Some interesting poster design

During my research I have found many movie posters I find to be interesting in design, colour and composition so I will post a few examples here.


I like the monochromatic approach to the colour treatment in this particular poster, I'm not so sold in the treatment of the text however, it could use a bit more work. A small example of the "Ensemble" approach from the blog I posted earlier.



In this poster I quite like the use of negative space at the top, having all of the action of the image taking place in the lower quarter of the image. This is a textbook example of the "Ensemble" style of poster.



I like the sense of mystery and foreboding that this poster presents. Only seeing the silhouette of the characters along with the tag line at the top makes us want to know what is going on. This poster would fall under the "Monochromatic" category.



The use of high contrast, the broken up image of the building on the island, the raging storm, and the mysterious lighting on the main actors face all lend themselves to the idea of mystery and intrigue quite well. This poster is an example of the "Solitary Hero" style.



There is always a sense of not knowing whats going on when presented with the image of a person not facing the camera. This factor, along with the point that he is standing in water in the middle of a city, and the tagline of "Your mind is the scene of the crime" all make us wonder what is truly happening here. I quite like the monochromatic approach to the colours which allows the title to actually stand out a little more. This poster is a cross between the "Monochromatic" and "Solitary Hero" type posters.

Cross Media Inspiration

Music is a common way for people to relax and unwind, or to rev up and party. Music of any type can also inspire and motivate, from upbeat music that we can exercise to, to calm melodic music we put in the background while doing work.

For me, music is such a powerful element to be inspired by, and different sounds evoke different feelings and can therefore inspire different things.

Lately I have found myself drawn to the music of Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Ros (pronounced Seega Rosh). I discovered this band after watching the movie 127 hours, where in the final stages of the movie, Sigur Ros's track "Festival" plays over the movie.

This is the full version of that song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWMDfJEkQDs

During the Dan O'Day workshop I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Dan himself really likes Sigur Ros's music and finds them very inspiring, and even played "Untitled 3" over the top of ones of his videos, a day in the life of an elderly couple. I found myself very touched by this video, not only because the subject matter was very poignant, but the beautiful music just added that something extra.

This is the music that played over that particular video, a track I find absolutely amazing. This one in particular has a very interesting video which I think you should watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cZGgtN42ns

This band has a very ethereal quality to their music, and I love to listen to their work while I edit and blog, it helps to clear my mind, focus my thoughts, and the sounds takes me to another place in my mind where creativity can just flow.

Movie Posters, the 5 main types.

OK for my third series I am developing a series of fictionalized movie posters. To this end I have been doing research on movie posters, and the trends involved in their design.
During my research I came across a very interesting blog post which describes (according to the author Matt Ward) 5 main types of movie posters and gives examples.

http://blog.echoenduring.com/2010/03/11/30-incredible-epic-movie-posters-related-trends/

Halo: Reach

Some may say a strange place to find inspiration, but the muse may descend from any number of unusual places, even from the realm of video games.

Halo: Reach is an Xbox 360 game developed by Bungie Studios and was released in September 2010. Depicting the struggle of humanity and the United Nations Space Command against the ferocious onslaught of a highly religious and technologically advanced alliance of aliens known as the Covenant, Halo: Reach takes us on a journey through some exotic and beautiful locations on the quest to save a planet from complete annihilation.

What bigger inspiration for a visual artist is there than the visual work of other artists? Perhaps that depends on the individual artist and how they draw on inspiration, but for myself, visual engorgement is a primary source of creative stimulus.

The team at Bungie Studios have lovingly crafted a rich and detailed world on which to set their tale of humanity's struggle for survival. From grand vistas of wide open plains to the closed in narrow canyons, lush green forests to wild rocky coasts and everything in between, I find myself really wishing I could visit these places myself, if it wasnt for the unfortunate neccessity of trying to dodge alien weapons fire of course.

What I truly love about the scenery we see in the game is that while it at times seems fantastical, it always retains complete believability (insofar as a computer game can show)

A few screenshots I captured from inside the game itself, I plan on adding some more soon.










