Results tagged “film” from :: ( CRIT ) :: DESIGN BLOG ::
Hillman Curtis started his talk, organized by AIGA/NY, by a simple quote from CK Williams, an American poet: “Fall in love with a master”. That master for Curtis has been Richard Avedon, an American photographer, who was distinguished by capturing minimalist portraits in front of a sheer background that reveal its subjects’ character and soul. Curtis talked in great detail about his love of portraits saying, “Portraits are cornerstone to how I work.”
Richard Avedon left to right: George Bush (1976) from In The American West collection; Truman Capote (1974); Bob Dylan (1965); Ronald Fischer (1981)
During his talk he shared several films, among them were Artist Series on Lawrence Weiner, Stefan Sagmeister, and the work he did for SVA.
I think what’s extraordinary and brilliant about Curtis’ work the way he weaves a narrative within an image. For an episode of Design Matters, he filmed Lawrence Weiner being interviewed by Debbie Millman. Curtis first drew the viewer’s attention to the shoes that Weiner was wearing. He observed that not only were they ‘total badass’ on a heel, but they also had been slightly torn, indicating that Weiner wore them daily.
Later, he prefaced the Sagmeister film by saying it’s important to be informed by the image and listen to what the image has to tell you. He quoted Chuck Close, “You should never try to capture emotion. It’s always there”.
Of all the tidbits shared during the talk, my favorite were his words on capturing narrative: “Listen to what the image has to tell you”, and do “anything to avoid a talking head”.
I draw a lot of inspiration from the engaging narrative, honest dialogue and emotive moments that permeate the work of Hillman Curtis. What draws me the most to Curtis’ work is his short documentaries. His Artist Series remains among my favorite videos. Beautifully shot and composed, I find myself revisiting them time and again when I need motivation, inspiration and just simple wisdom.
I love the quiet simplicity and honesty of film, and I use it quite often in my work. Last year for an assignment where we were randomly assigned a classmate as the subject of our project, I chose to showcase my classmate by presenting him through the format of Hillman Curtis’s Artist Series. To me, Curtis’s approach to film-making is a perfect balance between poignant storytelling and lyrical composition and movement. And because Curtis greatly influences me, I’ve always been curious to find out what influences the narrative of his film work. I was delighted to find out that I’ll be able to get a rare glimpse into the mind of this respected designer, self-taught filmmaker and author thanks to a Small Talk event hosted by AIGA/NY (details below).
Stay tuned for my write-up on the event and in the meantime, be sure to check out the Hillman Curtis website and his Artist Series. Share your thoughts of Hillman Curtis with us by posting a comment below and one reader will be randomly selected to receive free admission to the event.
AIGA/NY SMALL TALK NO. 2: HILLMAN CURTIS
MOVING PORTRAITS
Thursday 22 October 2009
6:30–8:00PM
Bumble and bumble, 3rd floor auditorium
415 West 13th Street Between Ninth Avenue & Washington St.
6:30–7:00PM Check-in
7:00–8:00PM Presentation
$20 AIGA members
$10 AIGA student members
$35 General public
Click here to register
Several of my classmates and I headed down to Cinema Village (www.cinemavillage.com) to see the recently released documentary, Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight. Directed by first-time filmmaker Wendy Keys, the documentary is a compilation of Glaser’s work as analyzed by numerous collaborators among which was our very own 2002 alum Deborah Adler, and co-chair Steven Heller.
The film is mostly Glaser’s monologue as the camera follows him around restaurants, his studio, his home, museums, and his childhood home by St. Mark’s Place (only to discover that it’s been demolished). Glaser recalls growing up in a crowded three-room apartment in the Bronx, discovering his passion for drawing, his years at Cooper Union, and his studies (as a Fulbright fellow) at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, under the painter Giorgio Morandi. It was there, he recalls, that he realized “history was not the enemy” and he rejected strict modernism.
The documentary also takes the viewer through Glaser’s creation of New York Magazine, his passion for great food (a pleasure he first discovered in Italy), and his Underground Gourmet columns.
Although the editing seemed rough and choppy at times, I did enjoy the glimpse into Glaser’s life as the film introduces his wife, Shirley (with whom he collaborated on several children’s books) and we are shown the couple’s remarkable collection of African art. One of my favorite parts has to be Glaser’s recollection of his mother’s frightening pasta recipe.
