Evaluation

This module has been an eye opener for the final major research project and dissertation as we get to decided what we want to look at. I think this was a good module to get me prepared but also to do something of my own and what I enjoy to which is simply watching films. I have enjoyed the idea of not having a set final idea, I like how open the module has been and I have been able to use many of my skills to produce ideas such as film, posters and books.
Getting to look at things more in depth has broadened my research skills which I'm happy about especially when it's not my strong point. I also think the library isn't a scary place before as I once did, I think I will take this new confidence to my next brief.
What I was also surprised at was how well i found producing a blog which is a lot more simpler then a sketch book however I still enjoy bringing a sketch book together. When I first started this module I used a different blogger site however it didn't work most of the time so I started this one which works a lot better than my original blog.
For my artist research I really liked Varham Muratyan as he was just an artist I just came across because I had picked up his book in the library. I have looked and followed his work since, I like how I've been able to bring his influences and the film into one. I definitely like how I was able to bring the two together nicely without it becoming complicated his nice easy style fitted in with mine nicely.
Like I said before I like how we were given the option of doing anything we wanted for this module, so I was able to have many final outcomes as I wanted even if they weren't final they still classed as a closing of the chapter. Which I see for films that I slowed down to fit in with Douglas Gordon this was just a tester something that I wanted to see how it would look. I think they make you think about the scenes more and you see things that you think aren't there.
The posters and the book are just something to represent the drawings that I created and are very proud of as I have been able to work on a skill that I could not do properly before.
Overall I am pleased about this module and I think it has prepared my thinking for the next year.  

Posters

After starting my book of images of the clothes and watching the films again, I thought it would be nice to create a kind of movie poster to go with my work.
As I don't want one final piece I want various pieces to conclude what I have found.

The original posters for the films, each poster show the two leading actresses and Carry Grant. Along with showing parts of the films such as the roof tops, the boat and sun. Which helps give you an idea of the film. I like how they almost look hand drawn/made, which gives it that authentic feel and just by looking at them they tell you they are old. I would like to modernise them and put my own style into them. 

Looking at the scene's, The Firework scene and The Bell scene, where both actresses get intimate with Carry Grant. I have chosen these as the images I would like to draw as I think they are the most romantic parts of the film and the scene's that stand out the audience.  

Here I was playing with the type and playing with image of her, I like this image as the dress is so iconic along with the scene. I kept it simple by not having to much detail as I thought this ruined the image, the next step is to decided on the font etc. 

Here are my new designs for the posters I played around with the fonts Futura and Chanel that I downloaded off the internet. Chanel font I used for my book as well, I thought this old fashioned typeface suited the poster and book well as I thought it gave both hand written appeal.  I was going to use Futura as the main quote typeface as I thought the contrast would work however I don't think when I printed them looked right and it was to busy. I think the same font works better. 

The same idea came with the houseboat poster. I tried out the same layout's etc as To catch a Thief. 

I wanted to find a picture of Sophia Loren on her own however I couldn't find one but I do think this picture works as it shows how different each character is in each movie. I also like the difference in each poster, I also wanted to show the Firework and Bell scene in one image and these images represent them. For Houseboat I was gong to draw a bell however I thought this would not fit in with the rest of my work, after watching the clip again I think this is a more of an appropriate image, more than a bell. The quote would also not help the bell image. 

These two are the design's I chose to become the new film posters. I had them printed on A2, professionally. This has given the posters a more of a final finish and they look great printed. 

 

My book

One of the ideas I had was to create drawings of both the leading ladies, I wanted to show other skills. I didn't want to have just one outcome cause there are many different areas I could take this. I got this idea when I looked at the clothes and how different they are.

Original drawings for Grace Kelly and Sophia Loren hair

I wanted to show the differences in a simple way, so having the hair with no facial features, or just have the eyes or a peace of the clothing to represent each actress. 

This was my idea coming to life I think this has worked well, I tested with many colours as you can see. 

I tried the image of the head with facial features but I don't think this works as well it almost makes me feel like I have to add everything else like eyes. However I think it works with nothing on the face, as I think the book will look better just pin pointing certain areas. 

Again I think the same for Sophia Loren, I like the idea of a plain face.

After playing around with colours for both actresses I'v come to the conclusion of having orange for Sophia Loren and a baby blue for Grace Kelly as I think this helps separate the two without making it to obvious without writing their names. 

Other first drawings that I did for Grace Kelly to test out each style and if I could actually draw clothes. I like the style that I have developed with drawing, when I had my crit people said how much they like the simplicity of the drawings and that I should carry on with the style.

