What If? Metropolis - Bridget Riley: Research

Bridget Riley Research

Texturing: Part 1 - Common Shaders - Tutorial

These are my attempts at using textures and shaders on Maya. As you can see, they aren't in the correct view because when I tried to put it into render view it would freeze my computer, but I did follow all the instructions so even though they're not in the correct view, they were done correctly.

Intro to Maya: Modelling - Geometry Types - Tutorial

This is a screenshot of my attempt at the Geometry Types Tutorial - The one on the left is using Polygons and the one on the right using Nurbs. A much more successful tutorial, although there were some things I didn't quite understand, but I think I got round it in the end.

What If? Metropolis: Bridget Riley - Influence Map

So the artist that I got was Bridget Riley. I have actually researched Bridget Riley before for my GCSE work and college work, so I already have an advantage. I really like Op-Art and she is one of the leading Op-Art artists. More research is to follow in the upcoming days, but as an introduction post to this new project, I'm glad I got an artist I have already looked in and like. This influence map shows some of her most well known work. It borders on being considered as illusions and her work can create an incredible mind bending city.

Submission Disc Artwork - Invisible Cities: Despina

Here is my submission disc artwork. When I make disc covers, like this, I always try to make it look as realistic as possible, but I still have a little bit of fun with it, for example, the fact that I included little fake reviews by newspapers. I quite like this design though, because it has a consistent colour style and design.

Invisible Cities- Final Presentation

Invisible Cities - Final Presenation by dreason23

Interior Establishing Shot - Despina

This is my final interior establishing shot. As you can see, it isn't the interior of a building but rather than the interior of a cave, where all the ships go to stop. I used a lot of blue in this, but by using different shades and pressures, I think the cave and the sea turned out very well. The boats are well detailed and at a good size. I really like how I used the candle's glow,as it shines onto different parts of the rocks and water, and I think it looks quite good. I am very pleased with this as it is a step up from the thumbnail that I based it off.

Exterior Low Angle Shot - Despina

This is my final exterior low angle shot thumbnail. As you can see, I added a lot of colour to this one. I wanted each building to look completely different and be able to stand out. There may be too much colour, however, which is why I added some grey tones in the background to cancel some of the bright colours out. I think it works quite well with regards to the perspective, and the drawing has a weird abstract style, I think, which gives the city a bit more style. I am relatively happy with the as it is well drawn, but I think a bit more tone could have been added.

Exterior Establishing Shot - Despina

This is my final exterior establishing shot for Despina. I decided not to use colour for this one because I felt that it being black and white makes it look more misty as I wanted the city to be amongst the fog in the background. This is mainly based on my first establishing shot thumbnail that I did, but this time I added a lot more detail. I felt the detail is very important for this because it makes it look more believable. I wanted the ship to be the main focus of attention, so I didn't add much tone or mist to ship. I think the sea looks a bit rough, which gives it the impression that it's in a storm. I am quite pleased with this overall, because it looks good and is well positioned. I also think I added a suitable amount of detail.

Interior Establishing Shot Thumbnails - Despina

These are my thumbnails for my interior establishing shot. For these thumbnails, I tried to get influence for Jan Urschel's Assassins creed work.  I tried to vary the locations, and so I have made a cave entrance for the boat's, a barn and rooms in a house. My favourite is number 5 because it has a good use of tone and light. I think it would be quite a good idea to work on this one as it can be improved a lot by more detail and more things going on.

Exterior Establishing Shot Thumbnails - Despina

These are my 7 thumbnails that I did that are based on number 4, that I did on Photoshop in black and white. I really like the idea behind this one as the ship is the main focus of attention, but it still has the desert in the background. As you can see fro, these thumbnails, I have included the city in them. The city is either quite close to the ship or is quite far away. I think the overall composition of these look great. I also tried out a few tools I haven't really used for my thumbnails. In 4 and 5, I used the lasso tool, and coloured into them. I still need to practise with the lasso tool, which is why I haven't really used it, but having said that, I think the thumbnails look quite good as they are well layed out and the colours used are suitable. My favourite is number 1. It's my favourite because I like how the ship looks like it's only just fully come into view, and the light from the sky is in the middle of the ship and the city, and it shines onto the sea, which I think can look very good with more work.

