Friday, 29 November 2013

Secret Lair: Clockwork Priestess' Props (UV Textured)

In my lair, I have this chair and the lamp as part of the props that I have UV textured.

Chair UV Textured

Lamp UV Texture

Secret Lair: Clockwork Priestess Hero Prop

Taking my drawing of the hero prop as a reference, I went on into Maya to model it out. I like how the stand turned out to be but I may revisit it to make it better.

Hero Prop Drawing

3D Model

UV Mapped


Life Drawing Lesson 5

For this week's drawing class, we used colours again. I started of using chalk and I think the outcome was great was it was a soft medium.
2 Minute Poses
The activity was to do quick 1 minute sketches and I used a marker. I don't really enjoy using the marker as it was a harder medium in comparison to chalk and it was not flexible in terms of changing my marks after it was drawn.
1 Minute Poses
In a 25 minute pose, we were told to focus on a feature(s). This is my first attempt in doing some kind of portraiture. I feel that it was a good attempt in trying to get the different tones of the face.

The arm wasn't much a success though.


We continued the lesson in trying to focus more on limbs.




Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Secret Lair: Clockwork Priestess' Chair Model

Here's my other prop for my lair which is the chair. I did minor changes to the stage of the chair but the rest of the model was in accordance to my drawing.
Chair Reference Image

3D Chair Model

Secret Lair: Clockwork Priestess' Lair Lamp Model

I began to model my props in my lair which is the lamp. I am very satisfied with the outcome as it is exactly like the drawing I had for it.

Lamp Reference Image

3D Lamp Model

Saturday, 23 November 2013

Secret Lair: Clockwork Priestess' Lair Column Ideas

After the feedback from the 2nd OGR, I have decided to model out new ideas for the column that I am going to have in my lair. I like 3 though it has cylindrical body in comparison to the one I have in my final concept art. I like 2 too but I think I should extrude the body to give in and outs like the one I have in 3.


Mise-en-scène Film Programme: Repulsion (1965)

Figure 1 : Movie Poster
Repulsion (1965) is the first English Language film made by director, Roman Polanski. It is a psychological horror film on the subject of a female protagonist, Carol, who was in constant fear over intimacy and breaks down when she was left alone in an apartment she shared with her sister and her married boyfriend. 

When Carol’s sister left for a short break with her married boyfriend leaving Carol all alone in the apartment, her insanity started to unfold. Polanski brilliantly portrays the change of the character’s mental state through the environment and situation she had placed her in. Firstly, he had the scene where Carol was supposed to have the rabbit for dinner but unintentionally left and forgot about it by the phone, as she got distracted answering the phone call. Then, the character saw the small cracks in her apartment expanding. In a review written by Bradshaw, he emphasized this point when he said, “Small cracks in the walls of the apartment flow into crunching indicators of the heroine's crumbling mind.” (Bradshaw, 2013)
Figure 2: Decaying Rabbit [Still Image]
Her fear of intimacy and of men could be seen right from the start of the film when she walks past by them on the streets really quickly and avoids eye contact. This fear was accentuated when she imagined the walls in her apartment to transform to flesh and was forced to touch it. In a later scene, there were hands extended in every direction from the walls in her apartment, reaching out for her. In an attempt to pull herself away from the hands that were touching her body and avoid them, she went on all fours. The dramatic lighting to the scene despite being a black and white film was visually captivating as it showed the intensive emotions. Instead of being terrified by this constant raping occurrence, Carol seems to be in acceptance of her fate. The scene to support this statement was when she put on a lipstick and showed a small sign of vanity that was not previously present before. This action of hers might be the turning point of which she realises that she has lost the battle to stay away from being sexually assaulted and welcomed this madness instead. Bradshaw wrote in his review to highlight this point further when he said “her fear of sex develops into a neurotic fascination and horror of dust and dirt of all kinds, a condition that escalates into agoraphobia and paranoid episodes.” (Bradshaw, 2013)
Figure 3: Hands Appearing From The Wall [Still Image]
Figure 4: Carol Putting on Lipstick [Still Image]
Not only was the visuals of this film kept the audience glued to their seats but also the music score by Chico Hamilton . The flawless integration of the typical horror sounds and the deafening silence had successfully build the necessary tensions and putting the audience at their edge of their seats. This is supported with Scheib’s statement when he said “Sound effects are used particularly well throughout" (Scheib, 2012). In a scene where Carol was sexually assaulted, no sound was audible except for the ticking clock suggesting how Carol wished this nightmare will be over and done with. 

In conclusion, this film has become very influential since the time it was released. Not only did this film gave a new meaning to the psychological horror genre but it has also influence other parts of the media industry like fashion. Elle, a Fashion Magazine, took the scene where Carol answered the phone after being assaulted to be part of their horror themed photo shoot. It’s black and white visual style was definitely a success that it was able to inspire other aspects of the media industry. Like Renkovish said in his review “The direction from Polanski is minimalist, yet extremely powerful. This film is a must see for cinephiles. It will stay with you for days afterward, and you will never forget the images that it plants into your mind.” (Renkovish, 2011)

Figure 5: Carol Answering The Phone [Still Image] 
Figure 6 : Elle's Photoshoot [Still Image]

List of Illustrations:

Figure 1 Repulsion (1965) [Poster] at http://www.filmdetail.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Repulsion.jpg accessed on 23 November 2013

Figure 2 Decaying Rabbit on a plate [Still Image] at http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews46/repulsion_blu-ray/large/large_repulsion_blu-ray4.jpg accessed on 23 November 2013

Figure 3 Hands appearing from the wall [Still Image] at http://www.asharperfocus.com/images/REPULSION-5.jpg accessed on 23 November 2013

Figure 4 Polanski. Repulsion 1965 Teljes film [Television Programme Online] Zoltán Komka [2012] 100 minutes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX3px05fFu8  accessed on 23 November 2013

Figure 5 Carol answering the phone [Still Image] at http://www.bfi.org.uk/distribution/sites/bfi.org.uk.distribution/files/images/repulsion_01.jpg  accessed on 23 November 2013

Figure 6 Elle's Photo Shoot [Still Image] at http://cdn.evilbeetgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Heather-Morris-in-Repulsion.jpg  accessed on 23 November 2013


List of Bibliography: 

Bradshaw, Peter
2013
Repulsion - Review
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review
Accessed on 23 November 2013

Renkovish, Steven
2011 
Repulsion
http://www.examiner.com/review/movie-review-roman-polanski-s-repulsion
Accessed on 23 November 2013

Scheib, Richard
2012
Repulsion
http://moria.co.nz/horror/repulsion-1965.htm
Accessed on 23 November 2013

Animation- Zoetrope Project

For the zoetrope project, I have decided to have an elf with a detachable head :)



Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Life Drawing Lesson 4

In today's life drawing class, we went from using charcoals to colours. I started with using oil pastels.


For the following activity, I tried using different colours to determine different tonal values. It wasn't much a success when I used oil pastels.


In my second attempt to use the colours and depict the tonal values, I used watercolour and I think it was better but there's always room for improvement.


For the final exercise, I used oil pastels to sketch out the quick poses at the stipulated time. I am slowly getting comfortable using this new medium.

In Blue - 2 Minute poses
In Red- 1 Minute poses
In Green - 30 Seconds poses

Secret Lairs' OGR 2