I need to unpack my scanner cable so that I can actually post the sketches I have done. That will be done later tonight. My concept is as follows: I want to illustrate Ellen Degeneres and her ecstasy over her forthcoming marriage (to her girlfriend Portia di Rossi) in June. I don't know if you guys remember as clearly as I do that sequence in Return of the King when Gollum (poor thing) finally gets the One Ring by biting off Frodo's finger, and he is capering around the edge of a precipice. There is a fantastic shot of Gollum with a look of immense satisfaction and just overwhelming triumph on his face as he holds up the ring and peers at it. I want to replace Gollum with Ellen to celebrate her long-awaited marriage.
Anyway, more later. I'll post a screen capture of the original shot in the movie and my sketches...
In regards to the question of John Hendrix admin-ing on Summer Studio, I agree that we should extend to him authorship on the blog, as long as we aren't being secretly graded.
Cheers!
6 comments:
Hey Alan,
You're never on AIM! Let me know what you're doing this summer.
Anyway, the concept sounds awesome! Unfortunately, people outside of the Lord of the Rings clique won't get it, but I don't think that matters. I think the key to your success will be making it very clear exactly what moment you are referring to as well as a really poignant expression on Ellen's face that references Gollum. (I love his facial expressions!) What media will you use? I can't wait to see it.
The problem with using Gollum is that he's such a negative character...and has connotations of greed & self-centeredness which I'm guessing you don't feel about Ellen Degeneres....who couldn't love Ellen?
On the other hand, I couldn't stand Ellen when she whined about her dog. You could take the cheap shot if you think it will work. You have to consider your audience.
On second thought I kind of agree with Rachel. Its hard for me since I LOVE evil, creepy characters like Gollum (as we know). But the metaphor is definitely a huge stretch...how can we equate Ellen's long wait for her marriage with Gollum's relationship to the ring, which has destroyed him and turned him into a despicable creature? I don't know how you could make that work...maybe if there's a lot of humor somehow?
I agree with Rachel and Ryan's second opinion. Not only do I not really understand why you're comparing her to Gollum, the specificity of that reference might hurt you. What are you trying to say? She's waited a long time? Has the wait made her evil? Uh, no, not to my knowledge. I like the 'ring' connection, though: perhaps how she steals the ring from Gollum? Who's Gollum in that situation? Is that getting too literal? Possibly. The parallel between the latent homosexual relationship between Sam and Frodo is also intriguing, but now we may have ended up way, way out in the outfield.
Hey guys, thanks a lot for the input.
I definitely see the problem with drawing a direct comparison between Ellen and Gollum. My original thought behind this concept was to make the comparison between Gollum's long, expectant wait for the Ring and Ellen's long, expectant wait for the right to marriage and the similar sense of triumph in seeing their waiting come to an end. I overlooked that casting Ellen in Gollum's place (partly because I feel like Gollum is such a sympathetic character) would load her with all the negative connotations of the creature.
MikeC, I really like your suggestion to illustrate a theft of the ring from Gollum instead. If I cast Gollum as the religious right, I think that the illustration would comment on the obsessed possessiveness that the religious right has on the institution of marriage. It would also still address the prolonged hoarding and waiting of my earlier concept.
Thanks a lot guys!
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