Online Greenlight Review

Unit 3: Environment Anita Gill 12/12/11

Principle Ideas from Freud's The Uncanny:

Freud describes uncanny as belonging 'to the realm of the frightening, of what evokes fear and dread. He goes on to write that 'the uncanny is that species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and had long been familiar.' It may be easier to consider what uncanny is not, to understand what it is. Some ideas mentioned in The Uncanny:

Freud references The Sand Man, referring back to how children have a fear of losing their eyes/being blind, which is related to the castration complex. He also relates the story to the idea stated by Jentsch in which he refers to objects that have an extreme likeness to the living e.g dolls. Children tend to treat dolls as if they are living and do not seem afraid of the idea of them coming to life like adults would be. Die Elexiere de Teufels (The Elixirs of the Devil) refers to doppelgngers and how the meaning of the 'double' changes: having once been an assurance of immortality, it becomes the uncanny harbinger of death. It has a negative connotation in particular situations by certain people. In addition, unintended repetition is almost certainly thought, by many, as being uncanny. An example of this is deja vu. Experience in which you hear from someone after recently thinking about them. There must be one group in which it can be shown that the frightening element is something that has been repressed and now returns. This fear is therefore not based on the unfamiliar, but the familiar. an uncanny effect often arises when the boundary between fantasy and reality is blurred... Old convictions remain within us, on the look out for confirmation. Once confirmed, we experience a sense of the uncanny... The sense of uncanny can often be linked to childhood complexes. Things that may seem uncanny in reality don't necessarily seem so in fiction. However, fiction affords possibilities for a sense of the uncanny that would not be available in real life

Relevant Research:
I found that researching the artists and websites on the project brief really helped with my ideas. I particularly liked the images on http://www.abandoned-britain.com. The idea of a place that was once used and maintained, now being left and abandoned, could potentially work well with the sense of uncanny. I also was drawn to work by Melanie Pullen. I like the use of colour and lighting in her images. Examples of images from both the website and of Pullen's work can be seen by clicking the link below: http://anita-gill.blogspot.com/2011/12/research.html

Visual Concept Explained:

I began with a number of ideas, for example, childrens playground, bedroom, attic etc. which I documented on a mind map (http://anitagill.blogspot.com/2011/12/environment-mind-map.html). However, when I carried out further research, I found that I liked the idea of using places that were once used by the public, but are now forgotten and abandoned. At this point in my project, I am thinking of experimenting with the contrast between light and dark for my final piece. I also think that muted colours would be well suited to this idea however, I am going to experiment including warmer tones as they work well in Melanie Pullen's work.

Visual Concept Influence Map:

Below are some of the images I found while researching. All the images have a definitive light source from the windows and use muted colours. This is a link to two other influence maps created based on research: http://anita-gill.blogspot.com/2011/12/unit-3-environment-influence-maps.html

Key Thumbnails:
Below are my initial thumbnails for this project: 1-4 - Based on children's playground and fair 5 Attic - This is not an idea that I think I am going to continue with 6 - Looking downstairs. Very dark scene with a glow at the bottom of the stairs (perspective not quite right) 7 & 8 derelict abandoned buildings. 7 is a car park and 8 is a theatre. The abandoned/derelict building idea is what I would like to continue experimenting with. My creative partner, Jamie Tibbott, suggested including elements that are not expected e.g. including the tyre in the abandoned building etc.

Written Assignment Introduction:

As described by Freud, Uncanny ''belongs to the realm of the frightening, of what evokes fear and dread (Freud, 2003). This essay will explore this idea in relation to the film Beowulf (2007). Sources include reviews of Beowulf to understand the critics opinions of the film, for example, from the Guardian newspaper, as well as 'Visual Effects: 'Beowulf'' article, which includes an interview with the Visual Effects Supervisor and Sony Pictures Imageworks staffer Jerome Chen who worked on Beowulf, to gain an understanding of the process behind the making of the film. 'Digital Actors in 'Beowulf' Are Just Uncanny', 'Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography' and New Findings Shed Light On a Century's Worth of Bizarre Explanations For the Eerie Feeling We Get Around Lifelike Robots' provide further insight into the uncanny valley and their effect on an audience. This essay will focus on the visual aspects of Beowulf, the uncanny valley and further investigation into whether this approach was a success with viewers. Bibliography Blair, Ian. (2007). Visual Effects: 'Beowulf'. http://www.postmagazine.com/Publications/Post-Magazine/2007/November-12007/VISUAL-EFFECTS-BEOWULF.aspx (Accessed 12th December 2011) Bradshaw, Peter. (2007). Beowulf. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/nov/16/actionandadventure.animation (Accessed 12th December 2011) Freud, Sigmund. (2003). The Uncanny. United Kingdom: Penguin Classics Gallagher, David. (2007). Digital Actors in 'Beowulf' Are Just Uncanny http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/digital-actors-in-beowulf-are-just-uncanny/ (Accessed 12th December 2011) Kloc, Joe. (2009). New Findings Shed Light On a Century's Worth of Bizarre Explanations For the Eerie Feeling We Get Around Lifelike Robots. http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/uncanny_valley/ (Accessed 12th December 2011) Sawicki, Mark. (2011). Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography. Massachusetts: Focal Press

Creative Partnership Archived:

Jamie Tibbott's comments on my blog: hey Anita :D I do like the top two images in influence map 1 as you said the stories can be interpreted however you please, also the lighting in influence 2's bottom two images has a real effect of the uncanny although bottom left is black and white i feel with added colour the suspense and drama behind the scene would be increased. look forward to see what you produce :D 8 December 2011 13:17 Ohhhh i see you got this one in the bag! only difference i can see in the brick is the blue smudge other than that.. Bang on! and tiles just a darker patched line but nothing else.. jealous! well done :D 8 December 2011 13:19My comments on Jamie Tibbott's blog: Hey Jamie. I'm currently looking at Melanie Pullen's work too! Her work really stood out to me. You've got some interesting images here. I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this project :) 7 December 2011 05:20 I really like the angle of the image in the top left corner. To a certain extent, it makes the viewer feel like the victim, rather than onlooking from afar 7 December 2011 05:25 nice set of thumbnails :) there's something about 11 and 17 that caught my eye. is there any here that you think you are going to develop? 11 December 2011 16:49 My comments of Nicholas Baker's blog: Hey Nick, your Photoshop and Maya work looks good. what kind of ideas have you got for your project? I found the list of websites and artists on the brief really helpful. I'm not sure if you've had a look at them yet or not :) 11 December 2011 16:21

Nicholas Baker's comments on my blog: You are showing everyone up with those texturing skills off yours lol loving the frame work if you had like a victorian house or maybe that sort of frame in a modern house living room that would be odd and take the audiences attention straight to it, good idea for a thumbnail unless you already have something like that lol :) btw i will have work up soon for you and Jamie to assess, sorry for taking so long about it 12 December 2011 12:51