CONTEXTUAL STUDIES
WEEK 1
During this week I was starting to find my feet at uni. All of the introductions to our modules were really enjoyable and inspiring. I particularly liked the drawing sessions as I haven’t been able to sit and draw in a relaxed way for a long time. The required viewing for this week was ‘A personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American movies’ which was an interesting watch, especially being able to see the evolution of the sets over time and how the later films reflect the earlier ones. This week we also did an object analysis which swaps a simple but interesting task to get our creative minds whirring. It was also really helpful to find out how we could access library resources as this will be helpful for every part of the course.
WEEK 2
I found the task this week very helpful because it was all about looking into history and as interesting as I find it, I don’t know as much about it as I would like to. History and context allow a wide spread of knowledge to help with every module of this course, so I was very happy that everyone came together to share the bits that they knew. We were also given really good resources of Theatre archives and museum collections- I particularly liked the V&A one; it’s somewhere I have visited in person, but it was good to go through it all online too as I felt I understood it more.
WEEK 3
I felt that this particular week was very important, as we were learning about referencing. Luckily, I had quite a lot of experience in it from college but it was good to check that it was all the same at uni. I also felt like it was explained in a more descriptive way than I have had it taught to me before. We also worked in groups to analyse an image and this was a good task to allow us to hear other peoples thoughts and opinions. The required viewing for this week was ‘Medea’ by Pierpaolo Pasolini, 1969. This was a difficult but interesting watch and I really liked the way that costume and production design are both very prominent and create a successful design language. It has a very naturalistic quality too which is probably due to the fact that a lot of it is filmed on real locations.
WEEK 4
The required viewing for this week was ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ by Robert Wiene. This was a look into the genre German Expressionism. The set design really created a dark and moody atmosphere for the whole film. There was three production designers for this film which was really impressive and demonstrated the importance of what working in a team can do for movies. You couldn’t tell that they were separate.
WEEK 5
This was an important week as it was the first beginnings to our essay. We had to choose what topic we wanted to do and also introduced to critical thinking which was super important for the essay. This was quite challenging because I found the topics quite vague but after rewatching the lectures and doing some initial research I settle on World Building. I was keen to look into the use of colour in films. The required viewing for this particular week was ‘Metropolis’. We were highly recommended to watch this in the lecture theatre because it would have a better impact seeing it on the big screen. I took this advice, and I did find it quite difficult to watch because it is a silent film and I’ve only ever watched one of those before. However it was very enlightening to see how films and sets were made in that time, and in a way it didn’t necessarily need to have sound. We had conversations at the end about how such an old film still has an influence on modern society films, and this one in particular is reflected in Blade Runner. As a DFTV student it was interesting to see how they created such incredible sets without any CGI or digital editing.
WEEK 6
The required viewing for this week was ‘The Winter’s Tale’. This was performed live at the Barbican in 2017. I was intrigued by the moody lighting and the abstract sets used. It was a successful set decoration and fit well with this particular representation of Shakespeare’s tale. It was also interesting to see a stage production as every thing else so far for the required viewings were films. I find stage production really clever as there is different things the designers have to think about, and there isn’t an option for anything to go wrong. It’s very clever how they have multiple locations on one stage.
WEEK 7
Week 7 involved watching several clips from surrealist films. Watching the films was a great way to experience visual evidence of art movements in the 20th century first hand. These films are an enlightening watch because they create emotional responses through the use of other devices compared to normal films which have a narrative and characters.
WEEK 8
This week we had a lecture on sustainability. I enjoyed this because it’s such a commonly talked about subject in current times and it is always interesting to hear other peoples opinions on the matter, and I always find it even better to hear creative peoples takes on it. I also learnt even more about the subject which is important because I feel like as designers sustainability is something we should take very seriously and it will always be a contributing factor in our choices, especially moving into a future when it will be even more important. The film to watch this week was ‘Zero de Conduite’ by Jean Vigo. It is a French featurette from 1933 about a group of young boys who rebel against their teachers. I thought this was a pretty fun concept and the director captured it really successfully. I don’t know if this is the first film that had this sort of concept but in modern day it is quite common and always makes for an interesting watch- so I would be intrigued to find out if it was the first of its kind.
WEEK 9
During this week we explored the idea of rebellion. In a way this works perfectly with the film that we watched the previous week. Rebellion is so important in art and also in history. Without rebellion society wouldn’t be what it is today. Art and society have several links and without rebellion it would have never moved forward. The required viewing for this week was ‘The Scarlett Empress’ which is a historical film made in 1934 about the rise of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. It was a great insight into a part of history that I wasn’t aware of. The production designer Hans Dreier created fascinating scenes full scale sets and minitures. The gothic elements combined with the over the top set decoration created a stunning scene to watch.
