I chose ‘Under the Skin’ to be one of the films I wanted to watch all the way through. Skin and bodies in general fascinate me, which is probably why I was drawn to the film over other options that included monsters, robots and so forth. The film doesn't only focus on bodies though, instead it follows the protagonist, who is somewhat an alien and has taken control of a human body and lives in it. It acts as a predator travelling in a van through the streets of Scotland on the search for men it can claim. With the advantage of being in a beautiful body, it eyes up potential prey while driving down numerous Scottish roads. The alien lures men into her van, and later on house, by pretending she is lost and in need of help with directions.
I often tend to focus on figures and bodies which in some way led me to wanting to find a different focal point. After watching the entire film, I found that it heavily focuses on roads. Most of the film is shot while the alien is driving around, thinking of ways to seduce lonely men who will not be missed. This sparked an interest for me to draw towns and cities around Scotland, so that my artwork isn't always based on similar things.
As a way to familiarise myself more with the character and the narrative I froze a number of scenes that particularly grabbed my attention. Below you can find some examples:
I created a couple of rough sketches simply focusing on the roads in schotland, as this is the location the film is set in.
I am aware that we are to reinterpret a scene in an illustrative way, but I started with this quick sketch I took from the film as a way of practicing and getting used to the story.