I was at odds figuring out how to upload without 100% pixilation but finally here it is. Its cuts out about 4 seconds before it should for some reason, but nothing else really happens in those last 4 second apart from the growing sound of insects. Regrets: I think the whole thing looks a bit wierd but mainly I really really really wish I had done something involving mummified Jeremy Bentham head. Go to this link/press play to view my biopic. http://www.youtube.com/user/anunexpectedgrid
Maybe it is far to obvious to even type this but it might be compulsory for me to write it. Progress is always made when actually making things/ executing missions/activity. i.e Working. The production process is one I have previously had a tendency to leave too late. Such was the case with BIOPIC due to an unfortunate computer incident.
Then, and only then, do you start to realise "Oh-ho! I should do this, or try that" and then go where ever it is that the construction process leads you only to be caught out by a time cul-de-sac. It must become ingrained in my research that a process is research, I have been far too slack/distracted. But here are some more stills from the section I am most pleased from my biopic. It plays very smoothly as I took a long time over this bit without distraction at all (* note: This always pays off). Compared to the other sections where it looks jerky. Its works for the plane scene in my view because it seems appropriate. Nonetheless you can tell the other parts are more hastily put together although perhaps the haste works in their advantage depending on how you view the animal metaphor and Panopticon, i.e. from Benthams view; That the Panopticon was an ideal and innovative way to treat criminals and that the fact that ideas he promoted needed support and were worth up holding (although were not taken seriously for quite a while.)
Although the validity/fairness/consitencey of many of Bentham's ideas are subject to speculation, he certainly was crafting his theories in such a way that endorsed something positive and moral. Panopticon=NOT SO MORAL and utilitarianism=Not so "utile" as the happiness of the greatest number does not in consider the hardships of small but equally important and precious minority clusters of society. None the less, by observing that he campaigned for the fair treatment of homosexuals, women and his radical idea that mere animals had rights and deserve to be treated respectfully under the eyes of the law was definitely a very profound insight into how best to protect and help living things, especially considering the way things worked in the 18th and 19th century. Like I said before, animals will be my metaphor for "his favor of individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression and equal rights." Birds; (images of/ footage of) are universally recognised as "good" at passing a message of freedom.
Here is a collage, will be referred to in production.
This is some sort of mood board. ( I appologise in advance for the imminent and surprisingly large font coming up, it was not intentional but just an interesting mistake I decided not to correct.)
Jeremy Bentham's ideas and opinions about the Law, were probably shared with others of his time and times before him. Bentham, being the academic he was, dedicated his life to writing things down, debating and realizing his thoughts on the mater. The initial intentions of "the greatest good for the greatest number" were positive, (to induce happiness) and a radical attempt to revise the terms of justice. Utilitarianism is critisised because pleasing minorities is important too, in principle pleasing the majority is not necessarily the best thing to do. This is supported by his views against the cruelty/ abuse of animals)
(A long while back I drew this bore head as a decorative table piece, after having seen prints like this in Paris that referred to the "first celebrity" chef Antonin Careme- Actually, this is probably not that cruel as if you are going to kill an animal you should use every single part of it constructively in one way of another, but still a relevant because it LOOKS rather barbaric)
His idea and solution to injustice with in the legal system was a product of the times he lived in and the kind of justice that existed at the time. His persistence with the Panopticon penitentiary seems quite cruel to us, as we will sympathize with the psychological effects this has on the individuals. There are cases in modern history where the panopticon design (used as a penitentiary and "asylum") has been abused by governments/individuals/institutions/parties who have take advantage of them and others examples where the Panopticon have allegedly caused mental un-health, which is contradictory to Benthams ideas about crime and punishment. He believed that prisoners should be kept healthy but that prison was a place for punishment (n/b which it still is although it is often more a place meant to keep dangerous people separate from the rest of society). Bentham recognised that punishment is something could be enforced through architecture, in fact the fact that architecture has got a massive effect on a persons psyche is something that many modern architects have tried to use to the advantage of people's well-being.
I want to show Jeremy Bentham as some sort of hero who saves animals- a metaphor for his favor of individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal rights for women, the end of slavery, the abolition of physical punishment (including that of children), the right to divorce, free trade, usury, and the decriminalization of homosexual acts. These are all excellent things to be associated with. Jeremy Bentham was a radical thinker and contributed significantly to the modernization of criminal justice and the law (He also made two distinct attempts during his life to critique the death penalty.) However while I create this small film/animation I want bear some rather large ideas comparing and displacing some of Bentham's ideals relative to more modern ideals about punishment, social behavioral problems and rehabilitation and moral/social education as well as the inhibitions cause by "constant surveillance".
Utilitarianism (i.e. if the majority are made happy by the suffering of a minority, an acute criticism yet all things are possible so lest not ignore the probability of all possible out comes) and.....
The Panopticon and the negative effects it can have on mental health as well as the positive principles behind this kind of punishment. Similarly this involves the possible issues involved with these problems; "if to punish criminals to the extent where their environment has depleted their mental health, reducing them to paranoia and depression, which are things which can lead a criminal to not understand his/her punishment and feel just emotional anguish and intellectual/moral confusion then this is contradictory to utilitarianism and not a learning mechanism to help rehabilitation."
