Explain and assess the usefulness of the two images: line, cave. [30]
The allegory of the cave is this: Plato describes, through his character of Socrates, a group of people, chained to a wall in a cave. There is a fire behind them, with people passing in front of it, creating shadows on the wall in front of the prisoners. They have been chained to the wall all of their life, so the closest thing they have to reality is the shadows on the wall. So these people are experiencing things that they think to be real but are actually illusions. Socrates goes on to explain that one prisoner gets up and leaves the cave, realising the illusion is not representative of reality at all, as he can see ‘true’ reality.
The allegory of the cave is Plato’s way of showing that the form’s are the most fundamentally important type of reality, with the reality in the allegory representative of the forms, and the illusions in the allegory the prisoners perceive as reality representative of what we perceive as reality. When the prisoner steps out of the cave and looks into the sun he truly perceives the ‘form of the good!’
The Allegory’s purpose isn’t to only show us our misconceptions, but also to show us what a good leader should be. The escaped prisoner is expected to return to the cave and live with his former prisoners as someone whom can lead better than the rest because he knows what true ‘morality’ and ‘justice’ are. He is expected to protect and look after his fellow prisoners/citizens, “…you have been better and more thoroughly educated than those others and hence you are more capable of playing your part both as men of thought and as men of action.” Plato is telling us that a good leader constitutes as someone who has realized the true forms of the goodness. The allegory is almost a life model, a metaphor for the stages of becoming a public leader.
Plato has another allegory: the allegory of the divided line. The divided line is used to teach basic philosophical ideas about the four levels of existence, and how we come to know about what exists. At the top of the line is ‘philosophical knowledge’ (knowledge) and ‘Forms, especially the form of the good’ (object). Next is ‘mathematical knowledge’, and ‘mathematical objects’, then ‘beliefs about physical things and scientific knowledge, and ‘phyiscal objects’, then finally at the bottom of the divided line is ‘opinions and illusions’, and ‘shadows and things that do not actually exist’.
In comparing the line to the cave allegory, the lowest rung on the line would correspond to the chained prisoners, who can only see shadows and things that do not actually exist. The second rung would be when the prisoner stands up and sees the cave: he will believe these things to be the most real things. When he goes outside the cave, he has reached the third rung: he can see the forms but only has unproven assumptions about them. But when the prisoner looks into the sun, he has reached the fourth rung: he has seen the form of goodness, the ultimate form.
A criticism of the two allegory’s is that Plato cannot give a direct explanation as to what the form of goodness is, he simply compares it to the sun. This doesn’t give a straightforward answer, but we infer what the form of goodness is by thinking about what the sun could represent: the sun makes sight possible, so perhaps the form of the good is responsible for making ‘knowledge’ possible?
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Friday, 22 October 2010
personal statement
Why do I want to study film and television at University? Writing this personal statement has challenged me to make sense of my lifelong interest and reflect on my motives. I realise I’ve been interested in this world from a young age and have never really considered studying anything else at university. It was an important part of family life because my father writes, produces and directs for television. Maybe an early appearance as ‘baby gizmo’ on The Fast Show subconsciously aroused my fascination for the inner workings of programme making, but as I was only 14 months old it’s doubtful. This close relationship with the media has meant, though, that I’ve always been fascinated by how TV and films are made. When I watch a film or a television programme, it is the way it is made that excites me. The collaboration of writers, producers, directors, editors, cast and crew starting with an idea and taking it through to a finished piece is something that I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I want a university course that can prepare me for a life working in this world.
I can write essays but I want to do more than analyse texts – I want to make tangible things for the enjoyment of others, which is why I want a course where I can learn the technical aspects of filmmaking alongside theoretical ones.
When I was at secondary school I had an inspirational form tutor who taught English and Media Studies. He gave me an enormous amount of encouragement and provided incredible opportunities. He also taught a small group of us the Media Studies GCSE in one year, two years early. Whilst doing this I found that I really enjoyed having an idea for the filmed project, working in a team and realizing that idea on video. We made a tongue-in–cheek pop promo taking inspiration from Madness and Buster Keaton videos (which I love).
My tutor also offered me two other very unique opportunities. The first was to help an independent filmmaker create a short film that was to be shown at Edinburgh film festival. It was a study of creativity and involved me interviewing the head of ITV Creative. The second was a project in conjunction with Channel 4. We worked in a small team to create a comic, which was pitched to a board that included the head of Channel 4. We put our creative ideas, knowledge of the conventions of comics and Photoshop skills together to win the ‘best design’ category.
I was lucky to get work experience in the comedy and entertainment department at Tiger Aspect with the producer Geoffrey Perkins. I was able to observe work going on in the sound studio and edit suite where The Harry and Paul Show was being made and I also took on running duties as their runner was unwell – lucky for me if not for her. I was beginning to realise how intelligent the people off-screen were, and how competitive the environment was. The people here were working hard on things they enjoyed, and I enjoyed learning from them.
I like a broad range of films, particularly the Horror and Western genres. My current favourites are the Sergio Leone films of the 60s. For my A-level media project I filmed a short spaghetti western film in Italy influenced by Sergio Leone’s work. I am currently writing and recording the music in homage to Ennio Morricone. I particularly enjoyed the practical aspects of this project. I find it very satisfying to finish a small scene after editing it for hours.
Earlier this year I also made a film for a competition in my own time, using stop frame animation. It showed two pieces of roast beef playing football using a Yorkshire pudding. Not the easiest of cast members admittedly, but I enjoyed the immediacy of the process and I was really pleased with the result, which can be seen on the Walkers website.
So far I have been absolutely captured by everything related to this subject, whether through my studies or not, and, I can only assume, it becomes more and more fascinating at university level.
CHARACTERS WITH SPACES 3950
I can write essays but I want to do more than analyse texts – I want to make tangible things for the enjoyment of others, which is why I want a course where I can learn the technical aspects of filmmaking alongside theoretical ones.
When I was at secondary school I had an inspirational form tutor who taught English and Media Studies. He gave me an enormous amount of encouragement and provided incredible opportunities. He also taught a small group of us the Media Studies GCSE in one year, two years early. Whilst doing this I found that I really enjoyed having an idea for the filmed project, working in a team and realizing that idea on video. We made a tongue-in–cheek pop promo taking inspiration from Madness and Buster Keaton videos (which I love).
My tutor also offered me two other very unique opportunities. The first was to help an independent filmmaker create a short film that was to be shown at Edinburgh film festival. It was a study of creativity and involved me interviewing the head of ITV Creative. The second was a project in conjunction with Channel 4. We worked in a small team to create a comic, which was pitched to a board that included the head of Channel 4. We put our creative ideas, knowledge of the conventions of comics and Photoshop skills together to win the ‘best design’ category.
I was lucky to get work experience in the comedy and entertainment department at Tiger Aspect with the producer Geoffrey Perkins. I was able to observe work going on in the sound studio and edit suite where The Harry and Paul Show was being made and I also took on running duties as their runner was unwell – lucky for me if not for her. I was beginning to realise how intelligent the people off-screen were, and how competitive the environment was. The people here were working hard on things they enjoyed, and I enjoyed learning from them.