All images are the property of Bungie Studios, 2011
The dedicated team who created this game can be seen here

http://www.bungie.net/Inside/teamindex.aspx

Luminism

Luminism is the term used to describe an art style that formed as a result of the work being produced by the Hudson River School artists. Characterized by the use of what I would describe as pools of light and an overall glowing aura, art of this style was highly stylized, evoking qualities of Romanticism as well.

DRAFT

Albert Bierstadt

Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German born-American painter who was known for his beautiful and awe inspiring landscape painting work. Beirstadt was a member of the Hudson River School. (see my blog entry on the HRS for more information)

Albert Bierstadt


I chose to write about Bierstadt because his style of creating artwork, much like the other artists of the Hudson River School, was not neccessarily about absolute realism, but rather an idealised portrayal of nature intended to make an image more inspiring and grandiose.

During extensive travels in both Europe and the American West, Bierstadt was heavily inspired and drawn to the beauty of the natural landscape. Taking quick sketches and colour studies whilst on location, Bierstadt would later on, in the comfort of his studio, paint grand scenes on large canvases.

While painting, Bierstadt would emphasise certain natural elements of the scene, including the interplay of light and shadow, the vividness and hue of the colours, the formation of clouds and fog, and a glowing aura to the image overall (the main trait of Luminism, the name given to the art style created by Hudson River School artists). While doing this he would retain the other elements of the scene as he remembered them, such as the mountains, trees, rivers etc

I find this approach to image creation to be particularly interesting because it allows the artist to depict a realistic scene with a highly stylised approached that allows the viewer to bear witness to a scene that they would not have been able to see otherwise. Bearing much similarity to the way a photographer would take a portrait of a person, displaying the subject in their most ideal light, so Bierstadt wished to show the natural landscape at its very best.

Here are a few of Bierstadts artworks.


Storm in the Rocky Mountains (Mount Rosa) (1886)


Sierra Nevada (c. 1871–1873)


Looking Down Yosemite Valley (1865)

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Albert_Bierstadt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bierstadt

Hudson River School

The Hudson River School was an art movement (not really a school, but a collection of enthusiastic and driven landscape artists) that existed in the United States in the mid 19th century. Founded by artist Thomas Cole, the work produced by HRS artists followed the themes of discovery, exploration and settlement.

Quite often, the scenes painted by HRS artists do not depict actual locations like the work produced by other landscape artists. HRS artists would often travel to many various locations and record their sightings, and paint from both memory and imagination upon returning home.

I see this kind of work as an early version of photomanipulation, however instead of taking photographs and merging them later on using computers, these artists would draw upon their memories and their own imaginations to create these wonderful inspiring compositions based upon what they had seen and what they wished to see.


The following is a few examples of work done by various HRS members


View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow, 1836
Thomas Cole (American, 1801–1848)
Oil on canvas


The Heart of the Andes, 1859
Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900)
Oil on canvas


The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, 1863
Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830–1902)
Oil on canvas

References
(note to self, reference this properly)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River_School
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hurs/hd_hurs.htm

Dylan Cole

For a very long time my idol in the realm of digital imagery has been Dylan Cole. Cole is a matte painter working out of the U.S and has done work on a large number of blockbuster films including Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Pirates of the Carribean and 2012.


Dylan Cole

I find Cole's work to be so inspiring. While matte painting is traditionally used as backing imagery for films, the still image presented in these instances can still show us so much. I often find myself staring at an image of Cole's, exploring the nuances of each image.

I love the idea of an image that makes me want to be there. I know this desire has fueled my interest in landscape photography, and it drives my interest in matte painting type work because I know that these locations dont really exist, but I often can't help but think how interesting it would be to see these places with my own eyes.

Cole has stated on many occasions that his primary influence for his style is the work of artists of the Hudson River School, primarily Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church (Blog entires on these will follow, I highly respect the work of these artists)

Here are a few examples of Coles work

Research Methodology

Section 1: Folio Development

1.1 Background

- Brief outline of my photographic interests.
- Outline of the work i chose to do this semester, and what led me to choose it.
- Discussion of where I think I will end up career wise.
- Establishing my Photoshop tutoring business.
- Benefits of being an A.C.E for my future career.

1.2 The Semester's Work

- Keep a record of shoots undertaken, document successes and failures
- Keep copies of in-progress Photoshop work, including unused versions of images
- Planning vs improvising and its effects.
- Adapatation and revision based on comments, advice and research.

