Film Contextual Studies with Lucy Leake - Module MCOP100

07/01/2014 - Fairytales

What is a fairytale?
What are the typical ingredients or 'motifs' that appear in fairytales? (e.g. characters, objects, settings, situations, events)

Characters:

• Villains
• Princess/venerable victim
• The hero
• Witches/evil step mothers
• Old man of wisdom
• Magical entity e.g. fairy

Settings:

• Castles
• Woods
• Palace

Objects:

• Apples
• Wands
• Shoes
• Crowns

What do you think their purpose is? Are they still relevant today?

Little Red Riding Hood

The first version was in 1697. Variations share elements of child, wolf, grandma, food and bed but differing in many of the details - some more gruesome than others.

Red - danger, lust, target - bull's-eye, blood, hunger, power.
Charles Perro used the colour red first, he would read stories to nobles.

Danger Ahead by Charles Spencelayh(1894)

At first glance the painting looks harmless, just a small girl and her pet dog. However, the connotations of red and the title 'Danger Ahead' suggest that there's a more sinister meaning behind the painting. When looking at this I think that they almost look like they're plotting something together, their innocent appearance is just a mask for a darker side. Or it may imply that the dog represents a wolf, like in Little Red Riding Hood and that the small, defenceless girl is the target and so there's danger ahead for her as she's trusting this dog/wolf? I'm not sure but I think it's very striking and a little unsettling as I'm unaware what the message of 'Danger Ahead' is implying.

"Go on my dear, and see how Grandmother is doing" (extract from the story) - It seems like her mother is pushing her away, expecting her to look after herself. This could suggest puberty, putting the colour of the red hood into a different context. Instead of danger, it could symbolize that she's going through puberty and maturing into a women, hence why her mother is so trusting that she can walk through the woods alone without any guidance.

Food items - biscuits, butter, wine, cakes. All expensive/luxury food items.

The Wolf - portrayed as a sexual predator, the threat and bad character/danger.
"Come get into bed with me" - could suggest how young girls are unaware of the dangers with strangers, being pressured into sleeping with them.

Repetition - "Grandmother, what big arms you have.." etc. This builds up the tension as we are aware it's the wolf disguised as her grandma and that the girl is in danger, the repetition reminds us to expect something bad to happen.

"Ate her all up." / "Ate her up in a moment."

Different adaptations

• Les Petit Chaperon Rouge (Little Red Riding Hood) Photography by French Photographer, Sarah Moon.

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Perrault et Sarah Moon, Grasset 1983

Moon captured images and collated them in a book titled, 'Les Petit Chaperon Rouge' which tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood. In this particular image, you can see a shadow of a small girl wincing at the sight of this overpowering beast figure, representing the wolf. We immediately feel scared for this small girl and it's really effective as it's given the impression of a real life nightmare, I'd imagine a similar effect when looking at photographs of 'real ghosts'. I think the fact that it's a photograph makes it more haunting and threatening as it gives the illusion that the beast exists.

• Forest Fears Vol.II 'In the Wood' (2000) photography by Sally Waterman.

Forest Fears, Vol.II, No.1 by Sally Waterman(2000)

From Sally's website (http://www.sallywaterman.com) -

"Volume II 'In the Wood', is reminiscent of fairy tales such as 'Little Red Riding Hood’, depicting a vulnerable pre-adolescent girl lost in the woods. Based on a dream the artist had whilst in hospital, this volume traces a spiritual journey of being alone and lost in a dark, foreboding forest, but eventually finding her way out in order to rediscover her own life. The metaphysical presence inscribed within the unfolding narrative is heightened by the large scale of the works, which allows for immersion to take place."

I think the image gives an unsettling feeling as we're unaware what's within the woods as we witness this young girl, on her own, looking scared and crouching in defence. I feel like she has two paths in this scenario, she can either explore further into the darkness of the woods or follow the lights peering through to find a way out. In this image, we don't see a physical threat like the wolf itself but we still get this sense of an eerie presence as behind her the scene is dark and unclear. This therefor leads us to interpret our own ending for the young girl.

• Vogue 2009.

