This is a perfect example of traditional techniques that i love. I especially like the stop motion bits that although not looking as fluid as a CGI equivalent they do have a lovely sense of nostalgia.
Sunday, 31 October 2010
Friday, 29 October 2010
Intertextuality
My latest lecture was on Intertextuality which is to do with the signs in Ive learned about in semiotics. Basically intertextuality is like a form of reference but only really works if the thing its trying to reference is known to audience, pretty obvious really.
A good example of this is the TV series 'Spaced' which is made by people who, like the audience watch a lot of films. It does however tend to angle itself more at a specific age group which may not make as much sense to people of different generations. Another good example is the series 'The Simpsons' this series has countless references to other forms of media across a broad spectrum using not only film and TV, but also fine art, music, politics and history.
Another way of thinking about intertextuality is how it effects the author on a subconscious level. Anyone who creates something today will have been influenced by things they have experienced in their life before the point of creation. Film makers might come to describe a dramatic scene and all ready have a scene from another film in there mind when he thinks of the . A painter might may be inspired by the way another picture uses colour or its dramatic brushstrokes. It is these subconscious influences that most interest people who study intertextuality as it is window into the way the human mind works.
A good example of this is the TV series 'Spaced' which is made by people who, like the audience watch a lot of films. It does however tend to angle itself more at a specific age group which may not make as much sense to people of different generations. Another good example is the series 'The Simpsons' this series has countless references to other forms of media across a broad spectrum using not only film and TV, but also fine art, music, politics and history.
Another way of thinking about intertextuality is how it effects the author on a subconscious level. Anyone who creates something today will have been influenced by things they have experienced in their life before the point of creation. Film makers might come to describe a dramatic scene and all ready have a scene from another film in there mind when he thinks of the . A painter might may be inspired by the way another picture uses colour or its dramatic brushstrokes. It is these subconscious influences that most interest people who study intertextuality as it is window into the way the human mind works.
Friday, 22 October 2010
Semiotics
In linguistics, semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of sign processes (semiosis), or signification and communication, signs and symbols.
Thank you Wiki what would i do without you.
This was the content of my latest lecture on the world of critical thinking within the media. It struck me that it was mostly about over analysing ideas that everyone not only understands but also use on a regular day to day basis. But I'm going to try and salvage something from this.
Iconic (realist) and Arbitrary (abstract)
To have a character that is iconic is to have things about it that give it strong links to what it is portraying. Let us say the film the 'Thing' 1982 which was essentially a remake of the 'The thing from another world' 1951.
Basically the film is about a group of scientists that discover an alien frozen in the ice, having crawled out of its crashed space ship. Once thawed out it reanimates, the creature infects other living creatures and takes them over on a cellular level. The creature then absorbs this person into its self and imitates the human in looks and behaviour, however when cornered it will morph into a monster with massive jaws and flailing tentacles to better defend itself. Its strength lies in its ability to blend in and take people over one by one.
You could say that when the creature is using the shape of a person it is 'Iconic' not only in looks but sounds and behavior, it is perfect representation. However when it morphs it becomes 'Arbitrary'. In its new form it is abstract in appearance and behaviour and not to mention truly horrifying.
No scene better demonstrates this than the one where Norris's head detaches from his body and runs away like a creature separate from an the parent animal, which in the film is exactly what it is. I was reminded of this scene when my lecturer did a similar comparison with the idea of a monster walking away on its nostrils.
Thank you Wiki what would i do without you.
This was the content of my latest lecture on the world of critical thinking within the media. It struck me that it was mostly about over analysing ideas that everyone not only understands but also use on a regular day to day basis. But I'm going to try and salvage something from this.
Iconic (realist) and Arbitrary (abstract)
To have a character that is iconic is to have things about it that give it strong links to what it is portraying. Let us say the film the 'Thing' 1982 which was essentially a remake of the 'The thing from another world' 1951.
Basically the film is about a group of scientists that discover an alien frozen in the ice, having crawled out of its crashed space ship. Once thawed out it reanimates, the creature infects other living creatures and takes them over on a cellular level. The creature then absorbs this person into its self and imitates the human in looks and behaviour, however when cornered it will morph into a monster with massive jaws and flailing tentacles to better defend itself. Its strength lies in its ability to blend in and take people over one by one.
You could say that when the creature is using the shape of a person it is 'Iconic' not only in looks but sounds and behavior, it is perfect representation. However when it morphs it becomes 'Arbitrary'. In its new form it is abstract in appearance and behaviour and not to mention truly horrifying.
