... since 4th century AD evil thoughts of humanity have names ...
Foreword Deadly Sins, A Recurring Iconography Although paired to theology, the Deadly Sins are somehow a catalogue of the human weaknesses. We deine “sins” as exaggerated behaviours upon an established morale, whose seriousness is related to how much damage they cause both to the individual and to the community. Without any doubt, immediate referral is to that sort of initiation named ‘Divine Comedy’ by Dante Alighieri in the XIV century. To visually describe the distance between Inferno - Hell - and Eden, Dante used a series of juxtaposed rings, with each ring expressing one of the seven types of sin. The more serious the sin, the further away from Paradise. However, before and after Dante, every age produced its own vision of the Deadly Sins. No less notorious is Hieronymus Bosch’s representation, who uses grotesque trickery to raise a sort of transference between sin and sinner by the viewer; the theological abstraction - still prevailing in the Divine Comedy - gives way to a physiognomic of the sin destined to mark all Western imaginary. Bosch’s igurative vision is a successful saga using a new language to reveal the human condition under the vigilant eye of high morality. During the Enlightenment age, the diference between sins and virtues started to lose importance as the virtues and the sins contribute to society’s material development in industrial, commercial, and economic areas. However, after this period, the sins are still traceable in some works of Immanuel Kant, who interprets them as expression of human typology and an integral part of one’s behaviour. Later, in the 1800’s there came about a great many essays on the Deadly Sins with them becoming a vastly interesting topic across moral philosophy, human psychology and theology circles. An updated version - even darker than Bosch’s - comes by Otto Dix. It is an allegorical painting symbolising the political status in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power. Here the artist construes the events through the same artiice as the Flemish masters: Envy, who is riding on Greed’s shoulders, is wearing a mask with Adolf Hitler’s resemblance. The image depicts a new born society, barbarian and savage in its misery; a nightmare that will be hard to wake up from.
Why a photographic project about the Deadly Sins? Photography has been formerly used to declare “true and real” some historic events through visual means. In time, it matured into the ability to show everyday life in a more personal way. Eventually photography came to reveal the true soul of reality that is intrinsic to every human statement: the interpretation. It seems that the Seven Deadly Sins became more and more a sort of lens used to show - or interpret - the human condition of the times. A guiding tool that, washed out from any religious implication, it works as archetypal landmark of the loss of meanings in contemporary society. To discuss sin - what it means in our age - presumes the immanence of the sin itself, which, although secularised, seems to be unavoidable even in the most tolerant of societies. What is more interesting than whether or not you accept the existence of sin or not - everybody could fabricate new sins at his own leisure - is to understand that the “Deadly Sins” are intrinsic traits of the human nature and not pathologies. With this view, the Seven Sins are then able to be used to depict multiple nuances of human fascinations, a sort of primary colour chart useful to compliment a richer chromatic palette. Starting from this hypothesis, Marco Fazio and mjfstudio produced seven sets to depict the human “comedy.” Therefore, the stylistic research team used this grid as an ‘interpretation register’, which is not intended as a restraint to experimentation… Quite the opposite, it is a challenge! Personal interpretation is often a peridious terrain, a mermaid seducing the artist. Here the challenge was to be creatively engaged within a grounded organisation. Marco founded the basis of a choral work as if it were the building of a cathedral; he managed the synergy between the collaborators, letting them feel free to express themselves while being well directed and harmonised through his constant input and feedback. The inal shot is the outcome of huge work behind the scenes. The actors called to perform the “comedy” are not just the inal links of the creative chain, they are the depositaries of the team’s ideas, they are their projections, and they are the exact conveyance of the Seven Deadly Things. Iggy Passenger, art consultant
Wrath Reloaded ... or the ifth Deadly Thing
Furious and uncontrolled impetus, born from an ofence believed undeservedly received: that’s Wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Immediate is in literature the reference to Achilles’ wrath on Homer’s Iliad. Nonetheless, the most portrayed wrath in two thousand years of history is the Wrath of God. There is also a wrath typical of melodramas, usually caused by resentment. We inally arrive to nowadays wrath, which seems to blast from nothing? Easy to understand that wrath is a state of alteration. Possibly, it is the only one of the seven sins not caused by egotistic reasons. It can be seen as a momentary explosion of rage, able to drastically alter the reality perception by the individual possessed by wrath, who changes - or loses at all - his/her point of view. Perception of the surroundings and self-awareness shift on a space completely diferent from habitual life. We can say that, in that moment, that he/she is alone with his/her own drama without any relationship with other people. He/she is in an empty space. A typical consequence of this state is hate, a more enduring, stable and relative feeling. As physicists would say, wrath is a “phase transition”, a conined lapse where a transformation, or better, a transiguration, happens. Then everything changes: face, body, reality. Referring to Hieronymus Bosch’s The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Things painting - where Wrath is symbolised by a scule between two drunk peasant while a woman is trying to stop them - it is interesting to linger on its depraved aspect (communal to all the Seven Sins), which assumes habit or inclination to commit a sin. This is the key; To read our own interpretation - or reiteration - of the sin of Wrath. Compared to the Flemish masterpiece, our intention was to strengthen the dichotomy: although taken by a similar rage, the two combatants have diferent genres. Caliban, a man, and Gorgo, a woman, express in their ighting a painful trait of the human kind, a rift which cannot be healed. This deadly split could be recomposed only thanks to the human pietas, symbolised by Persephone. This third character is crying as a tragedy mask, seemingly terriied and helpless, but her sensitivity and her awareness of the evil beneath the wrath gives hope for a way out.
