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Home Movies: Love Life and Death in the Kitchen

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Home Movies: Love Life and Death in the Kitchen

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Conceptual abstract exploration of the ways that our perceptions of past present and future change over the life cycle from beginning of life when the past starts gradually to be known, and the future looks long, large and bright to the final shortening of a future that looks increasingly dark, and memories slowly erase and possibly even our sense of 'now'.

Visible Animators: Material Accumulation, Erosion and Trace

"Great care is normally taken to hide the animation process and presence of the animator to avoid distracting from the continuity of the movement. In stop-frame, shots including the shadow of the animator are deleted and re-shot. When the audience notices the presence of the animator through, for example, the tactile fact of a drawing on paper, this is a distancing effect. The viewer is made aware of the animator through production time; the build-up of layers of a substance or through the life and durability of the material itself."

TASK: Make a quick 30-90 second animation exploring one of the following three animation techniques: accumulation, destruction/erosion or trace.
To start, you may want to restrict the materials you work with, so your animation can explore the possibilities of accumulation, destruction or trace by experimenting with mark-making, objects, or physical materials. Alternatively, you may want to explore these themes through image-making and metaphor by drawing, photographing or using found materials. Either way, be playful in your approach, and log all of your experiments on your learning log as well as your final piece.

Animation in physical media using build-up, erasure and trace techniques with both dry and wet physical media produces beautiful results. Media include sand art, charcoal, painting and mixed drawing and painting. Animation can be recorded with video and/or Stop Motion with different effects. Similar effects can also be reproduced digitally in software like TVPaint and Procreate on the iPad.

These are approaches that I want to explore in a lot more depth in Assignment 5, and also my animation work for SYP. My work in this project only starts to look at issues involved in complexities of planning, layering and performance that are different between physical and digital techniques.

Inspiration

Animation in physical media using build-up, erasure and trace techniques with both dry and wet media produces beautiful results.
I started by compiling a padlet of different potential media, styles and approaches including sand art, charcoal, painting and mixed drawing and painting.
Some of the activities are recorded with video, others using Stop Motion.

Charcoal Doodles

I started by experimenting with Charcoal Stop Motion, just doodling and experimenting with spontaneous drawing. Capturing in Stop Motion Studio on my iPhone using a uniform capture setting and varying the size of strokes each time to get differences in speed of build up and erasure.

Different effects can be achieved through using different types of charcoal, different rubbers and smearing tools and on different paper.

Narrative needs quite a lot of planning.

The resulting videos can then be further edited with audio in TVPaint (most versatile for frame by frame) and/or Premiere and/or After Effects (for standard video effects) to vary the speed of build up, tone/colours, layering etc.

Charcoal Stop Motion: first Doodle

Charcoal Stop Motion: Tree and Wind animation

Edges in Time:
iPad timelapse in Procreate

The second set of animations were experiments in conceptual abstraction for SYP 'Edges in Time' starting to think about the ways that our perceptions of past present and future change over the life cycle from beginning of life when the past starts gradually to be known, and the future looks long, large and bright to the final shortening of a future that looks increasingly dark, and memories slowly erase and possibly even our sense of 'now'.

This series was produced in Procreate Timelapse video on my iPad using charcoal paint, smear and erase brushes in different sizes and opacities. Unlike charcoal animation, Procreate allows different layers to be altered and manipulated. But it is very difficult to control brush strokes - normally this is achieved through experimentation and undo/redo that is fiddly when all this is recorded with minimal editing capacity. It is also extremely difficult to control speed and relative pacing of animation - it is not always clear what will record as a slow process or as a single frame jump.

This was an interesting and quick way of conceptual experiment to see how things might work. But obviously needs a lot of refinement, probably in a combination of physical media and more professional pc software.

Edges in Time abstracted concept animation will be an important part of SYP, even if the end result is not professional. And further developments will be included as part of MI A5 Presentation.

Edges in Time 1: vertical timer: this did not record many of the brush strokes, even when they were done in separate small strokes and selecting and moving cut elements does not show as a separate frame unless combined with brush strokes.

Edges in Time 2: Horizontal Timer this is longer with more brush strokes recorded. I quite like the horizontal format. I could experiment with trying to show the past pushing the present or the future pulling the past, and a rather stuttering present. I could also make a lot more of the boundaries between the time and environment. Presumably the cones are 'me'. I could experiment more with the relative tones and colour. But this is too complex for the software and would need to be done in TVPaint.

Edges in Time 3: Vertical Timer with audio. this is longer with more brush strokes recorded. I like the addition of the ticking - I offset two tracks at slightly different speed so that they are out of sync. But this would be more effective if I play a sound track and use physical stop motion techniques where the animation in drawn in sync with the audio. Then composite the video with a clean audio track and any additional effects or editing in TVPaint or Premiere/AE. This was useful as a quick experiment to give me some ideas though - and point to what does not work as well as what might.

