Rebecca Arnold, Artist Blog: Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock started out his career in film in 1920, when he worked as a movie title designer for 2 years at a studio in London. When the director of the film Always Tell Your Wife fell ill, Hitchcock completed the movie. After working his way up, his career as a director finally began, and he has become the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant body of work produced over 50 years.

I'll start out by saying all the Hitchcock movies I have seen: Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, Rebecca, Strangers on a Train, To Catch a Thief, and The Birds. This man created 52 available films, so I have a ways to go.

I figured I'd write this blog about him, since I'll be taking some stills from Dial M for Murder. Here's some interesting information.

While known for his quick cameos in his films, Hitchcock often used theme of "wrong man" or mistaken, lost or assumed identity. This includes his films Vertigo, North by Northwest, Pyscho, among others. This is really intelligent and interesting. It makes a good story, obviously. I'll have to take this under consideration. As Hitchcock says, "Drama is life with the dull bits left out." How true is that to how I feel.

Something I'll also be taking from Hitchcock is the way he creates suspense in his films. He was known to alternate between different shots to extend cinematic time. I obviously can't do that with a still camera, but I can take from his ideas to keep the viewer in the place of the character with shots between a character's point of view and shots of what's coming. He admitted that this makes any danger encountered more richly felt. He also uses a lot of film-noir-like lighting in his earlier films. He creates shadows on walls for more tension and suspense, like in Suspicion and Saboteur.

Hitchcock also liked to have full control of lighting and other factors of the set, preferring to shoot at the studio. I will consider this too. Even if I do shoot on location, I will be sure to have a few lights in order to contain my environment.

Here are a few stills I picked out:

Still from Psycho Still from Topaz Still from The Trouble with Harry

I'll be watching Dial M for Murder this week, so my next post should have some more interesting Hitchockian information.

http://www.hitchcockwiki.com/wiki/1000_Frames_of_Hitchcock

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/

Rebecca Arnold, Artist Lecture: Spencer Finch

September 24th, Spencer Finch came to talk at VCU.

Spencer Finch, an adorably awkward and humble painter, strategically and carefully records the unseen world (ex. the specific light in paris in wintertime) while attempting to understand the meaning beyond it.

He showed a lot of his work during the lecture, and some of my favorites were his

Poke in the Eye

I really liked the way he described this piece, a "nonvisual phenomenon"and that the piece reassures him that he's real. Finch also said how he enjoys creating things that can't be photographed, that are in his head. Which leads to...

Night Sky, Over the Painted Desert, Arizona. 1/9/04, 2004

This piece is incredible because he found the molecular structure of the night sky in Arizona and recreated the structure with these lights. Wow.

Some of my other favorites he showed during his lecture included the recreation of the color of the sky above Coney Island, and recording and recreating the light at the site of ancient Troy in Eos (Goddess of dawn).

Some of the things I remember and recorded Spencer Finch saying were that he loves using indestructible mosaics - that he's interested in old materials. This is pretty obvious, as I feel he's part scientist, part artist. He also used the Theory of Relativity in casual context, saying that "When you observe something, you change it" it's all relative.

I really enjoyed this lecture, it's refreshing to see someone so intelligent come to visit. I'll be following Spencer Finch's work in the future.

Rebecca Arnold, Research Blog: New Things

Hello, blog. Meeting with Tom went well. I've needed advice and a good nudge to get my ideas back.

So as my concept continues to grow, it's becoming less complicated. I expressed how unhappy I've been with my current problem of not being able to put my words into photos. My concept, if you recall, is Escapism through the narratives of films (specifically written or made between 1900-1960, due to their heightened mise-en-scene and the nearly exaggerated acting which we all love). Tom asked me many questions about myself, to which I blanked. What I did say, however, prompted him to say "didn't you just write a character?" We determined that I'm constantly looking for New or Other in my life. You can take that however you want, but I think that's pretty accurate.

Tom also advised that my voice needs to surface in my work, and to ask "what do I like?" I need to establish a clear direction in order to make powerful images, so I'll be doing some more research. I offered the suggestion of writing my own stories again, but he made a great point that this could be a tie to contemporary. To find a problem of Today or even historical stories (which I guess isn't technically contemporary, but it's accessible).