I am still coming to grips with the tools of Photoshop on my computer, which is why the colouring is a bit weird in places.

Exterior Low Angle Shot Thumbnails - Despina

I decided to continue working with my 20th original thumbnail for Despina, that I did in my sketchbook, for the Exterior low angle shot. as you can see from these 6 thumbnails, it has a one point perspective and so can look quite good if completed to a good standard. I tried, mainly, to experiment with the tones, whether in colour or black and white. I think that with this thumbnail, tone and light is very important. I quite like number 3 because even though it uses one point perspective, it is at a slight angle, shown through the tower in the background, and t gives it quite a interesting look, I think.

Film Review - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Fig.1 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Movie Poster

Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968) is an unbelievable, mind bending experience. It will leave you with more questions than answers as it aims to leave an impact on you once the credits start rolling. It's long scenes of classical music, that we have come to hear in many films and tv shows, leave you speechless with little understanding of what is happening on screen. Kubrick wants to leave you waiting for something to happen and leave you waiting he does. This can be backed up by Roger Ebert who says in his review "He reduces each scene to its essence, and leaves it on screen long enough for us to contemplate it, to inhabit it in our imaginations" (Ebert,1997)

Fig. 2 Monkey and bones

The film confuses you from it's very opening scene - "The Dawn of Man". It is a long scene showing a group of Monkeys in an empty desert. A black rectangle, that is later known as "The Monolith" appears amongst them when they awake, and as the music gets louder and louder, the monkeys continue to approach it. It then goes onto show you a monkey smashing some kind of animal's skeleton with a bomb. This whole introduction is very strange and you sit there asking "Why is this being shown?" A question you may still be asking at the end. It is therefore an incredible way to get you into the film as you're already wondering what's going on and you continue watching hoping to find out.

Fig.3 Monolith on the Moon

As the film progresses, so does it's special effects. The audience is left in pure amazement as they watch the breathtaking trips through space or the brilliant camera work that Kubrick uses. Kubrick uses perspective a lot in the film, especially one point perspective. We see a series of corridors all use one point perspective shots and it makes the film feel very consistent. There is no stopping with the craziness of the film as we suddenly lose one of the main characters, Dr. Heywood R. Floyd. Our last glimpse of him was of him holding his ears after going to Monolith on the Moon that seemed to give off an incredibly high pitched tone. We are then introduced to a whole new story, basically. We are taken into some weird spaceship, where two astronauts, David (Dave) Bowman and Frank Poole, are left to run it while the rest of the crew hypersleep, however they are also accompanied by super computer "HAL - 9000", but all isn't as it seems. Almar Haflidason, when talking about this scene said "The introduction of Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood as astronauts on a mission to Jupiter finally gives some narrative to the film." (Haflidason, 2001) The interior of the spaceship reflect what people believed the future to look like and it's wonderful being able to see the things that they got right and the things they got wrong. 

Fig.4 End Scene

The final scenes of the film are still unsolved today, as no one quite knows what is going on. We are left to consume a host of amazing colours and patterns, as the shot occassionally goes back to Dave, but just for a short moment. This scene goes on for some time and makes you feel "tripped out". It is argued that the scene represents the use of LSD in the 1960s and Kubrick wanted to highlight that in the film. The scene concludes, but we become even more confused when we end up in some kind of house that has the furniture of a higher class family, but the walls of a space station. The Monolith stands in the middle of the room as it watches over the elderly Dave in his bed and then the film comes to a conclusion. The questions then begin to be asked. Although, some may feel that the scenes of colour or music are dragged out, they do create a slight feeling of tension as they make you aware that something is about to happen. Renata Adler said in their review that " its use of color and space, its fanatical devotion to science-fiction detail, that it is somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring. "(Adler, 1968) This therefore means that you'll either love or hate the scenes of tension.

