Project 02: Function of a frame

Exercise: Building a story

For this exercise you need to

  • choose a picture
  • identify a series of smaller frames within the picture that you can use to create a new story
  • place the new images in order and accompany them with notes outlining your new story
  • upload image sequence to the blog

I chose the ‘School of Athens’ painting by Raphael that is on one of the walls of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is probably one of Raphael’s most well-known paintings. It was painted between 1510 and 1511. I have seen this painting up close and it is unbelievably detailed, but what I found most fascinating is when you look very closely at the wall that it is painted on, you can see that there was other painting/s underneath it. The painting shows many different ancient Greek philosophers engaged in various discussions. The main focus is Plato and Aristotle who are positioned in the centre of the painting, with various other philosophers scattered throughout the scene including Pythagoras, Socrates and Ptolemy.

Sanzio_01

It all looks so ideal; gentle people engaged in learning, bettering themselves and sharing their knowledge. So calm, structured and intellectual. BUT, what if it weren’t quite like that. What would happen if you looked a little closer? So let’s have a closer look.

Image 1

Image 1 - Pythagoras

Whilst Pythagoras is quietly focussing on formulating his theorem and recording it in his journal, his reprehensible ‘friend’ Anaximander, who is intent on stealing Pythagoras ideas and claiming glory for himself, peers over Pythagoras’s shoulder and copies his work. Anaximander is fortunate because no one notices what he is doing as they are so busy discussing what the young woman in the background has put in her diagram… or so he thinks.

Image 2

Image 2 - Young woman

Theono, Pythagoras’s devoted wife  has seen what Anaximander is up to and she is not happy. Fiercely protective of her gentle husband, she stares straight at the camera whilst plotting Anaximander’s downfall. Who can help her? She looks around the room. Her eyes first settle on Parmenides who stands just in front of her. He must surely also have seen what Anaximander is up to? But no, he’s so lost in thought he probably doesn’t even realize what evil is being done -and wasn’t he drinking some of that poppy tea earlier on, so probably doesn’t care anyway. She continues to slowly scan the room ….aahhh …. there they are, the perfect partners ….

Image 3

Image 3 - Writing boy

Demon and Plotinus, sitting up against the wall. Demon is writing in a book but not for one moment does Theono believe he is inscribing any philosophical wonders – it’s more likely he’s recording the bets people have taken on the winner of the argument between Aristotle and Plato. Plotinus is bored. He looks up and lazily surveys the room. His eyes meet Theono’s eyes. She indicates that she wants to speak with him. His eyes light up. It looks like there could be a bit of action today. He taps Demon on the shoulder, whispers something in his ear. Demon looks up at Theono and a wick grin appears on his face …

 

A bit of reflection: I found this a very enjoyable exercise – it’s possible to have quite a bit of fun with making up the story. However, on a more reflective note, what I learnt is that you need to think quite carefully about how you are going to compose the frame so the viewer looks at what you want them to look at. In Image 1, I wanted the focus to be on Pythagoras and Anaximander (the guy to the left of Pythagoras) but they are surrounded by a crowd of people. So the problem is how to get the viewer to look in the right place. If I were to film this, I would probably use lighting to highlight my two characters, whilst the crowd would be visible but more in the shadow. I could also use colour, with the two main characters more brightly dressed and the crowd in more muted colours. I could recompose so that the crowd is slight further away from the two main characters.

For Image 2, I had a similar problem in that I wanted the viewer to look primarily at Theono (the woman in the white dress) , but she had another character in front of her. If I had tried to film this shot, the view would have focused on the character in the foreground and not Theono. If I wanted her to stay in the background, I think I would have used lighting again to help the viewer focus on the right person. Also, I would have done an establishing shot, then I would have cut to a mid-shot whilst she was looking around the room.

For Image 3 – I think  this would work as a shot but it would be important to cut back to Theono so that it is clear that there is non-verbal exchange going on between them. In terms of mood and lighting – I could make these characters comically mischievous, in which case I would use bright lighting and circus-like music, or I could make them sinister and devious, in which case I would put them in the shadows and have slightly creepy piano music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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