3-act structure in Fight Club

It's all about production!

The First Printed Book in Europe

It is believed that the first ever printed book that came from Europe was made by Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg who has worked as a blacksmith, goldsmith, printer and publisher in Mainz, Germany. Although the first movable type system was invented in China, Gutenberg developed his own movable type system in Europe. He started the Printing Revolution with his contributions to the subject. Among his inventions was the process of mass-producing movable type, the use of oil-based ink and the use of a wooden printing press.

He also invented the printing press which is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. With this invention and the movable type system he could produce prints in a relatively short time. The printing press was in operation by 1450. He started with printing shorter texts probably documents for the church but we can’t be sure what were the first printed items as they didn’t have the printer’s name or the date on them.

What we know for sure though that the first book he printed with his techniques was the Bible, in 1455. The book as we know today as the Gutenberg Bible, the first printed book in Europe using the movable type printing press. On every page there is 42 lines of text (to increase the line number they lessened the space between sequential lines of text) and a completed copy has 1272 pages. There were probably 180 copies produced of the Bible; 135 on paper and 45 on vellum, which is basically mammal skin on what you can write and print on. However only 21 completed copies survived through the centuries and they are considered to be the most valuable books in the world.

Gutenberg Bible of the New York Public Library

 

From novice to expert

 

The task was to rate yourself on this scale. Where do I think I belong? Well, it is hard and I don’t want to underrate or overrate myself. I guess I’m a beginner on this scale but I think.. I hope that by the end of this year I will be on a good level of competent. If someone asked me this about 2 years ago I would’ve said I’m even less than a novice. See, I’ve had problems with self-evaluation for ages, I always underrated myself.

I started taking photos for fun but I really liked some of them and because at that time I had no idea what to do with my future, I started to get more and more interested in photography and film making as well. I do think that the standard of my work is getting a lot better nowadays as I’m expanding my technical knowledge. Before I was just playing around mainly in Photoshop but I didn’t know the different techniques or tricks. I know I have to work harder than most people in the course as I don’t have a sufficient knowledge of the subject.  I still need someone to look at my work and give advice. I have had lots of positive feedbacks from friends and strangers too which helped me estimate my photos more realistic than before.

Some of my older and newer photos:

2007

2008

2009

2010

2010

Some photographs for the university project (2011) :

Image & Text

Some images talk for themselves however some need a shorter or longer text to go with them so the viewer can have a better understanding of the artwork. It also helps the artist to share his views and thoughts with the audience.

I thought I’m going to show a couple of my photos that I really like but when I show it to people they don’t really get what the pictures are about at the first time.

 

I took this photo years ago. It’s a collage really because you can’t see the sky from this point of view in the real place. People didn’t really like this photo, I can probably understand why because it looks like I just painted the sky a bit pink and that’s it...This crescent-shaped arcade is actually one of my most favourite places in the world. It’s in the heart of Budapest on the side of a hill and the view from there is breath-taking. It reminds of Greek mythology, that’s why it got the title: Gate of Heaven.

 

This one was taken on the side of the river Danube, in Budapest. It was mid December and a very foggy day which was perfect to take some nice photographs. I gave it a kind of a bronze colour, wanted the viewers to think they would travel through the past. That’s why the poster on the top in the photograph is an important part as it’s an old photo in bird’s eye view of the city.

People are different. When publishing work you have to make sure that you are going to show it to the right audience. A simple photograph at the wrong place can cause confusion, although sometimes that is the purpose. 

Some text by the work can give meaning to anything...

Production & Outcomes

Interpretation

The same stories have been told thousands of times. Sometimes they give us new twists, help us understand more and sometimes they are just the same old story with little originality. History is changing, nature is changing and the way we approach to the world is changing with time. There are many enduring and famous stories and of course those ones have the most interpretations.

I will look at the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet and it’s interpretations. There have been many versions of this story but the most famous one is clearly William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is believed that he wrote the story between 1591 and 1595 and was first published in 1957. Although even that time it was hardly an original theme. If we only mention the closest versions, in 1554 Matteo Bandelo published his Giuletta and Romeo in the second volume of his ‘Novelle’ which was translated to French and in 1562 with some changes Arthur Brooke translated it into English. Shakespeare follows this version closely but adds more details into the characters.  It was trend among playwrights and writers in those days to publish works based on Italian novelles. Everyone knows the story: too teenagers fall in love but can’t be together because of their family’s discordance, at the end they both commit suicide. 

 

There have been many other versions based on Shakespeare’s such as West Side Story or Shakespeare in Love. One of the most recent interpretations is the movie, Romeo+Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann. He kept the content and the original dialogues but put the act in a modern time and place where the Prince is the Head of the Police and they fight with guns instead of swords.

In the first act the Capulets and the Montagues get into a fight which scene in the film was filmed like they were in a western.  Mercutio and Romeo

 

Both versions trying to refer to their time, the modern version is modern to us but it won’t be that new in 100 years. It all depends on where and when we live.

 

Medium

I chose Michel Gondry to write about as he is one of my favourite artist. I think his works demonstrate really well how you can make non-commercial as well as commercial works and still stay a 100% yourself and create outstanding things.

He started making music videos when he was in the band called Oui Oui. One of these videos caught the attention of Bjork which led him to direct her music video, Human Behaviour.

 

They worked together on many projects after this one. Later he directed videos for bands like The White Stripes, Chemical Brothers, The Vines, Radiohead and Beck.

His style is very unique. He has a surreal point of view and his works are very childlike. He also gets a lot of inspiration from his dreams. That last one comes out the best in his film, The Science of Sleep in which a young man struggles to keep contact with reality because of his vivid dreams and imagination.

In Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind we travel through the main character’s memories. Again Gondry creates a beautiful imaginary place which is surreal but still realistic.

 

Besides his films he also made many TV commercials for Smirnoff Vodka, Gap, Air France, Coca Cola etc. A good example how commercials can be creative and enjoyable to watch.

 

In 2006 he made his debut as an installation artist at Deitch Projects In New York. It was called, “The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts" It included props from his film, The Science of Sleep and bizarre little gifts that the artist would have given to various women in his life who were/are important to him in some way.

It was his music videos that made him internationally recognized at the first place but the TV commercials he made also get him a big critical recognition all around the world. He is the director of the commercial that has won the most prizes, Levi’s Drugstore from 1995.