Cinematic Spaces: Online Greenlight Review

8/22/2019 Cinematic Spaces: Online Greenlight Review

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J o s h A l d i s5 t h O c t o b e r 2 0 1 3

C i n e m a t i c S p a c e s P r o j e c t


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Gormenghast is the second in a seriesof three books written by Mervyn

Peake in 1950. Peake began writingthe first in the trilogy whilst enlisted

in the army as an engineer, beforewhich he was interested in becominga war artist as a way of servicing his

English heritage.

The setting of the book centresaround castle Gormenghast, ruled bythe family of Groan. The castle, alongwith the surrounding dwellings, are

subject to complete isolation from theworld around them, which becomes a

strong theme throughout thistraditional fantasy drama.

The books were adapted into a BBCmini series at the turn of the century,covering the main features and plotpoints in hour-long segments over

four episodes.

[1]

[2]


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The Great Kitchen

Clusters of aproned figures,Slaughter house, bakeries, wine vaults,Heavy wooden doors,

Sickening atmosphere of the kitchen augmentedby the suns rays streaming into the room through

the high windows,

Walls built with grey slabs of stone,

These are some of the descriptive excerpts which haveinspired me greatly. My original thought process was to

immediately study the kitchen artwork from Pixars

Ratatouille and design a much darker, unsettling versionof that. This is included on my Influence Map, whichdisplays fantastic use of lighting, particularly in an

environment so full of metallic objects and warm colours.The kitchen is also a room in which the theme of isolation

contrasts with other areas of the castle, as it is often heavilypopulated with chefs and workmen.


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The Attic

The indescribable grey-gold filtering glow of theattic,Three sections,

Various objects, thin beams of light here andthere,

Enormous crumbling organ, cobwebs, dark room,

Gallery to the right, boasted a window with openshutters, panorama of rooftops,Vague rafters, hills of furniture, kites, pictures,

armour, helmets,Ancient couch, picture book,

Balcony at the far end of the second attic, (Ladder)

The Attic is another interesting environment to me, as itperfectly reflects the isolation of Fuschia. The aesthetics of

the three rooms also appeal very much to me, as I canperfectly envision the piling storage junk and the way inwhich the gold light will create a dusty, ancient feeling to

the various covered objects.


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Gormenghast (Exterior)

Mean dwellings swarmed around the outer walls,Hovels sprawled over the sloping earth, each half way

over its neighbour,Stronghold that loomed over them,

Irregular roofs,Most enormous of all, the shadow of the Tower of Flints,patched with black ivy, like a finger amongst masonry,

Within the Outer Wall, a few feet from the earth, thegreat stones of which the wall itself was constructed,jutted forward in the form of a massive shelf stretching

from east to west for about two hundred to threehundred feet.

The surrounding towns and villages of Gormenghast are

described in such a way that completely contrasts with thecastle, in terms of style, importance and class. The isolatedsurrounding areas give a sense that this land is completelyblocked off from civilisation, giving some leeway to make

the backgrounds and city perimeters as natural anddeserted as can be. I feel that this is one of the most

important environments, as it gives the creative freedom totruly create an expansive and immersive piece of artwork.


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Skyrim concept art

Sweeney Todd stills of kitchen/attic


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This influence map contains a variety ofsources, from original illustrations of Chief

Chef, Swelter. to the humble design process ofRataouille. Reading the excerpts given, I felt astrong desire to reflect the chaotic nature of

the kitchen with its design, starting myresearch with an 1800s traditional style.

From here I discovered a game by the name ofAmnesia: A Machine for Pigs, the setting of

which takes place in a Victorian workhouse. Iwas completely set on a traditional

atmosphere, but one of an unsettling naturewhich to most would feel very raw and

unhygienic.

I have typically stuck to more of a dungeon-esque setting in my concepts, particularly dueto the strong lighting effects I want to portray

in the final artwork, emitted from ovens, drains

and windows.

Descriptions of the sickening atmosphere andthe suns rays from high windows help to give

my ideas a very strong atmosphere ofunpleasantness, using lots of gold and red to

give the unnatural metallic feeling to what ismeant to be a sanitary work environment.


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The influence behind my attic thumbnailsbegan with looking into the work of TimBurton, who often attributes traditional

styles into his films using contrasting lightsources in dark, eerie environments. Thevastness of the attic in Gormenghast has

also been a focus of my sketches, which hasbeen an ideal way to incorporate

particularly long perspective shots.

Films such as Sweeney Todd and EdwardScissorhands have been a great source of

inspiration during my ideas process,

specifically due to the isolated nature inwhich the environments exist. BothSweeney and Edward are subject to a

particular degree of loneliness, which Ibelieve is reflected in their surroundings,

being that they are very dull and bareplaces.

The use of the words vague rafters in theexcerpts also gives the impression that theattic has been built purely to keep the roof

from falling in, as a posed to aestheticdesign. I feel that the cluttered environmentwill give the final concept more characterthough, as this will give me the chance to

include object details that will reactdifferently towards the light sources.


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The influence map I have created forGormenghast begins with a look at the BBCseries, which has been elaborately designedusing various colour palettes. I found this

design interesting because it seems to

completely contradict the much meaner,more hovel-like atmosphere the book

describes.

I have also taken influence from Fable IIandGame of Thrones concept art, both ofwhich envision vast landscapes withtowering castles and adorning towns

quivering at their foot. These concepts havehelped to gain perspective of the sloping

nature of the landscape on whichGormenghast stands, which I believe has

reflected on my thumbnail ideas.

The biblical giant known as The Tower of

Babel has also influenced my ideas,particularly due to the vast, desertedenvironment in which it stands. Castle

Gormenghast is likened to The Tower ofBabel through the ideas of importance andsocial standing, being that its inhabitantsare slightly smug about their position oftowering over the menial workers below.


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These coloured conceptthumbnails of The Great

Kitchen help to demonstrate

my intentions regardinglighting and composition. Imvery happy with how theyveturned out and plan to use a

similar colour palette when itcomes to my final piece of

work.

The longshot perspective givesmore of a sense of greatness

to the environment, however Ihave kept details and clutter to

an absolute minimum. Thefinal concept will be of a

similar layout, including more

varieties of food to express arange of tones and textures,and more of a busy

atmosphere in general.


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These attic concepts are vague representations of the intendedoutcome, using very limited light sources and, once again,

keeping clutter to a minimum. As with the kitchen, I feel thatthis concept can really expand in the final piece, giving it a

gothic charisma with hints off Tim Burton.

I feel that the colour palette for this concept suits theatmosphere in an aesthetic way, as it represents isolation andforgotten belongings, but is also treated as a place of comfort

and safety. The way in which the light bounces off certainobjects will be of particular focus, as most of the items

described are different in terms of shape, size, material, etc.


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For the exterior region of Gormenghast Ihave experimented with different colourpalettes and weather conditions, with the

left thumbnail environment giving more of

an arctic feel, and the right thumbnailshaving more of a traditional structure.

I particularly like the use of reflection in thebottom right, as it gives more of a sense ofrealism to the world I am trying to bring to

life. The rainfall and perspective of the

streets scarce of townspeople gives a veryisolated atmosphere to Gormenghast,particularly with the castle lingering in the

distance.

My colour palettefor the final piecewould certainly be

most akin to thebottom thumbnail,as I feel this gives

the biggest range ofcolour out of the

three final concepts.

Cinematic Spaces: Online Greenlight Review

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