introducing ...
Bella White as
Gorgo
introducing ...
Champ Imi as
Caliban
introducing ...
Elena Tun as
Persephone
anger
despair
rage
wrath
“His Heart was darker than the starless night
For that there is a morn
But in this black Receptacle Can be no Bode of Dawn�
(E. Dickinson)
“– And without drums or music, long hearses
Pass by slowly in my soul; Hope, vanquished, Weeps, and atrocious, despotic Anguish
On my bowed skull plants her black lag” (C. Baudelaire)
“Only a soul full of despair can ever attain serenity and, to be in despair,
you must have loved a good deal and still love the world.�
(B. Cendrars)
“... and the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eye
and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof...�
(Genesis 3:6)
production credits & acknowledgements
photography & set design :: Marco Fazio at mjfstudio ilmmaker :: Patricia Vilani at Suspicious Behaviour ilmmaker :: Paul Sunich at Tracer7Films art director :: Strawberry Love at mjfstudio fashion designer :: Marianna Nardin at Blackmirror Design make-up artist & hair stylist :: Robyn Skinner art consultant :: Iggy Passenger set design consultant :: Claudia Parker construction coordinator :: Urim Mripa at DOT Bespoke CGI designer :: Marco Vacca key scenic :: Michal Mackiewicz assistant photographer :: Debora Palazzo assistant photographer :: Alfredo Ezquerra Sanchez assistant photographer :: Laurent Azemi assistant videographer :: Yhago Maia model, arms & armour scholar :: Bella White model :: Elena Miriam Tun model :: Champ Imi location and set construction :: courtesy of DOT Bespoke, London (UK) oxidised inish for backdrop panel :: courtesy of Metropolis by IVAS, San Mauro Pascoli (Italy) catering :: courtesy of Curled Leaf, West Hampstead, London (UK)
inside the production of Wrath Reloaded The following pages aim to show to the reader what lies behind the scenes and beneath the inal images. I cannot say if the optimal development of this project is due to the touch of God, the hand of the Devil or due to good organisation and careful risk assessment‌ maybe a little of all those factors contributed to making us all work steadily, happily and to achieving what we aimed from the very beginning. As I introduce the more detailed passages by other professionals on the following pages, I would like to mention that every one of us has worked with surprisingly synergy on the given brief. Make-up is not merely used as a cosmetic embellishment of models’ faces; it transigures them, somehow taking away their human features. The characters on set, although furious in their ight, are wearing extremely ine garments, personifying an obsessive self(ish) care. The garments are opposed to the characters indiference to their surroundings, which are in a state of decay, symbolised by the cracked and burned panelled wall behind them. And we conclude with the deeply meaningful fruit: it is a calendar, a revelation of time, its health-bearing symbolism emphasising as its opposite the cruelty of the ighting above. This fruit-and-lowers composition has another purpose as well; 0it leads us back to famous masterpieces by Caravaggio - an artist easily prone to temper tantrums himself! This is a reference that permeates the igurative language of the whole composition. An homage, maybe, but also a declaration of love to the art and its humble, fallible, exalted spokesman.
