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.

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.