Ok I have to admit this lecture made me slightly angry, I found alot of what Bill said to be interesting though not relevant to model making. but saying the forest is a womb and making Bambi to be this deep hidden message, no...
I do believe there are morals and meanings put into films to question political views, what we believe and feel. but sometimes critics take it too far they look into something too much and see what they want to see. stretch and distort what the makers were trying to show. now I'm not saying this is what Bill's doing. but it did feel like it a little, that could just be down to my lack of understanding.
I watched Blade runner again recently as so many people were talking about it. I then looked up some reviews and found some people had really stretched what they had seen.
http://everything2.com/title/Religious+and+Mythical+Symbolism+in+Blade+Runner
This guy has gone full out. you can decide for yourself what you think the film means but don't be pushing it onto everyone else as truth, its merely your own theory.
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Animation
Considering the title of this lecture I didn't think I would get much out of it. Thankfully we had a seminar, taking it further, seeing how it related to us model makers.
Animation has changed over the years, today there isn't so much actual hand craft skills involved as there used to be. and so when Bill talks about animation I think alot of us model makers find it extremely difficult to see how we relate. But if we look back in time we can see Animation started out purely built by hand.
Puppets and Automatons, these devices are what got us to where we are today. One of the most famous and still functioning today is the "Silver Swan". This Automaton was made in the 18th Century, its a which is to scale and moves as a sawn, with grace and beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YggCiDRI0
This Clockwork driven device would have been the pinnacle form of Animation in its time. Its craftsmanship is still admired today by thousands. for when it hits 2pm the swan will come to life and the stream will flow.
Animation has changed over the years, today there isn't so much actual hand craft skills involved as there used to be. and so when Bill talks about animation I think alot of us model makers find it extremely difficult to see how we relate. But if we look back in time we can see Animation started out purely built by hand.
Puppets and Automatons, these devices are what got us to where we are today. One of the most famous and still functioning today is the "Silver Swan". This Automaton was made in the 18th Century, its a which is to scale and moves as a sawn, with grace and beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4YggCiDRI0
This Clockwork driven device would have been the pinnacle form of Animation in its time. Its craftsmanship is still admired today by thousands. for when it hits 2pm the swan will come to life and the stream will flow.
Friday, 3 December 2010
Violence in the Media
In this lecture we heard about how different types of media can encourage violence, film, games and theatre ect... In our Seminar we looked into this further but from a slight angle.
below are three knives, each one you can see matches the title beside it. why?
1. Honest Cowboy
2. Sci-Fi
3. Secret Spy
When we look at these knives you instantly link it to a type of character/genre it belongs to. this is due to a set of signs we've learnt. This system of signs has been built into us from a young age. the media uses these signs, for example, your watching a film, its an old western, a new character shows his knife, now if the knife was maybe rusty and had some blood stains on, you would quickly assume that this is a "bad guy" a villain. these visual signs tell us alot. on the other hand if it was clean and well kept you'd gather he an honest, fare and respectable man. Also we could take into account the way in which he's carrying it, how he uses it. without this language it would take a long time for us to recognize the different types of characters being used. And so we depend on this to communicate to the audience quickly and effectively.
below are three knives, each one you can see matches the title beside it. why?
1. Honest Cowboy
2. Sci-Fi
3. Secret Spy
When we look at these knives you instantly link it to a type of character/genre it belongs to. this is due to a set of signs we've learnt. This system of signs has been built into us from a young age. the media uses these signs, for example, your watching a film, its an old western, a new character shows his knife, now if the knife was maybe rusty and had some blood stains on, you would quickly assume that this is a "bad guy" a villain. these visual signs tell us alot. on the other hand if it was clean and well kept you'd gather he an honest, fare and respectable man. Also we could take into account the way in which he's carrying it, how he uses it. without this language it would take a long time for us to recognize the different types of characters being used. And so we depend on this to communicate to the audience quickly and effectively.
Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Science fiction/Film
One of the interesting points of this lecture I found was, the idea that could digital model surpass handmade model. later we discussed this further in our Seminar. There are clear advantages to digital model and special effects, the fact that we can achieve things that aren't physically possible in this world is amazing. On the other I find most CGI looks quite fake and unbelievable. we talked about this and looked into why this is usually the case. we decided it was because the images/ models are too perfect, to clean, there isn't enough noise to fool us into believing its real, hence the world is not clean and perfect. trying to capture this feeling is difficult and would be better to replicate in model, in my opinion.
Also we touched on Blue-screening, actors having to imagine what's in front of them and giving a realistic response. now I believe your never going to get the same response as you would if there was some huge dragon stuck in your face but we have to accept this isn't always possible in some instances. A film that used this really well was Alien, the scene where the Alien bursts from a man's chest. None of the actors new, what it was going to actually look like until it was actually happening. This was great, they used element of surprise,shock and horror to get the perfect response that was real! I believe one of the woman actually fell down in shock. This scene was filmed only once, which I think was right, with a second shoot you would lose that surprised response and wouldn't be as real.
