Dark City: Neo-Noir Masterpiece

As I'm sure many of you may already know (I have a tendency of mentioning it...quite a lot) I'm strongly inspired by film. I don't like to limit myself by genre either, as I believe that you can harmonise elements of inspiration from all manner of film, art, music etc. The more you exposure yourself to -even if not typically your 'genre of choice'- the more you mentally gather, ready to use as inspiration when the moment arrives.

If there was ever a film for inspiring neo-noir cinematography this would be incredibly high, if not top of my list. From a visual perspective the lighting is incredibly stylised; a futuristic progression of Renaissance chiaroscuro, and a further development from 30s/40s Film Noir. 

The image above on the left is a film still from 'Dark City' and on the right is an editorial photograph from Numero China by Yin Chao. You can see the similarity of lighting style and strong sense of cinematic emotion, enhanced through this multi-toned/coloured conceptual lighting and cinematography.

I absolutely recommend this film, a perfect example of science fiction neo-noir at its visual best. Bonkers storyline yet also very relative to the concept of 21st century hyper-reality we currently live in, more relevant to the fashion industry than we may think...

Alice Luker
www.aliceluker.co.uk

'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

Over the past couple of years I have been increasingly inspired by film. Film is such a powerful, emotive tool, enriched with ambiguity via vast mechanically reproduced concepts of reality. From Marvel superheroes to less conspicuous protagonists, the spectrum of ideas and thematic sequences appear almost infinate.

Cinema also illustrates a fine example of how relative and thought-provoking the creative industry can be, stimulating both visual palette and conceptual thought.

Earlier this week I watched 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (directed by Wes Anderson; known previously for Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited and Fantastic Mr Fox) at the Odeon in Marble Arch. I found the cinematography and set beautiful, complimented by a quirky script and satirically camp characters.

Wes Anderson's vision is alluring and unique; set within a parallel yet culturally stimulating universe to our own. Overall, I found 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' perfectly stylised and a visual treat to absorb as a photographic artist- 4/5 stars!

Alice Luker
www.aliceluker.co.uk