Unit 9: Adaptation - 1930s Research

Hello Everyone,

The other week I went in and grabbed a tonne of Library Books for this post so I will save time by mentioning that a lot of the imagery in here is not from Google I have grabbed imagery from: "Cars that Time Forgot", "Autopia, Cars & Culture" & "Fashions of a Decade - The 1930s". I have done a little reading on the period of the 1930s as well as some research into popular car models of the era. What I found difficult to decide was the look (I.e. I wanted the cars to look cool and not too cheesy). I have got quite a few things to lay out in this post, which I will consider the backbone of things that are to come in this unit. I have a section on Men's Fashion, Dare Devils of the period my preferred top 5 "Day" cars and top 5 "Night" cars, as well as a bit of info on the setting (I.e. the great depression: USA).

You can think of some of these images as influence maps because through searching I have picked the majority which I will play with and refine. This is just more of a boiled down researching spree. I am not saying that all of these are 100% concrete, I may have a spark of inspiration from something else and choose to devise that. Don't hold me to all the choices made here, I am just feeling my way but I think this post is a great start to my big journey. I am much more prepared then I was a few weeks back so for that I am at least happy. I haven't forgot about Maya tutorials and everything like that I am just trying to get this Unit underway so I can begin thinking and working on other bits and pieces.

Well I wont waffle further lets get on with the post:

These are all articles from the within the Fashion Book I attributed at the top of this post, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more clothe choices for men but I did manage to grab a few nice things that me and Alan talked about (specifically the classic Rain-mack - noir private detectives, etc). Men's suits were popular among the higher class, but thinking about it I may want to go lower class (take a look at the men walking away from the camera in the image above). It also got me thinking about my drivers demeanour, do I want him to appear poor or rich... This was more of a juggling act, I am inclined to keep him wealthy, which makes clients take him more seriously (good and bad). A poor man getaway driver would probably appear less professional (less bond-like).

Next I was thinking about Dare-Devils of the 1930s Alan suggested Harold Lloyd to me to demonstrate actors as dare-devils in film around the 1930s. Lloyd from what I read did all of his own stunts and even blew off his fingers with what he thought was a prop explosive. After him I found myself finding carnival and fairground entertainers (known at the time for being dare-devils). Among others Arthur Theberge, Earl "Lucky" Teter & Jimmie Lynch who did death defying stunts at shows each about as crazy as the last. From what I could find these appear to be some of the first of the stunt profession (at least involving vehicles). There was also the likes of Marjorie Kemp who drove a Car with a Tiger what I considered to be more of a form of entertainment then a death defying jump still its defiantly insane.

Next I decided to breakdown my idea of the "Day" car, having no knowledge of cars I found myself investing my attention into cool looking 1930s cars as opposed to power vehicles. My favourite of these was the "Cord Convertible", I love convertible cars even though we live in a climate which we would hardly ever use them. If I was forced to consider another I would say that I love the "Opel Kapitan", really cool looking and I love the black paint job. The "Hillman Wizard" was what I considered to be closer to the text, mainly more about looks then speed, still the "Ford T Tudor" could also be considered a posh car. Never the less from the images above I still prefer the "Cord" or the "Opel" for my secondary asset.

Next I started looking into my chosen "night" second hand car lot power machine. From my understanding of the "Drive" source material it was meant to be an understated car that could otherwise pack a punch if needed. Now I won't lie most of the horse power from the cars above isn't great but to be honest not many was from the 1930s period. I had little luck finding older source images with the exception of the "DKW F5" which looked really understated and old. I loved the idea of the "Mercedes" mainly because it is an armoured car model something that would be ideal for a criminal evading police chases and shootouts. The "Steyr 220" I loved the look of it just looks classic and I really did like the thought of seeing it all old and beaten up in a car lot.

Last but not least I wanted to elaborate a little on the setting for my characters, I will say right now this is not visual style just a basic grab of the world in the state of the 1930s (I.e. the great depression). I also went to elaborate a little on how this would effect my "Driver" character which may or may not be motivations for him seeking the criminal life. I found it a good motivator that a man seek a second (illegal) job in hopes of acquiring more money. Of course this does come with the dilemma of me wanting a well groomed "Driver" unless this is the side he hides from people so he is taken seriously - a professional. I really think the setting for this idea will be interesting and will certainly motivate a more elaborate narrative then I previously thought. It will also be interesting to see the 1930s from a stunt drivers point of view (something I will be fleshing out soon).

 I will be researching more into fashions particularly and hopefully will begin to explore these ideas in sketches over the next couple of days. I needed to take a step back just to think about how all of this was going to work. I don't like thinking up a baseless object and then plan a load of creativity around that (that's not the goal of the brief anyway). The goal here is so everything has a place and more importantly that it works on all levels visually and in regard to a narrative.

Well, that's me done here for this post, I will be back soon with some visual and style research so people can see where I want to take this. I hated how broad I was by just saying "graphic novel" in the pre-pitch... I want to base this on an artist so people can see the theme I am aiming for here.

Take it easy people!
xXStItChXx