Ghosts of the Abyss

Today's research has thrown up this 2003 documentary. A bit of weekend film watching is to follow I'm sure. Here's the trailer.

Ghosts of the Abyss is a documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was Disney's first film produced in 3-D and was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic. It consists of Cameron and a group of scientists sailing out to the wreck of the Titanic, and then going down to get closer than anyone has before. With the help of specially created cameras, Jake and Elwood, the audience too can see inside the Titanic and with the help of CGI, people can see how it would have originally looked.

Also along for the ride Cameron invites friend and actor Bill Paxton who played Brock Lovett in the 1997 film. He narrates the event through his eyes. The film itself was produced for IMAX 3D during the Summer of 2003. It was also nominated for a BFCA award for Best Documentary. The submersibles Mir 1 and Mir 2 carried the Ghosts of the Abyss team on twelve dives.

Masters in Design Symposium at NCAD

It was great to see some projects from the Masters students in the various areas of design yesterday. For me it was interesting to see how many different approaches are being taken. The influences and directions are being fed from so many areas, from medical instruments and customisation to design incubation and fine art. This consideration of broad areas of art and design (having also been mentioned by my tutors) is a direction my own research will take. I had my camera with me and got the above shot of some poster type in the letterpress workshop before heading home again.

TYPEFACE (Kartemquin Films)

In rural Wisconsin, a lone employee waits in a cavernous old museum for visitors to come. A few individuals straggle in every few days and then, come Friday, the museum fills with life. Machines hum, presses print, artists buzz about. One weekend each month, the quiet of Two Rivers is interrupted as carloads of artisans drive in from across the Midwest. The place comes alive as printmaking workshops led by, and filled with, some of the nation's top design talent descend on the sleepy enclave.

In a time when people can carry computers in their pockets and watch TV while walking down the street, Typeface dares to explore the twilight of an analog craft that is freshly inspiring artists in a digital age. The Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, WI personifies cultural preservation, rural re-birth and the lineage of American graphic design. At Hamilton, international artisans meet retired craftsmen and together navigate the convergence of modern design and traditional technique. But the Museum¹s days may be numbered. What is the responsibility of artists and historians to preserve a dying craft?


See the trailers on youtube

TITANIC: THE MISSION (Channel 4 documentary)

Episode 5 (final episode) of the current series will air on Monday night next at 9pm. It's been quite an informative series about the construction of various elements of Titanic. Episode 4 has been my favourite to date, it dealt with the interior design of the 1st class smoking room and a third class cabin.

The episodes are available for a while on 4OD and on youtube.

STAR OF THE SEA by Joseph O'Connor

Just about to finish this book as it was recommended to me as a good starting point for realising the conditions and previous history of emigration from Ireland. Although fiction and based 65 years before the Titanic set sail it gives a very energetic account of what conditions were like for emigrants during the famine. Some in dire poverty and some with much to lose. Conditions which I'm sure also prevailed on board Titanic and which I'd like to touch upon through the narrative of my book.

ARTICLE ON TYPE IN TODAYS IRISH TIMES

Nice article in todays Times by Joe Breen (former Irish Times managing editor – production, presentation and design). He talks about the importance of type design and gives a good plug to the ATypI (Assocation Typographique Internationale)
conference happening in Dublin at the moment (8 to 12 September 2010).


Read the article on the irish Times site here.

NICE COLLECTION OF VIDEOS FROM EXPEDITION TITANIC

'On September 1, 1985, Bill Lange was working the nightshift in the control room onboard the Knorr. In the early morning hours, the team made a historic discovery. 25 years later, Bill reflects on the discovery of Titanic and the current Expedition to document the entire wreck site.'


Check out the Youtube channel for lots more, all very interesting.

NORTON & SONS / E. TAUTZ

Very impressed with the look and feel for Norton & Sons / E. Tautz by Moving Brands. The mix of old and new in their type treatment is especially nice. The idea of developing a style which is influenced by traditional and contemporary aesthetics is one which I hope to develop throughout this project.

MAKING A START

Although this post acts as a test while I put some formatting to this blog, I hope to update here at least once a week for the foreseeable future. I'll be updating with links and images from everything I deem relevant to my Masters which I begin in September, 2010. This may take the shape of anything from Edwardian typography to steam engines. Pictured above is the RMS Titanic, my starting point.