is behind the patriotism and how the world sees America.
ITAP 7/ Development of Creative Thought and Structure in Illustration and Graphic Art
As an Illustration student of Visual Communication I start with Brainstorming at first. I write and draw what comes to my mind while thinking about a brief. What happenens in my environment, what interests me at the moment. As I wrote in one of my blogentries earlier, I get inspired by all kinds of things, but music and film inspires me the most. During one of my 3 week projects, "The Underbelly of Birmingham", was no need to concentrate on the City, but it was easier at first.
Since I live in the West Midland I've heard plenty of Quotes and had many impressions of the people living here. Looking at "The Underbelly of Birmingham" I concentrated on the ironic Quotations like "Besides the mugging it's ok." or "Sometimes I feel like living in Gotham City". I also drew Faces of Birmingham I've seen and combined the Quotes I heard together to one idea.
The Underbelly, the dark side of the City links at first to crime, poverty and all the issues. From the Underbelly i came to the Underground music-scene of Birmingham, since it is the Home of Heavy Metal.
From Heavy Metal I thought about Birminghams music-scene in general and found out, one of the Bands I listen too played at the Glee Club in November. As an inspiration i took parts from their musiclyrics. I knew that this direction had more interest on me than the other idea. It was more of a challenge. The band Best Coast was too specific and reaches only a small target group. To reach a wider one I stoped to concentrate on lyric lines and chose some words for the story. The lyrics became to an inspiration for the story and not the focus. Nevertheless I asked questions such as why did I chose a girl and a banana for the story? As I said before the lyrics were an inspiration and the context was about relationships between woman and men and how the guy she sings about turns away. A banana rottens just like some relationships and to be honest, everyone knows a banana in their life. Below you see some pages of my RVJ (Reflective Visual Journal).
The style of the drawings were inspired by Raymond Pettibon whos known for his comic-like drawings and strong contrast. He's done plenty of Zines for bands such as Blag Flag. This video shows Pettibon working in his studio. As you can see he is working on a wall and on the left you see fotos and research.
I found these pictures of him working in the middle of a huge studio with his final outcomes around him. This way he can overview what else needs to be finished and has enough space to let his paintings dry. I find this example interesting because it seems to be the perfect working solution for him. To work with that much space gives you the option to be free, to experiment and think further.
My working environment at the moment is much to small, therefore i like to work at uni where more possibilities are given to spread out you're work. But when i thought about a working place, also the City you're working in came into my mind. In my first blog entry I wrote about Gustav Klimt, how he got inspired by his environment and thought about cities that inspire me. Visual ritch cities such as Berlin and London have so much to offer that you see on every corner Art and new fresh ideas. Through traveling I get more open minded and pay attention to get different perceptions.
Reference
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.supertouchart.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/l104r0683.jpg&imgrefurl=http://supertouchart.com/2008/12/13/lastudio-visit-raymond-pettibon-at-regen-projects/&usg=__NMYEG0E3jdkPlqd6T9b6k0YaTKg=&h=812&w=503&sz=213&hl=de&start=1&sig2=UIT9a66JPswlFIwYWMSCRg&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=EPpfWjh1YEQWkM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Draymond%2Bpettibon%2Bstudio%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:de:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=uKMgTcLJJ4WztAb8ypTbDA
Since I live in the West Midland I've heard plenty of Quotes and had many impressions of the people living here. Looking at "The Underbelly of Birmingham" I concentrated on the ironic Quotations like "Besides the mugging it's ok." or "Sometimes I feel like living in Gotham City". I also drew Faces of Birmingham I've seen and combined the Quotes I heard together to one idea.
The Underbelly, the dark side of the City links at first to crime, poverty and all the issues. From the Underbelly i came to the Underground music-scene of Birmingham, since it is the Home of Heavy Metal.