Natalia Vodianova Photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for the September 2009 Issue of Vogue

In this interpretation 'Little Red' is portrayed as a seductive woman as opposed to a venerable young girl and the wolf is presented as a man in a suit with a wolf head. I think Little Red seems to be gazing into the wolfs eyes lovingly, almost as if she's unaware of the fact that he's a wolf which could suggest that the wolf has disguised himself as a charming gentlemen and that the mask is context for the viewers to understand that he is actually a threat. I think the use of the apple emphasizes his mischievous nature as one hand is caressing her and the other grips this apple behind his back which could relate to the danger Snow White faced with a poisonous apple as he's concealing it from her. Little Red's pose clearly emphasizes how venerable she is and how she's almost surrendering herself to the wolf, like he's cast a spell on her. In this photograph, I feel the message is that women are blind to dangerous men/sexual predators, they dress themselves up to appear like gentlemen and conceal the threat to lure women into trusting them.

• Eugenio Recuenco's Fashionable Fairy Tales for Vogue(2006)

Eugenio Recuenco - Red Riding Hood(2006)

In this interpretation, I feel like Little Red isn't focused on the wolves or isn't aware that they're there as her gaze is elsewhere. Little Red is pictured in what appears to be like a white, almost bridal dress with the iconic red hood, I think the pure white suggests innocence. I'm unsure whether the wolves look threating in this image, they don't seem to be clawing at her feet or drooling over her flesh, it's as if she has control over the wolves. Unless, they're intentionally appearing as non threatening to keep her there.

• The Company of Wolves(1984) film.

The Company of Wolves film cover (1984)

Plot from www.imdb.com -
"A bag full of symbolic folklore about werewolves, or, rather, their sexual connotation. Granny tells her granddaughter Rosaleen strange, disturbing tales about innocent maidens falling in love with handsome, heavily eyebrowed strangers with a smoldering look in their eyes; about sudden disappearances of spouses when the moon is round & the wolves are howling in the woods; about babies found inside stork eggs, in a stork nest high up a tree; etc., etc. Of course the story of Little Red Ridinghood is also present, with a very handsome he-wolf! (And of course this he-wolf consumes Grandmother, but 'consumes' Little Red Ridinghood). All the stories are somehow reducible to loss of innocence, and fear of/hunger for (a newly acquired sense of) sexuality; their Freudian character is mirrored in their dreamlike shapes. This movie is not really a horror movie; it's more a multiple tale about growing up into adolescence."

• Hard Candy (2005) film.

Hard Candy film advertisement poster (2005).

Plot from www.imdb.com -
"After three weeks of chatting with the thirty-two year old photographer Jeff Kohlver over the Internet, fourteen year old Hayley Stark meets him in the Nighthawks coffee shop. Hayley flirts with him in spite of the age difference and proposes to go to his house. Once there, she prepares a screwdriver for them and Jeff passes out. When he awakes, he is tied up to a chair, and Hayley accuses him of paedophilia. Jeff denies the accusation, and Hayley begins to torture him in a cat and mouse game."

In the adaptions of both 'The Company of Wolves' and 'Hard Candy' The wolf is represented as a sexual predator. In Hard Candy, the 'wolf' is actually a paedophile and in this adaption, Little Red is aware of the dangers and isn't falling for the bait. Whereas in The Company of Wolves, Little Red faces temptation of the wolf type figure and is seduced by him, unaware of the consequences.

• Hoodwinked! (2005) film.

Hoodwinked! film cover (2005)

Plot from www.imdb.com -
"The movie begins at the end of the story. We start at Granny's house as Little Red Riding Hood enters, but this time the story has a little twist. We get to see Little Red Riding Hood with a black belt, The Wolf who isn't trying to pull the wool over anyones eyes, Granny with a dangerous side, and the woodsman with a cowboy accent. Not to mention the characters we've never met before, including Boingo the cute bunny, Chief Grizzly who is willing to arrest anyone, and Nicky Flipper who is trying to decipher what actually happened. All the while, the Goody Bandit is on the loose, trying to accomplish his master plan."

In this adaption, Little Red isn't venerable and is very capable of defending herself as she's a black belt and very aware of danger. The Grandma isn't a weak, feeble old woman instead she is very much full of life and lives on the dangerous side and the wolf isn't a threat to anyone and is instead a humorous, lazy character who doesn't torment anyone and instead appears as a comical character.

• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) film.

Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) film poster

We watched the short film in our contextual lesson. From this I noticed that in this adaption, The Wolf was rich, Little Red was a stripper and Grandma lives in a huge apartment. The Wolf tries to seduce Little Red into going on a date with him, he tries to buy her affection, "I'll give you diamonds" but Little Red refuses. This leads The Wolf to going to Little Red's Grandma's apartment as he's aware that she's on her way to visit her, however his plan backfires when Grandma takes a liking to him and doesn't let him leave. Eventually he escapes through the window of the apartment and heads back to the strip club, where he sees Little Red again and reacts by getting so excited that he dies.

