The window...

I have found a few images on what Gregor's room has been interpreted as in some Films and Theatre productions...

This Photo shows Gregor's room to look like a cocoon, it has bits and bobs from his previous human life intertwined with his new bug life. the stringy web-like formations contain things like light fittings etc.
I think this is quite an interesting, literal take on the room. However as our set would be for a film, and needs to present constructivism and expressionism; we will need to keep the room looking room like, with jsut some alterations to show that a bug is clearly living there. i do like how the little chinks of light are spilling through though, this is what i imagine the lighting in his room to look like.

(http://www.hypnagogia.com/Book/IV/Metamorphosis/Metamorphosis11.jpg)

This image is from the theatre production "metamorphosis" this has more of a literal feel to it, more like what we want to convey in our set. Gregor has not turned into a bug, but his world has literally been turned upside down, out of sight. again though, i still dont think this is wholly appropriate for our set, as it needs to look realistic as if it were a film, as if these set of events have actually happened. furniture defying gravity doesnt really fit in too comfortably with this.

(http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2006/10/05/kenton_metamorphosis3.jpg)

I know this is a country house, but it is very similar to what i imagine the Samsa's house looks like, a little rundown, lots of windows but still looks confined.
the dull colour scheme also matches up to the sort of thing we will be looking for when making our set. you can almost imaging being inside in complete darkness, with only the one stream of light from the sole window in the room. that feeling of mystery and creepiness is what i want the window to give off.

(http://k43.pbase.com/o6/39/795239/1/94317235.zjvGWdOl.GothicWindowHouseSM.JPG)

This window is pretty perfect for the look we are going for, it has clear inputs of Art Nouveau and Gothic style. it is all worn and run down and the beiges and browns will work perfectly for the colour scheme.

(http://historo.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/dp_25nov09s.jpg?w=500&h=667)





This is a really excellent example of a town house in eastern europe from the late 19th century. it has been renovated but the original looka nd feel of the building will be useful for this research.
The windows are very long and have several panels in them. However, I need to include some 'bug' in the design as we are following an art nouveau theme, and this can be adapted to feature subtle insect designs.



(http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://historo.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/dp_25nov09s.jpg%3Fw%3D500%26h%3D667&imgrefurl=http://historo.wordpress.com/2009/11/&usg=__U38bLgBQqpf5HpL4FVeui1GrSIw=&h=667&w=500&sz=139&hl=en&start=11&zoom=0&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=yuhkBT-R2ApIdM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgothic%2Bwindow%2Btownhouse%2Bart%2Bnouveau%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4ADFA_enGB367GB367%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=JH2PTZnOBpKwhAff-LDGDg)

Architecture

We have decided to base our set design in the czech republic. this is where the book is thought to be set and there is a lot of scope for art neaveau and gothic scenery. I found this website with summaries of Czechoslovakia's architectural history,

"With the 19th century, the era of great stylish epochs faded away. At the same time, these became the subject of interest for systematic study by modern architects, and they gave them scope for imitation in new buildings and extensive reconstructions of older works. Romantic historicism primarily drew on English and German models and was progressively inspired by all building styles and combinations of their elements.

It left a multitude of buildings in its wake: castles and chateaux rebuilt in the image of enchanting royal seats, town halls, churches, schools, bath houses, guesthouses and entire blocks of town houses. Moreover, the neo-Renaissance style became a means of expression for the Czech National Revival , and a symbol of the nation’s patriotic ability to manage its own affairs in art and politics. 

Shortly before the end of the 19th century, the Czech milieu adopted the spirit of Art Nouveau from nearby Vienna. Numerous villas and apartment buildings were erected along with prestigious buildings such as the main train station or the Municipal House in Prague. "

http://www.czech.cz/en/66608-the-history-of-architecture



Municipal House in Prague

(http://picturesfromprague.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/prague-municipal-house.jpg)

here are some more examples of older architecture in Prague:

http://image02.webshots.com/2/2/58/39/43225839xtLrcX_ph.jpg

http://www1.clikpic.com/JonathanHarrison/images/Prague233Jun06.jpg



constructivism and expressionism

Constructivism

“A style or movement in which assorted mechanical objects are combined into abstract- mobile structural forms. The movement originated in Russia in the 1920s and has influenced many aspects of modern architecture and design.”

