the big venue mash-up
APRIL THE SUBWAYS
MARCH ANDY C
+ DUNE RATS
ALL NIGHT TOUR Friday 13th LCR £15 18+
Wednesday 1st WF £13
Friday 13th WFS £15
+ RIVAL STATE Tuesday 17th WFS £13
EUROPE & BLACK STAR RIDERS + THE AMORETTES Thursday 19th LCR £26
ALL METAL TRIBUTE TO THE BEEGEES & BEYOND + BLACKLIGHT Friday 20th WFS £10
LUCY SPRAGGAN
COURTNEY BARNETT Wednesday 8th WF £10
YGN2 FT. BLACK SHUK
Tuesday 10th WFS £5
FINLEY QUAYE
+ JOHN J. PRESLEY Tuesday 24th WFS £10
Wednesday 15th WFS £12.50
FOUR YEAR STRONG
+ HIT THE LIGHTS + FOREVER CAME CALLING + LIGHT YOU UP Wednesday 25th WF £14
RIVAL SONS
UFO
Thursday 16th WF £22
TOSELAND Friday 17th WFS £8
TOXIC TWINS
Thursday 26th LCR £15
(AN AEROSMITH TRIBUTE) + BLIND TIGER + STRANGE TAIL
#HOUSE
Saturday 18th WFS £10
FT. ALEXIS RAPHAEL + LOWSTEPPA + SAM DIVINE + HANNAH JACQUES + MORE
DRENGE
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
+ HUNDREDTH + OATHBREAKER Friday 24th LCR £15
THE BURNING CROWS
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KILL IT KID
WHILE SHE SLEEPS & CANCER BATS
Saturday 25th WFS £12.50
CLAWS
Tuesday 24thWF £10
Thursday 23rd WFS £12.50
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Friday 10th WFS £15
HUNTER & THE BEAR
Wednesday 22nd WFS £10
URBAN VOODOO MACHINE
REN HARVIEU
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PORTICO
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Sunday 10th WFS £12
FELL OUT BOY
Wednesday 8th WFS £5
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YGN3 FT. PERFECT MISTAKES
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8:58 - ORBITAL’S PAUL HARTNOLL (LIVE)
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Thursday 19th WFS £8.50
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UGLY DUCKLING
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VINTAGE TROUBLE
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the big venue mash-up March 10 / #310
editors Holly J. McDede Adam White
art commissioner Ana Dukakis cover art
Tamara Chang
illustrators Christine Borgeat Dougie Dodds Ana Dukakis Adam White
Television 04-07 guest editors! Myles Earle Mike Vinti
“Do you like trying new things?” It’s a question I’m always cagey to answer. At best, it opens you up to a world of food I deem painfully spicy (I don’t care how many times people have told me “It’s just a korma”, it’s spicy alright); at worst, weird sex things… like dressup-as-Gollum-and-call-me-precious weird. And that’s just your average publication weekend at the Concrete office. So when Venue co-editor Adam White looked me in the eyes and said, “Do you like trying new things?” I feared the worst. When he eventually talked me out from my hiding-place underneath a desk and explained he was talking about the big Venue mash-up, I’d come round to the idea of new things. Every section in Venue taking on another, offering their
Film 08-09 guest editors! Gemma Carter
Helena Urquhart
unique perspective on the subject… It sounded awesome. “So,” I said, “What am I doing?” “Ah.” Apparently, Love and Listings isn’t an easy section to mash up. It’s also right at the back of Venue and everyone forgets about it but that’s fine. I’m cool with it. I don’t feel forgotten or unloved. At. All. Anyway, Adam said I could do this issue’s editorial to shut me up, and here we all are. So far, I’m enjoying the power. I don’t normally get to write in full sentences. It’s exciting. And I think that the other section editors are excited too, because they’ve come up with some brilliant stuff. I’m not lying when I say this is
one of the best issues we’ve made this year. And we all did this when we were meant to be doing coursework. But doing the big mash-up, I’ve realised that I have tried a lot of new things this year – and that’s because I’m part of Venue. (Maybe the least significant part, but still. Pages 22-23, take a look sometime.) At Venue, I’ve learnt how to use professional software, be part of an editorial team, and act like I haven’t slept with any of my work colleagues – all skills I hope to use in later life. So yeah, alright. Maybe I do like trying new things. Just keep your korma away from me. See you on the flippity-flop, Daisy
Creative Writing 10-11 guest editor!
Gaming & Tech 12-13 guest editor!
Katie Kemp
Jake Reynolds
contributors
contributors
contributors
contributors
Phoebe Harper, Emma Holbrook, Sam Naylor, Jay Stonestreet, Mike Vinti
Gemma Carter, Lindsay Stark, Katie Wadsworth
Adam Dawson
Jasmine Flores, Jenny Moroney, Nina Ward, Hermann Kermit Warm
Music 15 guest editor!
Fashion 16-17 guest editor!
Arts 18-21 guest editors!
Love and Listings 22-23 editor
Joe Fitzsimmons
Adam Dawson
Neven Devies Silvia Rose
Daisy Jones
? contributors
contributors
Myles Earle
Hannah Ford, Adam White
contributors Troy Boatman, Adam Dawson, Neven Devies, Becky Lamming, Adam White
contributors It could (still) be you!! And please for the love of god can it actually BE you. Just go on a date! Date people! For us! For free! Please!
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Bad was never so good “Guess I got what I deserve…” Never have drug-fuelled hedonism, throwing house there been more apt lyrics for a song to parties and behaving self-destructively in close one of the greatest and highest rated an attempt to forget his actions. Fever Ray’s TV shows of all time than the opening lines chilling If I Had A Heart plays over a scene of Badfinger’s Baby Blue set to the death showing the extent of Jesse’s mental torture of Walter White in the last ever episode as he is seen in close frame go-karting alone of Breaking Bad. With regards to the with bloodshot eyes around a track late at soundtrack of the award winning TV show, night. He returns home to the low-pitched the show producers rarely get it wrong. This murmurs of the vocal “this will never end is owed to the fact that the show, for all its cause I want more” and sees his house dark and murderous themes, never seems to party has descended into an uncontrollable take itself too seriously. The reams of black combination of punch-ups and orgies. At comedy, that arise when mild-mannered this point his complete mental isolation is high school chemistry teacher Walter White apparent as he sits calmly on the sofa and decides to start a multi-million-dollar meth smokes, indifferent to the chaos around empire, are only ever strengthened by him. All of this is accompanied delicately some of the brilliantly upbeat song choices by the darkly ambient music that mimics featured in the show, which often explore the seduction of the drug lifestyle Jesse slips the sound of Hispanic cultures authentic to back into as a result of his murdering an the setting of Albuquerque, New Mexico. innocent man. When Jesse Pinkman and friends In season five, after yet another shock embark on a meth-selling spree in season death – this time Walt’s DEA agent brothertwo, the dark underbelly of the drug world in-law and regular character since season is exposed in a new light accompanied by one, Hank – the cheerful whistling of Take a shuffling Cuban My True Love By the street song El “It is this sustainability about Hand by little known Manisero (or The the music of Breaking Bad that 1960s folk group, Peanut Vendor) elevates the show to a plain The Limeliters, adds recorded by famed another twist of higher than that of most TV black comedy in the jazz arranger Alvin ‘Red’ Tyler. Played monumental episode dramas.” over a montage Ozymandias. By this featuring an exchange between dealers point in the show Walt’s evolution into a and prostitutes in shady car parks and megalomaniacal meth kingpin has started gas stations, the vibrant sound evokes a to suffer and his actions motivated by humorous contrast between what is being unashamed greed have led to the murder shown onscreen and the jubilant nature of and suffering of some of the people closest the street vendor’s call in the music typical to him. It is with bitter irony then that of a son-pregón. Walt ends up rolling a single barrel of cash In season three, when Walt and Jesse (one of the seven he originally owned) out are forced to give up cooking meth in their of the New Mexico desert to the smooth trusty RV, the destruction of the vehicle at lilting of apt lyrics like “times are getting a scrap heap is lent a curiously melancholy hard boys, money’s getting scarce”. Such a touch as another Cuban classic is heard. song accompanies this scene and episode’s The crooning vocals and doo wop sound of Ozymandias theme perfectly as we see Walt He Venido by Los Zafiros, a Spanish 1960s reduced to an exhausted wreck of the man close-harmony group, add a nostalgic he once was, desperate to make it out alive tone to the scene which can be seen both whilst retaining his share of the profits from as Walt and Jesse destroying three seasons’ the meth business. worth of evidence of their endeavours, or as It is this suitability about the music of a significant turning point in the show as Breaking Bad that elevates the show to a they strike a deal to expand their operations plain higher than that of most TV dramas. beyond the amateurish RV meth lab. The darkly subtle comic relief offered by the However, the music of the show can be often nostalgic and whimsical song choices suitably murky when it needs to be. After affords the viewer a chance to escape the the shock murder of kind-hearted genius serious subject matter of murder and Gale in the season three finale, the early meth-making, instead viewing it through episodes of season four see Jesse struggle the warped prism of a self-consciously with his guilt over the shooting in cold far-fetched yet unfailingly brilliant crime blood. Jesse retreats back into a life of drama.
