Wednesday 6 November 2013

Secret Lairs OGR 1

1 comment:

  1. OGR 07/11/2013

    Hey Livi,

    I must say how much I loved your approach to the 'character statement' - loved what you did there :) Indeed, I'm very satisfied by your intellectual approach to this project - and the complexity of your suggested character. You know, I'm just wondering if you need 'real' caves at all? They seem like the ghost of your first idea, which has since been subsumed by the richness of your character's time and place. Maybe 'The Cenote' should simply be the name of your character's 'establishment' - and that it should indeed be 'cave-like' but not an actual cave; maybe the lair is the room at the back of the club - or better still below it? I like very much the 'fin de siecle' element to your idea, and so I'm tempted to suggest you look at Christopher Isherwood's Berlin just before WW2, as captured in Bob Fosse's Oscar-winning musical Cabaret:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE3xrfjAJfs

    and also at the paintings of Otto Dix and George Grosz.

    You might want to look at Baz Lurhmann's Moulin Rouge!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtEgAx80NC4

    and do a bit of research into Montmarte, Paris:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmartre

    You've evoked such a strong character here, Livi - that I'd encourage you to go a little further in terms of determining a clear time-period, geography and culture to associate this character with, and to therefore abandon the genericism of those caves, and instead lock-onto some rich, real world reference and bold style: for example, how fascinating would it be were you to adopt the style of Aubrey Beardsley (that great decadent!) and use that to generate your secret lair floor plan and interior architecture?

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ifHMA3RYO-g/UEAFPhIrw2I/AAAAAAAAEIM/Fvk2SXTVgHQ/s1600/Blog+is+the+new+Black_Aubrey+Beardsley+05.jpg

    So - a bit more investigation - particularly in terms of aesthetics associated with decadence and fin-de-siecle zeitgeist (Art Nouveau, for example) - and commit more completely to the Cenote being a metaphor, as opposed to physical reality. In terms of the hero prop, the idea of a chalice certainly evokes thoughts of dodgy ritual and intoxication, so yet, that seems in keeping to me - but let some of this additional research filter in there too. Onwards!

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