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E3.3: Edges in Time: Accumulation, destruction or trace

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Conceptual abstract exploration of the ways that our perceptions of past present and future change over the life cycle from beginning of life when the past starts gradually to be known, and the future looks long, large and bright to the final shortening of a future that looks increasingly dark, and memories slowly erase and possibly even our sense of 'now'.

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Hyperlapse Experiments for Moving Image 1

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Some of the most beautiful sights in my own life are simple but mesmerising plays of light filtered through shadows that dance on flat surfaces or water and change from moment to moment - one of the nearest (frequent) experiences my life gets to spirituality.

'Shadow Wall' is an experimental timelapse animation of light dancing on the wall of our front room. Exploring the effects of speeding up and slowing down and introducing animated mirror and kaleidoscope edges in Adobe Premiere and After Effects and colour grading.

All moving image involves different types of time:

'narrative time' - the amount of time that is spanned within the story or piece

'discourse' or 'viewing time' - the amount of time it takes to experience a story through reading or watching it unfold

'production time' - the time it took to produce the piece.

When included in the frame of an animation, natural light highlights the difference between production time and viewing time. This is most often seen through the flicker in time-lapse video. Unlike time-lapse video, animation is not constrained by strictly set intervals of time between shots. The duration between each shot can be manipulated so that time can be seen to slow down or speed up. Using basic principles of animation, shadows can be made to hesitate or race, reflections made to boil or linger.
TASK: Observe the passing of natural light in a room. Think about how you might photograph aspects of this light. Setup a camera and take repeated time-lapse-like photographs of shadows and reflections of this light over the course of a day (the earlier you wake, and the longer you stick at it, the more interesting the colours).
You can approach this exercise in several ways; recording subtle shifts in colour, tone and shape or by interfering with the light, manipulating reflections and casting shadows. The purpose of the exercise is to employ the animation principles you have learned such as 'ease in ease out', looping, eye trace and anticipation to manipulate the time conveyed by the natural light in the room. Sound-track optional.

Shadow Wall

Inspiration

Anne Harild, Taking Time (2014)

Jane Cheadle, Swimmer (2012)

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E3.1: Shadow Wall: Animation Light Study

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Some of the most beautiful sights in my own life are simple but mesmerising plays of light filtered through shadows that dance on flat surfaces or water and change from moment to moment - one of the nearest (frequent) experiences my life gets to spirituality.

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Experiments for Moving Image 1

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Animation allows for more freedom than other media in the physical manipulation and the direct and indirect moulding of a plastic medium. Animators can work directly not only with a stable or 'permanent' material or medium, but also transient materials.

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Research for Moving Image 1

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TASK: Make a short animated film between 1 and 3 minutes long about a season of the year. Use some of the animation techniques covered thus far in the unit to evoke particular qualities such as temperature, light and atmosphere of winter, spring, autumn or summer. This can be a completely abstract film, or include elements of narrative. The structure, medium, technique and approach are up to you.
Do some preliminary research into the condition of synaesthesia and take notes on whether there are specific stimuli that you associate with other perceptions.
See Post on Synaesthesia
Build-up your animation process with short animated tests, photographs, diagrams and, if useful, a working storyboard. It is often helpful to piece some of these tests and diagrams together in your timeline along with your scratch audio track, or to devise a series of rules that will guide the production process.
Start by making an 'animatic'. Begin developing the sound-scape for your film and use a scratch audio track. Avoid using music and if you do use it, do not allow it to play throughout your film as this project is not a music video.
Upload your film to your learning log, along with your animatic, diagrams, drawings and a reflection about your process, detailing how you arrived at your idea, any experiments undertaken, and insights gained from your technical, theoretical or other research.

!! Note - unfortunately Premiere crashed as I was trying to export all the clips for the animatic. I still need to sort out the sequences of the animatic, but that will only now be relevant going forward if (as I anticipate) I develop this further for Assignment 5.

This film continues my work on abstract animation about Summer from:
SE2.5 Sound and Image animatic: Summertime
In that project I had started with one image of summer - greens, yellows and langorous water. Then introduced some random colour changes to give something much more lively and dance-like that had not initially occurred to me, but equally represents a different aspect of summer. I therefore find the idea of synaesthesia somewhat problematic. As I obviously do not have that condition I find it very limiting, reinforcing imagined stereotypes rather than the liberating experience that people with synaesthesia esperience.

I also had restrictions under COVID-19 because my daughter was using my art washing space as her kitchen and so any work with physical media like painting or printmaking was not possible.

