Graphic Journey Blog

And snow began to fall

Call me sentimental but just I can't resist It's A Wonderful Life at this time of the year. It always gets me right where it should, in the heart.  But just a year later in 1947 came another heart warming film that rarely gets a look in, The Bishop's Wife ...

1947. Directed by Henry Koster. With Cary Grant, Loretta Young, 

David Niven is the story of a bishop trying to get a new

 cathedral built and prays for guidance. An angel is sent down

 in the guise of Cary Grant. Take a look at this scene in which

 Grant performs some of his celestial magic on an ailing boys 

choir at the local, rather run down, church. It's charming. But

 for those of you who can't do without good old George Bailey 

here is one of the great moments in that faultless

 film, directed by Frank Capra in 1946.  Merry Christmas to one and all.

Mike Dempsey: Graphic Design on the Radio

So far I haven't mention music on this blog, this is for the simple reason that I would tend go on about it a little too much, because, well frankly, it is vital to my everyday life. Back in the summer, I was invited on to Resonance 104.4FM  Radio's programme, Graphic Design on the Radio presented by Adrian Shaughnessy. So if you are interested just click below...

Mike's Radio Programme

You will get a feel for the kind of MUSIC I like - and learn a little about me and my life. 

Sam Serif # 12

Pause for thought

Television can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. 

But it has changed out of all recognition since those distant days when only two channels existed – BBC or ITV. Now we have a plethora of stations all vying for our attention, and of  alarming similarity, spewing out  a diet of celebrity, reality, cookery or mega talent contests. Everything has to be delivered in an overly hyped way. This latter fact was brought home to me when I attended a creative Summer School earlier this year. The organisers ran an episode of the 1970s series, ‘The Accent of Man’ featuring the virtually static Jacob Bronoski talking to camera, against ever changing exotic locations. There were no dramatized re-enactments or computer generated graphics, just Bronowski speaking with passion and enthusiasm, on a subject that he was thoroughly at home with. At the end of the viewing a spontaneous debate broke out among the group about the merits of this kind of no nonsense solo presentation. Some felt it was like watching paint dry, while others appreciated the one to one dialog.

 Other broadcasters from this era, with the same kind of approach, were the historian, A.J.Taylor, Sir Kenneth Clark - who fronted the epic series ‘Civilisation’ and Alistair Cook, with ‘The History of America’. Comparing these now cobwebby forms of presentation left me with the view that we are no longer able to just listen to the eloquence of someone imparting their knowledge. It has to be backed up by lavish CGI reconstructions leaving little to our own imaginations. A great pity. And yes I know we've had Schama and Graham-Dixon strutting their stuff, but aren't they acting up the 'personality' aspect a little too much?

Don’t get me wrong much was lacking in those early productions, cinematography, editing and the presenter's often bizarre fashion sense. Shortly before his death the artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman made a feature film called ‘Blue’ unique because it was basically a sound scape, all you were presented with was a constant blue light, projected on to a cinema screen. What it did was awaken your imagination to possibilities way beyond the vision of just a single director. So the experience was different for every member of the audience. 

Meanwhile back in those black and white days of Television the BBC had gaps between programmes which they filled with ‘intervals’. I assume this was to give time to move things around the studio, as so much was live at the time. These interludes would last for 5 minutes or so with featuring gently reassuring music-accompanying images of a nostalgic Britain. One in particular, a cornfield with a looming windmill in full flight had an almost Lynchian eeriness about it, that, as a boy, I always found disquieting. Have a look for yourself here. And you can see all of the others here.

If we stop for one moment to think about what makes for exceptional graphics it normally comes down to a great idea wrapped in simplicity. It is a pity that some many creative people working in television can't rediscover that simple truth.

 

Mike's types

News Gothic is a bit like a favorite uncle - warm, charming and fits in anywhere. A hard working no nonsense face that always looks good.

Urban wit

The centre of London was traffic free over this weekend. The streets were awash with entertainers, there to  help encourage the Christmas shoppers to part with their cash in this ever changing finacial climate. I wandered off Oxford Street - a place where you can be seen on CCTV from one end to the other in glorious detail - to stumble on this brilliant piece of street art...

Note the equipment to the right. Then I happened on this bazaar juxtaposition...

 I promise you it's not Photoshopped. It is more likely to be a result of post World War 2  quick infilling long before conservation departments came on the scene. I like the 'BUT' to give it extra wit.

Deep Focus

This Bill Brandt RDI…

 

1904-1983. He is one on my all time favourite photographers and a rare Royal Designer for Industry photographer. I think this is because he had the eye of a graphic designer, without actually being one. His epic works, The English at Home 1936 and Britain by Night 1938 were benchmarks in documentary reportage. But for me  his nudes of the 40s, 50s and 60s are a demonstration his ability to find a new perspective on this classic subject… 

East sussex coast 1958

London 1953

Baie des Anges, France 1958

East Sussex Coast 1959

He’s use of extreme wide-angle lenses and high contrast black and white makes for a dynamic graphic presentation…   

Campden Hill, london 1949

This ‘deep focus’ style was pioneered in the cinema of the late 1930s… 

 

the above is a still from the 1939 Russian film The Great Citizen directed by Freidrich Ermler which clearly had and influence on the young Orson Wells who, along with the great cinema photographer Gregg Toland, experiment with extreme wide angel photography to great dramatic effect in Wells’s 1941 film Citizen Kane...

 Undoubtedly the presentation of CitizenKane affected many photographers, whether consciously or unconsciously. And this photographic influence continued in many black and white films well into the 70s. Here are some examples…  

Ivan the Terrible 1944 directed by Sergei Esenstein

Onibaba 1964 directed by Kaneto Shindo

Repulsion 1965 directed by Roman Polanski

Seconds 1966 directed by John Frankenhimer

 Alice in Wonderland 1966 directed by  Jonathan Miller.

Delius: A Song of Summer 1968 directed by Ken Russell.

The Last Picture Show 1971 (above) and Paper Moon (below) 1973...

both directed by Peter Bodanovich. All of these are examples of just how rewarding  black and white films can be as a visual spectacle, and how reciprocal the relationship has been with stills photography. And I can assure you that all of the films featured above are a must if you are vaguely interested in the art form. To see more of  Brandt's work, up close and personal, you can't do better than visit the V&A  Prints and Drawing Room where you can sit in a beautiful warm space,  are kitted out with some very smart white gloves and an attentive librarian will bring you original prints of Brandt's work to peruse for as long as you want. It's wonderful and completely free.

                                     

Cooper V Dempsey

My one to one RDInsight interview with Kyle Cooper – the wizard of modern day movie titles sequences – is now on the  available and revealing it is too. It is one of almost 40 recorded interviews with eminent designers from all disciplines. Here is Kyle.