No scene better demonstrates this than the one where Norris's head detaches from his body and runs away like a creature separate from an the parent animal, which in the film is exactly what it is. I was reminded of this scene when my lecturer did a similar comparison with the idea of a monster walking away on its nostrils.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Reality?
What is reality and how does it effect us when watching films say. Well reality is the world around us and the way we perceive it, im not going to fuck around with all the if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it crap, but if your senses think its real so will you. So we can assume that for someone to become absorbed into a story no matter what the medium of its telling it has to fool the senses.
I recently watched for the first time Pans Labyrinth a film which not only fools the senses pulling you into the story but also plays with the theme of reality within its own telling. Ofelia constructs or is let into a world of fairies fauns and child eating monsters. Not dissimilar to the monsters that exists in the real world for her. The father of her mothers new child, a fascist who enjoys torture and brutality, is in many ways more horrifying that the child eating monster of the pale man. He has no excuses for his actions the moral implications of which are horrifying to anyone. The sets for the fascist captains dinner party are layed out with strong similarities between those of the pale mans banquet hall.
The film plays with what is and isn't real it leaves the audience wondering what actually happened which in most other films would be a bad thing. Did Ofelia actually go back to the underworld kingdom? is this world we live in actually just a dream thought up by a child? Well lets hope not really, but it plays with you a little and brings you back to a time when everyone was young. Being scared of monsters and opening doors using just chalk and imagination.
I recently watched for the first time Pans Labyrinth a film which not only fools the senses pulling you into the story but also plays with the theme of reality within its own telling. Ofelia constructs or is let into a world of fairies fauns and child eating monsters. Not dissimilar to the monsters that exists in the real world for her. The father of her mothers new child, a fascist who enjoys torture and brutality, is in many ways more horrifying that the child eating monster of the pale man. He has no excuses for his actions the moral implications of which are horrifying to anyone. The sets for the fascist captains dinner party are layed out with strong similarities between those of the pale mans banquet hall.
The film plays with what is and isn't real it leaves the audience wondering what actually happened which in most other films would be a bad thing. Did Ofelia actually go back to the underworld kingdom? is this world we live in actually just a dream thought up by a child? Well lets hope not really, but it plays with you a little and brings you back to a time when everyone was young. Being scared of monsters and opening doors using just chalk and imagination.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
The Birth of Heedless Curiosity
That's right today is the first wonderful foray into a world of random and ill conceived suggestions about things i am not entirely sure that i understand. This blog is going to be looking into and exploring the details of the visual arts concentrating mainly on film and TV with links to various lectures, lead by interesting people who seem to have spent more time than is entirely necessary on evaluating the meaning of what is essentially entertainment.
Well now that introductory crap is out the way i suppose i should put something up that's interesting and worth actually reading. One thing Ive learned already is that trying to be creative and interesting to anyone unfortunate enough to actually read this blog is not helped by listening to the theme from the 'A Team'. Which if were being honest is probably only helpfully if your welding two halves of a car together before doing some unnecessarily dramatic heroics involving a helicopter piloted by a man who belongs in a straight jacket. If you do find yourself in such a situation then owing to the law of sod you will have left your ipod at home and wont be able to listen to it anyway, life can be a bitch like that.
Which i suppose in a very unusual way leads me on to introduce the first subject i'm going to be looking at, ... reality. When we watch a film what makes it seem real to us? does it seem real to us? Well probably yes or you wouldn't bother watching it would you, so a film has to engage us on some level where it takes you away from your mundane lives where your not James Bond and lets you live through his adventures. Which is just as well really when you think about it i mean the average Peugeot 206 doesn't handle too well at 160mph doing a upside down jump over a plane.
Well now that introductory crap is out the way i suppose i should put something up that's interesting and worth actually reading. One thing Ive learned already is that trying to be creative and interesting to anyone unfortunate enough to actually read this blog is not helped by listening to the theme from the 'A Team'. Which if were being honest is probably only helpfully if your welding two halves of a car together before doing some unnecessarily dramatic heroics involving a helicopter piloted by a man who belongs in a straight jacket. If you do find yourself in such a situation then owing to the law of sod you will have left your ipod at home and wont be able to listen to it anyway, life can be a bitch like that.
Which i suppose in a very unusual way leads me on to introduce the first subject i'm going to be looking at, ... reality. When we watch a film what makes it seem real to us? does it seem real to us? Well probably yes or you wouldn't bother watching it would you, so a film has to engage us on some level where it takes you away from your mundane lives where your not James Bond and lets you live through his adventures. Which is just as well really when you think about it i mean the average Peugeot 206 doesn't handle too well at 160mph doing a upside down jump over a plane.
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