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Post 6

For my archive of signage and typography images, I took advantage of my location on spring break.  I visited my grandparents who live in a very small town in southern Illinois called Steeleville.  I wanted to document the signage found in the downtown area and focus on the small town feel that Steeleville, IL projects.  My archive of images includes road signs, handmade signs from local businesses, commercial signs, headstones from the cemetery, and general old signs.  Through my collection of images my goal is to portray the history of the town as well as its inherent nostalgia and outdated culture. 

   

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Post 5: Composition

The Baptism of Christ by Andrea Del Verrocchio and Leonardo is an excellent example of careful artistic composition.  This painting was created in the late 15th Century in Florence, Italy, during a period of time when the Catholic Church and the Papacy were undergoing criticism and disapproval.  Verrocchio creates lines in the composition to draw the viewer's attention to a specific focal point, which is Jesus.  On the right of Jesus is John the Baptist, whose foot and leg are positioned in a way that aligns with his raised arm.  The viewer’s eyes are meant to follow this line and focus on Jesus, whose head is in the center of the composition.  In addition, a triangular shape is created by the figures and landscape in this piece.  With the head of Jesus at the apex, the two angelic figures on the left side and John the Baptist on the right, what is known as the stable pyramid is present.  Everything in this composition is directing the viewer’s eyes to Jesus in the center, from God’s hands and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove above Jesus’ head to the distant landscape on the horizon line.  Even one of the angelic figures is gazing up at Jesus, further directing one’s focus to the figure of Jesus.

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Color Analysis of The Legend of Zelda

Arguably the two greatest games in history, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, are works of art.  Not only are the epic storyline, the variety of characters, and expansive gameplay what makes these games so incredible, but the color palettes of each game are absolutely stunning.  Each game has its own unique array of colors that correlate to both the story and the characters.

To begin, Breath of the Wild has two main colors: blue and orange.  The title screen shows Link looking across the expanse of Hyrule, the landscape bright orange and blue. 

This theme of orange and blue is carried throughout the game, most prominently in the ancient Sheikah technology such as Shrines and the Master Cycle.

Blue is also an important color in regards to the characters, as blue is the color worn by the Champions, heroes of the Kingdom of Hyrule.

In Breath of the Wild, black and magenta denote evil, as seen in the deadly goo called Malice and the smoke emitting from Hyrule Castle itself, where Calamity Ganon resides.  Once protectors of the land now gone rogue, Guardians also light up with a pinkish-magenta glow when Link is near, warning him that danger ensues.

In the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, the most prominent color throughout is an electric greenish-teal, as seen on the title screen. 

The teal color is associated with the ancient Zonai people and their technology.  This can be seen in Shrines, falling debris, Link’s powers, as well as helpful Constructs.

There are two new subworlds in Tears of the Kingdom, the Depths and the Sky Islands.  Each subworld has its own color schemes: Hyrule is very green, the Depths are dark with lots of purples, teals, and blues, and the Sky Islands are predominantly yellow, gray, and white.

Black and red indicate evil instead of magenta.  The red is far deeper and more sinister, as the underlying evil in Tears of the Kingdom is much greater than that of Breath of the Wild.  Ganondorf and his draconian form are bathed in red, as well as the pure evil entities that attempt to grasp Link in their hands known as Gloom Spawn.

Princess Zelda is associated with light, and she is often shown saturated in it.

Colors are also majorly important elementally, embodying the powers of ice, fire, and electricity.

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In Thom Andersen’s documentary titled Zoopraxograper, Andersen delves into the work of Eadweard Muybridge.  Muybridge pioneered the way for modern film and motion pictures through his archive of images taken at different moments of movement of an object.  Muybridge’s work includes photos of animals and humans, and while each image is a still, stagnant photograph, the combined series portrays continuous, fluid movement.

Eadweard Muybridge’s collection is heavily focused on the naked human figure and the ways in which it moves.  This fixation is exceptionally weird, especially considering the sheer volume of these images in Muybridge’s archive.  While they benefit science in many ways and have stood throughout history, as an individual object these images are disconcerting to say the least.  Nevertheless, Muybridge’s revolutionary images remain captivating, as each series tells a story of their own.

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In the excerpt titled In Plato’s Cave from Susan Sontag’s book On Photography, Sontag illustrates the power and properties of photographs.  Photographs are rarely portraying reality, but rather a staged, stylized scene based on reality.  Parallel to photographs are experiences, and parallel to experiences are memories, which are captured thousands and thousands of times each day.  Photos contain sentiment, as well as information; history can be glimpsed and relived through these frozen moments in time.  

Concerning the present time, photographs are even more deceiving.  With access to limitless editing tools and advanced photography equipment, it is now all the more enticing to put forth false information in photographs and tailor images exactly to our liking, even if we alter the material far beyond recognition.  Our brains have difficulty deciphering the real from the fake, and true, honest photography is hard to come by.

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In Adam Curtis’s short film HyperNormalisation, Curtis utilizes a vast archive of footage.  This archive profoundly communicates the message that Curtis is aiming to deliver.  The amount of video footage is impactful simply on its own, but the meaning behind the footage is what truly packs the punch.  Curtis incorporates video from the 1970’s during a time when the United States was deeply hurting.  The archive depicts violence, hardship, and politically charged themes.  Curtis’s use of this specific video archive caters to the emotions of its viewers.  Curtis is also able to show multiple aspects of this time period, switching to different nations throughout the duration of the short film.  He is able to show his audience what was occurring in the United States, Syria, and the Soviet Union.

  Adam Curtis chooses to use raw video footage, a technique that boosts the emotional impact.  The included videos were most likely unseen by the majority of the public.  Curtis is opening the minds of others, educating them about the events of the past and how they affect the present.

Personally, I think this short film was very effective.  It conveyed the confusion that was rampant during the 1970’s, and how the political leaders at the time were stuck in a paralysis.  It also delves into a much heavier topic, which is how citizens and politicians alike had been indoctrinated by the system so much that they were incapable of seeing anything further.  No one knew how to escape the loop they were trapped in.  This is relevant to today’s day and age, as we must be cautious to not become entangled in corrupt ways.