I like a broad range of films, particularly the Horror and Western genres. My current favourites are the Sergio Leone films of the 60s. For my A-level media project I filmed a short spaghetti western film in Italy influenced by Sergio Leone’s work. I am currently writing and recording the music in homage to Ennio Morricone. I particularly enjoyed the practical aspects of this project. I find it very satisfying to finish a small scene after editing it for hours.
Earlier this year I also made a film for a competition in my own time, using stop frame animation. It showed two pieces of roast beef playing football using a Yorkshire pudding. Not the easiest of cast members admittedly, but I enjoyed the immediacy of the process and I was really pleased with the result, which can be seen on the Walkers website.
So far I have been absolutely captured by everything related to this subject, whether through my studies or not, and, I can only assume, it becomes more and more fascinating at university level.
CHARACTERS WITH SPACES 3950
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Milton
How does Milton grab the readers attention in the opening section of the poem.
Milton grabs the readers attention in as early as the first 26 lines, because of his very ambitious aim. Milton asks of a ‘heavenly muse’: ‘Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song’. By invoking a muse, Milton is showing how he is aware of Homer and Virgil and their epics, and showing how he is knowledgeable of their format and wants to be part of their tradition. But Milton’s muse is ‘heavenly’, the muse that ‘didst inspire that shepherd who first taught the chosen seed, in the beginning how the heavens and the earth rose out of chaos’. The sentence : ‘Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire’ ends with an iamb, putting extra emphasis on the word ‘inspire’, showing the importance of the muses powers to Miltons poem. By having a heavenly muse, Milton is showing how his ambitions go far beyond Homer and Virgil, helping create a poem that deals with matters of more fundamental importance to human beings. Having the poem open with him asking for God to inspire him shows the heights that the poem will reach: a poem inspired by the almighty, and this is an exciting idea. And while Homer and Virgil’s epics told the story of heroic men, Milton’s shall tell the story of all men, and he shall also ‘justify the ways of God to men’.
The poem then explains that Adam and Eve’s disobedience was partly down to a serpent, who ‘decieved the mother of mankind’. This serpent is Satan, and he has just been cast down into hell by god after losing a huge battle against him. So the first part of the poem is started in medias res and we are thrown straight into the action. We get an immediate description of the ‘fiery gulf’ that is hell, with ‘floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire’, with ‘ever-burning sulphur unconsumed:’, but still a place ‘in utter darkness’. Its certainly a spectacular place for the reader to suddenly find themselves in, the contradiction of darkness and fire throwing powerful images into the readers head.
Readers of Miltons time would also relate this story to very important events in their lives. Milton, in a disguised protest against the political regime of Cromwell, put Cromwell into his poem: as the character of Satan.
A final intriguing point, one that grabs the readers attention in the opening section of the play, is that Satan’s description is ambiguous: is he presented at all as a hero, or as a villain? Milton’s epic similes demonstrate this: Satan is described as a Leviathan. This almost makes him seem powerful and in turn heroic, as he is described as a huge whale like creature. However, this creature is also hinted to be a deceiver: sailors moor their boats on them, thinking them to be islands. It also could make us slightly wary of Satan, as in describing him as a mythical beast, we don’t know how big he actually is. Furthermore, in describing him as huge, straight after we learn he has been defeated by God, Milton could be showing the all powerfulness of God. So Satan is an interesting character, and one sure to grab the readers attention.
Milton grabs the readers attention in as early as the first 26 lines, because of his very ambitious aim. Milton asks of a ‘heavenly muse’: ‘Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song’. By invoking a muse, Milton is showing how he is aware of Homer and Virgil and their epics, and showing how he is knowledgeable of their format and wants to be part of their tradition. But Milton’s muse is ‘heavenly’, the muse that ‘didst inspire that shepherd who first taught the chosen seed, in the beginning how the heavens and the earth rose out of chaos’. The sentence : ‘Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire’ ends with an iamb, putting extra emphasis on the word ‘inspire’, showing the importance of the muses powers to Miltons poem. By having a heavenly muse, Milton is showing how his ambitions go far beyond Homer and Virgil, helping create a poem that deals with matters of more fundamental importance to human beings. Having the poem open with him asking for God to inspire him shows the heights that the poem will reach: a poem inspired by the almighty, and this is an exciting idea. And while Homer and Virgil’s epics told the story of heroic men, Milton’s shall tell the story of all men, and he shall also ‘justify the ways of God to men’.
The poem then explains that Adam and Eve’s disobedience was partly down to a serpent, who ‘decieved the mother of mankind’. This serpent is Satan, and he has just been cast down into hell by god after losing a huge battle against him. So the first part of the poem is started in medias res and we are thrown straight into the action. We get an immediate description of the ‘fiery gulf’ that is hell, with ‘floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire’, with ‘ever-burning sulphur unconsumed:’, but still a place ‘in utter darkness’. Its certainly a spectacular place for the reader to suddenly find themselves in, the contradiction of darkness and fire throwing powerful images into the readers head.
Readers of Miltons time would also relate this story to very important events in their lives. Milton, in a disguised protest against the political regime of Cromwell, put Cromwell into his poem: as the character of Satan.
A final intriguing point, one that grabs the readers attention in the opening section of the play, is that Satan’s description is ambiguous: is he presented at all as a hero, or as a villain? Milton’s epic similes demonstrate this: Satan is described as a Leviathan. This almost makes him seem powerful and in turn heroic, as he is described as a huge whale like creature. However, this creature is also hinted to be a deceiver: sailors moor their boats on them, thinking them to be islands. It also could make us slightly wary of Satan, as in describing him as a mythical beast, we don’t know how big he actually is. Furthermore, in describing him as huge, straight after we learn he has been defeated by God, Milton could be showing the all powerfulness of God. So Satan is an interesting character, and one sure to grab the readers attention.
Monday, 20 September 2010
ep
Extended Project – Frank Higson
Title: How to make a Native-American style Totem Pole
Model totem. Maquette.
I will split my project into three core areas:
1. Wood types best used for woodcarving
2. Tools best used for woodcarving
3. Design – what does a totem pole consist of?
I will aim to use a variety of different sources, namely, museums, books and the internet, as well as interviews. I will then create a totem pole, based on my research behind what a totem pole is.
What do totem poles consist of?
Totem poles have a variety of different purposes, although they are never used as figures to worship, or depictions of ‘gods’. The primary and most common use for a North American West Coast (the area totem poles originated) totem pole was to tell a story. Although the totem poles may be difficult to interpret as a story in this day and age, when they were carved they most likely helped depict a story that was as well known to them as say, Little Red Riding Hood is to us. So if I tell a story, I may want to tell a story that is fairly well known.
