This week I completed my still image product here a recap of the theme of my project: Recently thru a reading of “The Oresteia” trilogy, I picked up on something new that made me sit and pause for a while. What if the events of the second book (The Libation Bearers) started not because Apollo told Orestes to kill Clytemnestra, but rather because Orestes has some mental instability. To give a little more background: Clytemnestra had already killed her husband Agamemnon in the first part of the play before Orestes has come home. The shock of the news must have been devastating for Orestes to have dealt with and somehow he internalizes this by imagining that Apollo has told him to kill his mother (his subconscious self-telling him to avenge his father). I thought that this might be an interesting way to interpret “the will of the gods.”
So what changed? I ended up working with color to help improve the subject’s attire and the environment. Speaking of the subject: I found the perfect candidate in John to help me bring Orestes to life. We were able to bring him to life without pandering to this like crying or over emotion. Instead, we get to see someone is thinking about what to do next. I based the first seven pictures after part of the five stages of grief (denial, anger, depression, acceptance). The only exception to this was the last shot, where I wanted the viewer to consider if now Apollo could be speaking to him, the setting the main plot line of “Libation Bearers” into motion.
Words As My Weapon 