in Research

Impossibilities of Being

I never remember my dreams so I thought I would try to write one for myself instead. I always wake up with this lingering feeling of having returned to this reality after taking a trip in another parallel world, so this was the mood I wanted to work with for this 90 picture sequence.

https://vimeo.com/143601671

Music: Flamingo – Kero Kero Bonito


References

This series was heavily inspired by Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, because I loved the odd surrealism and wild imagination of the film.

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I also looked at a lot of surreal artwork to get a sense of how proportions and the placement or use of objects can be used to suggest a warped reality.

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Sarah Eisenlohr

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Jee Young Lee


Sequencing

In the initial portion of the dream, I wanted to explore using bright, gaudy colours to create a visually overstimulating setting. An eclectic junkyard of objects were also used in varying proportions to enhance the unreality of the dream.

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This is in contrast with the middle portion, where everything is back to normal but still retaining an unrealistic quality because of the high brightness of the images. For this set I wanted to make the surrealism more subtle, creating a world where you can literally read someone’s mind, as faces are replaced by what they are thinking of and thoughts are broadcast to the world. 

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Lastly, I somehow become a giant and follow the shiny sequin road back to the picnic spot, bringing the dream full circle and ending when the colours revert back to reality again. Clocks with wings are also present in this set to signify that the time left in this dream world is running out – and because time flies.

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Reflection

I really enjoyed this exercise because of the free creative license we were given, despite the overwhelming task of 90 images. It was exhilarating (and also really stressful) being my own director. I guess I am pretty happy with the outcome, although I did feel that I could’ve executed it much better if not for 1) very limited photoshop skills and 2) awkward posing and 3) an unwillingness to draw attention to myself by snapping pictures of strangers in public.