Directors Unit - Ophelia Research

Gregory Crewdson's image of 'Ophelia' is very powerful and detailed, which is one of the reasons I chose to create a story for this image. There were many aspects of this image that stood out to me, them being the 'dead woman', the lamps (that happen to still be on even though the room is flooded), the windows, the bookcase and photos on the wall by the staircase. I like how there are bright colours in this image and the reflection in the water, but also how every time you look around the room your eyes go straight back to the woman. This could be because the white of her night gown matches the paleness of her skin which makes her look more luminous. I find that the light that comes into this image from the windows, etc. is happy and gentle which is ironic because the image shows a 'dead' woman which is normally something that we would think is morbid and depressing

Gregory's image 'Ophelia' is a re-creation/inspiration of the painting by John Everett Millais.

Millais image was painted during 1851-1852 and is based on the fictional character Ophelia from William Shakespeare's play 'Hamlet'. Ophelia character was going to marry Prince Hamlet, Ophelia's death is talked about in a speech by the Queen Gertrude. It is mentioned that the death of Ophelia was highly praised for being one of the most poetically written death scenes in literature.

Ophelia supposedly had fallen into the river from hanging over a tree, while gathering flowers. Her clothes got caught and trapped with, which temporarily kept her afloat. Eventually her garments began to fill with water, pulling her in to drown to a muddy death.

I can't wait to get started with this project as I feel it will be something more challenging for me to do. I have many ideas for this image but there is one idea that sticks out the most, i've just got to research more into it to find the sound effects I need to see if it will work.