- Lecture reaction documentation -
During the college year I had weekly lectures on a huge variety of topics. These lectures have been really helpful in exposing me to topics which I would likely have not explored on my own and helped me to expand my artistic influences.
The Shining (1980) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Promt: Reflect on Mis en Scene in The Shining. Identify some horror Tropes.
Notes:
The Shining is a masterclass in mese n Scene, particularly with the framing of shots as well as the colour palettes used. For example, when Danny is shown exploring the hotel there is a brighter and warmer colour palette whereas the latter half of the film features mostly muted colours and strong directional lighting.
Kubrick frequently uses close shots of the characters where the character takes up around 50% of the screen. This is done to make the viewer feel closer to the characters and make the viewer feel more vulnerable.
The Shining utilises these tight frames to build tension and showcase the cast’s amazing acting and allows the viewer to appreciate their subtle expressions.
Horror Tropes:
Innocent child acting strange/possessed
Isolation causing psychosis
Time distortion/character finds out they’ve always been there
Mysterious room which character is warned not to explore
Communication with outside world is cut off
Long corridors with eerie feeling
Creepy twins
The Shining is clearly responsible for many of these tropes which can be seen frequently in movies since.
Promt: Reflect on the character of Wendy. What power does she have over Jack?
Notes:
Wendy was extremely aware and cautious throughout the movie. She noticed Jack’s decline and do everything within her power to protect Danny, including putting herself in harms way to allow him to escape.
Wendy held the power of exposing Jack’s mental health to others, including to Danny.
Many people like to dismiss Wendy as hapless, however, if you pay attention it is incredibly obvious that Wendy is constantly aware of her surroundings and the behaviour of others around her.
Notes:
The Scenes of Danny riding his trike carelessly around the hotel are an excellent showcase of what makes The Shining so good.
The scene features close camera shots, eerily simple sound, and an unsettling feeling throughout.
I love how effectively this scene manages to put you on edge without knowing what you’re on edge about.
Notes:
The bathroom scene between Jack Torrence and the Overlook hotel’s butler.
The surreal, bright set completely contrasts the rest of the film and represents Jack’s full descent into delusion.
The dialogue between the two is tightly written and is just as confusing for the audience as it is for Jack.
The entire bar sequence is a fantastic subversion of everything else the film has shown so far and is absolutely one of my favourite scenes from this movie.
Frida Khalo Lecture
Promt: Reflect on the CONTEXT of Frida Khalo’s work? What factors influenced her? Why?
Notes:
The main factors which Influences Khalo’s work were her accident when she was young and the people she surrounded herself with.
Khalo’s husband undoubtedly had a huge influence on her and her work. Because of her husband being an incredibly successful artist, she was surrounded by high calibre artists of the time which she will have had a large influence on her.
In the latter half of her life, Khalo was surrounded by chaos due to her and her husbands antics in their shared house which gave her fuel to create with.
Kahlo’s accident was obviously incredibly influential on Kahlo's life as it forced her to stay bed bound and gave her something which she wanted to create art to express
Promt: Did Frida love Diego or was it a marriage of convenience? Why?
Notes:
I believe that Frida and Diego did love each other, in the beginning at least. However, it can’t be ignored that Frida sought out Diego because he was a successful artist despite him being 20 years her senior.
In their later life together, the two were extremely antagonistic towards each other with the constant cheating and fighting around their strange house.
I think that neither of them would have been happy with a regular life and partner and needed to cause chaos for them to feel energized.
I don’t believe it was only a convenient marriage but it definitely felt like a toxic relationship which they both used as a catalyst for creating.
Khalo, F (1949) The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego and Señor Xólot [Painting] Available Online at: https://www.fridakahlo.org/the-love-embrace-of-the-universe.jsp Accessed: 15.05.2024
Notes:
The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego and Señor Xólot is visually very interesting painting to me.
The composition and colour palette is very strong with a great amount of contrast. I’m interested to learn more about the Mexican mythology as I love cultural mythology and know very little about Mexico’s
Khalo, F (1935) A Few Small Nips. [Painting] Available online: https://www.fridakahlo.org/a-few-small-nips-passionately-in-love.jsp Accessed: 15.05.2024
Notes:
Personally, I found this painting extremely weird and distasteful.
Khalo using a real-life murder she saw on the news to insert herself into as an analogy for her husband cheating on her felt gross and self-absorbed
I feel that were much better ways that she could have expressed herself without drawing parallels between a real murder and her being upset
The Body Lecture
Promt: Reflect on how the theme of “The Body” might influence your FMP?
Notes:
In my project, I chose not to include any sort of human elements as the only folklore I could find involving people didn’t interest me as much as the subjects of yokai and mythological creature.
There are many anthropomorphic creatures in Japanese folklore which my illustrations could benefit from understanding human anatomy. However, I don’t feel that any will be relevant for my project
Promt: Reflect on body politics and gender stereo-types. How do you feel?
Notes:
Body politics have become significantly more inclusive over the last 60 years. In the current climate, people are making an active effort to showcase bodies of all shapes, sizes and gender identities.
Personally, I have no horse in the race of body politics and I’m quite uninterested. I’m glad that people are free to express themselves and the world is becoming more accepting.
Hickman, F (2004) Design is only politically or socially relevant if it takes a stand and communicates content. Everything else is just decoration [Poster] Available Online: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360657572070 Accessed: 15.05.2024
Not a good source, however, it is the only place I can find a record of this poster outside of the lecture
Notes:
I absolutely love the bold design of this poster. The designer includes text in the poster in a fun and inventive way which seamlessly blends into the imagery of the poster.
I would love to blend text and imagery like this in my own work
Sagmeister, S (1999) AIGA Detroit [poster] Available online at: https://sagmeister.com/work/aiga-detroit/ Accessed: 15.05.2025
Notes:
This poster is interesting because it’s as intriguing as it is hard to look at.
The combination of the body and text is a really fun interaction; the text being cut in makes the viewer uncomfortable and undoubtedly makes the poster more impactful
The Art of the Book Lecture
Promt: What do you think is the role of gold leaf in books?
Notes:
Most instances of gold leaf in books or manuscripts I’ve seen have been in religious texts. In these books the gold represents importance and holy messages. Gold was a rare and extremely expensive metal with a beautiful and pure look so it would only be used for important religious texts.
Promt: Reflect on the what you think is the difference between books before and after the invention of moveable type.
Notes:
Before moveable type, books were a much more expensive and harder to obtain.
Movable type allowed books to be produced faster, cheaper and therefore made them more widely available. With the invention of movable type it allowed information to be shared much easier which has been fundamental in the progress of humanity.
The only downside of information being printed rather than handwritten is that a lot of the artistry has been lost. We have hundreds on fonts and typefaces but we no longer have illuminated text or hand drawn lettering.
I love script and I think it’s a shame that there aren’t more hand made touches in books as it helps add to the narrative of the book.
Notes:
I love the use of illustrations along the borders of this book. Not only are they really fun illustrations but I love the implication of not focusing on religion will lead you to evil.
Notes:
Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut (1969) Special print.
Notes:
This book is everything I love about books.
I adore the mix of black type with hand pressed red script; the small hand made prints on the chapter pages; the beautiful lino cut soldiers print; It’s just a gorgeous book.
