Week 9

Production for Visual Communication.

An expert I greatly admire in filmmaking is Tim Burton. He is one of the few directors who is widely know for his unique visual style, that has visibly filtered down though various mediums into our culture. He has a distinct, unmistakeable style that is often imitated but never matched, definite “fingerprints” to his work.

From his early start at Disney, cell animation didn’t work for him, but they saw the potential and let him make his first stop motion short, “Vincent,” which eventually led to the genre and medium defining “Nightmare Before Christmas.”

Since then he has gone on to make some of the favourite cult and blockbuster movies of our time using his trademark exploration of all things dark and macabre, mixing them with wit and stunning visuals. His love for the wierd and quirky, the lost soul and the misunderstood monster.

Although he has standard repetetive motifs he likes to include in his movies, I disagree that his work has become stale and unoriginal, it’s just that it doesn’t stand out the way it used to in today’s market. At the time, people had never seen a dark and beautiful modern fairytale quite like “Edward Scissorhands”(1990), but 20 years on, a whole wave of artists and filmmakers are showcasing the Burton influence in “pop-goth“ culture. Bar “Planet of the Apes” (2001) and “Alice in Wonderland” (2010), I enjoy his new films just as much as the older ones, and consider “Sweeney Todd” (2007) to be his crowning masterpiece. The visual texture and richness of that movie, while maintaining a warped void of colour and light, is draining yet extremely atmospheric.

It is quite difficult to explain in words just what his visual language entails or looks like, it’s just something that comes across on screen. To help illustrate my point, two movies he was asked to direct were “The Addams Family” and “A series of Unfortuante events”, but turned the projects down.

Essentially then, the studios or directors and art production teams involved “copied” or lent largely from his aesthetic. The movies are alright, but they just don’t have “it”. That quintissentially Burton feel. It's something that has strongly inspired me throughout my creative and visual growth, and seemingly will continue to do so.

Week 8

Text and Image.

Sometimes when you look at an images, you might establish a certain idea of it’s message or what it’s about, but when text is added the context can be completely changed. The power of adding text to images is deliberately used in art, advertisement and other creative fields all the time.

Take for example, Marion Pecks’s 2006 collection “I Cari Estiniti” or “The Dearly Departed”. If you just saw the paintings on their own, they would be soft portraits of cute doe-eyed children, but under each painting a small piece of text was placed, stating each child’s name and the years of their lifespan. Suddenly the gallery becomes like a graveyard and the children have souls, and we think of how sad it is that they died, some very young, and what lives they could have led.

Images in context to evoke emotion.

It is important to know what source or media an image comes from and is used for, for this can greatly change it's meaning as well. We get a different sense of what is behing the images based on where we see it.

Carrying on the theme of dying young, these images from Sophia Coppola's film "The Virgin suicides help illustrate my point. Below we see Ceclia, the youngest sister, sitting in a tree. If this photograph was hanging in a gallery it might give the impression of an innocent young girl wistfully thinking about life and being at peace. However, in the movie, viewers know that this is the ghost or memory of Cecelia lingering around her family home after taking her own life. When watching it in that context, it takes on a much more eerie and melancholy tone.

Next, a grainy snapshot of her older sister Lux. If this were placed, for example, in a news report, it might seem to be the unsettling image of how a murdered girls body was found, or perhaps the last picture taken of her when she was alive. In fact, in this scene from the film, Lux is awekening to the seedy light of dawn after losing her virginity. Much less haunting, the image retains a raw, tangible quality but has shifted meanings.

Week 7

Overcoming mindsets.

As humans, when we are faced with a problem, creative or otherwise, we automatically revert to a way of solving it that has worked for us before. This is known as habitual thinking and for creatives, can lead to work becoming stale and repetitive. It's staying in our “comfort zone” and not taking risks and trying new things in our art practice. This is why it is important to try and teach yourself to break free from these engrained mindsets.

This is easier said than done, the key is to use critical assessment. If we can identify the things that we find safe or easy, know we’re good at, etc, we can work towards breaking free of them. Pushing and challenging ourselves will lead to varied and improved work. Approach every new project with an open mind. Think “What have I done before? Is this work reminiscent of earlier work? What could I do differently?” I know I myself am guilty of this. Drawing similar things over and over again. Being so focused on my interested area of illustration that I neglect others and don’t give them the time to let them educate and improve my craft.