I also have a little activity to do before my next meeting: Take 10 stills from Hitchock's Dial M for Murder. I've never seen this film, but Tom believes it was filmed all pretty much in the same room. I am to write a paragraph about why I chose those stills and what they say beyond the storyline. I am to analyze not for what the story is, but how the still is abstracted from the story.

I'll also be looking through the Academy Awards history, specifically for best screenplay. I will research why these stories were so engaging and go from there.

So, that's it. Lots to think about, lots to research to do.

Rebecca Arnold, Artist Blog: Kimberly French

Well, as we can all see from my last post, I was in kind of stuck in my ideas, but I’m trying to work them out right now.

I’ve been trying so hard to find the perfect idea for the perfect picture to perfectly define my old-Hollywood storybook perfection life concept, and all I can say is that doesn’t just crop up overnight.

I’m going to chat with Tom about this on Tuesday, so this isn’t final final final idea, but: I might as well just start where I should’ve to begin with. With a video camera.

I shied away from this idea early on, as I did a lot of ideas I’m using now, but I think this is the way I’m going to find what I really want – a film still.

I have a digital video camera, and with its less-than-film quality, I think I could really achieve some interesting juxtapositions between the contemporary grainy digital film-still and the old fashioned setting being filmed.

That being said, I’ve looked up a few film still experts, and stumbled over Kimberly French.

Growing up in British Columbia, French enrolled in photography at Selkirk College developing an editorial photography portfolio. While studying at North West Film and Video Training Centre, Phil Hersee, a still photographer in the motion picture industry, became her mentor. She worked as an assistant for many years and eventually became a movie still photographer herself.

French started out with more independent feature films, but worked her way to more notable assignments, including Brokeback Mountain and The Assassination of Jesse James.

The Assassination of Jesse James

While she is mainly known for her movie still work, she also has art photography, with those works appearing in two shows so far.

Women (her personal work)

In an interview with Kimberly French, she explains that as a child, she always loved movie posters and how through a single image the allure of them could ignite the desire to go see a particular movie. She also admits that she didn’t know that the job of Movie Still Photographer existed, and that she believed the images came from the film negatives. While this could be possible, she explains that the images are usually blurry because the speed is so quick.

On explaining when and how she makes her stills, French says “The stills photographer often makes images that you do not see in the motion film, as we can choose our lens size, our frame/composition, and timing. Sometimes I make photos of the actors when they are not on set. For Brokeback Mountain, one image, of Heath Ledger, was made while he was rehearsing his lines outside the set…”

Kimberly French also says in her interview that when shooting a certain scene, she doesn’t get direction from anyone on set. Her free hand in her photographs is a great perk, as she is pretty much on her own without a boss on the big movie sets. She and the director of photography sometimes communicate, but overall she is on her own.

“Shooting movie stills is not as restrictive as one might think. Timing, composition, lens choice, perspective, all decisions I can make, creative decisions.” – Kimberly French

Suspicious River

I’m glad that the interviewer has asked these questions because I’ve been interested in this profession for a very long time. Who knows…

Anyway, that was a little insight on Kimberly French. I looked through a lot of her work and her photography is truly gorgeous. I hope I can channel her on my next shoot.

http://scribbleking.typepad.com/scribbleking/2007/02/interview_still.html

http://www.kimberleyfrench.com/

one more pic because I love Twilight…

New Moon

Rebecca Arnold, Research Blog: Falling Apart

I’m getting concerned. My research and concept are both there, but my inspiration has just completely run dry.

I worked on a shoot yesterday, and I wasn’t terribly happy with it. I feel like I’m overcomplicating everything, as usual, with all of the elements I want to put into my photographs. And yet, my shoot came out too simple for my taste, too easy, so I’m reshooting this weekend. Yikes.

I’m also worried about the whole element of comedy. My work has always been quirky, but now I just feel like I’m pulling ideas out of my ass (pardon my French), and nobody wants to look at forced art, especially forced humor. Amber gave me an interesting idea to use modern elements or technologies of today and incorporate them into my Old Hollywood look. I shied away from this idea in the beginning when Jeff told me to try to relate to contemporary, but now it doesn’t sound so blatant and crazy as I first thought of it.

