ASSIGNMENT 1
For the first assignment, we were asked to a research essay about superheroes, to understand and explore more about the graphics, costumes, etc. As for me, I chose Doctor Strange as my topic. I submitted a few attempts for this assignment, as I didn’t understand the requirements at first. I only saw through the essay and did not think deeper behind the meaning of it. However after more discussions and guidance from Mr Charles, I (think) I got (some) of it right hehe
1ST ATTEMPT
Marvel Comics had definitely come up with something unique for this movie, different from
Iron man or Captain America, but rather a Sorcerer Supreme. One who protects the realm of earth from mystical threats with magical powers and mysticsm. This story, created by Steve Ditko, takes fans and viewers into a whole new world of mind expanding parallel dimensions, a scattering time-frame and multiple alternate universes. The concept in this movie was also a bit as Astral Projection, Dimensionalization, and Fractured Spacetime play a crucial role in telling the story.
Like any other wizard, Dr. Strange has his very own costume. He started off with an old robe when he was a sorcerer in training, but had a massive change to his look with an appropriate shade of blue, a big black belt wrapping his waist and a pair of high black boots. According to Alexandra Byrne, the costume designer, she was inspired by the ancient Chinese clothing for his costume. She took 10 layers of fabric, stitched it through and waxed as well as coating the top layer of the costume to have the most precise look of a wizard. Alongside that, the Cloak of Levitation draping flawlessly on his back, and its classic high collared look, with a touch of gold embroidery that acts kind of like a magic carpet. Since he is the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme in the whole Marvel Universe, it doesn’t seem logical why he needs the cloak to fly him around or even distract some of his enemies. He has all the magical powers and mysticsm right on his hands, so why does he still need the cloak? Hypothetically speaking, when Ditko wrote this story, just like any other superhero, such as Captain America with his shield, Thor with his hammer and Iron Man with Jarvis, these are the tools that enhances their abilities. It just goes to show that that even the strongest of all people has their weaknesses. In that sense, The Levitation Cloak humanizes Doctor Strange. Other than that, Dr. Strange also has the powerful mystical Eye of Agamotto also known as the infinity stone, hanging around his neck. Though there are some implications concerning his costume, but the combination of everything gave the viewers a clear message that Doctor Strange is the perfect archetype for a Sorcerer Supreme.
When you think about the movie, the art of surrealism comes to mind. Surrealism was first introduced in the 1920s and was influenced by a number of artists in the past such as Dali and Odilon Redon. These artworks were aimed to combine the conditions of dreams and reality into an element of surprise or illogical scenes, putting aside the aesthetic of line and color hence creating a strange yet unique work. Similarly in the movie, there were many scenes that represent it, one of it would be Strange getting sucked into the cinematic hallucinations where he was pulled away from earth, and then got sucked deeper into different dimensions from explosive neon lights to hands expanding within seconds. Even though the play of colors and elements in the scenes were all distorted and odd, but it gave the viewers a vision of what lies beyond this universe that we live in. Other than that, this movie also took the viewers into the world of M.C Escher, a dutch graphic artist who knows beyond the limitation of physics, where it bends and breaks the cities, ancient building becomes an interlocking machine that can actually kill, and everything acts as a playground for the characters to proceed into their magical battles. It truly feels like peeping through a kaleidoscope, except its showcased on a bigger screen. This style of art truly fits the movie because it’s a world of super-reality, with a combination of science fiction and magic, making the viewers eager to know if it does really exist.