The wide-angle lens was often pushed so tight that every line and hair on Glaser’s face was visibly moving as he discussed his projects. A montage of his work (design, posters, drawings, paintings, etc) sped through a hurried slide-show that didn’t seem to give justice to the quantity and depth of Glaser’s massive body of work. Fellow CRIT content editor, Carli Pierce said, "The overall quality was a little disappointing; I expected something much more polished, especially being a film about Milton. It would have been interesting to see him in the action of actually making things since he speaks so highly of the process".
Overall, the documentary glances into everyday personal moments of Glaser’s life and captures his intelligence and creativity through albeit disappointing quality and editing.
Did you see the film? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Milton Glaser: To Inform and Delight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1275724/
Directed by: Wendy Keys
With: Milton Glaser, Ralph Caplan, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Steve Heller, Walter Bernard, Jivan Tabibian, Deborah Adler, Walter Bernard, George Lang
Running time: 1h 13m
Last chance to get your tickets for the brand spanking new and exciting F5 Fest, initiated by motionographer.com, this Thursday and Friday at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC. If you're at all interested in motion graphics, you will want to attend this festival to hear from the top designers in the genre and to see the short films they've created for the festival on the topics of rejuvenation, regrowth, rebirth and revival. Here's the line-up of speakers:
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If you don't get to attend this year, we will be reporting about it here to tell you how great it was and to get yourself some early bird tickets next year. But we'd rather see you there: http://f5fest.com/tickets/
In this two part interview series we will look at post WWII Polish poster design through the eyes of two design educators who share a passion for this provocative and inspiring period in history. This week I bring you an interview with Andrea Marks and next week Lara McCormick.
This fascinating aspect of design history is often overlooked in the typical American design education and holds great value to be studied, which is why I wanted to present these two voices in hopes to spark curiosity in our readers.
I should also point out that sadly, while not planned, this series comes following the passing of one of the greats of Polish poster design, Franciszek Starowieyski. A man of vast accomplishments who inspired many. (His Teresa Desqueyroux poster is show below.)
We will begin by meeting Andrea Marks, graphic design professor and program coordinator at Oregon State University. Andrea produced and co-directed, with Glenn Holsten, the documentary Freedom on the Fence which tells the story of poster design in Poland from WWII through the fall of Communism. It was at a screening of this film back in 2006 at my alma mater, Oregon State University, that I was first introduced to the art of Polish poster design. I also had the privilege of studying under Andrea during my undergraduate years and am very happy to introduce her to you...
CRIT: What first attracted you to Polish posters?
Andrea Marks: There were two aspects of the Polish poster that I was intrigued with. I should qualify here that I am specifically referring to posters following WWII through the fall of Communism. The first aspect was the visual power they had. These posters were visually very different, yet all possessed wonderful visual and conceptual qualities. The second aspect that pulled me in was the story itself. I was interested in learning more about how these wonderful cultural posters came to be seen on the streets of Warsaw, Krakow and other Polish cities. I was immediately captivated by the story that these powerful posters were not only produced during Communism, but actually flourished during this time period. As one artist said, “Communism was a fertile ground for poster making” and that is really an interesting thesis to explore. I was also interested in capturing the voices of the artists, many who were well into their 80s, as a way to preserve this very important part of art/design history.
CRIT: What is currently happening with your film, Freedom on the Fence?
AM: Here is a short history of the making of this film. In 1997, I had a Polish student in my class and she introduced me to Polish posters through books she had. She and I discussed the fact that the posters, announcing films, theater, opera and other cultural events were no longer produced in the same numbers as they were, prior to the fall of Communism. I thought this was an interesting story and one I wanted to pursue through the medium of film. This was 1998.
In the subsequent 10 years, I chipped away at this project, making three trips to Poland. I consider this a ‘passion project’— that is a project that you feel very strongly about for one reason or another and you work on it as long as it takes to get it finished. The film is now completed, aside from the purchase of final archival footage and it is hopeful that the funds for that footage will be raised by late spring. I have screened the film at many national and international venues, including AIGA events, film festivals and schools. I never imagined this film would be so well received by such a wide audience. I did imagine that designers and artists would find the story interesting, but I have shown it to high school students and senior citizens and all find something inspiring in the story. I think the film is particularly exciting to see when it is shown in conjunction with a Polish poster exhibition. This past January, I screened the film at Drexel University in Philadelphia. They have recently acquired a huge collection of Polish posters, and had a terrific exhibition that accompanied the screening.
