EMMA - Field Research 02

Currently I feel a bit down these days - and often when this happens, I find myself longing for escape. I often find this in movies (or animations) where you can dream away into their worlds without a care. This escapism, as I would probably describe it, is something that has intrigued me. More personal than as of why people would want to escape from this world (I can think of enough reasons why).
What intrigues me most is the flight into a fictional world. How come we truly can dream away in a world filled with fantasy and non-existent creatures? If we would see an immense castle or wizard's tower - how do we decide to believe in its existence?
So: how come that we define the visuals in those world as 'real'? When is a fictional design believable? Especially the visual part is what interests me - the translation from visual fiction (often also impossibility) to (human) belief.

I have an example which I want to state here. It is, cliche but still true, the Lord of the Rings. I truly dreamt away at the movies. Of course I did not believe that Middle Earth existed, or that any of such place could be reached in our current world. It was the immense depth with which this new world was presented to me, that made me believe and especially: understand.





Above you see two pictures of the same statue presented in the third and final movie the Return of the King. There, Sam and Frodo pass a large statue of once a human king, whose head has cruelly been chopped off and replaced by a crude version of the head of Sauron. This visual cue, horribly over-dramatized, speaks volumes. Not only about the (political) message, but also the visual signatures of the cultures involved. It is a rough yet carefully detailed statue, presenting a stately king and radiating the familiar human authority. The eye, crudely made from scrap material shows with what methods these creatures rise to power.
These visual cues all contribute to world called the Lord of the Rings.

I find it intriguing to find hundreds upon hundreds of these small cues, each telling a story of their own and thus all telling the story of the world they represent. I love searching out visual cues for design choices that enhance the world they are placed in - rather than leaving visual design purely as visual entertainment.