The influence of Gothic Art in film by Luke Robinson- media magazine December 2013
Summary-
Robinson first begins by describing the history of the Gothic style with the earliest gothic artefacts being monument sculptures in cathedrals and Abbeys that developed from a Romanesque tradition. Gothic paintings from the 14th to 15th century focused on secular subjects such as hunting scenes, chivalric themes, and depictions of historical events also appeared. He then goes on to say that eventually the term developed into what became known as international Gothic with a sense of ‘naturalism’ that continued to evolve in the 15th-16th century.
His next section is the main body of the article all about Gothic influences on screen. The Gothic style was first seen on screen during the era of German expressionist cinema in the 1920s. In these films, the dark, depressing, often surreal artistic values reflected the essence of the Gothic style. Robinson suggests that gothic cinema became more prevalent after devastation such as the German economic crisis in the 1920s and the detrimental impact that the end of WW2 had on Britain. He then details how sets reinforce this Gothic feel through elongated shadows and walls, harsh contrast and deep backgrounds. Shadows are deliberately used to evoke feelings of terror without revealing anything explicitly horrific which is why lighting is an integral to the Gothic style. Robinson states that Gothic art has been a great influence to cinematographers and directors, referencing art like ‘The House by the Railroad 1925’ and ‘the Devil and Daniel Webster 1939’.
The next paragraph focuses on recognisable features of Gothic art which is then reflected in film. Humans pictured inside large spaces and often the use of grotesque creatures and monsters can be seen in ‘Aliens 1986’ with the ship being the dark and spacious environment that they are trapped in with a monster (the alien). The paintings of Francis Bacon is also said to have been the inspiration for the look of Heath Ledger’s Joker in ‘The Dark Knight 2008’.
Then he talks of how recognisable features of Gothic art were reflected in books too.’The nightmare 1781 by Henry Fuseli has said to influence the work of Mary Shelley with her famous Frankenstein novel and Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ in which he references a Fuseli work.
Robinson finally talks of the importance of Tim Burton in the progression of the Gothic genre in film. Burton’s films contain the visual and emotional elements of Gothic nature, but without the inclusion of needless horror and gore. ‘Vincent 1982’ follows a main character who is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe, ‘Frankenweenie 2012’ clearly takes inspiration from Frankenstein, and the same Gothic tone can be seen in ‘Edward Scissorhands 1990’, ‘Sleepy hollow 1999’, ‘Corpse Bride 2005’ and ‘Sweeney Todd 2007’.
To conclude, Robinson says that Gothic art has always had influence on the Gothic genre in film and literature and will continue to evolve as a Genre.
The upside-down triangle method for media essays- made on canva
an article by medium.com which details the influence that the fashion industry has on our society-
Good as gold- shelter 2023
This short film outlines the life of a young girl named Maddie in the run up to Christmas. She hears that if she's good then she'll get anything she wants for Christmas so she spends her time being extremely good by helping others and being a nice person. Unfortunately, Maddie wakes up on Christmas morning to the same dirty, dank one room flat and a baby crying in the background. She says "But I was so good this year..." showing that all she truly wanted for Christmas was a nice place to call home and even that she could not have.
This film highlights the number of children living in temporary accommodation and what they go through every Christmas. A normal child wishes for toys and yet young Maddie is forced to grow up and wish for a home. It also shows just how unfair life is that a young child should be subjected to that which is why I chose this advert.
I also think it could be used as a metaphor to challenge stereotypes that homeless people don't work and therefore deserve it yet Maddie worked really hard and still faces the threat of homelessness.
The BIG ISSUE-
The media magazine student conference-
Chris Hogg started the day with an interesting exploration into the effect of AI on the creative mind. He asked the question, does technology kill creativity? And investigated into it by finding the opinions of the most creative minds he knew on the topic. He presented the idea that internet is magic and loss, meaning it could give greatness and also destroy art. He asked people like Simon Stephens and Ali Eslani about what they thought. Stephens said that the stage is the no.1 tool for investigating AI. Eslani suggested that when photography was invested, painting didn’t die but it changed. This presented the idea that, after the creation of AI, creativity won’t die but it will need the change. In the end, Hogg decided that AI can never kill creativity because it only provides one thing- the average. The power of words will forever be more than the power of AI. Abracadabra means I create as I speak.
