Across the Universe!

This is a film I have been very interested in and influenced by on many levels. It is the perfect mix of reality and imagination with an element of philosophy. Plus, it's based on the Sixties! With great covers of the best Beatles songs ever!!
I made this little montage of my favourite scenes from the film. These scenes have been very inspiring to me in terms of style, concept and story.

This one came real close!

Here's the video to Coldplay's new song "Christmas Lights". It just released this week and it comes very close to the style of production design that I am interested in developing!

Stop Motion Visual References

References:
Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie

Inspiring song lyrics

It's strange how you can find inspiration in the weirdest of places! Here's the lyrics to a song I found exceptionally relevant.

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In seventy-seven and sixty-nine revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When the head of state didn't play guitar
Not everybody drove a car
When music really mattered and when radio was king
When accountants didn't have control
And the media couldn't buy your soul
And computers were still scary and we didn't know everything

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In seventy-seven and sixty-nine revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When pop stars still remained a myth
And ignorance could still be bliss
And when god saved the queen she turned a whiter shade of pale
My mom and dad were in their teens
And anarchy was still a dream
And the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In seventy-seven and sixty-nine revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When record shops were still on top
And vinyl was all that they stocked
And the super info highway was still drifting out in space
Kids were wearing hand me downs
And playing games meant kick arounds
And footballers still had long hair and dirt across their face

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In seventy-seven and sixty-nine revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair 

Stop Motion in real life.

A style I personally admire in the Stop Motion category. A mix of real life and surrealism.





Reference:
Lost Things - Written and Directed by Angela Kohler

Just found an ancient 4pack CD at a jumble sale - it's called Summer of Love. Maybe I should listen to it back to back and it'll inspire me in some way. The music from the Sixties have always been encompassing the revolutions, the changes and the issues of the decade in their songs. So I thought, what better way to get an insight into the sixties than listening to it's music.

Voila!

HA!

Just realised there's a 10 day gap between my two most recent posts (not this one). Must've been a whole lotta thinking, look how my idea's changed (evolved, hopefully?)!

The next post will hopefully be a rough script and basic storyboard (if i can manage to scan them). Looking forward to this...

An alternative concept

After several meetings with my tutors and pestering friends and family about my idea and how I can make it better, I sat one day and realised that I didn't need to do all of that at all. I kind of got lucky because I'm making a film and as far as I know, films are personal business. As long as I have a good justification of why and how I'm going to make the film, it really doesn't matter what the audience thinks. But that doesnt mean I just make a film without any concept or research. That would be taking the audience for granted, something that a film maker or just any creative person should never do!!

And since it is a personal thing, I thought why not make it on a subject that's been in my head for I don't know how long. It is still sort of based on my initial idea of dreams and how it is a vehicle of the sub conscience- but this time - It's MY sub conscience. I have always had a recurring dream about having a past life (pre existing) in another era. And the era (from what I see...) is the 1960's.

Now the 1960's for some reason is always associated with hippies and drugs and various escapist theories. Although this was a major part of the 60's, I always wondered what it was that these people escaped from? What was so radically different in the 60's as compared to the previous decades that made it such a vibrant, almost decadent era to be in.

There are good things and there are bad - I here have a list of things that I believe may have changed the course of the world that we live in forever. And the poor hippies, they had no clue what was hitting them when they were in the throws of blissful ignorance!

The list (in no particular order) is as follows:
- The Art
- The Music
- The Movement
- The Change (Science and Technology, Medicine and politics)

In terms of art, the Sixties was a revolutionary period of 'double consciousness' - both cultural and counter-cultural. The Beat Generation which cropped up in the 1950's paved the way for a general reaction system in the sixties. Poets like Allen Ginsberg, William Burrough and Jack Kerouac are among the best known examples of Beat literates. Central elements of Beat culture included experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Easter religion, a rejection to materialism and the idealizing of exuberant,unexpurgated means of expression and being. In turn, these Beat poets developed a reputation as new Bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.

                                                                           Beat Poets

The music in the Sixties was mostly the voice of many scattered individuals who'd been through a tumultuous 50's or jut woken up one day to find themselves bang in the centre of a changing world. Artists like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead arose from the sunny state of California or from far off England in order to raise a common concern - that the world as of that decade, was changing for the better. And although this wasn't easy, they were not going to give up. Movements like the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement etc caused massive unrest and prejudices amongst people. These musicians therefore had a common purpose to unify these massive and drive them towards peacy and harmony.

