Working Concept

I would like to explore the idea of escape. Not like running from something necessarily, but rather, being taken away from the constraints of our daily lives. Like dreams, for instance, they are an escape from reality. Within them almost anything is possible. Its amazing what our minds come up with and allow when we are not controlling it through cognitive thinking. Even when we consider an actual physical escape, there is a period of time filled with panic and worry that is then taken over by relief and peacefulness for having gotten away or alluded whatever was plaguing you. I would like to recreating scenes and explore the concept of escape through dream-like sequences and the emotional recapturing of what escape is like.

Initial Thoughts

I will start by saying that i feel completely overwhelmed by the thought of choosing a topic. I don't know how to describe how I want them to look technically because I don't really know enough about the programs, but I do have general concepts:

1. I have vivid dreams nearly every night. Oddly enough my dreams are often times about me being immersed in a fantastical scene full of pastries, mostly cupcakes and donuts. Im convinced that I have these dreams because in my real life I wont allow myself to indulge in those things because I know that they are bad for me. So really this dream that appears so whimsical is really about temptation and oppression. It reminds me of the Bosch painting Garden of Earthly Delights. From a distance the painting appears so happy but when you really study it, its pretty messed up. Its warning us that if we indulge in earthly pleasures then we are damned to hell. So basically, I would like to explore the concept of temptation and the effects it has on the psyche when oppressed.

2. Also, I would like to explore moving typography. I guess it would be like moving signage or advertisements. It could be a narration of a story or lyrics to a song. They type could be used to animate what the story/song is saying.

3. I really like the collage look to some of the videos I've seen. Ones that use actual photographs, drawings and other 2-D art to comprise a scene. I think it might be interesting to use some older materials, like a set of paper dolls or illustrations in an old book. I like the idea of using dolls a metaphor for confinement.

Screenings

In In the Realms of the Unreal  most of the scenes are comprised of the drawings and illustrations of Henry Darger himself.  The film has been comprised of these still 2-D illustrations that begin to come to life. The figures begin moving their arms and blinking their eyes, as if they are interacting with the viewer. Some of the scenes seem to be a visual collage comprised of photographs, drawings and vector images. There is an interesting contrast between the innocence and antiquity of these illustrations with the modern concept of motion graphics. The scenes remind me of pages in a coloring book or illustrations in books meant for small children. The film pans slowly over the illustrations, and many of the animated elements are hard to catch. There is a calmness and subtlety to the way in which the motion is being introduced to the 2-D medium.  

The Kid Stays in the Picture is similar to the previous film in that it uses previously shot imagery and adds animation on top of that. In this film photographs are mostly being used, as well as stills from movies that Robert Evan's directed. The manipulation of the photographs is done by adding what appears to be vector animation. One example was a photograph of a man smoking a cigarette. Animation of an ignition and orange burning tip of the cigarette was added as well as an overlay of smoke. Some of the stills themselves have been altered. The people will be cut out and reoriented in the scene. There is a lot more type seen in this film. There are lots of newspaper stories that get shown as a collage of information. There is also a lot of panning from side to side and zooming in and out.  

In the Ken Burns films, all of the imagery is still. The way that he manipulates the stills is to chose how the audience is able to view them. He slowly pans across the images so that you can see all of the detail. He then zooms out so that you can see the whole thing. Photos transition with a soft fade into the next. Though all of the imagery is still, he evokes a lot of motion through his cinematic techniques.