Meta: On ICONING
Mar. 1st, 2006 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phantomas*wondering if that is a verb...which I think it's not, but it's shorter than 'making icons' and as we all know language is ever-evolving..*
A few thoughts on making icons in relation to a specific project, as opposed to making icons because a particular actor/pic/character/pup suits your fancy, or you want to make a pretty pressie for a friend.
I just started to make icons of Krycek's episodes in the X Files, and I was faced with several questions. How do you look at your source for the icons? From which point of view? I do my own grabbing, which means that I need to establish a direct relationship with my source straight away, and there is no other filter than my self (my eyes, the visual part of my brain) between me and my source and my final product.
How do I look at my source? Do I look at the episode in terms of plot line and narrative? Taking as premise that Krycek is my focus, I will of course skip the scenes in which he is not present. Okay, that saves me some work. So, to hell with the episode's narrative, right? Just the character. What then? What comes after? Of course, several grabs of each nuance and shade of facial expressions...uhm, okay. What else? Hands. Legs. Posture. The body in the environment. The shape silouhetted against dark/light backgrounds, as long as the outline is recognisably Krycek-esque...the X Files tends to have dark settings in terms of photography, as the subject matter requires.
Do I look at it as if I am taking pictures of beautiful moments in the source, and then work from there? Or do I try to focus more on my subject and extrapolate those fleeting expressions, those two-frames moments? Or do I do both?
I confronted my first episode of grabbing and iconing without previous experience (of similar projects, I've make icons before), and now I am looking forward to face my second episode, and those questions I have written above and see how I deal with them.
A few thoughts on making icons in relation to a specific project, as opposed to making icons because a particular actor/pic/character/pup suits your fancy, or you want to make a pretty pressie for a friend.
I just started to make icons of Krycek's episodes in the X Files, and I was faced with several questions. How do you look at your source for the icons? From which point of view? I do my own grabbing, which means that I need to establish a direct relationship with my source straight away, and there is no other filter than my self (my eyes, the visual part of my brain) between me and my source and my final product.
How do I look at my source? Do I look at the episode in terms of plot line and narrative? Taking as premise that Krycek is my focus, I will of course skip the scenes in which he is not present. Okay, that saves me some work. So, to hell with the episode's narrative, right? Just the character. What then? What comes after? Of course, several grabs of each nuance and shade of facial expressions...uhm, okay. What else? Hands. Legs. Posture. The body in the environment. The shape silouhetted against dark/light backgrounds, as long as the outline is recognisably Krycek-esque...the X Files tends to have dark settings in terms of photography, as the subject matter requires.
Do I look at it as if I am taking pictures of beautiful moments in the source, and then work from there? Or do I try to focus more on my subject and extrapolate those fleeting expressions, those two-frames moments? Or do I do both?
I confronted my first episode of grabbing and iconing without previous experience (of similar projects, I've make icons before), and now I am looking forward to face my second episode, and those questions I have written above and see how I deal with them.