                                                                         The Doors

As aforementioned, the Sixties was a period of turbulent times - what with The Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement among others. The 60's was a sort of decade long time warp caught between the drag that was the 50's with it's violent wars and racism and the euphoric, idealistic beginnings of the late 60's Summer of Love. With the rise of more than 20 state level universities came about an influx of many revolutionary and hard headed youth - ones who were strongly against war and demanded only peace. It was a year of cultural recognition and affluence (with the birth of TV and radio) and also, a uncontrollable flow of information. The youth became more and more involved in putting an end to the existing conflict and had relevant music to back them up. Thus started a series of the biggest and often violent revolutions that America had ever seen.

And finally - the changes. There were many changes and shifts in ideas during the Sixties, which may or may not be defined as counter-culture. On the one hand, where most of America and the world were experiencing civil wars, destruction and mass violence; there was a section of people busy neck-deep in research. Where on one side, the birth control pill was invented, on the other side muscle cars came into shape. Where one branch of the country developed their space missions and sent men on the moon, there was another branch carrying out successfully, the first heart transplant ever. The Underground Press came into being during this very period, after being suppressed for the longest time under threats by commies and anti-revolutionaries. Noted politicians such as John F Kennedy came into power and although they didn't stay much long, made a positive impact on the people of the state. Activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. made tremendous efforts in making America a color blind society.

In all fairness it is right to say that America and slowly the world was moving into becoming a brave, modern society. What I have seen in several recurring dreams or just apparitions if I may, is that 1960-70 wasn't just a decade. It was a Petri dish for post-modern civilisation. For a civilisation that broke barriers of race, sex and gender. An era that gave the F to fear and made man a noble citizen with a cause. To me it's not just the hippies or the free sex and drugs that drove the decade. They existed as an escapist fantasy for most of their time there but what is it that they were escaping from?

My project will hopefully answer this question.



References:
Bizot, J. Free Press: Underground & Alternative Publications, 1965 - 1975
Krugman, P., The Conscience of a Liberal (2007)
Charters (1992) The Portable Beat Reader
Caen, H. (1997-02-06). "Pocketful of Notes. San Francisco Chronicle

Velo Theatre!

(A still from a Basil Twist production)


A new life via table top puppetry. A cancerous addiction, this website :)

http://www.velotheatre.com/

Great visual journey through the website, almost inspiring. Still haven't been able to completely view the website for it's better deals but a pleasant experience so far!

Another great inspiration and possibly key reference point  (from New York)-

http://www.basiltwist.com/productions/index.html

Sigh.

Puppetry on board!

Currently working on integrating puppetry into my project to add a dimension of life (or an absurd version of it) into the sequence of dreams.

Books I am reading:
The Puppetry Handbook, Anita Sinclair
The Complete Book of Puppet Theatre, David Currell 

Also, working with materials and possible options of collage elements. Reading:
Material World 2, Materio
Working in Collage, John Portchmouth

Research Questionnaire - Rough model

General:

  How many dreams do you estimate you recall per week? ___________________

  How much interest do you generally take in dreams?  very little___ reasonable____  much___

Reactions:

If you have, how old were you when you had the most vivid or impactful of such dreams?

What were your physical and/or emotional reactions upon waking from this dream?

How long did your feelings upon awakening last?

Did you write this dream down?______ If so, how long after you had it? ______

Did you do anything differently that day because of the dream? ____If so, please describe what you did

Did you ever have this or a very similar dream again?___ If so, how many times, and at what intervals did the dream recur?  __________________________________________________

Did this dream have any long-term significance in terms of your beliefs, feelings, or life plans, or  in any other way? ____ If so, please elaborate:

Physical memory:

Do you remember certain objects/colours/people that stand out constantly in your dreams?

Are you partly conscious during the course of your dream? If yes … elaborate on your state of mind?

If there was ONE word to describe the sensation of your dream, what would it be?

What do you remember most from your dreams? Rate on a scale from 1 to 6 (1 being least memorable)

Faces

Colours

Objects

Places

Sound

Dialogue/Words

Cognitive:

 Did you ever have a dream in which you felt you had special powers or miraculous abilities?_____

 Did you ever have a dream in which you experienced feelings of great sadness? ______

 Did you ever have a dream in which you experienced feelings of great anger? ______

 Did you ever have a dream in which you experienced great fear or apprehension? _______

 Did you ever have a dream in which you experienced feelings of great confusion? _______

 Did you ever experience a dream that caused you to feel great guilt on awakening? ______

 Did you ever experience a dream that caused you to feel great shock on awakening? _____

 Did you ever experience a dream that you feel was a mystical or religious experience? _____

 Have you ever had a dream that led to the solution of a problem for you? _______

Have you ever had a dream that led to an artistic creation by you?  ______

Did you ever experience a dream that you feel was in some way metaphoric, and struck you as such at the time?_____

Have you ever had any other kind of  dream that was emotionally or intellectually important for you, but is not covered by our questions? _____ If so, please describe the dream and its impact:

REFERENCES

Bulkeley, K. (1999). Visions of the night: Dreams, religion, and psychology. Albany, NY, US: State University of New York Press.