Bibliography:

Ebert, Roger (1997) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Revew-http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-2001-a-space-odyssey-1968 (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Adler, Renata (1968) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Review- http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9a04e6da1530ee3bbc4c53dfb2668383679ede (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Haflidason, Almar (2001) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Review- http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/09/18/2001_review.shtml (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Illustration List:

Fig.1 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Movie Poster - http://jaysanalysis.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/2001_a_space_odyssey.gif (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 2 Monkey and bones - https://tobysaunders.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/2001space043.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 3 Monolith on the Moon - http://images.sequart.org/images/2001-moon.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 4 End Scene - http://www.collativelearning.com/PICS%20FOR%20WEBSITE/stargate%20shots/stargate%20as%20HAL%20brain.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Who's Who? - Jan Urschel Influence Map

As I said in my last post, I did an influence map showing some of the work of Jan Urschel. He is a free lance art director, who has done concept art for both feature films and video games. During his career he has worked for the likes of Warner Bros. and Marvel. His work is very detailed and he uses a range of colours in his work to show create tone and depth. Some of his work has a slightly abstract feel. Most of his work has a consistent foggy look to them as some areas are shrouded in smoke, and so this makes his work more realistic. His "Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag" work will be a good source of inspiration for my Invisible cities project as he has drawn ships and boats travelling on the sea in different weathers, and this can help me design the city of Despina as that is accessable by sea as well as by land.

Bibliography:
Urschel, Jan (2014) Hendrix Design - http://janurschel.tumblr.com/ (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Concept Artist - Who's Who?

As I previously said in my "Influences from Games - Influence Map", I thought I'd research Jan Urschel. I wanted to look into Jan Urschel because he has done concept art for major video game copanies and his work for "Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag" can be used as inspiration as his work includes drawings of ships and oceans it links to my chosen city, Despina. As you can see, I haven't done much research and have only noted down a few quick points about him. The picture below is a quick 10 minute drawing I did in my journal of one of his pieces of concept art for "Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag". I quite like this drawing because although it was quick it has a fair amount of detail and tone, and doesn't need to look like it exactly.

I will continue my research into Jan Urschel and will create an influence map of his work. 

I will edit the photos at a later time.

Film Review - King Kong (1933)

Fig. 1 King Kong (1933) Movie Poster

Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" (1933) remains as one of Hollywood's most well-known stories. The idea of a large and scary monster, that you almost feel sympathetic for at times, is a story that the modern audience has become familiar with. King Kong also manages to highlight issues with equality in the early 20th Century.

Fig.2 King Kong and Ann

Before we actually see "the monster" at first, a sense of fear is created by the directors and makes us feel tension when Ann is about to meet King Kong, but as the story progresses it becomes somewhat apparent that he does actually care for Ann and does fight off a horde of creatures to protect her. It is a strange feeling that we feel sympathy for him when he is imprisoned and later being attacked. This is an idea that the 1933 audience wouldn't have been too used to. Roger Ebert also touches on this point in his review: "It is also a curiously touching fable in which the beast is seen, not as a monster of destruction, but as a creature that in its own way wants to do the right thing" (Ebert, 2002). Kimg Kong shows the limitations of effects that were available in 1933, but as Laurie Boeder says in her review "Kong was an "animatronic" movie star before the word was minted, and while stop-motion animation had been done, no one had ever pulled it off on the scale of King Kong" (Boeder, 2010) it showed what can be achieved on film. 

Fig. 3 King Kong on the Empire State Building

King Kong spans from two different locations. First with New York, then Skull Island and then back to New York again. The directors show New York as a busy city where the men are the much more dominant gender. This is shown in the film when Carl Denham (Played by Robert Armstrong) is looking for a woman to go to Skull Island and so walks into the street, grabs Ann (Played by Fay Wray) and calls a taxi. This is something that is not accepted in today's world, so it highlights how small women were seen to be and weren't allowed to, necessarily, make their own choices. Mourdant Hall mentions in their review of how small women were seen to be by saying "Her body is like a doll in the claw of the gigantic beast" (Hall, 1933) This point proves that women were seen as people, but more like a possession. Skull Island is a jungle, much like New York. It's vast collection of creatures and plants is very remarkable due to the lack of resources in 1933. Skull Island possesses a series of threats to the characters with it's complex layout and monsters around every corner. These creatures are either adaptations of existing animals, like snakes, or are entirely new or are extinct, e.g. Dinosaurs. These creatures are a lot more dangerous than King Kong himself, so it shocks the audience as going into film they would have expected King Kong to be the main threat.

