by an emerging art direction student Maddie Fiedler As a young emerging visual and performing artist who would like to break into the industry, I learned one thing - it is a hell of difficult. Showcasing skills through a body of work is a vital kick-off. If you find a way to exhibit your art to others (ideally those who lead the industry), you are one foot in the door. Automatically, you ask: How? There are many stories of creatives who have succeeded. What sets them apart from the rest is their initiative. I remember an important piece of advice from talking to senior artists that truly changed an approach to my ways of working. Don't wait for the right opportunity: create it. Self-initiated projects (SIP) are the opportunity they were talking about. Plus SIP are pretty exciting because they gave you an absolute freedom, you are in charge. As a creator, I balance between photography and film. I love both formats, and I believe I can build a bridge between these two worlds through art direction. I already art directed and shot a couple of photography projects during DPS. I also work on the set of films of others and videos. But I want to step further and make my short film. I am pleased to introduce Blue Hour. The idea for the story has been on my mind for a while. A combination of interests of mine - Nostalgia, space and psyché come together in the short moving piece Blue Hour. The title is inspired by early morning time between a night and a new day. Nostalgia is perhaps the main element. Word origin is derived from Greek nostos ‘return home’ + algos ‘pain (1) which is pretty self-explanatory. Each of us sometimes experiences it - this bittersweet feeling of past moments and memories. Going through a photo gallery in your phone, browsing into old text messages, passing by known places, catching the scent of the past… Even if we don´t feel it, nostalgia surrounds us. Writer Lyle Burns discusses why we can see very common recreation and infusion of past trends and nostalgic aesthetics, sounds, concepts, and creations in art, fashion, entertainment, and business. Although Nostalgia seems like something elusive and even mythical, it is, in fact, a reaction and process of a human body with a biological explanation. A debate about positive and negative aspects of this feeling fascinates me. I especially find it very interesting how scientific research meets an artistic expression of nostalgia. During my research, I discovered a very exciting academic piece Past Time, Present Place: Landscape and Memory (2) by David Lowenthal. He analyzes how nostalgia (= as an exaggerated affection for the past that reflects disenchantment with the present and foreboding about the future as he writes) affects the way we imprint our past into the space we occupy - that is also an element I reflect on in my film. Firstly, the inspiration for Blue Hour comes from my experience with nostalgia (I find myself an exciting subject of research). Additionally, from films with a theme of delusion such as Shutter Island (delusional behaviour) or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 500 Days of Summer (relationships). In one sentence, Blue Hour is a short narrative with a twisted revelation about dangerous depths of nostalgia and excessive escapism to the past. As a visual artist, I plan to create a strong audio-visual piece that allows the viewer to fully immerse into the story. In terms of aesthetics, I am influenced by shows such as Euphoria (attention to a mental health aspect and focus on visuals), La La Land (imagine a dark version of it) or many songs that make me nostalgic. I hope the piece could find a committed audience response. As I stated, I am aiming to work on Blue Hour as an art director. However, the longer I deal with it, I see a possible opportunity for my acting portfolio too - I could collaborate with a film director and take the role of a female lead. Here, we return to the quote about our initiative. Creating opportunities for ourselves, rather than waiting for someone to serve them on a silver plate. It applies for artists (especially actors) double strong. Self-initiative wins the prize. But being realistic, it is all about trying and failing and perhaps succeeding one day. Despite my determination and drive, what if Blue Hour turns to be a disaster. Maybe, I'll never finish it. However, it is worth trying. I worked on other short film projects recently and I loved every bit of that. However, an art director inside of me calls for further action - take an initiative into my hands and gave birth to my piece. We artists want to make stuff while having a creative freedom. SIP offer exactly that. Dream comes true.
(1) https://www.etymonline.com/word/nostalgia (2) https://www.jstor.org/stable/213831 (3) https://medium.com/@noisecomplaintsgroup/artists-are-tapping-into-nostalgia-because-it-works-e6ef6e6c5426
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