Major project work

I have watched the films given and I am interested in both "The red shoes" and "Nosferatu"
The red shoes speaks to me in a way the other films do not through its narrative. I feel that I connect in some way with the female character Vicki Page. Her conflicting interests and life paths remind me of my own. Where she wants to dance and also be in love and live that "stereotypical female" life, or not as the case may be. My own life currently feels as though I am going through a similar struggle, trying to balance both new motherhood, household roles and responsibilities and also full time university and my own interests or personal desires. At times I have felt the need to run away and "dance off a cliff" as it were as the struggle and stress has become overwhelming, and the constant pull of wanting to live the life I always dreamed of or planned drills holes in my mind and the everyday things that i have to accomplish for the sake of being a mother or partner or "house-wife". I relate very closely to the girl who wants both worlds or parts of both worlds anyway, yet somehow they cannot be juggled which is intensely frustrating. Work based on this could also relate with my independent study work in terms of topic.
Nosferatu however also sits well with my independent study development so far where I seem to have developed a style of working with light and shadow. Nosferatu's scenes are full of the dramatic and baroque over the top extension and dramatisation of things, and I am intrigued in how I can play with this in relation to shadows silhouettes and the human form.
Perhaps an intertwining could come about as a result of exploring both films creatively. They both dramatise a sense of longing and despair as well as a failed or tragic love story. I may explore the black and white and shadow versus light, streaked or highlighted in someway with this dramatic red line which could symbolise the blood or desire of Nosferatu, but also the torment of overwhelming desire and lack of control from the red shoes.

I will speak with Janet about this and see which direction I should go, but creatively I have lots of ideas.

I am keen to use the notion of the signifier and the signified in my work, using visuals to explore metaphor and symbolism.

Initial ideas:

Material, draped from the ceiling, creating a space or installation...
cast shadows upon it?
elongation of form using light into the space creating ephemeral and ghostly forms upon the fabric?
the fabric relates closely to the material and grace of ballet but also to the baroque great curtains hanging in both films?
spray paint or flick paint onto this fabric? perhaps dipped limbs of a ballet dancer into paint can leave trails as they dance within the space?
project sections of film onto the drapes?

Large canvases laid on the floor, blurred black and white to convey the sense of black and white photography or film, also to show perhaps the mundane side of life in contrast to a bright red...
Red could be applied via dancing feet along the canvas, dancing to the music from the film.
this could be recorded as a performance piece?
The red would pierce through the black and white creating a stark contrast that would reflect both the aesthetics of scenes within The red shoes but also could convey the sense of blood shed and death of the black plague and concept of a vampire from Nosferatu.

Nude photography of the human form
contorted in a way that extends the perception of form as from nosferatu and its surreal extension of limbs and shadows etc very dark and surreal
to show the female form as an object? which explores Red Shoes, maybe splashed with red paint to convey desire or torment.
this also could show the sexual desire of the vampire and his death when lured by the female body combined with the draining of her blood.
Female form in black and white and shown with red splashes or dripped could explore the idea of the woman being an object but also with a sense of self, almost a war paint, "these are MY desires, this is what I want" etc.

I am also interested in exploring the following

The female as an object and our lives revolving around physical upkeep and vanity:
Smashed mirror as an installation piece, hanging hundreds of sections from the ceiling...
reflection of female photographs
as we walk into the space we see our reflection and are reminded of ourselves as objects? or of something else?

red lipstick? Red stilletos?

magazines concerning vanity and the home?  could lay these in a manner to use as a canvas. or could use them as a piece themselves, the way that women are still encouraged to be both beautiful and slim etc fitting the ideal set out by both men and other women, but also that we are encouraged to be within the home and serve.
i could rip up all of these images and stereotypes.
burn the pieces?
photograph the pieces dissipating into the wind in a similar way to the newspapers flying around in man-ray films. narrative within a narrative etc
use the pieces to create the base for a painted image?