Sunday, October 18, 2015

Grand Budapest Hotel Screening

I am happy and excited to discover LCA's film society show a film in the lecture theatre every Friday, which is amazing especially as I haven't been watching any TV or many films since i've been here and this is a nice, cost free evening to go with people off other courses/meet others without being in a pub or bar.

Since I moved here I have heard a lot about Wes Anderson films, and even by looking at the Moonrise Kingdom movie poster I can see why creatives are drawn to his movies and understood it must be the way it is art directed, so I was really excited to see this film on the big screen.

As soon as it began I could see he directs in a way that is quick, straight to the point, snapshots/zoom in's within a massive, colourful, larger picture, mostly in this film focusing on the interior design and windows. There were many quick angle adjustments and the dialogue was very quick and straight to the point which I enjoy as you can get in to the film straight away.

The story itself isn't extraordinary to me but because of the eye popping colour schemes and other worldly aesthetics changing from shot to shot, I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen! It just shows any story can be made heard just by the way it is presented. It reminded me of the Coral rebranding, my dread of redesigning for the company that didn't interest me at all but then seeing the hand wrendered new typeface, and actually being really happy with the end idea!

Certain shots that stand out to me are the past pastel pink interior design when they go back in time, the mendl's boxes (the colour scheme/typography varying through each chapter really stood out to me), the running silhouettes in the night and the fiery oranges seen in various scenes- kind of reminded me of some of the styles in the shining/clockwork orange?

Having this every Friday will be a great way to tune out from the busy week and get in to the weekend mood with having much to think about the films I'll see.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Be A Sponge

Today we all found out in small groups what sorts of things we were inspired by this week, but a lot were sources of inspiration in general.

I was happy to see people talking about people who weren't graphic designers, but just generally wonderfully inspiring such as David Attenborough. Designers make their inspiration in to something visual, and bringing all this together is what makes everyones work so different and personal. Also, designing about another interest you have can be incredibly satisfying opposed to a set brief. Any of these I could find on Instagram I followed, and I am interested to get in to watching TED Talks and hearing Desert Island.

We were told to note 10 things that inspired our fellow graphic's students:

TED Talks- A website with a range of in depth talks on many engaging subjects

Jessica Walsh- An instagram blogger with a very colourful, organised textile pattern aesthetic

Gone Girl - A book recently adapted in to a movie, apparently you can't take your eyes off the screen. My group told me about this after I explained I really want to get in to a book that is more of a headfuck than something about romance.

Rob Ryan- I didn't realise as I didn't catch his name, but this is who had done the beautifully delicate laser cut/cutout arts I got a lot of imagery of, as the thoughts and themes behind them were beautiful and some of the writing touched my heart.

Desert Island on BBC Radio 4- Penny told us this was awesome, and as it relates to music I want to listen to ones of people i'm interested in, on what music they'd take with them on a desert island.

One Minute Brief- Quite interesting and great as it isn't too time consuming and it just gets ideas rolling. Great for Twitter users which I sometimes have a gander on so I will follow this.

'Tongue Tied' starring Miley Cyrus- By Quentin Jones the photographer, a very dynamic and contemporary display using the human body in an artsy way with Miley who I think is actually a rather great role model to her target audience as this shows, as near nudity isn't an issue when done in a creative way.

Design Milk- Interior design blog, very modern elements. Can be good to group ideas that work well together in composition.

New M&S Advert- As i've not even watched TV since I've been here and hear this is even better than the old ones and has an 80's touch to it I am excited to see it. Especially this time of year when everything becomes rather festive and exciting I imagine it is very well thought out. I could not find it as I was blogging this!

Noel Fielding- The group never got to elaborate on this, but as a fan of Noel's bold crazy painting style and the Mighty Boosh, I can see why he is a fun influence on all of us and continues to be even after the dwindle of his TV career.


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Light Night












To kickstart getting in to visiting exhibits and exploring what events Leeds has to offer, I thought Light Night would be the perfect opportunity. There is one I have in Bury back home which is a very small town and on Light Night almost every bigger area of Bury has a show on wether it be a pantomime, fire breathers or light installations. As I'm new to Leeds and am loving it, I couldnt wait to see it all lit up this way.

