Production Design- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Most people enjoy some medium of art, they'll get pleasure out of seeing a painting on a wall, a photograph, a sculpture, a graphical design or even a performance piece. I have an admiration for all these forms of art and even more, but out of everything which inspires me I am most passionate about the medium of film and would happily spend most of my day being absorbed into it. I love to see where a film might lead me, the emotions stirred, how I am transported from where I am sitting into the world created by the director, cinematographer, designers etc.. I am amazed how audiences from all different realms of life lose connection with everything except the film they are viewing and then become a willing spectator of what's happening on screen. There really is something magical about what the film industry can create and that it has the ability to capture a viewer total and complete, it's a powerful medium.

Of course not all films match all audiences all the time, but most of us have a film we remember going to see, one that we have found ourselves so stirred by that we got the DVD and watched it several times or couldn't top recommending it to others to go see. A big part of what makes this all happen are the names that roll in the credits at the end of the film. Each and everyone of those people helped put together the film you watched and if they are doing a good job what you see will be seamless and blend into one without you noticing and you'll wonder why all of them were really needed at all.

What exhilarates me within the whole mechanics of a films production are the sets. There are many films that excite me, leave me in wonderment of the beauty that was played out in front of me, but with regards to Production Design there is one film I think of time and time again and which I feel is jaw dropping great and that's Lemony Snicket's Series Of Unfortunate Events. The Production Design is simply amazing and brought together by the genius Rick Heinrichs and his team. From the beginning of the film and it's opening credits everything falls into harmony with the direction by Brad Silberling, cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki and this is all played out through the sets. A Production Designer doesn't just create an area for actors to perform in, its about provoking a feeling visually and in a subliminal way to give something a haunting nature, or maybe portraying a scared angst or a harmonious comforting safe home. Each one is thought through for practically of filming but all to evoke a feeling for the actors to feed from and for everyone in production to work within. Rick Heinrich plays all this through masterfully in Lemony Snicket and he always gives more in each scene than your eyes can actually absorb. For the set design alone I had to watch it a few times to register all the intricacies of his work. I think this is a stunningly shot film and is one of my favourite master pieces within the medium of film.

The Man Has Base & Rhythm

I found myself watching this several times over, I can't figure out how they manage to make so many different beats and noises at the same time. This was recorded at Google's UK Head Office last year. Beardyman is a legend by himself and with Nathan "Flutebox" Lee they sound amazing together. It's hypnotic.

Simplicity Is Often The Most Impressive Form

The type of art which appeals to me is often simple in form but will create an illusion on the eye. I don't find myself stopping that long by a Monet or a Picasso but what I do find myself stopping at is something ingenious and which tests your perception of your surroundings. Something which plays tricks with you or where you might need a few minutes to work out what's going on. Additionally with my inquisitive mind I often start to think later on about the piece of art work and try to figure out the logistics of the design and how it was put together.

This recent interior installation at the V&A Museum in London in the ladies toilet by architects Glowacka Rennie and Swiss artistFelice Varini is a perfect example of this. The idea is to create an illusion with the different levels of surfaces and to further enhance this by repeating this image in the mirrors. It is also an installation which will change with you as you move around the room, you will not see the same thing from any two points in the room. This is art that I enjoy and has me planning a trip to the V&A later this week so I can experience the space.

The Shard

In many modern cities over recent years we have seen such wonderful new architecture changing the skylines with the construction of Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain by the wonderful Frank Gehry to the more recent Beijing National Stadiumin Beijing by Herzog & de Meuron. In the centre of London we have built some amazing new buildings too but nothing which seems to go up that much in height unlike the East of London in Canary Wharf, or America's Manhattan, Hong Kong and Dubai. I am not sure if this is down to planning permission, funding, politics or the fact that we have so many historically listed buildings it is hard to then construct something extraordinarily high without putting into shadow a 200+ year old building or shaking it's foundations.

However recently just a sort walk from where I live in London Bridge the construction has started on a new building which will change the skyline of not only the Southbank area but the whole of London. The Shard by Renzo Piano due for completion in 2012.Renzo Piano is an amazing architect and has been responsible for the Nemo in Amsterdam and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The Shard will look amazing and will rise out of the rather flat landscape of the river bank over the next few years. This design I find very ascetically pleasing, it is modern and I do belive that we need to leave our own modern architectural legacy in urban settings as long as it's harmonious to the surroundings. The design of this building will also be environmentally friendly and has an integrated Power Plant capable of delivering 1500kWe to power the buildings heating/ air-conditioning.