FLICKR (ANDRES CRUZ)
Jay Stonestreet indulges in the exotic soundtrack of hit TV series Breaking Bad
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trombones and opening credits Emma Holbrook explores the success and failure of the theme song in television cardinal rule to clap along to I’ll Be There For Whilst upbeat comedies, Arrested You during every Friends binge, yet ‘name two Development and Parks and Recreation, have Rembrandts songs’ is surely the one question suitably jaunty theme songs; the The Mighty on a pub quiz that no one has a chance of Boosh’s theme reflects the charming absurdity answering. of the show, and in terms of sci-fi, few themes In television’s modern era, there has been have been as preposterously terrifying as a noticeable shift towards more sophisticated Mark Snow’s for The X-Files. Meanwhile, title sequences to complement theme songs. Angelo Badalamenti’s score for David Lynch’s The iconic opening title sequence of The cult classic, Twin Peaks, perfectly captures Simpsons, alongside Danny Elfman’s score, the tranquil eeriness of the show’s domestic utilises further opportunities to create gothic and similarly, it is almost impossible to running gags and perfectly characterises imagine either Friday Night Lights or The West its main cast and the town of Springfield. Wing without the rousing compositions of As American cable W.G. Snuffy Walden “You’d be hard-pressed to TV shows such as (who coincidentally Game of Thrones have find a 90’s kid ignorant that also takes the accolade flourished, so have for Greatest Name Will Smith is from “West their comprehensive Ever). two-minute intros, Philadelphia, born and raised” Judging theme which provide a songs on musical creative freedom and, in the case of Dexter’s quality does not always speak to their merit, disconcertingly playful theme in a show however, and the wave of teenage nostalgia about a serial killer, speak to the overall inspired by the likes of That’s So Raven and tone of the show. Saved By The Bell is often more rewarding than a perfectly orchestrated piece of music. The popularity of a theme song also has the tendency to directly correlate with the popularity of the programme. Both the drum beat that heralds every Eastenders cliff-hanger and the trumpet solo that floats over the houses of Coronation Street are as instantly recognisable as God Save The Queen, but this perhaps stems more from the public’s collective love of soap operas. Popularity, however, is probably not enough to make the Downton Abbey theme any less of a snooze-fest. The painfully twee themes of 1960s suburban family dramas are a distant memory – unless parodied by the likes of New Girl – for just as television itself has transformed dramatically over the course of the last 50 years, so has the art of the theme song. Whether a theme song provides the comfort of nostalgia, a sing-along or even just a brief musical synopsis, they are so frequently an inexorable element of the show they belong to. Imagining a television world without them seems impossible, even if it is the theme (or lack of ) to Lost.
FLICKR (PIMKIE)
From the elaborate to the simplistic, from bars of the theme song is very high. When the Game of Thrones’ orchestral number to the popularity of a theme song transcends the the guitar twangs and bongo drumming necessity to watch the show itself, it almost of Breaking Bad, grants it legendary “When the popularity of a television theme status, and particularly songs take on a impressive examples theme song transcends the host of different that have truly stood forms and invoke necessity to watch the show, it the test of time include grants it legendary status” a kaleidoscope of The Addams Family and emotions amongst the laughably dated audiences. A forgettable theme can often 1960s Batman. harm a show’s ability to retain cultural Yet, for certain bands, writing a killer relevance, but at their most successful, theme theme for a hit TV show could inadvertently songs can tap into the zeitgeist and define the prove to be the kiss of death and existing essence of a programme in just 30 seconds. In independently from the show they belong to the case of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and its could be the very thing they crave. Phantom accompanying rap, you’d be hard-pressed to Planet’s ode to California on The OC proved find a 90s kid ignorant of the fact that Will to be their last. Lazlo Bane, who initially Smith is from “West Philadelphia, born and rejected Zach Braff’s request to pen the raised” and for those who haven’t so much Scrubs’ theme tune, soon joined them in popas glimpsed an alien from BBC’s Doctor Who, rock obscurity, but the most notable example the likelihood that they can still manage a few is undoubtedly The Rembrandts. It remains a
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don’t sleep....
i want my MTV
Myles Earle takes a look at the new faces driving the sound of the 70s forward
Mike Vinti takes a stand against the lack of live music on our screens
WIKI
This is nothing against Jools, who had FKA Twigs, Jungle and Jack White as guests on his last series; it’s just that he’s it. A one man line of defence against Rita Ora doing her worst Rihanna impression on Graham Norton or Ben Howard generally being considered anything more than the current ‘beard holding an acoustic guitar’. Music channels such as MTV, VH1 and whichever chart-riddled terrestrial filth you used to watch as a kid have died and nothing has replaced them on the small screen. The internet is miles ahead with radio stations such as KEXP hosting full gigs, NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts fulfilling the ‘quirky’ quota and Boileroom expanding into new, non-DJ pastures. If TV wants to remain relevant it’s time to catch up.
Mr Wonderful The BBC ran a documentary about the inimitable James Brown last week. Make sure to check it out on iPlayer for a history of the legend’s influence and career, festuring interviews from Questlove and many more.
FLICKR (KMERON)
collaborations between graphic artists and musicians. Counting Joey Bada$$ (pictured below), Novelist and Mercury Prize winner Young Fathers among its guests, it was a work of art in its own right; bringing artists beloved by those who know them to wider audience (Mostly thanks to 4OD, where its still available). I live in hope for four more. Making shows like this is hardly a tall order. Many of the artists worth featuring have never performed on TV before so their fees won’t be sky-high. They have their own equipment, all you need are some cameras, a studio, and someone to say ‘action’. The ease with which decent musical TV can be made is self-evident when you take a look at the US’s listings. From the daily ‘late night’ shows like Fallon and Letterman, whose guests have featured Ryan Adams, Run the Jewels and Courtney Barnett to channels like Adult Swim that regularly put out free compilations of music from high-profile, progressive artists such as Flying Lotus and Prince. Hell, even now-defunct British oddballs WU LYF made their TV debut stateside. Television in America is overflowing with music, some artists, such as Reggie Watts or Tyler the Creator even have their own shows. Frankly, the fact that the only regular home most music has on British TV is Jools Holland should be an embarrassment to us all, is Seasick Steve (again) really the best we have to offer?
ERIC PRYDZ
FLICKR (KMERON)
British TV is more universally popular than it’s been for quite some time; between Downton Abbey, the continued popularity of Doctor Who and Sherlock and now Wolf Hall, we’ve got the internet eating out of our televisual palm. Similarly, British music has seen a resurgence in popularity across the world, particularly stateside, with everyone from Charli XCX to James Blake dominating the lives of many a Yank. Given these dual heights you’d be forgiven for assuming that some of this music might make its way onto our screens but, tragically, it’s not. For what seems like an eternity now British TV has been devoid of any kind of musicfocused shows, favouring instead increasing numbers of tacky singing competitions, some of which don’t even have a prize (looking at you, The Voice), musical guests on talk shows and well, Jools Holland. Our TV schedules are depressingly free of any show that dares to give up and coming musicians a platform. Music in the land of British TV has become background noise, something to lay over a panning shot of some Tudors or a bleak industrial estate, and it doesn’t make any sense. British musical culture is incredibly healthy at the moment and there are plenty of artists drifting around in the blogosphere with crossover appeal who could benefit from a TV-sized audience rather than the niche crowds online. As record sales dry up, live shows are fast becoming the main source of income for many artists be they big or small, and the general public’s appetite for live music is only increasing as more and more popular names take to the road regularly to support themselves. Yet it seems the TV execs haven’t got the message and shows focusing on live music either go un-commissioned or are relegated to the wee hours of a weekday morning, far from primetime. Take for example Four to the Floor, this was Channel 4’s most recent underground show. It aired at midnight and ran for four episodes. However, those four episodes were some of the most interesting TV last year, featuring poetry, performances and
This weeks most unlikely collaboration comes from Eric Prydz, who has remixed Chvrches’ Tether complete with a cinematically shot music video full of fragmented shots of deserts and twinkling lights.
