So apparently games soundtracks are really good when revising or working. The idea is that the music doesn’t distract you as there is no words but the way in which the pieces have been composed keep you focused – after all tehy are designed to stimulate your mind and keep you focused on playing the game.
Halloween is easily one of my favourite festivals. I love getting dressed up and pretending to be something fantastical for a few hours, watching the jack-o-lanterns beginning to glow eerily in the darkening light and going out guising. Celebrating Halloween is an old tradition that has its roots in both ancient pagan festivivties and elements of Christianity. Originally it was a celebration to remember our dead and the name is derived from “All Hallows Eve”. Over the years though it has become commercialised and the emphasis in more on general supernatural elements than simply remembering our ancestors.
Many an artist has drawn on the supernatural for inspiration whether they are artists, writers, directors or musicians and so this week I thought I’d show you some examples of this, starting with Art. So here is a quick sample of some of the quirkier artists.
1) Bernt Notke
Bernt Notke was a painter and sculptor in the 15th century. Around this time images of the Danse Macabre (Dance of Death) were becoming increasingly popular and in his lifetime he was commisioned to paint several of these gruesome scenes.
(taken from wikipedia.org)
2) Salvador Dali
Known as a surrealist, Dali’s work have a dreamlike feel and anything is possible in them.
(taken from wikipaintings.org)
3) Edward Gorey
On closer inspection, Edward Gorey’s pen-and-ink illustrations of Victorian and Edwardian scenes betray a darker narrative.
(taken from noellestevenson.blogspot.com)
4) Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter in the 15th century whose imagination came up with fantastical images.
(taken from foglobe.com)
5) Henry Fusili
The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli suggests that the girl in the picture is being haunted by various supernatural beasties. I certainly don’t think I would like to wake up to that little demon on my bed.
(taken from deadsecond.com)
6) Mark Ryden
Dubbed the ‘Godfather of Pop-Surrealism’,, Ryden’s haunting images place doll-like girls in creepy scenarios.
You might think it is silly, but reading definitely teaches us things. Every writer takes inspiration from real life when they begin their tales, no matter how small. Stories can transport us to places we have never been and show us things we would never have thought of.
With that in mind I challenge my Senior pupils to read the following novels. They are all available from either the school library or from the class library at the back of my room. These are thirty novels that I think will teach you something and show you a little bit more of our world using either a real or an imagined setting.
1) The Handmaids Tale – Margaret Atwood,
2) Behind the Scenes at the Museum – Katie Atkinson,
3) Any book by Jane Austen for the original Romantic Comedy,
4) Empire of the Sun – J. G. Ballard,
5) Regeneration – Pat Barker,
6) Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter,
7) Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks,
8 ) Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden,
9) Across the Nightengale Floor – Lian Hearn,
10) I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith,
11) Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey,
12) The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern,
13) Any book by Roddy Doyle for a look at Irish working class social issues,
14) The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini,
15) Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro,
16) The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold,
17) The Help – Kathryn Stockett,
18) Beloved – Toni Morris,
19) Good Omens – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman,
20) To Kill a Mocking Bird – Harper Lee,
21) Life of Pi – Yann Martell,
22) The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy,
23) Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake,
24) The Hobbit or Children of Hurin – J. R. R. Tolkein,
25) Persopolis – Marjane Satrapi,
26) On the Road – Jack Kerouac,
27) Any short story collection or novel by A. L. Kennedy,
I’ve already put up a post looking at Media Studies which gives you guys a quick walk through some of the elements to look at. I was discussing the indie romance 500 Days of Summer with a few of the fourth year studentsand I mentioned the short that accompanies the feature titled Bank Dance. The story features Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as two characters who randomly meet in a bank. There is no dialogue to the piece, just the song ‘Why Don’t You Let Me Stay Here’ by Deschanel’s band She and Him. See what you make of this super-sweet and quirky piece:
