Here it is… and thankfully it worked otherwise I probably would have had a minor mental breakdown. These things are a pain in the ass to make, but the other one just wasn’t going to cut it for the next video installation. Now for the finishing touches…
03. Spike Jonze (I got wrapped up in one of his short films last night and completely forgot to post this)
Where the Wild Things Are was criticized for having a thin storyline and overtones of adult themes. While parts of the story did make me question the cohesiveness of the film, I responded to the ambiguity of the storyline and the intertwining between youth and adult perspective. Not to mention, this film is beautifully stylized.
Last night, in the middle of writing this blog, I became distracted and watched his short film I’m Here. I never thought I would tear up over robots. Wanting to find out more about the short, I came across the website www.imheremovie.com. I was blown away by the level of interactivity between the website & social media and the experience it creates for the viewer. You can watch the full length film at the website.
02. Michel Gondry
Master of outsmarting the camera. Michel Gondry is always finding ways to create the desired visual effects in innovative, yet “rudimentary” ways. Often times, rather than relying on digital means, he designs sets that are made to fool the eye and the camera.
Michel Gondry Talks Shows Camera Trick in this video, Michel shows how one of the scenes in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is achieved.
White Stripes Music Video using the projection was a brilliant move.
Radiohead Knives Out Music Video I can’t imagine how tricky this would have been to film.
There are many more music videos he’s directed that blow me away every time I see them.
The tufted hair around the outside is becoming lost in the background. I hand felted this thanks to Katie Frisch (and her awesome tutorial seen here).
Alright, so I’ve been attempting to finish up this blog post for over a week. It still isn’t finished. I intended to make a list of artists, film makers, objects, & ideas that somehow influence or inform my current body of work in progress. Instead of holding out even longer to post this, I’m just going to just list one each day until I run out.
01. Todd Solondz
Honest tragedy. Bleak humor. Stories of human complexity and interconnection.
In Life During Wartime I noticed Todd Solondz’s style being more refined comparatively to Happiness and earlier films. As you can see in the clip below, there is a great deal of attention paid to the composition of the frame, lighting, and color.
My goal is to finish all of the plaster bases before next Tuesday. Coming in today to finish the owl was a good start. Next week will be focused on adding materials.
Images as promised.
Since the last image of the fox, I’ve plastered and trimmed. Now I’m moving on to the mouse. Also, I found and ordered the materials I would like to use for the fox, so I’ll be able to start covering it soon.
I finished the rabbit mask (image coming soon)… and learned my lesson that it is in fact NOT easier to attach the ears later. Also, some valuable comments came up in critique that I need to consider while developing the rest in this series.
So, until I have photos of the finished mask & my progress on the fox I’m going to post some more visual references I’ve come across. (Thank you to those of you who’ve passed along info & links to check out).
These are very masks inside of Retablos that Nicario Jimenez makes. I would guess these masks are no larger than an inch. From the website:
Retablos are sophisticated folk art in the form of portable boxes filled with brightly colored figurines arranged into intricate narrative scenes.
I had absolutely no idea that these masks originated during the black plague. Inexperienced doctors were recruited to treat patients with the plague, and to defend themselves they would wear these masks with herbs in the “beak” to somewhat act as respirators. They also wore long jackets and carried a cane to examine the patients with.
Just google beak doctor mask and you’ll find several variations. I’m fond of the one below… inappropriately cheap and glittery.
A reference to Donnie Darko came up a couple of times while making the rabbit mask, and when it was finished. There were comments about the rabbit mask seeming similar to the Donnie Darko rabbit costume.
Some film critics think the rabbit in Donnie Darko is a reference to the film Harvey, which is about a man who has an imaginary friend that is a rabbit. His sanity is questioned and his family wanted to place him in a mental institution.
I actually see the rabbit mask I made referencing Alice in Wonderland more than Donnie Darko or Harvey. However, more in the symbolism of this character than any kind of physical association. I’ve always approached this project by starting off with the rabbit… asking the viewer to follow the rabbit “down the hole” so to speak. Below is a still from the first film version of Alice in Wonderland from 1903. You can watch the video on archive.org, it’s less than ten minutes long.
Here’s one from the 1913 version:
There are many other examples where a rabbit mask or costume is used in theatre or film. I know I should be aware of these and not run the risk of unintentionally referencing something. However, past that I can’t control what the viewer associates the masks with. I feel like as this project develops this is going to be less of a problem.
Okay, so the plaster dried, I trimmed the mask and then I glued this fuzzy yarn on trying to follow the contours of the face as I was gluing along. I’m especially happy with the definition in the brow. Although, I’m not so sure about the mouth area. I can’t decide if those almost vertical lines are driving me nuts or if they help separate/define the shapes in the mouth.
I used rubber cement, which I think was probably a bad idea because (1.) the offensive smell (2.) it was a pain to work with. I can’t remember why I thought that was going to be a good idea. Next time, I think I’ll just use PVA or something similar.
I’m regretting not creating a structure for the ears before hand. They still need to be attached. I think I have an idea of how that is going to happen, but I hope I don’t run into a bunch of hangups.
So, now I need to make some decisions. First, should I paint? Should I add a pink cloth to the nose and ears? How do I attach the cloth… with a visible stitch? How do I want it to secure to the face?
I’m going to contemplate this over the next few hours while I start the next mask.
UPDATE: Started the next mask… hello, Fox.
I’m starting my newest project which involves mask making & character design for a short film project I’m working on. I’ve been building a visual library of masks that I find interesting or images that I just want to hang on to for potential future use.
Here are a few I’ve found so far, I’ll post more of them later. Please suggest other artists who make masks if you know of any… from what I’ve found it seems as if mask makers are a rare breed, unless I’ve just lost my ability to google.
Also, here is a little update on the mask I’m working on. So far, I’ve made the foam head, sculpted the rabbit face, and have applied the plaster. The ears are structured with chicken wire. I’m thought it would be easier to attach them later.
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