OCCULT STYLISTIC INSPIRATION

In researching styles and techniques to use in our experimental film, Chris and Robbie both started by looking at dubstep, techno and drum and bass music videos. Classed as experimental in themselves, our theme of ritualistic practices is popular within this genre of music. You can view some of their finds on their blogs:
Robbie Troth and the Temple of Film

My Very First Blog (Chris Slater)

Being not very familiar with music myself, I was unable to take the same starting point as Chris and Robbie. I therefore researched some short films and animations with the techniques that we had talked about. These included:

• Use of lights - city lights close up and out of focus to create dreamlike glittery visuals
• Stop motion - using photography or still video frames to make certain objects within the frame jump around and/or move. 
• Urban locations - having an urban take on a very suburban subject matter

The first film that I came across was this animation on Vimeo by 'Pahnl'. Aside from its wonderful technical achievements in stop motion, the camera shots and locations serve as perfect examples of what we are looking for. An adorable little story is backlit by a gorgeous cityscape in which the cinematography and use of focus are second to none. In particular we  were inspired by the out of focus lights in the background. We also liked how the 'grimey' city was made beautiful by the events going on within the frame. 

Nowhere Near Here from Pahnl on Vimeo.

This music video is a very similar example of lights, animation and urban environment

Rippled from Oh Yeah Wow on Vimeo.


These abstract visual pieces gave us inspiration to create a piece that was more about a state of mind than a narrative story. 
Like Cocteau's 'The Blood of a Poet', the film will represent a dreamlike state of mind, a world of imagination that is sought (by the character) through ritualistic practices. And much like Buñuel's 'Un Chien Andalou', the film will be difficult to interpret. In fact, we have been inspired by Buñuel's attitude to art film in which he refuses to create a single reading, and our piece will instead be guided by the contrasts of light and dark, beauty and disarray, reality and the distant mind.


I was also inspired by a metalwork piece that I came across in Sheffield's Millenium Gallery. This is a chalice called 'Lest We Forget' by artist Chris Knight. I thought that the style of the piece was perfectly representative of what we were trying to do. The soft curvaceous lines of the chalice were heavily contrasted with the sharp gritty shapes and colours of the crucifixes. It represents a spiritual belief that appears harsher than it actually is. This is the message that we are trying to get across in 'Occult'.