However, Totem Poles are about identity as well. Many original totem pole designs use animals; however, the carvers and creators lived in the same environments as the animals. Hence, as Wayne Hill and James McKee suggest in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’, we’re hardly going to have any family stories that begin, “One day, when your father was out spearing fish, a whale surfaced beside the boat”. Many modern day totem poles can include not animals but familiar objects, such as skis or golf clubs. I may want to consider this when creating my totem pole: I don’t have many close encounters with grizzly bears or coyote’s, although I might see squirrels, pidgeons, or cups of tea (although these are far less exciting encounters, which don’t produce many exciting stories). This is something to take into consideration when designing my totem pole; traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Another alternative and slightly more rare use of a totem pole is to use it as a ‘shame pole’. These are used to ridicule another person or party who the carver believes owes an unpaid debt. They could tell a shameful story or depict the person in a negative way. So I could carve my pole to shame a person or a group, for example, responsible for a major world catastrophe such as the pole created in Alaska that depicts the ex-CEO of the company Exxon distorted, representing the unpaid debt he owes to the environment for taking part in causing a large oil spill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole).
According to Carve your own Totem Pole, a full sized totem pole would take a team of 20 experienced wood carvers up to a year to create, with the tools costing a minimum of £300. I don’t have the time, experience or money to create a full size totem pole, so I will want to think of ways of altering my original idea to make it possible for me to create.
Ways I can alter my project:
- Size is an issue. If I use a far smaller piece of wood, then the tools are far less expensive, and I will have the time to carve the pole. So I could either design the full totem pole, and only carve the bottom image, or downsize the entire pole, and carve the full design. I think the latter idea would be my preference, as it would result in my original idea – I would have the end product of a totem pole, while if I went with the first idea I wouldn’t – I would have a carved face. Furthermore, the first idea would mean I would still need to obtain the tools that I would have to obtain for a real totem pole, while if I use a small bit of wood, I can use smaller, more common tools.
- Experience is an issue. Having never attempted wood carving previously, I will probably work very slowly. So I may want to use a very soft wood to carve my pole. As I don’t know about soft woods, I will want to organise an interview to find out about wood.
It is easy to notice when observing numerous totem poles, that they appear to be numerous images ascending one upon another. There is an importance order involved, however it is not that the most important images are at the top with the least important at the bottom – it is the other way round. And this is simply because of common sense and practicality-the images at the bottom are more intricate simply because more people will see them than the ones 20 feet in the sky. But as I will be carving a small totem pole, this is not a relevant issue. An alternative is having a chronology, almost showing a narrative to a story through pictures, either ascending or descending. A common theme to a totem pole showing a story is the theme of transformation: so if I was to use common themes I may want to show an element of transformation in my totem pole.
So the questions I will want to answer before I start the design of my totem pole are:
Do I tell a story?
If so, a story about my identity/life, or a well known story?
Traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Do I show a theme of transformation?
Shame pole or totem pole?
To help decide what your pole consists of a method suggested in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ is to look for thematic connections. To do this, they suggest drawing a number of different circles on a piece of paper, each holding a different element I want to include, and draw lines between each one to show the links. I tried this method but it gave uninteresting results, as in my interests did not seem like interests that would translate effectively onto a totem pole. However, after thinking about my interests, it gave me some inspiration. On the piece of paper I had ‘Greek myths’ circled. I began thinking about telling a story of a Greek myth, in particular ‘The Labours of Heracles’, a myth more familiar to me than most. So this would be a great way of intertwining two very different cultures. It would still be traditional: it would tell the story of Heracles, which could also be said to be a story of transformation, (he completes the labours to be granted immortality, hence becoming like his father, and a wife, hence becoming a completed man). It is also a fairly well known story, one that some people might recognise even as a totem pole. It also would mean the totem pole would be much less mundane, because of all the exciting creatures he meets in the stories. It is also quite a structured story; he does one task, then another, then another, so structurally, it would fit very well on a totem pole.
So in many ways, it is still a traditionally styled totem pole. I will need to research each ‘task’ to gain inspiration for each tasks interpretation upon the pole, although it is open to my own west coast style interpretation, as I want to carve the pole in the same style as that of the original west coast totem poles.
According to the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology Heracles’ function was to be the personification of physical strength. So as the totem pole’s function is to tell the story of Heracles, I want it to show somehow his primary aspect of strength. I could do this by making the images upon the totem pole look fearsome and dangerous, showing the hardship and courage (and therefore strength) that Heracles shows to complete his labours.
The 12 labours are:
Slay the Nemean lion. Impenetrable skin, strangled to death.
Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra. Poisonous breath, nine heads, lives in a swamp, one head cannot die, serpent.
Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. Golden antlers. Chased for a full year.
Capture the Erymanthian Boar. Terrifying, came from a mountain.
Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Dammed a river so that it flowed through the stables.
Slay the Stymphalian Birds. Man eating, with wings and beaks of iron. Blocked out the sun when in flight.
Capture the Cretan Bull. Driven mad by Poseidon.
Steal the Mares of Diomedes. Man eating horses owned by the son of Ares.
Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen.
Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon – a triple bodied monster, and had a great deal of trouble getting them back, especially when Hera sent a gadfly which drove them bad and they scattered over a mountain range.
Steal the Apples of the Hesperides. Slayed the dragon garding the garden, and tricked Atlas, who held up the world, into obtaining the apples for him.
Capture and bring back Cerberus – a three headed dog which luckily for Heracles shared one throat, which he choaked. Cerberus was guardian of the infernal gates.
Now I know what images my totem pole will consist of, I need to know how to present these images in West Coast style. After examining many pictures from ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ and Native-American art in the British museum, I have a few ideas in my head. Furthermore, ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ explains that when designing a totem pole, there are five basic shapes that make up most of the design. ‘By varying them and combining them in different ways, carvers can create all kinds of figures’. These shapes are known as: circle, U form, S form, ovoid, split U and trigon, which is split U inversed.
(These can be seen in my notebook). I then used these shapes to design each labour, in rough. I found some designs more effective than others: in particular, I found that the horse did not look effective as I found it difficult to visualise. The ‘carve your own totem pole’ book heavily influenced the designs; without previous experience, I had to gain inspiration from the book as I didn’t know how to design my own designs. So, for example, the boar comes from a picture of an existing pole showing a beaver, only the teeth have been changed. So I designed the influenced ones first: however, there were no designs that looked like a lion. So I did design this one myself, using the 5 basic shapes (the mouth is a trigon, the eyes and nose ovals). The design for the man eating bird is heavily influenced by a wood carving from the native American section. Although independent of a totem pole, I could attach a similar carving to the top of my pole.
I turned the rough designs into a final design on graphed paper. When I did this, I made altercations from my original rough sketches: I removed lots of the detail, as I realised that, as I was doing a smaller totem pole, the detail might be too difficult to carve.
Now, I need to get the materials so I can begin carving. I will conduct an interview to do so.
Planning my first interview: what do I need to find out? I need to find out primarily about what wood would be quickest to carve when carving a small totem pole. So I found someone who knew more than most about carving on a small scale: Mayall, who is the production manager at the Globe Theater, and had been a set designer for many years. I asked him about the best wood for small scale wood carving, and he told me that he used balsa wood, a very malleable lightwood, to design his sets on a small scale. He told me it was easy and quick to carve. A small selection of knives would be enough to carve a whole totem pole, if I was to use balsa wood. So I went to a shop called 4D, to get the block of wood. There was a perfect sized wood for my totem pole, which cost £20.