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video do-re-mi FourFiveSeconds Rihanna X Kanye West X Paul McCartney Forget assassination in a station, or rude girl hip thrusting, butt bouncing, rainbow tripping trips. FourFiveSeconds takes us back to black and white cinematography and simplistic slow close ups. A new, exciting world where Paul McCartney is friends with Kanye and the long awaited triumph of denim-on-denim has come to pass. There was no need for a storyline to this music video; the interest and shock appeal simply comes from Rihanna’s subliminal mental speech, “yes this is really happening, McCartney’s current again.” Thank Rihanna and Kanye for ‘shining light on unknown artists’ like Sir McCartney. I enjoy Rihanna’s move to a stripped-back acoustic track;
it’s simple and fun. Although I don’t see what McCartney really adds to the video, except for the fact that he’s a huge contrast to his co-singers. The alien-child voice that haunts Kanye’s first verse, appears at times to be emanating from Grandpa Paul. It adds a comical air to the whole video and leaves me waiting for more of this creepy background voice. You often get the sense that Rihanna didn’t have the heart to tell Sir Paul he couldn’t be in the music video and so threw him in last minute. (“He’s not even looking at the camera! I’m so done.”) Though at least he appears to know what song he’s filming for. Kanye’s dancing is definitely passionate but I can’t help but wonder if he’s listening to the same track. His jerky
head movements and bursts of electric energy may not line up with the music, but it certainly adds to the enjoyment of the video. The stripped back video means I’m not distracted from listening to the lyrics, which I actually quite like. Granted they’re not the most complex and they follow a fairly basic structure, but they still highlight the self-destructive nature of the track. Both Rihanna and Kanye’s vocals are emotion drenched and powerful, which is only emphasised more through their performance in the video. I like the music video; it’s not too gimmicky and it relates to the song. I’m still left wondering about Sir Paul’s role though. Hopefully he wasn’t too dazed by the whole ordeal.
JACK WHITE
CHRISTINE BORGEAT
Sam Naylor
That Black Bat Liquorice Jack White Phoebe Harper A true pioneer in the field of music and video tech, the king of the riff himself has now moulded together three separate videos to form the ultimate interactive music video for his song, That Black Bat Liquorice an absolute corker from his latest EP Lazaretto. The main play consists of first class animation from James Blagden, featuring a melee of dancing
bats, sliced off tongues in one surreal Nefertiti nightmare. At one point, White’s head even appears to be on display in a museum alongside his aforementioned severed tongue. Hold down 3, and you’re exposed to live White action running parallel to the cartoon, taking a stroll down some vaguely dystopian high street. Here you get treated to dancing men in George Washington masks and all sorts of distorted high contrast fun. Much of the ‘3’ sequence features Jack himself looking pretty unsettled, as if he was watching the animated version of himself go through the
childish nightmare that is this video. Pressing the B key reveals Brad Holland’s selection of multi-coloured manes, clad in black head banging continually in some empty corner. Switching between day and night, the slow motion archs of our head-banging trio becoming almost hypnotising, especially when silhouetted against the burning white moon. The whole thing is so drenched in cool it’s suffocating. There’s a particularly great piece of editing around the three-quarter mark in which one of our intrepid headbangers’ ginger locks swing perfectly on beat
to the riff that rolls on in the background. The song itself is the kind of jaunty, highoctane blues track that White is famous for but with a cleaner instrumental sound and sweeping country strings. It’s definitely one the highlights from his Lazaretto, a hard hitter with a strong groove underpinning White’s trademark thinking man’s rock ‘n’ roll. The best moment is undoubtedly when White howls ‘Now say the same damn thing with the violins’ queuing a screeching, Nashville string solo reminiscent of his work with the Dead Weather.
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a cinderella story Lindsay Stark runs through MAC’s latest Disney collection
BEAUTEZINE
MUSINGS OF A MUSE
To celebrate the launch of the new Disney film, Cinderella, for a professional consultation. The glosses are slightly too again might be taking MAC have released a limited edition make up range to princess-y and sparkly for my taste, and I feel there’s a chance the princess look a allow you to recreate the Disney princess look. Consisting you may end up channelling the look of a 13-year-old at a bit too far. However, of beautiful eye shadows, lipsticks and mascara -- what more school disco. However, if you’re into sparkle then definitely try the highlighter comes could you ask for? ‘Glass Slipper’ which is a champagne tinted lipglass (see what in either a gorgeous All wrapped up in a stunning shimmering pastel blue they did there!) that leaves your lips shimmering like Cinder’s golden peach or a packaging, a nod to Cinderella’s glass slippers. pink-beige colour, and famous ball gown, and the range MAC is renowned for their is the perfect addition is without a doubt one of MAC’s “With tongue in cheek names such as incredible eye-shadow palettes, to anyone’s make up best collections to date. Unlike ‘Free as a Butterfly’ and ‘Royal Ball’, and the Cinderella collection is bag adding a touch of their last Disney range, inspired these lipsticks would be perfect for no exception. With six beautiful radiance to even the by the release of shades, including frosty off- dullest of skin tones. both day and night” Maleficent (2014) whites, dark and mysterious These Cinderella and containing plums and pretty as a picture products are designed deep, dramatic purples. However, in a contrast pinks, this piece is really worth the investment at £38.50. The to make you feel like a princess, so my advice would be to go to this the Cinderella collection features a nudes would work perfectly with a dark statement lip, and all out. Who doesn’t love a bit of glitz and glamour in their life? beautifully soft palette of neutral shades and the plums would be ideal for a twist on a classic grey and You never know; you might even meet your Prince Charming. rose pinks, with an aubergine eye-shadow or black smoky eye. The collection also includes an eye gloss in After the Maleficent range, and now the Cinderella range; two to add some depth. colours such as taupe, and pots of we wonder what MAC will bring First up is their collection of lipsticks and liquid eyeliner in silver-grey and us next? We all know that Emma “They’re designed to make you glosses. Obviously we can expect the standard plum. The eyeliners are absolutely feel like a princess, so go all out! Watson has been cast as Belle in a high quality of MAC guaranteeing long gorgeous and are potentially the best live-action remake, and if you didn’t, lasting coverage, and the colours are absolutely part of the collection, ‘Little Black You never know... you might even where have you been? So, maybe a stunning. With tongue-in-cheek names such Bow’ is perhaps the most wearable Beauty and The Beast inspired range meet your Prince Charming” as ‘Free as a Butterfly’ and ‘Royal Ball’, these but ‘Macroviolet’ would work well will be their next venture into the lipsticks would be perfect for both day and in a deep purple smoky eye. Be sure you don’t go too over the world of Disney. We can see it now: beautiful cherry red night. In shades of golden nude and fleshy pink top as you’ll probably end up looking like you’ve got a bruise! lipsticks, combined with slick black eyeliner pots, and lashthey are guaranteed to suit any complexion Keeping up with the hot beauty trend of contouring, the lengthening mascaras, all combined in beautiful lemon yellow – if you’re unsure visit your local MAC store collection includes highlighters as well as loose glitter, which packaging. Let’s hope that our Disney dream does come true!
a nod to Colleen Atwood
Some of you may be very familiar with the name Colleen Atwood, but many of you may not recognise it despite the fact that Atwood is the creative force behind some of the most iconic costumes in Hollywood. Atwood is responsible for the Hannibal Lecter mask in Silence of the Lambs (1991) as well as the truly awe-inspiring outfits in Tim Burton’s remake of Alice in Wonderland (2010). Atwood has even designed costumes for classic films such as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Planet of the Apes (2001) to name a few. In her 30 year career Atwood has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design eleven times, winning three times for the blockbuster films Chicago (2002), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and Alice in Wonderland (2010). Her long list of achievements also includes an Emmy and numerous BAFTA nominations and awards, essentially too many trophies to mention! Atwood began her career by sewing labels for bespoke designers in SoHo. After studying painting at college in Washington, she then broached a career in the film industry after getting a job as a PA on the film Ragtime (1981). Her advice to any budding costume designers is to take a job in films wherever you can. As she stated in an interview with the Huffington Post, “If you’re good at your job and you work hard, people will notice -- it’s a foot in the door”. One of the latest projects that Atwood has worked on is the all-star, all-singing, all-dancing blockbuster Into the Woods (2014) Who can forget the stunning Meryl Streep’s fabulous ethereal blue get-up or Johnny Depp’s zoot suit and fedora combo? Atwood notes that there are three key areas of consideration when designing: story, music and lighting.
WIKI
Katie Wadsworth discusses Hollywood’s greatest Costume Designer
The costume has to suit not only the mood of the film but also the actor themselves. Atwood recounts how she watched actors in rehearsals, how they moved and their interpretation of the character. The collaboration between Atwood and the actors meant that when it came to filming, the cast were able to manipulate the fabrics to create different effects. The design for Streep’s witch outfit, for example, was fashioned with a combination of silk crinkle chiffon and sheer nylon for the cape which allowed for the ‘floating’ effect which is
central to the witch’s character. Music comes into the process as actors such as Depp have clear interpretations as to how they want a character to come across and how they interpret the musical score. Depp’s inspiration for the witch was taken from Tex Avery and therefore a zoot suit was a natural fit for this version. Atwood’s long established career in the film industry is key to her relationship with actors such as Depp. Depp and Atwood have worked together multiple times on films such as Sweeney Todd (2007) and Edward Scissorhands meaning that Depp, another creative force, is able to be directly involved in the creation of his costume’s as he did with the wolf in Into the Woods. The central location of the woods in the film also meant that Atwood had to play about with layering fabrics to create light and dark depending on where in the woods that character was. Towards the end of the film when the characters have spent a long time wandering, the clothes also have to reflect this passage of time which again calls for another adjustment in texture and colour of costume. Aside from her show-stopping creations and bold design, there is also an elegant subtlety to her work. Prince Charming’s costume in Into the Woods reflects this attention to detail. Charming, played by Chris Pine, has subtle moss coloured detailing on his costume which compliments the colour palette of Cinderella’s dress. Each aspect of design is closely considered and it is this attention to detail, as well as a boundless imagination and undoubtable skill, which make designers like Atwood indispensable to the iconic impression that films leave on our minds.
