Guest Lecture Thursday 8th May, 2014.
- On Thursday the 8th of May I attended a guest lecture at the Solent university. Victor Tong presented this lecture and went on to describe what traditional Chinese theatre acting mask type art in Beijing and Sichuen.
- He liked to work with traditional Chinese compositions and traditional Chinese semiotics.
He then went on to talk about the composition of traditional Chinese masks and the different character types in Chinese Opera such as males and females with painted faces creating comedic appearances.
A lot of elements can change a character type such as like these characteristics...
- Eyebrow type
- Eye type
- Nose type
- Lip type
These are the eyebrows and eye type pairs he described in the presentation.
- Straight eyebrow and straight eye type.
- Cudgel eyebrow and Kidney eye type.
- Almond eyebrow and straight eye type.
- Spot eyebrow and old eye type.
- Xaing yu (long life) shaped eyebrow and panther eye type.
- Tiger beard eyebrow and fish tail eye type.
Colour Theory...
- Red - represents loyalty and righteousness.
- Pink- signifies elderly age.
- Black- alludes moral decency.
- White- means crafty crooks and deceitfulness.
- Yellow- cruel and valour.
- Green- impulsive and lacks restraint.
- Blue- bravery and stubbornness.
- Golden- god type character.
Finding out the representations of each of the colours was definitely very interesting. When studying A level film we were taught how specific colours would connote certain moods helping the spectator relate more to the character on screen. I think this really applies when it comes to Chinese Opera as there appearances are a massive part of the performance.
Semiotics, Morals and Ethics.
(Confucius influence.)
- Educated the general public through Opera plays.
- Taiji means Supreme ultimate - state of indifferent absolute and infinite potentiality.
- Filial- means the younger generation revere older generation. Both masks are for character "Wu Han."
- Longevity - means long life. There are type scripts where you can have more than 100 of them.
Characters.
- Thor - God of thunder.
- Yama - god of death. (Gold - look of embarrassment.)
- Sarira - monkey king.
- Tahthagata
- God of wealth - ancient Chinese money of cheeks.
Chinese fashion.
SS07 - Just cavelli
Puma campaign - 2008
After Victor's presentation we were shown some traditional Chinese fashion by his friend named, Pacino Wan a Chinese fashion designer. He explained his struggle and how he eventually managed to break into the industry. Here is his website; http://www.fashionises.com/brands/detail.asp?bid=4721
