This painting is one which is deeply symbolic, with biblical concepts and themes being explored within the composition, which includes the background of the Holyland in Jerusalem, a place that the artist visited and was inspired by. It has been suggested in research that I have gathered so far, that the title and featured 'Scapegoat' is not in fact a type of goat at all, a scapegoat is normally used as more of a figurative personification of something that is being blamed for someone else's wrongdoings. This further supports the idea that the painting is featuring a day of the 'Festival of Atonement', a ritual day for Christians stated in Leviticus 16, where they sacrificed a blooded mammal to the Holyland. Within the ceremony, the high priest would confess the sins of Israel upon touching of the head of the 'scapegoat' with the slaughtering of the goat, it was believed that their sins were taken with the goat into the wilderness and cleansed.
After having been given the task, I decided over reading week to travel to a local park, where I knew would be a good setting for some characteristic shots. Along with my sister, for staged shots, I travelled to the park. My thoughts were:
I wanted something mysterious, an echo of an event perhaps, that could be interpreted in different ways. I wanted the staged shots to look natural, and almost like I'd caught the subject off guard in an odd situation.
I also wanted to experiment with the idea that the subject doesn't necessarily have to include a person in order to tell a story, certain objects out of place or seeming mysterious themselves tell a story that is alternate to each person- this is also where I believed this park would be useful in ensuring that there was a mystery of what we could find near the lake.
"Lost thought, lost mind" - She gazes out towards the trees on the bench that is saturated with memories, the view is not the same as she sits alone, waiting for the past to come back.
This set shot was to produce an aspect of mystery, , asking my sister to genuinely daze into the distance whilst I shot this from a higher angle, produced the effect that she is unaware that this photo is being taken.
"A ripple that no one saw" - A reaction with no clear cause, and no clear consequence, what made such a movement, and where is it now? This photo I shot to challenge the narrative without using a subject of a person which usually would be present throughout, I think the fact that there is no other life in the shot suggests an ominous cause of the ripple.
"The shoe that waited" Who does the shoe belong to? Why is it there? I liked the idea of further challenging the lack of subject in the photo, using the shoe as a personified story in itself, interpreted in different ways. There is a trail of a person, but none in the shot.
Over reading week I collected a range of images that obtained rich and subtle colour combinations to represent the following words:
Verdant Definition:"Green or rich with vegetation" Considerations- springlike colours, neutral and energetic colour combinations, such as yellow, green and browns. But also lighter colours.
Calm Definition: "Tranquil and quiet, soothing, without presence of anger etc." Considerations- Cool tonal combinations, purples, blues, pinks and pastel colours overall. Relaxing colours usually include lighter shades of existing colours. (Pastel inclusion of white tonal elements)
Sombre Definition: "Dark or dull in colour or tone, representations of seriousness or sadness" Considerations- Neutral or dull colours, sombre means dull or shadowy, therefore dullest tones needed throughout.
Jubilant Definition: "feeling of great happiness or triumph" Considerations- Bright colours, possibly tones of primary colours, bright reds, purples, blues etc. Perhaps contrasts of purple and yellows.
Autumnal Definition: "A characteristic of the season Autumn" Considerations- Warm tones of colours, for example reds, yellows and oranges.
Colour Symbolisation
Specific colours alternatively represent and symbolise a range of emotions and events. Here's some examples that were suggested to me that I have studied further.
Red (Warm Tones)
Red is a colour that is most vibrant, and is said to be first to catch your eye. Red is a colour of danger, passion, love and lust. It is often used to represent good and bad, the colour of the devil, the colour of 'stop' signs or traffic lights, the colour of passion that emotions like love represent.
Oriental culture such as in China, use red as their primary marriage colour, with brides wearing the colour as an act of harmony and to represent love.
Whilst red can be used for love, such as red roses for romance, and red for passion, there can also be such thing as red representing danger, such as warning signs, and within nature red is used as a natural danger colour such as poisoned predators such as frogs with red dots.