WEEK 10
During this week we were introduced to academic writing which was a helpful starting point to start thinking deeper about the essay. The required viewing this week was ‘La Bella et La Bete’ directed by Jean Cocteau in 1945. It was interesting because this is one of the first films to be released by and in France after the nazis fled. The mood, atmosphere and the voice of the film is very interesting when considering the time and context. Exciting techniques were used to portray magic and out of world moments on the screen. One example is when objects move by having actors hands blend into the set and faces embedded in the walls. It was enlightening to watch this version of the film after being so used to the Disney animated version and the recreation they did even more recently.
WEEK 11
This week was one of my favourite films: ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ and I think it could be one that I take forward to use in my essay. I love the way it utilises both black and white scenes and colour to differentiate between the two separate films. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, but the opposite way around. Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell create an amazing auteur director partnership and created an outstanding film which in a way explored PTSD even though it wasn’t as recognised in those days. I would like to research more into the use of technicolour and how it changed films throughout the 19th century. It creates an exaggerated contrast between the two worlds. I’m very interested in finding out the technicalities behind technicolour and how it works.
WEEK 12
This week we watched the third man which is a British film noir directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene. It is set in post-war Vienna, and it is about an American called Holy Martins who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend Harry Lime, obtuse unfortunately he has dies. His death seemed pretty suspicious, so he decides to stay in Vienna and investigate. It is a great example of British Film Noir because of all the visual tricks and and frames that push the emotional connections between visuals and communicating narratives. The intricate framing and haunting score create an amazing atmosphere. A major feature is the atmospheric use of black and white expressionist cinematography. This is where Robert Krasker uses harsh lighting and a distorted ‘Dutch angle’ camera technique. The whole style created gives the feel of an exhausted, cynical post war Vienna at the start of the Cold War. One part I found interesting is that Orson Welles (Harry Lime) refused to be filmed in the Vienna sewers, so his close up shots were filmed in a London studio whilst a body double was used for the wider shots. I love the cinematography and think the monochromatic white and black colour palette strongly reinforces the mystery and tension within the film.
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WEEK 13
We were lectured on semiotics this week which I found very challenging. It is the study of signs and their meanings and how we draw information from those signs. Language is one of the most important sign systems; linguistics. The study of signs includes words, activities, gestures, images, astounds and objects. The required viewing for this week was ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’ by Otto Preminger. It was impressive to watch this powerful transformation of Frank Sinatra as he broke away from his previous types of roles to try this ambitious, challenging character which tackles some deep topics such as drug abuse. It includes aspects of film noir with an impactful narrative because of all the topics it covers.
WEEK 14
We learnt about war and conflict this week which I found interesting because I have never seen it linked to art in this way before. We also looked into artists who painted war which were very fascinating. As well as paintings this also involved looking at war propoganda, fashion and theatre in warzones. This flowed perfectly with the required viewing which was ‘Paths of Glory’ made by Stanley Kubrick in 1957. It is an American anti-war film, based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. It is set during WWI and stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, who is the commanding officer of French Soldiers who refuse to continue a suicidal attack, after which Dax attempts to defend them against charges of cowardice in a court-martial. It employs both camera work and audio cues to create a sense of realism, therefore making it easier for the audience to sympathise with the plight of the accused soliders. It was a very bleak vision of war which influenced Kubrick to decide to film the picture in black and white. The visuals also allow the audience to see the difference between life in the trenches and life in the command.
WEEK 15
This week the required viewing was ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ by Jack Gold in 1975. It is a biopic of Quentin Crisp’s life based from his own autobiography. It is one of the only ‘positive’ representations of an ‘out’ gay man in Film and Tv at this point in time. At this point we were only 8 years into the de-criminalising of Homosexuality and people were still not accepting of it at all. The word itself was barely ever muttered on tv and this film did a lot to boost the conversations of equality and visibility. There was a bit of mocking of this film, but surprisingly there was actually an understanding and a fascination that had not been felt before. I loved how it showed his real feelings and portrayed such an emotional journey and it was very easy to empathise with. Amazingly this film covers design through the 1920s to the 1970s in 77 minutes.
WEEK 16
‘Imitation of Life’ was the viewing this week. It is about a white single mother Lora Meredith who dreams of being on Broadway, who has a chance encounter with Annie Johnson, a black widow. Annie becomes the carer of Lora’s daughter so that she can chase her dreams. They both struggle with the difficulties of motherhood. I really enjoyed how the set changed over time along with the characters. It successfully supported the narratives and the themes, and was a great example of production design adapted to filming in colour. It was very impactful for me and was a great insight into racial issues intertwined with family and romance in the 50s.
WEEK 17
Our final viewing for this year was ‘Elephant Man’ directed by David Lynch. It is an English-American biographical drama film about the Beverly deformed man Joseph Merrick in late 19th Century London. It was difficult but impressive to watch- the things he had to go through in his life were brutal. I loved how the narrative went through moments of highs and lows which made it easy to strongly sympathise with Merrick. The contrast between the people that he meets, some being nice to him and others not, was really interesting.
