Flashing beats and thumping lights

Went to see Mortal Engine at the Sydney Theatre Company on Thursday night (thanks for the recommendation Jimmy). An incredible show by Chunky Move, a Melbourne-based dance company who use awsomely futuristic laser technology in their lighting design, which is a little beyond me but involves algorithms and frequencies and other clever things.

The sound design is matched to the light and movement seamlessly and the performance really floods all your senses. When the dancers turn into a writhing mass of black creepy crawlies I could feel the dark light seeping under my skin, and the electric snapping and sizzling later on singed my nose hair. Each sequence was completely hypnotic, especially the couple trapped against the wall with TV static, and I couldn't get enough of the green cloud tunnels at the end - who knew you could make a universe with a smoke machine and a fancy laser beam?

Costume design

A little while ago we had a series of classes over at NIDA with Julie Lynch. We designed a series of costumes for the play The Happy Prince. As this was a theatrical production some of the costumes had to be designed to allow for a transformation; the Prince and the Swallow have to be bright and healthy and vivacious in the beginning and by the end of the play they have lost all their colour and vigour.

I changed my style of illustration part way through the process (at Julie's suggestion) and overall I'm happy with the results. If I have time I'll go back and re-do the Reed and the Child.

Reminiscing

I watched and loved this animation when I lived in England briefly. My mum would fetch me from school then take me back to work, and I'd sit in her office while she was off doing the things she did. It was the only time I was allowed to watch the childrens TV programming on BBC1. The Moomins are Finnish (later revised by the Japanese - I did NOT watch the anime version) and are weird and adorable.

Directly lifted from Wikipedia:
The Moomins (Swedish: Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley, in the forests of Finland, though in the past their temporary residences have included a lighthouse and a theatre. They have many adventures along with their various friends. In all, nine books were released in the series, with five picture books and a comic strip also written by Jansson being released between 1945 and 1993. The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, films and even a theme park called Moomin World in Naantali, Finland.

Concept art - musical this time!

Something I've been tinkering with as a spec project for Susan Hurley and the Hurricanes

Concept Illustration with Phil Shearer

So this brief was "it is the year 2050, a typical kitchen in an average apartment". But also the set must be designed to enable the simple action of a character making a cup of tea while defending an action to a friend. So the kitchen must allow barriers of some kind...

Here's where I started:

And then (some time later):

The perspective was a bit of a challenge but I think I got there. ?

Concept Illustration with Phil Shearer

Last week we had the privilege of being taught to draw by Phil Shearer... he's created conceptual designs for little films like The Matrix, Star Wars, Dark City...

We were given the task of creating concept art for three scenarios. Here's my version of "an ancient chinese temple entrance, massive, sited in dramatic barren country with aggressive landforms and many gorges. It holds a terrible secret, evident in the design"

Next up, a futuristic kitchen!

This Is England

This film was showing on SBS the other night. I was channel surfing and didn't know what it was but was grabbed by the scruff of the neck right from the opening credits. I loved it partly for personal nostalgic reasons but it's also a compelling story beautifully shot. Rusting fences, green fields and graffiti on concrete, Doc Martens, polka-dot ra-ra skirts and black lipstick. 1983 in Yorkshire, the Falklands war, ska, punk, skinheads.
Go watch it ASAP.

Look at the pretty

We were talking yesterday about colours and colour theory (hexachrome's a new one) and someone brought up Diego Velazquez and his beautifully luminous canvasses. I was heading up Parramatta Road this morning as the sun was coming up and the sun was rising behind the clouds with a most Velazquezian aurora.
(Unfortunately my filthy windscreen, crappy phone camera and the general ambience that is Camperdown mute the visual impact but you get the idea?)

Cross-breeding costumes and puppetry

Thinking about the unique and mind-expanding designs in the productions of Julie Taymor which bring together film, dance, puppetry, Eddie Izzard, blue people, a hogs head of real fire....

Look at the pretty

Swiss luxury watch made of fossilized dinosaur feces, toad skin costs $11,290 (Photo)

Reassuring proof that you can polish a turd.... and then put it to good use!

There's hope for me yet.

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Syd Mead

Went to see Visual Futurist at the Cremorne Orpheum last night. Syd Mead was there for a Q&A after as well. His work is astounding - he paints the future (paints! an analogue man in a digital world, although clearly he is fluent in the realm of CGI) with wonder, curiosity and passion. I love that in the future he sees, life and technology have a happy symbiosis; so much science fiction leans towards tales of fear and caution. To quote a line from the film, his universe "reminds me of something I've never seen before". I think if I lived in the world he sees I would go outside more.

Also astounding is the time capsule that is the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. I always feel like I should be wearing a fur stole and cloche when I go there. It is heart-warming that the grand old lady is being preserved and even celebrated in her Art Deco opulence. The range of cinema to be seen there is broad but they don't stoop to the lower echelons of movie junk that pads out the viewing selection at the local multiplex. May my work one day display in such a venue, and may it be worthy!

Fungus the Bogeyman

Love pop-ups. I'm fascinated by the paper mechanics, there's an underrated genius to the craft. I found this at Rozelle Market on the weekend and of course had to have it - Raymond Briggs' work is always compelling. I wonder if there's a pop-up of When The Wind Blows.... a sobering entertainment indeed.