Blue (Cool Tones)
Blue is a colour that is a cool tonal composition, it often is represented through the cool tones, and the idea of "feeling blue" meaning miserable, an idea introduced by Picasso, who when feeling upset used to paint using tonal blue palettes.
Specific representations of colour are used in a range of cinematic as well as design compositions, using colours to represent certain information.
The 'blue' period of Picasso's paintings were supposed to reflect his mourning over a fellow artist, and influencing the inclusion of further blue aspects. Blue also symbolises aristocracy, with a lot of royalty wearing deep 'royal blue' which was a colour that used to only be able to be purchased by the richest of people. As well as this, there is an aspect of referencing royal as 'blue blooded'. A lot of natural elements such as vegetables do not include blue, and also the fact that the sky and sea remain blue through nature, and also making it seem like a cold sense of colour. Blue also represents faith, with the Virgin Mary often painted in blue, as well as loyalty and trust.
Green (Neutral Tones)
Green is a colour that is often representing growth, life and nature, with a lot of nature being represented with green overall. There is alternatively the aspect of sayings such as "Green with Envy" which represents the idea of jealousy, a strong emotion often represented in such a way.
Whereas in religion, green is used in Catholic society for Sunday services, with the alter decorated in green garments. In addition, celtic myths are given the idea of fertility with green being symbolised. As well as such inclusions, green is used for a lot of corrections as well as connotations of being right (for example green ticks for correct answers to questions etc.) In addition to this, green is a go sign for traffic lights, with the cars meaning that green allows cars to go.
Yellow (Warm Tones) Yellow as well as red, is a warm tonal composition, yellow, is a sunshine sort of colour, also known as happiness, and joy. Sunshine and happiness are the connotations involved in the overall effect of yellow, with it being India's wedding colour, the bride wearing yellow mostly.
However, in nature, wasps and bees represent their own warning signs with yellow, with yellow and black stripes warning other predators of their sting. Whereas yellow on the roads forbids drivers from parking in particular areas.
Yellow is also meant to attract bees, and other insects to flowers, with many being bright yellows for pollination. Yellow is also used in other ways of attraction, such as fluorescent yellow mostly used in highlighter pens (attracts eyes to key information) as well as high vis jackets which are mostly fluorescent yellow to ensure traffic can see pedestrians/workers etc.
Colour in Cinematography
Cinematography is something that uses aspects of colour, colour that produces certain effects. For example, if a shot is taken and the colours are too vibrant, but they need perhaps a subtle effect, they may filter down the amounts of colour, or alternatively saturate specific colours to highlight certain points.
When considering the aspect of cinematography with colours, the first film that sprung to mind was the original 'The Wizard of Oz' 1939- which involves the main character Dorothy beginning in a black and white, rather dull looking Kansas that was made to look unwelcoming through lack of colour, who then later on enters the world of 'Oz' which is then inclusive of bright colours- showing how Oz in comparison is a much better place to be.
Whereas, 'Matrix' 1999, is a film that I have come across in my own time, which shows a green tint throughout that is supposed to represent the futuristic feel that is the theme of the entire film, this effectively means the director used colour as a main tool for the effect they wanted to create.
Additionally when further looking into the colour specifications, I noticed that red was a colour that was inhabited in a broad range of films, it being a strong and passionate colour means it is clearly a strong choice for cinematographers to use. Such examples I have come across when discussing with friends and family, is such films that include colour to enhance specific things, like 'Sin City' and its sequel involve black and white film but then with some colour elements added briefly, as accents of colour, such as the surrounding character and background being in black and white whilst the blood is bright red, further adding contrast as well as showing the importance of what the red represents.
So within this surreal action film 'Sin City', the aspect of colour highlights certain areas and points, there's also an additional Film Noir scheme throughout.