The photo diary shows the process of constructing the totem pole.
The end product does not look like the final design. There are reasons behind this. Working from top to bottom: Geryon’s nostrils have been changed from the spiral design to a simple circle. I couldn’t visualise the spirals on the pole itself – I found it hard to imagine how they would look when carved.
There are only 7 hydra snakes instead of 9. 3 on each side simply couldn’t fit and simultaneously keep the snake shape. So I had to downsize to 7, although as Greek mythology and native American art is down to personal interpretation, I didn’t think that it ruined the totem pole.
The boar has lost its eyebrows. One of the problems is that I didn’t remove enough detail when changing my rough design into a final design. I overestimated my skills as a wood carver, so when carving the final design, I lost quite a large amount of detail. Because of this, however, I decided to paint my totem pole, as I could regain the detail lost in the carving process. This was particularly important for the Amazonian belt. Because the trigon shapes were so small, they were very difficult to carve and because chipped and undetailed, so it was important I felt to add paint to regain the detail.
I decided I wanted to paint the totem pole for another reason as well: although the lion looked like a lion in design, after it was carved it looked very strange, as though the face was independent from the pole. Painting, if coordinated across the pole, could help tie the lion together with the other designs.
The river maybe changed the most: the s-forms were far too hard to carve, so I decided painting them on would be necessary if I wanted to show the river in the final design.
The other two designs surprisingly didn’t change from the original design, although I felt it wasn’t clear that the ovoid shape carved into Atlas’s left hand was supposed to be an apple, so painting it would help to clarify what it represented. So now I had another job to do: paint the totem pole.
Title: How to make a Native-American style Totem Pole
Model totem. Maquette.
I will split my project into three core areas:
1. Wood types best used for woodcarving
2. Tools best used for woodcarving
3. Design – what does a totem pole consist of?
I will aim to use a variety of different sources, namely, museums, books and the internet, as well as interviews. I will then create a totem pole, based on my research behind what a totem pole is.
What do totem poles consist of?
Totem poles have a variety of different purposes, although they are never used as figures to worship, or depictions of ‘gods’. The primary and most common use for a North American West Coast (the area totem poles originated) totem pole was to tell a story. Although the totem poles may be difficult to interpret as a story in this day and age, when they were carved they most likely helped depict a story that was as well known to them as say, Little Red Riding Hood is to us. So if I tell a story, I may want to tell a story that is fairly well known.
However, Totem Poles are about identity as well. Many original totem pole designs use animals; however, the carvers and creators lived in the same environments as the animals. Hence, as Wayne Hill and James McKee suggest in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’, we’re hardly going to have any family stories that begin, “One day, when your father was out spearing fish, a whale surfaced beside the boat”. Many modern day totem poles can include not animals but familiar objects, such as skis or golf clubs. I may want to consider this when creating my totem pole: I don’t have many close encounters with grizzly bears or coyote’s, although I might see squirrels, pidgeons, or cups of tea (although these are far less exciting encounters, which don’t produce many exciting stories). This is something to take into consideration when designing my totem pole; traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Another alternative and slightly more rare use of a totem pole is to use it as a ‘shame pole’. These are used to ridicule another person or party who the carver believes owes an unpaid debt. They could tell a shameful story or depict the person in a negative way. So I could carve my pole to shame a person or a group, for example, responsible for a major world catastrophe such as the pole created in Alaska that depicts the ex-CEO of the company Exxon distorted, representing the unpaid debt he owes to the environment for taking part in causing a large oil spill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole).
According to Carve your own Totem Pole, a full sized totem pole would take a team of 20 experienced wood carvers up to a year to create, with the tools costing a minimum of £300. I don’t have the time, experience or money to create a full size totem pole, so I will want to think of ways of altering my original idea to make it possible for me to create.
Ways I can alter my project:
- Size is an issue. If I use a far smaller piece of wood, then the tools are far less expensive, and I will have the time to carve the pole. So I could either design the full totem pole, and only carve the bottom image, or downsize the entire pole, and carve the full design. I think the latter idea would be my preference, as it would result in my original idea – I would have the end product of a totem pole, while if I went with the first idea I wouldn’t – I would have a carved face. Furthermore, the first idea would mean I would still need to obtain the tools that I would have to obtain for a real totem pole, while if I use a small bit of wood, I can use smaller, more common tools.
- Experience is an issue. Having never attempted wood carving previously, I will probably work very slowly. So I may want to use a very soft wood to carve my pole. As I don’t know about soft woods, I will want to organise an interview to find out about wood.
It is easy to notice when observing numerous totem poles, that they appear to be numerous images ascending one upon another. There is an importance order involved, however it is not that the most important images are at the top with the least important at the bottom – it is the other way round. And this is simply because of common sense and practicality-the images at the bottom are more intricate simply because more people will see them than the ones 20 feet in the sky. But as I will be carving a small totem pole, this is not a relevant issue. An alternative is having a chronology, almost showing a narrative to a story through pictures, either ascending or descending. A common theme to a totem pole showing a story is the theme of transformation: so if I was to use common themes I may want to show an element of transformation in my totem pole.
So the questions I will want to answer before I start the design of my totem pole are:
Do I tell a story?
If so, a story about my identity/life, or a well known story?
Traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Do I show a theme of transformation?
Shame pole or totem pole?
To help decide what your pole consists of a method suggested in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ is to look for thematic connections. To do this, they suggest drawing a number of different circles on a piece of paper, each holding a different element I want to include, and draw lines between each one to show the links. I tried this method but it gave uninteresting results, as in my interests did not seem like interests that would translate effectively onto a totem pole. However, after thinking about my interests, it gave me some inspiration. On the piece of paper I had ‘Greek myths’ circled. I began thinking about telling a story of a Greek myth, in particular ‘The Labours of Heracles’, a myth more familiar to me than most. So this would be a great way of intertwining two very different cultures. It would still be traditional: it would tell the story of Heracles, which could also be said to be a story of transformation, (he completes the labours to be granted immortality, hence becoming like his father, and a wife, hence becoming a completed man). It is also a fairly well known story, one that some people might recognise even as a totem pole. It also would mean the totem pole would be much less mundane, because of all the exciting creatures he meets in the stories. It is also quite a structured story; he does one task, then another, then another, so structurally, it would fit very well on a totem pole.
So in many ways, it is still a traditionally styled totem pole. I will need to research each ‘task’ to gain inspiration for each tasks interpretation upon the pole, although it is open to my own west coast style interpretation, as I want to carve the pole in the same style as that of the original west coast totem poles.
According to the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology Heracles’ function was to be the personification of physical strength. So as the totem pole’s function is to tell the story of Heracles, I want it to show somehow his primary aspect of strength. I could do this by making the images upon the totem pole look fearsome and dangerous, showing the hardship and courage (and therefore strength) that Heracles shows to complete his labours.
The 12 labours are:
Slay the Nemean lion. Impenetrable skin, strangled to death.
Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra. Poisonous breath, nine heads, lives in a swamp, one head cannot die, serpent.
Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. Golden antlers. Chased for a full year.
Capture the Erymanthian Boar. Terrifying, came from a mountain.
Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Dammed a river so that it flowed through the stables.
Slay the Stymphalian Birds. Man eating, with wings and beaks of iron. Blocked out the sun when in flight.
Capture the Cretan Bull. Driven mad by Poseidon.
Steal the Mares of Diomedes. Man eating horses owned by the son of Ares.
Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen.
Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon – a triple bodied monster, and had a great deal of trouble getting them back, especially when Hera sent a gadfly which drove them bad and they scattered over a mountain range.
Steal the Apples of the Hesperides. Slayed the dragon garding the garden, and tricked Atlas, who held up the world, into obtaining the apples for him.
Capture and bring back Cerberus – a three headed dog which luckily for Heracles shared one throat, which he choaked. Cerberus was guardian of the infernal gates.
Now I know what images my totem pole will consist of, I need to know how to present these images in West Coast style. After examining many pictures from ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ and Native-American art in the British museum, I have a few ideas in my head. Furthermore, ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ explains that when designing a totem pole, there are five basic shapes that make up most of the design. ‘By varying them and combining them in different ways, carvers can create all kinds of figures’. These shapes are known as: circle, U form, S form, ovoid, split U and trigon, which is split U inversed.
(These can be seen in my notebook). I then used these shapes to design each labour, in rough. I found some designs more effective than others: in particular, I found that the horse did not look effective as I found it difficult to visualise. The ‘carve your own totem pole’ book heavily influenced the designs; without previous experience, I had to gain inspiration from the book as I didn’t know how to design my own designs. So, for example, the boar comes from a picture of an existing pole showing a beaver, only the teeth have been changed. So I designed the influenced ones first: however, there were no designs that looked like a lion. So I did design this one myself, using the 5 basic shapes (the mouth is a trigon, the eyes and nose ovals). The design for the man eating bird is heavily influenced by a wood carving from the native American section. Although independent of a totem pole, I could attach a similar carving to the top of my pole.
I turned the rough designs into a final design on graphed paper. When I did this, I made altercations from my original rough sketches: I removed lots of the detail, as I realised that, as I was doing a smaller totem pole, the detail might be too difficult to carve.
Now, I need to get the materials so I can begin carving. I will conduct an interview to do so.
Planning my first interview: what do I need to find out? I need to find out primarily about what wood would be quickest to carve when carving a small totem pole. So I found someone who knew more than most about carving on a small scale: Mayall, who is the production manager at the Globe Theater, and had been a set designer for many years. I asked him about the best wood for small scale wood carving, and he told me that he used balsa wood, a very malleable lightwood, to design his sets on a small scale. He told me it was easy and quick to carve. A small selection of knives would be enough to carve a whole totem pole, if I was to use balsa wood. So I went to a shop called 4D, to get the block of wood. There was a perfect sized wood for my totem pole, which cost £20.
The photo diary shows the process of constructing the totem pole.
The end product does not look like the final design. There are reasons behind this. Working from top to bottom: Geryon’s nostrils have been changed from the spiral design to a simple circle. I couldn’t visualise the spirals on the pole itself – I found it hard to imagine how they would look when carved.
There are only 7 hydra snakes instead of 9. 3 on each side simply couldn’t fit and simultaneously keep the snake shape. So I had to downsize to 7, although as Greek mythology and native American art is down to personal interpretation, I didn’t think that it ruined the totem pole.
The boar has lost its eyebrows. One of the problems is that I didn’t remove enough detail when changing my rough design into a final design. I overestimated my skills as a wood carver, so when carving the final design, I lost quite a large amount of detail. Because of this, however, I decided to paint my totem pole, as I could regain the detail lost in the carving process. This was particularly important for the Amazonian belt. Because the trigon shapes were so small, they were very difficult to carve and because chipped and undetailed, so it was important I felt to add paint to regain the detail.
I decided I wanted to paint the totem pole for another reason as well: although the lion looked like a lion in design, after it was carved it looked very strange, as though the face was independent from the pole. Painting, if coordinated across the pole, could help tie the lion together with the other designs.
The river maybe changed the most: the s-forms were far too hard to carve, so I decided painting them on would be necessary if I wanted to show the river in the final design.
The other two designs surprisingly didn’t change from the original design, although I felt it wasn’t clear that the ovoid shape carved into Atlas’s left hand was supposed to be an apple, so painting it would help to clarify what it represented. So now I had another job to do: paint the totem pole.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Extended project
Extended Project – Frank Higson
Title: How to make a Native-American style Totem Pole
I will split my project into three core areas:
1. Wood types best used for small scale wood carving
2. Tools best used for small scale wood carving
3. Design – what does a totem pole consist of?
I will aim to use a variety of different sources, namely, museums, books and the internet, as well as interviews. I will then create a small design ‘blueprint’ totem pole that would have potential to be used to help aid creating a larger piece of art, as real totem poles can take a team of experienced carvers up to 12 months.
What do totem poles consist of?
Totem poles have a variety of different purposes, although they are never used as figures to worship, or depictions of ‘gods’. The primary and most common use for a North American West Coast (the area totem poles originated) totem pole was to tell a story. Although the totem poles may be difficult to interpret as a story in this day and age, when they were carved they most likely helped depict a story that was as well known to them as say, Little Red Riding Hood is to us.
However, Totem Poles are about identity as well. Many original totem pole designs use animals; however, the carvers and creators lived in the same environments as the animals. Hence, as Wayne Hill and James McKee suggest in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’, we’re hardly going to have any family stories that begin, “One day, when your father was out spearing fish, a whale surfaced beside the boat”. Many modern day totem poles can include not animals but familiar objects, such as skis or golf clubs. I may want to consider this when creating my totem pole: I don’t have many close encounters with grizzly bears or coyote’s, although I might see squirrels, pidgeons, or cups of tea (although these are far less exciting encounters, which don’t produce many exciting stories). This is something to take into consideration when designing my totem pole; traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Another alternative and slightly more rare use of a totem pole is to use it as a ‘shame pole’. These are used to ridicule another person or party who the carver believes owes an unpaid debt. They could tell a shameful story or depict the person in a negative way. So I could carve my pole to shame a person or a group, for example, responsible for a major world catastrophe such as the pole created in Alaska that depicts the ex-CEO of the company Exxon distorted, representing the unpaid debt he owes to the environment for taking part in causing a large oil spill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole).
Because Totem poles are so large, and made out of tree trunks, it is hard to imagine myself being able to create one first time when it takes teams of experienced crafters months to create one themselves. So I will do a small scale design out of an easy to craft soft wood, which I may use eventually as a blueprint design for a larger scale model (though not part of my project).
It is easy to notice when observing numerous totem poles, that they appear to be numerous images ascending one upon another. There is an importance order involved, however it is not that the most important images are at the top with the least important at the bottom – it is the other way round. And this is simply because of common sense and practicality-the images at the bottom are more intricate simply because more people will see them than the ones 20 feet in the sky. When I design my totem pole I may want to consider having the more exciting images at the bottom. An alternative is having a chronology, almost showing a narrative to a story through pictures, either ascending or descending. A common theme to a totem pole showing a story is the theme of transformation: so if I was to use common themes I may want to show an element of transformation in my totem pole.