Fig.4 Natives

It can be argued that the creatures weren't meant to be seen as the main threat by the directors. Racism is a topic that still, unfortunately, exists today but in the early 20th century people of a different race were not well treated or well liked. One such argument that the film has raised is that King Kong represents black people coming to America and being a threat to the city. In the film, the natives are seen as slaves of Kong, and so steal Ann and give her to him. This was a view that was normal in 1933, so it wasn't as controversial back then as it would be now.

Bibliography:

Ebert, Roger (2002) King Kong (1933) Review - http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-king-kong-1933 (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Hall, Mourdant (1933) King Kong (1933) Review - http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F03E3DC173BEF3ABC4B53DFB5668388629EDE (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Boeder, Laurie (2010) King Kong (1933) Review - http://classicfilm.about.com/od/earlysciencefiction/fr/King_Kong.htm (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Illustration list:

Fig. 1 King Kong (1933) Movie Poster - http://101horrormovies.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/king-kong-1933.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig.2 King Kong and Ann - http://blog.nj.com/2days/2008/06/large_2d14fil2.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 3 King Kong on the Empire State Building - http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/900-8_king_kong_blu-ray_.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 4 Natives - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXrI62AyVimcnn7BysDQyPJGmARtylxvDKrCVehraebD8ohA7seHe1ojBjQw6tnjmcfvCBYVtPbZrkUWWtKvLFynIbWZjv0NuBLbEwi1EhaNr9vqm5A7IOs5e49_ckgdBti-93TvZY_lY/s1600/KingKong_059Pyxurz.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Film Review - Metropolis (1927)

Fig. 1 Metropolis (1927) Movie Poster

Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) is a wonderfully revolutionary film for it's time. It's unbelievable city and it's unique story is something that still influences the sci-fi films of today. The film even manages to demonstrate Germany's upcoming rise and fall.

Fig. 2 Metropolis City at night

Metropolis' setting is remarkable. Considering the lack of the resources available in 1927, it is an incredible accomplishment that the film had such a unique, yet detailed setting. It really does highlight how we take things for granted in modern films as we are used to such extraordinary settings. This point is backed up by Anthony Quinn's review, who said "Here is the starting-point of so much modern cinema." The city pushes the boundaries of what can be done in a film. It features scenes and effects that people wouldn't have seen in 1927, so it is a true pioneer for creating imaginative worlds. As Roger Ebert says in his review "Lang tells of a towering city of the future." (Ebert, 2010) - This couldn't be any more true. 

Fig. 3 Rotwang and the Robot

Not only is Metropolis a source of inspiration for creating cities, but also created a new idea of character. The robot in the film (above) is still copied or based from today, one such example is C-3PO from the Star Wars franchise. Metropolis still goes a little bit further by turning the robot into a human. The robot clone of Maria then goes on to controlling the people of Metropolis into doing as she wishes. This is remarkable as it could be argued that Germany's future is not too different.  

Fig. 4 Metropolis workers

It can also be argued that the Metropolis workers reflect the way Hitler treated certain cultures by treating them as slaves and having them work in dangerous conditions. Lang shows the slaves as people who look almost hypnotised and have no choice. The picture above shows a scene where the workers all walk in sync with each other and almost give the impression that they are the robots. Interestingly, in David Sterritt's review he mentions Adolf Hitler's view of the film. "Adolf Hitler was said to have loved it, and Lang eventually fled Germany for Hollywood when the Third Reich wanted him to run its movie industry." (Sterritt,2002)

Metropolis is an extraordinary film, that manages to influence modern films and reflect the future of Germany's democracy.