Crit: What was the transition from design to documentary film making like?
AM: Well, I knew that in order to make this film, I needed to collaborate with someone who knew how to make a film. Fortunately, my friend Glenn Holsten, a very talented, independent filmmaker in Philadelphia agreed to work on the project with me. The collaboration with Glenn was great and we both had a similar vision of what the film could be. I really wouldn’t have been able to make the film without Glenn’s guidance and experience. I think design and film making both come down to storytelling. Instead of writing an article or designing a book about these Polish artists, I chose film and sound as the medium. There was new technology to learn, the real challenge was how to take a 50 year period in history and summarize it in 40 minutes. Once I transcribed the many interviews, we edited sections and began shaping the story. I developed a “look and feel” for the film, with the goal of flooding the film with as many posters as possible.
The fact that it was a foreign film added another layer of complexity. I applied for many grants, both from my university and external grants for funding and received enough money to make a preliminary research trip to Poland. This trip was important and we spent 2 weeks traveling to various cities in Poland to meet with artists and hear their stories. We brought a very low end camera, and made short videos. In a sense, this was a bit like initial sketching in a design project. Following that trip, I worked on plans for the next trip, in which we would do the final filming of the documentary. Unlike a design project, which can be completed in a relatively short time, a film, even a 40-minute film, can take a much longer time to complete and I wasn’t used to that. Granted, 11 years is a very long time, even for a film, but there are inherent complexities in film that are not present in design.
All of my interviews were done with a translator I hired in Poland and then I had to transcribe all interviews on paper. It was an incredibly tedious process that took dozens of hours, but it was the only way I could view the various voices and understand how to string these voices together to tell a story.
CRIT: What are some of the new discoveries about Polish posters that you made in the process of making the film?
AM: Not sure I made any new discoveries about Polish posters, as all of it was new to me. It was poignant to hear the artist Wiktor Gorka talk about how advertising, such as billboards was worse than some of the Social Realist art created under Communism. That was something I didn’t find written in journals or books. I am sure that none of the artists would like to live under Communism again, but those that were commissioned to design posters (and there were many), were paid very well and could make a living as poster artists.
CRIT: Being a design educator yourself, what do you feel are the most beneficial aspects of incorporating the history of Polish poster design into a graphic design curriculum?
AM: As cliché as this may sound, I think the story of the Polish poster shows the strength of the human spirit. The way this is done happens on several levels. On one level, these posters can be viewed for their pure, imagistic beauty. Students are typically very inspired by the visual strength of the Polish posters. I think the fact that they were drawn and painted, including the typography, speaks to the students of today. For many students, the idea of working “off” the computer on a poster is a bit of a revelation. The next level is the content of the posters. Though these are for the most part cultural posters, announcing theater, film, opera, etc., the message on the poster is never literal. In fact, the posters are wonderful examples of how not to be literal, as they use metaphor, irony, satire and humor in very clever ways.
The third level is examining the history and how the time period played a pivotal role in the development of these powerful posters. One might say that the added constraints of Communism and the fact that each poster had to go before a censor board pushed the artists to dig a little deeper.
CRIT: How are the students you come in contact with responding to Polish poster design and is it being reflected in their work?
AM: Each time I show the film to students, from high school to college age, the response is similar—they love the images. They usually ask where they can purchase these posters and I can see they are inspired. After seeing the film, I have had students tell me they are much more interested in working by hand—bringing more painting and drawing into their work. I do think the Polish posters show students that much can be done off of the computer. I also think Polish posters are a great example for students to see how metaphor and satire can work in communicating a message. When we ask students to capture the essence of something visually, Polish posters are great examples to show.
CRIT: What is the next thing you hope will happen in the study of Polish poster design?
AM: I think it would be interesting to explore contemporary Polish poster design. That is something I was not able to do in my time in Poland. Whenever another generation is developing their history, the challenge is how to develop a new voice. The artists of the 50s and 60s were mainly trained as painters, and so there is a lot of drawing and painting in the work. Students studying at the Warsaw Academy of Art today have new technologies they are working with. I am curious as to how the past influences what is being done today.
