The first gallery I visited in Paris was musee de l'orangerie. The upper floor exhibits the work of Claude Monet, whom was commissioned to create a series of paintings with the purpose of exhibiting them in that very building. This was an entirely new concept to me. From my travels in Europe, from Rome to Florence, and from Prague to Budapest, I was used to viewing art that had been collected and sought after. Places such as Galleria Borghese in Rome, a villa displaying the collected works of renowned Italian artists such as Caravaggio, amongst other famous pieces collected over many years. Musee de l'orangerie is therefore made interesting conceptually, as it lends itself to the wish of the artist, Monet, who stated that the space in which these paintings would be displayed would act as a 'meditative' space for individuals. It did just that. The room was silent as people sauntered from one end of the painting to the other which are at least 20 feet long, admiring the immense details Monet went to in capturing the soothing essence of nature. The interwoven greens and blues are something I wish to achieve within the imagery of Echoes of Silence. As the film opens with the main character of Julian seated beneath the cover of trees, I imagine the meditative feeling that existed within that gallery space. The colours tell the story of nature. Of rebirth, beauty and creation. The overshadowing prominence of themes to come.
The next museum I visited is in close proximity to musee de l'orangerie, named musee d'orsay, which is home to the works of Vincent Van Gogh. Musee d'orsay is very popular at present, as it is the temporary home of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. The museum also displays a vast collection of impressionist and neo-impressionist works with more Monet on show. The museum is divided into sections down a main strip which is home to statues and stonework, which branch out into side rooms filled with paintings. Musee d'orsay opened my eyes to a lot of styles which I was not aware of, or just happened to remain impartial to. One of the main things I took away from my visit is how precisely statues can tell a story through composition. Statue sculpting is an ancient tradition amongst many cultures throughout the world and has been for thousands of years. The statue sculpting displayed throughout the musee d'orsay is that of refined status mostly from the 1600 through to the 1800s. To give a bit more context, it is at this point that artists began to frequently use statues as a form of expression. Michelangelo's David for example, which stands in Florence, and the countless relics made by devotees to Michelangelo which stand in the Vatican museums of Rome, paying homage to the legendary statue of David. Getting back on track, the point I'm making is that the importance of these revolutionizing artistic techniques cannot go ignored, and in exploring these statues physically allows me as a director to envision my characters and compositions in relation to the stories that a particular statue may tell. This statue in particular struck me in how it seemed to deftly portray the concept of burden, and being weighed down by another person. Thematically, this comes very close to what I aim to portray in a certain scene in Echoes of Silence. I pictured this statue as a reference point to come back to.
This sculpture is known as L’Âge Mûr from artist Camille Claudel in 1897.
There were many examples of statues within the vicinity that struck me visually and told stories of their own. Below are some more examples of the particular ones that were of interest to me, and helped me have a greater understanding of my own process in visualizing the composition within my own film. The composition and placement of characters within statues is of utmost importance in how we come to understand the interpersonal relationships between the characters, exactly the same as characters who are on screen.
This sculpture is known as Edipe à Colone by Jean Hugues in 1890.
This sculpture is known as Monument à Jean-Jaqcues Rousseau by Albert Bartholome in 1910.
Going back to the beginning of this post where I discussed the importance of physical art in capturing the imagination and attention of an individual thus creating creative influence. In the past I have often focused on outlining and discussing in great depth how particular filmmakers have influenced me through auteurship and stylistic choice. At this point I'm attempting to go further in understanding how those filmmakers were influenced themselves. In summary I'm trying to find and understand the root of creativity, which for me almost always resides in inspiration and the love of what came before. When I think of my favourite filmmakers, whom again, I have discussed many times over. Such as; Wong Kar Wai, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Terrence Malick, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese and many many more. All of the above have a distinct voice, and in their own ways changed the cinematic structure through their work. Looking at their visual styles and their thematic structure, most of what they do comes from previous art movements or individual artists. The films of Wong Kar Wai are heavily influenced by the Japanese woodblock prints, an artistic technique originating in Japan which placed heavy emphasis on time and space within composition. Often a woodblock print would provide the viewer with multiple frames inside of one another, something which Wong Kar Wai is renowned for. Martin Scorsese, an extremely popular and critically acclaimed Western director on the other hand, has confessed his love of the baroque style. This influence can be found in his early works such as Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, which make use of bold dark colours flooding the image with the dark themes shared in Renaissance paintings by the likes of Caravaggio.
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