A new subject that was taught to me this week was “contextual research” which will allow me to look in depth at capturing the real or the imaginary. Contextual research can widely range into other forms of media. However, I will be primarily focus on cinematography, bringing photography and film-making together. Contextual research can be useful for finding specific context that we can apply in our work. This can include analyzing a related subject to our own work and how it would enable us to approach it differently.
For my cinematography advertisement on Jean Paul Gaultier’s perfume, it’s existing target audience is aimed at adults (25 and over). However, their adverts focus on men in a 1920’s sailor fashion and women in cream corset lingerie. Some of the context of their adverts maybe bizarre for example, Jean Paul Gaultier’s “On the docks” advert includes a male on a ship which arrives into the dock, crashing through the roads and stopping at a balcony. This allows the male to meet his partner who is dressed in cream lingerie who grabs and kisses him. The context of the advert in my opinion, primarily focuses on females trying to be seductive to captivate the males. For my cinematography advert I aim to follow a different contextual approach which will captivate my own target audience. For my overall idea of Jean Paul Gaultier’s perfume I want to have my viewers feel like they’re stepping into a different world when they use the perfume. By incorporating positive emotions in my piece, such as having my actor feel at peace, or be teleported into a new world where she is happy. This will captivate my viewers to subjectively feel like they are the character in their own minds. In one scene of my video I will be conducting research into the forms of Dream Sequences.
As you can see below I have provided examples of dream sequences, for inspiration. I want incorporate a dream sequence context in my cinematography video, which would also be a great opportunity to challenge myself. Dream sequences or visions are primarily constructed by images, thoughts and sensations in our minds when we are asleep. Much like dreams, our mind randomly creates stories which do not necessarily makes sense but allows us to consciously explore them. Dreams sequences can use memories of family members, environments and unrealistic characters that we do not associate with to form narratives.
The classic and popular Disney film Dumbo created in 1942 was a well known film for children during it’s time. In the film is a scene where a group of performers from the circus leave a champagne bottle on the side which falls into a nearby bucket outside. Dumbo thinking it’s water drinks from the bucket and becomes quite drunk. Suddenly Dumbo and the mouse start having scary hallucinations of pink elephant parades playing trumpets with their trunks. Getting even more bizarre, loads of pink elephants walk around a bed, surrounding the one that is sleeping. There is also a scary figure of elephant heads in different colours forming a body. The song plays a role in this specific scene which mainly informs children the negative effects of drinking alcohol. However, the video does inform me to think about being creative using a dream sequence environment.
Another example I want to include was “Lester’s Rose Petal dream”. This dream sequence from the popular classic American Beauty focuses on the lifestyle of Lester Burnham, a man who is having a midlife crisis when he is introduced to his daughters best friend Angela. The dream sequence in the scene is quite serene as Lester is laying in bed with his wife and red rose petals start to fall from the ceiling. This is where Angela is laying naked surrounded by petals to portray her beauty. The scene informs me that creating a dream sequence can be simple using unique techniques to add depth in a particular scene.
The road to El Dorado created by DreamWorks was one of my favorite movies as a child. The story follows two Spanish con artists and wanted fugitives in the 1500s who gamble their gold for a map which leads to the road to El Dorado, The city of gold. The man realised that the two men were using loaded dice, Miguel and Tulio blame each other in their efforts to escape. Mistakenly hiding in barrels they end up on a ship becoming prisoners on board. Upon escaping they both end up on a island which turns out to be the road to El Dorado. Entering the city of gold they’re mistaken as gods by the people of El Dorado. A specific scene in the film focuses on Miguel and Tulio enjoying themselves during a exotic feast. This dream sequence follows an artistic form by using transitions which expresses them as gods. The scene informs me to think carefully on how I should approach my viewers through visuals. In future videos I may consider creating a dream sequence using transitions that follow an artistic approach.
Below I have provided existing videos for references using dream sequences.
The Nuclear Apocalypse dream – Terminator 2
Lilo and Stitch – Stitch has a glitch nightmare scene.
Mama – Annabel’s vision/ dream sequence.
Gorillaz – On Melancholy Hill official music video.
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