Compared to the original fairytale -

• The Wolf dies instead of Little Red/Grandma
• Grandma is portrayed as a sexual predator and energetic
• Little Red is far from innocent, very aware and doesn't visit her Grandma
• Little Red might of sent The Wolf to Grandma's as a trap(?)

 

Case Study: Auteur...Guillermo Del Toro

Auteur - French word for author

What do we know about Del Toro?

• Mexican - wanted to make Mexican film Global
• Revolutionary - Political, trying to make a statement with his films
• Made seven films to date
• Works with the same crew and the same actors
• Has his own production company - The Tequila Company

Themes

• Fairytales - Pan's Labyrinth
• Imagination/supernatural
• Childhood/biographical

Influences

• Chiaroscuro
• Symbolism
• Surreal
• Spirituality/religion

 Pan's Labyrinth (2006) film

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006) film poster

We watched part of the film in our contextual session, in which a small girl followed a fairy into the centre of the Labyrinth where she was told that she'd be a princess as long as she passed three tasks. However, the fairies warn her not to eat any of the food set out on large dinner table which she's unable to resist and so indulges on some grapes. The fairies try to warn her by she ignores and continues to eat until a gruesome, what was thought to be lifeless, figure awakens and starts to chase her, he squishes the fairies who try to protect her as she tries to escape. The scene is really tense and I really admire how Del Toro has kept the suspense at a right dosage, especially with this horrible creature which looks like something out of a worst nightmare. I need to watch the full film to find out more about what happens as it kept me really engaged and fascinated but also scared for this young girl.

Fairytales from around the world -

• Korea - The Blind Man's Daughter

This story is about a girl who was willing to sacrifice everything to help her blind father regain his sight.

• Japan - The Cat's Elopement (The Pink Fairy Book of Andrew Lang (1901))

Two cats – Gon and Koma – fall in love and run away together. They are separated when they meet a fierce dog. Gon becomes the pet and defender of a princess and eventually Gon and Koma are reunited.

The Monkey and the Boar

It's about a Monkey who has served his master by dancing all his life. Now he is old, his master wants to get rid of him. The monkey consults a wise wild boar about what to do.

The Grateful Crane

A story about a poor farmer who rescues a crane and finds that his luck changes for the better until his curiosity gets the better of him.

• Turkey - Dede Korkut and the Angel of Death

Dede Korkut was a great warrior who boasted that he could conquer all creation. The Angel of Death visited him to teach him a lesson about the sin of pride, but Dede Korkut won a second chance.

• Vietnam - The Watermelon Prince

A that tells how the delicious fruit, the watermelon, came to Vietnam. A king adopts a boy who grows up into a wise prince. His bother plots against him and he is banished to an island where he discovers a sumptuous new fruit.

• India - The Tortoise and the Geese

A fable which shows why it’s wise to think before you open your mouth and speak.

• China - The Cowherd and the Weaving Maid

A romantic Story about a cowherd who has a magical ox. The ox helps him to marry a one of the maidens who blow the clouds through the skies.

• Russia - The Moscow Cat

A strong and independent cat from Moscow runs away to live in the forest. A story that is half realistic – in fact based on a real cat – and half traditional Russian fairy tale.

• Scotland - The Sprightly Tailor

A spooky, scary, and at the same time funny story about a tailor who has to sew some trews in the haunted ruins of an old church.

The Elfin Knight

A ghostly knight rides across a Scottish Moore. Two brave Earls ignore warnings about him, and go hunting on the Moore. Only one of them carries the sign of the Trinity.

14/01/2014

"Orientalism” is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized, and at times dangerous. Edward W. Said, in his book, Orientalism(1978), defined it as the acceptance in the West of “the basic distinction between East and West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, ‘mind,’ destiny and so on.”
People who appear 'different' from the 'norm' are often marginalised and seen as a threat - this 'threat' is dependant on the time we live in.

The concept of the "other" based on visual; gender, age, bodies, race. We watched part of the film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)' in our contextual session, in which some drag Queens get stranded in the Australian outback when travelling in their tour bus, but are accepted by the aboriginal people as they are also seen as the "others" in Australia. Those who dressed in drag at this time were categorised as the "others" as it was deemed inappropriate by most for men to dress up as women.

