Data on Shadow grams

is an awesome word. From a vague and amorphous beginning, results are produced. Those who are gifted and wish to remain alone and unchallenged on their imperious heights, would have you believe that crea­tivity is for the chosen few and completely out of the attainable realm of the less for­tunate.

They swathe their work in an aura of mystical inspiration. They may go so far as to tell you how they accomplish their work, but like a cook with a pet recipe, they leave out some important ingredients.

Or perhaps, they never realized how they became creative.

They haven't recognized the fact that their insatiable curiosity, instinctive delv­ing beyond the obvious, their strong will, untiring drive, enthusiasm and even their sense of humor were the combustible qual­ities within that make their ideas explode in all directions. These qualities, these cat­alytic agents, some are born with but most must acquire. And anyone with determina­tion can acquire them.

Creativity is not a vague product of a mood ... it can be made reliable and con­sistent. Yes, some results will be more in­spired than others ... but the average will be high and successful!

There is a definite thought process, that can, if practiced, start a person not natu­rally gifted, on the road to creative expres­sion. This thought process, when conscious­ly used can free the mind and send it reach­ing into higher spheres, start it producing. It embodies five logical steps:

1. Assembling information.
2. Relating it consciously to the subject at hand.
3. Incubation process.
4. Genesis of idea.
5. Evaluating and shaping to usefulness.

What are new ideas?

They are but unique variations of what somebody, somewhere has done before, seeing things in brand new relationships. The creative mind endows old facts with new significance, places them in fresh juxta­positions.

The non-creative mind accepts all facts as they have been given to him and cannot conceive anything that does not follow the time-worn pattern, while the creative mind sees new relationship in old facts.

You will sweep away the veils that ob­scure your horizons and limit you, recog­nize new relationships in well known facts and begin to produce usable ideas by prac­ticing the definite steps that start creative thinking (if you have not already done so) when you ...

1)        Gather Information ... reams and reams of it. (Here is where curiosity comes in handy.) There are two types of information you will require: general information and specific information.

General information concerns the world about you. Know what is going on. Be alive, be sensitive to and absorb interesting news and facts. You cannot be an imple­ment of expression if you are oblivious to the world for which your creation is to be made.

Specific information (harvested by con­scious effort) pitches into every phase of the subject or field in which you wish to become creative. Each aspect must be pursued as a subject in itself. Specific information does not mean general facts that satisfy a pas­sing curiosity, it penetrates to the core and searches for the individual, the unique. The bit that sets each thing apart so it cannot be herded haphazardly into a faceless group.

If ideas are to spring from a new com­bination of general and specific informa­tion - you must have both.

 2)        Relate material to subject at hand.

When you collect general information and specific knowledge you have thrown the net that catches ideas but you must examine what you have caught and look for hidden facts. Rub the bits of information together, fit pieces to your personal usefulness; this is the refining process. Your mind must examine information in the light of what has gone before ... what others have pre­sented. Relate the information you have collected to its bearing on life and all things that interest you.

Do not view facts only within their own realm but see that basic truths are applicable to the truths in other fields.

 3)        Incubation process. Shhhh ...  subcon­scious at work. You have presented the facts to your subconscious, which along with other stored facts on the subject will be filing and shuffling them for orderly presentation at the propitious moment. Let the facts remain dormant until necessity or inspiration of the moment demands that the  subconscious bring  forth  its  stored treasure in a new light.

 4)        Genesis of the idea. The actual birth of the idea (or series of ideas) is the product of spontaneous   combustion   within   the mind. For, with enough general and spe­cific information stored in the closet of our subconscious mind an outside idea or spe­cial problem (which would produce no reaction in an unsaturated mind) will fire your brain with searing ideas!

 5)        Shaping the idea to practical usefulness requires the extra effort that separates the doer from the dreamer. Here you must demand from your subconscious, not only that which it is ready to give, but more and more. Draw forth each infinitesimal fact and applicable theory. Discipline your con­scious mind to grasp the idea and shape it into practical usefulness: make it a reality!

You have evidenced vital interest in the subject of posing by reading this book. Take the facts we have offered. Qualify or disqualify them - but evaluate them to their fullest from your own standpoint. Explore their usability and adaptability to each field of posing: illustration, publicity, portraits, television, moving pictures, pic­torial, fashion, photo-journalism and any other which incorporates the use of the camera. Each has its fine delineation. Each is a study in differences and each will gen­erate further ideas for your work ... that are right!

If this book has proved a source of in­spiration, we are happy. If it has been a source of irritation ... we are not unhappy. For in its very friction it has either strengthened your own convictions or de­posited that grain of sand that may some day form a pearl of an idea for you.

This is not the end of the book, for as you progress further into your field, this book will serve as an ever-ready reference for posing variations, as well as an illus­trated means of communicating with a beginner.

No, this is not the end; it is the beginning of your investigation into what makes the body tick. And what makes pictures click.

DATA ON SHADOWCRAMS

is here presented for those who are curious about how the illustrations for this book were made.

A roll of seamless paper, like the one illustrated below, was rolled down and forward to provide a large expanse of white surface. The lights were set on either side of the model to silhouette her figure against the background.

When feet were included in the shadow-gram (the model wore dark stockings and shoes in these shots) a back light was focus­ed on her feet to separate them from the background.

Film and paper

Contrast process film and top contrast paper were used for all pictures.

Props . . .

were the very ordinary things around any studio. They were eliminated on the nega­tive, and replaced with a line.

Costume . . .

was varied according to the effect to be recorded. A full-length black leotard and black bathing cap was used for all the full length shadow grams.

The full length frontispieces were made in a full length white leotard covered with black fish net (one inch mesh). The white legs were done in the same way, while the black legs had white net over the black leotard.

The model . . .

was selected very carefully for the full-length pictures not only for her bust, waist and hip measurements, but for her propor­tions. She was eight and one half heads tall and was able to co-ordinate each part of her body under specific directions and tensions as outlined in this book.

Any model can make a shadowgram . .

by standing on a sturdy platform of some sort in front of an uncovered light bulb. The resulting shadow can be intercepted by a sheet stretched and thumbtacked onto a frame or doorway. The closer the figure approaches the sheet the sharper the out­line. However, if the model gets too close she cannot watch the shadow perform. If pictures made from the opposite side of the screen are to be sharp, the model should stand as close to it as possible.

SHADOW OF  MODEL ON  SHEET     LIVE   MODEL                                        LIGHT

Mechanical hand and shoulders . . .

were made of styrofoam, covered on one side with black paper and encased over-all in fish net of contrasting tone. (Same size mesh was used in all illustrations.)

Schematic diagrams (pages 60-61) . . .

were a combination of cut-out (from pictures of the mechanical arms) and art work done with Ben Day overlay and very narrow chart tape.

Faces (pages 168-173) . . .

in black and white were made to look like... [Chapter Incomplete]

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