Also we touched on Blue-screening, actors having to imagine what's in front of them and giving a realistic response. now I believe your never going to get the same response as you would if there was some huge dragon stuck in your face but we have to accept this isn't always possible in some instances. A film that used this really well was Alien, the scene where the Alien bursts from a man's chest. None of the actors new, what it was going to actually look like until it was actually happening. This was great, they used element of surprise,shock and horror to get the perfect response that was real! I believe one of the woman actually fell down in shock. This scene was filmed only once, which I think was right, with a second shoot you would lose that surprised response and wouldn't be as real.
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
New Media
Now to start of I didn't actually go to this lecture, however I am listening to a recording of it. I thought I'd do something different and Blog as I listened and see what came to mind.
Ok first of yes I will be looking for his name on Xbox live and if this lecture sucks I will personally hunt him down and kill him (in game ofc) ok so no mention of us model makers yet, a list of useful programs I wont really use. he knows we're here? ah right , it seems this weeks lecture is aimed for at gamers/animators.
. Ok so I thought I would look at "games" and see how they influence model making.
Heres a cool video I found, where a specialist company called Nightmare armour studios have made Gears of war Suites with full war gear props. This is a perfect example where the two worlds of digital and physical cross over and influence each other, today in film generally, neither one can exist without the other.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Binary Opposition
Binary Opposition, what is it and how do we use it?
It is the structures we build, which in esense, help us to understand the world. how? example; we all know the word coward but to understand it surly we have to know the difference between it and its binary opposite, a Hero.
Lets look at another, Nature - Culture. These sit on a scale opposite each other. now its very difficult to be in a place where there is only one if these, to be totally submerged in Nature for example, its seems theres almost always a little cross over. I myself found almost complete nature, a little Island called Yakushima. I went two days without seeing anyone, all I had to guide me was the odd sign post (never in English) and these paths which seemed to be created by the wild itself but even in this dense forest you'd still come across a random hut, these were still small signs of culture.
So it seems we generally sit somewhere between these opposites. this gap in the middle is what we call the "Zone of Anomaly". its neither one or the other and this is what intrigues us the most.
Lets look at how this is used in film. sticking to Nature and Culture let take the film Frankenstein. In this film Frankenstein the creator is trying to create life. when he does this creature is it neither Nature nor Culture, it sits somewhere in the Zone of Anomaly, its a MONSTER! and we love it.
It is the structures we build, which in esense, help us to understand the world. how? example; we all know the word coward but to understand it surly we have to know the difference between it and its binary opposite, a Hero.
So it seems we generally sit somewhere between these opposites. this gap in the middle is what we call the "Zone of Anomaly". its neither one or the other and this is what intrigues us the most.
Lets look at how this is used in film. sticking to Nature and Culture let take the film Frankenstein. In this film Frankenstein the creator is trying to create life. when he does this creature is it neither Nature nor Culture, it sits somewhere in the Zone of Anomaly, its a MONSTER! and we love it.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Intertextuality
This lecture had to one of the easier concepts to grasp, mainly because we see it, use it all the time, especially those in the creative industry.
So what is Intertextuality? Wiki says "Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another." So authors, artists alike use this key term. Being inspired/influenced by another's work, then producing your own is a form of Intertextuality.
This is term is used hugely in the film industry, in fact some films made depend on it solely, for example Scary movie. This is a spoof. Here you can see clearly the references they're making to the film Scream. There are other films which use this technique but are much more Subtle about it, where only a select few would see it, these times always make you feel clever. One example I remember seeing, in the film Terminator 2, the boy teaches him to look for the keys under the sun screen. In the sequel, the Terminator does this instinctively. this is a great use of Intertextuality and made me smile. (however the rest of that film was pretty scheiss)
I myself, used Intertextuality the other week, heres the picture.
now the guy on the right is quite obviously the Mr McDonald himself, however I'm the clown on the left. I took my Inspiration from the clown below. He's from the film Zombieland and hes a very happy clown.
So as you can see we all use Intertextuality, sometimes without realising it. Its a familiarity, its how signs relate to each other.
So what is Intertextuality? Wiki says "Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another." So authors, artists alike use this key term. Being inspired/influenced by another's work, then producing your own is a form of Intertextuality.
