The Historical Mitridate and his Family

The opera “Mitridate” by Mozart tells the story of the last days of Mithridates VI, tyrant king of a land known as Pontus. The spelling “Mitridate” is the Italian spelling of “Mithridates”, because the opera was written in Italian. The opera “Mitridate” is historical fiction. Many of the characters portrayed are real people, and many of the events happened in history in some form or other. The opera, like most biography dramas, changes a lot of facts for the sake of drama, but also includes many interesting things that happened in the life of this historical figure.

Mithridates VI Eupator Dionysius

Mithridates was essentially the Hitler of the ancient world. He was universally hated (outside of his Kingdoms) because of his genocidal tendencies and his strong military. He was an enemy of Rome throughout the course of many wars, opposing such famous military leaders as Pompey the Great and the great dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla, when Sulla was still only a general. Pontus (seen in the map below in purple) spanned a large part of Northern Turkey and the Southern shores of the Black Sea in the ancient world. Mitridate was king of Pontus from 120 b.c. to 63 b.c., which is a lengthy 57 year reign.

Pontus

In the opera, Mitridate pretty much sentences every single character to death at some point. Notable is Mitridate’s penchant for poisoning people, which is something he did regularly in real life. He was also very concerned that somebody would try to poison him. Certain of an assassination plot, Mitridate gradually built up an immunity to poison throughout his life by taking sub-lethal doses and creating “Mithridatum“, or medicines he created himself, that have since been proven to help reduce swelling.

Mithridates is seen in this statue portrait dressed as Hercules, a god whose likeness Mithridates often used in propaganda.

The Wives of Mithridates

1. Laodice

Mithridate’s first wife was also his sister. Laodice is pretty much the epitome of a bad first marriage. After a short while the Queen began to take lovers while her husband was at war. She even had an illegitimate son, which surprised Mithridates when he returned home unexpectedly, because he had been gone longer than nine months! Soon thereafter, he walked in on her with her “lovers” (which I put in quotes because the plural form suggests many things to the imagination). As if that wasn’t enough, he also discovered she and her lovers were going to attempt to assassinate him with poison at his welcome home party. Needless to say, Laodice and her lovers did not survive the night. They were executed and Mithridates cursed his mother for bearing such a wicked daughter.

I guess the moral of the story is don’t marry your sister.

Laodice is the mother of the evil son Pharnaces II (Farnace), one of the main characters from Mozart’s opera.

This fascinating architecture, which I think is a bit later in history, is actually located in the Pontic landscape. Trabzon, Turkey, used to be a part of Pontus. Vazelon Manastiri, Macka, in Trabzon. Photo by Efkan Sinan.

2. Monime

Coming up second was the lady with the very Star Wars-y name, Monime. Mithridates was visiting some Greek allies, and saw the beautiful daughter of his friend. Monime and her father saw at once that Mithridates was enamored of her. They basically extorted the King for an enormous sum, and numerous titles, to buy her and take her home. Which Mithridates did. While Mithridates did like her intelligence, which is notable, as well as her beauty, she proved to be fairly cunning, and they grew estranged. She was executed during the Mithridatic wars. I’m assuming it was the Roman enemy that killed her, because after Mithridates defeat, they gave careful consideration to purging the Mithridatic line by killing all members of his family who might have an hereditary claim to the throne.

I guess the moral of the story is don’t marry any woman whose terms of marriage resort to extortion.

Monime is the basis for the character of Aspasia in the opera “Mitridate.” We know this because Mozart’s opera is actually a remake of a French play by Jean Racine. In the original all the characters names are the same except for Monime, which was changed to Aspasia in the Italian opera.

Mount Nemrud, a statue covered mountain which was fully functional (not in ruins) in the Ancient Turkey when Mithridates ruled the land.

3. Berenice

Mithridates married Berenice, and seems to have been much pleased with her, because though she started out as a mistress/concubine, she eventually became a wife. When the Romans had seized upon them, Mithridates commanded Berenice to kill herself with poison. However, the poison did not fully work, and so she had to be strangled.

I guess the moral of this story is don’t marry a psychopath.

In the opera, Mitridate’s young fiancee, Aspasia, is given a chance to kill herself with poison. While the appearance and personality of Aspasia seem to have been drawn from Monime, perhaps this scene was inspired by the final moments of Berenice’s life?

The Kaunos Rock Tombs existed in Ancient Turkey, and are an example of contemporary architecture during Mithridates reign. Photo by mxpeyne.

4. Stratonice

Strangely enough, the life of Stratonice seems to be the most operatic out of the bunch, even though her story was not used in the opera. Like the previous wife, Berenice, Mithridates seems to have liked Stratonice. She was the mother of Xiphares (Sifare) who is another of the leads in the Mozart Opera. However, things took a terrible turn during the Mithridatic Wars.