Bibliography:
Ebert, Roger (2010) Metropolis (1927) Review - http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-2010-restoration-1927 (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Quinn, Anthony (2010) Metropolis (1927) Review - http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/metropolis-pg-2075116.html (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Sterritt, David (2002) Metropolis (1927) Review - http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0712/p15s02-almo.html (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Illustration List:
Fig.1 Metropolis (1927) Movie Poster - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Metropolisposter.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 2 Metropolis City at night - https://janeaustenrunsmylife.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/13.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 3 Rotwang and the robot - http://metropolis1927.com/inc/img/5.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Fig. 4 Metropolis workers - http://commentarytrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/Metropolis-1927-e1354730611172.jpg (Accessed 19/10/2014)

Three Point Perspective Exercise

My three point perspective exercise is different to the other two as it doesn't have the same amount of detail or isn't as busy. The reason for this is that I couldn't quite think of how to do it. I was thinking of drawing a path, but I thought it would be really small so it would look hardly any different. I was thinking about drawing a road, but I didn't know how that would look. Back to the perspective of the drawing, I think it works well with the actual buildings themselves as they get smaller correctly and the middle building is fine, but the details on the buildings are a bit wobbly. This is because I didn't draw the perspective lines, because I didn't think there would be a need. I was wrong.

I'll edit the photo at a later date.

Two Point Perspective Exercise

Here is my two point perspective exercise. Just like my one point perspective drawing, I didn't mean to include so much, but as I liked how it was looking I decided to make it look like a proper crossroads. I think the left row of buildings is a bit squished as I included to many buildings so the ones are the end are really thin. The right side, however, I think does work well as the buildings decrease in size correctly.

I'll edit the photo at a later date.

One Point Perspective Exercise

Here is my one-point persepctive exercise. At first, I was only going to draw the rail track with a view signs next to it, but as it progressed I decided to add a few more things. I think, overall, it works quite well as things to get smaller in the distance and the pieces of wood on the track get further apart as they get closer to you, so I think this exercise worked quite well.

I'll edit the photo at a later time.

Mission Statement - Chosen city - Despina

I have decided to continue working with the idea of Despina as I find the concept of it being both accessable by desert and sea fascinating, and from a personal view, I quite enjoy drawing boats and ships, and cities that are surrounded by water. I believe that Despina will give me the chance to show off the best of my drawing skills. I really liked doing the thumbnails for Despina too, because although some may look similar, there was a lot of information to take from the extract. I will now continue developing my ideas and will look at cities of inspiration. I hope the end results will be a step up from my current work, as I'm not particularly proud of it.

Texturing: Maya Shaders & Surfaces - Tutorial

In today's lesson, we were learning about how to add texture and shading. I did somethings wrong so it isn't exactly right, especially in the case of the last one (layered shading). Although for the first 5, I did manage to follow the instructions and got 5 blue spheres of different textures.

Thin Cities 1 - Isaura

These are my first 16 thumbnails for Isaura. I really liked the idea of Isaura and the windmills reminded me of Amsterdam. I do like how my thumbnails have colour that really jump out at you, and although some of them may be similar to others, they all have a slightly different look in terms of colour or mark making.

Drawing - Lesson 1

Yesterday was our first day of drawing and we had to, firstly, draw the installation using charcoal (above). I'm quite happy with this as it shows my rough style that I have when using charcoal. I didn't try to make it the right size or completely exact, but the result I got looks good, with it jagged lines and bits of tone. We then had to draw the negative spaces (below), and as I didn't quite know what to do, I just drew the shapes that were made by the installation. Although, Vicky seemed to like it, I do not. I can't think of an exact reason for not liking it, I just don't think it looks good or anything like that.

OGR - 8th October

https://www.scribd.com/doc/242324173/Online-Greenlight-Review-8th-October

I know it's a little late and it isn't well presented. Sorry.