Aside from that, Doctor Strange is also tied with ancient beliefs such as Hinduism. The spells and powers that he uses from the ancient books had a particular reference to Hindu scriptures throughout this movie. One of it would be Kalachakra, a term used in Vajrayana Buddhism that holds a meaning of the wheel of time. Its power is to turn back time, fast forward and manipulate it in different ways. To achieve this state of mind, one has to first free themselves from the cycle of existence and meditate to get rid of their greed, passion, arrogance to submit into selflessness. This is exactly how the storyline goes, as Dr. Strange started from an arrogant neurosurgeon to being a selfless sorcerer after his training in Kamar Taj. He learned the hard way but he got to where he was aiming to be. Moving on, ‘Shamballa’ was also mentioned in the movie as a wifi password, but could there be a deeper meaning than just that? From the collection of Hindu religious texts, The Puranas, mentioned that Shamballa is the birthplace of Kalki who is the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is the second God to the Hindu triumvirate. It is also said that the birth of Kalki will lead to a birth of a new age where the purest soul lives away from all threats. That place is called Satyayuga. Similarly in the movie, Kamar-Taj is a secure place for the Sorcerers to train just as Shamballa is the birth place of Kalki, Kamar Taj has also produced a new superhero; Doctor Strange.
In the story, Dormamu is the Destroyer of Worlds, demolishing all life within its grasp and among everything else, Earth is what he craves the most. He is a creature that lives beyond time and away from light. As he is a transcendent of time, he is seen as immortal and powerful; powers that draws Kaiselius’ obsession. As Dormammu is seen as a mystical being that is unaffected by time however, his very existence and purpose is questionable. How can he be called the destroyer of worlds whilst be unaffected by time? Destruction happens with the progression of time. Scientifically, The Universe eventually dies. What does he want to achieve from destroying a ‘dying’ planet (Earth)? Hypothetically, Dormammu could be living in an alternate dimension where the concept of time runs differently from ours. This can be seen when Dr. Strange bargains with Dormammu and he gets caught up in a time-loop. Should Dormammu be in the same universe with Earth, everybody on Earth will get caught in that same loop and only Dr. Strange is not affected thanks to The Eye of Agamotto.
place in this world. To wrap it up, this movie is filled with Ditko’s artistic vision that will continue to blow people’s mind with his amazing imaginarygreater eventually found something beyond that. Though he doubted himself in the beginning, he overcame it and stepped into a greater destiny that is to protect the earth from mystical threats. Reaching to the point of willingness to sacrifice himself, to save the world definitely shows his progress as a wiser man. Swallowing your ego really takes us to life, “You think too little of yourself,” a quote from The Ancient One to Dr. Strange. Its something most people would do, even Doctor Strange himself. An arrogant man who lost his only purpose in
As you can see, the first attempt I only talked about what was already shown to the public. Basically like Mr Charles said, “don’t talk about what is already there, go deeper than this.” Truthfully I was still clueless; how else can I fix this? What more could I talk about? So I gave in my second attempt.
2ND ATTEMPT.
Marvel Comics had definitely come up with something unique for this movie, different from Iron man or Captain America, but rather a Sorcerer Supreme. One who protects the realm of earth from mystical threats with magical powers and mysticsm. This story, created by Steve Ditko, takes fans and viewers into a whole new world of mind expanding parallel dimensions, a scattering time-frame and multiple alternate universes. The concept in this movie was also a bit as Astral Projection, Dimensionalization, and Fractured Spacetime play a crucial role in telling the story.
Like any other wizard, Dr. Strange has his very own costume. He started off with an old robe when he was a sorcerer in training, but had a massive change to his look with an appropriate shade of blue, a big black belt wrapping his waist and a pair of high black boots. According to Alexandra Byrne, the costume designer, she was inspired by the ancient Chinese clothing for his costume. She took 10 layers of fabric, stitched it through and waxed as well as coating the top layer of the costume to have the most precise look of a wizard. Alongside that, the Cloak of Levitation draping flawlessly on his back, and its classic high collared look, with a touch of gold embroidery that acts kind of like a magic carpet. Since he is the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme in the whole Marvel Universe, it doesn’t seem logical why he needs the cloak to fly him around or even distract some of his enemies. He has all the magical powers and mysticsm right on his hands, so why does he still need the cloak? Hypothetically speaking, when Ditko wrote this story, just like any other superhero, such as Captain America with his shield, Thor with his hammer and Iron Man with Jarvis, these are the tools that enhances their abilities. It just goes to show that that even the strongest of all people has their weaknesses. In that sense, The Levitation Cloak humanizes Doctor Strange. Other than that, Dr. Strange also has the powerful mystical Eye of Agamotto also known as the infinity stone, hanging around his neck. Though there are some implications concerning his costume, but the combination of everything gave the viewers a clear message that Doctor Strange is the perfect archetype for a Sorcerer Supreme.
