Cameron Mackintosh - Pt.2 Analysis of his Posters

Generally the first thing you notice is how bold the whole imagery is; clear iconic illustrations that take ones eyes around about 3 second maximum to understand and intake the information. Mackintosh’s way of portraying the shows theme is not through presenting actual photos of the cast themselves, but to present the most gripping aspects grab its audience.

Mary Poppins – The first thing I noticed was the Disney & Cameron Mackintosh production, so many of the original films element were still there; the shape of Mary Poppins figure is to the exact visual as seen back in 1964 which adds for instant recognition. Again the blue background with the city of London, another film reference hits home to the viewer and could even let them start reminiscing. The typeface I think adds a new bold feel to the new Broadway visual, a strong yet the mysterious font that not being perfectly aligned creates that past feeling of the wacky and comedic story/singsong ahead.

The Phantom of the Opera – With Mackintosh being placed in charge of production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s worldwide known score, there was huge emphasis on what the visuals were to be. Straight away he knew he wanted just the mask and only supporting features surrounding it. The dark rich royal purple delicate cloth with a hard glowing white mask and rose flower sitting on top leaves the viewer edging for the story because you cannot see any characters. Even the title text at the bottom of the poster is only there for clarification. If you were to compare the ‘mask only’ posters to many others that have been created, the instant impact just isn’t there when over-layered with more abstract details such as the actors. Moreover the surprise of first seeing the Phantom in the show itself is also lost.

Oliver – I personally like this poster a lot, the use of placing the text in sit’tue with a character/object with the story works great if done well. The use of negative black space with the painted style embossed logo added to represent the character of ‘Fagin’ himself but also being a key part of the story triggers a lot thoughts of to the viewer. Oliver is being over shadowed in the poster, but that’s the whole theme of and beauty of the story/show itself…. Brilliant!

With all Broadway, Las Vegas or West-End shows, all the graphics and imagery is worldwide known and must world on a large display scale for billboards etc. So from this one knows that the story/understanding and interest of the show must be translated within 3-5 seconds minimum to a potential viewer.

My plan is now to develop a visual that communicates wonderland in 3 seconds.

Cameron Mackintosh - Introduction

When speaking to Drama Lecturers/Students on their views on the production of musical theatre shows, nearly all spoke of Mackintosh quoting “that was the man that changed the way all Broadway poster advertisements are today, the simple iconic image that everybody knows around the world.”

Mackintosh is notable as a producer for his transformation of the musical into a global, highly profitable brand, and was the first theatrical producer to recognize that both touring productions and worldwide productions (often in countries where musicals were seldom seen, such as the former eastern bloc countries in the early 90s) were potentially highly lucrative markets which could, collectively, match and even surpass the revenues generated from New York and London productions.

In mounting productions across the globe, he has maintained tight creative control of his musicals in order to ensure the consistency and quality of the productions, no matter where they are seen. As far as possible, productions worldwide of Mackintosh musicals use the same staging, production design, lighting, front-of-house design, and orchestrations as their London and New York counterparts.

This is a departure from previous practice, where international productions of West End or Broadway musicals would often be licensed out to foreign producers and entirely reconceived locally, with highly variable and often substandard results.

“The most successful, influential and powerful producer & creative director of our time.”

The New York Times

Alice In Wonderland - Book Read

The book tells the story of Alice, a young girl who follows the White Rabbit down a rabbit hole. At the bottom, she finds herself in a room with a tiny door and a bottle labeled "drink me." She grows and shrinks depending on what she eats and drinks, and as a small version of herself, finds herself swimming in a pool of tears amongst other wacky experiences i.e. meeting a crazy or better expressed as a ‘Mad Hatter’.

Alice and her adventures are probably known the world around. Her story has been made into movies, television specials and stage plays. This imaginative tale is timeless. So is the book. The book describes the action and characters, yet still leaves so much room for the imagination to roam. If you've never read this children's book, do so. If you read it a long time ago, renew the friendships. You can't go wrong with this one. It's not just for children, I personally think is no matter what year it is or how old you are, Alice's adventures will never become dull. Lewis Carroll also wrote “Through the Looking Glass” and “What Alice Found There” six years after “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”, and some of the characters from this book also appear in the Disney movie.

What I took from the story itself was the strong influences of children on the verge of adulthood sometimes find themselves too small for adult privileges while being forced to talk on the no-fun world of adult responsibilities.

Robbie Williams - You Know Me (Music Video)

In the music video of track “You Know Me”, Robbie Williams falls asleep and wakes up alone in his dressing room. On walking through his mirror, falling down a rabbit hole he finds himself dressed as a rabbit in a waistcoat, exploring a fantasy world.

The main theme of the video is he exploring the lyrics and direct emotions from the song and referencing it on Alice in Wonderland level of expression – loud, visual and odd! After he finishes exploring the fantasy world he dances with a group of women also dressed as rabbits; however, this time he is wearing make-up to complete his transformation of being the White Rabbit.

