S.R. Wild: Artist and Graphic Designer

More Metropolis

Good news for all you Metropolis fans out there, most of the original cut has been found (the original ZEITmagazin article, if you speak German). It hasn’t been seen as Fritz Lang intended since its original release and the missing scenes were thought to have been lost forever. It’s just a deteriorated 16mm copy of the original 35mm film, but it’s better than nothing.

I would imagine yet another version of the film is going to be re-re-re-released that includes these newly discovered scenes. The version I currently have (my third so far) has blank areas where the missing scenes would have been and subtitles describing what happens based on the original script. It’s long as it is and with these new scenes it’ll be even longer.

In celebration of this rare discovery I’m going watch Metropolis tonight. If anyone wants to join me and possibly Magpie (she likes black & white movies), feel free to stop by.

These deteriorated images are really striking on their own.

The Gleaners and I

glean verb
• extract (information) from various sources
• collect gradually and bit by bit
• gather (leftover grain or other produce) after a harvest

Once in a great while I watch a movie that gets me so excited and motivated I start foaming at the mouth and jump up and down. This happened to me last night when I watched The Gleaners and I.

The Gleaners and I is a French documentary by Agnès Varda. Armed with a hand-held camera, she travels to different parts of France, documenting the various aspects of gleaning: types of gleaning, gleaners, and the laws on gleaning.

She travels to potato fields, apple groves, and vineyards, in the rural areas of France to document the original type of gleaning where people gather what’s leftover after the harvest. It’s amazing how much is left after the harvesters (usually a machine) have gone through. Moments after the harvesters are done, the gleaners arrive to pick their fill. Not surprisingly, the places that have a problem with gleaning are the vineyards.

She then travels to the city to document urban gleaning. After the outdoor markets close, gleaners search the ground for fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat — one gentleman, walks around eating what he finds as if he were at a buffet. She talks to others who get all their food from trash bins.

She interviewed an artist who works exclusively with found materials. His work was amazing. He obtains all of his art supplies by biking to various refuse collection spots around Paris. Another artist, who obtains his supplies the same way, created his home out of junk (a lot were doll parts, his preferred medium).

You can see why this movie appealed to me: I’m a gleaner. I’ve often wondered why I glean. I guess I’m just looking for something, but I don’t know what it is. I’ll know when I find it. Of course, I may never find it and that’s OK because looking is the fun part.

Watching this movie made me remember something: When I was younger, I used to go to the potato fields behind my house (I posted a panoramic photograph of the fields a few posts ago) with my mother and grandfather after the harvest and we’d glean the fields. Then, we’d go back home and cook them.

Thanks to Eva for recommending this movie, you rock!

Wristcutters: A Love Story

I bought a copy of Wristcutters: A Love Story the other day. I rarely buy movies when they first come out, which should indicate how much I liked it. I don’t usually like love stories, especially if there is a happy ending — maybe I’m too cynical and I’ve been burned too many times. The novella, Kneller’s Happy Campers, the movie is based on doesn’t have a happy ending; I’d like to check it out.

In a nutshell, Zia commits suicide after breaking up with his girlfriend, only to find himself in an afterlife that’s like life, just a bit worse: no one can smile or laugh and there are no stars in the sky. He finds out that his girlfriend killed herself too, so Zia and Eugene (loosely based on Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello) go on a road trip to find her.

I was attracted to this movie when I heard Tom Waits was in it. He did a great job and his character is fantastic. In one scene he tells the best tree story I’ve ever heard:

Once upon a time there was a crooked tree and a straight tree, and they grew next to each other. And every day the straight tree would look at the crooked tree and he would say, “You’re crooked. You’ve always been crooked and you’ll continue to be crooked.”

“But look at me! Look at me!” said the straight tree. “I’m tall, and I’m straight.”

And one day the lumberjacks came into the forest and looked around, and the manager in charge said, “Cut all the straight trees!”

And that crooked tree is still there to this day, growing strong, and growing strange.

Wonderful story.

I was disappointed to see the theatrical poster wasn’t used for the DVD. I hate when studios, distributors, or whoever is in charge does that. I really liked the poster. I love the signs in the background depicting various ways to commit suicide and the heart-shaped drops of blood on the main sign. It was refreshing to see a poster that was all graphics without any human figures.

