Welcome to the High Voltage Art Blog.
Laura
Welcome to High Voltage Art
September 11, 2008Tribute
February 11, 2010Today Britain, and the world, lost an amazing fashion designer. [BBC NEWS STORY]
Alexander [Lee] McQueen was, and will remain to be, one of my favourite British fashion designers. Here’s just some of the reasons why.
When I find the words to describe exactly how much I admire Alexander McQueen I will, but for now, the photos will do the job perfectly!
Bêtes de Mode
January 23, 2010View my latest blog over at my new home LauraWalsh.wordpress.com
Melancholic Technology
December 10, 2009This year we got a new CS lecturer and he is fantastic. When he speaks you feel utterly compelled to listen, he is insightful, funny and more than knowledgeable.
Last week he did a lecture on the ‘Non-Place’ and melancholia towards technology and it got me thinking.
There used to be a Utopian idea of the future. This future would be one where 
we were at one with technology, we lived happily alongside many other species of humanoids, and doors make a ‘whoosh’ noise as they open.
Maybe we’d all know someone like Spock or Warf. Maybe you’d be the Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise.
But this Utopian image has been tainted because of an uncertainty about the future.
Global crisis, images of wars, destructive technology such as the A-Bomb, things that even if eradicated cannot be forgotten, create a hazy future. One where there are no whooshy doors!
We now suffer a disenchantment with technology because of the way it has deconstructed our idea of the future. We feel like we’ve lost something, but we’re not entirely sure what – we don’t know how to get over falling out of love with technology – thus we all suffer from techno-melancholia.
The point of this is one of the very poignant examples this lecturer gave of a lack of a Utopian future. He explained that many games are marketed on the uncertainty of the future.
In Gears of War the main character, Marcus Fenix, is part of a ruined wasteland and he’s trying to find a meaning to his life. But he is not trying to fight for a better future. He has no beliefs, he knows he has no future.
The images of the Dystopian landscape are played out alongside a very melancholic soundtrack, emphasising the complete lack of faith and hope.
I’m not really into video games, because I am generally rubbish at them, but I absolutely loved the theory behind this, and really wanted to share it with you all!
I Love Jewellery
October 8, 2009One of my loves is jewellery. But I don’t like to wear just any old jewellery, I find myself drawn to unusual, beautifully crafted pieces. I wanted to share with you a small selection of my favourite places to find said items, and show you why I love them! So my first stop is a shop you might find on your high street.
Frilly Airline Brooch, £8 – I’ll definitely be looking for this one next time I pop into Accessorize.
Jingle Owl Long Pendant Necklace, £12. This was my last buy from Accessorize and I am completely in love with it. It’s even better seeing it for real!
Now for three of my favourite online shops!
Rock N Rose on Twitter – @rocknroseuk
The Exclusive Collection: Pocket Watch – £25. This has a gorgeous mirror on the inside instead of its expected clock. Makes a fantastic alternative to your regular compact mirror!
The Exclusive Collection: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds – £17. Vintage. Parisian. Gorgeous.
Sugar Mouse on Twitter – @sugarmouseshop
Матрёшка Doll, £10. The great thing about this item is that each doll is a different colour and you get a surprise doll! I love that!
Hello, Sailor!, £10. The nautical theme is in, and this fulfills the trend wonderfully!
This Charming Girl on Twitter – @tcgjewellery
I’m Late, I’m Late, £8.50. Love it! Plain and simple! Its very ‘me’!
Treasure Chest, £12.50. This opens us and just made me go ‘wow’. This Charming Girl turns 3 years old tomorrow (9th Oct 09) so to mark the occasion there is free P&P all day! I’ll definitely be ordering a couple of things!
Magical Muse
September 27, 2009At the beginning of August I posted a blog entitled ‘Rock & Roll Chic’ that focused on the Burberry ads featuring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame. After a quick look at ‘Google’ image results for the actress’ name I found that Burberry wasn’t the only design outfit interested in the star.
It seems that Miss Watson has become somewhat of an artists muse, and rightly so. Emma Watson, known for playing Hermione Granger, one of the heroic trio in the Harry Potter series, has progressed rapidly in the fashion stakes and is definitely a natural model. I wanted to put together a small collection of photographs from international photographers who have chosen Emma as a muse for recent shoots, and I’ll start with a collection of the Burberry shots.
Photograph by: Mario Testino
Photograph by: Mario Testino
Photograph by: Mario Testino
Mova
August 26, 2009I’m really beginning to like Twitter I come across a lot of information that I find interesting. Just a few minutes ago I read the following:
For those of you that don’t know, Oliver Phelps is the actor who plays George Weasley in the Harry Potter series. I can only assume that the facial scan is the beginnings of the effects that will create the illusion that George only has one ear. [Yeah that's a spoiler, problem?] I have @replied him asking if this is what the scan was for but I’m sure he has far more interesting/important things to be doing than replying to random people such as myself.
