Directors

Michael and I were talking a couple of nights ago about our favourite directors and sorts like that. He named both mainstream and less known directors and then asked myself. I believe that it's better to judge films then the directors whom made them. For example, Peter Jackson is an amazing director, he captures every shot with perfection, but King Kong lacked the content and grip seen in his other films, does this mean has to fall down my list of favourite directors? No way. Just means Lord of the Rings was fantastic, and King Kong couldn't reach his high standards, but he should have a massive respect, always for the dedication and enthusiasm in his projects. So in the light of this, I'll name two of directors whom inspires me in film (otherwise the list will be never-ending and the post just wouldn't be posted!)

I have to start with the legendary Tim Burton, he is obviously one of the greats, his fantastical productions are always made with extravagance and perfection. He's actually one director of whom I've liked nearly all of his films, and am excited about the production of Addams Family coming out in 2014. Obviously you'll know what I mean when I say Tim Burton, and that fact is another reason why he's amazing. He makes a statement, leaves a mark in the mind and isn't afraid to do it, brilliant! The film that set this love off was Edward Sisscorhands released in 1991, the story of the lovable misfit of society played by Johnny Depp, but it was the images on the screen that caught me eye, the props, scenery and compositions, and then - the cherry on top - the story was beautifully heart-warming. I was in love with this Mr Burton.

Secondly, Jean-Pierre Juenet illustrates a unique picturesque style. He's obviously known for Amelie, which is definatly one of my favourite films of all time; containing humour, a romance, elegance in everyday life, and creative scenes plus Amelie's amazing haircut! However, the film that introduced me to Juenet was a black comedy named Delicatessen, fiull of it's fantastical, grotesque, captivating and creative structure, all at the same time. In fact, before Amelie, Juenet concerntrated on this macabre style a lot more, but to be honest I think his style works beautifully with most themes. As Delicatessen was the first film I saw and immediatly fell in love with his style, it made Amelie a bit strange to watch, mainly because the main structure of the stories are extremely contrasting, but this leap of difference has lead Juenet to open doors - even to the childish stories of MicMacs (which I still hope to see). Concluding, both Amelie and Delicatessen are worth a watch - or even buy, and both will contain weird and wacky storylines and scenes.

Furthermore, I think it's worth a mention, my favourite music video directors. I think these directors are always a bit left out, but it should be recognised that even the big mainstream directors of now started by commercials, low-budget productions and even music videos. The first isn't well known - Adam Powell, and the video that allowed my to notice him was by You Me At Six, and it is called 'Liquid Confidence'. What attracted my towards him was initially the style of the whole thing, it was well planned and produced, the angles were more or less perfect and it was better then half the videos on any music channel I'd seen in a while. Looking him up www.adampowell.com I saw the other music videos he had directed, a lot were in black and white - not a bad thing, in fact the contrast of the black and white was perfect, the right balance I believe, which can be annoying with black and white still imagery and film. One of his music videos, that I plead anyone to watch - even if you don't like the song - is, 'Fireworks' by Tell it to the Marines (video placed at the end of this blog). The use of zoom and pull focus is worked with amazingly, and for the basic plot of the video that would normally be boring, Powell has played with camera, experimented with the shots and it produced a brilliant production! If I were the band, I'd be pretty chuffed.The second Director is Floria Sigsimondi, of whom she has worked with Marilyn Manson, The Cure, Bjork and David Bowie. Although her music videos are of such an high artistic and creative standard, it's actually her short film called 'Postmotem Blues' and her photography that made me fall for her. I can't really put in words how amazing she is or describe the level of her work, but it's worth a look - floriasigsimondi.com.

I'm devastated to find out that there's a film coming out this year called 'Burlesque' starring Christina Aguliera. I already know it's not going to contain real art of the burlesque, but the trashy strip and pole clubs, prehaps the only tribute to real burlesque is the corsets and feathers. I hate thinking about it to be honest. Damn.