Having lived in this area for the past 3 years, this revitalisation of an area which has become very dated, run down and not user friendly for transportation or local residents is a welcomed change. Allthough currently an inconvenience during construction, I feel it will be a remarkable addition to the London skyline. I will report back with The Shard updates during construction.

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

This is a collection of work from a Russian artist Oleg Duryagin from his recent show 'Naked Faces" at Interalia, Seoul, South Korea. Oleg has used several mediums to create these images, photography and then photoshop effects to take away eyebrows and personalising features of the face, he then blended and smoothed the skin down.

There is nothing new with these techniques but I do feel the simplicity of the end results are very striking and very alien like. I also agree with the meaning behind the art which is about making a statement of the relationship between a human’s inner world with a human’s behavior in society. That society still restricts behavior and thought of a human being.

It would be nice to live in a world where the value of ones worth is based on the depth of their personality, intelligence, heart and soul. In western worlds we have become so fickle and base a persons caliber on skin deep beauty and financial value because of this we now judge people on a media's definition of perfection.

Flashing In A Town Near You

In recent months Flash Mob Advertising has been happening everywhere around London. T-Mobile has been the most successful at this though and has managed to gather the largest crowds and create the best reactions. You can see their most recent advert in the video above. This advertising campaign was thought up by Saatchi & Saatchi who I always feel are very cutting edge in most campaigns they are involved in and are successul in leaving a great lasting impression of a brand in your mind.

This new way to advertise has gained so much free publicity with the extra air time it has created by being shown in news reports, written about in newspapers, aired on You Tube and spoken about between friends, it really is a new phenomenon which is working well to promote the brands using them. The idea is to no longer aim your images and brand towards people by talking AT them, but to make the advertising interactive. The more fun people have engaging in the flash mobbing the longer they'll be around to listen to the message and then they'll spread this message on. It's a whole new twist on what we are used to, what's more I think it's fun to see and is even more fun to be involved in so I hope it continues.

The Camera Never Lies

During many recent decades of war we have seen journalists risking life and limb to send home reports and images of what is happening out in the field of combat. Portraying life for the citizens of the countries during conflict, of the troops fighting, the struggle, the pain and the horrific day to day life that befalls all involved. These images can bring about such strong public opinion that they can often alter the end result of wars. In the past this has developed a stronger support for the allies during WW2 but also the anger and upset against the Vietnam war from photographs like Nick Ut's image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc after a Napalm attack.

I believe because in recent conflicts not all public reaction has been in support of the governments actions after seeing such images that we are now seeing fewer of these photo's appearing in the media. We of course see images of the troops in Iraq and the strength of the military invasions, we see the fallen and their coffins coming off the planes draped in flags and the civilians in war torn countries showing how their lives have changed for the better after escaping repressive governmental regimes. However a majority of the hard hitting reality of war has hardly been seen at all. Do we believe that there are less photographic journalist's ready to risk their lives to send us these images, of course not, so the answer must be that in recent years a certain level of war censorship has developed. A few months back I read an article about Zoriah Miller and how after publishing some journalistic war images he was then forbidden to work with the US marine corps and from being allowed to take photo's of the Iraq war from the inside or 'embedded' as they call it. The US armed forces wrapped up their reasoning in small print but I feel this is just covering up an unacceptable level of censorship. Of course the images of dead or injured soldiers, or innocent civilians is never pleasant to witness but we must be made aware of the impact our governments actions are having during international conflicts. Another form of censorship is coming from the media itself, through more reader/viewing friendly images that will not put you off your breakfast when you see the morning news.

Being in a democracy it is our duty to view these images and understand the effects our elected governments actions are having, however good or bad. If we do not see the bare stripped down effects and the end results of these actions how can we truly understand how our countries are being perceived in international relations. How can we understand the hatred against the west in the middle east, how there is a continuing resentment in Iraq against the international armed forces still based there. This is not the place for me to say if I feel the wars in themselves are right or wrong but what I do believe is that without seeing these images we are only understanding half the story. From what little we see we are in support or opposition about something we do not truly know the the real facts of and we will be basing our opinions on a false perception of the realities of war.