From Heavy Metal I thought about Birminghams music-scene in general and found out, one of the Bands I listen too played at the Glee Club in November. As an inspiration i took parts from their musiclyrics. I knew that this direction had more interest on me than the other idea. It was more of a challenge. The band Best Coast was too specific and reaches only a small target group. To reach a wider one I stoped to concentrate on lyric lines and chose some words for the story. The lyrics became to an inspiration for the story and not the focus. Nevertheless I asked questions such as why did I chose a girl and a banana for the story? As I said before the lyrics were an inspiration and the context was about relationships between woman and men and how the guy she sings about turns away. A banana rottens just like some relationships and to be honest, everyone knows a banana in their life. Below you see some pages of my RVJ (Reflective Visual Journal).
The style of the drawings were inspired by Raymond Pettibon whos known for his comic-like drawings and strong contrast. He's done plenty of Zines for bands such as Blag Flag. This video shows Pettibon working in his studio. As you can see he is working on a wall and on the left you see fotos and research.
Reference
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.supertouchart.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/l104r0683.jpg&imgrefurl=http://supertouchart.com/2008/12/13/lastudio-visit-raymond-pettibon-at-regen-projects/&usg=__NMYEG0E3jdkPlqd6T9b6k0YaTKg=&h=812&w=503&sz=213&hl=de&start=1&sig2=UIT9a66JPswlFIwYWMSCRg&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=EPpfWjh1YEQWkM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3Draymond%2Bpettibon%2Bstudio%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dde%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:de:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=uKMgTcLJJ4WztAb8ypTbDA
Mittwoch, 17. November 2010
ITAP 6/Production & Outcomes/ influence & reactions
As we've learned in this Itap lecture the Illustrators time and place has great effect on the content and outcome of a work. The word for this point is called "Zeitgeist" which describes the spirit of the time. The following examples shows how the the "Zeitgeist" influenced Illustrators, Directors and Costume Designers.
We all know Batman who changed throughout time. Batman changed his appearance during time. The oringinal comic figur of Bob Kane is muscular and wears a grey costume with a yellow belt. the mask and the cape are black and blue.
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| Scatches of Batman by Bob Kane |
Batman Comic Cover by Bob Kane
In the Batman series of the sixties the style of the hero and it's helper Robin kept in the Comic style.
Also the look of the Film from the 60's combines the comic style and very much the spirit of the time. The bright colours of the scenery and the costumes fit into the era.
In the late 80's early 90's Batman was made into another film by Tim Burton. The main character is darker than the film in the 60's but the figures are kept overdrawn. The spirit of a time can be recongnized by things like the hairstyle of actors. Have a look at the Michelle Pfeiffer's haircut and the oversized blazers which were modern by then.
The newest interpretation of Batman is in a some points different. The Director Christopher Nolan created a Batman who was never that dark and serious. Much more violence is involved and the villains remind of psychopathic killers.
Batman's costume changed to be more like a knights armour. Completly black and dressed in a futeristic knights armour ready to fight against evil.
ITAP 5/ Development of Ideas and Structure in Moving Image.
In this ITAP lecture we got tought about movie structures, how to develope a story and a character.
I chose to explain the film "I've loved you so long" which is an independent film from France, written and directed by Philippe Claudel.
The film is about the live of a middle-aged woman called Juliette (Kirsten Scott Thomas), who deals with guilt, punishment and judgement being released from prison after a 15 years sentence. The film describes her way to rehabilitate and to obtain redemption.
The structures of movies are in a 3 act structure; Beginning: middle: end, with no need to stay in the same order. In this movie 3 act structure is shown but not as in movies where theres a hero solving a problem and a happy ending is predictable.
"I've loved you so long" is almost in the same consistent atmosphere. Nevertheless, beginning, middle and end can be found in this example.
In the first act Juliette is collected at Nancy airport from her sister Léa. Juliette came to stay with Léa who lives in a house with her husband Luc, his father and their 2 adopted daughters. After the arrival of Juliette, Luc and Lea have a discussion about Juliettes stay and by then the audience knows she was in jail for murder. The mystery what the reason of her sentence is hidden.