(Oxford dictionary definition)

“As with Futurism, one of the main characteristics of Constructivism was a total commitment to and acceptance of modernity. The art was typically totally abstract, with the emphasis on geometric shapes and experimentation. Constructivist art was optimistic, but would not tend to be emotional in any way and subjectivity and individuality were subsumed in favour of objective, universal forms.”

(http://www.keithgarrow.com/modern-art-styles/what-is-constructivism.html)

So for our project to feature constructivism, we must look at:

·         Modernity – moving away from the literal and over to the abstract

·         Geometric shapes

·         Experimenting with structure

·         Optimism, yet un-emotional

·         Almost has a cold feeling – needs to be objective, descriptive, symbolic

Examples of constructivist art:

(http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_la78xkBYuF1qalq4so1_400.jpg)

 

(http://www.tfo.upm.es/docencia/ArtDeco/artdoc1.jpg)

These images show different styles of constructivist art, the first image has a ‘pop art’ look to it, however still shows the feeling of an unstable society, a woman free falling, except she isn’t a woman she is just a collection of body parts, mixed up with a large spiral of words.The second image shows a constructivist structure, it looks as though it hasn’t been measured or built properly; even though obviously it was designed this way. The metal and coldness of the structure give it strength whereas the actual design makes it look warped and wobbly and surreal. This may be useful to remember when creating our set, it shows how Gregor must be feeling having his whole life change, he must question how real it all is.

Expressionism

A style of painting, music, or drama in which the artist or writer seeks to express the inner world of emotion rather than external reality.

(Oxford dictionary definition)

“A term used to denote the use of distortion and exaggeration for emotional effect. When applied in a stylistic sense, with reference in particular to the use of intense colour, agitated brushstrokes, and disjointed space. Rather than a single style, it was a climate that affected not only the fine arts but also dance, cinema, literature and the theatre.

Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist attempts to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in him. He accomplishes his aim through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy and through the vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application of formal elements. In a broader sense Expressionism is one of the main currents of art in the later 19th and the 20th centuries, and its qualities of highly subjective, personal, spontaneous self-expression are typical of a wide range of modern artists and art movements. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression suggested by the surrounding world, but to strongly impose the artist's own sensibility to the world's representation. The expressionist artist substitutes to the visual object reality his own image of this object, which he feels as an accurate representation of its real meaning. The search of harmony and forms is not as important as trying to achieve the highest expression intensity, both from the aesthetic point of view and according to idea and human critics”

(http://www.artmovements.co.uk/expressionism.htm)

So to include expressionism in our set we need to look at:

·         Distortion and exaggeration for emotional effect

·         Not to focus on what is actually there, but shows the feelings that are behind the object, how it inspires you.

·         Emotion

·         Symbolism

Examples of Expressionist art:

(http://www.mintongallery.com/JosephMinton/joseph%20minton%20art.jpg)

(http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/dial/sffilm/kirchner_redtower.jpg)

You can really see the melancholy mood in both of these paintings by Minton and Kirchner respectively. I think this would be useful to remember when designing the two rooms, nobody is happy in that apartment, they are all hiding a huge secret and you would probably be able to feel the loneliness and isolation seeping through their home.

Visual Narrative Lecture

Today we had our first lecture on set building... 

We looked at the set of 'Intolerance' (1916), and how things have changed since then. it was the largest and most impressive set built, with a £2 million  budget. all the props were made out of heavy materials, as fibre glass and other weight saving materials weren't invented then.

we also looked at Citizen Kane, this film had a very low budget and so turned out to look quite theatrical. a lot of the film is set in shadow so that they only had to provide a small proportion of the set. 