fashion
091
concrete.fashion@uea.ac.uk
fashion in film The catwalks of Milan, Paris and London often give birth to iconic trends, however it isn’t only high fashion that creates monumental looks - the silver screen is also capable of this. Outfits in film have a great influence on the fashion world and inspire classic looks that stand the test of time. Cinema is a feast for the eye relying on aesthetics to enhance the audience’s cinematic experience. Costume is a pivotal part of any film to aid characterisation and help to set the scene, for example transporting us to a different time period – as seen in Baz Luhrmann’s spectacle The Great Gatsby (2013). Inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece of the same name, Luhrmann brings the buzz of the roaring twenties to life. Set in the summer of 1922, the fashion of the flappers was building momentum and getting into full swing. A decade dominated by revolutionary changes in fashion with the introduction of the bob and shorter dresses covered head to toe in intricate embellishments. Daisy Buchanan’s costume epitomises the fashion of this era in ensembles that could be compared to works of art. The dresses Carey Mulligan wears throughout the film are garments of fantastical femininity, decorated with thousands of dazzling diamantes. The lilac lace dress she wears in the film has a hem adorned with ruffles that sit perfectly on the knee capturing the flirtatious nature of the 1920s. The delicate ruffle detailing is also present on the shoulders of the dress making a simple but strong statement. Partnered with a fluffy shawl and sparkling headpiece Daisy’s outfit nails a trademark look of the 1920s. The release of the film also had a tremendous effect on high fashion, with glossy magazines such as Vogue creating Gatsby inspired shoots featuring the film’s leading lady Carey Mulligan.The high street also went crazy for the trend with many stores selling fringed dresses, sequins, beading and fur meaning Gatsby was right and repeating the past was definitely possible, old sport.
007 is a legend in his own right, but Bond wouldn’t be Bond without his classic tux. Although played by a variety of Hollywood greats over the years, it is Bond’s tux that has always been a consistent element of his character. The pairing of a crisp white shirt with a perfectly cut tuxedo jacket is synonymous with the seductive secret service agent we all know and love. With men wanting to be him and women wanting to be with him, Bond is a prime example of how nothing can beat a man in a suit. Although traditionally the tuxedo is entirely black, Daniel Craig recently sported a midnight blue tux with black lapels – adding a sexy modern edge to such a legendary character. No tribute to iconic outfits in film would be complete without mentioning one of the most beautiful women to grace the silver screen, Marilyn Monroe. With her peroxide blonde hair and voluptuous figure Marilyn mesmerised everyone she met. The first of Marilyn’s outfits was seen in the stage to film adaptation Gentleman Prefer Blondes (1953), also starring Jane Russell. Marilyn’s hot pink satin dress with matching gloves was a dream, topped with diamonds around her wrists and neck making this outfit a true treasure. So much so, that Madonna even recreated it in 1984 for her Material Girl music video! In contrast to this, Marilyn’s sexiness oozed from her trademark white halter neck dress in The Seven Year Itch (1955), worn in that unforgettable air vent photo – cheeky! Cinching in at the waist, it emphasised every inch of Marilyn’s womanly curves and the swinging skirt kept it flirty, fun and feminine. If anyone knew how to flatter their assets it was Miss Monroe leaving an impression on the world of cinema that is truly unforgettable. These are only a select few of the most iconic outfits in film, but they are fashion wonders to behold. They are timeless classics that will never go out of style or be forgotten. Although the actors will leave us, their ensembles will last forever.
STYLEFRIZZ
Gemma Carter looks at the most iconic outfits from the silver screen
arts
101
concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk
g n i w y a ith l p
words
FLICKR (ART HISTORY ARCHIVE)
This issue we’re taking the arts section to pieces and fusing creative writing with arts...our writers explore the potential of words through the images they create and the power these words can have within the world of art. Adam Dawson starts off the discussion by looking into the work of Barbara Kruger.
The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was the culmination of years of work. His advisors prepped the States by suggesting to the writers of The West Wing they use a person of colour to run as president in their show. Obama’s own ability to speak well helped too, as did his way of articulating a connection to all minority groups in America, if not the world. He was young and fresh, a new force who could revitalise a stagnant political world stage and move the entire world in the right direction. If President Obama achieved anything like that is a whole different story for a whole other time, but as the now iconic poster says, he was hope. You know the poster because there’s literally no way anyone in the world hasn’t seen it. It entered cultural consciousness. The flattening of images and intense use of colour looks like it must be a recent thing, but it wasn’t invented by Shepard Fairey. He began life as cool artist whose work Andre the Giant Has a Posse became the OBEY Giant (which somewhat ironically began as a parody of blindly following political propaganda, now everyone who thinks they’re a little bit edgy blindly obeys and buys an OBEY beanie.) Barbara Kruger did it first and did it best. Cutting her teeth as a graphic designer, she turned those sharpened teeth onto popular culture, consumerism, sexism, fashion, and racism. She became famous for her use of now-iconic typeface (Future Bold Oblique, if you want to try it out) layered over images she found in magazines or newspapers. The image’s meaning changes completely with the new text on top of it. Maybe it’s a young kid flexing his arm with a girl looking over at him, poking the little boy’s muscles. The image alone enforces the stereotypes we all know and hate – the man is muscle, powerful, and protecting. The woman should be impressed and grateful.
The text reads “We don’t need another hero.’”It rips the stereotypes in half, and changes the perception of the image. The girl now looks like she’s being sarcastic, indulging a male ego. She’ll probably yawn at him next. Kruger deals in the immediate, not hiding her meaning or keeping it for the kind of people who are willing to spend all day staring at a smudge of paint until they go ‘hmm’ and head to the café. Kruger’s immediacy is like being hit in the face with something that should be so obvious, how come you haven’t noticed it before? There really isn’t much, if anything, hidden beneath the surface of her work, you don’t have to stand in a room with only two light bulbs and look at the image at a 47 degree angle to get the meaning. It isn’t esoteric, Kruger wants you to understand what adverts and magazines are telling you. Kruger’s done the heavy lifting for you – that’s the point. The found image she’s taken from the magazine contains a hidden meaning which might not be apparent in their original context. Kruger writes what they’re actually saying on top of them in huge letters. The image doesn’t hide its message anymore. Kruger understands to an almost obscene degree how culture is created, and how it’s disseminated to the public. That’s us. Images are crucial to the formation of a culture, and are dangerous when they’re peddling stereotypes about race and gender, or when they’re telling us we should shop because owning things will make us happy, even if we just throw them in a cupboard to let them gather dust until the end of time. Kruger’s work lifts the veil on these images. She reaches behind the veil, pulls out their meaning, and sticks it in huge letters for all to see. She dissects culture in a clear, easy way so that no one can be uncertain of what they’re being told.
arts
111 Every actor has been in a superhero movie, or will have been by the time whatever aeons-long plan Mar vel and DC have comes to its horrible conclusion. Superheroes, like the plague, are everywhere. They crawled out of their comic book pages and took over the movies, then they slowly crept onto TV. No matter how dark and gritty the films get though, they’ll never really escape the associations with their beginnings – all-American kids lying on their bellies, Superman spread out in front of them, torchlight flickering from panel to panel. APHELIS
words and images
NEWYORKER
concrete.arts@uea.ac.uk
Comics, graphic novels – whatever you want to call them to make yourself feel better about enjoying them – have a history of really great storytelling that isn’t all about men in tights beating the shit out of each other. Here are some recommendations if you’re sick of it all.
MAUS ART SPEIGELMAN
SANDMAN NEIL GAIMAN You might know him as a novelist, or a screenwriter, or a wild-haired Twitter personality, but Neil Gaiman earned his reputation by creating the comic book series Sandman. The series focuses on Dream, an immortal supernatural being growing tired of his role in the universe. The series takes on themes like death, love, the nature of stories, fate and free will. It touches on horror, comedy, and satire, all of which are made to look effortless because Neil Gaiman is actually as talented as everyone says he is. Sandman does everything. It’s as close to epic fiction as comic books have ever come.
SUMMER BLONDE ADRIAN TOMINE Summer Blonde is a collection of short stories about normal people having normal crises. I say short stories, what I mean is character studies. There are no clever tricks or sleightof-hand moments in Tomine. Tomine shows us what his quiet characters are like in a single moment, after they’ve just lost their job or are imagining flirting with a girl in a store they think is way out of their league. We’ve all been in these situations and will be again, so can understand the emotional resonance of a seemingly banal moment. Tomine draws his girls cute and his boys angsty, but also captures the quiet, devastating moments of life you think no one else can see you having.
BLACK HOLE CHARLES BURNS Black Hole is a horror story about the worst time in anyone’s life – high school. This isn’t a slasher kind of affair. Instead, it’s a story about teenagers who have sex only to be afflicted by a mysterious bug which mutates and deforms them. For that loner in you who hated everyone and everything about school, at least you didn’t have a second mouth that said whatever you were thinking. That’s on top of the painstakingly drawn first few hairs on a pubescent boy’s upper lip. The deformity isn’t even the scariest bit of Black Hole. Its total understanding of alienation and the way in which we’re all forced to become adults against our will is much worse.
