unit 2 space ogr

8/3/2019 Unit 2 Space OGR

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/unit-2-space-ogr 1/13

Anthony Duke



Page 1….. Gormenghast Synopsis

….. Author Biography

Page 3….. The context of Gormenghast

Page 4….. Excerpt 1: Gormenghast

Page 5….. Excerpt 2: The Attic

Page 6….. Excerpt 3: The Room of Roots Page 7….. Visual Concept Influence Map

Page 7….. Excerpt Influence Maps

Page 10….Unit 2 Essay Introduction



Synopsis:

Enter the world of Gormenghast. The vast crumbling castle to which the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, is Lord and heir. Titus is expected to rule this Gothiclabyrinth of turrets and dungeons, cloisters and corridors as well as the eccentricand wayward subject. However, things are changing in the castle.

The book is set in a Fantasy world in an almost medieval time where earls ruleover the local towns and the community works to support the castle. Gormenghastrefers to the great castle which looms over the small dwellings beneath, and thecitizens create carvings all year round and present their best on the white rocks infront of the great wall on the first day of June each year.



Mervyn Peake was born in 1911 in Kuling, Central Southern China, where hisfather was a medical missionary. Within a year, the family moved to the Northerncity of Tientsin. Peake was educated at Tientsin Grammar School then at ElthamCollege in South East London. During the Second World War, whilst serving withthe army, he established a reputation as a gifted book illustrator with his pictures

for Ride a Cock Horse (1940), The Hunting of the Snark (1941) and The Rime of theAncient Mariner (1943). Titus Groan was published in 1946 and was followed, in1950, by Gormenghast and the third volume of the Gormenghast saga.



Gormenghast was written just after the end of WW2 and soon after was thebeginning of the cold war which may have had a large influence on how thesettings in the book are described. There is much focus on the crumbling caste ofGormenghast and there is in depth description of decay and damage. This could bea metaphor for the war and devastation that took place in the time of the bookswriting. At this time England was in a poor state as renovations were taking place

to rebuild the county after the German bombings and peoples spirits were at an all-time high after the victory of WW2.

Gormenghast was also adapted as a BBC drama in the year 2000, however therewere not enough viewers so series for the other 2 books in the saga were notcreated. “Gormenghast castle's dynasty and time honoured rituals are threatened

by the charming and evil Steerpike. He's determined to leave his menial position askitchen boy and achieve ultimate control of the House of Groan for himself.”



The first excerpt from the book Gormenghast begins by describing the setting ofthe stronghold Gormenghast, the House of Groan. The Castle is described as astone caste surrounded by a great wall, overshadowing the dwellings of the townbelow. The Tower of Flints, towered above all over buildings and casts its shadowsacross everything that is below it. I have decided to focus on this image as theconcept of a great, stone structure which looms over the people in the town below

can be very interesting and form a brilliant final piece.



The second excerpt describes a series of attics in which the character Fuchsia journeys through; the first attic is the one which I am focusing on for my secondconcept design. This attic is filled with all manner of things from musicalinstruments to a set of bamboo armour and an organ covered in silver from spiderwebs. The light from a summer sky enters the room through dislodged roof tilesand damaged blinds. The beams of light highlighted various object like the organ

and armour as well as the hills of lumber which created narrow pathways throughthe room.



The third and final excerpt begins with the two Ladies of Gormenghast having aconversation in their needlework room. A visitor appears and asks to enter theRoom of Roots, a room filled with the roots of a grand dead tree which filled theroom in all directions and created a labyrinth therein. At the other end of the roomwas an aperture from which the roots entered the room, accompanied with a greyatmospheric light. The seven roots which entered the room where individually

coloured in yellow, red, green, violet, pale blue, coral pink and orange.



This is the Influence map for the first excerptfrom Gormenghast and it features images ofcastle structures and textures of grass and stone.Combining these images gives a rough idea ofthe structure og Gormenghast.



This is the Influence Map for the second Excerpt

the attic. Here are some images of attics which Iused to gather an image of how the room shouldlook and feel. The image in the bottom right wasused for a reference of how beams of light landedon objects.



This is the final influence map for theExcerpt The Room of Roots, the roomconsists of only a circular window and theroots of a dead tree. The images of rootsgave me an idea of how to structure andconnected the roots to create a naturallooking formation.



This assignment will explore and discuss how the themes and issuesrepresented in the film Spirited Away are expressed through the originalConcept Art and Production Design. It will focus on the key elements of:

Environmental issues

Westernisation Consumerism

This will be done by taking reference from the following sources, The Art OfMiyazaki’s Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki), Studio Ghibli: The Films ofHayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (Michelle Le Blanc ) and Hayao Miyazaki:Master of Japanese Animation: Films, Themes, Artistry(Helen McCarthy).

unit 2 space ogr

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