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behind the scenes photos by Debora Palazzo and Alfredo Ezquerra Sanchez
Marco Fazio, photographer
Michal Mackiewicz, key scenic
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From the very irst sketch made for this project it was clear that location and construction would be key to its success. Nothing achieved could have been possible without the precious collaboration with DOT Bespoke, who gave us their space, material and skilled people to build our set. With reconnaissance, survey of the available space and CAD drawings interchange, we started the pre-production phase. Then, the assembling of a 4-metre high wood panelled wall allowed us to get the perfect backdrop for the scene. Dimensions and camera point of view were particularly important to the project, since the photographic image had to perfectly match the computer generated one, where a Tudor style decorated table has been virtually built.
To complete the dark mood of our representation, we needed a complex lighting design, where each strobe has a very speciic scope: two 6x1â&#x20AC;&#x2122; strip softboxes raised high - not without great rigging diiculties - to assure an overhead, gloomy atmosphere, while gridded frontal spots were aimed at focal points of the scene, giving accent and tone. Two gelled strobes, low on each side, enhance the colours on the moulding of the wall.
Urim Mripa, construction coordinator
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To show decay and devastation we needed a special treatment on the wall surface. The oxidised inish, courtesy of Metropolis by IVAS, painted and then manually scratched by our key scenic artist, itted the brief perfectly
“… And the GCI project began with some good online chit-chat and the irst plot of what it will be.
“From the very beginning, an important issue was to get the real and virtual cameras to match. The viewpoint of the computer generated table has to be identical to the real camera position to compose the two parallel images seamlessly. “After the irst brieing we started to collect some inspiration from historical furnishing. I sourced views of important elements such as big legs with cross links on the base, moulded columns and some decorations to be used on the skirting under the table top.
“The model has been irst created and edited in Solidworks; after an initial dimensioning and rough construction, I got into details, enriching with decoration every element of the table. <
A quick render picture, with real dimension and real position, to compare perspective match
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The virtual set has been built in Modo. A background image helped in positioning lights and camera.â&#x20AC;? Marco Vacca, CGI designer
The inal table ready to be assembled with the photographic image. Shadows are kept with special masks to be reused on inal compositing work in Photoshop
“I have chosen to interpret Wrath Reloaded’s garments with a period military style, emphasising the ighting feel with colours; on Gorgo - the ierce Landsknecht warrior - the deep red of the velvet jacket - colour of blood, ight and wrath - is opposed to the black of the lace top, the corset and the manly trousers, to make her igure even more strong. “On the man - Caliban - I have focused my work primarily on the top half - with a neck piece in feathers and lace to lead the eye onto the character’s face, which is transigured by the exhaustion of the ight. “On the third character - Persephone - who represents the scene’s tragedy, I decided to create a style more intense in colours, choosing textiles and cutting volumes to make a lighter igure in harmony with the remaining elements of the scene; the orange colour of the long draped gown perfectly blends in with the beautiful medieval table. The beige lace top in baroque style gives volume to the top half of the body, and is opposed to a damask textile neck piece adorned with feathers and pearls; it is the optimal choice to frame the face, drawing attention to the tragic expression of the character.” Marianna Nardin, fashion and costume designer at Blackmirror Design
“Designing make-up for such a strongly themed shoot with clear inspiration and references is every makeup artist’s dream simply because you’ve got so many routes to go down. This was a fabulous project for me because I found it really enjoyable using makeup to help tell the story. “For this shoot, I concentrated irst on the element of ‘wrath.’ I wanted the characters that were in combat to look ierce and focussed, so I chose strong colours and shapes with a similar look between the male and the female ighter to help visually lock them in to their battle. Red has traditionally represented wrath, so I made sure each character had a subtle hint of red to their look – Imi just has it around hi s eyes and Bella, as the victor, has it displayed more prominently on her cheeks. Similarly, I wanted to suggest that Imi had been ighting a losing battle by making his hair look wild and unkempt, as if he had been struggling for some time. Choosing strong colours for all the characters, particularly against the girls lighter skin tones, was a little nod to Chiaroscuro, an artistic technique employed by Caravaggio, whom the team referenced throughout the shoot. “Despite the story and the acts her character performs, I still wanted to emphasis Bella’s natural beauty, so added some more luxurious touches to her makeup - she has a glossier pout, and a hint of gold to her eye look. Adding these little embellishments to Bella’s look also made it easier to me to tie in Elena’s makeup to the theme. As a distraught witness, I wanted Elena’s makeup to do two things – irstly, to help set the scene of a luxurious Renaissance banquet, and secondly, to visually suggest