Study Task 8 - Reflective Writing

The question of my practical based is, "Does the use of using the ‘Gestalt Theory’ of visual perception, help to create a more effective ‘Alice in Wonderland’ background?". Therefore, in the practical part of my project, it is about how to create a more visually pleasing background. The reasoning behind this is because I would like to enhance my skills at drawing my interesting backgrounds for future projects. I believe that it is best to focus my on the outlines than colours if I don’t have enough time, as sketching the perspective and getting Gestalts principles are more important.
The main principles that I have been looking at are proximity, similarity, enclosure, symmetry, closure, continuity, connection and figure and ground. I have been focusing more on the use of symmetry and figure and ground because it creates a more interesting image. Whilst researching these principles, I have watched the 1949,1951 and 2010 ‘Alice in Wonderland'; read the book (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) and played the game 'Alice: Madness Returns'. The reason behind this, is so I can get more of a sense of how the characters interact within their scenes and whether Alice has changed as a character through the years. Also, it gives me the ability to compare different forms of media.
My end goal for this project is to become a much better artist who can break more barriers whilst drawing. I believe that this is important as it will hopefully make my work stand out from the rest. For the rest of the project, I hope to create more backgrounds and possibly colour at least one in.

This is my first drawing that I did from the 'Alice:Madness Returns' game. I believe that this picture as a sketch, doesn't have much interesting to it.

Using a couple of images as inspiration, I drew this on Photoshop using the symmetry tool. I used different 'Gestalts' principles such as symmetry and figure and ground to create this. I believe by drawing in this manor for an 'Alice in Wonderland' style drawing is perfect.

That was created in the same manor as above. By drawing this piece in this way, it creates a hierarchy of chairs. This is good as Alice's seat is at the top of the table and she is a great importance of 'Wonderland'.

This piece was created the same as the previous two. As well as the principle symmetry, another principle called continuity was added. this can be seen with the use of the arrows. The reason for the arrows is to show the urgency of 'Alice' needing to go down the rabbit hole.

  

Study Task 6 - Planning a Practical

I intend to visually and practically investigate ➜ How different techniques in films is used to reflect the era of the character of ‘Alice’ in different interpretations of the book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

In order to do this I will:,.

(complete the following sections with specific examples, and a brief explanation of how you have made these decisions)

Primary Research

Identify, collect, record and evaluate visual material from the following sources:

- Watch ‘Alice in Wonderland’ 2010 and 1949

- read the book

-  play ‘Alice: Madness Returns’

-collect data from surveys I’ve made

Secondary research

Draw, photograph, record and develop my own visual material through the following activities:

-I will draw my own backgrounds using ‘Gestalts Theory’

-Take pictures of relevant places

-  research into ‘Gestalts theory’

- research how woman were perceived around the times of when each of the films, books or games was released and whether it influenced the main character Alice.

Media & Processes

Visually and practically explore my subject using the following media and processes:

I will use:

-Photoshop

-Illustrator

Context

Contextualise, reference, analyse my work in relation to the following practitioners/disciplines:

-Salvador Dali

-Mary Blair

-Tim Burton

- Aymeric Kevin

Study Task 5 - Practical Approaches

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/understanding-alice

This website is really interesting as it give you details about Lewis Carroll and how he created the story.
"The story of how ‘Lewis Carroll’, the pen-name of Oxford don Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), created what he called his ‘fairy-tale of Alice’s adventures underground’ is immortalised in ‘All in the Golden Afternoon’, the poem that forms a preface to the book. The poem relates how Carroll’s young friend, Alice Liddell, and her two sisters demanded a story to pass the time when they were boating on the river Thames one summer’s afternoon.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out –
And now the tale is done.

Carroll turned the story into a handmade book for Alice Liddell, complete with illustrations he drew himself. Carroll’s drawings feature a dark-haired girl much more like Alice Liddell than Tenniel’s vision of Alice, and the book is full of references to the shared social and imaginative world Carroll and his young friend inhabited in and around Oxford. For instance, during the Mad Tea-Party the Dormouse tells a story about three little sisters, Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, who live at the bottom of a treacle-well. As Martin Gardner points out in The Annotated Alice, the sisters’ names are coded references to the three Liddle (little) sisters: L.C. refers to Lorina Charlotte, Tillie is a corruption of Matilda, the family name for Edith, while Lacie is an anagram of Alice.[1]The Treacle Well refers to holy well associated with St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford (‘treacle’ is an ancient term for a healing compound). Alice’s father, the Dean of Christ Church College where Charles Dodgson lived and taught mathematics, had recently commissioned a window in the saint’s honour for the college chapel. No doubt the Liddell sisters shared the fictional Alice’s perplexity at the idea of a well filled with treacle."