So hey, there’s that at least. I will be incorporating newer modern elements to my story-telling film-scene old-Hollywood photographs. What a mouth-full.

Research was bleak this week, but I’ve been looking at these books on Fashion in Film and they’ve really helped my direction in that area. Jeff liked the book and offered I should look into how fashion and makeup have affected film and affected today because of how it was used in films. There have been a lot of internet searches, but not terribly good information. It’s at least something to think about when applying these elements.

That’s it for now…stay tuned.

Rebecca Arnold, Artist Blog: Teun Hocks

Well, because things are really coming together, I'm on the final round of narrowing my idea. In my meeting with Jeff, he decided that I need to find a way to have my images relate or influence contemporary. When I posted my meeting blog I was concerned about how I was to do this, but I got a response from John Cameron who suggested using humor as a way to relate it to today. He gave me an artist to research: Teun Hocks.

After reading an interview with Hocks, I've found he is much like myself. Even though he is a Dutch, middle-aged man, we are quite alike. He uses himself to play a character, who he says does not represent himself, caught in different absurd situations. Hey, that sounds like what I did last semester. However, Hocks has been doing this for nearly 40 years.

Working in large-scale, Teun Hocks hand paints his photographs that have a film-still-esque quality to them. He is focused on having the audience relate to his character in their circumstances. "...I wanted to take the idea of looking at art literally, so that you really want to get in—and to feel it." - Teun Hocks.

The similarities continue: Teun Hocks likes to work by himself, knowing all the elements he wants and how he wants them done. He also works by starting with sketches, to get his half-ideas into whole ideas. He says, "I have to draw to think." I work in a similar manner, except my sketches look terrible, and absolutely nothing like his. I mean, look at this example below.

Drawing for Untitled Untitled

Hocks really helps reassure me that what I'm working on isn't totally un-relatable or bogus. I think the infusion of humor would be a great quality to push for my work this year, as humor has gotten smarter and more important in modern day life. This work is great and encourages Escapism, which is what I'm working with. There are more of his photos below:

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/13675/teun-hocks/

http://www.teunhocks.nl/Teun_Hocks/Fotowerk_Photo-works.html

http://www.ppowgallery.com/images/uploads/05089.pdf

Rebecca Arnold, Research Blog: Narrowing

Narrowing my main focus every day has been surprisingly easy, considering I tend to over-complicate my ideas.

As far as research - that's been fairly easy too. As I was listening to my ipod, a song came on by (one of my favorite bands) Stars called "Life 2: The Unhappy Ending." I had heard this song before, but it had been a while. It starts out as a script for a film would read: "Scene one..." with the film lingo continuing throughout the song as they sing about a potential film plot. In the chorus, the singer laments "life was supposed to be a film, was supposed to be a thriller, was supposed to end in tears. But life, could be nothing but a joke..."

Overall, the song expresses the way I feel. The content I need to deliver my next pieces is basically falling into my lap.

I've also been "forcing" myself to watch several of my favorite films that were all stories first: The Wizard of Oz (written 1900, filmed 1939), Benjamin Button (written 1921, filmed 2008), It's a Wonderful Life (written 1943, filmed 1946) and Big Fish (written 1998, filmed 2003). And with this I have found a striking similarity in all of them - they were all either written, filmed or the film was based in a time before 1960.

The Old Hollywood Glamour obviously appeals to me, so I have narrowed my idea down to include, maybe solely that Old, Classic Hollywood concept. Because unlike some films today (ex: Dude Where's My Car, Hostel 1 & 2), these movies I'm using were made not for the money, but for the story - the escape. These were filmmakers passionate in their craft; before anyone could just pick up a camera and roll.

The elements in these films, specifically Mise-en-scene is strong and evident and nearly exaggerated. This is what I am aiming for now. Old Hollywood represented with exaggerated story telling and distinct imagery.

I have my meeting with Jeff today, so I'll be posting again soon.