ROB FRED PARKER
Adam Dawson explores the power of the graphic novel
How do you begin to tell a story about the Holocaust? If you’re Speigelman, you interview your concentration camp survivor father, who forms the basis of the narrative in MAUS. He draws the characters as animals – Jews are rats, Nazis cats, Poles are pigs and Americans dogs, all drawn in stark black and white. Set both during his father’s recollections and during the interview itself, MAUS uses all those literary techniques like metafiction to create his result – when a Jewish prisoner claims to be German, Speigelman can’t decide whether to draw him as a mouse or a cat. He draws the struggle in the frames of the graphic novel. This is the only comic to ever win the Pulitzer Prize (which avoided its tricky breaking of genre by awarding a Special Award in Letters.) You need to read it.
creative
121 ...NEW GAME... begin? Y/N
concrete.creativewr
LOADING...>> Welcome, NEW USER. You have selected NEW GAME. Press A to CONTINUE. Press A to CONTINUE. Press A to..........>>
LEVEL TWO: SIMULATION Jenny Moroney
ANA DUKAKIS
LEVEL ONE: START-UP Hermann Kermit Warm You like to think the start-up tune is a magpie made of pixels, crooning at noon, the new dawn. Back in Outside, your phone is turned off but you let them all know where you’re going: on an adventure. And isn’t this new? Isn’t this Life Take Two, the perfect world where mushrooms are plump like seals and the grass is a steady heartbeat of green dorsal fins? Isn’t this the True World, the one for which you always strived, where ghouls try to kill you, only to see you revived? Now you know what danger is, now you know how to prove yourself to the prettiest girl in the class: you kill things until she fucks you, right? Right? RIGHT. TURN RIGHT. FOLLOW for one hundred paces. You hear a flock of something descend. Let’s hum, let’s whistle, let’s slaughter in the name of love. This is the game you have chosen. Let’s begin………..>>
Dance alone then dance together. Whippna Choba Dog! Kiss and woohoo then Go to work. Uhh shamoo ralla poo. Speed up and come home. Oh Feebee Lay! Cook Mac and cheese. Dis Wompf Es Fredesche! Go outside to swim then pause and delete the pool ladders. Shoo fee. Speed up. Sass awrful. The Grim Reaper shows up. Ooo shanga day? Turn off the laptop. Blink three times. Sisaroom? Doesn’t seem real..............>>
LEVEL THRE PUZZLE Nina Ward
You step through the newly-unlocked g older than the world you just left. Adju peer around at the little stands selling f ment of people who gather around the
Luke tugs on your jacket. “Professor, w
“I’m afraid I don’t know, my boy,” you tice. “Perhaps we should ask somebody
You poke around a little bit first, exam Then, somewhat reluctantly, you speak “Excuse me, I’m Professor Layton-”
Microfictions
Submit your own to @miniaturestory on Twitter “You don’t bring me flowers anymore,” she said. “Sweet Caroline,” he said, as if they were playing the name a song by Neil Diamond game. …
“That one who does the puzzles?” “Excuse me?”
“Layton. That’s the name of the archae the man knowledgeably. He’s got a hoo bouncing on the balls of his feet as he t
“The very same,” you say. “I was wonde
“What, just like that?” he narrows his e
You could just ask somebody else - the feeling you know where this is going. “ arms.
“Well, if you really are as good as the p my wife gave me this real head-scratche
“Say no more,” you say. “A gentleman n
ANA DUK
writing
riting@uea.ac.uk
EE:
131 LEVEL FOUR: GOD MODE Jasmine Flores One day, while passing through the twodimensional green blobs you call a forest, you come across a treasure chest. You are excited, as chests are known to hold new items, health and stat boosts, and useful potions for your journey. You open it to a tune well known to an adventurer like yourself, but inside is something different. The normally pixelated golden lines that appear from the chest are a bright blue, and out appears a strange equally blue orb. You hold it above your head as you do, and the black text box appears below. “Congratulations! You’ve uncovered the Orb of Omniscience!”
ANA DUKAKIS
gate into a market place that looks several decades usting your top hat against the glare of the sun, you fresh fruit and vegetables, and the strange assortem.
where are we?”
say, looking down at your self-proclaimed appreny.”
mining the scenery and prodding for hint coins. k to the closest villager.
You put it in your pack. On the pack screen you stare at this strange new item, unclear what its purpose is; none of the game forums or wikis online seem to have an answer. You hover the cursor facsimile of your hand over the object. There are two options: to use the item or not to use the item. Something strange happens as you gaze at this MS-paint-style-looking Orb. You begin to see something inside it, a view into strange other lands where things are... multi-dimensional; players are moving beyond the range of up, down, and side-to-side; worlds where it seems it’s possible to scale mountains without using the path by jumping at odd angles although it looks awkward and tedious; worlds where it seems all characters do is endlessly battle each other in mass melees; worlds where a player’s only purpose, it seems, is to water flowers; worlds where the player is the hunted, the assassin, the criminal, and the soldier; and many more strange and terrible worlds...
You become enraptured by this experience. Your finger hovers above the A button; do you use the item? You think about your adventures. You never questioned your purpose before; you accepted your call to heroism with a flatness that matches your surroundings. Your sudden existential crisis strikes you as odd, and you know that you would not think twice about using a sword or a bow if that came out of the chest. You know that your world would not place this item in front of you without a purpose for the journey ahead. You press the A button. Your world turns black, the forest disappears, and you alone stand in the emptiness with the Orb hovering above you. Three worlds click on the screen: “Enter God Mode?” The question mark blinks at you. Perhaps, you think, this is a test? But now you are at the point of no return; there is no B for cancel on this screen. It is not a question, you realize. It is a taunt. It is a beckon. You must press forward. As your world fades beyond lines of strange symbols, you begin to see a light as you hurdle toward those strange and terrible lands. You see yourself, and you have features. You feel different and the words from your past come back to haunt you. “It can be dangerous go alone...........>>”
eologist bloke who solves all them mysteries,” says oked nose and a pot belly, and won’t keep still, talks. You smile and nod politely.
ering if you could tell me exactly where we are?”
eyes. “I dunno. Information like that, it’s pricey.”
market is hardly empty - but you have a suspicious “Name your price,” you say instead, folding your
papers say, then you should be able to help me. See, er, and I just can’t seem to-”
never turns down a good puzzle............>>” ANA DUKAKIS
gaming + tech
151
DOUGIE DODDS
concrete.gamingtech@uea.ac.uk
single player symphony Myles Earle takes a look at some of gaming’s musical gems For many of us, the soundtracks to our beloved childhoods were born from the greatness of the 8-bit video game era. Is there anything better than the hypnotic sounds waves of your Nintendo ES echoing into your ear? In joyous celebration of these timeless classics, I present a casual, yet nostalgic, stroll down memory card lane to indulge ourselves in some of the most iconic soundtracks of that era. The Legend of Zelda, the first game of the series, started from humble musical beginnings in comparison to its contemporary counterparts. Making its first appearance on the NES in 1987, despite the technical limitations, The Legend of Zelda’s soundtrack is one of the most recognised, and celebrated to this day. Japanese composer, Koji Kondo, is the musical genius to thank for such amazing pieces. With many other works under his belt, Kondo’s work on The Legend of Zelda has emphatically driven the adventure puzzle game to the forefront of its genre.
Juxtaposing the cheerful, melodic tones of the above ground world with the eerie scales and ghostly sounds of the caves and underground world created an atmosphere that propelled the game to be one of the best series. Final Fantasy, a series also not afraid of the slow melodies to stimulate the gamers’ inner adventurer, ran alongside the Zelda series in 1987 on the NES. This 8-bit glory, much like Zelda, made use of the electronic organ to give the game that fantastical otherworldliness. However, what is great about this game is its swift transition from the happy-go-exploring nature to the sporadic bass beats, met with the up-tempo undertones and aggressive melody that get you into that fighting mode when those beasts want to get up in your grill. Who can forget the battle-winner theme tune, which has travelled through time in every instalment, remaining close to its 1987 original, but with the extras that come with the technological advancement. Speaking of games and technological
advancement, the 1987 release of Metal Gear for the Famicon/NES was more infamous than famous for its soundtrack. The soundtrack remains one steady level, with a purely sped up beat for alert phases. Kazuki Muraoka, composer for many of the games in the Metal Gear series, had more of a safe idea with the soundtrack for the first instalment. The sound seems to drag out the length of the game, rather than making it exciting. Perhaps this is to reinforce the espionage aspect of the game but, regardless of its efforts, the soundtrack instils tedium to the game’s intrinsic and complex storyline, which is fixed in later instalments with the likes of Donna Burke’s vocals making an appearance. For a first game, there have to be mistakes made in order to progress, which this game’s soundtrack does make. Fortunately, the contemporaries of this instalment ‘wow’ when it comes to blowing the socks off of musicality and gaming. However, one game that has never had
this problem is... drum roll… the Super Mario Bros. series. It would be absolute sacrilege for this game not to make an appearance on this list, being probably the most iconic soundtrack of any game ever. Making its way in to popular music, and even on an episode of Dancing with the Stars (which I highly recommend watching for all of you Mario Bros. fans), Super Mario Bros. has remained an influential piece of video game music throughout the decades. We return to the composer of these scores, Kondo, who struck gold with this soundtrack; the initial ‘dada da dada da da’ seems to be a universal language in itself. Sing that to someone from any other country and it’s guaranteed they will sing it back; the joy and happiness packed into the soundtrack is adorned by the remembrance of those pixelated clouds and…the star. Oh, when you got that star, it was time to party. Forget the LCR; jamming out to the theme music of the star power-up could rock anyone’s Saturday night.