Go here to learn more about Andrea’s film, Freedom on the Fence.
Visit us next week for the second installment of this interview series featuring Lara McCormick, freelance designer and graduate of the SVA MFA Design program who is currently teaching at SVA’s undergraduate and continuing education program.
This fascinating aspect of design history is often overlooked in the typical American design education and holds great value to be studied, which is why I wanted to present these two voices in hopes to spark curiosity in our readers.
I should also point out that sadly, while not planned, this series comes following the passing of one of the greats of Polish poster design, Franciszek Starowieyski. A man of vast accomplishments who inspired many. (His Teresa Desqueyroux poster is show below.)
We will begin by meeting Andrea Marks, graphic design professor and program coordinator at Oregon State University. Andrea produced and co-directed, with Glenn Holsten, the documentary Freedom on the Fence which tells the story of poster design in Poland from WWII through the fall of Communism. It was at a screening of this film back in 2006 at my alma mater, Oregon State University, that I was first introduced to the art of Polish poster design. I also had the privilege of studying under Andrea during my undergraduate years and am very happy to introduce her to you...
CRIT: What first attracted you to Polish posters?
Andrea Marks: There were two aspects of the Polish poster that I was intrigued with. I should qualify here that I am specifically referring to posters following WWII through the fall of Communism. The first aspect was the visual power they had. These posters were visually very different, yet all possessed wonderful visual and conceptual qualities. The second aspect that pulled me in was the story itself. I was interested in learning more about how these wonderful cultural posters came to be seen on the streets of Warsaw, Krakow and other Polish cities. I was immediately captivated by the story that these powerful posters were not only produced during Communism, but actually flourished during this time period. As one artist said, “Communism was a fertile ground for poster making” and that is really an interesting thesis to explore. I was also interested in capturing the voices of the artists, many who were well into their 80s, as a way to preserve this very important part of art/design history.
CRIT: What is currently happening with your film, Freedom on the Fence?
AM: Here is a short history of the making of this film. In 1997, I had a Polish student in my class and she introduced me to Polish posters through books she had. She and I discussed the fact that the posters, announcing films, theater, opera and other cultural events were no longer produced in the same numbers as they were, prior to the fall of Communism. I thought this was an interesting story and one I wanted to pursue through the medium of film. This was 1998.
In the subsequent 10 years, I chipped away at this project, making three trips to Poland. I consider this a ‘passion project’— that is a project that you feel very strongly about for one reason or another and you work on it as long as it takes to get it finished. The film is now completed, aside from the purchase of final archival footage and it is hopeful that the funds for that footage will be raised by late spring. I have screened the film at many national and international venues, including AIGA events, film festivals and schools. I never imagined this film would be so well received by such a wide audience. I did imagine that designers and artists would find the story interesting, but I have shown it to high school students and senior citizens and all find something inspiring in the story. I think the film is particularly exciting to see when it is shown in conjunction with a Polish poster exhibition. This past January, I screened the film at Drexel University in Philadelphia. They have recently acquired a huge collection of Polish posters, and had a terrific exhibition that accompanied the screening.
Crit: What was the transition from design to documentary film making like?
AM: Well, I knew that in order to make this film, I needed to collaborate with someone who knew how to make a film. Fortunately, my friend Glenn Holsten, a very talented, independent filmmaker in Philadelphia agreed to work on the project with me. The collaboration with Glenn was great and we both had a similar vision of what the film could be. I really wouldn’t have been able to make the film without Glenn’s guidance and experience. I think design and film making both come down to storytelling. Instead of writing an article or designing a book about these Polish artists, I chose film and sound as the medium. There was new technology to learn, the real challenge was how to take a 50 year period in history and summarize it in 40 minutes. Once I transcribed the many interviews, we edited sections and began shaping the story. I developed a “look and feel” for the film, with the goal of flooding the film with as many posters as possible.
