Yooooo!
My name is Martin (he/him) and welcome to my blog!
This blog is a space for me to share my thoughts on anything and everything film/tv related! Movie reviews, trailer reactions, industry news, etc. I hope to work in film preservation and archiving one day and I thought this would be a good, albeit small, way to start.
As of now, there will be five kinds of blog posts:
Review: Your standard film review! This will usually be saved for first-time watches. Chances are higher that I'll post a review if I saw the film in theaters, otherwise I'll just post one if I feel like it. (otf: reviews)
Rewatch: The same exact thing but for films I rewatch! A film changes every time you watch it. To me, it didn't feel right to group first-time watches with rewatches. I'll probably share my previous experiences watching the film and how it changed. (otf: rewatch)
Remember when: A spot for sharing industry facts, historical moments, and behind-the-scenes information. Everything about the movie industry and filmmaking process... just not the film itself. (otf: remember when)
Retrospective: I'm most looking forward to these posts. Retrospectives will be long, in-depth analysis on genre tropes, filmmakers, and the films themselves. This is where you'll see my favorites- what I love to talk about. Consider it a mix of all of the about. It's a review, usually of something I've watched many times, combined with behind-the-scenes information. What makes the project stand out and why. Retrospectives will be about whatever I'm captivated by at that moment, something I've been stewing on for awhile. (otf: retrospective)
Reflection: A shortened version of a retrospective where I focus on a single aspect of a movie. This could be thematic or technical, but most of all: short. Just a mini essay on a topic I find to be important.
I'm open to taking recommendations and giving my thoughts on certain films. My ask box is always open!
I run another blog (@tildexart) where I post about my art, The Magnus Archives (and other horror fiction podcasts), and generally anything that comes to mind.
Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy this blog! If you like what I post then you can follow me on Twitter (@oneticketfor) for film news and current events related posts. If this isn't your thing, no worries! Thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day! :D
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The Magnus Archives (Season One) Production Design Project
Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself- I'm Tilda (or Tilde), and I'm want to be a production designer.
Production designers create the overall look of a piece of media. From costumes, lighting, environments, props, etc., these designers make sure that everything looks cohesive and sets the mood.
So, I thought it would be fun to put my skills to the test by designing season one of The Magnus Archives. My winter break started as soon as I became interested in the show. Needless to say, a new obsession and an abundance of free time go well together.
You may have seen these illustrations posted separately, this is a master post of the whole project. My thoughts, processes, and critiques are all included under the cut. If you read them, I hope you enjoy! If, not, thank you for supporting my work regardless.
The Characters
When designing these characters, I tried to avoid being influenced by fan interpretations. Though, that was a challenge (especially with Jon and Sasha). I found that I looked to my friends for inspiration. Certain elements (Jon's glasses) were based off of what they wore.
Pinterest was also useful for finding clothing and pose references. Some looks were based off of different actors- in particular, Tim was inspired by Nicholas Galitzine and Elias inspired by Matthew Lillard.
Jane was the most fun to design! I believe in making terrifying characters actually terrifying.
Elias's design needs the most work. Having now finished the show, I see that it doesn't fit him. The purple is overly saturated, especially compared to the set. He looks out of place! I'd reverse the color palette to mostly green/yellow with purple accents instead. Although, I will forever defend the purple tint in his gray hair.
The Set
Jonathan's office was a treat to design! Balancing the color and clutter was especially important. This room is meant to be claustrophobic and uncomfortable, but not overbearingly so.
The wood looks to be full of splinters, but not so worn that it can be thrown out. The chairs offer no back support, and the shelves make the room smaller. The goal was to represented Jon's mind. Intricate, messy, and suffocating (Note: that is more of a season two description).
One goal was to capture the look of an actual archive. Valuable times was spent researching the different kinds of storage, files, paper, etc. The texture and color had to be accurate.
A split-complementary color palette of blue-green, yellow-green, and red was used. Of course, I had to get green in there, and the varying hues and desaturated reds worked well for the wood and filing supplies.
Jane's ashes and the Web lighter on the desk place this set at the end of season one. I find details like this to be important, it's one of my favorite parts of design. There is much needed abundance of eye imagery as well. Most obviously in the carpet, but eyes are carved into the table and watch from the shelves.
My main critique is the lighting- the filters used could be adjusted as to not distort the colors of the boxes. They look inconsistent. The Web lighter could also be more obvious, yet it is small and pixelated.
The Props
I designed these as I re-listened to season one, and it is the most recent piece I finished. Combining the details described in the show with what the objects would have realistically looked like was interesting. That was most useful for the clown, the Ming vase, and Ex Altiora.
Each of these objects came from a specific time with a specific look. Ex Altiora was bound in calf leather from the 1800s, so those books were referenced. Same with the frills on the clown's outfit.
The Ming vase was especially interesting, as it is from the Jiajing period. When looking at photographs of Jiajing vases, I found that many of them lacked handles and had an hourglass shape. That was fascinating to me, as many artists depict a standard oval-shaped vase. Also, the vase's design is described as straight lines that create distorted patterns when looking at it. That effect was achieved using chromatic aberration and the liquify tool (chromatic aberration was used to create a vertigo effect on Ex Altiora).
My critiques are... nitpicky. minimal. The shading on top of the garbage bag is unnatural. The thickness of the gold engraving on Ex Altiora is uneven. The "I" in "Immediate Consideration" is not capitalized. Other than that, I'm happy with how the props look.
Conclusion
First off, if you read everything, thank you!! It is a lot, I know.
My greatest takeaways are that 1) ask for critique, always 2) research skills are necessary for design 3) references are your friend! Seriously guys, use your references.
I hope you enjoyed this project and I'm excited to share more of my work in the future!
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