In addition to this, I came across the film 'Schlinder's List' which involves an idea of an inclusion of red within black and white further. The film is set in the Second World War, where the world was being impacted by Nazi Germany, and the impact of the war on all generations, specifically young families and children.For this film, with the aspect of red, it symbolises the aspect of war and innocence in contrast to it, with the young girl being the only one in colour, with her red coat and shoes representing blood, and showing that there is always innocent people, and the youth of the war suffers. The red coat is symbolised throughout the whole film, where the coat finishes on the floor at the ending, showing how it has been a symbol all along, of the innocence in comparison to the tragedy of death and violence that war presents to an innocent child. In addition to this, some believe that the bright red also links with the idea of Nazi colours, with Nazi logos including red and black, colours with dangerous and violent connotations.
The Corpse Bride - Tim Burton (2005) 'The Corpse Bride' by Tim Burton is another of his gothic tales, where there are two worlds presented, the land of the living and the land of the dead. Both of which are used with contrasting colour palettes, as the colourful palette is oddly used for the land of the dead, suggesting relaxation and more of a fun atmosphere, whilst the land of the dead was more sombre tones. Therefore, the land of the living in contrast ironically seemed to be the best place to be.
The way in which the characters were designed to represent this was discussed in this documentary I have found about the making of the film and the colour palette involved.
Rachel and I have been the first to lead the Discussion Forum for this project. The subject we were given is Freedom of Speech & Censorship. A subject that I believe can withhold a wealth of discussion as it involves alternate things. The discussion forum itself I believe went really well, with nearly an hour long discussion transpiring from the points that we made which I believe is a successful outcome. Dictionary Definitions: Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.
Free Speech is the right to speak without censorship or restraint by the government. Freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
After having looked at the definitions we subjectively underwent research relevant to the subject given that we personally believed would spur on further discussion in the forum. We thoroughly went through the following points to spur conversation successfully about what freedom of speech and censorship means to our peers. Here are the points we produced:
Freedom of Speech comparatively- we came across a story where there were protestors belonging to the Westboro Baptist Church in America, where they openly insulted homosexuals and other persons rather crudely in public, where they weren't punished, whereas we compared this incident to one back in the UK, where a man got arrested simply for swearing. We applied the idea that Freedom of Speech is punished in some ways if abused, but in alternate degrees in differing countries.
Freedom of Speech at home- the fact that we can speak freely at home without being arrested, judged etc. Whereas there is a completely diffe
rent impact when you're in public, considering laws etc.
Censorship in Art and Design- using the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris as an example to this, we encouraged the group to discuss the subject of freedom of speech through art, whether they think it should be controlled, and if so, how?
Censorship of self- we discussed the fact that although we have no laws against such things as tattoos and piercings, such things we use as censorships for self, such as people consider where to get a tattoo in relation to employment, having them where they can hide them etc. How does this effect your own appearance within freedom of speech?
9th February 2015 As part of my research into the impact of the installation, I decided to collect some opinions of my peers and persons I have shared my installation with before the display on Wednesday. These opinions will provide me with a further insight of what effect the piece will have once displayed and who in fact will link it to the theme. I asked selected peers in my class to review the installation after experiencing it, here are the results:
"When I experienced the infinity box installation I found that it was very effective in creating a sensation of a never ending experience for the time you are listening and watching it. However I found that it also gave me a sense of entrapment into this unlimited void of infinity, as you can see the never ending repetition of the moving images traveling far into the background of the box and so far that you cant see how far it actually goes on for, giving a sense of no end and no stopping to this experience however also the colors used in the animation are cold colors and not so lively and again gives a feeling of hostility almost, a place void of emotion or warmth. This is then further emphasized by the cold robotic voice speaking through the head phones, lacking emotion. All of these things combined gave me an experience of never-ending and emptiness which related back to this idea of an infinite void. However the script of the void speaking through the headphones was full of emotion and deep thought. This contrasted with the empty never ending experience However the some of the things in which the voice spoke of again only added to the experience of loneliness “existence is a dark void of wonder, as obscure as the shadows that cascade through your skull” this made the experience a more personal one. Overall the experience I had was that this display was showing me a personal journey through a never ending void. Only one individual at a time can see or hear this display and so it makes it a private journey that you can only have alone. Similar to the journey through the void at death. The cold emotionless feeling and atmosphere I experienced could be connected to the emotions of death and so exaggerated this idea of traveling trough the void." -Rachel Fielding (Motion Design peer)
"When viewing the installation I was able to embrace the meaning of void life void thanks to the the images that were being shown along with the specific voice that had been chosen. It was like I had captured a glimpse of an entrance to another world."