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Different interpretations of fairytales -

Sleeping beauty
In one of the earliest versions of the story (Sun, Moon, and Talia by Giambattista Basile 1634), instead of pricking her finger on a spindle, the princess gets a sliver of flax (fibre used to make linen) stuck under her fingernail. She falls down, seemingly dead, but her father cannot face the thought of losing her and so, he lays her body on a bed in one of his estates. Later, a King who's out hunting in the woods happens to find her, he can't wake her up and so rapes her while she's unconscious then heads home. Some time after that, still unconscious, she gives birth to two children and one of them accidently sucks the flax out of her finger, causing her to wake up. The King who raped her is already married, his wife however, tried to kill and eat the babies. The King then burns his wife alive, so he and Talia can be together.

Little Red Riding Hood
In Charles Perrault’s version, included in his 1697 collection Stories or Fairy Tales from Past Times: Tales of Mother Goose, there isn't a huntsman character. Therefor, Little Red simply strips naked and gets into bed to be eaten up by the wolf. In another version, she eats her own grandmother first, her flesh cooked up and her blood poured into a wine glass by the wolf. In Perrault's version, he says not all wolves are wild beasts - some seduce with gentleness, sneak into our beds and get us there. The contemporary French idiom for a girl having lost her virginity was "elle avoit vû le loup' meaning 'she has seen the wolf.'

Rumpelstiltskin
Traditionally, the story is about a miller's daughter who's trapped and forced to spin straw into gold, or she'll be killed. A little man then appears and spins it for her, requesting in return that he will take her child payment unless she manages to guess his name. In the Grimm version however, when the girl figures out Rumpelstiltskin's name, he yells, "The Devil told you that! The Devil told you that!" Then stamps his right foot so hard that he drove it into the ground, up to his waist. Then he grabbed his left foot with both hands and tore himself in two.

Cinderella
In Perrault's version, the two cruel stepsisters get married off to members of the royal court after Cinderella marries the Prince. However, in the Grimm version, not only do the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to fit into the glass slipper, but at the end, they have their eyes pecked out by doves.

Snow White
In the original 1812 Grimm version, the evil Queen is actually Snow White's mother, not stepmother. The Disney version also leaves out the part where the Queen sends the huntsman out to obtain Snow White's liver and lungs, which she wants to eat. And she's actually not in a deep sleep when the Prince finds her, she's dead, when he's carrying her dead body his servant trips which shakes the coffin and dislodges the poisonous apple from Snow White's throat. Also, in the Grimm version, when the Queen shows up at Snow White's wedding, she's forced to step into iron shoes that were cooking on a fire, she then dances until she falls down and dies.

Hansel and Gretel
The version we're aware of is already gruesome, the evil stepmother leaves the children to die in the forest and they happen to find a cannibalistic witch's cottage who fattens them up in attempts to devour them, however, they outwit the witch, kill her then escape. The Grimm version is similar, but in an early French version was called 'The Lost Children'. The witch is the Devil and he wants to bleed the children on a sawhorse. The children pretend they don't know how to get on, so the Devil asks his wife to show them. The children slit her throat, steal all the Devil's money and run away.

Rapunzel
In the Grimm version, Rapunzel let's down her hair for a prince and becomes pregnant. The witch discovers this and chops off Rapunzel's hair and magically transports her far away, where she lives as a beggar with no money or home and after a few months, two hungry mouths to feed. The witch lures the prince up the tower, using Rapunzel's hair then pushes him from the window. Some thorn bushes break his fall but also poke his eyes out.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears
In the earliest version, there was no Goldilocks, only the three bears and a fox called Scrapefoot. The fox enters the three bears' palace, sleeps in their beds and messes around with their 'salmon of knowledge.' In the end, Scrapefoot either gets thrown out of the window or eaten.

The Little Mermaid
In Hans Christian Andersen's original tale, the mermaid trades her tongue for legs. However, part of the deal is that every step will be unbearable, like walking on swords, and the day after the prince marries someone else, she'll die and turn into sea foam. In attempts to win the prince's heart, she dances for him, even though it's agony. The prince claps along but decided to marry another woman. The mermaid's sisters sell their hair to bring her a dagger in attempts to persuade her to kill the prince to let his blood drip on her feet, which will then become fins again. The mermaid sneaks up on him but can't bring herself to do it and so dies, dissolving into foam. Andersen changed the ending, so that the mermaid becomes a "daughter of the air", meaning if she does good deeds for 300 years, she will gain a soul and go to heaven.

