Escapism: Video Games

This section was cut short due to a lack of game screenshots to use, however it is intended to represent how video gamers can get lost in the game and almost obsessed with it. This links to escapism as it is often used to distract them from their real lives as they put themselves in the shoes of the character on screen.

 The image above was intended to show the gamer playing the game and being absorbed in it.

 This image is not as clear as I would have hoped. The effect I was aiming for was the gamers hand starting to go into the screen to show their immersion into the gaming world and how it can blur the line betwen reality and fiction.

This image was supposed to show how the gamer sometimes imagines their life as a game and applies the metaphors as such. I could also represent how the gamer gets so into the game that it is traumatic for them when they lose.

Escapism: Ilustration

 This section is intended to show how via the medium of art people can create characters and escape from the real world. The story in this set of images is that the person photographed has an alter ego that is draw in a leather jacket. The alter ego is somewhat tougher and "cooler" somewhat.

The image above is intended to show the alterego interacting with the artist and how their personalities are different.

 This image is to show the artist and the alter ego moprhing together as they are in essence the same person. I like to think in this image the arist has realised the alter ego is a part of his mind and is not a fictional character.

In the above image I wanted to show the drawing being rubbed out as the alterego starts to disappear. This should show that the alterego isn't an person by itself and exists alone only in drawing. I like to think of this image as the artist realising he doesn't need the alterego anymore and as such is rubbing him from the page.

 

In this image the artist is walking away from the blank notpad alone. On one hand it shows that in essence he was alone the whole time and had nobody else with him. I also like to think it ends the story by showing the artist moving on, leaving the notepad and his form of escapism behind.

Escapism: Music

 For this section I planned to express how music can affect the mind and how listening to it can transport the listener to another place or dimension even. I tried to contain music related items in each photo in order to keep the link strong. I think this ties with escapism as it shows how people can escape from or drown out the world around them.

 For this image I intended to show how music can give the listener a feeling of loating in water and can relax the person. The image on the top is supposed to show what the listener actually looks like and is doing, while the image on the bottom is supposed to represent how she feels and where he feels she is.

 The purpose of this image is to show how music can drown out the world around the person and how it can be hard to get the attention of somebody who is in a music induced trance. The man on the right is shouting at the woman on the left.

 In this image I intended to show how listening to music can transport a listen from their environment to another place. I like how the ground in both seperate images feathered together well, the trees and the brick wall did not however.

The above image was intended to show how when somebody is carreid away listening to music, they can imagine somebody who they are not and can imagine they look a lot more stylish than they actually do. The lower image is the actuality, a girl dancing in her bedroom and singing into the brush. The higher image is what she imagines herself to be, a stylish star sining into a microphone.

This image should show again how somebody listening to music can feel like they're flying away and are being transported to another place.

Escapism: Astral Projection

For this section of my project, I explored the idea of Astral Projection. This involves a person willingly entering a state where their mind leaves their body, allowing them to have an out of body experience. I felt this was relevant to the topic of escapism as it involves escaping from the body.

 This photo was created using multiple layers, a variety of zoomed shots and a bit of playing layer opacity tools. I've been told it created an eerie effect, almost as if the model is projecting towards you.

 In this image I combined a photo of my model with a free sky replacement image [sourced from http://edc.education.ed.ac.uk]. I made it with the intention of expressing the feeling of floating and also the feeling of one's "aura" extending out. This is what the black areas extending from the model represent.

 This image, inspired by Francesa Woodman was intended with the creation of an eerie appearance where the figure in the photo appeared disconnected and paranormal. This would also relate to escapism as some people relate to astral projection as "becoming a ghost".

This image was intended to express the astral projection in  progress. Notice the figure lying down has her eyes closed and is completely opaque while the figure sitting up has her eyes open and is semi-transparent. This is how I intended to show that the girl's conciousness has escaped from her physical body.