In todays lesson we were teamed up with the Cinematography group who were in to film our piece. Our group would each Direct, Assistant Direct and Art Direct each scene of our piece. The whole process went quite well and I learnt a lot from this experience. I directed the first part of the sequence and it was good experience once I got in to it.
Our set on camera looked very good and I was quite happy with what we created. Some elements of the shoot I would have liked to have changed such as, the position of the character or some small elements on the set but I had to leave that down to the Director in charge at the time.
Even though I am not on the Cinematography course I did learn a thing or too about camera techniques, focusing levels, light levels and measuring distances. It was also good to know what the Assistant Director had to say on set to make sure the crew listens.
Overall, I enjoyed the filming lesson and came away with new techniques. I think it has been a good experience and in doing this I have begun to think about learning more in the Art directing field.
Neil Marshall is an English Director, Screenwriter
and Editor. Marshall has directed an array of films such as Dog Soldiers (2002),
The Descent (2005) and Doomsday (2008).
Marshall is one of my favorite Directors and I have
quoted a lot of his work in my theories throughout university. Marshall tends
to direct (screen write, edit) horror, fantasy, and thriller genres.
Dog
Soldiers (2002) follows a group of 6 soldiers
training in an open forest in Scotland. One night they come across a seemingly
abandoned and destroyed camp containing live real weapons. A man soon appears
all bloody and injured claiming that his camp was attacked by something.
Hearing noises the group gather the man and set out to be evacuated: their
training has now stopped.
Running
through the woods a teammate is killed and their sergeant is injured, rescuing
him they then stumble across a women who takes them to an old cottage. There
the men defend it against what they believe to be werewolves. One by one the men get hunted down and the
injured man transforms in to one of the beasts. Numbers dwindling and the house
coming under attack they learn that the beasts actually once lived in the house
the women (who saved the group) is actually a werewolf who can subdue her
werewolf form and brought the men here to be slaughtered, the sergeant kills
her and rigs the house to explode before he can turn in to one of the wolves.
Only one man and a dog survive.
This film was made on a low budget and the
werewolves were created with puppets rather than CGI. I think the reason why I
like this film is because of the low budget factor. Marshall doesn’t go over
the top creating silly things that in the end look rubbish. He uses his
initiative and what money he had to try and create something creepy, and it works.
The werewolves actually scared me because they are so tall and resilient. They
get knocked down but get up again. They also reflect the army men by working in
a team to whittle down the army men numbers.
The story is High Concept and easy to follow, it
contains lots of weapons, shouting, swearing, and male dominance (only one
women is seen throughout the whole film).
The location is brilliant (a secluded cottage,
where the neighbours are hundreds of miles away). Its British so the characters are relatable
and likeable in different ways, we understand their humor and it isn’t too
cheesy.
The Descent is fairly similar in that it uses a
cave system which is also secluded but claustrophobic. Instead of Werewolves he invents humanoids (men trapped in caves for years who have then turned to cannibals,
who are blind and hunt by sound and smell, who can crawl along walls and scream
to each other) are present as the antagonists. Marshall had the cast of this
film all female opposite to Dog Soldiers.
Marshall uses a lot of elements that I like. His
stories are straightforward but yet I am immersed in them. I like the survival
factor in his films themes and he uses a small cast so we only delve on them
rather than introducing lots of other characters so we lose track. Because of
the small cast we get to create a bond and build emotions for them, then when
one of them dies we are devastated.
I also like Marshalls Fantasy element, such as
creating Zombies, Werewolves and crawling creatures. Like I have stated he doesn’t
use CGI but instead creates puppets and latex costumes which make them all more believable and
freaky. He even stated in an interview that ‘most of the cast don’t get to see
the monsters until they begin to shoot so he gets to capture all the actresses
real emotions’ (he basically scared the hell out of them because they look so
real and strange).
I find this scene very scary even though not very much happens. I think it's all to do with the feeling of suspense. The music adds an element with its low beat gradually getting faster and faster with no other sounds interrupting. When the man un-cannyily floats towards her the audience know that something isn't right with this person and we fear for the character as she is in a confined space.
I can relate this to my un-canny proposal. In my sequence the character is trapped within a confined space with a humanoid that isn't right by the way it moves.
Joseph Cornell was born in 1903. He was originally from New York, America, and died peacefully in his home town. Cornell was an artist, sculptor and experimental filmmaker influenced by Surrealists.