A recurring lyric is “Since you went away, my heart breaks everyday, you don’t know because your not there..” – maybe Robbie had lost his own Alice at the time of writing this song?

Sir John Tenniel - The Visionary Of Wonderland

Sir John Tenniel was a world-famous English illustrator who lived between the years of 1820 and 1914. He was a very well known political cartoonist for the magazine Punch but most well known for his illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, which are considered to be his finest and most enduring achievement.

Tenniel's illustrations were a world of unusual looking faces, un-life like proportions and darker shades of ink sketching for tone and detail. After receiving precise instructions as to his vision of Alice, he drew several pictures of “Alice” entirely out of proportion – head decidedly too large and feet decidedly too small in finally creating the final character we see in the final publish.

The illustrations for the 'Alice' books were engraved onto blocks of wood, to be printed in the wood engraving process (where ink is applied to the face of the block and printed by using relatively low pressure).

His illustrations were used as a reference for the costumes in Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with every other form of media taking bits and pieces of Tenniel’s visuals placing the “o, d, d” in Wonderland.

Personally, what I enjoy about the work of Tenniel is that every source of Alice In Wonderland in the present works off of his initial vision for the story. I would like to develop my ideas also influenced by his work because of its instant impact to the viewer; it’s just very iconic and different. Moreover I quite like the black and white sketching; using his original feel as much as the most recent versions of Carroll’s story would be a lot more loyal to the books publish birth.

(Tenniel also has the same birth date as myself: 28^th February).

Labrinth - Earthquake ft. Tinie Tempah (Music Video)

With creating his own new sound singer/songwriter “Labrinth” (the producer behind Tinie Tempah’s – Pass Out) looks to have the idea same behind his official debut music video.

Earthquake is a bit like moving through a real-life video game and consists of an evolving musical world. Featuring wild CGI animations, a transforming Cherry Mini Cooper, futuristic sound-scapes and wildly booming boom boxes, the video contains just the right amount of bold imagery that the song requires.

Must say one of my favourite moments in the video is when Labrinth appears dressed as a modern-day ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ who finds a moment of Zen before he transforms into one gigantic sonic creature that spits out none other than Tinie Tempah who sets the tune on fire with his spitfire rhymes.

The main theme I gained from this visual was that nothing was, as it seemed, but a musical Wonderland.

Alice In Wonderland: McLeod vs Burton

1933 Film (Director: Norman McLeod)

The 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland was not the first time Carroll's books had been adapted to the screen, but it was, at that time, the most extravagant. The film was a star-studded affair from Paramount, with established names portraying various characters that Alice encounters on her bizarre journey.

When reading some reviews of the film on the web, filmgoers looking to play Spot the Star were sorely disappointed, and I agree in that sense, but not in terms of viewing a story. The film is in black and white and in my opinion does lose some truth to the spirit of Carroll in terms of initial bright, striking features. On the other hand, the production designs based on Sir John Tenniel’s famous illustrations are impressively faithful to the book that adds a very inventive, oddball and whimsical feel.

What I’ve taken from this is how blatant the odd features are in this version of Wonderland. At times the viewer can be very athletically surprised how in ones face the scenes are portrayed. Also with this creative direction the viewer can follow a steady story, understand the characters features… But personality of characters old dress-up and dialogue can defiantly be described as ‘weird’ by most.

2010 Film (Director: Tim Burton)

Tim Burton’s new take with this movie imagines Alice returning as a 19-year-old to this strange land, to find that it is plunged in gloom. The tea party is still going, but all the dishes are wrecked.

It is very difficult to tell if this is an intentional answer to Carroll's original jokey Wonderland or just part of the inevitable gothic darkness that most associate Burton conjures up.

But working off of that, Burton's visual design is of course highly distinctive; the new vision through 3D visuals, character design, and performances along side top quality green-screen work make being inside the Queen Of Hearts Castle or sat at The Hatters Tea Table a very interesting and mind spinning experience. (Even though here I have to raise a complaint against the subliminal corporate-branding which makes the White Queen's palace look like the Disney castle logo.)

The great thing about this movie in terms of my research is that Burton is more of an image-maker than a storyteller. Noting down inspiration on his take of Wonderland is a huge influence to follow and steer away from at the same time to allow me to create a further wonderland of my own. Moreover you are able to view how far the setting of Wonderland has come.

Eminem's "Relapse" Packaging is 'Lethal'

Something I thought of which was similar to the "Spiritualized" packaging John showed us in Lecture 1.

Eminem prescribes his to listeners to his history of drug-use with the packaging of album "Relapse". The front cover being a face made from a pill'ed collage, the in-lay representing the interactive medication tub feel, and a back cover artwork in a prescription form layout style.

Known as the album when he was at the last stage of fighting his addiction, I think the message is to let the audience know why he's been so angry over the years... The aesthetics of the album are as if you're going through the stage of his life with him, a key selling point.