Busink, R., & Kuiken, D. (1996). Identifying types of impactful dreams: A replication. Dreaming, 6, 97-119.

Knudson, R. (2001). Significant dreams: Bizarre or beautiful. Dreaming, 11, 167-177.

Knudson, R. (2003). The significant dream as emblem of uniqueness: The fertilizer does not explain the flower. Dreaming, 13, 121-134.

Knudson, R. M., & Minier, S. (1999). The on-going significance of significant dreams: The case of the bodiless head. Dreaming, 9, 235-245.

Kuiken, D., & Sikora, S. (1993). The impact of dreams on waking thoughts and feelings. In A. Moffitt & M. Kramer & R. Hoffmann (Eds.), The functions of dreaming. (pp. 419-476). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

What dreams are made of.

Dreaming is so basic to human existence, it's astonishing we don't understand it better. It consumes years of our lives, and no other single activity exerts such a powerful pull on our imaginations. Yet central as dreaming is, we still have no idea why we dream. Freud saw dreams as convoluted pathways toward fulfilling forbidden aggressive and sexual wishes; frightening dreams were wishes in disguise—wishes so scary, he believed, they had to transmute themselves into fear and masquerade as nightmares.
Later came the idea that dreams are the cognitive echoes of our efforts to work out conflicting emotions. More recently, dreams have been viewed as mere "epiphenomena"—excrescences of the brain with no function at all, the mind's attempt to make sense of random neural firing while the body restores itself during sleep. As Harvard sleep researcher Allan Hobson puts it, dreams are "the noise the brain makes while it's doing its homework."
Dreams-which Sigmund Freud called "the royal road to the unconscious"-have provided psychologists and psychotherapists with abundant information about the structure, dynamics, and development of the human personality. Several theories attempt to explain why we dream. The oldest and most well-known is Freud's psychoanalytic theory, elucidated in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), in which he suggested that dreams are disguised symbols of repressed desires and therefore offer us direct insight into the unconscious. According to Freud, the manifest content of dreams, such as daily events and memories, serve to disguise their latent content or unconscious wishes through a process he called dream-work, consisting of four operations. Condensation refers to the condensing of separate thoughts into a single image in order to fit the latent content into the brief framework of a dream. Displacement serves to disguise the latent content by creating confusion between important and insignificant elements of the dream. Symbolization serves as a further effort to evade the "censor" of repressed desires by symbolizing certain objects with other objects, as in the case of phallic symbols.
Not all dreams reflect daily life. Reports indicate dreams have foretold events upcoming in the dreamer's life, including death. One study reports that 70 percent of women successfully predicted the sex of their unborn child based upon dreams.

To summarise the entire article, it can be said that dreams are windows to the sub conscience, a mere vehicle of carrying across thoughts and interpretations that a person cannot or choses not to, when awake.


References:
Dixit, J., 2007. "The Dream Robbers", Psychology Today [online] Available: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200710/dreams-night-school [Accessed 4th November, 2010]

Light Fantastic!

Currently, I have been doing some basic research on the different aspects of light and the role it plays in a particular space. Since I will be working on a stop-motion film, I want to make it as dramatic as possible using light as a key element of the created space. Speaking of which, I have (after successful sit-ins with Dave Allen and Jayne Harvey) also modified my project proposal a bit.

To narrow down the concept of my project, I have decided to work on Dreams as a window to the sub conscience. Using a variety of research practices and surveys, I want to delve deeper into the way people dream and what they see and incorporate my own dreams into it - to create a visual treat for the audience. Through this film, the audience would be able to see and hopefully relate and react to my images as if they were their own. If not, at least feel some kind of connection to what dreams are made of and how our sub conscience works in mysterious ways. Styles of projection, lighting and music will play major roles in my project, apart from the actual set that I will be creating to film in.

Still not so clear on a shooting script as the contents of my film are still somewhat blurry but researching deeply into different cultures and the talk by ex student Donna Rumble-Smith (on embroidered handwriting etc.) has inspired me immensely. Although hers is a completely different medium of expression, she has touched the core of personal reflections through her work and I wish to do the same.

Some of my inspirations from her work are the use of glow paint and thread to depict mystery and an element of playfulness. Also, Susie MacMurray's dream like installations are going to be a good starting point for me. Check it out  - http://www.susie-macmurray.co.uk/project_type.php?id=15


Book I am currently reading:
Light Fantastic,The Art and Design of Stage Lighting;  Max Keller

Basic research. Check!