Cornells work often included found materials which he assembled in to small simple boxes. Most of these materials were victorian bric-a-brac, he was fascinated by once beautiful and precious objects he found in bookshops and thrift shops in New York. He was renowned for being a big collector.
"By collecting and carefully juxtaposing found objects in small, glass-front boxes, Cornell created visual poems in which surface, form, texture, and light play together. Using things we can see, Cornell made boxes about things we cannot see: ideas, memories, fantasies, and dreams."-The Joseph Cornell Box.
I think Josephs work is very creative and imaginative. The use of various materials that he has randomly searched and found is extraordinary. Some artists go to extreme lengths to create their work such as props, make up, need for lighting, camera angles and even location. Instead Joseph has created something simple but affective. His work reminds me of the work by Damien Hirst.
This is another artist who's work I relish in. Damien explores issues of life and death in provocative ways using dead animals bodies and entombing in glass cases for audiences to see and get an up close look. Another reason why I like this artist is because Damien doesn't work using canvas, he makes his art work with things we can touch and see (the scale of). I think this is the same case with Joseph's work.
Cindy Sherman born in 1954 is an american photographer and film director, best known for her conceptual portraits. According to research Film has been a huge influence in Cindy's work. Since being a teenager she was fully steeped in Mass media culture and much of her work has been inspired from a wide range of genres such as Horror and classic art films. Her work "Sherman works in series, typically photographing herself in a range of costumes. To create her photographs, Sherman shoots alone in her studio, assuming multiple roles as author, director, make-up artist, hairstylist, wardrobe mistress—and, of course, model."- wikipedia. "Sherman emerged fully formed on the New York art scene in the early 1980s with a series of untitled film stills. It was a brilliantly novel concept – grainy shots of movies that never existed, created with such panache and knowing that you felt they must do. She was a dream for cultural studies professors the world over. Few artists embraced their contradictions so easily. She took photos of herself that were anything but self-portraits; photos that stuck two fingers at the then received wisdom that the camera never lies – her camera always lied. And, through her deceits, she looked for truths about identity, vulnerability and power. The feminists claimed her as theirs, as did the postmodernists, the post-structuralists, the post-everythings. But there was nothing clean or prescriptive about her art. Sherman's work has always been a vibrant mush of ideas." - Hatterston. S, The Guardian
I will look at Cindy's work in relation to the un-canny. I think its a brilliant idea that Cindy herself stars in all her series. She knows what emotion she wants out of the picture, she knows what she wants to create and perceive and who better to do it than herself to get the job done. In relation to her pictures I think they are extremely creepy, she has used the emotion of fear as an emotive, for example the clowns, 'coulrophobia' is a major fear within modern day people and she has exploited this. Most of the imaging is up close so we get a direct view. The imaging is simple with only one main focus. With a few of her images she uses a lot of prosthetics, to make herself in to an animal or to extended certain features just like the above pictures which is un-canny. I rather like her work at first they scared me and I wondered why she would create such things, but its obviously done to create a reaction, she entices her audience (those of which dare look at the pictures).
7/03/13
In todays session we were tasked with completing our set. At the moment the flats were up and made secure and they were all painted.
Once we arrived our tutor gave us a brief on what had to be completed next (or what she wanted to see happen with the set) as a group we discussed roughly what had to be completed and what we wanted to achieve by the end of the day. We then set off to complete the objectives.
A group of 4 decided to fix the picture frames and add un-canny pictures in to them. Some people cut them to size, others made sure the frames were fixed and safe. Two members of the group went off to print more images.
In the other corner of the room two members were creating a hand and arm for the first part of the sequence when the character scratches his arm and out comes a fly.
Two members of the group were adding curtains in the set and stapling them down. These members also hung the pictures and made sure they were straight.
I decided to assign myself as 'Prop Director', I wanted to find out what we had to use and if they were
suitable to go with the genre of our project. I picked out various items such as stuffed animals, old wooden furniture, dolls and candle holders. Some of these items were broken so I fixed them back together with the glue gun. Other items I decided not to use as I thought they would look quite silly and I didn't want the set to be too cluttered to divert attention.
Among the props was a mannequin of a child, the mannequin had no head so I decided to be creative and use one of the stuffed animals heads as a replacement, I also gave it a dress to make it have character. I then did the same to an old doll, dressing it and adding fur to make it look creepy.