- Beth Ward (Illustration BA Hons)
The use of the mirrors gave a very effective illusion of the void going on for eternity and coupled with the altered voice it was very unsettling. I felt that I was forced to confront the void as it was ready to swallow me up.
- Gwen Young (Illustration, BA Hons)
When I looked through the hole and put the headphones on, I felt like I could express by own thoughts on the meaning of void life void without any distractions because I was the only one that could see and hear what was going on. I think everyone who viewed it saw something different as they have their own views on the topic even though they were hearing and seeing the same thing thanks to the mesmerizing images and robotic voice.
- Hazel Robinson (Illustration, BA Hons)
I thought your ideas and the way you communicated void life void was really immersive and captured the never ending cycle, the constant peeping hole into the unknown was a really interesting take on the subject and was my favourite of them all. - Adam Reddall (Illustration, BA Hons)
On the group reflection of the alternate reactions to the brief, a lot of my peers were in favour of the piece created, here are a few ideas and points people made about my work:
It had an intimidating feel to it, but in a positive way as it secluded you.
Voice sounded knowledgable, tells the future, sounds informative- further suspense.
Bold and abstract shapes in animation look ominous
Isolates you with the earphones and staring into box- makes you feel alone
Feels like you're really staring into a void that goes on forever
"Cleverly put together, really cool effect created"
4th February 2015 Today was a one day session on what I believe is a key part of our industry: narratives and storyboards as well as pitch lines. We were given an introduction to what pitch lines are, the official tag lines to summing up and idea for example film themes, and how powerful they are in pitching an idea to a group of people in the industry perhaps. Ultimately, it's an effective way of allowing your own ideas to be visually and descriptively displayed but in a simple format.
It became apparent that these interpretations could be made just from one descriptive sentence, not to necessarily give the whole game away, but to inform the persons reviewing it of what they actually involve within the storyline. Examples such as Batman and Shrek were given. Storyboards & Narrative
It has always been the case of using storyboards in my work in the past, however it has become more of a defined skill since this workshop helped us develop a further understanding of the power that can be found behind storyboards. Without even using dialect, storyboards can really impact the visual outcome of the work, it becomes more distinguished and allows creativity to be more accurately displayed. A key example of this is Hitchcock's 'Psycho' who's storyboards constructed by Saeur Bass were so precise and visually explained that he didn't actually have to preview them himself through the camera. The director had such a trust for his design team that he could rely his ideas completely on the storyboards that they created. As additional viewing of how storyboarding could help assist animation as well as film making, I looked at the book in class called "Storyboards - Motion in Art" by Mark Simon, which developed an idea of how initial sketches are the most important in the process of developing ideas etc. Without the original sketches and the mistakes in the sketches, there wouldn't be the outcome that comes out of it. The storyboards help develop ideas as well as envisioning others and showing your peers your thoughts in a more efficient and professional way. In addition to this, the storyboards are a way that in professional pitches, designers show their ideas. However, directors such as Steven Spielberg don't actually have the skills in storyboards, but is shown that the initial sketches are more useful, as then he can quickly put down his ideas in a way that his designers can translate into professional looking storyboards. It has been made clear that when we design our own animations and films, we need to make sure that the storyboards are going to backed up by rough sketches and rough storyboards, as alike these celebrity directors, we need to ensure we keep our initial ideas and learn from them of why they didn't work, or why they can no longer be considered as ideas.