Keeping a creative workspace

Your workspace is somewhere you should feel relaxed and free. The environment that we work in can have a huge impact on what we produce. If we feel confined or drained, this frustration will show through in the quality of the work. It is important to maintain a balance of comfort and functionality. Have it as an ambient and inspirational place, with things that influence you around you. Images, music, video, fragrance, whatever helps connect you to what you’re currently trying to do. At the same time it should be organised and well maintained, because spending time looking for and cleaning things can take you out of that artistic “flow” or “zone” and waste time. Dirty working areas can also transfer and damage the artwork.


Above is the asrtist Tara Mcpherson in her studio. Note how she has lots of images on the walls, reference and inspirational pictures, as well as past and ongoing work to keep herself in check. There are also lots of books and toys, and though it may seem cluttered, it has not become chaotic or untidy. Surfaces and tools are kept clean to ensure the best outcomes.

Week 6

Production and Outcomes - Interpretation.

Over time, illustrators, filmmakers and all visual communicators have heightened the meaning or message in their work by taking from and feeding the “zeitgeist” of that period. This means the spirit of the time, whatever was culturally prevalent and ongoing in any period or place greatly contributes to the look of that era. This is partly how we can connect things to these times or places, and they become more relevant in our minds. It’s easier to identify visually with things going on around us now, rather than maybe art from 100 years ago, because we are living in it.

Though not too old, an example I have chosen to show this idea is The Last Unicorn by Peter. S. Beagle. First published in 1968, this fantasy novel’s first covers lent largely from old medieval tapestries depicting unicorns, as well as classic Tenniel and Dulac style fairytale illustrations from books earlier in the century. This gave resonance at the time and an ethereal sense of grandeur.


Then an animated movie was made during the 70s and released in 1982. This was a swirly, colourful affair, clearly inspired by the rock'n'roll and drug movements of the previous years. It had also taken from Disney movies from the 50’s, such as Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty, where things were getting more vibrant and painterly.


Although the animated movie is very dark, as is the original, it was much more pretty and fairytale-like than the 2010 comic book series and graphic novel. This saw the last unicorn updated to a much more modern young audience. A dark, sinister air was prevelent in the sleek, graphic artwork, and an almost lord of the rings-esque fantasy style was notable. This ties in with how this decade has seen a lot of succesful dark, almost gothic, epic adventure sagas becoming huge successes in pop culture, such as Harry Potter.


Although all are equally befitting to the source material, it is interesting to see how different styles of interpretations have originated from different time periods.

Week 5

Three Act structure.

In principle, every film follows a three act structure, It follows the basic format of beginning>middle>end, although they don’t have to follow that order. This can also be seen as establish>crisis>resolve. This means that stories generally first set up the scene of who the characters are, where they are, their lives/relationships/etc. Then something happens that disrupts the normal everyday flow of this environment. A large part of the movie is spent dealing with these events/issues before finally reaching resolution or a new equilibrium at the end.

The movie I have chosen to represent this is a melancholy yet simple story, “White Oleander”, a film dear to me.

Act 1: Establish

• Astrid (the protagonist) is a young girl, living with her single mother Ingrid, a poet whom she greatly admires. They have been together, as a “team” her whole life.
• Ingrid is headstrong, independent and carefree, with very strong opinions that will later act as a factor in Astrid’s turmoil and self-discovery
• Ingrid meets a man who she initially doesn’t like, but he eventually woos her around and she falls crazily in love, “breaking her own rules”, until he leaves her for someone else.
• Astrid watches in worry as her mother slowly becomes more and more unhinged, eventually plotting the murder of the ex-lover.

Act 2: Crisis

• Ingrid is arrested and imprisoned for murder, leaving Astrid in foster care.
• Thrown into a new life without Ingrid, Astrid lives out her teenage years in various foster homes and care centres. Meeting and getting to know various kinds of people and being in polar opposite environments to what she had known and where she felt safe, she grows to question everything her mother had taught her and who she thought she was.
• Ingrid still struggles to maintain control over an increasingly unsure Astrid from prison, through her first love affair, alcoholism, a shooting and various other experiences, until the suicide of a foster parent when Astrid finally grasps the extent of Ingrid’s poison and control and cuts off contact.

