Metaphoric Evolution of the Dragon
Dragons, and the idea of a dragon or dragons means different things to different people. Other than being strictly associated with fantasy, the unreal, the illogical or inconceiveable, dragons have a long history of associations with various emotional discourses, metamorphisis, and states of being that come attached with them.
I want to use the idea of dragon to move from a literal viewpoint to that of being strictly metaphor. I want to aim at portraying the implications of dragons through their type, color, body structure, movement, temperment, placement, and role within the composition in order to get at the implications of what those various elements mean (when conjugated with accompaniment elements), and how they can successfully be portrayed in a metamorphic, metaphoric translation of the concept.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Soap Self-Critique
3.7.2007 [Critique suggestions]
Things to consider and redo:
- scribbled text on tv screen: don't make it so sporadic, give it some order, and maybe a darker color.
- woman's face is dead: let her eyes blink, or her pupils move from side to side, especially in the close-up shot. Give her some life.
- non-gendered feeling in tub scene: maybe show her leg, or both legs, or a feminine arm hanging over the side of the tub. She's looking too much like just a genderless blob.
- Choppy transitions: don't need cinematic, drawn out transitions. Maybe could do with just short, hard transitions.
- Zoom: don't allow audience to see start or end of zoom-ins and outs.
------------------------
As I go back and watch my commercial to do a self-critique, I start to see and realize more things about it that I previously had not.
As far as effectiveness, I'm not quite sure right now what would be more effective (until my audience informs me otherwise), but I just know that the aggrandization (however sublte and subliminal I wanted it to be) could have been pushed somemore. Maybe graphics or effects-wise, and not so much content-wise.
The images could have been a bit cleaner, and the lines variations thicker and thinner to give everything more of a "pop." The tv commercial that the woman is watching was probably the major point/climax of the piece, yet the build up is kind of weak. In my head, it was much stronger. I think this, too, could be resolved graphics-wise. More emphasis and detail needs to be put into the host, and the "words" on the tv screen need to be more noticeable and stand out, like most good advertisement. The tv "text" is too bland and doesn't do much justice.
Things to consider and redo:
- scribbled text on tv screen: don't make it so sporadic, give it some order, and maybe a darker color.
- woman's face is dead: let her eyes blink, or her pupils move from side to side, especially in the close-up shot. Give her some life.
- non-gendered feeling in tub scene: maybe show her leg, or both legs, or a feminine arm hanging over the side of the tub. She's looking too much like just a genderless blob.
- Choppy transitions: don't need cinematic, drawn out transitions. Maybe could do with just short, hard transitions.
- Zoom: don't allow audience to see start or end of zoom-ins and outs.
------------------------
As I go back and watch my commercial to do a self-critique, I start to see and realize more things about it that I previously had not.
As far as effectiveness, I'm not quite sure right now what would be more effective (until my audience informs me otherwise), but I just know that the aggrandization (however sublte and subliminal I wanted it to be) could have been pushed somemore. Maybe graphics or effects-wise, and not so much content-wise.
The images could have been a bit cleaner, and the lines variations thicker and thinner to give everything more of a "pop." The tv commercial that the woman is watching was probably the major point/climax of the piece, yet the build up is kind of weak. In my head, it was much stronger. I think this, too, could be resolved graphics-wise. More emphasis and detail needs to be put into the host, and the "words" on the tv screen need to be more noticeable and stand out, like most good advertisement. The tv "text" is too bland and doesn't do much justice.
Soap Commercial Assignment Write-Up
The purpose of this assignment was to aggrandize a bar of soap. My hopes are that my commercial will appeal to a female audience, a female audience within the age range of early twenties and beyond. Since it's a general consumption that most females enjoy cuteness, I wanted to go for an airy, cartoonish aesthetic feel.
I wanted to puruse a subtle, subliminal approach with my commercial -a commercial within a commercial. The woman is watching tv that is advertising soap that she already has (which probably affected her buying it in the first place). Throughout the piece, she has a mezmorizing stare on her face as she takes in the tv advertisement, which later entices her to take a bath.
I wanted to puruse a subtle, subliminal approach with my commercial -a commercial within a commercial. The woman is watching tv that is advertising soap that she already has (which probably affected her buying it in the first place). Throughout the piece, she has a mezmorizing stare on her face as she takes in the tv advertisement, which later entices her to take a bath.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Next Wed.
- Complete soap commercial (will render out in class).
- Have concise research topic in mind.
- Have concise research topic in mind.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Due Next Wed.
1.) Go to classmate's blogs, and comment on their research topics via a post (what would work/what wouldn't, etc.).
2.) Work with spacial/temporal graphs.
Create various shorts comps illustrating the different techniques of spacial and temporal effects/movement using some of your project stuff. [organized folders w/ names - experimentation - don't need final project done - can just experiment with specific objects in specific scenes, not neccessarily the entire scene done.]
+Will be quiz over shortcut strokes, temporal/spacial cycles. . .
2.) Work with spacial/temporal graphs.