Stratonice was put in command of a mighty fortress which held much of the Pontic treasure. When Pompey the Great attacked and conquered the city, Stratonice yielded the fortress on the condition that Pompey let her son Xiphares live. When Mithridates discovered her betrayal, he had her punished by forcing her to watch the execution of Xiphares anyway, this time at the hands of her own people rather than the enemy. The boy was 20 years old. This event is loosely referenced throughout the opera.

A few short years later, Stratonice was executed during the purge of Mithridatic line by the Romans.

I guess the moral of the story is don’t do anything at all, ever, if you want to be sure of anything. Poor dear.

5. Anonymous

Wikipedia doesn’t have any information on this anonymous woman, however, I do know that when Mithridates was finally certain of his defeat, he had his wife and children take poison (Just like in Hitler’s bunker a thousand years later!) and perhaps this was the wife mentioned in that scenario.

I guess the moral of the story is, if you’re going to marry a tyrant, you might as well do something wild and crazy, or else you’ll go down in history as boring old “anonymous”.

The Celsus Library, a contemporary example of architecture in Mithridates time, Ancient Turkey.

6. Hypsicratea

Hypsicratea was an amazonian warrior woman! (Quite literally, as she was Caucasian, and Caucasus was the area where the Amazon women were said to have hailed from!) Mithridates married Hypsicratea because he felt that she was his intellectual equal. She did not want to leave his side, and so she trained in war craft, mastering the use of the axe, lance, sword and bow & arrow. With these skills, she equipped herself as a warrior and accompanied Mithridates everywhere he went as his bodyguard.

When Mithridates began to lose the wars, and the tides turned against him, Hypsicratea was one of the few who remained with him. Plutarch noted that she was indefatigable. Mithridates claimed that he was always at home because his wife was always by his side.

Hypsicratea, Warrior Queen of Pontus

Nobody knows what happened to Hypsicratea after Mithridates death. However, there is a very interesting theory. Because she became a warrior, her husband called her Hypsicrates, which is the masculine form of her name. There is a Pontic historian and old friend of Mithridates who wrote under the name Hypsicrates for many years after the kings death, until their own death as an elder. Some have speculated that this Hypsicrates was actually Hypsicratea, since there are many coincidences to connect them, such as being close to the King, being the correct age, having the same name, her noted intelligence etc.  It is assumed that she lived out the rest of her life in disguise to avoid the purge, and carry on her husband’s story.

Which would be totally awesome if true.

I guess the moral of this story is that if you’re going to be awesome, you might as well just pull out all of the stops and go for it!

Ancient Turkey. These ruins from the south would perhaps have been a part of Mithridates domain at one time, but not of Pontus proper. Photo by Willi Seiler.

The Most Important Son of Mithridates

Pharnaces II, the Evil Son

Just as in Mozart’s opera, Pharnaces (Farnace) did historically lead the Roman rebellion against his father. This is something that is downplayed in the opera to make the character more sympathetic, though he was the villain of the original French play by Jean Racine.

In the opera, Farnace feels torn between loyalties, and eventually turns against the Romans to help save his Kingdom. However, in real life, Farnace’s full on betrayal by siding with Rome was one of the major turning points in the defeat of Mithridates.

Surrounded on all sides by friend and foe, this is when the historical Mithridates had his family killed by poison and even attempted to poison himself when he realized he was doomed. However he failed.  Remember how I mentioned earlier that he had developed an immunity to poison? Yeah, well, he tried to poison himself, but it didn’t work due to his hard earned immunity to it. From here, the story splits. The first version is that he had himself stabbed, as in the opera. The second is that the rebels fell upon him and stabbed him to death. Either way, he was stabbed.

I guess the moral of the story is, if you want to commit suicide by poison, don’t spend all of your freaking life developing an immunity to poison.

After a few years of peace with Rome, the real Pharnaces decided to follow in his Father’s footsteps and oppose Rome. When the Romans sent Julius Caesar to battle, Pharnaces was quickly defeated and Caesar is famously quoted as saying “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Final Words

Mitridate’s penchant for brutality and having people executed crosses over into Mozart’s opera, but his full cruelty is barely touched upon. It is said that he had every Roman in Asia executed, which is what fueled his seemingly unending battle with Rome. He was brutal towards most of his wives and children, adept on the battlefield and long lived. He was certainly much more of a tyrant than the opera would have us know.

• See more photos of Ancient Turkey by Willi Seiler and Mxpeyne.
• Read about Mithridates on Wikipedia.
• Learn how to recreate Mithridatum, the medicine invented by Mithridates to reduce inflamation.

One Delightful Day – April 2nd (Mitridate)

On April 1st, I traveled to Missoula to work on my Mitridate photos with Lizzie.

Lizzie was feeling unwell when I arrived (from what I can only assume is over-work — she hasn’t had a break since August!) but after some of her rehearsals, things settled down, and we downloaded Schmoyoho‘s Songify App and had a good deal of fun singing into her iphone and getting automatically pitch-corrected and placed into different songs.

April 2nd was the photo shoot with Gus and Adrienne. The two models knew each other, and turned out to be old friends, which was a fun last minute surprise.