The Frog Prince
In the original Grimm version, the frog tricks the princess into making a deal with him then follows her home and keeps pushing himself further and further onto her pillow, until finally she throws him against the wall. This action leads to his transformation into a Prince. In other versions, the princess has to cut off his head instead.

Frightful fairytale illustration of Alice in Wonderland by Alejandro Dini.

21/01/2014 - Monsters

'Don't be afraid of the dark' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMm8WpTTzHY
The video uses suspense to keep the audience thrilled and engaged. They use vulnerable children to concern the viewers but also use the children to conduct an eerie chant. 'Fear of the unknown' is the main goal here, the video uses a lot of fades into darkness, so you can't see what's happening with eerie whispering to scare us. We also watched the trailer without any volume which didn't have such a dramatic impact as there were no suspenseful noises just pictures changing which was an interesting contrast.

Monster Theory by Jerome Cohen - "The monster dwells at the gates of difference." "Difference made flesh, come to dwell among"

Monstrous difference tends to be cultural, political, racial, economic or sexual. E.g. Saracens as Monstra.

Culture: has acted as a catalyst for the creation of monsters. E.g. exploiting Jews as monsters.

Political: "little of stature, ill-featured of limbs, crookbacked, his left shoulder much higher than his right, hard-favoured of visage.." - exaggerating Richard III's appearance, making him appear ugly.

Gender: e.g. witches, mad women, medusa, Adam and Eve.

Race: People believed that African's skin colour was so dark because they were burned by the fires of hell.

• What kinds of monsters are there in popular culture?

As a class we contributed everything we believed to be monsters in a popular culture. This included: Aliens, zombies, Frankenstein's Monster, Dictators (E.g. Hitler), serial killers, Yeti, ghosts, robots, A.I. technology, Lock Ness monster, "The unknown", Gremlins, Dragons, Orcs, Bogeyman, Trolls, Ogres, Dracula/vampires, mutations, poltergeists, mummies, mermaids, predator, werewolves, harpies, gorgons, psychopaths, demons, clowns, dinosaurs, The Devil, legends, machines, witches, skeletons, myths, body mutations, taxonomy/scientific inquiry, difference/others and gendered cyborgs/science fiction.

Sarah Baartman was seen as a monster for having a different bum and labia structure. She was exhibited as freak show attractions in 19th-century. Her “abnormalities”, as Georges Cuvier mentions in the “Gender, Race and Nation” chapter of The Gender and Science Reader(2000), made her resemble everything but a white woman.

Illustration of Baartman from Illustrations de Histoire naturelle des mammifères(1814)

• Representations of Monsters in popular culture

Zombies - The Walking Dead TV series(2010-)

'Bicycle Girl' Zombie - The Walking Dead (2010)

In the series the zombies are portrayed as rotting humans. There typical characteristics include: rotting flesh, missing limbs/wounds, greenish skin, yellow/amber eyes. The zombies depend on how recently they've become a zombie, if they just contracted the disease usually the eyes and change of body movement and speech are the only visible signs. They keep the same brain dead characteristics but are more aware of noises and are more dangerous in large group and can out be killed by smashing their brains.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) zombies

In comparison to the zombies from Night of the Living Dead (1968), in popular culture zombies have become more gruesome and aware of their surrounds. As in, Living Dead the zombies are portrayed with hardly any changes to their appearance but instead are known by their 'groaning' and movements. In this film, I feel the zombies move like clumsy, lazy people who aren't really any threat and are almost comical. Whereas, in the walking dead, they have really emphasized how they are rotting humans and made them appear physically more terrifying. I think this is due to special effects developing and also the audience becoming more immune to horror and being harder to scare.

Vampires - Twilight Movie Saga (2008-2012)

Dracula TV series (2013-)

In popular culture I feel vampires have been romanticized and become a subject for sexual desire. In comparison to Dracula: Prince of Darkness film (1966), the recent series of Dracula exploit Dracula as a seductive young man as opposed to a middle aged, un-groomed, slightly scary looking man. Dracula has become less terrifying and instead is becoming a thrilling fantasy for most young women/men. In the Twilight movie saga (2008-2012), which personally I'm not a fan of, the vampires sparkle in the sunlight instead of burning in the presence of it - they are also represented as young, almost immortal and again, attractive figures. Before, vampires were seen as blood sucking monsters but I think now, they are used more for sexual fantasy as have werewolves.