a possible transition from her calmer state to the full-blown wrath the other characters are experiencing. I wanted to suggest that perhaps not moments before, Bella was much like Elena – more polished, poised, more calm - or perhaps the hints of red suggest Elena has already started to transition into a more vengeful state? Either way, it was important to me throughout the design period to ensure all the characters were visually linked both to each other and to the notion of wrath. “I always use a mix of brands on photo shoots, but my favourite product used here was my lip pencil in Vino by MAC. As the name suggests, it’s a deep wine colour – always fashionable at the time of year and spotted on a fair few runways to boot. And, of course, a wine-coloured lip ties the look in beautifully to the gorgeous Caravaggio-style feast spread out on the table!” Robyn Skinner, make-up artist & hair stylist
“I love theatricality and I need to be transported to another part of my crazy brain from time to time; it keeps me alive, stimulated and full of passion. Working on Wrath Reloaded with this team has been to me particularly special; the individuals involved in creating this work all had the same approach in enthusiasm and drive. We moulded the project into our dream, our “Piece of Art”. “Most of us had not worked together before. It can be a challenging condition at times, but from the moment we all met and had our initial brainstorming, the creative minds electriied the design process. Ideas and concepts just lowed and lowed; we were almost drowned in this whirlwind of fresh and exciting thoughts. I felt energised and had my Strawberry-brain moving into ifth gear with how I wanted the inal outcome to look. The team continued to forge ideas and work on their pieces, from clothing to make-up, but let’s not forget that the stage needed to be designed and created. The set was built in about three days, erecting a wall and creating a plinth for our models to perform on. Unfortunately I did not assist with this phase, but the creation was documented day by day and sent to us all via photographs, which was very exciting to see; it deinitely helped me in thinking of poses and how all of this could come together on the shoot day. “The organisation was key to our success: everyone had their role and everyone stuck to their remit! “The inal shoot day was a good day, although having the responsibility of creating the fruit display was rather daunting as I did have Caravaggio to “compete” with! Cutting up a watermelon with a Stanley knife was rather tricky but manageable under the circumstances, maybe another hidden talent I have lurking beneath. I particularly loved the fruit display and looking at the inal image, I think even Caravaggio would have hired me to set his stage! Once the stage was set, the models dressed and made-up, my work commenced. “Bring on the maestro!” I hear you say. Yep, it was rather like that! I felt like a conductor with my beautiful instruments all creating harmonious music. The models had all read the brief and embraced their roles as true professionals, all working together in synergy. Although poor Bella had the task of wheedling the 5’6” sword, which was very heavy, nobody got hurt and no limbs were chopped of by mistake. Seeing the end result brought a rather big grin to my Strawberry-face; it was so emotional to see all our work come across in such a strong powerful image, with every detail looking magniicent from the smallest grape to the wonderful clothes created by our designer. I would be delighted to work with this team again and hope that you all enjoy this project as much as we did creating it! Strawberry Love, art director at mjfstudio
www.mjfstudio.com © 2013 mjfstudio photographic bureau all rights reserved No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author, Marco Fazio, mjfstudio photographic bureau.
supports
“I have always seen wrath and hate as those big waves that wipe every life around. Always present in time and history, they are ignored as much as possible until war and destruction come, and we suddenly face populations of human beings humiliated by hunger, desolation and illness. ‘Let’s acknowledge the frustration of people, even if it’s very diicult and painful. Let’s listen to their distress, before it becomes hate. Help people stand up on their feet again, with self-pride and hard work. Hate comes from imprisonment, dependence, and self-loathing. Give somebody the freedom and tools to change their lives: you will change the world. “Give a Future believes in empowering children and young adults through education. We help them reach economic independence through school, training and micro inance. Finding a job and sending their children to school changes their lives and those of their whole family.” Stefania Calice, Give a Future founder
Wrath Reloaded ... or the fifth Deadly Thing
The Seven Deadly Sins are able to depict multiple nuances of human fascinations, a sort of primary colour chart useful to combine a rich chromatic palette. Marco Fazio and mjfstudio show here one of the seven sets used to depict the human comedy. Their stylistic research is used as an interpretation register, which is not intended as restraint to experimentation… Quite opposite, it is a challenge! Personal interpretation is often a perfidious terrain, a mermaid seducing the artist... This book illustrates the whole production process from initial sketches, set construction and computer generated images to behind the scenes and set pictures, and including a foreword and testimonials by the team members. It is definitely a deep and intriguing look inside a complex fashion/fine art photo shoot.
Every income from the sales of this book and eBook will be donated to the humanitarian organisation Give a Future www.giveafuture.org.uk