Day 32

'The Pink Panther, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Curse of The Pink Panther', Pen and Coloured Pencil on Paper.

Carrying on yesterday's theme of thinking of using a play on words to create a literal, visual representation of that which it depicts. If I was to expand the idea even further I also find that's possibly the umbrella term I would use to encompass the designs 'Literally Visual Designs'... The above idea came just from a few sketches and doodles I made whilst sitting at work and as you will see I plan to incorporated some of these rough drafts and sketches in the blog soon to give an overview of the thought process that's led me to come up with those ideas. As I mentioned before I'm a big fan of film in general, what the above image references then is the whole notion of films spawning 'sequels' and how that it sometimes leads to 'sequelitis' wherein as the franchise progresses it becomes much more contrived with every entry. The 'Pink Panther' films were some of my favourite comedies as a child and to some effect still are today, however looking back you can see clearly were studios tried everything possible to milk ever last drop of possible revenue from the franchise and by the end the films paled in comparison to their earlier counterparts. It was only after reading up quickly on the films today I realised that there are actually 9 Pink Panther films... well 11 if you must count the 2 remakes featuring Steve Martin, which I refuse to fully acknowledge.  It seems that this is the main reason a film gets made, is to make money, which is something I can completely understand but it often leads to a slew of lower calibre sequels that are essential a repetition of the first film but a little louder, a little cruder and a little less likeable. Cinema today is rife with reboots, remakes, sequels and updates as studios latch unto whatever is 'trending' at the time... and time is something that they apparently don't see as a factor as they rapidly crap out movie after movie of mostly vapid, inconsequential tat. There are obviously some exceptions to the rule but even then it's always a case of teetering on the verge of being one film too far. 

This notion of repetition is something that I myself am constantly weary of when making work, it's easy to get comfortable with one particular style or theme as that seems to be popular or worthwhile. The risk is then that by sticking with this you then create the circumstances where your unable to let ideas evolve or grow naturally in the way that they should, as instead you keep yourself contained with in that comfort zone you've conceived. You  end up making fundamentally the same work again and again only a little gaudier, a little clumsier and a little less meaningful. It is important then to constantly push yourself beyond this comfort zone if you wish to continue to flourish and avoid becoming more and more contrived with every completed piece of work. If you then find that the place you originally where in was the better option these ideas can always be re-visited. With this in mind I look forward to what they new month holds and see this as a good time to begin experimenting with some more ideas and thrusting things in a new direction from time to time.