Adrienne and Gus.

Gus is a lively gentleman with a billowy white beard and long white hair, which is exactly how I pictured the Tyrant King, Mitridate, from Mozart’s opera. Lizzie gave him dark, threatening eyes, and curled his hair (a bit like going to a Pirate prom!)

Lizzie styles Gus's hair.

Adrienne played the historical monarch’s wife and bodyguard, Hypsicratea, who was a regal and powerful woman, and I thought Adrienne was perfect. Lizzie did the hair and make-up in a bold and powerful style. I created a large head-piece, or wig, in the Greek style for the character and it turned out really well. While getting ready Adrienne told me about her side business making custom swim-wear for fitness shows and models.

Lizzie attaches Adrienne's wig.

Because each of us had some connection to Gus through his delightful daughter, Nora, the conversation was pleasant and the atmosphere relaxed.

Mitridate on the cell phone?!?

Lizzie took on her usual role of light reflector, and she also modeled Mitridate’s helmet!

Lizzie as Mitridate, lookin' all spooky.

Gus brought his own sword to add to the costume, which was a nice addition.

Gus and Adrienne as the villains.

Together, Gus and Adrienne looked very imposing and regal, and I enjoyed working with them!

Gus as Mitridate, Me, Adrienne as Hypsicratea.

• Follow Adrienne on Twitter
• Read an Interview I did with Lizzie when she was working on an off-broadway play.
• I describe the opera Mitridate in a previous post, if you’d like to read more.
• The craft foam armor Mitridate wears is shown being made in a tutorial from my previous post.

Mitridate – Craft Foam Armor Tutorial

For my upcoming photo shoot of Mitridate, the tyrant king needed some fancy armor. Buying custom armor is very expensive, and so I went with the standard Cosplay route of making my own!

Cosplay is a hobby where a fan creates an outfit and dresses up like a popular fictional character (Star Wars, Video Games, Anime). The cosplayer often has to use Craft Foam to make their own armor. This is something I did before I knew what cosplay was, but when I found out about cosplay, I was very pleased to find that they provide many useful tutorials on making things out of craft foam. I have adopted a few of their recommendations over the years, and I would like to make a little tutorial to show you how I created Mitridate’s breast plate using all of these techniques.

Craft Foam Breastplate.

(Note: Any piece of armor you make will utilize these tools. This post will only focus on the breast plate, however.)

Step 1. – Gathering Supplies:

• Craft Foam (Available in many colors at craft stores like Michael’s. I use white mostly.)
• Gauze Fabric
• Large Gauge Wire (I used AnchorWire Multi-Purpose Wire, 16 Gauge.)
• 3D Paint (I used Delta Accent Liner – Air Dry PermEnamel for glass ceramic and tile.)
• Gesso
• Metallic Paint
• Metal Leafing supplies (Leaf and Glue)
• Jewelry pieces (If you want accent details)
• Hot Glue
• Mod Podge
• Scissors and Knives
• Straight Edge

Step 2. – Making A Craft Foam Form

First, I drew a picture of what I wanted to make. Then, I took the measurements of the model and padded out my dress form to match. Then, I took a large blank sheet of Craft Foam and guessed at making a pattern. I do this sort of thing quite a bit, and I realize this might be difficult for some people to do. I have put the final cut-out piece on my cutting mat so that if anyone wants to know the dimensions, they can see them in the picture.

The following image of a foam rectangle with a hole cut out of the middle is the breastplate. The head goes through the hole, pointed edge facing the chin, and the foam covers the breast and back.

Here is the foam breastplate cut out. I laid it on the cutting mat in case anyone wants to know the dimensions.

Step 3. – Adding a Fabric Backing

My next step was to cover this craft foam piece with fabric to add durability. I used a cheap gauze from JoAnn’s (It’s like .99/yd) and glued it to the back of the foam using Mod Podge. Mod Podge is a glue/sealer that is available at most stores that sell craft supplies. It comes with many specialized finishes and consistencies (Matte, Glossy/Fabric, Paper Mache). I used the basic Matte version. Many tutorials talk about mixing glues with water, etc. to get the correct consistency, but since Mod Podge has already perfected it, why bother mixing? The Mod Podge dries with quite a bit of flexibility, unlike some glues (like Tacky Glue) that dry hard.

This step is recommended by many cosplay tutorials, and this is the first time I adopted it for one of my projects. I chose to use it because the craft foam needs to support the weight of a cape in the photo, and I thought extra stability would be useful.

The next step is to use a fabric and glue it to the back of the foam to add durability. I used a cheap gauze that I had laying around, and put a layer of Mod Podge (Matte) on the foam and then over the top of the fabric.

In the pictures you will see the un-glued fabric gauze sitting next to the craft foam in case you need an idea of what the fabric looks like. On the back of the foam I put a layer of Mod Podge, and then smooth the gauze over the top of the glue. Next, I add another layer of Mod Podge over the fabric. This is generally a messy process, and you can use gloves if you prefer.