television
161
doing Joan
concrete.television@uea.ac.uk
WIKI
THE DAILY BANTER
Hannah Ford Ever been watching your favourite TV show and wished you could replicate a certain character’s look? I guarantee everyone has wanted to dress and style themselves on their favourite character at least once. Think the “The Rachel” hairstyle that seemingly every woman wanted in the late 90s thanks to Friends. But it’s the clothes that get people talking. Yes, the actual show may be tedious, but that doesn’t stop you from getting serious dress envy over the gorgeous 1920s dresses in Downton Abbey. Or, if the Jazz Age isn’t your thing, the 60s fashion in Mad Men is bound to catch your eye. Sadly, we don’t all live in a glitzy TV show, with access to stylists and costume designers perfecting our every look. Lucky for you, you can still replicate the looks from your favourite TV show, simply by shopping on your local high street. Fashion retailers are looking to popular TV now more than ever as inspiration for their latest collections. The reason is simple: the more people who watch a TV show, the more people want to dress like the characters, especially in period shows such as Downton Abbey and Mad Men. They’re called ‘costume dramas’ for a reason, after all. And if people want to dress like them, it’s only common sense to sell clothes that Lady Mary or Joan Holloway might buy. Quid’s in. A Google search for ‘dress like Downton Abbey’ has hundreds of thousands of results, with everyday online retailers such as Asos providing their own Downton-esque clothes. And, of course, the ultimate costume drama of the past few years, Game of Thrones, has also had an effect on fashion. Designers have taken elements of the costume from the show, such as statement jewellery –- mainly featuring images of dragons and wolves –and long, sweeping dresses in rich colours, which can be seen on the runway and the high street. So
now every woman can look like Margaery Tyrell (or dress like her, at least. As painful as it is to accept, we’re not all blessed with looks like Natalie Dormer.) TV shows set in the present day are also influencing fashion, viewers being desperate to dress like Scandal’s effortlessly stylish Olivia Pope, for just one example. Then there’s shows like Sex and the City, Girls, and Gossip Girl which have created characters that are fashion icons in their own right. Although women’s fashion is perhaps the most influenced by stylish TV characters, men’s fashion is seeing the effect of popular TV too, with 60s suits Don Draper would be proud to wear appearing on the high street. But fashion designers and those in charge of the next collections are missing a trick. Some of the most popular TV shows and iconic character styles are being ignored. I’ve got some suggestions for the styles that should be everywhere in SS16. Firstly, what’s one of the biggest and best shows of recent years? Breaking Bad. Who wouldn’t want to rock ‘The Heisenberg’, the oh-so-stylish shades ‘n’ pork pie hat combo? Or another of his best looks, the unforgettable yellow hazmat suit, guaranteed to get you noticed (hopefully not by the DEA). Move over Carrie Bradshaw, Walter White is fashion’s new icon. How about another huge show, The Walking Dead? I want to see walker-brain splattered tops, ripped jeans and maybe even the odd riot suit on the high street. Then there’s the obvious new fashion inspiration. Since it’s been proven that Orange truly is the New Black, then surely those brilliantly bright orange jumpsuits should be all over the runway and in shops. Mark my words, fashion designers will soon spot the potential for money-making in stealing – sorry, imitating – these hugely popular shows’ unique fashions. These looks will be everywhere in the next couple of years! Even Anna Wintour will be rocking the prison jumpsuit look on the FROW of NYFW. The new Dandelion, maybe?
television
killing Joan
171
concrete.television@uea.ac.uk
B
When Joan Rivers died last year at the age of 81, it wasn’t only a plastic-faced, pottymouthed comic genius that faded into the night; it was an entire wave of comedy. It only took a good couple of months for everybody to actually realise it. For the last five years of her life, Rivers hosted E!’s red carpet panel series Fashion Police, officially a show concerned with celebrity style, unofficially a platform for Rivers’ unique brand of acerbic wit and self-deprecating derision. So what happens when the sole reason for a show’s existence vanishes into the ether? If you’re the E! network, essentially a flash of D-list side-boob in television form, you ride that little truck of money till the wheels fall off. Fashion Police has been active as a series of award show specials since January, now hosted by comedian Kathy Griffin, its panellists Kelly Osbourne, stylist Brad Goreski and red carpet praying mantis Giuliana Rancic. All seemed to be going well, albeit in a ‘limply attached to an intravenous drip’ kind of way, until last week’s racial controversy involving Rancic and alleged famous person Zendaya. Rancic joked that the dreadlocks Zendaya sported on the Oscars red carpet made her look like she smelled of “patchouli oil and weed,” a misfired gag that many interpreted as stereotypical and unfunny at best, plain ol’ racist at worst. Particularly in light of her February praising of Kylie Jenner for wearing “edgy” and “urban” dreadlocks for a photoshoot. Zendaya was justifiably offended, Rancic sought forgiveness, and Osbourne packed up her bags and quit, supposedly in protest over the whole affair. It was an odd scandal, full of inexplicably noteworthy people communicating with each other via video apologies, cultural essays and scarily illiterate Twitter ramblings. But what it did do was highlight not only the fact that Fashion Police as a whole should take after Osbourne and exit stage left, but that the mean, biting humour that defined Joan Rivers’ career might just have died along with her. There were signs of a change in the air throughout the last years of Rivers’ life: the
think pieces that popped up in light of her Adele weight jibes, the tabloid controversy over an old Jewish lady’s thoughts on Palestine. In an age of very glossy, mainstream politeness, her casual comedic cruelty suddenly seemed like a relic of the past. She still mostly got away with it, but the cultural shift was palpable. Rancic, being a personality-vacuum TV host in comparison to an older, eccentric comedian, just couldn’t ‘pull a Joan.’ From her mouth, the gag seemed tone-deaf and reflective of the worst kind of cultural tourism. From Rivers, would have likely been a cringey joke nobody would have noticed. What is left is a show in flux, not only because its trademark humour lived and died with Joan Rivers, but because it’s such a transitory time for politically incorrect comedy as well as celebrity fashion coverage. The #askhermore campaign acted as a fight back against the red carpet interviews many actresses have denounced as vacuous and misogynistic, while the activism of celebrities like Beyoncé and Emma Watson have instigated greater media coverage to a specific brand of glamorous, Hollywood feminism. It all clashes against the values of a show that essentially reduces famous women to floaty objects in fabrics and jewels. There’s still an audience for inoffensive talk about pretty dresses, and while it’s more niche than ever right now, society at large can always benefit from some barbed, mean-spirited wit. But they both require smarts to do it well. It might have been her one-liners that got Joan Rivers in the room, but it was her brain that kept her there.
