Week 8-Jackie Gonzalez-"Why you so obsessed with me?"

Obsession. Yes, you can categorize Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" in this topic if you really wanted to. When I think obsession I immediately think of eyes. It's not the most original idea, but it is what comes to mind first. When somebody is obsessed with something they do not look away from their obsession or sometimes, they are very aware of how frequently they are staring that they conceal their eyes, possibly with some sunglasses, a hoodie, or even a tilted hand. 

Additionally, all their thoughts wrap around their obsession so tightly that every one of their thoughts becomes about that subject. This happens to also be the second definition of Obsession, "An idea or though that continually preoccupies or intrudes on a person's mind". 

Whenever I do a special eye makeup look I take a closeup photo of my eyes. I turned this photo into a black and white shot and now upon closer observation, looks like I am giving a secret side eye look. Like I said in the beginning, one of the looks of obsession is attempting to not be so obvious when staring at the subject of the obsession to the point where you find alternatives to try not to look directly at the subject. Side glances come into play. In this photo, you can still see my eye however, the darker shadows near my inner corner and around the close perimeter of my eye conceal my side glance like I am hiding in a dim corner of the room, scoping my subject while not being too obvious. 

I am nothing compared to the legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, but my photo reminds me of this shot of one of Hitchcock's famous films "Vertigo". In this scene, Scottie is hired to follow and watch over Madeline, who he later becomes very romantically obsessed with. The audience can clearly see Scottie through the silver between the door and wall, but there is still a good amount of shadow and darkness being cast around him except for his fixated expression.  

There's a certain kind of shadow special created for these moments. You are trying to balance between concealing the obsessor, yet trying to highlight that too focused look they have on their face. When I think about turning this into a gesture of lighting, I think of one person staged behind another. A bright front light on the most down stage person, while the person downstage has a long, rectangular cut light on one side of their body that is highlighting one of their eyes all the way down to their foot as if they are standing in a door way, watching the unsuspecting person without the door way having to be there. 

While I was writing the previous paragraph, I realized that this incredible film taught me an example of how to symbolize obsession through colorful lighting. It's very subtle at first and can be built up to be overwhelming, and it's great if you don't want to use the black and white or shadowy composition usually associated with obsession. Please excuse me if this is starting to sound like a film break down, I just LOVE Vertigo so much and it fits so well with this week's subject. 

Color can be used to symbolize the aura of a person, and when the color is used frequently around a subject, that color will be associated with that subject. For example, the emerald green color that follows Madeline throughout Vertigo up until she falls off of the mission tower. By that point Scottie is utterly obsessed with her and cannot bare the idea of living without her. We do not see Madeline's emerald color until we meet Judy, who looks exactly like her and is forcibly turned into Madeline, the emerald green lighting and color returns in full force. With that being said, color can act like a reoccurring thought; once the color is associated with the subject of obsession, it can be used to remind us of the subject when they are not there. 

(Above: Madeline is the only wearing the eye catching Emerald green in a full restaurant) 

(Above: Judy fully transformed into Madeline)