Deadline + Kyle Cooper+Bookbinding

With only two weeks to go before the text and image deadline and 8 days before the crit I have realised that I need to be a bit more productive, however I have not approached this project in a lax way and have completed a reasonable amount of work, leaving me with a managable amount remaining and with the pressure of the impending deadline keeping me motivated I should have no trouble meeting this deadline.

Having attended Kyle Cooper's talk on his plethora of brilliant opening credits for an array of blockbuster films last month I probably should have posted something on here about it sooner. I was reminded of the quality of Cooper's work by his sequence for the film Iron Man which I saw recently. It proved a surprisingly good watch in which the opening, though slighty less memorable due to the seamless transition between it and the rest of the film, worked effectively in setting the mood in dramatic style, captivating me right from the start.

Cooper's repute has evolved more from his title sequences for films with more sinister themes. The bleak apocalyptic beginning of Dawn Of The Dead and visceral, creepy portrayal of Se7en's serial killer are both really effective in creating a profound feeling of discomfort among the audience, especially the Se7en sequence, which actually made me wince in parts of it.

A key component of the sequence which inculcates the sinister atmosphere is the scratchy typeface used for the credits. We understand that this type has a dark feel to it because of the general atmosphere in the piece ( created by the broody music and shadowy imagery of the serial killer shaving his fingertips off with a razorblade) but also because of the raw, harsh aesthetic and the idea that this would have been created through a very physical process with a sharp instrument- an idea which is very befitting of the film.

Yesterday we had a session where we were taught some book binding skills. I really enjoyed the hands on process of doing this and was quite pleased with my results, i'd never previously achieved anything decent with tasks that demanded any degree of precision or neatness. The session also served to kickstart my creative thought process about my own book. The two types of book I made yesterday would not convey what I want to say about my experience of the text and image unit, the japanese stitch I made was quite scrappy and the circle accordion felt too flimsy- whereas I want to create something which looks abit more polished, sturdy and accomplished looking which retains a personal feel to reflect that it is my individual experience. I like the juxtaposition of a precise, neat aesthetic with the idiosyncratic, one off look of the hand-drawn so I am using my handwriting as the front cover typeface. I will have to consider my actual binding technique and the form my book will take.