ADAM WHITE
Adam White
film
181
concrete.film@uea.ac.uk
farewell wanderlust Despite photography being one of the most accessible art forms, documentaries about photographers are practically non-existent. John Maloof ’s 2013 award-winning Finding Vivian Maier has illuminated why. A cranky hoarder, her photos were a method of control. Through Maloof, Maier’s signature intimate style of obsessively constant street portraiture is revealed to be an outlet for lonely anxiety, manifested in the physical abuse of the children she au paired. Yet Maloof ’s diligent work ironically mirrors his subject’s, and the film detracts from Maier’s skill and defiance of contemporary gender stereotypes, wandering around the world and pursuing artistry despite her blue-collar status. With its focus on her darker side the film slides into a melodramatic HONY-style blogger air – “the fame she never had in life….this giant boulder unturned” – ‘vintage’ enthusiast sprinkled with ‘up next on crime watch’. The concentration on Maier’s secrecy pertinently contrasts to our modern standard of full transparency and instant photographic updates on social media. Another film, McCullin (2012), focuses on the work of photojournalist Don McCullin. Film footage of the bloody warzones in which McCullin worked from the 60s to the 80s – the Congo, Greece, Vietnam – is spliced with interview scenes of the photographer and his close associates. His humanitarian ethics and poetic eye are at the fore of his shots, but what follows is the message that his career was a
swansong of freeform journalism. He is pushed out of reporting for major publications as soon as Murdoch comes to power, overriding such hugely popular studies of the true, gruesome face of war with easy-on-the-eyes middle and upper class lifestyle “news” – ‘…it rather put you off your Sunday breakfast’. Despite the apparent honesty of his ethics and anecdotes of helping the helpless in war zones, we wonder how much more there is left to be said of McCullin's actions and character. The film is heavy with the photographer's own recounting, whereas Maier's defects are left to be proposed by interviewees, her deceased voice silent. Rock ‘N’ Roll Exposed (2011) explores the photography of the legendary Bob Gruen who ascended to prominence during New York’s Punk and Glam Rock evolution – the foundation of CBGB and Ziggy Stardust. An intimate and vibrant portrait filled with loving words, you find Gruen has taken most of those shots you love: Led Zeppelin smouldering in front of their own jet, The Ramones on the subway, Debbie Harry climbing out of a crashed car. So why isn’t he a household name? Following from Maier’s film, the question is raised if notoriety equals fame. Would Terry Richardson be as well-known without his assaulting of models? It appears we can only note images and image-makers for their obsessions, as this fits with our biggest anxieties Is our preoccupation with legitimacy, realist images and sensationalism getting in the way
URBAN 75
Becky Lamming examines the moments when photographers are put in front of the lens
of appreciating photography as an art? Does it hold back homages to our greatest visual documenters who work with compassion and appreciation of subjects? Are Maier’s selfportraits particularly promoted because of the insular side of her life, or for their parallels with selfies? The aspects of a photographer’s lifetime and vision are an unmined haven of inspiration for filmmakers and audiences, whoever you are. Photographers are seekers of the ‘decisive moment’ that electrifies the subject and
viewer, socialising through endless travels to understand the heart of a subject. Gruen and Maier’s magnetism are mentioned; the balance of a working life alongside socialising and development of a signature style. Gruen’s cartoonish frames, Maier’s tragic delirious cities are striking re-imaginings that photographers have studied to communicate, depict and beautify our modern world. We may feel this is lost in photographer documentaries, a malnourished genre.
beginner’s guide to video art ZACHETA.ART
Adam Dawson celebrates Douglas Gordon’s seminal appropriation of films in his art
Let’s get one thing straight before we get going. It’s probably the most important point you need to take on board before you keep reading. Video art is not cinema. The use of audio-visual equipment might make you think you’re seeing a film or TV show, but video art is as distinct from film as photography is from painting. Video is art in a more traditional sense, if in a seemingly inaccessible one. Think of it like this: the camera is the paintbrush and the screen is a canvas. Now let’s talk about an artist who uses films in his work. Scottish artist Douglas Gordon treats film like another artist might use an object they found on the street. It’s there to be played with, poked at, stuck on a canvas in an interesting new way. Video art allows a way to explore ideas that a still image couldn’t –
watching a body move is different from seeing a photo of a body. 24 Hour Psycho is a video installation which is comprised of two massive screens facing each other, both playing a silent and slowed down version of Psycho so that its running time comes to 24 hours. How ever would you have worked that one out? It’s an endurance test of an artwork through which Gordon is able to manipulate the footage so it becomes both familiar and unfamiliar, playing with our conception of time and expectation. We all know Psycho. If you’ve not seen it, you’re aware of its status, and the famous murder in the shower. Slowing the film down to an absurd degree makes the moment being played out exist both in the present and in the future, the caveat being the future is so far away it may
as well not exist at all. You might be standing in front of the work thinking ‘I know Bates is going to stab her in the face.’ Well yes, he will eventually. If this was the film at normal speed you’d know exactly how and where his knife lands, along with the exact moment she screams. Time has been slowed, so the tension of that moment is completely lost. But if you’re waiting for the stabbing, you’ll never know when across the next 24 hours it’s going to happen. Tension is there, just not in the moment the original film intended. Isn’t that just more than a bit clever? Gordon uses films again in a slightly different work, through a looking glass. This time it’s the ‘you talkin’ to me?’ scene from Taxi Driver played on two opposite screens, one image flipped like it’s in a mirror. They begin
in sync, but gradually the audio and video begin to lose track of each other. This lasts for an hour. As the audio and visual become out of sync, the ‘real’ Travis is lost in the confusion, the viewer standing between the screens no longer certain which Travis is even the real one. His loss of his sense of self is mirrored through the two videos. Video art can push at the boundaries of cinema and moving images in a way no other art form can. Gordon’s work has appropriated films like Psycho, Taxi Driver, and The Exorcist to show the limits of film. When they enter mass culture and become iconic, there’s almost nothing left for them to say. Their creators churn out the same words in different interviews. Video art picks up where it leaves off.
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COLLIDER
anxiety and the the sensory experience way to a cacophonous roar as the camera slides into slow motion, the screen overtaken by a glaring beam of white as the nearby lamp collapses during the struggle. Its use of the jolt is one which continues to be seen within the contemporary horror film, it’s also an attempt to aesthetically reflect a disordered sense of chaos. As is the case with an unreliable narrator, the audience is never truly aware about whether or not these attacks take place. An establishing shot of the bedroom in which the scene takes place seems to confirm that no intruder was present, and yet the aftermath of certain attacks remain imprinted on the physiology of the flat. Moreover, the jarring nature of montage, often cutting before establishing a finality means we are only alluded to certain details of these sequences. Thus, as Carol begins to mentally fracture, so does the film itself, a fissure through the celluloid screen which tears at our own cognitive dissonances as we remain in a constant state of flux. Polanski’s aesthetics go far beyond the mere construction of shock value, however, demonstrating an attempt to reflect the essence of a broken psyche. Distortion is a primary method in which this is achieved, with Carol’s reflection notably changing as she gazes into mirrored surfaces. A rather Lacanian representation of the ego, these distortions heighten Carol’s alienation by externalising her internal turmoil. As such, we can see a further level of depth being added by the allusion to the abjected body, its grotesqueness envisioned by the use of proximity to accentuate Carol’s fear of intimacy, a concept popularised by the sexually-infused absurdities found in the Gothic novel. This is particularly witnessed in the infamous sequence which sees Carol attempting to traverse a narrow corridor as phantasmic limbs attempt grab her. Stretching from the walls surrounding her, the flat
metamorphoses into a living, breathing body and we are reminded of the materiality of skin, the materiality of the screen. The self, now fully externalised, becomes an enshrouding cocoon, threatening to suffocate Carol as she gives into the sensory pleasures of touch, rubbing the limbs over her body and face like and animal in heat. Cutting directly to a sequence in which she lies agitated on her bed, eyes wide open, we are implicated in what appears to have been an ecstatic, yet morbid wet dream where Carol’s horrific vision of sexuality is projected onto the audience. In her seminal essay on the art of film, Virgina Woolf reflected that cinema as an art-form could only survive if it was to create
FILMUFORIA
Enter Roman Polanski’s critically acclaimed Repulsion, a soaring masterpiece of psychological horror. Catherine Deneuve plays Carol, a timid and beautiful French woman residing with her sister in a desolate flat in South Kensington. Horrified by the sexual desire she exposes in men, Carol becomes increasingly reclusive, giving way to a series of paranoiac delusions which threaten to completely disintegrate her sanity. At its heart, as dark as that may be, Repulsion is plagued by a crushing sense of isolation, not just portrayed through the jarring lack of expository narrative, but through the reliance on the medium of film itself. It is a work where meaning and tone are exclusively reflected through the construction of the cinematic image, steadily building tension with its uneasy juxtaposition between diegesis and asynchronous audio, as well as a whiplashed approach to psychoanalytic symbolism. Unlike the Hollywood Golden Age which dominated the aesthetic form of film through its reliance on logical narrative structures and continuity editing, Repulsion abandons cohesion, creating an affective exercise in the moving image. According to Barker, film functions as a tactile membrane between the text and the audience, leaving traces on their skin, forever marked by a visceral connection, and we can see Repulsion attempting to reflect this overwhelming sensory experience. Most notably, this is reflected during Carol’s hallucinations, where Gilbert Taylor’s methodically constructed cinematography develops into an anguished playfulness. In one particular scene, the camera slowly tracks a muted Deneuve, the rhythmic beats of a nearby clock only mildly increasing as we approach closer and closer until the stillness is suddenly shattered by a raging alarm. A split second later, a darkened figure attacks her from just outside the periphery of the frame, giving
COLLIDER
Neven Devies performs an art critique on Roman Polanski’s Repulsion
its own individual language as opposed to bastardising the precedents which had been laid out by literature and photography. Though commercialised cinema seems far from achieving Woolf ’s bold confirmations on the cinematic image, we are nonetheless alluded to film’s ability to transcend the limiting conventions of various disciplines, each one distilled until it formulates the aesthetic arsenal which we consider the cinema of art. By placing the construction of meaning directly onto the images themselves, Polanksi reflects on these idiosyncrasies of the cinematic art-form; a perfect synthesis between sight and sound, the cerebral and the corporeal, beauty and repulsion.