I know I do.

Then, you wait for the glue to dry. Once the glue is dry, you can trim the edges to match the craft foam.

Here is a full view of the gauze back glued, dried and trimmed.

Step 4. – Wire Edging

This is a step that I have never seen on any other tutorial, but it is one that I have always used. I take a large wire, I used 16 Gauge Multi-Purpose wire, and hot glue it to every edge of the craft foam. I glue it on the back, the side with the fabric. This wire can later be bent to shape the armor in any shape you want. It is very much like how Millinery wire is used in the brim of hats. The wire needs to be thick enough to support its own weight without bending, but not so thick that you cannot reshape it easily. I bought a spool at Lowe’s.

Here are two close ups of the wire that I hot-glued on the back edges. This will help shape the foam into any shape you care to have, and it will hold.

Step 5. – Decoration that goes under Edging

With this project, the wire will be covered by craft foam edging in a later step. Therefore, anything that goes under this edging needs to be finished now.

Using some drawn guidelines, I glued strips of craft foam to the front of the breastplate. I also took a 3D Paint (Delta Accent Liner – Air Dry PermEnamel for glass ceramic and tile) to make a fancy etching-style pattern on the front lower edge of the breastplate. This “etching” matches the tattoo that Farnace wears in my previous Mitridate Photo. The 3D paint is applied in two layers on this particular project.

I also have Jewelry Pendants and Findings that will be added towards the end. In the image below, you can see there are some circles drawn in where one of these will go.

This is the design I created using strips of craft foam and 3D Paint.

Step 6. – Craft Foam Edging

This is the step where I cover the wire, and created a nice finished edge all around the breastplate. Using a strip of craft foam which is wide enough to cover the wire in the back and the rough edges on the front, I hot glue the strip all around every edge of the breastplate.

These two images show the craft foam edging which covers both the wire on the back (left) and the rough edges on the front. (right)

Sometimes I do not use this step. You can get away with just leaving the wire exposed on the back if it will never be seen, and you don’t want a raised edge all around your piece.

This is a detail of the finished edging.

Step 7. – Gesso that Sucka!

The next step is to prime the piece for painting. I use a primer which comes highly recommended to me, and from me, called Gesso. It is a very nice primer.

I used Gesso to make everything white.

Step 8. – Painting, Leafing, Details

Next, I painted my breastplate with two types of paint. One is your typical Silver acrylic paint, and another is a metallic paint from “Sophisticate Finishes”. Sophisticated Finishes make the best looking, affordable metallic paints. In the image you will see the blue-metal is one of theirs.

I also used Silver Leafing on top of the silver painted areas once it was dry. Leafing is a technique where you put down a layer of special glue, wait for it to get tacky, and then apply thin sheets of metal over the top of the glue. Leafing is fairly difficult to learn how to do well and evenly, but the results are far better than the cheaper alternatives of metallic paint or Rub ‘n’ Buff. Actually covering the piece with metal leafing makes it look more like metal than any paint can.

Leafing is extremely messy, and many a wayward breath or gentle movement has sent the metal flying all across the room, but for all the trouble, and all the glue that bonds your skin together, and all the vacuuming, this is one of the only difficult processes that I swear by. The result is worth the trouble.

This is also the point in the process where I added my Jewelry findings, because they needed to be leafed to match.

Here is the breastplate painted with blue-metallic paint and leafed with silver leafing. The Jewelry has also been added.

Step 9. – Finishing Touches

There are a few finishing touches that this piece needed. Different pieces will need different finishing touches. This breastplate needed eyelets for closure, sealer and distressing (not pictured). I use either Mode Podge or Leafing Sealer for the sealer.

The Craft Foam Breastplate is seen here on a body form. The sides are held shut by running a string through eyelets. After this picture was taken I distressed and aged the armor, but this was a late decision and I will have no images of this effect until the final shot is taken.

Tutorial Achieved!

Any armor item you choose to make will use the tools and steps listed in this tutorial. This breastplate is only one of the many craft foam pieces I have made over the years. I have made masks, hats, models and props out of craft foam (and leafing) to achieve custom metal items at a low cost.

Mitridate’s breastplate was actually created to match a helmet I made for him over a year ago! The helmet, which is a great deal more complex, uses a plastic mask and paper clay in addition to the techniques listed above! You can see it in the image below.

Mitridate Helmet to go with the Armor. It is made in the same way with craft foam, but on a plastic mask base. It is based off of a historical military mask called Sutton Hoo.

• Learn About the Opera Mitridate in my previous post!
• Visit another useful Craft Foam Armor Tutorial!

Mitridate – About Mozart’s Opera

Mitridate, Re di Ponto – Dec. 26, 1770.

Mitridate was written when Mozart was around fifteen years old in 1770. This is interesting to keep in mind while enjoying the opera, because many of the themes and characters that the teenage Mozart chooses to emphasize through his music reflect this fact. His music gains strength and momentum every time he deals with the emotions teenagers understand best.