Mise-en-scene

meaning the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play - the setting or surroundings of an event. This includes things like:

• Costume, hair/makeup
• Background
• Colours
• Props
• Location
• Shots/angle
• Film stock
• CGI
• Positioning (blocking)
• Composition
• Actors
• Lighting
• Aspect Ratio
• Depth of field - how much is in focus
• Lens

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick (1980) film

The Shining by Stanley Kubrick (1980) movie poster

Set design - Kubrick uses symmetry within the designs of the set, which is unusual and gives the spaces an unsettling, alien feel. I think the use of large rooms with bold colours create a manic, almost fun house style which is the opposite of most horror films, which typically use small, cramped, dark dungeon style basements as their sets. However, the use of the bold coloured, growing rooms make the film more scary as it's like being trapped in an alternate universe where everything seems lucid and not real, giving the illusion of a dream.

Danny from the Shining - The bold carpet/symmetry (1980)

shots/angels - Kubrick uses a range of wide shots and terrifying close ups to build up the tense situations, I feel like some shots feel like there's someone stalking the actors. For example, when Danny is riding away on his tricycle, it feels like we're following him, creeping up behind him. Which I feel is really clever and effective as we feel an unwelcomed presence. Also, the invention of the 'Steadicam'by Garrett Brown’s in 1974, meant that Kubrick was able to create these unholy camera effects, The Shining also being one of the first films to utilize and use the Steadicam effectively.

Lighting - instead of the traditional dark lit scenes which horror films are associated with, Kubrick uses a range of well lit, probably too well lit, scenes. This gives an eerie brightness to the film, like again, being in a dream or waking up in a hospital room I think. 

Costumes - The costume is of the time, late 1970's fashion. Wendy has an odd fashion sense, wearing unflattering, boring prints which don't quite match whilst Jack is usually pictured wearing his deep red corduroy jacket. I think the most effective use of costume is the matching blue dresses for the twin girls as it gives them, I think, a Alice in Wonderland look, as if Alice were trapped in wonderland. The innocence of the pale blue and baby pink ribbon make what should be adorable, haunting. Kubrick has considered every element and thought about every detail in the film which I think really shows, giving a remarkable impact.

25/02/2014

Group 1 - Tom and Joe from film & Kay, Naomi and myself from costume

We were assigned into groups of 4/5 from both film and costume to collaborate together and create an Image of a 3D scene based on a fairytale.

Our first task was to discuss and decide on a fairytale, so we made a mind map of all the fairtales which interested us. Here's mine -

At first we were really struggling to decide on a fairytale we wanted to work on. Firstly we thought about the Princess and the Pea, however after researching into it we all decided that it wasn't what we wanted to do as we found it hard to decide any real morals from the story or how we could manipulate it to make it exciting. We then all decided on the Ugly Duckling and assigned ourselves different research tasks. After a set period of time we came back with our research and ideas and discussed. We discovered that in some adaptations the ugly duckling died at the end but traditionally the ugly grows up to be a swan; after reading through the adaptations and stories, we decided we wanted our message to be that even if the duckling is ugly, it's looks won't define who it is and those who are judging it by it's looks are the real failures. From this we began creating different scenarios. One idea was that the 'ugly' duckling be a different colour to the other ducklings - symbolizing racism. Then, Tom suggested that the duckling ended up going to uni when it was older and being really successful to which I added that those who were picking on him ended up working in McDonald's as they weren't successful. Kay then added that the ducklings who picked on him could be chicken nuggets from McDonald's which gave it a darker yet humorous effect. We all agreed that this was where we were heading, we chose the quote "Goodness, how I've changed, I can hardly recognize myself" from the original story to set this scene as this 'ugly' duckling has grown up to be successful when those who gave him grief ended up being eaten by society.

messages from the story:

• The “Ugly Duckling” was not a duckling, he was a swan – You are not who they think you are
• Labels from outside do not have to define your character or your future
• Seek a different opinion. The duckling went and asked around for grey feathered ducks
• Be courageous enough to follow your heart. The duckling left home after so much animosity
• Take inventory of your life (blessings, skills, accomplishments). The Duckling saw himself  reflected in the pond water

above - two different adaptations of the Ugly duckling which I found interesting.

We than began drawing up a few design ideas before the session ended. We didn't really assign ourselves tasks as we didn't really assign ourselves a leader but I think we'll all research into the idea further by looking into what we can use to create this scene, how we want to portray these characters, thinking about the scale and lighting etc.