I think I could end up using these styles onto posters or something to represent each film. 

My Illustrations

The eyes were key to my book as I think they are key to tell which person they are, i also think both pair of eyes are stunning. 

 

The many clothes that I drew for both actresses, I played around with many different thicknesses, colours and different images also of the same outfit. This I found hard as finding images good enough to draw. Some images I collected from google of stills from the film. 

Along with the different clothes, I had another thought of having parts of the scenes in the book like the firework scene or the bell scene. 

I tried this idea and I don't think it worked as well as I liked and I don't feel it fits in with the rest of the book. They might make good posters?

Another idea for the other images, put I never drew them on illustrator. 

My first attempt at the book, I printed this out as well and I'm not a big fan of the colour blue I chose maybe something lighter? I also not keen on the firework scene as it doesn't fit with the rest of the book like I thought.  

The second look of the book, I changed both the blue and orange to be a bit duller so it doesn't take to much attention away from the drawings. I think these look so much better as I have also changed the size of the drawings so they sit nicely on the page. I like how I'v just concentrated on parts of the dresses or the facial features as they don't look as complicated and they look elegant on the page. 

The third look for the book, I like this and I would like to add little caption's to describe each image like 'American eyes' or ' Sophia Loren'. Just to add to the page, I could even instead of this I could add quotes from the film to finish them off?

Here I was testing my idea of having phrases to represent each picture, I don't think this worked well as I wanted as it was hard to find phrases to match pictures that I thought went well. However I wanted to try it out. 

Quotes

To Catch a Thief:

Black swim wear:

• Shall I ask the social director to introduce us?
• The Mediterranean's this way

Pink dress

• Do you have time for me now
• I've been waiting for you to mention that kiss I gave you last night
• When I was 10 my father died, they discovered oil on our land. That's when I really started to travel
• The man I want doesn't have a price
• Palaces are for royalty, we're just common people with a bank account
• Yes, Mr Burns
• Yes, police following you, John Robie, The cat

Blue dress

• Mother
• Mother, please
• Mother we ought to go to bed

Gold dress

• My nerves could stand a drink 
• Mother! Never mind what you said
• Mother was quite a little actress tonight
• John you left in such a hurry you almost ran
• You needed the help of a good women

Houseboat: 

Green dress

• My friend
• I'm tired of the best people, I wish I could meet some of the worst people
• Papa, one night, let me have tonight alone
• I'm 22 and I haven't given my first performance to a man, any man
• Yes a spanking solves so many things
• Arrivederci, Roberto
• Good night and thank you for the dance
• Perhaps I will get a job

Black dress

• Hello 
• Si
• I adore the country 

Gold dress

• I would love to yes
• Will you assist me
• There are those who require alcohol to give them coverage, I'm not one of them
• We are quite advanced in Italy
• Would It embarrass you? 
• Yes, you are the stuffy one
• It's a lovely evening. Thank you  so much for brining me
• Please can you do me the honour to go straight to hell  

Wedding dress 

• Almost
• Yes sir, you sir
• I do

These quotes show how each actress speaks in the films and how well they speak. I think especially for Sophia Loren I think she speaks well considering she Is Italian, in the film one of the children is trying to teach her english but between each actress you can see how different they are.   

These two ideas came from my idea of having quotes from the film to fit the clothes, so I looked at each scenes with the clothes. And took note of what each actress said and chose the one that fitted. 

This I think works better than my other idea it looks a lot better and I think the quotes explain the actresses characters a bit more, this might be a good idea for movie posters?

After test printing I like the colour black as this colour fits in better with the drawings and the background colour, as I think the white blends in to much with the blue and I wanted each page to be similar layout. 

Final

This is my final idea for my book, I printed the book of and I think the smaller font works best as I like the fact the text doesn't take to much attention away from the images, which is better. As I said before I prefer the black against the background colours. 

Front page

For the front page I'v had many ideas, I wanted something simple not to over the top but in keeping with the rest of the book.
My first idea was:

First idea

This was my first idea I had for the book, I wanted a title to speak for the book, however since putting the book together I think this is a bad title. So I should play around with words etc. 

I did like America vs Italy but I thought this was to similar to Paris vs New York, so I decided to go with this title which I think works well. Simply because its simple and explains the book, I carried on with the blue and orange theme. 

Other versions of the front cover, these show different variations of how I have placed the names and colours of the type.

Here is my latest design for the front cover, I made the names bigger and I think the over lap of Loren looks nice aesthetically, compared to the other design's I like this one for these reasons. With the rest of the book I think this goes better.