I decided to ‘google’ the VFX MOVA facial scan and am amazed at what the technology can do! Check out this video its just fascinating that they can achieve such realism.
Another little bit of information from Oliver Phelps’ Twitter page:
And the scan is not to create the missing ear which I have concluded from the following:
So I skimmed Deathly Hallows very quickly last night in the hope of coming up with the answer to my own curiosity as to where this would be used.
One option is for the diversion in the chapter The Seven Potters. I assumed the scene would just involve lots of filming for Daniel because everyone has to look just like Harry. But then I thought back to the Polyjuice scene in The Chamber of Secrets and compared that to the one in Deathly Hallows.
In CoS the trio are in bathroom cubicles and although we get a description of the transformation in the book we don’t have a vantage point in the films that allows us to see what is happening.
In DH they are all in the kitchen of the Dursley house. We will be able to see their entire transformation and their won’t be a way to avoid that. And by using the 29 cameras mentioned by Oliver and the expertise of the cgi team we should be able to see the fantastic transformations of George, Fred, Fleur, Hermione, Ron and Mundungus into six identical Harry Potters.
Now I am excited about this film!
Links:
www.twitter.com/OliverPhelps
www.twitter.com/hva_junkie
www.mova.com
Joking Around
August 16, 2009The creative review blog recently featured some of the work of Nicholas Saunders, one of the assistant graphic artists on the Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince movie. The small team of four designers, Senior Graphic Artists Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima and their assistants Saunders and Lauren Wakefield created such delights as the Magical Moustache Miracle Stubble Grow packaging for the Weasley Twins’ joke shop.
The images that appeared on the CR blog are ones that Nicholas Saunders personally designed. All images belong to WarnerBros
Now I have some problems with a couple of these images, I just wouldn’t have even shown them to my boss the way they are! And how did they get signed off?!
Can you spot the mistakes?
Wonderland Correction
August 16, 2009September’s Sight & Sound magazine features a little information about the coming Alice in Wonderland movie. Information that contradicts what I posted from Empire magazine a couple of blogs ago!
‘The Film borrows characters and scenes from both Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’ books, but tells a new story. Alice (played in the film by newcomer Mia Wasikowska) is now 17. After her parents try to marry her off against her will, she once again disappears down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, a place she hasn’t visited for ten years, and of which she initially has no memory. All is not well in Wonderland as the Red Queen has replaced her sister, The White Queen (Anne Hathaway), in power, and the creatures of Wonderland ask Alice to help them revolt. The cast includes Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Michael Sheen as the White Rabbit, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat, Christopher Lee as Jabberwock and Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.’
After a bit of googling I have found many sources saying Alice is 17 in Burton’s remake. I’ve also looked back at Empire to find out if I made a typo and Mia Wasikowska is quoted as saying Alice is 19. So Wasikowska made an accidental slip or Empire did. I’m now assuming Alice to be 17 during this new visit to Wonderland!
As accompaniment to this correction here is another shot of Depp as the Mad Hatter
Imagination Galore
August 11, 2009Here are the trailers for two films that I have already fallen in love with and cannot wait for the release of.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
&
Alice In Wonderland
Enjoy =]
Rock & Roll Chic
August 11, 2009I wanted to share with you the Burberry A/W 09 collection ads. Shot by Mario Testino, featuring Emma Watson.
Emma has really climbed high in the fashion stakes over the past couple of years and has hit the nail on the head with some of her recent looks. She looks fantastic in these Burberry ads. The ads master rock and roll chic perfectly. Her hair is tousled but not in manner that exudes a lack of effort. Her smokey eyes are balanced with natural cheeks and lips. The look definitely works on Emma.
She has a slight look of Marianne Faithfull from back in the days of the Swinging London scene. Part of the rock and roll scene Marianne Faithfull certainly dressed the part.
Marianne almost certainly influenced the look of Kate Moss. Faithfull even accused Moss of befriending her in order to study her then steal her image. Kate’s look has certainly progressed over the years and is one of the forerunners of the current Rock and Roll chic that graces the catwalks.
I hope we see Emma embrace her skills for fashion advertising in the coming years with many more collection adverts. Its nice to see young stars revamping and reusing the style that many models such as Kate Moss have ingrained into modern fashion.
Maybe Emma Watson could teach one of her US equivalents some key lessons in Rock and Roll chic, because no matter what gets thrown onto Kristen Stewart it looks badly fitted, like she’s slept in it and like she’s unsure how clothes should look! And her hair more often than not looks dreadful. I think that might be a curse of Twilight though as Robert Pattinson’s hair is always godawful too! In short, its lazy rock and roll, but definitely not chic!
So Kirsten, stop and take a look at Emma, she’s stunning and can take on so many different looks! Definitely a good reference point for other young actresses who need to improve their red carpet & out and about looks!
& PS Kristen, is there anything you can do about that look you do, where it makes me think you’ve taken something?! =]