04/03/2014

This week we discussed and decided that we wanted to change our idea completely because we didn't know how we could make it work and we weren't fond of the idea anymore. Our team wasn't complete as Kay and Naomi were absent which was a little frustrating as it's difficult without their input but we decided that we would inform them later on of the changes.

For a while, we kept going round in circles, we had so many ideas for many different fairy tales but we just couldn't find one that we wanted to do. Our first idea was to work with The Boy Who Cried Wolf, however we didn't really know how to adapt it and we didn't think the moral of the story was that good. Secondly, we discussed the idea of Goldy Locks but instead of beds and soups etc. that Goldy Locks would be looking through a dating website making these "this one's too short" comments to give it a modern take on the tale but then we couldn't really relate the idea to the story and we were unsure on how to create this idea in a 3D scene. Our third idea was the Scorpion and The Frog, we were sure that this would be the idea that we were going to stick with and we even chose the line "I can't help it. It's my nature" but we were finding it difficult to adapt into something new and unique so again we moved onto another idea. Finally we chose The Emperor's new Clothes but we changed it so that instead of The Emperor, we would use a pop icon instead as today's generation are following the trends of pop icons and celebrities. 

After finally setting on this idea, we began exploring how we would make the scene and what we could play with, we discussed the idea of using a stage background for our icon, who I think we decided was going to be Kanye West, as he's a modern trend setter today and instead of making him naked we thought about putting him in baggy clothes, like he usually wears with the quote "does not my suit fit me marvellously" with a crowd of cheering fans agreeing - obviously his clothes don't fit but the one of the main moral of the story, I believe is that people will follow and be persuaded into things that are ridiculous in fear of being seen as 'stupid' or different.

We started discussing how we could make the scene and came up with a few ideas before the session ended but we've made a Facebook page and added all group members so we're going to update Kay and Naomi and then discuss materials and how the scene will be set before the next session hopefully. I worry that we're falling behind a bit as some groups have started creating their sets, whereas I feel like we've had to start again and I worry that someone might want to change the idea again or Kay/Naomi may not agree with the fairy tale change but hopefully we'll get there.

 

11/03/14

This week we began constructing our set for our idea. Naomi was absent again, but I found out that this is because she's left the course which is a shame.

We began by sourcing supplies to use for the base, we needed cardboard so we searched through nearby recycling points to retrieve some cardboard, we also found parts of old computers which we thought we could use for the stage. I feel like Kay didn't want any involvement as she didn't really get involved with what we were doing, while we were getting materials she stayed in the room, which was a bit annoying.

We then went to wilkos to get some supplies, we purchased some parcel tape, a mini mannequin figure which we decided we could use for our celebrity figure and we also found some party poppers which we agreed looked like stage lights.

When we got back, we were having difficulties making the right shape for the stage, but after manipulating the cardboard we found the shape we wanted. At this point we were running out of time, but we managed to cover the stage with black fabric. Next week we're taking pictures of the finished set, I'm feeling a bit anxious as I feel there's quite a bit we need to do but it's manageable, I just hope Kay with contribute more to the group as the only thing she did this week was print out the crowd and stick it on cardboard, however the crowd is facing the wrong way, so we'll have to redo it. I think it will be interesting once it's finished, and it'll be fun to explore with what it'll look like under the lights with different camera angles and effects.

18/03/14

This week we were booked to shoot our scenes, at first I was a little anxious about set it ready for getting it photographed and Kay was absent which wasn't useful. We bagan by discussing what needed to be done and assigning tasks between us, Joe had the idea of cutting silhouettes of people using the backward crowd images which Kay printed which worked really well. While me and Joe were doing this, Tom began making the light rig using the party poppers, at first he was having trouble with how to rig them and then he came up with the idea of using cardboard and piercing holes to put the party poppers through which looked really cool but then he didn't know how to attach it to the set so I suggested cutting slits in the fabric and slotting the cardboard inside and taping them down which was effective.