The fact that it was a foreign film added another layer of complexity. I applied for many grants, both from my university and external grants for funding and received enough money to make a preliminary research trip to Poland. This trip was important and we spent 2 weeks traveling to various cities in Poland to meet with artists and hear their stories. We brought a very low end camera, and made short videos. In a sense, this was a bit like initial sketching in a design project. Following that trip, I worked on plans for the next trip, in which we would do the final filming of the documentary. Unlike a design project, which can be completed in a relatively short time, a film, even a 40-minute film, can take a much longer time to complete and I wasn’t used to that. Granted, 11 years is a very long time, even for a film, but there are inherent complexities in film that are not present in design.
All of my interviews were done with a translator I hired in Poland and then I had to transcribe all interviews on paper. It was an incredibly tedious process that took dozens of hours, but it was the only way I could view the various voices and understand how to string these voices together to tell a story.
CRIT: What are some of the new discoveries about Polish posters that you made in the process of making the film?
AM: Not sure I made any new discoveries about Polish posters, as all of it was new to me. It was poignant to hear the artist Wiktor Gorka talk about how advertising, such as billboards was worse than some of the Social Realist art created under Communism. That was something I didn’t find written in journals or books. I am sure that none of the artists would like to live under Communism again, but those that were commissioned to design posters (and there were many), were paid very well and could make a living as poster artists.
CRIT: Being a design educator yourself, what do you feel are the most beneficial aspects of incorporating the history of Polish poster design into a graphic design curriculum?
AM: As cliché as this may sound, I think the story of the Polish poster shows the strength of the human spirit. The way this is done happens on several levels. On one level, these posters can be viewed for their pure, imagistic beauty. Students are typically very inspired by the visual strength of the Polish posters. I think the fact that they were drawn and painted, including the typography, speaks to the students of today. For many students, the idea of working “off” the computer on a poster is a bit of a revelation. The next level is the content of the posters. Though these are for the most part cultural posters, announcing theater, film, opera, etc., the message on the poster is never literal. In fact, the posters are wonderful examples of how not to be literal, as they use metaphor, irony, satire and humor in very clever ways.
The third level is examining the history and how the time period played a pivotal role in the development of these powerful posters. One might say that the added constraints of Communism and the fact that each poster had to go before a censor board pushed the artists to dig a little deeper.
CRIT: How are the students you come in contact with responding to Polish poster design and is it being reflected in their work?
AM: Each time I show the film to students, from high school to college age, the response is similar—they love the images. They usually ask where they can purchase these posters and I can see they are inspired. After seeing the film, I have had students tell me they are much more interested in working by hand—bringing more painting and drawing into their work. I do think the Polish posters show students that much can be done off of the computer. I also think Polish posters are a great example for students to see how metaphor and satire can work in communicating a message. When we ask students to capture the essence of something visually, Polish posters are great examples to show.
CRIT: What is the next thing you hope will happen in the study of Polish poster design?
AM: I think it would be interesting to explore contemporary Polish poster design. That is something I was not able to do in my time in Poland. Whenever another generation is developing their history, the challenge is how to develop a new voice. The artists of the 50s and 60s were mainly trained as painters, and so there is a lot of drawing and painting in the work. Students studying at the Warsaw Academy of Art today have new technologies they are working with. I am curious as to how the past influences what is being done today.
Go here to learn more about Andrea’s film, Freedom on the Fence.
Visit us next week for the second installment of this interview series featuring Lara McCormick, freelance designer and graduate of the SVA MFA Design program who is currently teaching at SVA’s undergraduate and continuing education program.
"Words Lucid The King of Empty"
"Alter Ego Dark Destiny The End"
PSST!3 is a collaborative film project of 17 films made by 51 teams of designers, directors, animators and composers.
Each film is comprised of three sections produced by three different teams that do either the beginning, middle or end of the film. This process behind PSST! is a technique derived from the Dadaist game of Exquisite Corpse and the children’s game Telephone and applied to the arts of motion graphics, animation and film-making.
Justin Cone of motionographer.com said in reference to the French surrealists, "The exquisite corpse seemed like an ideal way to tap the collective unconscious of a group and let it spill onto a page... When an artist’s creative vision is limited to a mere puzzle piece, the artist is free to do something we are not often encouraged to do—namely, to play."
If you missed the recent screening of all 17 films in New York City, you can still see 6 of the films posted each week on the website at http://psstpassiton.com. The first six arrived last week and another set of 6 will be released on April 2nd.
