Wednesday 10 October 2012

Online greenlight review

Online Greenlight Review

2 comments:

  1. OGR 11/10/2012

    Hi Peta-Gaye,

    A nicely unpacked OGR, and some of your contextualising of Baum's books is fascinating, though the addition of some actual supporting evidence would have lent further credibility to your interpretation.

    I am in 2 minds about the effectiveness of some of your thumbnails in regard to expressing some of the richness suggested by both your conceptualisation of your spaces and by your influence maps. Let me begin my establishing that I like very much the sepia layering of your thumbnails; there is an elegance to them that is engaging in its own right. However, I think it might also be arguable, that perhaps these thumbnails are a little too samey, a little too safe and might represent the triumph of technique over actual content/information - and this aspect I'd like you to think about from this point onwards.

    Now obviously, thumbnails are speculative - and rightly so - but for example, in all your examples, you're not yet exploring the specific qualities of your spaces; so, the organic glass shapes that are somehow fused to or encompassed within the underground cavern (even though your corresponding influence map promises so much visual excitement!). There's lots of problem-solving your next set of thumbnails need to address, and this should include colour palette too, as colour is so key to the depiction of that environment. I strongly encourage you to really enjoy the job of getting this glass city figured out, so creative use of silhouettes in terms of fashioning this world of glass - or, perhaps more appropriately, working with layers of translucent shapes to try and convey this transparent metropolis.

    The same is largely true of your other chosen thumbnails; they are effectively evocative of space and landscape generally, but they're not yet reading as distinct enough in terms of your world. As discussed, the big cinematic canvas establishes your work as 'epic', but again, I'd like to see you commit to some detail. For example, you cleverly associate classicism with the architecture of power, but I'm wondering if your current composition of the dome is actually going to be able to convey this visual concept - simply because, maybe the point-of-view is too far away? Sometimes, creating these big panoramic scenes can have a shrinking or diminishing effect, when instead you're trying to convey wonder or spectacle or authority. I'd like you to consider thumbnailing out some different points-of-view, and perhaps using more extreme sorts of perspective to lend some additional character and grandeur to your environments.

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  2. Put simply, my advice would be 'commit' to the special, distinct characters of your worlds. The images you have, which seem really to be dealing with the landforms cradling your cities etc., aren't quite able to 'explain' your intentions in terms of design and visual concept, though they do suggest a nicely cinematic approach. So much of your Baum-derived worlds are colour-centric, I'd like to see you explore this important aspect with enthusiasm. You've got a lot of architectural logic to derive - structures made from precious jewels, structures made from glass, structures created to announce power and authority - this should be your next drawing and visualisation mission - the nuts and bolts of your worlds and ensuring your visual concept communicates even within the 'widescreen' format of the establishing shots you seem to favour. I think you should certainly consider a more immersive 'first person' approach too - i.e., instead of expressing these environments as a series of 'postcard' views of capital cities, perhaps think about ways that you can depict them 'from within' - as if from Dorothy's perspective. You can still 'go large' but consider expressing this from a human's stand-point.

    Finally - there's an absence of film reviews on here, which might mean that they're written, but not published, or might mean that you're experiencing a spot of bother in terms of this aspect of your project work. If I can be of any use, or if you'd like to discuss your reviews, just email me at pgomm@ucreative.ac.uk - and I'll endeavour to be of assistance. There's no Maya-related work on here as yet either - which might be of no significance whatsoever - however, be sure to let me know.

    One last bit of general feedback: your OGR document is functional and effective, but not hugely exciting or expressive of your creativity; in future, just consider ways in which you can present yourself as engagingly as possible.

    I look forward to seeing a flurry of new, inquisitive thumbnails dealing with the specifics of your 'cinematic spaces' very soon :)

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