The play was written by Vittorio Santi and adapted from a tragedy by Jean Racine. The opera is a traditional Opera Seria, which is an opera in which each character takes turns singing a single aria alone, wherein they comment on the plot and how they feel about it, often through vivid (though sometimes fairly lame) poetry. Ensembles are rare, and usually occur at the end of acts.

This is the original title page to Mozart's Mitridate libretto.

Mitridate tells the story of the monarch of Pontus who is off at war against Pompey the Great. His two teenage sons, Sifare and Farnace, who have been left behind to guard their nation’s cities, have both fallen in love with their Father’s new bride, Aspasia.

Aspasia is terrified of Farnace, due to his passionate advances, and she hires Sifare to protect her. Sifare and Aspasia then fall in love just about the time Mitridate returns from battle. The King is accompanied by Farnace’s own betrothed, Ismene.

A Roman Tribune, Marzio, has befriended the bad son Farnace and means to turn him against his own country to allow the Roman conquest of Pontus.

When Mitridate and Ismene sort out what is going on, the King sentences both his sons and Aspasia to death. Just as Aspasia is about to be poisoned, the Romans invade the country, and Mitridate hastens to battle.

Ismene sets Sifare free just in time to join the fight.

Marzio storms the prison and frees Farnace, hoping he will betray his country, but instead the boy betrays the Romans and sets fire to their fleet.

Mitridate is defeated in battle and commits suicide, and as he lays dying he forgives his sons and fiancee. Aspasia, Sifare, Ismene and Farnace then vow to protect their country from any who would rob them of their freedom.

 

A close up of my image of Farnace. Mitridate, Act III by Tyson Vick, detail.

 

It is interesting to note that Mozart manages to give the title character, Mitridate, a unique musical voice that stands out clearly from all the rest. The character Mitridate’s music involves no coloratura or difficult embellishments like that of the other roles. This was due mainly to the original actors’ capabilities. He couldn’t perform the intense coloratura passages, but had a perfect pitch that could make use of large octave leaps. Mitridate’s distinct voice was then coupled with solid musical pacing. He has few or no touches of pathos, his tyranny reigning supreme. This is in total contrast to the rest of the cast who have arias that span the broad range of human emotions. Essentially, the unique voice devised by Mozart puts Mitridate apart from the rest of the cast and specifies him as the title character, which is stunningly creative approach.

Santi’s dramatic focus is firmly situated around the characters of Sifare and Aspasia, who would be played by the two romantic leads, with the lead antagonist (and lead character) being that of Mitridate himself. However, Mozart redirects the focus, through music, towards Farnace, giving him both some of the best and most dramatically engaging music in the opera. Farnace is the embodiment of all the mood swings and yearnings that come with being a teenager. When you consider what holds a teenage boy’s interest, these things are all present in Farnace. He is lusty, belligerent, violent and selfish. Farnace’s backstabbing tirade against his brother, his anger at his sexual advances being denied by Aspasia, and especially his lament at the end where his shame overcomes him and he repents, all reflect such universal truths from the lives of young men that it’s no wonder the teenage Mozart found the character’s musical voice so clearly.

 

 

On the other hand, with the very adult pathos behind Sifare and Mitridate’s love for Aspasia, and the emotional torment Aspasia goes through because of it, Mozart uses both melody and vocal agility to capture the emotions, rather than the clever emotional painting with which he would later become a master. Where his later operas would combine both pyrotechnics with this emotional painting, his earlier operas tend to use more of the pyrotechnics. Mozart’s genius was well ahead of his life-experience, and expecting a fifteen year old boy to be able to capture all the wild ups and downs of love, the horrors of betrayal, and emotional yearnings of both men and women already fully developed is just a little absurd, even though these are the main themes of Santi’s Mitridate.

Because Mitridate is entirely composed of show-off arias, there isn’t an aria that doesn’t test the limits of the human voice. Wild lines of coloratura, huge octave leaps and scales up and down the entire vocal range are featured in nearly every song – with occasional breaks for long legato phrases. This is particularly true of Aspasia. Originally, the young Mozart began to write music for the lead actress before having met her. She was to come later with her own music, which she had performed in an earlier setting of the play, and then decide which music to use; would she use her own, or Mozart’s? Once she showed up, she was so delighted with Mozart’s music that she scrapped what Mozart had already written for her and worked together with him to sculpt Aspasia’s arias specifically to her own vocal capabilities. This, of course, is best reflected by Aspasia’s first aria (and opening number to the play) which may be one of the finest, most thrilling arias ever to open an opera seria.

At this point in his career Mozart was still following rules instead of making them, for as we know, the young man decided to start making up his own rules a few years down the line. So, while his genius is still young, Mozart presents us with a wildly entertaining opera about a tyrant King, his two belligerent sons, a tormented queen and a foreign Princess who wanders around wondering what the crap is going on.