When you think about the movie, the art of surrealism comes to mind. Surrealism was first introduced in the 1920s and was influenced by a number of artists in the past such as Dali and Odilon Redon. These artworks were aimed to combine the conditions of dreams and reality into an element of surprise or illogical scenes, putting aside the aesthetic of line and color hence creating a strange yet unique work. Similarly in the movie, there were many scenes that represent it, one of it would be Strange getting sucked into the cinematic hallucinations where he was pulled away from earth, and then got sucked deeper into different dimensions from explosive neon lights to hands expanding within seconds. Even though the play of colors and elements in the scenes were all distorted and odd, but it gave the viewers a vision of what lies beyond this universe that we live in. Other than that, this movie also took the viewers into the world of M.C Escher, a dutch graphic artist who knows beyond the limitation of physics, where it bends and breaks the cities, ancient building becomes an interlocking machine that can actually kill, and everything acts as a playground for the characters to proceed into their magical battles. It truly feels like peeping through a kaleidoscope, except its showcased on a bigger screen. This style of art truly fits the movie because it’s a world of super-reality, with a combination of science fiction and magic, making the viewers eager to know if it does really exist.
Aside from that, Doctor Strange is also tied with ancient beliefs such as Hinduism. The spells and powers that he uses from the ancient books had a particular reference to Hindu scriptures throughout this movie. One of it would be Kalachakra, a term used in Vajrayana Buddhism that holds a meaning of the wheel of time. Its power is to turn back time, fast forward and manipulate it in different ways. To achieve this state of mind, one has to first free themselves from the cycle of existence and meditate to get rid of their greed, passion, arrogance to submit into selflessness. This is exactly how the storyline goes, as Dr. Strange started from an arrogant neurosurgeon to being a selfless sorcerer after his training in Kamar Taj. He learned the hard way but he got to where he was aiming to be. Moving on, ‘Shamballa’ was also mentioned in the movie as a wifi password, but could there be a deeper meaning than just that? From the collection of Hindu religious texts, The Puranas, mentioned that Shamballa is the birthplace of Kalki who is the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is the second God to the Hindu triumvirate. It is also said that the birth of Kalki will lead to a birth of a new age where the purest soul lives away from all threats. That place is called Satyayuga. Similarly in the movie, Kamar-Taj is a secure place for the Sorcerers to train just as Shamballa is the birth place of Kalki, Kamar Taj has also produced a new superhero; Doctor Strange.
In the story, Dormamu is the Destroyer of Worlds, demolishing all life within its grasp and among everything else, Earth is what he craves the most. He is a creature that lives beyond time and away from light. As he is a transcendent of time, he is seen as immortal and powerful; powers that draws Kaiselius’ obsession. As Dormammu is seen as a mystical being that is unaffected by time however, his very existence and purpose is questionable. How can he be called the destroyer of worlds whilst be unaffected by time? Destruction happens with the progression of time. Scientifically, The Universe eventually dies. What does he want to achieve from destroying a ‘dying’ planet (Earth)? Hypothetically, Dormammu could be living in an alternate dimension where the concept of time runs differently from ours. This can be seen when Dr. Strange bargains with Dormammu and he gets caught up in a time-loop. Should Dormammu be in the same universe with Earth, everybody on Earth will get caught in that same loop and only Dr. Strange is not affected thanks to The Eye of Agamotto.
“You think too little of yourself,” a quote from The Ancient One to Dr. Strange. Its something most people would do, even Doctor Strange himself. An arrogant man who lost his only purpose in life, eventually found something beyond that. Though he doubted himself in the beginning, he overcame it and stepped into a greater destiny that is to protect the earth from mystical threats. Reaching to the point of willingness to sacrifice himself, to save the world definitely shows his progress as a wiser man. Swallowing your ego really takes us to greater place in this world. To wrap it up, this movie is filled with Ditko’s artistic vision that will continue to blow people’s mind with his amazing imaginary.