Rebecca Arnold, Artist Blog: Cindy Sherman

Pretty much all of Cindy Sherman's work influences me, but her Untitled Film Stills series is what I follow the most. Each photograph of the series is black and white, 69 of them total. Sherman started her series a grainy/slightly out of focus quality shooting at her own apartment, and eventually branched out and took photographs from different areas - Arizona,a family beach house, and New York. Her final images of the series often featured a herself as a victim quintessential of film noir.

While Sherman's work is based around feminism, there are many other elements in her photography. In her Untitled Film Stills series, she places herself in the frame as an unidentifiable actress in shots comparable to Hollywood photographs, B-movies, foreign films and film noir. The photographs look like movie stills falsely catching the unnamed blond in familiar, unguarded situations. Her newly pop-culture strategy was subjective, and functioned just as real film stills - 8 x 10-inch glossy photographs.

Untitled Film Still #50

These prints were "designed to lure us into a drama we find all the more compelling because we know it is not real" (Moma.org). I'm making this point its own paragraph because it was an "ah-ha" moment for me. This is what I'm interested in! I knew Cindy Sherman before I started thinking about my body of work for this year but I never put the two together so well. She's really making it easy on me - or maybe hard, since I can't copy her either.


In the Untitled Film Stills Sherman portrays fictional women, but we relate or recognize them. We're drawn in without Sherman having to give it all away, with no obvious irony or hint. Warhol apparently said, "She's good enough to be a real actress."

Untitled Film Still #14

"Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills are not only photographic records of performances, but, inversely, performative accounts of filmic images" (Moma.org).

In her images the protagonist is shown doing various housewife activities like preening in the kitchen and relaxing in the bedroom. Sherman experimented with characters in other roles too as a foxy librarian, a domesticated sex kitten, etc. She said that she stopped when she ran out of clichés.

http://www.cindysherman.com/biography.shtml

http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1997/sherman/

http://www.coskunfineart.com/biography.asp?artistID=33

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sherman

Rebecca Arnold, Meeting Blog: 1st Meeting, with Tom

For this year, my main focus will be based around storytelling and the allure and glamour infused in it.

I have attempted documentary yet speculative and dream-like imagery in my previous work, which all stems from my unrealistic expectations of everyday life. I find I get these expectations mainly from watching movies and reading books. My captivated mind loves the scenery - the perfection of the set when yet, there's something peculiar going on. Something exciting!

While I've done many whimsical fairy-tale like images before, themselves presenting a situation of wonderment and surprise, I am ready to push my ideas further and create images that are a little more realistic, with a more subtle story or edge behind the image. The beauty of films and stories enliven me and I want that same feeling when I create my own series of images.

In order to create fresher imagery, I have started researching folklore and short stories. While I'm not taking from any short stories or tales directly, it's a good place to begin. I've learned the basic structure of a story and how to begin and with that knowledge, I will start writing my own stories and transferring them into visual pieces.

The sets that I build for my images will be staged (in a studio or on location) so that a story is told in a still frame, similar to Gregory Crewdson and Cindy Sherman. Film-like aspects are an important part in my ideas and I look forward to starting this new series.

Rebecca Arnold, Research Blog: Evolving Ideas

Because I had my meeting with Tom yesterday, I feel much more confident about my original idea. I don't exactly have a definitive plan, but my ideas are evolving.

After doing a rough google search on "Short Story Telling" I came up with some good websites on the structure of stories and the elements they include: ex. character, setting, problem, resolution. I've also had the opportunity to chat with my oldest sister (she's a writer) and I got some good input about where I should start.

I think if I start writing my own stories, it could get lengthy and involved, but I'd rather do that than just simply copy from another author's short story. I'll be starting with a few outlines, and go from there. I plan to create 3-4 stories for right now. Whether one photograph will be one story or 3 photographs will be one story, I'm not sure.

While looking through some of Cindy Sherman's photos (via her website) I got a nice pang of jealousy. I've looked at her work before, but now I'm inspired and envious. Film stills are my starting point, but more explanatory than that.

So far I think I have a good start and some good, basic information on the type of work I'm looking forward to doing.