In the TV series Lost (Abrams. J J, 2004) in the end episodes a character starts to go crazy with the loss of her child, as a replacement she creates an 'animal baby' out of dead animal skin, loose material and leaves. Even though we aren't paying particular homage to the props I thought these items would give a bit of freakiness to the main character. Why does this person have these things? Why did they create them? are they a replica of someone? did they create them?.
Aside from the props I also added finishing touches to the set, such as painting areas that were missed and adding a skirting board so the set didn't look sloppy. I also cut and straightened out a piece of Lino to act as a half around the fireplace.
Todays session was much more coordinated and we managed to get a remarkable amount of work completed. Compared to last weeks set building session this session we all talked as a group and understood what had to be done. This benefited us and we set out to do them without one person taking over all the jobs. I think this is the reason we have completed so much and we are all happy with the outcome.
As I am interested in this subject of Un-canny, I took the time to write a short story using the basis of my 300 word proposal and expanding.
This story isn't particularly perfect and i think a lot could be changed. I think it includes un-canny elements and this is the goal I set out to achieve. The story actually derived from a dream I had about a man who had the face of a goat and this scared me so I carried it out in to a story where the supposed antagonist takes the shape of a huge man with the face of a goat.
Don't Pay Homage To The Goat Man
Lucille wakes
with a jolt. Her whole body is covered in sweat yet she feels so cold. Lying in
bed a little longer she then decides to get up looking at the clock that
flashes on 3:13 am, too early to get dressed she decides, too early to do
anything.
She opens the
curtains and looks out in to blackness. A cool breeze touches the back of her
neck, twisting slowly she sees a door leading in to a corridor, “Where did you
come from?” she says strangely enticed by it, stepping forward she slowly walks
in to it.
The corridor
seems cool and smells of damp. She touches the grey bland wall, a fine layer of
dust remains on her fingertips. Mesmerized by this she barely hears the faint
playful laughing. Looking up Lucille sees a red door, walking further she looks back to
see the door she came through missing. In a trance like state she feels herself
floating further and further to the red door unable to stop, faster and faster
she seems to drift towards the blood red portal. Panicking she tries to cling
to the walls but her fingers grip nothing, screaming she closes her eyes as the
door opens in to blackness and she is plunged in with an almighty push.
Looking up she
sees a figure crumpled on the floor. Gasping she pushes herself up crawling to
a wall away from the figure, she soon realizes she’s in a small, square, dimly
lit, grey room, no windows no doors, not even a drab of colour. Feeling the
walls she looks for an exit point.
“Lucille”, a
strange voice whispers.
Spinning around
she looks for the source of the sound, “Lucille” it repeats.
Groaning she
realizes the sound could have only come from the body; stepping forward but
keeping her distance she inspects the corpse. Its body blends in with the floor
and it lays naked, its legs are broken and intertwined together tied in barbed
wire. Its fingers, long and twisted are individually broken. Lucille looks away
in disgust.
“Where am I?” she
questions to herself.
Looking back at
the corpse she screams when its face is propped up looking at her. Its eyes
blinded by a rag its mouth lolled open its teeth like tombstones twisted in to
a snarl. The thing begins to sniff loudly. Lucille backs against the wall
holding her breath so it can’t hear her, she sees its fingers snap in to place
every one of them groaning and clicking, tapping the floor in a spasm. A small moan escapes from her, the thing
freezes and looks in her direction, it then begins to move dragging its legs arching
its back. A wicked dry laugh escapes from it mocking her.
“Please no!” she
screams moving along the wall. The thing twists and writhes a long grey tongue
flapping out of its mouth flicking at her.
“Give us a bit
bitch!” it spits. “It’s been so long!” It wickedly laughs at her again. Scrambling
against the wall kicking her feet out she sees two large hands come out of the
floor and grab the thing by its ankles; the corpse begins to writhe and moan in
frustration.
“Be quiet you
disgrace” a voice roars, “Silence those tears women! Or I will release him!”
the voice demands.
Lucille freezes
in horror. The room lights up. The corpse still writhes, held down by the large
hands protruding from the floor.
“You will do our
bidding or I will release this monstrosity”
“What’s
happening!” she screams.
“Your in the tomb
of the almighty one, you’re a simple mind that will complete a simple task”
“I-I-I oh god”
Lucille stammers sweating in horror.
The corpse
reaches out towards her, stretching its long hands, its tongue dragging on the
floor.