Salvador Dali has created many wonderful pieces of surrealistic artwork, which could be perfect inspiration for backgrounds."Dalí created twelve heliogravures for the occasion—one illustration for each chapter—as well as a four-color etching as the frontispiece. Only 2,700 of the edition were printed, and the artist signed each original etching." 

https://mymodernmet.com/salvador-dali-alice-in-wonderland/

This is one of the films that I would like to watch and use.

This give more indication as to what type of character Alice is and how to portray her brackgrounds.

"Alice is reasonable, well-trained, and polite. From the start, she is a miniature, middle-class Victorian "lady." Considered in this way, she is the perfect foil, or counterpoint, or contrast, for all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics whom she meets in Wonderland. Alice's constant resource and strength is her courage. Time and again, her dignity, her directness, her conscientiousness, and her art of conversation all fail her. But when the chips are down, Alice reveals something to the Queen of Hearts — that is: spunk! Indeed, Alice has all the Victorian virtues, including a quaint capacity for rationalization; yet it is Alice's common sense that makes the quarrelsome Wonderland creatures seem perverse in spite of what they consider to be their "adult" identities."
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/critical-essays/alice-as-a-character

I would also like to look at the 2010 Alice in Wonderland and compare it to the book and the 1949 film made in France.

"Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American dark fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, and Mia Wasikowska, and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. Loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll's fantasy novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and Walt Disney's animated film of the same name from 1951, the film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants. In this situation, Alice fights against the Red Queen to protect the world.

The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the following day in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats as well as in conventional theaters. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010.

Alice in Wonderland received mixed reviews upon release; although praised for its visual style and special effects, the film was criticized for its lack of narrative coherence and overuse of computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film received three nominations at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. At the 83rd Academy Awards, Alice in Wonderland won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was also nominated for Best Visual Effects. The film generated over $1 billion in ticket sales and became the fifth highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run.^[6]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(2010_film)

I need to know exactly what Visual Perception is so I have a better idea of how to use it.

"What is visual perception?

Visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see. This is not the same as visual acuity which refers to how clearly a person sees (for example “20/20 vision”). A person can have 20/20 vision and still have problems with visual perceptual processing."

https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/fine-motor-skills/visual-perception/

This video a short clip of me playing the 'Alice:Madness Returns' game. I have done this so I can use the scenes as inspiration for my work.

Study Task 4 - Introduction

What is the psychology behind the backgrounds in the different interpretations of ‘Wonderland’ in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and how do they contrast from one another?

Throughout this project I will answer the question, ‘What is the psychology behind the backgrounds in the different interpretations of ‘Wonderland’ in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and how do they contrast from one another?’. This will be answered by comparing a number of different interpretations of the classic ‘Alice's Adventures in Wonderland’, published in 1865 by Macmillan Children’s Books and written by Charles L. Dodgson who used the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. The backgrounds of the world ‘Wonderland’ (talked about in the narrative), will be compared to see if each illustration is what is portrayed in the book. This will be explored by collecting different forms of research such as images, animations, articles and books. By using this research there will be a clearer understanding of what is the most accurate representation of ‘Wonderland’ and if there is still the same ‘world of excitement and nonsense’ (Quinton E.G.C), that Charles Dodgson and his family loved and is still loved today by many.

Study Task 3 - Images and Theory

This give me a much clearer understanding of what I should be focusing on when producing my essay.

Study Task 2: Reading and Understanding Texts

The reason why I have shown four different texts is because I need to fully understand the topic in which I am studying. 

In the book Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud states, "Dream is defined as the mental activity of the sleeper in as much as he is asleep". This therefore means that when asleep, the brain is just working through the what has just happened through the day. 

Another favourite quote is from a book called Dreams by Carl Gustav Jung, "Freud says that every dream represents the fulfillment of a repressed wish.". This is a great way to look at something even scientists don't fully understand to this day.