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DEVIANT ART (GHOSTNR)
Troy Boatman discusses whether the notion of the Auteur is a deserved status in cinema
Auteur Theory is an idea that supposes the director can claim just as much responsibility for the fruits of their labour as the writer can for their novel, the artist for their painting. Although there may be a host of other roles involved in the film-making process, these are all presided over by the pre-eminent figure of the Auteur. However, it’s fair to say this entitlement depends entirely on what sort of film we're talking about, and what the intentions for the final product are - because while many popular movies can be boiled down to certain tried and tested rules and formulae, cinema that is considered truly unique and groundbreaking is always best when channelled through the vision of one individual. This is a stance that has continually brewed up controversy because it can be perceived as undermining the blood, sweat and tears put in by the actors, the
cinematographer, the screenwriter et al. The latter's own creative input is stressed in the Schreiber Theory, a school of thought that flips the notion of the director's supremacy on its head and puts the screenwriter in the artistic driving seat. Conversely, it is not right to interpret Auteur Theory as an attack on the input of other parties involved, simply that maximum creative integrity is assured by giving the Auteur a certain primacy in the filmmaking process. When a screenwriter hands over his script to the will of the director, no matter how faithfully his words are turned into image, he is also handing over the final word on how this transformation is applied. An interesting case in point for the Auteur Theory can be seen in the oeuvre of Mr. David Lynch, who is perhaps a classic example of the Auteur. Both director and screenwriter, his
films employ a surreal and unnerving style that has been seen as uniquely his own and can be found without exception in all of his works. His adaptation of Dune (1984) however, is generally seen as the ugly duckling of his career by critics and audiences alike (that is to say in terms of overall quality, as his films are unquestionably 'ugly', although not necessarily in a derogatory sense). Not only was Lynch in some ways a fish out of the water in the making of this film, the huge budget and cast that were bestowed on him being a departure from his usual set-up, the gutting of much of the film by his producers, and his impotence in the film's final cut all contributed to make the final product the complete mess and commercial and critical flop that it turned out to be. Following this came Blue Velvet (1986), a film that was lauded by reviewers and where
Lynch held a much greater degree of autonomy – taking the role of not only screenwriter and director, but as caster, editor and co-composer of the film's original soundtrack. Regarding actors, it seems almost offensive to say it, but often they can be seen as being just another item in the Auteur's box of tools. It is not rare for certain actors to appear habitually in works of the Auteur if they seem particularly suited to the other's personal style, an example for Mr. Lynch being Kyle MacLachlan's recurrent roles. Rather than this being a jab at actors, it just goes to show how irreplaceable their own styles are, and the unity that is required in the film-making process. While all those involved in a film's production bring something unique to the table, it is through their conglomeration under the auspices of the Auteur that the finished work can achieve its grandeur.
substance over style Louis Pigeon-Owen proves that a good script can stand out even amongst extravagant visuals Submarine made quite a splash in 2010 with its darkly funny portrayal of socially dysfunctional, middle-aged teenager Oliver Tate who philosophises about everything from burning leg hair to dead dogs. Whilst we could bang on about Alex Turner’s beautifully melancholic score and Richard Ayoade’s experimental camerawork, the fact remains that the dialogue in Submarine not only stands alone from the other elements of film, but flippantly blows cigarette smoke in their faces, gives them the finger and strolls off to do its own thing. Oliver Tate’s startling honesty and bizarre, deadpan declarations of “My mum gave a handjob to a mystic.” and “[Jordana’s] boyfriend has an incredibly long neck. Just thinking about giraffes makes me angry.” are brilliantly funny and infinitely quotable. What works best about Ayoade’s script, adapted from Joe Dunthorne’s novel of the same name, is that the side-splittingly hysterical moments are perfectly balanced with passages of tender, albeit weird and awkward,
poetic wisdom, such as Oliver’s declaration of love for Jordana: ‘I could drink your blood, you are the only person that I would allow to be shrunken down to a microscopic size and swim inside me in a tiny submersible machine. We have lost our virginity but it wasn't like losing anything.’ Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman is another memorable stand-alone script. As well as being a good story, it can be read as a mindbending, brain-numbing piece of postmodern literature which both defies genre labelling and mocks the very nature of what it means to write a script. Most of all, Iñárritu should be applauded for passing a film script that mocks the corporate greed of the American film industry under Hollywood’s very nose, and, adding salt, sand and bleach to the wound for good measure, somehow also persuading Hollywood to promote the very film which so magnificently dismantles its own superficiality. The sardonic, self-deprecating voice of the Birdman in Riggan’s head offers some of the best quotes in the film, such as “People, they
love blood. They love action. Not this talky, depressing, philosophical bullshit”, along with likening his play to “a major deformed version of myself that just keeps following me around, hitting me in the balls with a tiny little hammer.” For all its satire and irony, Birdman nevertheless seems to be saying something very profound about the fraudulent nature of acting, through Mike Shiner’s hilarious truisms of ‘The only thing that is real on this stage is this chicken. So, I'm gonna work with the chicken.’ And ‘popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige’. Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is equally enthralling as a surreal, multi-layered comedy which plays at Russian dolls with storytelling until the audience has been dragged through the depths of five levels of narratives and left gasping for air. The best writing here is undoubtedly channelled through the character of concierge Gustav H. who serves the double function of exuberant fool and nostalgic
wiseman, and whom Anderson blesses with a multitude of nonsensical witticisms such as “The beginning of the end of the end of the beginning has begun.” The film is also a comment on the human constitution, with Gustav later explaining that “Rudeness is merely an expression of fear. People fear they won't get what they want. The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved, and they will open up like a flower.” The story itself, strikes a wonderful balance between modern fairy tale, satire of World War Two European politics and elaborate character study, capturing the imagination of any audience, even those who might have lost their sight and were unable to admire the geometrical shots, vivid colours and crazy costumes. Ayoade, Iñárritu and Anderson have created the perfect brew of brain, banter, brilliance and bonkers with their writing, leading to three scripts which are utterly unforgettable.
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Artist: Reynold Brown The ultimate B-movie poster, both kitsch and outrageous, with meticulous attention to detail (check out the men about to jump off the bridge). Its unusual, winning blend of ‘I am woman, hear me roar’ empowerment and exploitative ‘wink-wink, nudge-nudge’ tackiness makes it a pop culture staple to this day.
LISTAL
Artist: Waldemar Swierzy Bored by floating heads and stock photography in your film posters? Look no further than Poland's stunning art scene, which has been delivering movie posters of abstract, surreal, and sometimes completely baffling visual oddness for decades. Waldemar Swierzy’s Sunset Boulevard artwork is eerie, camp and mesmerising... just like the film itself.
Artist: Raquel Riera And it comes full circle, with superimposed folds and a grubby, worn aesthetic that brings to mind forgotten exploitation pictures of yesteryear. This is an alluring, heated visual, the film’s title placed exactly where you shouldn't be looking, an image that is dirty, dangerous and nakedly degrading... until you notice the twisty tagline (“Assume the position”) that asks who's really in control.
IMPAWARDS
Artist: Saul Bass Saul Bass was arguably the godfather of poster art, responsible for some of the most iconic, influential images and main title sequences in cinematic history. His ghoulish artwork for The Shining is classic Bass: the condensing of a film down to a single, striking image, working primarily in bold primary colours, typography impactful and immaculately designed.
THE POSTER BOYS
poster boy
Artist: Roger Kastel Instantly recognisable, endlessly parodied; artwork that practically re-invented the movie poster form. There are certainly elements here familiar to B-movie posters of the past, but enhanced with a clean, sophisticated polish. Notice the relaxed placidity of the girl in unknown peril and the bubbles of the fast-moving shark right beneath her. Terrifying.
Adam White curates a collection of posters so beautiful and provocative, they practically become art
IMP AWARDS
Artist: Art Sims In 1991, Jungle Fever’s exploration of an affair between a high-powered black architect and his white co-worker was beguiling in its controversy, its poster almost deceptively romantic and sensual. Until you notice the woman’s bloodred nails and the scratchy, erratic lettering chosen for the film’s title, hinting at a sexy, underlying kinkiness that is characteristically Spike Lee.
WIKI
IMPAWARDS
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the page of love
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The Waterfront Stiff Little Fingers + Electric River
The Nick Rayn’s LCR
Propaganda
Damn Good presents... Jobs I’ll Never Have
The Answer + Bad Touch + The Picturebooks
Kodaline
Tue 10 March (£18.50) Fri 13 March (£4-5)
Mon 23 March (£15)
Epic Studios
Tue 10 March (£3.50)
Wed 11 March (Sold Out)
Andy C ALLNIGHT Fri 13 March (£15)
Norwich Fashion Week: The Designers
The Derby Day A List
Nothing But Thieves
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Tue 10 March (£10)
Wed 11 March (£4-6)
King King + Laurence Jones Thu 12 March (£15)
Saigon Kiss
Fri 20 March (£5)
The Hive UEA Music Society Big Band prsesnets Jazz in the Hive Thu 12 March (£3)
The Bicycle Shop Woody Pines
Tue 10 March (£8)
Inlay
Mon 23 March (£5)
Sat 14 March (£4.50)
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Mon 16 March (£6)
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Open Andy Jordan
Tue 10 March (£11)
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Austentatious
Fri 13 March (£15)
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Richard Herring: Lord of the Dance Settee
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