So the questions I will want to answer before I start the design of my totem pole are:
Do I tell a story?
If so, a story about my identity/life, or a well known story?
Traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Do I show a theme of transformation?
Shame pole or totem pole?
To help decide what your pole consists of a method suggested in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ is to look for thematic connections. To do this, they suggest drawing a number of different circles on a piece of paper, each holding a different element I want to include, and draw lines between each one to show the links. I tried this method but uninteresting results. However, after thinking about my interests, it gave me some inspiration. On the piece of paper I had ‘Greek myths’ circled. I began thinking about telling a story of a Greek myth, in particular ‘The Labours of Heracles’, a myth more familiar to me than most. So this would be a great way of intertwining two very different cultures. It would still be traditional: it would tell the story of Heracles, which could also be said to be a story of transformation, (he completes the labours to be granted immortality, hence becoming like his father, and a wife, hence becoming a completed man). It is also a fairly well known story, one that some people might recognise even as a totem pole. It also would mean the totem pole would be much less mundane, because of all the exciting creatures he meets in the stories. So in many ways, it is still a traditionally styled totem pole. The 12 labours of Heracles would also fit well on a totem pole.
I will need to research each ‘task’ to gain inspiration for each tasks interpretation upon
the pole, although it is open to my own west coast style interpretation, as I want to carve the pole in the same style as that of the original west coast totem poles.
According to the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology Heracles’ function was to be the personification of physical strength. So as the totem pole’s function is to tell the story of Heracles, I want it to show somehow his primary aspect of strength.
The 12 labours are:
Slay the Nemean lion. Impenetrable skin, strangled to death.
Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra. Poisonous breath, nine heads, lives in a swamp, one head cannot die, serpent.
Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. Golden antlers. Chased for a full year.
Capture the Erymanthian Boar. Terrifying, came from a mountain.
Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Dammed a river so that it flowed through the stables.
Slay the Stymphalian Birds. Man eating, with wings and beaks of iron. Blocked out the sun when in flight.
Capture the Cretan Bull. Driven mad by Poseidon.
Steal the Mares of Diomedes. Man eating horses owned by the son of Ares.
Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen.
Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon – a triple bodied monster, and had a great deal of trouble getting them back, especially when Hera sent a gadfly which drove them bad +and they scattered over a mountain range.
Steal the Apples of the Hesperides. Slayed the dragon garding the garden, and tricked Atlas, who held up the world, into obtaining the apples for him.
Capture and bring back Cerberus – a three headed dog which luckily for Heracles shared one throat, which he choaked. Cerberus was guardian of the infernal gates.
Now I know what images my totem pole will consist of, I need to know how to present these images in West Coast style. After examining many pictures from ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ and Native-American art in the British museum, I have a few ideas in my head. Furthermore, ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ explains that when designing a totem pole, there are five basic shapes that make up most of the design. ‘By varying them and combining them in different ways, carvers can create all kinds of figures’. These shapes are known as: circle, U form, S form, ovoid, split U and trigon, which is split U inversed.
I will now practice drawing the shapes to understand how best to use them.
Planning my interview: What do I need to find out?
Useful tools for wood carving
Wood carving tips
Best types of wood for small-scale wood carving.
Because there is a broad amount of information I need to find out, I will ask open ended questions.
Balsa wood. Stanley knife. Trees. Original style (5 shapes).
Interviewees: Ash Higson (organise) Mr.Mayall (organise)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ by Wayne Hill and James Mckee, published by A Boston Hills Press.
‘Top Ten Greek Legends’ by Terry Deary
‘New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole
Title: How to make a Native-American style Totem Pole
I will split my project into three core areas:
1. Wood types best used for small scale wood carving
2. Tools best used for small scale wood carving
3. Design – what does a totem pole consist of?
I will aim to use a variety of different sources, namely, museums, books and the internet, as well as interviews. I will then create a small design ‘blueprint’ totem pole that would have potential to be used to help aid creating a larger piece of art, as real totem poles can take a team of experienced carvers up to 12 months.
What do totem poles consist of?
Totem poles have a variety of different purposes, although they are never used as figures to worship, or depictions of ‘gods’. The primary and most common use for a North American West Coast (the area totem poles originated) totem pole was to tell a story. Although the totem poles may be difficult to interpret as a story in this day and age, when they were carved they most likely helped depict a story that was as well known to them as say, Little Red Riding Hood is to us.
However, Totem Poles are about identity as well. Many original totem pole designs use animals; however, the carvers and creators lived in the same environments as the animals. Hence, as Wayne Hill and James McKee suggest in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’, we’re hardly going to have any family stories that begin, “One day, when your father was out spearing fish, a whale surfaced beside the boat”. Many modern day totem poles can include not animals but familiar objects, such as skis or golf clubs. I may want to consider this when creating my totem pole: I don’t have many close encounters with grizzly bears or coyote’s, although I might see squirrels, pidgeons, or cups of tea (although these are far less exciting encounters, which don’t produce many exciting stories). This is something to take into consideration when designing my totem pole; traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Another alternative and slightly more rare use of a totem pole is to use it as a ‘shame pole’. These are used to ridicule another person or party who the carver believes owes an unpaid debt. They could tell a shameful story or depict the person in a negative way. So I could carve my pole to shame a person or a group, for example, responsible for a major world catastrophe such as the pole created in Alaska that depicts the ex-CEO of the company Exxon distorted, representing the unpaid debt he owes to the environment for taking part in causing a large oil spill. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole).
Because Totem poles are so large, and made out of tree trunks, it is hard to imagine myself being able to create one first time when it takes teams of experienced crafters months to create one themselves. So I will do a small scale design out of an easy to craft soft wood, which I may use eventually as a blueprint design for a larger scale model (though not part of my project).
It is easy to notice when observing numerous totem poles, that they appear to be numerous images ascending one upon another. There is an importance order involved, however it is not that the most important images are at the top with the least important at the bottom – it is the other way round. And this is simply because of common sense and practicality-the images at the bottom are more intricate simply because more people will see them than the ones 20 feet in the sky. When I design my totem pole I may want to consider having the more exciting images at the bottom. An alternative is having a chronology, almost showing a narrative to a story through pictures, either ascending or descending. A common theme to a totem pole showing a story is the theme of transformation: so if I was to use common themes I may want to show an element of transformation in my totem pole.
So the questions I will want to answer before I start the design of my totem pole are:
Do I tell a story?
If so, a story about my identity/life, or a well known story?
Traditionally styled or contemporarily styled?
Do I show a theme of transformation?
Shame pole or totem pole?
To help decide what your pole consists of a method suggested in ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ is to look for thematic connections. To do this, they suggest drawing a number of different circles on a piece of paper, each holding a different element I want to include, and draw lines between each one to show the links. I tried this method but uninteresting results. However, after thinking about my interests, it gave me some inspiration. On the piece of paper I had ‘Greek myths’ circled. I began thinking about telling a story of a Greek myth, in particular ‘The Labours of Heracles’, a myth more familiar to me than most. So this would be a great way of intertwining two very different cultures. It would still be traditional: it would tell the story of Heracles, which could also be said to be a story of transformation, (he completes the labours to be granted immortality, hence becoming like his father, and a wife, hence becoming a completed man). It is also a fairly well known story, one that some people might recognise even as a totem pole. It also would mean the totem pole would be much less mundane, because of all the exciting creatures he meets in the stories. So in many ways, it is still a traditionally styled totem pole. The 12 labours of Heracles would also fit well on a totem pole.