Here’s a clip with Gogol Bordello’s “Through the Roof ’n’ Underground” (one of my favorite songs) playing in the background:

Grow strange but don’t be strangers, my dear readers.

Star Wars Titles by Saul Bass

Saul Bass is one of my graphic design heroes. If you don’t know him by name, I’m sure you’re familiar with his work: He did the titles and posters for Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, Anatomy of a Murder, and many more movies. Now that I sort of work in the film industry as a graphic designer, I have even more of an interest in his work. (I’m actually procrastinating on a film festival project right now.)

If Saul Bass did the titles for Star Wars, it might look something like this and I might have an interest in Star Wars…

Blade Runner: The Partial Cut

I went to see a midnight showing of Blade Runner: The Final Cut tonight. It was excellent seeing it on the big screen — what I saw of it anyway. Midway through the movie, right after Deckard forced himself on Rachael, the screen went blank. The audio was still going, I thought it was part of the Final Cut, but it went on too long. The lights came on and someone announced there was a problem: the projector caught on fire. I hope it is OK.

I must be cursed; I’ve been to many movies where something has gone wrong with the film or projector. Theatres should not let me into their establishments.

I’m bummed out, I was looking forward to this. It’s been playing for a couple of weeks and I’ve been trying to find someone to go, but I gave up and just went by myself. I hope it’s playing next weekend because I have a voucher for a ticket and popcorn — although popcorn gives me the winds.

I have one of the many versions of Blade Runner here. I might have to go watch the rest of it. I lived in an apartment where that was one of the three movies we had; I watched it before I went to sleep every night for a month. Even though I’ve seen it a hundred times, it’s still one of my favorite movies. Plus, I identify with J.F. Sebastian: were both little guys; he’s a genetic designer, I’m a graphic designer; we both live alone surrounded by lots of stuff; and we both make friends and our own worlds.

(Sort of) Recent Work

I’ve been meaning to put up some of my recent work, but it’s a chore that I haven’t gotten around to (one of many). Tonight, I dug up and uploaded a few things from a few months ago that I’ve wanted to get up here.

First, is the poster and website I did for the Vermont International Film Festival (VtIFF) back in September and October. I also established the branding that was used on everything for the festival. This included the logo, which I didn’t exactly redesign. Bill Simmon let me borrow a metal disk with an old VtIFF logo cut out of it that was used for projecting (think Batman symbol searchlight). It was burnt and lovely. I scanned it, reworked it, and added some modified type. It’s funny, there was an article in a local paper about the festival and they wrote “The VIFF has a hip new logo designed by artist [not my name]….” Oh well, it’s not a big deal — although I would have liked to get some ink. It’s not the writer’s fault (her writing is top-notch by the way) or anyone else’s, there was just some confusion in festival’s press release.

Way back in July, I designed a t-shirt for Seven Days’ t-shirt design contest. I didn’t win, but my design was one of the clever designs that did not make the final cut.

That’s all for now. I’ll have more up soon eventually. Right now, I’m focused on redesigning this site instead of adding more stuff. When it’s done there will be tons of stuff to gawk at.

Control

Control is playing at the Roxy starting this Friday. I highly recommend seeing it if you have an interest in Ian Curtis, Joy Division, black & white film, epilepsy, depression, button-down shirts, and/or artists who die tragically young.

I saw it last month in a packed theatre at Le Festival de Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal. Although parts hit a little too close to home, for reasons I’d rather not divulge, I loved it. Stunning cinematography, good music, and a sad story equal fantastic in my book. I’d see it again.

Since Control is coming, that means Wristcutters is leaving and I need to get my sorry ass down there before Friday.

I leave you with one of Joy Division’s most famous and frequently covered songs:

“Love Will Tear Us Apart”
lyrics by Ian Curtis, 1979

When routine bites hard
and ambitions are low
And resentment rides high
but emotions won’t grow
And we’re changing our ways
taking different roads

Love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again

Why is the bedroom so cold
turned away on your side?
Is my timing that flawed
our respect run so dry?
Yet there’s still this appeal
that we’ve kept through our lives

Love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again

Do you cry out in your sleep,
all my failings expose?
Gets a taste in my mouth
as desperation takes hold
Why is it something so good
just can’t function no more?

Love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again
Love, love will tear us apart again

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