SLEEP PARALYSIS

A phenomenon in which a person either temporarily experiences an inability to move, speak or react whilst falling asleep or awakening. It is often accompanied by terrifying hallucinations. Some describes sleep paralysis as a waking nightmare and is also widely considered the work of demons, more specifically incubi, which were thought to sit on the chest of sleepers. Various forms of magic and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes by the superstitious. 

 Description of sleep paralysis by Charles Dickens:

There is a kind of sleep that steals upon us sometimes, which, while it holds the body prisoner, does not free the mind from a sense of things about it, and enable it to ramble at its pleasure. So far as an overpowering heaviness, a prostration of strength, and an utter inability to control our thoughts or power of motion, can be called sleep, this is it; and yet we have a consciousness of all that is going on about us; and if we dream at such a time, words which are really spoken, or sounds which really exist at the moment, accommodate themselves with surprising readiness to our visions, until reality and imagination become so strangely blended that it is afterwards almost a matter of impossibility to separate the two. Nor is this, the most striking phenomenon, incidental to such a state. It is an undoubted fact, that although our senses of touch and sight be for the time dead, yet our sleeping thoughts, and the visionary scenes that pass before us, will be influenced, and materially influenced, by the mere silent presence of some external object: which may not have been near us when we closed our eyes: and of whose vicinity we have had no waking consciousness.

DARIO ARGENTO: TECHNICOLOR IN HORROR

SUSPERIA, (1977)

I decided to intensively utilize primary colors — blue, green and red — to identify the normal flow of life and then apply a complementary color, mainly yellow, to contaminate them. A [horror] film brings to the surface some of the ancestral fears we hide deep inside us, and Suspiria would not have had the same cathartic function if I had used the fullness and consolatory sweetness of the full color spectrum. To immediately make Suspiria a total abstraction from what we call “everyday reality” I used the usually reassuring primary colors only in their purest essence, making them immediately, surprisingly violent and provocative. This brings the audience into the world of Suspiria. 

- Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli

 INFERNO, 1980

In 1980, technicolour was at it's prime. In Inferno, Dario Argento drenched his characters in vivid colour. These hues interact with the main characters to cinematically illustrate the horror of physical, psychological, and supernatural chaos in motion. Viewing these colours results in a chaotic mental state due to our distracted focus of the colours and the emotions it portrays. The use of coloured lighting is unnatural and gives the film a dreamlike aesthetic, 

My aim from the very beginning is to create images with vivid colour in a filmic aesthetic; Dario Argento's work is the perfect example of the coloured lighting that I want to achieve in my images, specifically the use of contrasting hues of red and blue. 

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American Cinematographer, The International Journal of Motion Imaging, 2010, Vol 91 No. 2, Pg. 68

Cristine Sellin, Film Theory and Criticism: http://mahara.cs.lewisu.edu/view/artefact.php?artefact=4363&view=554

STOP THINKING BEAUTIFUL

Recently, I feel as though I try too hard to make the models appear even more beautiful than they already are - this way of thinking limits me creatively. I don't want to create standard beauty images, I want to create powerful thought provoking imagery by using unusual makeup techniques and unconventional materials. It is time I pulled myself away from my comfort zone and think outside the box. I have been inspired by makeup artists such as Alex Box and Val Garland who are constantly distorting and experimenting with new texture, form and shape of makeup. 

Image from Pinterest

THE FOLKLORE OF THE NIGHTMARE

NIGHT - MARE

Middle English (denoting a evil spirit thought to lie upon and suffocate sleepers): from night + Old English mære ‘incubus’.

The Nightmare by Fuseli (1781)

In folklore, a nightmare is a demonic night spirit of oppression, an incubus that comes to sleepers during the night accompanied by frightening dreams. The nightmare is also known as the night hag or riding the witch. 

The old English word for an incubus was mare which is related to the German word of marh - the common Germanic form was maron and the source of the Old Norse mara. In Slavic and Teutonic mythology and belief, the maras were female nightmare spirits, a dark spirit form or succubus who visited men in their dreams to torture them with desire. 

The mara included shape - shifting witches who assumed animal forms such as cats or dogs that resembled the assumed 'familiars' or witch companions. In Polish mythology, folktales of maras are the souls of living beings that leave as moths or wisps of hair. In Serbian folklore, a mara is described as a night creature who enters the chamber and sits on the chest of sleeping men or woman. 

