Description

Who You Gonna Call Now? – Ghostbusters (Standard) by Mark Davies

I absolutely loved this film as a kid and still do, it is such a great film! For this piece I have tried to not try and go too conceptual, instead just set a scene that people can easily associate to the film and characters.

Basically we see the Ghostbusters HQ at the point where the business is done for and they’ve stopped trying to help the city that they love. As with the film, the good that they they were trying to do was a battle against those who didn’t believe, who wanted to shut them down so it has reached the point where enough is enough and they’ve caught their last ghost. They put their lives on the line from the start and this is the result, their attitude has turned to hate towards those who have brought them to this point so they are ready to undo all the good work that they’ve done, basically bollocks to NYC, have your ghosts back, deal with it yourselves, we’re out.

So my piece shows the impact of that, showing key objects from their work littered about the building in a state of neglect, the wonderfully iconic ECTO 1 sits partly obscured behind a wall, done this way to look almost insignificant despite it’s stature. Computers sit smashed, filing cabinets with drawers flung open, hints of a quick departure are there through the subtle signs of a welders torch left on, just enough time to open the trap and unleash the ghosts back into the city.

The ghosts themselves are represented by beautifully lit details that interact with key elements within the scene, in complete contrast to the evil that lurks from within the basement and that is spilling outwards up the stairs. I always remember the vivid colours from the Proton Packs and the ghosts so I wanted to embrace that through use of these colours throughout the piece that contrast against the sombre mood of the scene itself. The walls show feint signs of faded murals that add to the history and intrigue of the building, and the light spilling into the room as with other pieces represents hope and the possibility that maybe all is not lost.

For me the piece is a different yet clearly recognisable take on an absolute classic film that embraces the fact that the featured ghosts weren’t actually that scary, apart from the odd one, or two!