Continuous Cities 1 - Leonia

These are my first 9 thumbnails for Leonia, that I did in my sketch book. I struggled to come up with ideas behind how the city could look like. I was only able to come up with dumps that were made to look like cities. I do like the actual drawings, but I just found it difficult to envisage the city, even though the "Continuous Cities - 1" passage is quite long.

Also, I know this isn't the best image quality. I'll try to improve it at a later date.

Cities and Despire 3 - Despina - 17-24

As I quite liked Despina, I thought I'd do a few more thumbnails, but this time I did the quickly with a pen in my sketch book. I quite like the actual drawings because they show my quick style and they don't have to be exact or in much detail. However, I think some of these look similar to the previous thumbnails. I think I need to focus on more on the details of the anthology rather than just creating an image of the city and then altering each thumbnail slightly.

So far, out of the cities that I've done, Despina is the one I'm considering taking further. I'll make my final decision once I've done more of the cities.

Also, I know this isn't the best image quality. I'll try to improve it at a later date.

Influence Map - Cities with water

As quite a few of the Invisible Cities that I've done thumbnails for, so far, include water or Seas and Oceans etc. I thought I'd look at existing cities where water is either running through them or beside them. Some cities, like Venice, has the Grand Canal running right through it, so it plays a major role in the city layout and how people get to places. But other cities, like London, have  big rivers, in this case River Thames that doesn't play that big of a part in the City layout. As I mentioned in the last Influence Map post, I really like Italy, so because of this I will look into Venice and similar Italian cities in more detail.

Maya - Parked Car

During the end of last Autodesk Maya lesson, I decided to make another random thing. At first, I started to make a car because while Simon was explaining more of Maya's tools he mentioned something about making a car, so I decided to make one myself. It's not too bad considering y lack of knowledge of all the features that Maya has and I don't really know how to use them properly yet. I made the car using just the polygon primitives and just resized, moved and rotated them. After I finished the car, I thought I'd do a bit more, so I made a path with a parking meter, double yellow lines and I finished with a house. I actually quite like this, but I do need to start using more of the tools that Maya has to offer. 

Influence map - Influences from Games

I am a big fan of the Assassins Creed series, not only it's stories (Except Assassins Creed 3), but for it's art style. I especially like the Italian settings as Italy is my favourite country for many reasons. I, therefore, wanted to take my love for gaming and Assassins Creed into this project as the series has been to and been in different periods of time and well known cities, that consist of different styles of architecture and layout. I find all the Assassins Creed concept art incredible as they have a high level of detail, but style contain the style of the artist. One such concept artist is Jan Urschel, who worked on the latest part of the series "Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag". I hope to look into Urschel and his work further.

Film Review - The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

"Warped in all senses, fascinating and bizarre ..." Peter Bradshaw, Rotten Tomatoes (2014)

Fig.1. "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920) Film Poster

Robert Weine's "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920) is a strange, twisted silent film that includes one of cinema's first plot twists. The unique setting of the film compliments it's mystical story. The story features a deranged "doctor", in the form of Dr Caligari, who tries to fool the people of Hostenwall into believing that Cesare the Somnambulist can tell the future. Although, all isn't as it seems.

Fig.2. Dr Caligari in street - "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920)

The film stays away from using the simple/real cities, that we are used to seeing in today's big films, and instead uses an abstract building style, that looks like it's drawn on a large white board. Although by today's standards it would seem cheap, but it very much runs parallel with the film's equally abstract story-line and characters. This style can also be shown on the characters, as certain body/face details look drawn on. This is evident in Dr Caligari, himself, as lines on his face and eye-shadow have been drawn on his face in order to make him look even more scary and threatening in a black and white film.The settings darkness and lack of light gives the viewer a clear understanding that something is wrong and that there is something that the characters do not know about Dr Caligari and his Somnambulist. "The first thing everyone notices and best remembers about "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) is the film's bizarre look" - Roger Ebert review

Fig.3. Cesare holding girl - "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920)

It later becomes clear in the film that something is very much wrong and the characters are in danger from Dr Caligari and Cesare. The Doctor uses his "sleeping puppet" to carry out his request, when Cesare is in a state of unawareness. Cesare is able to be controlled in any way. This remarkable level of control is quite abstract, in itself, which obviously ties in with it's strange setting and characters. At this stage of the film. the scenes get even more dark and so create a feeling of tension and fear. Weine's use of light in the film is extraordinary as he uses very little of it in the darkest of moments.