Mitridate – Illustrating an Opera, Part 5

For the past four weeks, I have shared the process that goes into taking a single Mozart Project photo. The picture that I have been describing is the illustration to Mitridate, Act III, which is the most well documented photograph that I have taken.

If you would like to catch up, Part 1 discusses the opera, music and design for the photograph. Part 2 tells about my trip to photograph the model. Part 3 shows various shots which were needed to make a composite image. Part 4 describes how I designed and created a Prison Tower in Miniature for the photograph.

This is the photo that I will be showing you how I made! Mitridate, Act III, by Tyson Vick.

In this fifth post, I will share with you how I used all these images to make a final composite image.

 

Final Composite

Now, as a warning to my more sensitive readers, the curtain will be lifted, and all the mystery of this image will disappear once you learn how it is composited. You may die a little on the inside. So, if keeping the mystery alive is important to you, please, go no further.

Beware. Beware!

This is the original image of Trevor Ivanich used in the composition.

Once all of my images are collected, I begin to edit them, and put them together in a digital composite. I use a program called Corel, which is like Photoshop, however where Photoshop is an all-encompassing graphics program, Corel has gradually become more focused on re-creating artistic mediums (Paints, Pencils, Brushes).

Once I have scanned the image, I give it any necessary touch-ups. These can include removing blemishes from the model, removing scratches and dust from the film, adding highlights, correcting colors, etc. Next, I cut the image out of its original background.

Here is Trevor, revomed from his background to be placed in the composite image.

Now, I am ready to composite.

The first thing I do is create a digital “mock-up” of the image I want to make.

Using crude cutting and pasting methods, I create a little collage with all the elements I am considering. With Mitridate, I made one mock-up with the picture of Trevor, the model, when it was first edited, and I drew solid shapes in roughly where I wanted to place background elements.

After I had photographed the Tower and wall, I made a second mock-up. During this process, I look for a natural and attractive composition of the elements.

Two Mock-up Images. The first has a background drawn in. The second has the photographic elements roughed in. Originally, I was thinking of putting boats in the harbor.

While I do build the background and foreground separately in the computer, I also add them together and adjust the elements after every little change I make. For example, I put Farnace in the picture, then I add the wall behind him. I adjust the wall and the character until they are in a good place. Then, I remove Farnace to edit the wall. These edits can include re-sizing and re-coloring, as well as adding grain.

I do this until all the elements match up, and I am pleased with the result. Sometimes I have to take some time away from the image, not looking at it, to return to it fresh and see where any issues may lie.

These are the original photographs used in the composite before they were re-touched and combined.

This is the farthest background part of the composite. The sky, the water and the tower have been combined, color matched, matched for grain, blurred, etc.

The next layer is off the birds flying out of the prison tower. This image has also been matched for light, grain, color, etc. The reason there is a blank spot in the corner is because that part of the image will be covered by the wall, and so there's no point in putting anything there.

Next, the Broken Wall in the foreground is added. All these elements are built around each other to yield an attractive composition.

Finally, Trevor (as Farnace) is situated in the photo. Like the others, he is matched to the light, the grain and the color. Now the photo is complete.

So, now the image has gone from the text of one man’s play, to the operatic setting of another man’s music; From the interpretation of one listener’s imagination, to the execution of this idea in real life. Which, hopefully, will interest somebody else in returning to the original play, and the whole process will start again, as our lives are connected by music, drama, emotional truth, friendship, adventure and life!

The original title page to the Mitridate Libretto which inspired my Farnace sketch which was brought to life by Trevor Ivanich in my Photograph!

My ultimate goal with this project, when it is finished, is to share the joy I have experienced through the music of Mozart!

Again, here is the song which my photograph illustrates, to complete my post  “Mitridate – Illustrating an Opera”. Thanks for reading!

Mitridate – Illustrating an Opera, Part 4

Picking up where I left off last week, I now return to talking about what goes into one single photo. Of all the pictures that I have taken for Mozart Project, the photo for Mitridate, Act 3, is the most well documented and this is the photo that I will be describing.

You can read Part 1 if you want to learn the story, music and design.  Part 2 recounts the full photo shoot. Part 3 talks about the various pictures I took that were needed to make a composite.

This is the photo that I will be showing you how I made! Mitridate, Act III, by Tyson Vick.

In this fourth post, I will share with you how I made the two prison towers featured in the background of the photo, which is a great deal more technical, and leads us quite a long ways away from Mozart before making its way back.

 

Conquering The Prison Tower in Miniature

From the get-go I knew that there needed to be a prison tower in the background of the final composite image for Mitridate, Act III. However, I was unable to find a satisfying tower in real life. The largest free standing brick tower in the world does actually exist in Montana.  This structure is the abandoned Anaconda Smelter. My cousin, Elizabeth, and I went out to photograph this tower. We weren’t allowed to get too close (It’s a superfund site), and after I took the pictures and looked at them for a while, I was not convinced it was what I wanted.

