INVISIBLA CITIES

Online Greenlight Review

OCTAVIA
If you choose to believe me, good. Now I will tell how Octavia, the spider-web
city, is made. There is a precipice between two steep mountains: the city is
over the void, bound to the two crests with ropes and chains and catwalks.
You walk on the little wooden ties, careful not to set your foot in the open spaces,
or you cling to the hempen strands. Below there is nothing for hundreds and
hundreds of feet: a few clouds glide past; farther down you can glimpse the
chasm's bed. This is the foundation of the city: a net which serves as passage and
as support. All the rest, instead of rising up, is hung below: rope ladders,
hammocks, houses made like sacks, clothes hangers, terraces like
gondolas, skins of water, gas jets, spits, baskets on strings, dumb-waiters,
showers, trapezes and rings for children's games, cable cars, chandeliers,
pots with trailing plants. Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia's
inhabitants is less uncertain than in other cities. They know the net will last only
so long

MISSION STATEMENT
Mission StatementI chose Octavia other the other invisible cities because unlike other cities,
Octavia is suspended above the ground, or over the void as the writer describes.
My initial thumbnails were inspired by traditional African mudhuts that are perched on the side of
the mountains. These mud huts were then moved in later thumbnails to appear hanging between
the mountains. These huts were suspended by ropes. The huts evolved into sack like hives which
again changed into the appearance of being made from hide pieces sewn together to make a
cocoon like structure for the inhabitants of the city to live in.
The residents tread carefully over the rope like structure that holds the city together because too
much weight and movement might cause the collapse of the city.
For my palette I am going to use oranges and red. Yellows reminiscent of sand will also be used
because I imagine the surrounding to be desert like. I would like to add shadows and use the dusk
as inspiration for the exterior shot as this gives me more chance to experiment with the colour
palette. Lighting isnt mentioned in the text so this gives me freedom to imagine. In Octavia, night
would be very dark as therewouldnt be any fires, by day it would be very bright from the hot sun.
For the interior, I want to keep it simple because of the lack of belongings. I imagine the interior
to look like the interior of a tribal hut but all their belongings hang outside the hut. The interior is
just shelter.