I will need to research each ‘task’ to gain inspiration for each tasks interpretation upon
the pole, although it is open to my own west coast style interpretation, as I want to carve the pole in the same style as that of the original west coast totem poles.
According to the New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology Heracles’ function was to be the personification of physical strength. So as the totem pole’s function is to tell the story of Heracles, I want it to show somehow his primary aspect of strength.
The 12 labours are:
Slay the Nemean lion. Impenetrable skin, strangled to death.
Slay the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra. Poisonous breath, nine heads, lives in a swamp, one head cannot die, serpent.
Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis. Golden antlers. Chased for a full year.
Capture the Erymanthian Boar. Terrifying, came from a mountain.
Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Dammed a river so that it flowed through the stables.
Slay the Stymphalian Birds. Man eating, with wings and beaks of iron. Blocked out the sun when in flight.
Capture the Cretan Bull. Driven mad by Poseidon.
Steal the Mares of Diomedes. Man eating horses owned by the son of Ares.
Obtain the Girdle of the Amazon Queen.
Obtain the Cattle of the Monster Geryon – a triple bodied monster, and had a great deal of trouble getting them back, especially when Hera sent a gadfly which drove them bad +and they scattered over a mountain range.
Steal the Apples of the Hesperides. Slayed the dragon garding the garden, and tricked Atlas, who held up the world, into obtaining the apples for him.
Capture and bring back Cerberus – a three headed dog which luckily for Heracles shared one throat, which he choaked. Cerberus was guardian of the infernal gates.
Now I know what images my totem pole will consist of, I need to know how to present these images in West Coast style. After examining many pictures from ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ and Native-American art in the British museum, I have a few ideas in my head. Furthermore, ‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ explains that when designing a totem pole, there are five basic shapes that make up most of the design. ‘By varying them and combining them in different ways, carvers can create all kinds of figures’. These shapes are known as: circle, U form, S form, ovoid, split U and trigon, which is split U inversed.
I will now practice drawing the shapes to understand how best to use them.
Planning my interview: What do I need to find out?
Useful tools for wood carving
Wood carving tips
Best types of wood for small-scale wood carving.
Because there is a broad amount of information I need to find out, I will ask open ended questions.
Balsa wood. Stanley knife. Trees. Original style (5 shapes).
Interviewees: Ash Higson (organise) Mr.Mayall (organise)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
‘Carve your own Totem Pole’ by Wayne Hill and James Mckee, published by A Boston Hills Press.
‘Top Ten Greek Legends’ by Terry Deary
‘New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole
Thursday, 6 May 2010
dr who media essay
Representation in episode 4 of series 5 Dr.Who of gender 0:00-5:00
The extract opens with a panning close up shot of a mans face, who has a clearly visible red lipstick kiss mark on his mouth. He looks dazzled and confused, and the diagetic echo noises are presumably from his point of view, to further show his misfortune.
We learn through the narrative he has been tricked, but judging by the lipstick mark, we gather that it was by a woman. We then see a zoom to a close up of a man’s face, which with his concerned expression, shows a threat towards his and his comrades, and he then says: ‘she’s here’.
Dramatic, tension building militairy music begins as we see a panning shot of a close up of ‘she’s’ feet, walking, seemingly with intention suggested by her speed and the fast music. Because of this we feel she seems to endanger or threaten the other men. She wears red stiletto-heeled shoes, and a black dress. Because of the previous scene with the lipstick, she seems to be represented as a seducer, with her slender, sexual clothes, and therefore more dangerous. There is a diagetic sound of her shoes, clicking on the floor, as she even ‘sounds like a woman’, with that sound representative of the high heeled shoe.
In the same shot, the camera pans up her body to waist height, and we see more of her black dress and flirty pose. The camera pans to her hands, one which holds a handbag, and the other a pistol, which emphasises the juxtaposition of her character as a slender, sexy lady and a dangerous seducer. She lifts the handbag out of the frame so the camera focuses on her gun, emphasising the power and danger she imposes.
The next shot is an extreme close up of her firing the gun, changing to a next shot of the door she has broken into using the gun, showing that she is brave, and able to use the gun easily and effectively. The diagetic ‘lazer gun’ noise sounds dangerous, showing that what she has is potentially lethal.
The next shot is an extreme close up of her hands fiddling with the gun – which turns out to change its function. So there is an emphasis on her ability, and in turn her intelligence, which further adds to the danger she imposes.
The camera switches to an extreme close up of her left eye, behind dark sunglasses. The sunglasses are bent and slender, almost secret agent-esque; they show her as classy and cool.
There is an analepsis in the narrative and we jump backwards 12000 years, shown by text on the screen. There is an establishing shot of a tall, stone room, with glass cabinets in it. A man strides confidently into shot, making statements. He wears a brown jacket and a bow tie, which make him look nerdy and smart like a teacher. A girl follows him into the shot. Her body language is contrasted to his: while he looks enthusiastic, she looks bored and confused. She wears a casual red jumper and tights, which make her look young and kooky.
We get the sense that he is her superior or mentor, as she follows him around. She also makes requests of him, and doesn’t seem bothered when he doesn’t respond.
A panning shot through what we learn is a museum shows the contrast in interests between the two; he walks with enthusiastic intent, while she looks bored, shown by her almost dragging herself along.
Through parallel editing, we are shown more close ups of the woman’s gun in action, and we can see her red painted fingernails, and another extreme close up of her glasses. Through the repetition editing and camera shots, we become aware that we have not yet seen her face, only her body. This adds to the mystery surrounding her and who she is.
Back in the museum, there is a two shot of the Dr and the girl, further contrasting the two’s enjoyment of the museum: he explains something very complicated to her enthusiastically, showing he is intelligent and loves history and knowledge, while she makes a sarcastic comment and holds her head up with her hands to further show how bored she is.
Through the parallel editing, we learn the two scenes are directly linked: that the woman has sent a message to the Dr, reading ‘hello sweety’. It is quite ironic, and the when the Dr reads it, the woman is shown to be reckless by trusting her life in a silly message. As the Dr reads the message out, we see see a panning shot that shows the woman’s face. She has red lipstick on, her dark sunglasses, and blonde hair, but her gun is still in shot to make sure we still have ambiguous feelings towards her.
We then switch back to a medium shot of the Dr and his accomplice running, being chased by guards as the diagetic sound of alarm bell’s ring. The two are represented as adventurous and brave, but the Dr could be shown to be a bad influence on the girl as he leads the escape, holding the stolen item in his hand.
Their danger is similar to that of the woman, as we see more guards running down a corridor in a medium shot. They then point their guns which we presume is at the woman, but has an eyeline match with the audience as they point into the camera. This connects us with the woman, so we might feel as though she is the good character. The guards dress in sinister black, and danger is signalled by the diagetic clicking noise their loading of their gun’s make.
