Unit X: Research Submission

Unit X Research Submission

Before we left for the Easter holidays, our group had not decided exactly what theme we wanted to work on. This is because of the Animation deadline sharing the same week as the Unit X beginning and this would allow the group freedom within their research. We continued to discuss throughout the holidays; then planned to meet up after the holidays to share our findings. This would provide a range of sources and research, which would then be chosen and combined to produce a dynamic idea.

Therefore, over the holidays I took time to commence initial research into the two themes of: “Love, Betrayal and Forgiveness” and “Dislocation”. I did find this difficult at first because I found that this was too vague and left research too open and felt faced by a ‘blank canvas’. Therefore, I decided to watch the Giselle ballet to gain inspiration; I did this by a live screening from London shown in Manchester’s Odeon. After the viewing of Giselle, I decided to research the theme of Dislocation because I was inspired by the end of the first act as how Giselle suddenly changes character and descends into madness. I focused on the theme of dislocation and wanted to explore the idea of Giselle’s mental dislocation from herself, family, friends and her lover. I believed a visual representation of her ‘mental snapping’ would be an opportunity to produce something unorthodox and dynamic.

I researched this theme by starting with the definition; this provides a clear definition of what the word means and ensures that the definition is clear and doesn’t get lost during later research. I then moved onto creating a mood board of artist’s interpretations of the theme of ‘dislocation’, which often portrayed the juxtaposition of two random elements. These were a portrayal of elements that are not associated together, yet they are shared within the same composition. This delved into the abstract which developed my ideas further of what can be the final product of unit X.

I started to sketch and note ideas of what could be an abstract representation of a dislocated mind. I chose to design an installation because this would be the way to create a scenario in a small space, which would transport the audience to another world. This would also engage and involve the audience in some way to make the experience personal and unique for every individual.

We exchanged ideas after the holidays and we used a combination of the research from both the themes of ‘dislocation’ and ‘Love, Betrayal and forgiveness”. We ended with a combination of our ideas compensating and compromising to create a dynamic idea which we contributed to. This way everyone had a say into what we created which produced a creative idea rather than just one person taking charge.

In the end we decided on the idea of an installation portraying the mental space of a German orphan during the First World War relating to the theme of dislocation. The era of the First World War was because we seemed it appropriate to take advantage of the 100^th anniversary of the Great War with a new perspective. We understand that ideas maybe subject to change and as we face practical problems the idea may not be exactly as we had planned initially. This is just all part of the collaborative process and we will prepare ourselves for those challenges.

From the them and idea we have chosen so far, we decided to research the lives of German citizens to understand how they felt and begin to prepare the requirements needed to replicate the era within our installation. I have decided to also attend all available workshops and trips which will provide a range of different skills and knowledge which I can bring back to the group; this could potentially strengthen our ideas.

Overall I believe I have researched effectively and the plan of our group has gone well. However we have also had our problems within the group regarding attendance of some members but this may just be an initial problem and we hope to see other members in the future. We have prepared ourselves to assume they may never attend and allow the project to continue with the absence of any group members.