Luc is supersticious about the moving in of Juliette and fears the safety of his children. The audience soon discovers she was in jail for the murder of her six-year-old son.
The second act is about the confrontation with society. She tries to find a job and isn't surprised to be avoided by some interviewers. Having been abondend by her parents, friends and society, Lea is at first the only one who stands behind her with termlessness and persistance.
Juliette soon finds a friend in her social worker and gets introduced to Michel (Laurent Grévill) who is a collegue of Léa. She relys on Michel who used to work in jail. She finds out that her social worker who had depressions took his life.
In the third act Juliette slowly starts over again and gets a daily routine. She starts to enjoy life in generel through work, reading, visiting art museums with Michel and meeting friends of Léa.
The mystery of Juliette's action reveals through her sister who accidently finds a laboratory report and a picture of her nephew. This report shows that Juliettes son had terminal cancer. Léa confronts Juliette with what she had found. In the end Juliette tells her story.
Juliette as the Protagonist/main character is a very reserved, chain-smoking middle aged woman. She radiates grief, hopelessness and seems to be unpredictable. The Antagonist is also Juliette because she causes the conflict in the family. She stands in a constant conflikt to herself and to others. The charakter is not trying to explain or to find any excuse by her actions. She doesn't expect people to understand her because one way or the other she was guilty.
I chose to explain the film "I've loved you so long" which is an independent film from France, written and directed by Philippe Claudel.
The film is about the live of a middle-aged woman called Juliette (Kirsten Scott Thomas), who deals with guilt, punishment and judgement being released from prison after a 15 years sentence. The film describes her way to rehabilitate and to obtain redemption.
The structures of movies are in a 3 act structure; Beginning: middle: end, with no need to stay in the same order. In this movie 3 act structure is shown but not as in movies where theres a hero solving a problem and a happy ending is predictable.
"I've loved you so long" is almost in the same consistent atmosphere. Nevertheless, beginning, middle and end can be found in this example.
In the first act Juliette is collected at Nancy airport from her sister Léa. Juliette came to stay with Léa who lives in a house with her husband Luc, his father and their 2 adopted daughters. After the arrival of Juliette, Luc and Lea have a discussion about Juliettes stay and by then the audience knows she was in jail for murder. The mystery what the reason of her sentence is hidden.
Luc is supersticious about the moving in of Juliette and fears the safety of his children. The audience soon discovers she was in jail for the murder of her six-year-old son.
The second act is about the confrontation with society. She tries to find a job and isn't surprised to be avoided by some interviewers. Having been abondend by her parents, friends and society, Lea is at first the only one who stands behind her with termlessness and persistance.
Juliette soon finds a friend in her social worker and gets introduced to Michel (Laurent Grévill) who is a collegue of Léa. She relys on Michel who used to work in jail. She finds out that her social worker who had depressions took his life.
In the third act Juliette slowly starts over again and gets a daily routine. She starts to enjoy life in generel through work, reading, visiting art museums with Michel and meeting friends of Léa.
The mystery of Juliette's action reveals through her sister who accidently finds a laboratory report and a picture of her nephew. This report shows that Juliettes son had terminal cancer. Léa confronts Juliette with what she had found. In the end Juliette tells her story.
Juliette as the Protagonist/main character is a very reserved, chain-smoking middle aged woman. She radiates grief, hopelessness and seems to be unpredictable. The Antagonist is also Juliette because she causes the conflict in the family. She stands in a constant conflikt to herself and to others. The charakter is not trying to explain or to find any excuse by her actions. She doesn't expect people to understand her because one way or the other she was guilty.
ITAP 4/ Reflective Visual Journey
The way a Visual Communicator comes up with their ideas, is to do something at first. A white paper wont give an answer and so it is important to experiment. We learned that the right brain is like a child at play- playful, curious and innocent.
