My idea behind this transformative portrait was to create a new image of Icarus, an ancient greek myth where Icarus was using wings made of wax and feathers to escape and island. Unfortunately he flew too close to the sun and the wax on his wings began to melt, and he fell into the sea and drowned. This story is one of my favorite for the imagery that has come from it, so I decided to create my own.
all images are mine except the feathers, which I found here https://www.vecteezy.com/video/36040813-feather-slow-fall-on-black-background?autodl_token=662eefc1aa1f02908b3bcb759e1d1b3926a679ddef6ca861f68b0a0717e979063af1607e2eefb10dcbb617f91cd0d1c710ad530668df13de16d7260b39c5d113
ReplyDeleteoh and the wings https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-white-lingerie-with-white-angel-wings-posing-in-a-desert-24357257/
DeleteIn Cassie’s Transformative Portrait, we see a figure with giant wings high in the sky falling down, away from the bright sun in a vertical portrait orientation. Under the cloudy atmosphere, we partially see part of a landscape filled with greenery and mountains. As the video plays we see feathers coming out of the figure’s wings with the clouds slightly moving while the sun is beaming down on the person. The scenery itself appears quite gloomy as it is dark and cool toned, while the sun and the wings are bright and warm-toned.
ReplyDeleteThe image reflects the Ancient Greek myth of Icarus, the man that flew too close to the sun. The story of Icarus itself is often a metaphor for being over-confident or egotistical resulting in self sabotage. Now I don’t think that Emily was reflecting that meaning into her portrait, but rather they wanted to reflect their appreciation and interest for the myth and the different stories in Greek mythology. I think it possibly showcases their interest in past history and defines their personality as someone thought-provoking. Rather than a desire or outcome of the scenario, it refers to the admiration of the mythical story.
The work has many visual clues to interpret it as the story of Icarus. From the person in the sky with feathers falling away from its wings to the closeness of the sun, it's easy to connect the portrait and the idea together as someone that knows the story. The portrait is definitely transformative as Cassie transforms herself into Icarus. I think the composition is well executed with the vertical composition working in its favor and the rule of thirds coming into play. There could be better execution in terms of photography as the portrait is low-resolution and part of her torso is cut off. It is mentioned that Icarus falls into the sea, however in this portrait there is only land and no body of water, which would’ve been a nice additional element to include.
As for the motion, it really pushes the concept of the portrait by adding that element of the wax feathers melting. It is such a crucial part to the story and the motion is well executed in that element of the feathers falling softly, which highlights the portrait well. This could be further pushed upon by having the sun rays move a little bit more, which I see is in the current work. The masking of the clouds when the feathers are coming down could be improved upon as it works for some frames, but feels a little awkward and unnatural for others.
This work exists in our larger culture as Greek mythology is so prominent in the media because of all of the interesting stories surrounding the culture. Ancient Greek mythology is often featured in history lessons in schools, books, movies, shows, we come across it all the time. The metaphors that come from these stories are super prominent too. The transformation could intersect with the audience and culture since anyone can be Icarus and “fly too close to the sun” at times. Which can lead to ones dreams or ideals being destroyed.
Overall, the concept and motion are really strong. The story of Icarus comes across without any issues. There could just be more improvements on photography and compositing to push it to the next level!