Ciara Walsh
"INT. NIGHT- The tiny studio of award-winning theatre designer Iryana Svobodova, slumped across her busy work desk, a dagger protruding from her spine..."
Sara Johnston and I were tasked with actualising the above prompt by designing a physical set and directing a short film with the use of an LED screen skyline. We decided to go with a Film Noir style of cinematography to emphasise the murder mystery element of the prompt.
The short film is set in 1940’s New York with background music from Puccini’s tragic 1904 opera ‘Madama Butterfly’.
For my personal project, I decided to film and edit an experimental music video for a three minute section of Patti Smith's 1976 song 'Gloria: In Excelcis Deo'. I wanted to capture the coolness of surreal, early 90's pop videos through visuals that highlight the beauty and fluidity of womanhood. The music video was a blend of mixed-media animation and projection work, starring my aunt, Deirdre Bhreatnach as the title character.
For my speculative project, I chose to reimagine Seán Ó Cathasaigh's 1926 play 'The Plough and the Stars' as a film. I was drawn to the unique combination of humour, love and grief present in Ó Cathasaigh's script. By focusing on how the opening and ending sequences of the play could be adapted to screen, I was able to begin storyboarding and better interpret the characters' motivations. My inspiration for a cinematography style was David Fincher's filmography, which had me looking at a cold, muted colour palette for the scenes, to accentuate the characters' anguish. I wanted the camera to act as an omnipresent being, filming from behind doorframes, windows and being able to pass across buildings and through inanimate objects.
This thesis analyses a range of visual media produced in the United States depicting Iraq as a cultural Other, with a focus on printed press, war photography and film of the 20th and 21st century. This argument utilises ideas put forth by Susan Sontag and Edward W. Said about the power of representation through image capture and the Othering of its subjects, arguing that the events of 9/11 caused a shift in the portrayal of Iraqis in American media.
Ciara Walsh is an aspiring production designer, originally from Galway. Over the last four years she has collaborated alongside talented peers on many multidisciplinary projects. Designing for a number of both realised and speculative projects, she has widened her skillset and increased her knowledge of set design for film, television and theatre. Ciara’s methodology for designing sets is driven by script analysis and a deep understanding of characters.