We were all a little worried that it wasn't looking so good (image above of the scene without any lighting) but when we set it up in the studio we were able to use the lights to boost it aesthetically. All the groups discussed what lights we should take out and we all agreed on daedo lights. Joe was really good with the camera to, we used a canon 600d camera, he managed to position it so the crowd looked like silhouettes and so the mini figure was in focus. I brought some glitter from home to use, I used some red glitteron the stage to create a red carpet effect and then me and Tom showered the scene in silver glitter while Joe used motion capture on the camera to capture the glitter falling down which looked really cool, like an actual concert image. I feel like we really made the most of using the studio time, as we spent a lot of time, experimenting with positioning and lights and angles which was interesting. We found that using an iPhone light behind the figure was really effective because it created this stage light effect. I found it amazing how just by adding some lighting, the scene was dramatically changed and I feel like we all enjoyed doing it (and popping the party poppers at the end) and worked really well as a trio, we worked through our worries and managed to shoot this cool little scene even though we were missing members and at first doubted our set. I'm interested to see the photographs again and see what we can do to them in Photoshop.

 

25/03/2014

In this session we had the opportunity to play with the photos we'd taken from last week and also prepare ourselves for our presentation for next week.

First of all, we all looked at the images we'd taken last week and picked a few we all really preferred over the others. After we'd agreed on a couple, Tom assigned Joe to work on one in Photoshop as Joe is the most skilled when it comes to editing software. While he was doing this, we were giving inputs and suggestions of how to edit it whilst working on our presentation, to help us with this I used my Blog to refer back to so we could recap what we did to use it as a base for our presentation. Lucy suggested that we use a yellow background for those who are dyslexic, to make it easier to read and more engaging. I was amazed at Joe's skills with Photoshop as he really boosted the image with only a few alterations, the only struggle he had was matching the skin tone with the Celebrity, Kayne West but I think he did really well and overcame that. I really liked the effects he made with the prop lights, Joe made them appear to be beaming on stage which was really cool and he spent a long time working on it carefully. At the end of the session, the image was finished and the outline of the presentation was pretty much finished, we decided to discuss more about the presentation on our Facebook group so that we will be prepare for next week. I'm a little anxious about the presentation as I'm not very good when it comes to speaking to groups, I usually lose my trail of thoughts or speak too quickly or in gibberish but hopefully, it'll be fine and I'll give it my best attempts.

Overall, I'm really pleased with what we've managed to achieve and in my opinion, I wasn't so sure we'd achieve as much as we have as Naomi left and Kay's been absent for the most part, which really put a negative vibe on the group but after last week, I felt we really overcame that and got on with it and ended up really enjoying it and having fun with the photo shoot!

Final Image for our scene - Emperors New Clothes

Evaluation:
Personally I think as a group, we could of collaborated better as we were indecisive at the beginning which slowed down the productive process and put a strain on creating the set. It was difficult as Naomi dropped out and Kay was absent for the most part, I felt this put a negative vibe on the group as we felt behind and found it hard to come to agreements with group members missing and not really participating. I was initially really excited about the project and prospect of creating a scale model scene as part of a group, I believe I contributed well considering within the final weeks I used our group's Facebook page to develop and contribute ideas for the final piece. I feel I could have contributed more skills wise as my role is primarily costume and crafting, which we didn't use a lot of. I think the difficult thing to achieve was creating our scene as we were behind on ideas and began comparing our scene to others which created a negative vibe towards our piece, however when we began shooting the scene in the studio I felt as a team, we came and worked together more effectively as a team. If I had to do this project again, I would suggest that the 'leader' of the group would be more decisive and use better time management for creating the scene, instead of jumping from ideas. Overall, I feel I overcame the problems faced and manged to contribute quite a bit to the final piece.

Bibliography:

Websites:

• http://www.sallywaterman.com
• http://www.lefiguredeilibri.com/2008/08/01/la-fotografia-nel-libro-illustrato/
• www.imdb.com
• http://wordpress.com/
• http://www.surlalunefairytales.com
• http://www.youtube.com
• http://exileorexhibit.com
• http://fairytalenewsblog.blogspot.co.uk
• http://imdb.com
• http://fairytalesoftheworld.com
• http://www.pinterest.com

Books:

• The Complete Fairy Tales (Vintage Classics) by The Brothers Grimm and Jack Zipes (2 Aug 2007)
• Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion (Routledge Classics) by Jack Zipes (31 Aug 2011)
• Edward W. Said, Orientalism(1978) Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are used against Women (1990) updated in 2002
• A First Book of Fairy Tales by Mary Hoffman and Julie Downing (3 Aug 2006)
• Monsters in the Movies by John Landis (3 Oct 2011)

Films:

• Hoodwinked! (2005) 
• Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) 
• Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006) 
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) 
• The Walking Dead TV series(2010-) 
• The Shining by Stanley Kubrick (1980)