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A short web video I made for a friend of mine in Hong Kong who runs a fashion house for ladies and mens wear.

London Land

London Land from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This is the final edit for the critique held at The Bartlett School of Architecture on 2010/12/14. This short film will form part of the overall edit that will last close to 15minutes. The following parts will explore deeper into the artifice of London and potentially into the realm of globalization and condensed geographies.

Inhabited Canyon

On 'Jed's' journey he ventures into the deep canyons created by the multiple Centre Points. As he explores further it becomes apparent to him that only what he sees is actually constructed. Finding himself to the rear of the film set unveils that all the buildings are only partially constructed.

Following his nose he ascends into the skyscrapers to find that the spaces within these high rise studio constructions are actually inhabited. The internal organs of these buildings have functions and facilitate studio upon studio that are either the remanence of past film productions or studios in full use.

Backstage

The rear of the film studio shows how the panels of Oxford Circus are simply made of timber panels with the fronts painted by matte painters. They are hung from mobile hoists which enable the production crew to fully erect the large scale matte panels.

Overall Warehouse Shot

The overall warehouse contains the constructs of the false version of Oxford Circus. The model itself involves faking facades of Oxford Circus with panels that sit in forced perspective and replicates matte painting techniques used in film making processes.

Warehouse Studio Production Drawing

Once 'Jed' completes the transition, between the confines of his domestic space and the synthetic space of his imagination, two spaces await him. Beginning in the warehouse space, it is unveiled to him that what he may have perceived as real space is actually constructed out of flat planes that simulate built form and therefore construct the world as he knew through artifice.

The first space is the foreground of the warehouse which is at a scale that falsifies the scale of Oxford Circus so that it could fit the physical and spatial constraints of the space that houses the overall production design.

As the exploration continues into his synthetic space, he finds that the scale of the environment has warped and increased to that of the real world.

This warping and growth signifies the effect that his imagination is having of his mental state of mind in that what is generated within his mind becomes evermore real.

Opening Sequence Drawing

Capturing the main moments in the film, this drawing represents the moments at which the mind of Jed slips into his synthetic creations of urban landscapes induced by his consumption of film and the perceptions he builds up of filmic geographies.

Set Design

Iain Sinclair Quote

“I think more than any other city, London absorbs whatever horrors are enacted upon it,” Sinclair insists. “We can swallow Millennium Wheels, Domes, all of these things. Whatever’s put up is absorbed into the story and narrative of London.”

Iain Sinclair

On the Bridge

On the Bridge from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is lured closer to one of the buildings and must cross a bridge to gain access to the structure.

Bridge

Bridge from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is drawn upward towards the flashing lights that were visible from ground level. His inquisitive nature leads him to explore further into his imagination and discover what lies above him.

Levels Above

Levels Above from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Lights flickering on the levels above are an indication to Jed that there maybe inhabitants in these structures.

Upward

Upward from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Jed is amazed by the scale of the structures that appear to half built.

Into the Canyon

Into the Canyon from Richard Young on Vimeo.

As Jed enter his imagination, he arrives in the constructs of of what he thought was a film set in London. To his surprise it is exposed as a film that was not about its location but about how the film itself represented the location of London.

Transition

Transition from Richard Young on Vimeo.

The film then plays and the location that the viewer is put in is then shifter to within the film that 'Jed' was just watching.

Remote Control

Remote Control from Richard Young on Vimeo.

As the films start to malfunction, two of them begin to merge leading to a film that begins to really challenge his imagination.

Tight Face Shot

Close Up from Richard Young on Vimeo.

THis shot begins to show how the obsession with film has taken a grasp on his life and perception of life.

Character Wide Shot

Front View Wide from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Establishing the character and his obsession of watching film.

Opening Shot

Over the Shoulder from Richard Young on Vimeo.

The opening shot sets the scene as an ambiguous location with no reference to anything other than the characters location within this room, watching movies.

20101202-Draft Edit

20101202-Draft Edit from Richard Young on Vimeo.

Moving on from the animatic, I began tests of the various shots, and started getting them down onto the timeline. The Opening sequence needs to be tighter and a little bit more punchy. All of the tighter street shots need animation of the various components that I have added to the shots to give the impression of a growing rate of construction in the stage set of London. The CG world sequence needs to be worked into a lot more and carry more weight in relation to the composition as a whole. I think the length is about right and that the sound can start to be developed a little more with more accuracy.

Stills of the London Stage

These stills are shots from the test below. I intend to work into the model alot more and build the idea that this version of London is very much so a stage set that aims to deceive the viewer or user of the space into believing that the space they inhabit is real when in actual fact it is completely developed out of artifice.

Fabrication Warehouse

Warehouse Sequence from Richard Young on Vimeo.

I managed to get some footage whilst doing some set building, I am going to composite some of the parts of London in fabrication into this footage.

London Film Set Test

Film Production City Test from Richard Young on Vimeo.

This clip is part of the main reveal of the artifice of London. Using Maya to model the geometry I have matched it to the footage that I have created in other sequences so that the two seamlessly blend together.

New Animatic

New Animatic from Richard Young on Vimeo.

With a few scenes rethought this overall structure of the film sequence is much closer to how the final edit will look and feel like. Sound is still undecided and more than likely will move more towards a narrated soundtrack.