Surveillance: Dark times indeed- although perhaps not as bad as mediaeval times when you would get your hands chopped of for thieving a loaf. So I thought about the Panopticon in relation to the constant surveillance of CCTV. Is it in fact a deterrent? Perhaps all it is, is data in a machine? Is surveillance necessary to solve or counter effect wide spread social disorder? Surely the reputation of who ever is watching (as perceived by the subconscious of the observed individual/s) is paramount when considering this theory? If someone doesnt respect who is watching, or look up to them in any way, they are not really going to care about what they think. How about in the Panopticon? And what do existing examples of Panopticon's tell us about surveillance?
Some really interesting and exciting film jobbies, a great but necessary digression in seeking out Flash Gorgon sounds for biopic. Excellent musics and necessary weirdness. It is imperative that you watch these in high quality and watch them TWICE.
I think Ill take a flash-gordon-esque approach to this brief. This images are helpful, I will draw his prison, animals and Jeremy Bentham in a short while.
People say allot of things, I say alot of things, YOU probably say alot of things.......Its probably normal. One may happen across thousands of doctorates, essays and books discussing anything from 'Sergeant Peppers lonely Hearts Club Band' to Harry Potter, Greek Democracy, Anthropology, Paleontology and Geophysics, Brain Science, Quantum Mechanics, Motor Mechanics, Social Policy, Theory of Surveillance and Collectible post-war kitchen wear. Im not putting these all these topics in the same box, I just making a point (not that I assume you do not realize, because I know you do, just trying to get to the point) that people can and will discuss, debate and write about ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING they can and want to. Kudos to the human I guess.
Similarly thousands of things can be said about any comic that "it means this" or "that" or perhaps that "it is a satire of blah-blah" and we could be here for a thousand years talking about it and then writing it all up. Needless to thay the human is an analytical creature, comics being one of the many many things they will analyse.
Comics are a combination of literature and pictures after all, (as are films actually) so there is ALOT to think about, alot to debate and alot to discuss!
But Im not going to do that. I will merely glance upon the tip of the ice berg. Thats it. Some say (for example) that Flash Gordon was based on a whole load of different things, some say its subversive whilesome say its racist and/or formulaic etc. Loads of different things can and are said. Perhaps what ever you think (just like with almost everything) entirely depends on your view or temperament. Then again perhaps not. Who really knows, perhaps we could ask the creators one day or perhaps its not worth it. Any way as far as Im concerned, its all about the Hawkmen, red clouds, the sound and flying golden hands.
However, without further ado, I present to you the purpose of this long-winded spiel of nonsense. Apparently here lies an unprecedented coincidence, perhaps one I can work with. Flash Gordon was allegedly based on Utilitarianism..... and so was Jeremy Bentham.
Theory of Surveillance: The PANOPTICON, a design was proposed as a model prison by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), a Utilitarian philosopher and theorist of British legal reform.
The Panopticon ("all-seeing") functioned as a round-the-clock surveillance machine. Its design ensured that no prisoner could ever see the 'inspector' who conducted surveillance from the privileged central location within the radial configuration. The prisoner could never know when he was being surveilled -- mental uncertainty that in itself would prove to be a crucial instrument of discipline.
French philosopher Michel Foucault described the implications of 'Panopticism' in his 1975 work Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison --
"Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection of power should tend to render its actual exercise unnecessary; that this architectural apparatus should be a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent of the person who exercises it; in short, that the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers. To achieve this, it is at once too much and too little that the prisoner should be constantly observed by an inspector: too little, for what matters is that he knows himself to be observed; too much, because he has no need in fact of being so. In view of this, Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so. In order to make the presence or absence of the inspector unverifiable, so that the prisoners, in their cells, cannot even see a shadow, Bentham envisaged not only venetian blinds on the windows of the central observation hall, but, on the inside, partitions that intersected the hall at right angles and, in order to pass from one quarter to the other, not doors but zig-zag openings; for the slightest noise, a gleam of light, a brightness in a half-opened door would betray the presence of the guardian. The Panopticon is a machine for dissociating the see/being seen dyad: in the peripheric ring, one is totally seen, without ever seeing; in the central tower, one sees everything without ever being seen."
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), recognised philosopher was born in Spitalfields, London. He was something of a child prodigy, reading by the age of 2, learning Latin by 3 and by the age of 12 he was admitted to Queens CollegeOxford to study Law, he proved to become a widely respected figure by the 1820's.
During his studies he became disillustioned with law, and rather than practiced it he wrote about it, offering critisism and improvement. He endorsed utalitatianism, the beleif in "greatest good for the greatest number" in other words pleasing the majority was priority. (A theory that is moraly questionable if the majority are sadematecistic facist extreamists and are pleased by opressing a minority?)
ANYWAY, Jeremy Bentham spent 40 years of his life living quietly in Wesminster producing between 10 to 20 sheets of manuscript a day well into his 80's writing essays about various social, political and religious theories creating many works that questioned and subverted the state of Law at his time, his writings are still centeral in academic debate today, cheifly regarding social policy. Recognized as one of the earliest proponents of animal rights, he also spoke for a complete equality between sexes and was one of the earliest philosophers to argue for decriminalization of homosexuality and equal rights for homosexually inclined people. This is his last will and testiment and If someone tries to tell you Bentham helped create and found University College of London- UCL, (as he is often credited as being one of the founders) it is pure fantasy. However he was held in high esteem by the actual founders and if one was to visit the South Cloisters, one would find a wooden cabinet containing his preserved skeleton. One day his head, which was not preserved well…fell off. So they made a wax one and stuck his real head between his feet.
Some archived works and illustrations, including most constituent ventures, projects and digressions.
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