Create various shorts comps illustrating the different techniques of spacial and temporal effects/movement using some of your project stuff. [organized folders w/ names - experimentation - don't need final project done - can just experiment with specific objects in specific scenes, not neccessarily the entire scene done.]
+Will be quiz over shortcut strokes, temporal/spacial cycles. . .
Research topics
T.C.
2.14.2007
Research Topic(s)
From my original list of ideas, I singled out three topics for research that I thought could be the most interesting in various aspects, and ones which I hope to get a lot out of working with. The three topics I chose were: fear, grounding one’s self, and dragons.
1) Fear: I wanted to aim at portraying fear in both rational and irrational senses, and get to an understanding of the underlying hows and whys we as people fear, or may fear, what we do. I wanted to explore more deeper concepts, and incorporate a dark, somewhat gothic aesthetic value to the pieces I would create if I did go with this topic.
2) Grounding one’s self: I came to this topic due to the fact that I’m very interested in and intrigued by the ideas of meditation in various forms, and how one must ground themselves in a deep state of calm and relaxation in order to reep the utmost benefits of the practice(s). As society grows and technological advances grow and lead us to lead more fast-paced, stressful lifestyles, it is highly important that we take the time out every once in a while to just relax and gain/regain our bearings. The idea of grounding, in conjunction with meditation, I wanted to portray it dually through the use of using the phrase “grounding one’s self” as a metaphor for keeping one’s head “straight,” their thoughts and actions present in the now, and not always in the what will be or what has been, but keep themselves rooted in the current situation at hand.
3) Dragons: (Metaphoric evolution) Though dragons in the typical western sense are nothing more than imaginary creatures which probably never were to begin with, there is no denying their mystifying existence as it stands within the genre of fantasy. They are wondrous, magnificent creatures that have been associated with various ideas/emotions in various cultures throughout time. What I had in mind for “dragon(s)” as a topic was based around my wanting to explore the legends and myths surrounding dragons in the areas of their historical context and treatment. I wanted to delve deeper into their mysteries, and shed some light on the great beasts, in the way they were perceived then and now, and somehow connect both those factors. I want to strive to portray both the good and bad sides of dragons through their evolution through history, and in the end, I want to attempt to get away from concepts of literal dragon depictions and associations and allow the dragon itself, both in name and image, to become a metaphor for various enmities (greedy, hoarding, courage, ferociousness, bad, life-bringing, water-carrier, omen of good fortune. . .) in my later pieces. Dragons have been known as great beings of evil (in the West), who are ferocious and hoards stashes of treasure which is pretty useless to them, or as creatures of good fortune and life-giving essence (in the East), such as bringers of the storms and the water that gives life to all plants and animals. Two very conflicting views of the same creature, and so many different stories to tell. . .
2.14.2007
Research Topic(s)
From my original list of ideas, I singled out three topics for research that I thought could be the most interesting in various aspects, and ones which I hope to get a lot out of working with. The three topics I chose were: fear, grounding one’s self, and dragons.
1) Fear: I wanted to aim at portraying fear in both rational and irrational senses, and get to an understanding of the underlying hows and whys we as people fear, or may fear, what we do. I wanted to explore more deeper concepts, and incorporate a dark, somewhat gothic aesthetic value to the pieces I would create if I did go with this topic.
2) Grounding one’s self: I came to this topic due to the fact that I’m very interested in and intrigued by the ideas of meditation in various forms, and how one must ground themselves in a deep state of calm and relaxation in order to reep the utmost benefits of the practice(s). As society grows and technological advances grow and lead us to lead more fast-paced, stressful lifestyles, it is highly important that we take the time out every once in a while to just relax and gain/regain our bearings. The idea of grounding, in conjunction with meditation, I wanted to portray it dually through the use of using the phrase “grounding one’s self” as a metaphor for keeping one’s head “straight,” their thoughts and actions present in the now, and not always in the what will be or what has been, but keep themselves rooted in the current situation at hand.
3) Dragons: (Metaphoric evolution) Though dragons in the typical western sense are nothing more than imaginary creatures which probably never were to begin with, there is no denying their mystifying existence as it stands within the genre of fantasy. They are wondrous, magnificent creatures that have been associated with various ideas/emotions in various cultures throughout time. What I had in mind for “dragon(s)” as a topic was based around my wanting to explore the legends and myths surrounding dragons in the areas of their historical context and treatment. I wanted to delve deeper into their mysteries, and shed some light on the great beasts, in the way they were perceived then and now, and somehow connect both those factors. I want to strive to portray both the good and bad sides of dragons through their evolution through history, and in the end, I want to attempt to get away from concepts of literal dragon depictions and associations and allow the dragon itself, both in name and image, to become a metaphor for various enmities (greedy, hoarding, courage, ferociousness, bad, life-bringing, water-carrier, omen of good fortune. . .) in my later pieces. Dragons have been known as great beings of evil (in the West), who are ferocious and hoards stashes of treasure which is pretty useless to them, or as creatures of good fortune and life-giving essence (in the East), such as bringers of the storms and the water that gives life to all plants and animals. Two very conflicting views of the same creature, and so many different stories to tell. . .
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)