Fig.3. Cesare on the roof - "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (1920) 

Above is one of the most memorable scenes of the film, and is now one of cinema's most iconic scenes.There is very little light is this scene and it makes the viewer believe that something bad is about to happen to the girl that Cesare is holding. The fact that they were able to get a man on the roof, in a scene, in a film from the early 20th Century is quite remarkable. Weise's use of perspective in this scene makes you focus on Cesare, and Cesare alone. The viewer doesn't watch this looking at the rooftops...They're watching Dr. Caligari's "sleeping puppet".

"...lay down a template for today's scary movies, noirs and psychological thrillers" - The Guardian (2014), "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" Film Review

Illustration List:
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Movie Poster- http://scalarama.com/cabinet/

Dr Caligari in street. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) - http://www.archdaily.com/300945/films-architecture-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari/. (Accessed 06/10/2014)

Cesare holding girl. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) -http://www.filmclub.org/film/3640/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari. (Accessed 06/10/2014)

Cesare on the roof. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) - http://paneldiscussions.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/movies-that-inspired-comics/ (Accessed 06/10/2014)

Bibliography: 
Bradshaw, Peter (2014) The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Review - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003361-cabinet_of_dr_caligari/ (Accessed 06/10/2014)

Ebert, Roger (2009). The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Review - http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920 (Accessed 06/10/2014)

The Guardian (2014).  The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) Review -http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/aug/28/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-film-review (Accessed 06/10/2014)

Trading Cities 5 - Esmeralda

My first 16 thumbnails for Esmeralda have a consist style with regards to the colours used and the overall markings of the brush. I tried to work with perspective, and I think they came out quite well. I like number 5, especially, even though it doesn't work with perspective as much as number 14 or number 1, but it shows a man looking over the city from his balcony and the composition works really well.

Cities & Desire 3 - Despina

These are my first 16 thumbnails for Despina, and the block buildings have made a return. It is clear that I need to come up with more unique ways to create a city instead of continuously using the rectangular skyscrapers. Apart from that, I think the ideas are fairly good, although some are just different versions of each other.  I, personally, like number 4 because it doesn't show the actual cit, but instead focuses on the other details from the anthology.

Intro to Maya: Character Part 1 - Modelling - Tutorial

Here is my attempt at the first Character and modelling tutorial, and it doesn't exactly follow the steps. I tried my best to follow everything instruction, but I either missed something that I couldn't find or I just didn't know how to do something, even if I re-watched it several times. As a result, I got to a point, where I'd follow the tutorial but do it slightly differently. You'll notice the Pencil isn't curved slightly or that the rubber doesn't have eyebrows as well as other little things I wasn't able to include. However, as this was my first tutorial and my first time using Maya on my new computer, I don't think it's the worst start.

Maya - City

I decided before jumping into the tutorials, I would make something using my little knowledge of how to use it properly. For this city, I only created polygon primitives to make things and didn't try to edit them further. I experimented with a few things and tried to add colour here and there, but it didn't always work. I made standard skyscrapers, a petrol station, a stadium and a weird dome thing - I'll leave it up to you to figure out which is which. Considering I've never used Maya before, I'm quite pleased with this, despite the lack of detail and it not being to scale and that you can see all the shapes continue underneath.

Cities & Memory 1 - Diomira

Here are my first 16 thumbnails for Diomira. For these, I tried to avoid continuously drawing squares and rectangles as buildings, although this time I think I went a bit over board with the "Sixty silver domes". However, I do think that each thumbnail has a different idea/setting behind them, even though some may look a little similar. I'm happy that my photoshop skills are starting to improve, although still got some way to go.