The left brain is clarifying, organising, editing, selecting what was done. What do we see? What does it mean? What is useful? Both brainparts are constanly operating together. A Visual Communicator starts to do something in the RVJ with an intention. An idea needs to develope and can start of in many different directions. The outcome is not the most important whearest the way to the final piece creates further ideas. Awareness of how the 2 halfs act together can help us to create something and helps to allow ourselfs to experiment at first and not to be bigoted.
The first brief i received had the titel "looking at the Overlooked". To explore the locality of Birmingham from a different aspect and show a wide range of different techniques. I went to Digbeth the industrial area of Birmingham and took fotos of singns and buildings. Birmingham to me is an interesting city that needs
to be explored. Below you can see pages of my RVJ where you an see a picture of a sign taken in Digbeth. Not the typography caught my eye, it were the squares around it that reminded me of stiching. I started stiching random forms which you can describe as being playful and experimental. Some of the forms developed to be letters. Also transparacy paper was used and the effect of being see through had an interesting effect. The effect to see how it is done, the unperfect look of it.
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| Melox Marvels sign in Digbeth The forms below the letters reminded me of stiching. |
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| letterform through stiching, by Christiane Matz |
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| stiching on transparant paper, by Christiane Matz |
The word unexpected came into my mind. Birmingham is often "overlooked" just like the brief described it with it's title. The first buildings i saw were at new street which are grey and full of old high-rises. Behind all these grey buildings are beautiful victorian houses are hidden. The architecture is multi-facated and therfore interesting. A lot of constructions are going on in birmingham so that the "undone" stiching look works very well for this projekt. also the fact that it is an instalation which needs light so you can see all of the lines has an unexpected effect to it.
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| The final outcome, by Christiane Matz |
Montag, 25. Oktober 2010
ITAP 3/ Visual hierarchy and Tone of voice
We all know terrible websites where you can not find the information you need. In this blog entry I'm happy to show 2 good examples of webdesign with different content. The site http://www.thebestdesigns.com/ posts a lot of good designed websites. The site below http://off.foxbone.fi/ is about an independent filmfestival. It gives filmmakers a chance to show their work. The target group are mostly people who study film or have an interest in independent films.
The style of the menu bar is an eyecatcher and combines a mix between old and new. Looking at the visual herachy, the first thing that catches my eye is the menu bar which is in the "Retrostyle". First it seemed to be chaotic but through the different colours it gets clear. On the left you see the Logo of the Filmfestival, followed by News, Apply, Programm and so on. The Layout is not overloaded and gives a young impression through it's style.
Another good example is a site which sells baby items, http://www.mummade.co.nz/. The tone of voice is very soft. The pastel colours and the typeface fits perfectly to the content. The advertiser shows right away that his products are handmade. Take a look at the Logo which has a handwritten "... with love" added to it. It shows straight to the point, these products are different to massproduction. The customers are parents who appreciate good service and quality. Whereas the products are made by mothers, the confidence base of the customer rises. To sum up, this website is clear and the design is suitable to the content.
Thanks for reading.
Reference
The style of the menu bar is an eyecatcher and combines a mix between old and new. Looking at the visual herachy, the first thing that catches my eye is the menu bar which is in the "Retrostyle". First it seemed to be chaotic but through the different colours it gets clear. On the left you see the Logo of the Filmfestival, followed by News, Apply, Programm and so on. The Layout is not overloaded and gives a young impression through it's style.
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| October Filmfest Website |
Another good example is a site which sells baby items, http://www.mummade.co.nz/. The tone of voice is very soft. The pastel colours and the typeface fits perfectly to the content. The advertiser shows right away that his products are handmade. Take a look at the Logo which has a handwritten "... with love" added to it. It shows straight to the point, these products are different to massproduction. The customers are parents who appreciate good service and quality. Whereas the products are made by mothers, the confidence base of the customer rises. To sum up, this website is clear and the design is suitable to the content.
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| Mum Made ... with love Website |
Thanks for reading.
Reference
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