1.3 Final Work

- Evidence of influences on my work.
- Self critique and evaluation processes.
- Evaluation of perceived skill with actual skill.

Section 2: Context

- Blogging of research undertaken. (inspiring photographers, artists, styles etc)
- Evidence of personal inspiration, factors in my life that have influenced my work.
- Compare and contrast my favourite artists, what I like about their work and what I dont.
- Blogging of any additional sources of inspiration - music, video games, movies etc.

Section 3: Industry

- Research photographers/artists who do this type of work.
- Summarise/discuss the outcomes of my work experience.
- Recap on interesting outcomes and discussions from workshops.
- Contact as many relevant photographers/artists as possible. This will include non-local photographers/artists to give scope to the potential for work.
- Reflect on the time spent at CIT and how prepared I feel to enter the industry.

Semester Goals

At the beginning of 1st year, I must say my photographic passion lay with landscapes, macros and composite work. My idea of great photography lay with the works of photographers like Ansel Adams, Ken Duncan and Peter Dombrovskis. As time has gone on, I have found myself more and more drawn to composite style work over all others, specifically the work of artists like Alexia Sinclair. I have also been strongly influenced by digital matte painters like Dylan Cole, Yannick Dusseault and Chris Stoski.

Having had a keen interest in Photoshop since I was about 12 years old, I am setting out to make composite work my number one priority. Having the freedom in 3rd year to make more choices about the work we do is allowing me to pursue this avid interest.

For a long time, i have had a strong interest in imagery that cannot simply be photographed, it must be created. Making choices about what to put into an image, take out of it, or simply refine and modify is a great tool for creative expression.

Goals for this semester

- Become an A.C.E. (Adobe Certified Expert) in Photoshop.
This is my number one goal, and a goal I will also most likely achieve very soon.
(I have now achieved this goal, I have passed the ACE test and am now a Certified Expert in Photoshop, very proud of this achievment.)

- Establish a Photoshop tutoring business
This is currently in the works, and will be launching in the near future.

- Expand my Photoshop skill set.
- I really see my future lying somewhere in the realm of extensive Photoshop usage. I want to expand on my current capabilities and knowledge to further my creative vision.

When we finally close the curtain on 3rd year, ideally I would like to work in any area that involves doing large scale composite work, i.e designing book covers, DVD covers, advertising work etc. I will also continue tutoring depending on time.

Alexia Sinclair

Amongst my all time favourite digital artists, Alexia Sinclair is a digital photographic artist based in Sydney, NSW. Highly regarded for her photomanipulation work, Sinclair takes a very holistic approach to her work, prefering to do as much of the work as she can. This involves travelling to exotic locations to photograph background plates, designing costumes, finding props and doing all the post production on her images. Sinclair's work is often dark, woven with rich history, and always wonderfully executed. Sinclair combines an absolute myriad of photographic elements into a complex montage of illustrative wonderment and fantasy, blending historical fact with modern concepts of beauty and power.


Alexia Sinclair


First of her most famous and celebrated works is "The Regal Twelve". This series explores and portrays powerful women throughout the centuries, both well known and obscure. This series portrays woman such as Marie Antoinette, Isabella of Spain and Cleopatra. Alexia uses strong symbols of power in these images, be it a weapon such as a sword, or an intimidating animal such as a lion, as a way of expressing the dominance of these figures.


Cleopatra - The Seductress


Catherine the Great - The Enlightened Empress


Elizabeth Báthory – The Countess of Blood

Her most recent series,"The Royal Dozen" (sister series to "The Regal Twelve") explores powerful and influential men throughout history. These lavishly decorated images explore figures such as Vlad Draculea, Alexander the Great and Peter Romanov. Much alike her first series, intricate motifs are woven throughout each meticulousy crafted image, delving deep into the history of each character. Exploring the facets that made each of these men famous, Sinclair tells a detailed and well formulated story with every image in the series.



Napolean Boneaparte - Emperor of the French


Shah Jahan - King of the World


Hannibal - Grace of Baal

References
All images copyright Alexia Sinclair
Sinclair, A 2001, Alexia Sinclair, viewed 27 February 2011