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The Folklore of the Nightmare, 2013, Eric Edwards Collected Works: 

https://ericwedwards.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/the-folkore-of-the-nightmare/

THE NIGHTMARE - SLEEP PARALYSIS DOCUMENTARY

The Nightmare is a documentary about the sleep phenomenon sleep paralysis, a documentary which I found very disturbing. The documentary focuses on eight people who have and is suffering from sleep paralysis. 

The director, Rodney Ascher creates a persuasive case that it is the physiological phenomenon of sleep paralysis that has created the themes of nightmare now a commonplace in art and literature. This condition, he states is an inspiration for scary movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street and Insidious. The documentary also argues that sleep paralysis also accounts for alien-abduction delusions but also strongly suggests sleep paralysis is a form of demonic activity.

The documentary also touches on visitation dreams, false awakenings and night terrors, which can accompany sleep paralysis. This documentary has inspired me to create darker characters in the theme of sleep paralysis on a more spiritual level - perhaps all my dream characters should evolve from this sleep phenomenon. 

RESPONSE TO PROPOSAL FEEDBACK

Grade received: A2 

Feedback comment: 

Yoiwan – your proposal is very well presented and clearly outlines your final outcome.  You introduce the concept and discuss your inspiration clearly, and by analysing and considering your test shoots, you are well placed to move on quickly.  It is a shame that you haven’t included any links so that we are able to see the actual test film, or moving images that have inspired you; this would have added more depth to your description.  One main point for consideration is your role – you have given yourself a lot to do, have you thought about finding a videographer or photographer to work with so that you can focus more on the makeup/hair and overall look of the shoot?  You do include a fashion photographer in your round up of the ‘team’ you will be working with, but there is no mention of what she will be doing in particular.  Your budget is a little vague, what materials have you costed for?  Why do your models cost £300 – is this an arte from an agency or travel/food costs?  Just a small point, but important nonetheless. Overall though, you have discussed and visualised your FMP to an extremely high standard, and I look forward to seeing it develop.

Response:

In the proposal, I have made a statement that I will be keeping my production team quite small. The main reason for this is that I like to do a lot of the production myself, I like being in control and I feel that by fulfilling different roles I am able to expand my skill set. However, realistically the quality of the project might be at risk because I have given myself too much to focus on. I have come to the conclusion that I will need to collaborate with a fashion photographer who is also skilled in filming for the majority of the shoots. I was scared that by not taking the photographs myself I would not be able to precisely describe what I envision. However, I have worked with this fashion photographer multiple times in the past and since we have a similar sense of aesthetic I have faith that the images will turn out as I envision. She is also much more technically skilled in photography than I am, and this means that we can experiment with the photography a lot more. I will also engage in many in depth conversations with her prior to any shoots to come up with detailed plans about the aesthetic envisioned. Stepping away from the role of the photographer will also give me the chance to focus more on the makeup/hair and creative direction. 

I have kept the budget vague in the proposal because I didn't truly know what to expect. The cost of materials is high because it includes wigs, makeup items that I need to purchase for certain looks, and the materials I need in creating backdrops. The budget for models was £300 pounds, I don't expect to pay every model because some will be paid in exchange for photos for their modelling portfolio. However, there will be 6 models, so my budget was £50 per model just in case, I need to provide travelling/food costs. 

Overall, I am absolutely delighted that I received a first for my proposal and I am now even more motivated to do my best for this project. 

GROUP MENTOR MEETING

During today's mentor meeting, Sharon asked me,  "what makes your project stand out from others?"

I had a sudden realisation - the concept of fairytale and dream inspired photography has been overdone, the same inspirations have been recycled so many times by different photographers. Although I stated that the fairytales I create will be much more sinister to perhaps compared to the works of Tim Walker, dark fairytales as a concept is also a very widely used concept in fashion photography. I need a more unique selling point - fairytales are everywhere. 

My initial idea was to combine dreams with fairytale; to capture the essence of dream in a fairytale aesthetic. Although I am still very fond of the idea, it was suggested that I take most of my inspiration from dreams, not only dreams but also sleep phenomenons such as night terrors, lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis - all six protagonists should be inspired by this dreamland and not of any existing fairytale character or story.

In the meeting, I was also advised to revise my time plan and make it more realistic. Creating storyboards for six different protagonists is a ambitious task, I need to rethink the duration of each story.  I realise that time management and careful organisation is a huge part of what determines the success of the project.