A photographer

I love looking up photographers. Spending a couple of minutes or hours searching through the millions of pages on the internet or flicking through the pages of photobooks makes me want to grab my camera and run away with it. Don't you just love the feeling of inspiration? Right now I'm piled up with coursework and the deadlines are just 7 days away, including my 5 hour photography exam! Insert scream, panic, pacing and lots of coffee here! Anyway, my academic english essay on the representation of women in both Merchant of Venice and Othello has been re-drafted 10 times (no exaggeration) as my english teachers are desperate for me to get full marks - yay. It's all good to have the support and will but it's getting to a point where the words have been looked at too much I don't appreciate them or believe they have been wrote in a high enough standard. For example, I handed in a draft today, feeling so down that the introduction was at most a C grade that I did a little dance when he told me it was an A. I'm not kidding I smiled for a good 4 minutes - until he told me the rest was actually a low B/high C grade, damn!

Back to the point of this blog. I find researching photographers as a way to escape the pressures of the world, as good as a nice coffee in my garden at summer nights or daydreaming on the bus. This photographer has particularly caught my eye recently is a Scottish father called David Eustace. His portraits have a way of exposing what lies beneath the surface. In 2009, he went on a road trip with his daughter Rachael and documented it on this website:

http://theanthropologist.net/#/DavidEustace/InSea The photos are truly breath-taking and inspiring. Plus there's also a picturesque film. Maybe it's just because i do not know my father that makes their love and bond for one another something to admire and be shown to the world, but I'm certain to say that the photos speak for themselves.

Manson

Manson has directed and starred in a movie, I looked it up and found out it's coming out this year. It's right up my street, firstly because it's Manson - I'm already interested, secondly it's set in the fantastical victorian era and thirdly it's about the mysterious Lewis Caroll! I'm really excited. The film is called'Phantasmagoria: The visions of a girl named Alice and the summary of the plot has been described as a haunted writer in an isolated castle, tormented by sleepless nights and visions of a girl named Alice, of which the writer becomes a symptom of his own invention.

Manson describes the plot himself: "I want to take the children's story that we all know, and discover the horrifying roots that grow beneath everyone of it's childish metaphors. The characters may be absurd and wrapped in puzzles, but the author himself if the story that I find painfully close to me. Lewis Carroll is far more complex than the world's narrow perception of him as a quiet deacon, a mathematician and a loner, simply obsessed with photographing young girls. He was possibly one of the most divided souls living in his own hell that the world overlooked" and the style of his directing, “It‘s kind of a return to Hitchcock-style psychological horror about letting your mind do the damage and sometimes what you don’t see is scarier."Lily Cole is playing the role of Alice, Tilda Winton as Lewis Carroll's dream wife and of course Manson playing the Mr. Carroll.

This weather has an upside.

I really don't like the summer because of the sun. I know this sounds silly but I just don't like the heat and the brightness. Anyways, this evening I decided to go for a walk in my garden and sat out there for a good hour, it was brilliant! Not too breezy so it's still warm - but just enough wind to cool you down. Loverly! I'm doing my revision out there from now on!

Also, I just hit 100 views and it's only my second week starting today on here, thank you all! :)

John Lewis

About 3 minutes ago I was watching the adverts on channel four after 'Iron Chef' thinking about the coursework and essays I should be writing, when John Lewis' new advert came on.

It really makes me think, and bring a tear to my eye!

I believe the song is a cover by Fyfe Dangerfield, it's really pretty, works with the story perfectly. The best part is, it's so convincing, the girl looks like she's is really growing up before our eyes! Stunning.

This post is quite perfectly relevant - as I'd also like to say a little message for my boyfriend Michael, as it's our two year anniversary and I love him lots.

Fake.

A friend in class today told me about this girl 'Hiedi Montag' who stars in 'The Hills'. I had no idea who she was because I despise shows like these, however what my friend told me was enough to write a blog on.

Below are the before and after photos of Hiedi. The before is a typical blonde, American girl who stars in shows like 'The Hills'. To be honest her figure is definatly one I would NOT be complaining about. Even though i do try to accept my body in all it's curves, advantages and disadvantages, I would always like to shed a little bit more weight. However plastic surgery is something I can never understand. This obsessive, vain enhancement makes everyone who goes through it go through pain and make the person somehow look worse!

