Inspiration for Title Screen
Since I decided to match the aesthetic of my footage to that of the archival footage I aslo decided to create a title screen that would look like one of that era. I looked at a lot of intro credits to 50s American films for inspiration:
Prelinger Archives
Prelinger Archives is a great resource that has thousands of videos from different time periods. Most importantly, all of it is in the public domain so I can avoid any legal problems with using it in my film.
https://archive.org/details/prelinger?tab=about
Andrei Tarkovsky
Over the past few days I watched Solaris, Stalker, and Mirror by Tarkovsky. I am amazed by the unique storytelling and poetic cinematography of his films. Mirror especially, has a very unique narrative structure, which doesn't tell a story in the traditional sense but is more a collection of memories and dreams. I could explore this direction for my project and make something more abstract, ethereal.
Tarkovsky: Mirror
Blender recources:
The Lighthouse
This film is stylistically stunning, and at parts ambiguous leaving plenty of room for interpretation. One of the most obvious visual and thematic references is to greek mythology:
Thomas and Ephraim are reflections on two mythological characters – Poseidon and Prometheus. Though the two weren’t part of the same tale, Eggers found a common denominator for them in “The Lighthouse”.
The ending scene of the film is Ephraim laying dead with seagulls around him eating his organs. This is the punishment of Prometheus. This is one of many nods to mythology in the film.
I admire this film for its achievement in cinematography and the incredible performances given by Willem Defoe and Robert Pattinson.
Book: Classical Mythology
"Mind-expanding and entertaining, this intriguing book charts 100 of the most important characters from Greco-Roman mythology, from the primordial deities to the great gods of Olympus and the shadowy inhabitants of Hades. Addressing universal themes such as love, jealousy, anger, ambition, deceit, and beauty, their stories are as relevant today as they were in ancient times. Beautifully decorated family trees place the characters in context and clearly show the development of each generation of gods. A short biographical sketch, mini nuclear-family tree and an explanation of the captivating stories surrounding them accompany each character."
Book: Greek Mythology
I have decided to settle on greek mythology for its depth and richness. I have started reading this book to make myself familiar with the stories, and to find inspiration:
"The Greek myths have a universal appeal, reaching far beyond the time and physical place in which they were created. But many are firmly rooted in specific settings: Thebes dominates the tragedy of Oedipus; Mycenae broods over the fates of Agamemnon and Electra; Knossos boasts the scene of Theseus' slaying of the Minotaur; Tiryns was where Heracles set out from on each of his twelve labours. Here, the reader is taken on a tour of 22 destinations in Greece and Turkey, from Mount Olympus to Homer's Hades, recounting the tales from Greek mythology and the history associated with each, evoking their atmosphere and highlighting features that visitors can still see today. Drawing on a wide range of Classical sources, with quotations newly translated by the author and freshly illustrated with specially commissioned drawings, this book is both a useful visitor's guide to famous sites connected with Greek mythology and an enthralling imaginative journey for the armchair traveller. " I have decided to settle on greek mythology for its depth and richness. I have started reading this book to make myself familiar with the stories, and to find inspiration.
Prometheus
Metahaven
I really like the type of videos that metahaven makes; a sort of mashup of styles, odd typography, footage from news recordings. Could be an interesting approach for my project. The whole design of their website "The Sprawl" has a very interesting and almost provocative visual language.
Icarus
“Feather to fire,fire to blood
Blood to bone,bone to marrow
Marrow to ashes,ashes to snow”
―
This is a beautiful short film depicting Serengetis scenery of tribal people living in harmony with wild animals. I find the cinematography of this film to be spectacular. I hope to produce something as poetic and moving as this film. I want similarly have a very defined visual aesthetic no matter where this project takes me.
Oxford History Museum
During our commune visit to Oxford we saw an Ancient Greece exhibit. I like the imagery and stories from greek mythology so I am leaning towards that. Seeing these statues and some of the characters was quite inspiring.
Book: Hollow Places
"In the Middle Ages a remarkable tomb was carved to cover the bones of an English hero. For centuries the grave spawned tales about dragons and devils, giants and winged hounds. To understand why this happened, Christopher Hadley takes us on a journey through 1,000 years of history."
This book is directly related to what I want to explore and will give me direction on that mythology I want to explore through the course of this project.
usable Archival footage;
Visual Inspo
Silence
David Lachapelle
I find Lachapelle’s work stylistically very intriguing. Especially the works where he takes biblical or fantastical stories and places them in modern pop culture. He builds incredible, sophisticated sets, making almost all of his visual effects practical. I will potentially incorporate set design in my project.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Conceptually this film is a good source of inspiration as the film often references and responds to the Orpheus and Eurydice myth:
"In the middle of the film, Héloïse reads the story of Orpheus and Eurydice aloud to Marianne and to Sophie, the servant, by candlelight. Héloïse and Marianne debate why Orpheus turned around – is it because he wanted to look at Eurydice as a poet, preserving the story, and her memory, over the woman herself? Or is it because she called out to him?"
Although visually set in a completely different period, greek mythology is prominent in the telling of this story, hence my interest in "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"
mother!
Mother is a metaphorical representation of God and Mother Earth. At the start it seems like an ordinary couple, but as the events unravel we start to understand that grander themes are at play. There are a lot of nuances and symbolism in the film that can only be picked up on upon a second viewing. This is a great example as it takes an abstract, larger than life story, and tells it through very grounded and relatable characters.
LONDON Tube Labyrinths
This is a great example of taking mythological imagery and reintroducing it to the modern world in a creative, playful manner:
[Mark Wallinger, one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists, has created a major new artwork for London Underground to celebrate its 150th anniversary. The result, commissioned by Art on the Underground, is a multi-part work on a huge scale that will be installed in every one of the Tube’s 270 stations. Wallinger sees the commission as a unique opportunity to explore the potential of the Underground as a whole. Wishing to forge a poetic link with the Tube’s rich history of graphic language, he has made a work that sits comfortably alongside the two of its major design icons, the roundel and Harry Beck’s Tube map, and yet stands out as a new symbol marking the Tube’s 150th year. Wallinger explores a diverse range of subjects in his practice, from the historic and mythic to the biographical and contemporary, resulting in works that are layered with rich cultural references for the viewer to discover.]