We see a medium shot of Dr. Song, the woman, standing with her back against a wall. She has an eyeline match with the guards’ leader, and uses a flirty tone of voice and body posture to address them, showing she is brave as she is calm in the face of danger, and even though they have large guns she is still in control.
There is a quick close up of the man’s face, and he too stares into the womans eyes with a bemused look on his face, showing that he too is not scared by the woman.
She then threatens him, again whilst being very flirtatious, and we see a new close up of the mans face, now looking worried, which shows he has lost power in the situation, and we see another medium shot of Dr.Song blowing them a kiss, which indicates she is leaving by her own will.
Her escape involves flying into space, which we see in a long shot, showing that she is brave and reckless.
We then see two close ups of her falling into the Dr’s arms. She falls on top of him, which suggests her dominance over him. This is emphasised when we see an over the shoulder shot of her on top of him, he blonde hair and red painted nails in shot, and she looks into his eyes.
The extract opens with a panning close up shot of a mans face, who has a clearly visible red lipstick kiss mark on his mouth. He looks dazzled and confused, and the diagetic echo noises are presumably from his point of view, to further show his misfortune.
We learn through the narrative he has been tricked, but judging by the lipstick mark, we gather that it was by a woman. We then see a zoom to a close up of a man’s face, which with his concerned expression, shows a threat towards his and his comrades, and he then says: ‘she’s here’.
Dramatic, tension building militairy music begins as we see a panning shot of a close up of ‘she’s’ feet, walking, seemingly with intention suggested by her speed and the fast music. Because of this we feel she seems to endanger or threaten the other men. She wears red stiletto-heeled shoes, and a black dress. Because of the previous scene with the lipstick, she seems to be represented as a seducer, with her slender, sexual clothes, and therefore more dangerous. There is a diagetic sound of her shoes, clicking on the floor, as she even ‘sounds like a woman’, with that sound representative of the high heeled shoe.
In the same shot, the camera pans up her body to waist height, and we see more of her black dress and flirty pose. The camera pans to her hands, one which holds a handbag, and the other a pistol, which emphasises the juxtaposition of her character as a slender, sexy lady and a dangerous seducer. She lifts the handbag out of the frame so the camera focuses on her gun, emphasising the power and danger she imposes.
The next shot is an extreme close up of her firing the gun, changing to a next shot of the door she has broken into using the gun, showing that she is brave, and able to use the gun easily and effectively. The diagetic ‘lazer gun’ noise sounds dangerous, showing that what she has is potentially lethal.
The next shot is an extreme close up of her hands fiddling with the gun – which turns out to change its function. So there is an emphasis on her ability, and in turn her intelligence, which further adds to the danger she imposes.
The camera switches to an extreme close up of her left eye, behind dark sunglasses. The sunglasses are bent and slender, almost secret agent-esque; they show her as classy and cool.
There is an analepsis in the narrative and we jump backwards 12000 years, shown by text on the screen. There is an establishing shot of a tall, stone room, with glass cabinets in it. A man strides confidently into shot, making statements. He wears a brown jacket and a bow tie, which make him look nerdy and smart like a teacher. A girl follows him into the shot. Her body language is contrasted to his: while he looks enthusiastic, she looks bored and confused. She wears a casual red jumper and tights, which make her look young and kooky.
We get the sense that he is her superior or mentor, as she follows him around. She also makes requests of him, and doesn’t seem bothered when he doesn’t respond.
A panning shot through what we learn is a museum shows the contrast in interests between the two; he walks with enthusiastic intent, while she looks bored, shown by her almost dragging herself along.
Through parallel editing, we are shown more close ups of the woman’s gun in action, and we can see her red painted fingernails, and another extreme close up of her glasses. Through the repetition editing and camera shots, we become aware that we have not yet seen her face, only her body. This adds to the mystery surrounding her and who she is.
Back in the museum, there is a two shot of the Dr and the girl, further contrasting the two’s enjoyment of the museum: he explains something very complicated to her enthusiastically, showing he is intelligent and loves history and knowledge, while she makes a sarcastic comment and holds her head up with her hands to further show how bored she is.
Through the parallel editing, we learn the two scenes are directly linked: that the woman has sent a message to the Dr, reading ‘hello sweety’. It is quite ironic, and the when the Dr reads it, the woman is shown to be reckless by trusting her life in a silly message. As the Dr reads the message out, we see see a panning shot that shows the woman’s face. She has red lipstick on, her dark sunglasses, and blonde hair, but her gun is still in shot to make sure we still have ambiguous feelings towards her.
We then switch back to a medium shot of the Dr and his accomplice running, being chased by guards as the diagetic sound of alarm bell’s ring. The two are represented as adventurous and brave, but the Dr could be shown to be a bad influence on the girl as he leads the escape, holding the stolen item in his hand.
Their danger is similar to that of the woman, as we see more guards running down a corridor in a medium shot. They then point their guns which we presume is at the woman, but has an eyeline match with the audience as they point into the camera. This connects us with the woman, so we might feel as though she is the good character. The guards dress in sinister black, and danger is signalled by the diagetic clicking noise their loading of their gun’s make.
We see a medium shot of Dr. Song, the woman, standing with her back against a wall. She has an eyeline match with the guards’ leader, and uses a flirty tone of voice and body posture to address them, showing she is brave as she is calm in the face of danger, and even though they have large guns she is still in control.
There is a quick close up of the man’s face, and he too stares into the womans eyes with a bemused look on his face, showing that he too is not scared by the woman.
She then threatens him, again whilst being very flirtatious, and we see a new close up of the mans face, now looking worried, which shows he has lost power in the situation, and we see another medium shot of Dr.Song blowing them a kiss, which indicates she is leaving by her own will.
Her escape involves flying into space, which we see in a long shot, showing that she is brave and reckless.
We then see two close ups of her falling into the Dr’s arms. She falls on top of him, which suggests her dominance over him. This is emphasised when we see an over the shoulder shot of her on top of him, he blonde hair and red painted nails in shot, and she looks into his eyes.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Mills Principle of Harm
Mill’s principle of harm.
The principle is: mankind can interfere with the liberty of fellow mankind if it is in self-protection. The only time power can be used over another against that other’s will is to prevent harm to others. One’s own wants, either physical or moral, are not sufficient justification to interfere with power. It is only when protecting others, and has no justification, if it is spawned by concerns over ones self.
One object of the harm principle is to help find out when and if it is fair to interfere with the liberty of fellow mankind. A further object of the principle of harm is to decide what helps to build a stronger, better, more self preserving community.
The principle is: mankind can interfere with the liberty of fellow mankind if it is in self-protection. The only time power can be used over another against that other’s will is to prevent harm to others. One’s own wants, either physical or moral, are not sufficient justification to interfere with power. It is only when protecting others, and has no justification, if it is spawned by concerns over ones self.
One object of the harm principle is to help find out when and if it is fair to interfere with the liberty of fellow mankind. A further object of the principle of harm is to decide what helps to build a stronger, better, more self preserving community.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