An example is pencil sketches don't have to be a temporary measure, you could draw out a first draft of sketches or a storyboard in permanent marker but it wouldn't matter, the fact is that the idea has been shown effectively and the story board helps to finalise your ideas on paper to then edit and work on in future pieces. The storyboards could then be further altered and perceived differently.
30th January 2015
The lecture today elaborated on the new underlying theme of making connections for the next essay due in March. Gary and Jane overviewed a selection of over 30 images that involved information and facts about them. It came apparent that this essay wasn't about the composition necessarily having the most importance, but the connotations and reflections of the artist themselves and the impact their own background and period of time that would have altered their work.
The Scapegoat- William Holman Hunt- 1854-1856
The lecturers went into quick details over each piece and why it is in fact effected by such things. It helped us with a further understanding of looking beyond the compositional values and into the more intimate details of the origin of the painting/photograph/composition. I liked the fact that there was a vast variety of different medias given to show that this technique of making connections applies to many pieces.
Additionally I think it provided us with a larger perspective of alternate artwork, for example, Gary made it clear that if we knew anything about the artists we should select a different image, as this is all about selecting a whole new outlook on a piece we don't necessarily recognise or know much about.
The image that I chose at random was 'The Scapegoat' by William Holman Hunt. The quick points that were made about this piece were:
It's an extremely symbolic piece, metaphorical in some aspects, it has alternate controversial meanings - linking highly to the time period.
Biblical references thoroughly throughout the composition, including the actual goat itself.
We have been informed to research some key words into the piece we have been given for next week's lecture and session, I feel quite excited to look further into the research as it's a piece that I don't know anything about besides the composition so would be extremely interesting to look further into it and narrow down three key words that I feel represent the image.
6th February 2015
Today was the opportunity to develop our ideas further by presenting our key words that we had looked into further individually during the week. I had already produced a small selection of key words that I found were relevant in correlation with my initial research:
Biblical- In the research involved it was made instantly clear that there were a high amount of bible references throughout the piece's composition as well as the surrounding Christians that the artist faced when constructing the piece. The piece is actually a reaction to a religious ceremony that took place when the artist was present, that influenced his decision in painting the scapegoat.
Holy land- I chose this initial word due to the Holy land being the Christian reference to Jerusalem, the home of Jesus Christ and the ultimate birthplace. However. I'd like the keyword to be more precise and detailed on this fact.
Sins- The sinful aspect of the process was made extremely apparent when researching into the ceremony. The cloth that was tied around the antlers of the goat was red, and it was believed in the Christian ceremony that they would release this goat into the Holy land, and it gave the belief that if the goat returned with a white cloth upon it's head, their sins were forgiven. However they allowed the wild to 'take' the goat if its sins were not forgiven.
Atonement- The Festival of Atonement was the ceremony of which Christians began to free a goat into the Holy land of Jerusalem hoping that the red cloth upon it's head would be returned white, to show forgiveness of sins.
Jerusalem- Jerusalem is the key aspect of this piece, not only for the theme, but for the fact that the artist produced this piece in the country, but had to flee after the ceremony due to controversial views of the artist's intentions.
Death- Death is key within this piece, not only connotations with the skeletal aspects in the composition but also the aspect of the fate of the goat.
Forgiveness- The aspect theme of forgiveness is additionally key for the research, as it explains the process of why in fact they did this, and their true belief that sins can be forgiven by the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
The highlighted words are ultimately my selected 3 key words I found were the most relevant to the task in hand.
23rd January 2015
We have been given the brief to look at Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' a piece that is containing plenty of connotations that are interpreted differently by each viewer. We were told to produce a piece of creative writing that describes the scene that transpires in this painting in connection to existentialism.
For me, I personally wanted to produce a descriptive writing within the scene, being one of the dark figures in the background watching the screaming figure.