This is term is used hugely in the film industry, in fact some films made depend on it solely, for example Scary movie. This is a spoof. Here you can see clearly the references they're making to the film Scream. There are other films which use this technique but are much more Subtle about it, where only a select few would see it, these times always make you feel clever. One example I remember seeing, in the film Terminator 2, the boy teaches him to look for the keys under the sun screen. In the sequel, the Terminator does this instinctively. this is a great use of Intertextuality and made me smile. (however the rest of that film was pretty scheiss)
I myself, used Intertextuality the other week, heres the picture.
now the guy on the right is quite obviously the Mr McDonald himself, however I'm the clown on the left. I took my Inspiration from the clown below. He's from the film Zombieland and hes a very happy clown.
So as you can see we all use Intertextuality, sometimes without realising it. Its a familiarity, its how signs relate to each other.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Semiotics
What surprised me from this lecture was how much we actually use signs. If someone asked me to pick out a sign I would have looked for a road sign or a wet floor sign but its much more than this. A sign can be anything, as long as someone else knows/understands the signified concept. but where is the boundary? can smells, sounds, favours also be considered signs... of course. in order for signs to work it has to have a signifier and an signified. at first this threw me but when you understand the difference it makes perfect sense.
The Signifier is the sign itself whether that's visual or some kind of odour ect.., for example the word "ON", lets say its for a Games Console. The signifier is the actual word "ON" , the Signified is the knowledge/ concept that if you push that button then it will turn it on.
If we're missing one of these two key elements then the sign is useless. for example if someone didn't speak our language or were blind or simply didn't know what it meant.
So maybe using letters and words as signs Isn't the most effective way, as it can restrict your audience.This is a world wide recognized sign for power.
This is far more effective than the word "ON", not only will more people know what it means but they will recognise it quicker.
It can be quite frustrating when, you don't know the Signifier, I know this first hand. Whilst I was travelling in Japan I came across such words as 出口 which translates Way out. now when you in a huge train station this is always a good sign to know, that I learnt quite quickly. One I learnt even quicker was the difference in Male to female toilet signs, now when your in most tourist places you'll see this image below or something like it and know its safe to enter (on the left) but what happens when your greeted with the image next to it? (on the right) now both have the same Signified but different a Signifier, now if you dont speak the language or dont know the Signifier then you'll be the one making the 50/50 chance of walking in a room full of small angry Japanese woman...
so in Conclusion, we use signs everyday, sometimes without even realising it. we depend on them as social beings and always will.
(the image on the right is Kanji for Men and would only really be used in for rural areas)
The Signifier is the sign itself whether that's visual or some kind of odour ect.., for example the word "ON", lets say its for a Games Console. The signifier is the actual word "ON" , the Signified is the knowledge/ concept that if you push that button then it will turn it on.
If we're missing one of these two key elements then the sign is useless. for example if someone didn't speak our language or were blind or simply didn't know what it meant.
So maybe using letters and words as signs Isn't the most effective way, as it can restrict your audience.This is a world wide recognized sign for power.
This is far more effective than the word "ON", not only will more people know what it means but they will recognise it quicker.
It can be quite frustrating when, you don't know the Signifier, I know this first hand. Whilst I was travelling in Japan I came across such words as 出口 which translates Way out. now when you in a huge train station this is always a good sign to know, that I learnt quite quickly. One I learnt even quicker was the difference in Male to female toilet signs, now when your in most tourist places you'll see this image below or something like it and know its safe to enter (on the left) but what happens when your greeted with the image next to it? (on the right) now both have the same Signified but different a Signifier, now if you dont speak the language or dont know the Signifier then you'll be the one making the 50/50 chance of walking in a room full of small angry Japanese woman...
so in Conclusion, we use signs everyday, sometimes without even realising it. we depend on them as social beings and always will.
(the image on the right is Kanji for Men and would only really be used in for rural areas)
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
So are we Magicians or Monsters?
Some thoughts on a lecture I sat threw, which was about realism. When i first heard that, I thought what hows this going to be relevant, it wasn't long before I realized that realism is the very thing that surrounds each of our specialisms, whether it be model making, animation, character creation... we all aim to deceive our audience, to trick them into believing what they're seeing is real. if this isn't achieved then the magic is lost.
So are we Magicians or Monsters?
Can what we create in fact harm or even kill our audience? well, if our goal is to make people believe what they're seeing is real, whether it be watching a film or shooting Nazi zombies, what happens when we perfect this art to such a level that we can no longer differ reality, to some Virtual reality game. ill tell you, we wake up and
find that we're in fact Dwayne Dibley.
(WATCH THIS) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqeJ__taFhA
The film Surrogates also came to mind, will we ever go that far?
I've come across some people and they never seem to be happy with their day to day lives
or just not happy with who they are and so they throw themselves into some kind of Virtual world. I've seen marriages split apart, children die of hunger over such games as Second life and WoW. so are we aiding this by creating such beautiful pieces of art? or merely playing our part?
Magicians or Monsters you decide.
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