Like Hiedi Montag below, she has 10 plastic surgery's in one day, including peculiar things like eyebrow re-shapes and her image has been spoiled to the point where both photographs look like two different people. It's ridiculous.

Cupcakes

I just remembered a trip to Brighton last year, with my lovely boyfriend. We were walking around the tiny streets, exploring the everlasting shops, and we passed this exquisite cupcake shop called 'Angel Food Bakery', the cupcakes were colourful and towered with icing and sprinkles. Yet, at the same time both delicate and cute. The only problem with these cakes were that we felt like it was too pretty to eat (well, i did anyway)! Next time I will invest in some!

Here's the link,
http://www.angelfoodbakery.co.uk/menu.html

Fingers Crossed

I am experiencing a weird feeling at the moment, and it's been building for nearly a week now.

Firstly; I have a photography AS exam in under three weeks, within this time I need to take three shoots, develop, write about the collection, and get ready for the five hour exam. I have been planning the shoot for a month now, and in two days time I have the first shoot. So, things should be going to plan? Not quite. My project is 'The Seven Deadly Sins' and I wanted seven different people to be one sin each, this wasn't hard - I asked them and they agreed. The weeks and days passed and slowly it got closer to the shoot, soon enough three had pulled out. I tweaked the idea - it was difficult but fine, I had time to work with the situation. Today two really vital people said they couldn't take part due to 'work load'. I could tell they weren't that excited about the shoot anymore and the feel when talking to them was awkward for some reason, but instead of just saying they don't want to, I get the awkward made-up excuses. It's what 'friends' are for right?

Secondly; I have no idea how to revise Pride and Prejudice - I keep getting told to read it but I've read it too many times that it's beginning to drain all enthusiasm towards Austen. I'm panicing a little and not sure what to do about it

Thirdly; my personal life seems really good at the moment. I'm happy and optimistic for the first time in a while, but these thoughts are getting pushed to the back of my mind again, and I'm worried I'm going to loose faith again. So that's optimistic and pessimistic all jumbled up!

Fourthly; I dislike the fact Mac's are so fussy when it comes to formats of videos. I've spent 4 hours today looking for converters so that my extra-curriculum can be uploaded. There's so little time until the scary situation of UCAS forms approach as, that I know every minute counts. Those four hours wasted really didn't help!

This rant has weirdly reduced some stress built up, so thank you Blogger. I will spend a couple of hours tomorrow getting things in order, and just hope nothing goes wrong. Fingers crossed!

Wild Child

I have a love-hate relationship with songs that hold memories, but this one song always illustrates one of my favourite memories.

When I was a little, my Nan and Mum used to play their Enya CD’s to help me get to sleep. One of her magical songs from ‘A Day Without Rain’ is Called ‘Wild Child’. It reminds me of my childhood, growing up in the heart of London and walking to school with my mum. The houses were three-story’s high, with worn yet grand steps leading up to the doors. This area wasn’t the obvious stereotype of a city, neither was it upper-class, it was just quite plainly; a nice area. I remember walking on the road of my primary school; these were the houses I wanted to live in when I grew up. They were Victorian and this one house had a diamond patterned stained glass window, full of dark yellows and reds. The front garden was full of magical bushes and swirly trees, with a little pathway leading up to the red door surrounded by flowers. It was so alike to the other houses I'd seen, yet so different. I was truly fascinated. I made up stories of the people that lived there, and even imagined what it would be like to live there myself. I’d soon run off across the road to my school. I was lucky here as well, it was so grand (I’m not sure how old it was) and my teacher wore pretty pencil skirts and had dark dark hair. I was the only one who could read (or liked reading) so when everyone went off and played, she used to spend time helping me get better. Yes, I have always been a geek! Thinking back this time of my life is probably one of-if not my favourite, therefore this song always contains happy connotations.

