Unit

3:Environment

Online Greenlight Review

Urvashi Lele

Summary of Sigmund Frueds The Uncanny

In his essay The Uncanny, Sigmund Freud strongly states that the mind reacts to unfamiliar things with caution. What the human mind does not feel comfortable with, it reacts to with hints of fear. There is no doubt that (the uncanny) belongs to the realm of the frightening Freud states that fears ingrained within a persons mind in their childhood get repressed and surface when that person is subject to something unfamiliar. As a result, the term uncanny may mean different things to different people. In other words, it is subjective. People differ greatly in their sensitivity to this kind of feeling The German word Heimlich is translated into English as Homely. Freud says that what we cannot classify as homely, we reject. However, there is a lack of fear when something new is experienced. New is not always bad. Not everything new and unfamiliar is frightening The only reason that the mind senses what it thinks is fear is because it is uncertain about what it is subject to. What the mind cannot understand, it dismisses as unimportant. The emergence of a sense of the uncanny is intellectual uncertainty

 The concept of a double/twin/doppelganger has long been the concept that has aroused a sense of the uncanny amongst subjects. A person is perpetually subject to things, people and events that influence their development. A person may try to be like someone else because they believe that that is the correct way to be or because they feel that they would be more comfortable that way. As a result, they person being imitated is replicated. The idea of there being more of one person is mildly comforting as far as the thought of having a spare is concerned. The double was originally an insurance against the extinction of the self.

A person may appear as unfamiliar to themselves as they have never met themselves before. At such a time, the person is a stranger to their own self. The imagination has a strong hold in the perception of literature. As a result, Many things that would be uncanny if they occurred in real life are not uncanny in literature. The Uncanny is a feeling that is strongly felt via the visual medium. Freud concludes that The uncanny is that species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and had long been familiar.

Artists Influence and Research.

For this Unit, I have been strongly influenced by Mark Ryden, Jeff Wall, That artist who has his work Field of Light on display at the Holburne Museum in Bath (Bruce Munro), (Novel), Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and xxXHolic by CLAMP(Manga Series). Further reading includes Broeckel,Alex et al.(2009).Master Collection: Volume 1: Digital Painting Techniques.Oxford.Elsevier. Broeckel, Alex et al.(2009).Master Collection: Volume 3:Digital Painting Techniques.Oxford.Elsevier. Tonge, Gary.(2008).Bold Visions: The Digital Painting Bible.Cincinnati.David and Charles. Bennet,Neil. (2011).The Artists Guide to Illustration: The Ultimate Tutorial Collection.London. IDG Communiations. Riggs,Ransom.(2011).Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children.Philadelphia.Quirk. Victionary.(2010).Dark Inspiration. Berkeley, Gingko Press.

Visual Concept

The Visual Concept Justification and Key Thumbnails

What I was very moved by was the idea of worlds in reflections. I read about that in Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. There were similar concepts that I had come across before in the Manga series Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle and xxXHolic by CLAMP. I then decided to put together worlds in a room that consisted of everyday objects where each object contained a world or dimension and the person who owned these curiosities, could enter the worlds trapped within them. I then began to look into how I would present these worlds. I looked at the Hall of Prophecies from Harry Potter, The Field of Light display at The Holburne Museum in Bath by Bruce Munro, the Lightbulb ceiling in Jeff Walls photographs and even the works of Joseph Cornell. I also looked at illustrations of The Mines of Moria from The Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of The Ring as it gave me an impression of a mirrored room with its double arched pillars in perspective. What I found myself being drawn to the most was the use of lightbulbs or birdcages as containers for these worlds. I decided to go with the idea of the birdcages as these were structures that I hadnt dealt with before in terms of digital art and thought it would be interesting to try something new. Therefore, my idea is a form of a reverse TARDIS, where there is a chamber, a hall or a study with a desk and large windows. Only the room in filled with suspended birdcages. The person who might sit at the desk may pick a birdcage for the day and explore the world within it. I plan on constructing the pillars and cages using Maya and the desk and windows will be a part of a Matte Painting.

Introduction to Written Assignment

The term uncanny is described by Sigmund Frued as that species of the frightening that goes back to what was once well known and had been long familiar. Things or places that are visited very often by the human mind, have a strong influence on the comfort levels of a person. The change in something familiar leads to the feeling of the uncanny. The genre of Steampunk is one such example of a genre that induces an uncanny feeling within its viewer. This essay focuses on the use of Steampunk to create a sense of the uncanny by incorporating it into visual media such as movies. The movies that are used as examples are Gil Kenans City of Ember (2008), Zack Snyders Sucker Punch (2011) and Kerry Conrans Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow (2004) The published sources that are used for this essay are Chambers,S.J.(2011). The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature.New York.Abrams. Strongman,Jay.(2011). Steampunk: The Art of Victorian Futurism.London.Korero Von Schwars,Vienna.(2012). Steampunk: A Complete Guide to Victorian Techno-Fetishism.Edison.Chartwell Books Publishing Inc.