Thank god this was better than the first one. but STILL, it was not good enough, yet..? By this time I was already crying (exaggerating) ((me to mr Charles : WHAT DO YOU WANT??)) yet… I came up with another one.
LAST ATTEMPT
Marvel Comics had definitely come up with something unique for this movie, different from Iron Man or Captain America, but rather a Sorcerer Supreme. One who protects the realm of earth from mystical threats with magical powers and mysticism. This story, created by Steve Ditko, takes fans and viewers into a whole new world of mind-expanding parallel dimensions, a scattering time-frame, and multiple alternate universes. The concept in this movie was also a bit as Astral Projection, Dimensionalization, and Fractured Spacetime play a crucial role in telling the story.
Like any other wizard, Dr. Strange has his very own costume. He started off with an old robe when he was a sorcerer in training, but had a massive change to his look with an appropriate shade of blue, a big black belt wrapping his waist and a pair of high black boots. According to Alexandra Byrne, the costume designer, she was inspired by the ancient Tibetan clothing for his costume. She took 10 layers of fabric, stitched it through and waxed as well as coating the top layer of the costume to have the most precise look of a wizard. Alongside that, the Cloak of Levitation draping flawlessly on his back, and its classic high collared look, with a touch of gold embroidery that acts kind of like a magic carpet. Since he is the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme in the whole Marvel Universe, it doesn’t seem logical why he needs the cloak to fly him around or even distract some of his enemies. He has all the magical powers and mysticsm right on his hands, so why does he still need the cloak? Hypothetically speaking, when Ditko wrote this story, just like any other superhero, such as Captain America with his shield, Thor with his hammer and Iron Man with Jarvis, these are the tools that enhances their abilities. It just goes to show that that even the strongest of all people has their weaknesses. In that sense, The Levitation Cloak humanizes Doctor Strange. Other than that, Dr. Strange also has the powerful mystical Eye of Agamotto also known as the infinity stone, hanging around his neck. Though there are some implications concerning his costume, but the combination of everything gave the viewers a clear message that Doctor Strange is the perfect archetype for a Sorcerer Supreme.
​
When you think about the movie, the art of surrealism comes to mind. Surrealism was first introduced in the 1920s and was influenced by a number of artists in the past such as Dali and Odilon Redon. These artworks were aimed to combine the conditions of dreams and reality into an element of surprise or illogical scenes, putting aside the aesthetic of line and color hence creating a strange yet unique work. Similarly, in the movie, there were many scenes that represent it, one of it would be Strange getting sucked into the cinematic hallucinations where he was pulled away from earth, and then got sucked deeper into different dimensions from explosive neon lights to hands expanding within seconds. Even though the play of colors and elements in the scenes were all distorted and odd, but it gave the viewers a vision of what lies beyond this universe that we live in. Other than that, this movie also took the viewers into the world of M.C Escher, a Dutch graphic artist who knows beyond the limitation of physics, where it bends and breaks the cities, ancient building becomes an interlocking machine that can actually kill, and everything acts as a playground for the characters to proceed with their magical battles. It truly feels like peeping through a kaleidoscope, except its showcased on a bigger screen. This style of art truly fits the movie because it’s a world of super-reality, with a combination of magic, making the viewers eager to know if it does really exist.
Whether it be due to the presence of God, gods, angels, spirits or superhumans, beliefs that there are dimensions other than our physical ones exist in most if not all culture and religions. More often than not the mystical realm is regarded as having powers beyond ours giving rise to the concept of 'guardian' who are bridges between two worlds, without which our two worlds are bound to meet resulting in chaos or even cosmic cataclysm.