“Why am I here?”
“You know why
you’re here...but you wont accept it, you deserve to be here…he’s coming
Lucille, he wants to meet you”
“Who…who wants to
meet me?”
The voice goes
silent.
“WHO!” she
shouts,
“Our punisher,
our King, children’s nightmares, women’s pains and men’s illnesses, the Goat
man”.
The room begins
to shake, the corpse starts to laugh and grope the floor, “He comes, he comes,
and I feel the pain, I FEEL THE PAIN”.
“Lucille you will
listen to us, you will kill you’re loved ones, one by one.”
“You insane! I
will do no such thing”
“When you see his
eyes…you will”
The room
vibrates, Lucille falls to the floor, the corpse lays motionless, she hears a
roar. Looking around the room falls silent. Everything seems to go back to
normal until she looks up and sees the eyes.
“I will do your
bidding” she chants, smiling. It doesn't match with the works of Dino's and Jake Chapman but when I was writing this story their work, especially Hell (1999) came in to mind. Hell (1999) is 'a table top tableau, peopled with 30,000 remodelled, 2 inch high figures many of them dressed in Nazi uniforms performing acts of cruelty.' - White Cube. My story above is about the main actress suppressing her memories of a past event. She is now being put forward for this event and punished. Jake and Dinos make sculptures, prints and installations that examine religion, punishment, torture and morality. Their work often includes war scenes with sculptures especially Nazi soldiers torturing. One piece of art work I like is in fact Hell (1999). The amount of pain staking detail is clear to see. Everything is of miniature size but it tells a big story. There is plenty to see but so much to take in, its the kind of work that would keep me looking at it for ages. Unfortunately this work was destroyed in a fire but the artists said they would create something else bigger and better. I found a video that examined Hell. It is a very overpowering piece and I would have loved to have seen it.
Unfortunately I wasn't present when our group decided to build the set due to family issues. However, I turned up in time to scrap off the wallpaper on the Flats. I also helped paste and place new wall paper on the Flats and even paint some of the walls.
I was confused to begin with, with what people were wanting to do. A lot of the team were wandering around because they hadn't a clue as to what was happening.
Looking back I think I should have expressed that we create a role sheet to delegate jobs on the day so everything ran smoothly and everyone had a job. This way everyone wouldn't get in everyones way and people had a job to complete. A few people decided to take it upon themselves to do every job and this was annoying to watch as it wasn't fair to those who did not have a role.
In spite of this we managed to build a set and paint/wallpaper the halves to a colour we wanted. We all worked together in cleaning up and making sure everywhere was free of debris and danger.
When we go back to the set we hope to;
Make sure the set is safely and properly set up still.
Paint any areas we have missed
Sort out the props and decide on what should go where
Create a floor
Stand the bed up to the wall for one of the scenes
As we were primarily working as one big group, a few of us decided to create a group on Facebook so we all could communicate together expressing ideas and interests in to the project. A few people posted pictures on what they thought the set should look like and what props should be used.
Even though it is a very good idea to communicate together and a few people have brought a couple of great ideas to the table, I also think there are one or two people who seem to just want to take full control, and this is witnessed on the Facebook page. I discussed this matter with a few other people within the group and they agree too that certain people are dictating.
I work by giving people a chance to express their opinion and I always take their ideas on board. I have expressed a few ideas but these have been shot down on multiple occasions, even though I have argued my case.
However, someone created a floor plan on how they think the set should look. We agreed that this was the best layout for now.
Katie thought the set should have a gentlemans club feel. All the walls should have bric-a-brac on the walls of the un-canny effect, such as, dead animals, eerie, lingering pictures, dolls and so on.
This is a Mood board I created to represent the look and feel.
In one of the sessions our tutor split us in to two groups. One group would follow our tutor and be taken to the Workstation to look at the set and what props we will be using to create the piece. This was basically an Introduction lesson on safety and the do's and don'ts within the workstation. It was also an insight in to what is available if we ever come to constructing a set in the future for another project.
We were given a brief introduction as to how to construct the set using halves.
The other group were taken to the wood shop to be shown how to use the various equipments on offer. We were also shown a quick example on how to make a wooden triangle that would support props or sets. The wood shop tutor invited us to look around the at the machinery, the graphics design suites and engineering suites to give us an insight on whats to offer. The tutor also took us to the materials shop where materials of all shapes, sizes and properties are on offer.