Then, one day, I played Final Fantasy XIII on Playstation 3, and everything became clear…

On the left is the Anaconda Smelter, the tallest freestanding brick structure in the world. On the right is concept art for Final Fantasy XIII's "Taejin's Tower".

Final Fantasy XIII is a fantasy role playing game which tells the story of a group of young people who are permanently “possessed” or “compelled” by a monster to do its bidding. However, when it dies and the curse still continues its hold on them, it becomes distressingly uncertain whether the monster’s intentions were good or evil. The characters are forced to decide whether they want to fulfill their “focus” or to make their own choices. Everything is complicated by various forces, including intense racism, genocide and a fear of the outside world – which the characters are eventually expelled to.

In this outside wild world, I came across Taejin’s Tower – perhaps the coolest 3-D modeled landscape I’ve ever encountered. While playing, I would sit for minutes on end just looking at it, making that grumpy old Lightning move here and there to look at it from different angles.

Taejin’s Tower, for my readers who don’t have 80 hours to spare to play Final Fantasy XIII, is an excessively tall tower (miles high) that for some unknown reason, time has caused to fall over across a canyon, making it into an excessively long bridge (now miles long!). The strange thing about it is that the break in the tower is miles skyward, meaning, in order to cross the chasm, you have to fight your way to the top of the tower to slide back down its broken spine.

It was in this location that I found inspiration.

Here was a fantastical tower that was infinitely interesting and quite frankly, awing and inspiring to me.

Lightning, Final Fantasy XIII's main character, looks at Taejin's Tower, contemplating its awesomeness. It looks even awesomer in HD.

I decided to build a model tower.

When I built the tower, I tried to imitate some of the aspects that I found impressive in Taejin’s Tower (namely the stripped wall where the break occurred.)

One of the most interesting things I’ve learned from the “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” special features, is how the filmmakers utilize tiny models for cityscapes rather than using computer generated cities. If anyone out there is interested in production design, set design, costume design, armor design or prop design, they ought to get the extended “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars III” special edition for the very informative bonus features. (Star Wars III is strangely the only episode with truly engaging and informative documentaries for some reason. The rest do cover a lot of ground, but they seem more like cliff’s notes in comparison.)

Of all the things that I do for Mozart Project, building a model of a tower is the most difficult to explain. The process is mostly intuitive. I can break down what materials were used, though.

Initially, it is important to have an idea of what I want to make. Because of my initial sketch of the Act III prison set from Mitridate, I knew roughly what I was looking for.

To make the Prison Tower, I used a Post Office mailing Tube which had been damaged. I cut part of the damage away, then ripped the rest, creating a hole. This hole was then partially covered, and partially inset, with balsa wood spires and girders. Next, I took a sheet of white construction foam and wrapped the tower, cutting to my taste, a shape of suitable crumbling and decay, around the hole. I also added some raised areas out of strips of foam as well.

After this, I decided to add a top to the tower, with columns.  This is a paper towel tube with wooden dowels attached with both a thing strip of wood and craft foam. Next. I took the back of an exact-o knife and carved lines into the foam to resemble bricks.

The last step was to paint the tower. I used acrylic paints in Black, Grey, Burnt Sienna, and Taupe. First I laid down a dark color to fill the holes on the tower, then I overlaid a lighter shade over the top, lightly, as to not fill in the gaps completely. This made the bricks stand out more!

My uncle helps me light the Prison Tower model for my photograph. The close up will show what I have been describing above.

The tower now complete, it was time to photograph it. There are two things to consider when photographing a model: The First is to consider where the light is coming from in the image that you are compositing together. If you light the tower hard from the left, and the photo shows a man lit softly from the top, there will be a disconnect in the viewer. The composite will remain unconvincing to the eye.

The Second thing to consider is that a small object needs to be lit very strongly in order to appear large. A small object casts small shadows and has very little surface area to catch light. In order to get a convincing result, you have to artificially bump the light to cast longer shadows, so it looks like more surface area is being covered. This requires a thoughtful set-up, just like the main foreground image you have taken. For my tower, I photographed it in broad daylight, and with the help of my uncle, using a reflector board, we bounced the sunlight straight back onto the tower. This makes the reflector board the brightest light, and it can be rotated and moved to find the needed effect. The effect I needed was that of a low sun coming from the back, but registering distinctly on the edge of the tower.

I made and photographed this tower for “Mitridate” while playing Final Fantasy XIII, and after I had finished making my tower, I returned to playing the game. It is interesting to note that upon returning to the game, I shortly thereafter discovered that the villainous monster that haunted Taejin’s Tower was named Mithridates!

Now how’s that for a Spooky coincidence!?

And that brings us all the way back to Mozart!

 

COMING UP NEXT – The conclusion to this massive blog post!

Trevor gets ready for the final blog post!

 

• Watch the Extended Lord of the Rings for Extra Features, or watch Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith for some of the best filmmaking documentaries available on DVD.
• Play Final Fantasy XIII for 80 hours, or visit the Official Site!