As a member of the public myself, I view the film purely from an entertainment perspective as mysticism occurs in almost all religion in different ways. In this case, it appears to be much closer to the older Hinduism and/or Buddhism practices and beliefs. However, it does give viewers an exciting plot given the juxtaposition between the spiritual realm and physical realm which was impactfully executed. Credits should be given to the movie’s director for his powerful imagination and hard work in researching into these areas. Perhaps the West's fascination with the eastern arts, culture, and religion as demonstrated during the flower power days has been rekindled in this movie with the mention and demonstration of ancient mystical philosophies.
​
The spells and powers that Dr. Strange uses from the ancient books had a particular reference to ancient Sanskrit and Buddhism throughout this movie. One of it would be Kalachakra, a term used in Vajrayana Buddhism that holds a meaning of the wheel of time. Its power is to turn back time, fast forward and manipulate it in different ways. To achieve this state of mind, one has to first free themselves from the cycle of existence and meditate to get rid of their greed, passion, arrogance to submit into selflessness.
​
The term ‘Shamballa’ was also mentioned in the movie humorously as a wifi password, but in actual fact, Shamballa refers to Shangri La which is a paradise situated in the Himalayas. From the collection of Hindu religious texts, The Puranas mentioned that Shamballa is the birthplace of Kalki who is the final incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is the second God of the Hindu triumvirate. It is also said that the birth of Kalki will lead to a birth of a new age where the purest soul lives away from all threats. That place is called Satyayuga. Similarly, in the movie, Kamar-Taj is a secure place for the Sorcerers to train just as Shamballa is the birthplace of Kalki, Kamar Taj has also produced a new superhero; Doctor Strange.
​
In the story, Dormammu is the Destroyer of Worlds, demolishing all life within its grasp and among everything else, Earth is what he craves the most. He is a creature that lives beyond time and away from light. As he is a transcendent of time, he is seen as immortal and powerful; powers that draw Kaiselius’ obsession. As Dormammu is seen as a mystical being that is unaffected by time, however, his very existence and purpose are questionable. How can he be called the destroyer of worlds whilst be unaffected by time? Destruction happens with the progression of time. Scientifically, The Universe eventually dies. What does he want to achieve from destroying a ‘dying’ planet (Earth)? Hypothetically, Dormammu could be living in an alternate dimension where the concept of time runs differently from ours. This can be seen when Dr. Strange bargains with Dormammu and he gets caught up in a time-loop. Should Dormammu be in the same universe with Earth, everybody on Earth will get caught in that same loop and only Dr. Strange is not affected thanks to The Eye of Agamotto.
​
Time and space that sum up the total dimensions within both the physical and mystical worlds, must I believe belong undoubtedly to the creator, God himself. Within the movie, the mystical abilities possessed by mortals on both sides somehow gave them the power to intervene, manipulate, and disrupt physical time and space while they do battle with one another. While the buildings may seem to have collapsed or collided, it must have happened in a different time zone hence not affecting the actual physical space and their inhabitants. Whether or not such extent of mystical powers exists in the past is debatable. However, the fact that the digital graphics and animation can actually illustrate such awesome time-space mix has left us pondering the unlimited possibilities of time and space’s cross-dimensional adventures. As for Dr. Strange, his transformation into a Sorcerer with mystical powers from the past will continue to fuel imagination as modern societies face increasingly harsh realities of life. Sometimes a couple of hours at movies like this gives viewers the much needed temporary relief and helps to strengthen hope that good will in the end prevail against evil.
FINALLY! It was enough already (for me at least)
REFERENCES:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-0110-costumes-dr-strange-20170110-story.html
https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/03/the-costumes-of-doctor-strange/
http://marvel.com/universe/Doctor_Strange#axzz5GO1hHHep
https://www.britannica.com/art/Surrealism
https://nerdist.com/doctor-stranges-mind-bending-visual-effects-are-unlike-anything-in-the-mcu/
http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/what-inspired-doctor-stranges-visual-effects.html
https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/7/13513134/doctor-strange-marvel-visual-effects
http://collider.com/doctor-strange-video-steve-ditko-kevin-feige/
Video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTQezMvSvrU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drXGJ3ZZdvc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HadDdlPslRo