VISUALITY

Everything we see.

The idea that everything together, the mise-en-scène, creates a heightened experience of a film's form. Your mise-en-scène, your design, your plan, your Visuality creates a more unique experience for me.

   Your Visuality is unique to you, your visual take on any topic, any theme, your way of seeing your World. Like Francis Bacon, Frida Kalo, Bahz Lurhman, Jane Campion or Peter Greenaway or Marina Abramović. Any detail in your mise-en-scène can cue any aspect of the theme's dramatic question. Literally, figuratively, allegorically, metaphorically, as subtext or as an emotional trigger. The semiosis and emotional embrace is then mine to experience by my free will as your active Audience, willingly suspending my disbelief and ego to enter your mise-en-scène.

 

THEMATIC VISUALITY

Thematic visuality is an interdisciplinary research area between Gestalt and Philosophy. Visual Themes are inspired by non-language semiotic symbolism through art history and Phenomenology and Consciousness Philosophy through the free will Act of Being.

   Each design, such as a character's design, can represent something within the theme. Such as a skull for mortality. The design is the theme, visually. This can be literally, figuratively, symbolically, metaphorically or as visual subtext, both on an intellectual level but also on a subconscious level for the audience.

 

Examples

E.T.'s glowing finger, touching and healing Elliot's emotional wound: empathy.

 

Mozart's crazy wig, bright colours and hysterical laugh ridiculing Salieri's strict grooming and faith in Amadeus. Notice the camera looking up at Salieri, empowering him, and down at Amadeus, suppressing his visual status during his visit to the court. He is also excluded in the compositions through proximity, the others grouped visually together.

 

The colour details In Schlinder's List representing hope and faith, like the flame and the girl.

 

Se7en's open titles characterizing the insanity behind humanity's worse sin: murder.


Apple's Apple icon referring to the Apple from the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden, the source of good and evil.

 

I.e. composition, design and culture creates context.

BACKGROUND

I began exploring Thematic Visuality as my reSearch at Uppsala University in Sweden 2010-2020 as I during my tenure as Associate Professor in Gestalt. But I not an academic. I was appointed on artistic merit.

 

reSEARCH

This playful graphic design of the word research represents that I am re-visiting – re-searching – my methods, documenting and thinking about why and what I am doing, artistically. Pass it forward.

 

A NOTE ON REFERENCING

Sources are Oxford standard credited. If a source can not be validated it will not be credited to avoid false credit. So some sources are left unaccredited intentionally. Art and design are practice-based. Many ideas are best practices and wisdom, taught and learned through sharing, through history. So proper credit might not be traceable. Like the "Zorn" palette was not invented by Zorn. He learned it at The Royal Art Academy in Stockholm as student. Source unverified.

 

© Leopold. Certain rights reserved.

Please see each paper specifically.