Invisible Cities

Online Greenlight Review

Emma Morley
Contents
Thumbnails exploring all of Calvinos cities
Chosen city, with key descriptions and
associated thumbnails
Mission Statement
Influence Maps
Creative Partnerships
Film Reviews
Maya Tutorials
Thumbnails of Calvinos cities
My chosen city Anastasia
At the end of three days, moving southward, you come upon Anastasia, a city with concentric
canals watering it and kites flying over it. I should now list the wares that can profitably be
bought here: agate, onyx, chrysoprase, and other varieties of chalcedony; I should praise the
flesh of the golden pheasant cooked here over fires of seasoned cherry wood and sprinkled
with much sweet marjoram; and tell of the women I have seen bathing in the pool of a garden
and who sometimes it is said invite the stranger to disrobe with them and chase them in the
water. But with all this, I would not be telling you the citys true essence; for while the description
of Anastasia awakens desires one at a time only to force you to stifle them, when you are in the
heart of Anastasia one morning your desires waken all at once and surround you. The city
appears to you as a whole where no desire is lost and of which you are a part, and since it
enjoys everything you do not enjoy, you can do nothing but inhibit this desire and be content.
Such is the power, sometimes called malignant, sometimes benign, that Anastasia, the
treacherous city, possesses; if for eight hours a day you work as a cutter of agate, onyx,
chrysoprase, your labor which gives form to desire takes from desire its form, and you believe
you are enjoying Anastasia wholly when you are only its slave.

Italo Cavino Invisible Cities
Mission Statement
Anastasia was a city that grabbed me straightaway, although I didnt expect it to become my
chosen city at first. It took a bit of research to get a proper vision of the space as you can see
from my influence maps. I needed to see what the stones agate, onyx and chrysoprase looked
like in order to see how they would fit in the ideas I already had. Luckily they seemed to sit
perfectly well as the lines of different coloured stones mirrored the concentric canals. When
looking for images of onyx, I stumbled upon a lovely vortex image which again, strengthened
the circular feel that the city had in my head.
Calvinos description of Anastasia awakens more than just the visual senses when he describes
the flesh of the golden pheasant cooked here over fires of seasoned cherry wood and
sprinkled with much sweet marjoram. This led me to explore warmer colours and imagine how
those smells would make me feel, thus added to the desire one would get when visiting
Anastasia.
I am still trying to figure out how to deal with the darker side of Anastasia, when Calvino says it
enjoys everything you do not enjoy. Im planning on creating more thumbnails and exploring
the interior of the city a bit more, but I feel that I want the interior to have a completely different
feel to the exterior. I want to show that on the outside, Anastasia draws you in with its desires,
but once you are inside the city, there is a more sinister, dark and colder feel. I will look to use
colder colours and textures, as opposed to the warmer feel of the outside. Again, this is
evidenced in my influence maps below.
Influence Maps
Interior Exterior - near Exterior - far
Creative Partnerships
To Cat Barber: (Diomira Thumbnails) 01.10.14 Love the colours in these, Cat
To Cat Barber: (Esmeralda Thumbnails) 01.10.14 Loving 11, 14 & 15 and the colours look
really nice. I think the white highlights give them a sense of movement and flow.
To Sean McNamara: (First Set of Thumbnails) 06.10.14 Hi Sean, nice thumbnails. I like the
colours youve used, particularly in the second two pages. I think my favourite is the first
one on the Anastasia page I think it has much potential. Dont forget to number the
thumbnails!
To Abdulhagh Majeh Makwar: (Invisible Cities Thumbnails Octavia) 06.10.14 Hi
Abdulhagh! I think these look great. I found it weird using the graphics tablet at first too,
but getting used to it gradually. I love thumbnails 9 & 16.
Film Reviews and Maya Tutorials
Film Reviews: - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/film%20review

Maya Tutorials: - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Maya