Mitridate – Illustrating an Opera, Part 3

Proceeding with my super-sized post, I will continue sharing what goes into one single Mozart Project photo. You can catch Part 1 if you want to learn about the design and music or Part 2 if you want to watch my mad photography skillz in action.

Of all the pictures that I have taken for Mozart Project, the photo for Mitridate, Act 3, is the most well documented.

This is the photo that I will be showing you how I made! Mitridate, Act III, by Tyson Vick.

In this third post, I will share with you my year-long travels to get the right shots to make a composite background for my photograph!

Composite Photography Elements

Accurate theatrical settings (exotic homes, buildings, locations) are almost impossible to secure when illustrating an opera scene through photography, and so I rely mainly on illusion. This either occurs in the actual photography, or in computer graphics which are added in afterward. Many of my photos for this project limit the viewing area to a small space (nothing outside the photo border is seen). This allows the viewer to infer, from props that are strewn about, what the full setting looks like. Other photos, like this photo for Mitridate, Act III,  are actually just taken in front of a blank wall and have various background elements added in after the fact.

That’s not to say it is easier to use computer altered backgrounds. I still have to photograph the elements of the background, as well as the model/actor. In this particular photo, I utilized 8 separate images.

1. Model – Trevor Ivanich
2. Sky
3. Rock wall (2 images)
4. Sea Cliff
5. Birds
6. Tower (2 images)

 

Sky

Montanan sky, Big Sky country, used for the composite.

I live in Montana which is affectionately known as the Big Sky Country. This is an apt description, as it seems that the sky is at its fullest and most dynamic almost every day of the year, and is constantly changing due to landscape which features large mountains cascading into flat plains.

Every time I see a particularly striking sky, I run out and take pictures of it for my collection. Some days, though, I just sit and look at it and wonder if it could ever accurately be captured on film.

To quote the source, “Standing under the big sky, I feel free”.

 

Birds

During one of my trips to Nebraska, the geese were migrating.

Every year 14 to 16 million geese and ducks fly on through the Grand Island, Nebraska, area.

My mother and I drove out into the countryside to take pictures of these thousands of birds flying through the sky. There were other photographers out and about, as well. We met one on a board walk, where there was a Bald Eagle just sitting out in the water with the geese.

It was a very pleasant day.

The migration of the geese near Grand Island Nebraska.

 

Sea Cliff

The Sea Cliff used in the Composite from my parents old slides.

Sometimes instead of taking a picture, I go through my parents old slides. Neither of them, it seems, ever cared to keep them, and so I spirited them away. During their travels my Dad took some landscape photos which work their way into my Mozart Project in the background. One photo of a sea cliff was used in my Mitridate Act 3 photo.

 

Rock wall (2 images)

Outside of Helena Montana there are numerous large ruins. They are apparently fallen chimneys, ovens and smokestacks, and are made of large stones and bricks. They remind me of the castle ruins of Great Britain. These structures are “Lime Kilns”, or ovens that were used to process Lime into a substance used for mortar. They went out of business in the late 1800s, when another Montanan lime company built their ovens right next to the railroad, cutting out the over-land transportation, and making the Helena lime kilns too costly to keep running.

Because the structures themselves are almost completely toppled, from many angles you can’t tell they are ovens, and they just look like general ruins.

My cousin Elizabeth, her dog, Harley, and I, took a brief trip out to these ruins to photograph these collapsed walls and fallen brickworks. This was something I had in mind even before taking Trevor’s photo as Farnace a year earlier. That’s to say, his photo was taken knowing that one of these walls would eventually be composited behind him, which is why, in his image, the backdrop is half white (sky) and half black (wall).

The ruins in Helena, MT, with Harley and Elizabeth.

 

Bonus Music Clip

As a bonus, here is one of my favorite singers, Philippe Jaroussky, singing the Act III scene which I illustrated and which I have devoted these last three posts to discussing! I’m not sure if Jaroussky’s voice is quite right for this role, but his bow-tie looks like it exploded, so that’s pretty cool!

I have all of his albums. I hope he makes a Mozart album!

Here are the english lyrics:

Recitative:

FARNACE
I must go… Oh, Heaven, but where
Shall I direct my bold steps?
Ah, I hear you,
O sacred, powerful voices of nature,
O proud remorse of my heart. No, I am not
So callous, and at this price, for this
Throne, Aspasia, Romans, I detest you.

No. 24 Aria

FARNACE
Now from my eyes the veil is lifted,
Base affections, I abandon you:
I have repented and heed
Only the cries of my heart.
It is high time that reason
Returns to rule in me;
Now I retrace the fair path
Of glory and honour.

 

COMING UP NEXT – Conquering the Prison Tower in Miniature! (What on Earth could that possibly mean? Find out next week!)

Next week, learn how I created the prison tower for my photograph!

 

• Learn more about the Helena Lime Kilns at the Helena National Forest Website.