First off, it must be exciting to see your Photoshop work garnering so much interest - indeed, a nod from Photoshop Phill, no less. It's clear you're applying yourself and awakening more fully to the true challenge of this degree which isn't to 'scrape through' or 'get by', but rather to transform and take on real demonstrable skills.
My gut instinct when looking at your thumbnails is that, in terms of scale, you're still playing things rather safe. There's a sense that these compositions owe more to snaps on a camera than to the excitement of a widescreen presentation in an IMAX cinema. Think back to King Kong - and what was so satisfying about its use of foreground, midground and background to create a sense of the grandeur of that lost world. I've shared this animation with a few of your classmates - as it's a great demonstrate of SCALE and staging:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msIjWthwWwI
You've also got a lot of 'hovering' points-of-view - as if these views of these spaces belong to the artist - not to the inhabitant of the jungles; if you were to consider making your pov from the human scale, your perspective would change dramatically, with the environment towering over the viewer etc.
I'd also suggest thumbnailing directing with pen and tablet - to work a bit more quickly, instinctively - I don't really understand why you're 'colouring in' your thumbnails if they've already served their purpose (i.e. giving you more ideas about composition and perspective etc.). You need to be more bold, Ollie - more visionary. I'd go back and watch Kong - the remake too - check out the layering of those environments and the way in which light is used to keep the eye moving through the space.
Re. your written assignment - and this is advice I'm giving everyone - before you start writing it, just make sure there is enough 'about' the production design etc. of your chosen film before commiting to paper. You're looking for films with iconic/distinctive production design, and published resources that allow you to talk about the relationship/contribution of production design to the film in an 'evidence-based' way. Choose wisely. Also - and I know your intro is just provisional - but watch your style - you're waffling already; for example; 'Extracts from this assignment will be pulled from...' Your reader doesn't need you to narrative the act of extraction - they don't care. Your writing here s if you're explaining this to me in person. Keep it minimal and to the point - as in 'Research sources are Roger Ebert's review...'
OGR 08/11/2011
ReplyDeleteHey Ollie,
First off, it must be exciting to see your Photoshop work garnering so much interest - indeed, a nod from Photoshop Phill, no less. It's clear you're applying yourself and awakening more fully to the true challenge of this degree which isn't to 'scrape through' or 'get by', but rather to transform and take on real demonstrable skills.
My gut instinct when looking at your thumbnails is that, in terms of scale, you're still playing things rather safe. There's a sense that these compositions owe more to snaps on a camera than to the excitement of a widescreen presentation in an IMAX cinema. Think back to King Kong - and what was so satisfying about its use of foreground, midground and background to create a sense of the grandeur of that lost world. I've shared this animation with a few of your classmates - as it's a great demonstrate of SCALE and staging:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msIjWthwWwI
You've also got a lot of 'hovering' points-of-view - as if these views of these spaces belong to the artist - not to the inhabitant of the jungles; if you were to consider making your pov from the human scale, your perspective would change dramatically, with the environment towering over the viewer etc.
I'd also suggest thumbnailing directing with pen and tablet - to work a bit more quickly, instinctively - I don't really understand why you're 'colouring in' your thumbnails if they've already served their purpose (i.e. giving you more ideas about composition and perspective etc.). You need to be more bold, Ollie - more visionary. I'd go back and watch Kong - the remake too - check out the layering of those environments and the way in which light is used to keep the eye moving through the space.
Re. your written assignment - and this is advice I'm giving everyone - before you start writing it, just make sure there is enough 'about' the production design etc. of your chosen film before commiting to paper. You're looking for films with iconic/distinctive production design, and published resources that allow you to talk about the relationship/contribution of production design to the film in an 'evidence-based' way. Choose wisely. Also - and I know your intro is just provisional - but watch your style - you're waffling already; for example; 'Extracts from this assignment will be pulled from...' Your reader doesn't need you to narrative the act of extraction - they don't care. Your writing here s if you're explaining this to me in person. Keep it minimal and to the point - as in 'Research sources are Roger Ebert's review...'