I truly believe inspiration can come from anywhere if you keep your mind open. Waaaayyy back in 1999 I remember reading about this fantastic floating Opera House in Bergenz, Austria (Google it you will be amazed at the sets they build). Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Ein Maskenball' performed on July 15. The design of the stage in the lake shows "Death' reading the book of life. That picture impressed upon me so much that I have always wanted to do an interpretation of it. It dawned on me a day after the challenge announcement that Poe's story, The Masque of the Red Death (2nd publication under this revised title...July 19 - interesting...), presented itself as a perfect opportunity.
Total of 17 photos used - and many hours to complete final composition. All objects are photos taken by me in the time frame of the challenge dates - from toy figures, to skull mountain, to texture, to castle, the hooded figure, skeletal hands (a halloween decoration), book, sky, and swamp puddle.
Aside from the obvious imagery, I wonder if people will notice the details of:
'Death' is reading from the Book of Life. The pages of the book are near the end of reading. Thus as the story comes to an end, the characters are fated to die with the end.
The total number of figures is 7 - which corresponds to the number of 'rooms' in the story. Where's the 1,000 people that were in the story? Sorry getting the toy figures to look right in color tone and not plasticy darn tough.
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I really like the painterly feeling, great work. The castle especially is very well integrated in the scene, and the dark colors really adds to the atmosphere.
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