'Wild Child' contains uplifting and optimistic lyrics performed gently by the pristine voice of Enya. The beat is energetic yet calming - the perfect balance so you can listen to it when you need help getting to sleep, if your writing an essay or if you just want a song to brighten your mood. I thank my parents for playing me beautiful music when I was younger and introducing me to Enya. I recommend this to anyone, it's definitely worth checking out.

I hope it makes you just as happy!

All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream

Some people take this with a melancholic attitude, but I love this poem. It describes something that I ponder, worry and think about most days.

Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

- Edgar Allan Poe (the guy was weird, but so so fascinating!)

Haircut time.

My hair is starting to get on me nerves. My full fringe has definatly grown out, and it's nearing half way to the bottom of the rest of my hair! My hair being a couple of inches below my shoulders. I use rollers as much as I can, inspired by many a fashion icon and hairstlye in the 50's, like me Dita Von Teese (to the left). This means I could just grow out my fringe - like I have been doing, and then getting some layers.

However for nearly two years now I've been thinking about the Bettie hair cut, but I fear this may be a big commitment. I've already had the full fringe thing, and I know how annoying it is getting gaps. Ah, decisions, decisions, decisions!

Communication Change

lI'm sitting in media, trying to edit a thriller opening I have previously captured, and a friend struggling beside me to make the music on garageband, all this with technological convergence revision in the back of my mind. It's weird how 40years ago letters were received and calls were made - people were happy and content. In ways technology is brilliant; it's faster and easier to send a quick message and share those moments and talents worldwide, but on the other hand I feel people have forgotten the simplicity of past communication, and looking at these methods - how heart-warming it feels to receive them.

I have a penpal, she has just recently posted a paragraph on her site, showing her excitement of receiving my envelope, and I couldn't stop smiling for ages, just because she was so happy of getting it. Thinking back when I first got her letter - I felt the same, it was wrapped in a pretty Cath Kidston patten - polka dots and flowers, and inside she wrote with elegance and humour. This was so much personal then her facebook messages, i got to see her personality flow from the pages.

I wish that just one year, month or day everyone would just post a letter for someone they love, like or just want to speak to. I guarantee it would make everyone a little happier.

Optimist.

I believe this to be a near enough perfect time for me to make a blogspot finally! The easter holidays have lifted my spirits and brought new things in my life. I see this to be a way of putting all the past ghosts and horrors away, clearing my head to bring on the future. This time, is pictured in a somewhat picturesque image, flowers and all. I like optimism. I fear it's an emotion I've missed for far too long!

I'm currently reading 'Burlesque, the art of the Teese' by the fabulous Dita Von Tesse - I think she's the only person I can put 'fabulous' next to without sounding like an extravagant camp man. I love the world she lives in; furs, hand-made stockings, Mr. Pearl corsets and lace gloves, oh to be a millionaire! Her photographs deliver the elegance I hope to capture some day and her figure will always be an inspiration, I'll try to get to - but getting there is a long, difficult path!! She tells stories of Minsky and Bettie page and reveals the truth of burlesque, devouring into Freud and even Aristotle. Her writings made me look up this notorious Bettie Page, which led me to her film (of which I recommend to any lover of the 50's or film-making, the camera worked beautifully) back to the point I was making: seeing the film made me realise the world of Bettie and how elegant, fun and strong she was! A true inspiration- this is what made me name my blog 'Embracing Womanhood' as it reminded me of the Dita Quote written in the header.


Furthermore, I should inform (if you haven't guessed so far) I hold strong feminist views, which amazingly links into the sport of Roller derby, of which i discovered after watching the film, Whip it - twice! (Highly recommend, and it's soundtrack is just as good!) It is an all-girl sport and was made in a third-wave of feminism. It's extremely fun, competitive and holds a great atmosphere. Finding roller derby made me laugh a lot, as it holds the views of feminists, holds the passion of the competitive sport and it's all on roller skates, how awesome?! It seems too good to be true doesn't it? Expect more about roller derby in the future; I have just bought some retro quad skates and I can't seem to pull myself away from them.


I will conclude with a quote from Drew Barrymore said in a interview about Whip it, 'Women have a lot to give, they can do just as well as men". Equality is an immense feeling!