I decided to adapt this to being a screaming person that has in fact stared into the deep truth of existence and is in agony of the truth that has been seen and the desperate hunger for understanding.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this task, and intend to adopt this idea of perspective in future work. 100 words A sonic screech scraped at my very soul that amplified around the pool of despair around me. Below the rim of my crinkled brow a woman crouches, her eardrums plagued with vicious whisper; a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. Her ears clamped by her brittle hands trying to claw back her humanity. She had gazed too far into the depth below us, the truth that cannot be seen by her dangled in desperation. The world around her stripped away in torturous tremor, her knees crumbled under the weight of the shadows as she lay crumpled, a sack of bones against a disobedient tide. 50 words A sonic screech scraped at my very soul, amplified around the pool of despair below me. A woman crouches, eardrums plagued with vicious whisper, a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. She had gazed too far into the depth, dangled in desperation. Her knees crumbled under the weight of the shadows in torturous tremor. A sack of bones against an unruly tide. 25 words A sonic screech scraped at the soul. Her eardrums plagued with vicious whisper, a brutal hive of wonder blistering through her brain. Her knees crumbled in torturous tremor; a sack of bones against an unruly tide.
The task involved us having to restrict the amounts of words further, to adapt the idea of getting the key points of descriptive language across. Although a struggle at first, I found this really helped develop the effect we needed to create over the piece.
"Motion graphics are graphics that use video footage and/or animation technology to create the illusion of motion or rotation, and are usually combined with audio for use in multimedia projects."
I firsthand developed the aspect of what Motion Design actually is, then I decided to delve into what jobs are actually available within such a theme.
For me I've considered my own route in the aspect of Motion Design derived from previous studies in Creative Media Production at A Level as well as my exploration of design in my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design. I've always had an interest in animation and design in correspondence of the advertising industry, and how commercialisation of products or places coincides with aspects of design such as my studies of Motion Design.
The first place that springs to mind that is within a local range is Media City in Manchester, which offers a wealth of design opportunities for all sorts of designers including Motion Designers. Such Motion Designers are part of programmes for Media City such as the 'Animation Toolkit' founder Westley Wood who often produces animation sequences for alternate companies in regards to advertising and commercialising as well as entertaining. A key opportunity Wood works in is with Citv producing children's animations involving alternate forms of animation, but with such animators Media City offers programmes where other animators can get involved.
Examples of Media City's current vacancies include:
Digital Campaign Strategist– Manchester – £25 – £35K “Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall One of the Top PR agencies in the UK are now looking for a digital enthusiast to help lead on Digital marketing strategy and the convergence of Digital marketing and PR. They re [...]
Delineo are a fully integrated agency and one of just 18 members of The IPA in the North West, as well as one of the top 100 marketing agencies outside London and a Prolific North Top 50 Integrated Agency. We pride ourselves not only in the creativity of our campaigns [...]
A fantastic opportunity to work for an award-winning agency has emerged. They’re based in South Yorkshire and looking for a Digital Producer with top-notch communication and organisational skills. You should possess previous digital experience and excellent knowledge of the digital space, ideally gained in an agency environment. You’ll be an enthusiastic, [...]
We are looking for an experienced and proven individual to take on the role of Senior Account Manager within our brand department. You will report to our Head of Brand and work on a challenging mix of accounts with the following responsibilities: • Building relationships with clients and acting as the key [...]
This painting is one which is deeply symbolic, with biblical concepts and themes being explored within the composition, which includes the background of the Holyland in Jerusalem, a place that the artist visited and was inspired by.
It has been suggested in research that I have gathered so far, that the title and featured 'Scapegoat' is not in fact a type of goat at all, a scapegoat is normally used as more of a figurative personification of something that is being blamed for someone else's wrongdoings. This further supports the idea that the painting is featuring a day of the 'Festival of Atonement', a ritual day for Christians stated in Leviticus 16, where they sacrificed a blooded mammal to the Holyland. Within the ceremony, the high priest would confess the sins of Israel upon touching of the head of the 'scapegoat' with the slaughtering of the goat, it was believed that their sins were taken with the goat into the wilderness and cleansed.
.jpg)