Next Alison Phillips, the former editor of The Daily Mirror, spoke about a certain front cover she did after the partygate scandal and all the ideas that went into it. She also talked about how there is an increasing problem where people are actively avoiding the news because it’s so negative. To combat this, she started a newspaper called the ‘New Day’ which only featured good news. Unfortunately, the magazine didn’t do so well but she expressed how she still thought it was important to know about good news.
Then Hannah Ewens talked about her book on the evolution of fandom. How fandom has changed since the time of the Beatles and how it hasn’t changed much at all. The introduction of social media was the catalyst for the change in fandom as it became more exposed to the world via the internet so was therefore much more personal to celeb and fan before. Whereas after, due to the bigger exposure, the fandom is now faced with anti-fans and haters. She went on to say that previously, the relationship between celeb and fan was familial but now it is clear that fans aren’t family. They are regulators, antagonists and bosses- not friends.
Harv Frost was very interesting and revealed the process of making music videos which I was not aware of before. Firstly, a pitch of 10-15 slides is presented for the themes of the music video. This is called a treatment. The favourite treatment of the band is then used to create the storyboard and eventually the music video. Harv expressed their passion for music videos, saying that ‘The marriage between music and visuals is a really great place to work as a narrative’. Next, the music video film for the last dinner party was shown, called the ‘Prelude to ecstasy’. The video was very interesting and expressive and also quite unique. It was overall visually pleasing to watch as that sense of world building really came through and the process was pleasing to hear about.
After a lunch break, David Hesmondalgh (one of our media theorists) and Amanik Saha were in conversation about various media products. They spoke about how successful media products reflected the cultural context and how there is a sense of cultural imperialism in our society. A term that means dominant countries such as the USA or UK shape the cultural context that other media products from around the world are made in. They spoke of how media products are made for commercial reasons- that’s true- but that we need to overlook that and realise that it’s not their only purpose.
Finally Nida Manzoor (in conversation with Christian Cottingham) spoke about her two most recent works- we are lady parts and polite society. She talked about her struggles in the industry. How she loved to write comedy and how people always tried to changer her ideas for something darker and grittier which she hated. Manzoor was told that she had a very authentic voice however it got the point where she questioned selling out her authentic voice. Ultimately, she decided that it wasn't worth it and so she strived to find someone who would like her ideas.
Burn the Witch by Radiohead-
When watching the video again, I realised the Burn the Witch video starts with a bird happily chirping which creates a sense of false comfort. It also ends in the exact same way with the same bird which suggests the idea of a repeating cycle. Since horrific things happen in the village (like the man almost getting burned alive) it's like commenting on how things will stay bad unless there is change. The circular narrative implies that things won't change in this story and the village will continue to do bad things. This therefore mirrors how in real life, things will only get better if people can be bothered to change and stand up for what's right. It's like a commentary against the 'groupthink' ideology.
Burn the Witch was released as the lead single of Radio Head's ninth studio album 'moon-shaped pool' in 2016. The band had reportedly been working on the song for a long time, with it being mentioned as early as 2005 in their blog. The song uses the atrocity of witch trials (that people would generally be familiar with) as a metaphor for current society. Yes- people aren't being burned at the stake any more but the concept of being forced to conform by someone or the government is still a prevalent issue.
Pitchfork interpreted "Burn the Witch" as a criticism of authority and a warning against groupthink, expressing dread and skepticism. The Guardian felt it addressed mass surveillance or the threat to open discussion posed by the self-policing users of social media. The Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan suggested that the idyllic rural Britain depicted in the video addressed the rhetoric of "family values" used by right-wing politicians such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and members of the UK Independence Party.