All the crowds and activity surrounded the museum and town hall, and apart from a light projection on the second LCA building and stands of lights we couldn't see much glistening in the distance. There were huge amounts of people but it didnt look like much was going on, until we saw some fire in the distance in front of the town hall but we missed that performance. We took a chance and went inside and there was a cinema playing short strange silent films which I liked the idea of/thought was cool, but one was a man chasing a chair for over 5+ minutes and then we found my favourite, the 'rainbow room' which I loved the aesthetics of as I really enjoy bright colour projections and all the edits you can do with the different shades, so some of the images I got can be inspo/primary imagery for future projects. So I had a great time being within this electric atmosphere and am really going to try and attend more of these events!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

John Peel Lecture with Brian Eno

Before listening to this radio lecture, I had heard of Brian Eno but had no idea who he was. We were told he was one of the most important men in the music business and making it what it is today, and that his words would be very inspiring, for aspiring creatives such as ourselves. Within the first 5 minutes I learnt he was indeed an important man, with a  passion for experimentation, self professed 'non-musician' but is seen as a key musician, 'bowie's muse/u2's 5th man' which are very heavy titles to hold. But as I got further in I could tell he had no ego about any of this. He is just passionate about what he does in the best ways; even describing that he works differently in that whatever he makes, he feels it can be used for something: nothing you create is disposable.

With various projects such as the '77 million paintings' exhibit created to make visuals constantly different and 'restless' desire for discovering new places and exploring new sounds I can see why we have been told to listen to this show in particular.

At this stage, it's quite scary as now having chosen one subject to take further for the first time, you can have doubts at the back of your mind depending on what briefs you are being given, such as; 'is this what i want to become my life?', 'do i have to know everything about typographers and know history of all these fonts?', so something like this really helps reflect the real reason we all love and enjoy the creative 'industry' so much. A point he made which I have considered before, is about children. Carefree and always playing make pretend, having new ideas, we lose this as we are put in to the education system sometimes but it is still there in everyone whether you enjoy cooking or nail painting, as he used to explain. Creatives are adults playing through art wether it be what identity they put out their with their style, the music they are proud to listen to, photography, the list is endless.

Brian highlighted the comparison issue between 'STEM' subjects and art subjects, and the mans view and wanted to answer the two key questions down below. And I take from this, that art for people like us isn't a luxury or something to do in spare time, it is a lot to do with identity and what you want to put out their either about yourself such as your style, or what you feel the world is missing. This is why when artists were asked why they think it is important so many had different answers, and scientists all came to the same conclusion. To me that is so interesting, and although STEM fields are essential to life and the function of the world, how isn't art? Art is all around us, It is perception, colour, imagination, so much!

Another great point made was that in art, we can be safe. We can be horrified at a painting and think and feel so much about it, which maybe we do need to develop as a person, but at the end of the day it is just a painting you can walk away from. Films, images, costume, are all a very real simulation. Like children, we still want to escape to a fantasy world, and he highlights we are very unique in that sense compared to other animals.

Due to this level of individualness in what we do, it keeps changing and growing in more ways than one. He raised the point of the open source movement- wikipedia can be adjusted, so there is more knowledge and more involvement. It is a risk but it's working. We need this sector or the world that can provoke thoughts and feelings in us all and have new music/trends continuously. Brian has been in the industry for such a long time where everything developed extremely quickly in almost a burst, and still recognizes the unthinkable 20 years ago is happening now. Very interesting lecture.


NOTES
'industry' for money, part of the economic framework but that is the beginning of the end
STEM is most important, arts are untameable
20 scientists say the same, artists give very different answers on what subject does
'art is everything that you don't have to do'

is art a luxury or do something for us? 
art becomes our identity, its not something we have to do we could survive but we all engage with them
Why do we like music?
'imagination'
adults play through art
art gives us a chance to feel ways about things that are dangerous but cant hurt us
safe place to have extreme/dangerous feelings as we can switch it off
art is a simulator

is there a way you can create a situation within arts flourish?
open source movement, sharing ideas example. wikipedia can be changed
'that will never happen' 20 years ago