Act 3: Resolve

• Astrid, now eighteen, is contacted by her mother’s Lawyer to testify at a retrial, claiming the murder was self defence. Astrid consents, but only if her mother will meet her to answer honestly any questions that Astrid has.
• Ingrid at first is resistant, but soon caves in front of the now defiant Astrid. In an emotional scene, she learns about her father and her childhood, as well as things about herself and why her mother is she the way she is.
• At the court on the trial date, Astrid is waiting to be called to testify, when the court lets out and she sees her mother going back to the prison van. The lawyer tells Astrid that Ingrid didn’t want her to testify, and she is ready to “let her go.”
• The film finishes with Astrid now living in Berlin with her partner Paul, and the voiceover discusses how she now has understanding and is at peace with her mother and what has happened.

Character Design.

The main character whose story we follow, or protagonist, is very important. Their design and overall make-up are crucial. We don’t have to like them, but we do have to understand them and how who they are is effecting what and why is happening throughout. Key elements include appearance, dialogue, action, inner conflict and interaction. These things give them personality.

I have chosen to use Ariel from my childhood favourite, “The Little Mermaid”, as an example. Below are a few drawings from her concept design to the final movie.

Appearance: She had to be warm, endearing and likeable. She has round doll-like eyes and soft, feminine and expressive movements. Like all disney heroines she is very pretty but never vain or concious of it. The animators chose red for her hair to help symbolise her vibrant, bubbly personality but also her rebellious and independent tendancies.

Dialogue: It is key that we get to know and understand Ariel in Act 1, because for a large chunk of the film she cannot speak, yet we have to remain with her on her journey. Through conversations with her friends, arguments with her father, and the song "part of your world" we build up a picture of who she is and how she feels about her life.

Antagonist: The antagonist is arguably Ursula the sea witch, who makes more trouble later on, but I would say the main element is Ariel's inner turmoil and conflict about who she is and what she longs for. This is the catalyst that makes her, of her own free will, cause the event that begins the crisis of Act 2.

Action and interaction: She makes a wrong decision which, although not to be foreseen, in turn brings worry and danger to those who love her. When she sees what has come about because of her arguably selfish actions, she feels guilt and redeems herself towards the end of the film by going to rescue Eric and overcoming the witch.

Week 4

Reflective Visual Journals.

An RVJ should be a place where we can escape from pressure, doubt or criticism and just be free. As an illustrator, it is important that we learn to allow ourselves to explore, because this is how ideas are generated. Drawing and sketching is like thinking from your brain, down through your hand and onto the page. Just mulling over how a piece of work might look or should be approached will be detrimental to the outcome, ideas come from doing! But if we use our RVJ to brainstorm and experiment visually, you will spark and generate things you wouldn’t have had before, things that mightn’t even have entered your mind. This will vastly contribute to the quality of the finished work. It’s this freedom to expand and nurture our ideas that makes the RVJ so essential.

The beauty of this way of working is that there is no need to be precious about the standard, it is by being loose and experimental that we grow and improve. Trying different things out to see what works best. Also, this practice means that when idea does pop our into our head, we can get it roughly and keep it, work from it, instead of losing it from our memory. You should always keep your RVJ handy so if you see something inspirational, you can record it. These pictures show some sketchbook work of Stella Im Hultburg, an artist I admire. They show simply how just playing around with shape and composition on the page has fed it’s way into her finished paintings.

Fighting with ourselves.

Of course we always want our work to meet our standards and intentions. It’s not easy to leave things rough or let something go where we hadn’t intended it. This is where the struggle between the left and right sides of the brain come into play. The right side is our childlike, creative and carefree part of us that just wants to play and explore. Logic doesn’t come into it. But the right side wants to organise and analyze everything, judge it, keep it in check. It is the balance of these two that help us run our everyday lives, but in art, the constant battle with our inner critic takes time and practice to subdue.