After looking through countless youtube videos and such, I have finally started reading. Art books, psychology. You name it, it's here. Good perspective.


Currently reading:
The Content Analysis of Dreams - Calvin S. Hall and Robert L. Van de Castle


Stop Motion: Craft Skills for Model Animation - Susannah Shaw

The Waking Dream: Fantasy and The Surreal in Graphic Art 1450-1900 - Edward Luche-Smith and Aline Jacquiot


Salvador Dali's Dream of Venus-  Ingrid Schaffner

Also, got my hands on a BBC Documentary : Why do we dream?

Fingers crossed. :)

Good concept video

Came across this Louis Vuitton ad. Directed by Bruno Aveillan, it is a good montage of individual concepts put together...complete with a good background score.
It's basically clips from nature, people, and inanimate objects. But the way it is all put together is commendable.
Although it's an ad for Louis Vuitton - a high fashion brand...the attempt to make it more of an experience rather than high fashion indulgence hooked me on to this commercial. Unlike the rather eclectic and nouveau riche image of LV, this ad crosses barriers and delves into a more natural, almost spiritual treatment.

What Dreams May Come

What Dreams May Come, directed by Vincent Ward: Starring Robin Williams

This is the studio trailer with music composed by Yann Tiersen - Comptine d'un autre été: L'après midi

The concept of life after death and consciously manipulating dreams has never been more beautiful. It's a good take on what lies beyond the "tunnel" and how life on earth MAKES your after-life.


Have a look :

STOP and Stare!

Another great stop frame video. Coldplay's finest :) I'm betting those are chalk drawings. But wow, a lot of effort. And time. And a bunch of great artists!




So nice!

Big City Lights!

One word. WOW

One of the nicest installations I've ever seen (not in person though). The use of light and 3D projection has always baffled me. It's a calculated skill and probably takes a hell lot of time. But the result is before your eyes - scintillating! I wish I could do this. But then again, I wish I could do everything! :D

Inspirado!

So this film has been my inspiration forever now. It's surreal, contrasting with bits of realism and cutting-edge set design. Have a look at the trailer, a must-watch and one of Michel Gondry's finest!


My favourite scene from the film :)


Happy viewing!

Making the Future - one step at a time

Every once in a while, I am asked the inevitable. “So what’s Nottingham like?” My answer- Two weeks of fun followed by a week of serious project work. A team of 13 individuals from different MA courses came together to create an experience, a collective picture of their individual journeys and a consciousness of what was to come. Having used this excellent opportunity of working in a team with various like minded people, I came to realise that even though we all come from different cultures, there is something about art that is in union with our selves as a whole.

Our group brainstormed together for about an entire day till we came up with an idea for the project. Using our native culture and experiences as a backdrop, we started working on an illustrated collage which would eventually form the words “Making the Future”. The reason we chose this phrase is because it is synonymous with our Institution and its core ethos.

While working on the project, I saw how my group mates represented their culture in the form of drawings etc. It was a visual treat to watch how our individual efforts in making this collage led to the forming of a dynamic piece of art. How it all came together to create “Making the Future” is a paradigm of what we’re here for.

Working together as a team taught me how to manage time and responsibility. Also, communicating with students from different countries and academic backgrounds helped me understand their ethos and co-work towards a common project. Along the way, I picked up a few words from Chinese, Greek and Irish and it really got me curious about their respective cultures. The project aided me in getting a fair idea of how people from different academic and social cultures work and how this opportunity can be maximised to create art.

The aim of the project was to embark on a journey and along the way, gain experience on both academic and social aspects. Although our project wasn’t an account of our literal journey, we tried to bring in aspects of our personal journeys from back home and incorporated it in our project. Our success remains in the fact that we were able to develop a strong bond among us as group mates and more importantly as friends.

In the coming weeks at Nottingham Trent, I hope to learn more about different people and their cultures and use this knowledge to develop my own personality and style as art in general is a mélange of different styles. I would like to explore the psyche of how people think, daydream and what they encounter. It is fascinating to create a piece of work out of something that would otherwise seem absurd and pointless. However, I would like to use this very subconscious state of people’s minds to figure out what they see when they don’t want to see anything and how this can become a wonderful piece of art. A good example would be me day dreaming about flying animals and paper towers. This may seem incomprehensible but it leads to developing a thought process that delves into the way people perceive reality. 

Bon voyage!

Writing is often considered as a means to express yourself. People write to give out details about their day, pen their thoughts down, so on and so forth. However, my reasons for writing, particularly maintaining this blog are different. I want to use this as a portal to document my journey through my year at Nottingham Trent.

So, off I go! See you on the other side :)