Set Building

• Used to support the story
• To put the story in an appropriate arena
• To create an environment for the audience: one that is believable

Band of Brothers: war through europe, everything needs to look recognisable of that era. took the lenses out of the camera which created flare and texture.

Eastenders: burnt the pub down as there were too many errors which would be seen when HD TV comes into wide circulation.

Why choose a studio?

• Controllable environment- weather etc
• Location work is impractical, not suitable for film crews etc.
• What you want to film doesn't exist.

Ken Adam

Built the 007 set- biggest set in existence for a while. has burnt down three times. has a lowered down area which can be flooded. in Spy who loved me - fitted 3 submarines in there.

Location Location

• If you find something historically correct, a studio is going to be difficult to make the same.
• Set construction may be needed to hide modern details, like postboxes and burglar alarms etc.
• Locations may not provide everything
• Difficulties with access

Creating the illusion

• carpenters
• Riggers
• Plasterers
• Painters

Part of the whole

• Production dept. will supply drawings for consultation. 
• These drawings are passed onto relevant depts. for costing. 
• Once approved construction can begin.
• Budget is so large because they throw money at each department to ensure that no mistakes or shoddy workmanship is made.

New Set Design Unit

We got our project brief for Set build last week, I was going to post this up here when we got it, but i was still in the midst of our puppetry project.

So we have been split into 2 groups; I am in group one and am going to be building a set based on Kafka's 'Metamorphosis'

THE TASK

"The over-arching theme to which you will be working is one of ‘psychological terror’. The set you will design and build will need to express ways in which disturbances in the emotional field and crises within characters manifest in the physical environment through incongruity, juxtaposition, intensification, distortion and discord. The environment thus becomes a metaphorical extension of the psyche.

You are required to develop a conceptual response to a given text. The two texts are:

Franz Kafka ‘Metamorphosis’ (1915)

Set requirement: the living room of the household and the bedroom of Gregor Samsa – for this set, the stylistic brief is constructivism and expressionism. http://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/stories/kafka-e.htm 

The psychological disquiet of the second room (the bedroom) must be clearly evident in the design and furnishing of the room itself. Elements in each bedroom must convey something of the horror being experienced by the room’s occupant – to this end, you are required to depart from realism whilst maintaining a suitably high degree of finish to the room and its components. In other words, whilst departing from realism, the effect still needs to be real. It might be useful to imagine that the room is to be made as if seen through the lens of the main character.

Each set must contain appropriate props – it will be necessary to decide what it is possible to make and/or source as props in the timeframe given. The sets must be documented when completed – details to be confirmed. You are also required to complete an essay – see below for details.

I am just about to start reading our text, people have told me though its about a man and his slow transformation into a bug.... We shall see. 

the theme for our sets is 'psychological terror'. I am not really a fan of this theme. The most scary I can do is probably along the lines of the sixth sense; watching the shining already creeped me out, so it will be interesting to see what other films we will be watching, I don't think I'm going to enjoy it, but OH WELL. All in the name of research!

We have to use this blog as our research Journal... I'm not really sure about the best way of setting it out, a logical manner would probably be useful.

perhaps like this?

1. Analysis of the Kafka Text
2. Research (including photos of primary and secondary resources, and scans of my sketchbook)
3. Supporting analysis (set designers, films painting installations that we can draw some inspiration from. 
4. Design ideas lifted from sketchbook (annotations)
5. Technical drawings and sketch models (annotations)
6. Technical processes - photos to support this and show development of the set
7. Research for the Film reviews - screen shots, poster art and reviews etc
8. The written film reviews (500-1200 words)
9. Final photo's of the finished Set.

the hand in for this project is the 27th May, i think i will make a time plan for myself so that i can be organised and make sure this project runs smoothly for me and doesnt cause as much last minute stress as a lot of the past projects.

our timetable for the project is:

8/3/10 - project briefing

15/3/10 - Group Tutorials

17/3/10 - Presentation (need to have some ideas ready about what our plans are)

28/3/10 - Construction begins (TBC)

20/5/10 - Filming (so set needs to be finished by then)