This video therefore reflects the social context in a way as figures like Donald Trump gained popularity around this time (eventually becoming elected on 8th of November 2016). In response, the lead vocalist, Yorke, tweeted some of the song lyrics as a criticism of Trump's policies. Thus, Burn the Witch is clearly in keeping with the band's left leaning ideology. It's evident that Thom Yorke has supported the Green party and Labour before. Also, Ed has mentioned being a part of anti-capitalist marches, Colin has retweeted many things that imply he was a fan of Labour, Johnny appeared happy that Labour took over when he was interviewed at the Free Tibet concert in the 90s and holds left-leaning liberal views (Yorke also said about hating how Tibet was at the mercy of ‘disgusting first-world’ nations)
And finally Phil has mentioned being very anti-Brexit before (a left leaning ideology). In fact, all the bad members appear to have been anti-Brexit too. So, it can be easily concluded that the band has a left leaning ideology, one of which is easily reflected in their Burn the Witch video as mentioned before.
(I couldn’t get a screenshot of the original tweet but this is basically what it was. Tweeted exactly one day after Trump was elected)
Also, the style of the video takes clear inspiration from- if not the exact same as- the British 1960s TV show Trumptonshire which was aimed at children. This serves a purpose because children’s TV shows are supposed to be unthreatening, in this case, the village presents itself as unthreatening even though there are much darker things going on. This could be seen as a reflection of authority presenting themselves as unthreatening and friendly despite not being so to maintain control (like hiding ulterior motives). There is also a very clear intertextual reference to the 1973 film The Wickerman where a giant wooden structure is burned down just like near the end of the music video.
Sun goes down by Lil Nas X-Sun goes down and Burn the Witch can be paralleled since they both end with an element of the beginning of the video. Sun goes down starts with a blue-pink colour palette where Lil Nas X finds himself at an equilibrium. He’s looking at past episodes of his life in complete power and he is also seen doing the Gyan Mudra hand symbol which symbolises one’s unity with the universe. This also connotes himself having power to be in such an enlightened position. Also, I thought it was worth mentioning that Lil Nas X has white eyes which implies blindness in the new version of himself which is a reference to other media where the wise prophet character is in fact blind. This dates as far back to the Ancient Greek times with Tiresias being a blind prophet from the Odyssey, yet has also been seen in more recent works as well such as Vitruvius from the Lego Movie. This helps make the connection that he is wiser now than he was before (the trope of blind people being wise is used as a shortcut to meaning here).
Back to the colour palette, the same one appears again at the prom scene where balance is re-established as the younger version of Lil Nas X dances with the other students he once felt outcast from. This cements the theme of self-acceptance.
Lil Nas X as an artist himself struggled very much with self-acceptance. On a Spotify podcast- (On purpose with Jay Sherry- https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Dfk46a1NZ3F4r4bscC4mI) the artist reveals that says:
‘I was in a hotel room and I was just like telling myself how much I hate myself.’
‘Life increasingly became more real … at that time recognising, even at that age, my sexuality … it became a rocky ship from that moment’
‘This thing that’s really bad that nobody seems to like, I happen to be that thing but maybe it’s not that bad but also God’s probably super mad at me’
‘All those things I feel like I shouldn’t be thinking about at 6’
(There is also a chapter called exploring spirituality which could explain the very spiritual influence in the video such as ideas of enlightenment and floating in mid air unaffected by time and space)
This clearly shows that he always struggled with the image he had of himself which many people will relate to. In the comments of the video, there are many users saying how they resonate with the situation and the lyrics. The video reflects these thoughts he speaks so openly about in the podcast perfectly and therefore makes others who have the same thoughts feel seen (with one of the lines being- ‘these gay thoughts would always haunt me’).
His mental battle with accepting himself and his religion is very clear. He grew up in a very strict branch of Christianity that was particularly homophobic which influenced the negative view he previously saw himself in.
All his music videos have some sense of being proud and not afraid of who you are and being very ‘out there’ such as Montero and Industry baby. Therefore, this representation in Sun goes Down aligns with the way he’s chosen to sell himself to his audience (Richard Dyer’s star theory). He is proud of who he is by the end.
His representation at the start however, is also unconventional for a star who’d usually be portrayed without flaw. Instead, Lil Nas X shows himself as way more ‘human’ where we hear real thoughts he had when he was younger and see his younger self crying in the bathroom, reminding the audience that this is a real story (the very stereotypical scenes of an American high school also reinforce this realism). This makes viewers more inclined to relate to the message and also helps them see that things really are going to be okay. This was arguably Lil Nas X’s goal.
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