For this assignment I therefore took a photographic approach, recording and exploring my experience of of summer: real images (rotting apples as well as flowers and butterflies) and sounds (traffic as well as bird song), to challenge my stereotypical ideas rather than repeating imagined cliche.

I wanted to create and build on accidental effects, exploring abstractions of time, colour and non-narrative editing drawing particularly on my study in this part of the course of:

I worked with photographs, sound and video taken over the course of two consecutive days in August when the weather was very hot, followed by thunderstorms. Then explored different effects and editing strategies in Adobe Lightroom and Premiere.

Inspiration

Abstraction of 'vision without words' where 'the untutored eye' sees abstract shapes and colours unfiltered by language to create a symbolic world of emotional response.

I also looked at:
Maya Deren
Her black and white work is likely to influence my documentary style in Assignment 3 and VisCom Advanced Practice. But on reflection I decided here to focus on colour.

dogstarman has lots of Inspiration indeas.

Khrjanovsky. Combines photographic and drawn animation. To get feeling of butterfly in urban environment.

I started with a rough plan following observation of my garden from dawn to dusk to observe the types of colours and sounds I wanted. With the original idea - before studying Brakhage in detail - of using time of day as the underlying narrative. I then took photographs, sound and video taken over the course of two consecutive days in August when the weather was very hot, followed by thunderstorms.

Then, based on my actual feelings and experiences - real images (rotting apples as well as flowers and butterflies) and sounds (traffic as well as bird song)

I started with a rough selection of photos and video that I cropped and sequenced as CRW images in Lightroom because it is easier to change things around. I also experimented with Black and White possibilities. But decided to go with colour.

Then I exported the selected images as jpg, and imported into Adobe Premiere and experimented with different effects and editing strategies involving nesting, repetition, different timing etc. (!! I still need to export these)

In parallel I edited the long sound files into shorter clips that I could superimpose to better fit the length of the video.

I had many different ideas for this video after 'experiencing summer' with a new eye. Not only the butterflies on the brassicas, the red hyssop flowers, the sun through the vine leaves on the archway, the shadows on the wall and path, the bees and flies, the wind and storm. But also the undercurrent of lockdown, crowded beaches threatening second waves and burning forests in Brazil and California. This could have been put together as a documentary 'stream of consciousness' but that would not have been 'abstract synaesthesia'. And I wanted to do something more experimental.

I started to explore different editing strategies inspired by Brakhage, going through his videos again. Following Brakhage I did not want to produce a structured animatic, but to work in a much more responsive way to what emerged from editorial experiments in combining sounds and images to complement or contrast each other.

I also considered other formats eg square to give a sense of claustrophobia I felt. But in the end I decided to go with more widescreen and immersive.

I had a lot of contrasting material from different times of day that could have provided some sort of narrative. Dawn I had found particularly interesting with its more pastel blue colours, shadows and birdsong. But again as this was a synaesthesia project, I decided to go more with my instinctive visions of summer after all. Then go back to the other material later.

What I was aiming for was something very abstract. of flashing lights and darks of mid morning/mid-day when our garden has tree shade shapes around pools of bright light. Using the clips of midday butterflies.

I decided to use Adobe Premiere and experiment there with some of the layering and blending experimentation from Project E2.11 Setting Rules.. I focused particularly on the Lumetri colour filters, layering the video clips, scaling and moving these against each other with multiply, screen and difference blend modes to get different shapes. Whilst editing it was difficult to get a clear idea of what the video would look like because the multiple layering and blending needed separate rendering and would not play back in real time.

I focused on highlighting the butterflies getting different colour combinations. But what I discovered as I watched the resulting experimental video once it had been properly rendered are the moving faces - one or two eyes sometimes a head silhouette - and animals like munching rabbits and frogs I see between the shapes. I could play more with this layering of meaning and interpretation - the hidden things in the shadows under the bright cheery butterflies.

I added sound in two tracks of birds, but also my own shuffling and rustling. Possibly it is better without sound.

I enjoyed working in this way, but need to think a lot more about what I might be trying to achieve - while still retaining the 'accidents'.

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Assignment 2: Seasonal Synaesthesia: Summer 2020

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TASK: Make a short animated film between 1 and 3 minutes long about a season of the year. Use some of the animation techniques covered thus far in the unit to evoke particular qualities such as temperature, light and atmosphere of winter, spring, autumn or summer.

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Part Five looks at ways of getting animation out into the world and thinking about audience and implications for the type of event, scale and duration.

Assignment 5:
Home Videos

For Assignment 5 I chose to focus on an on-line 'Home Movies' gallery on my Zemni Images SMUGMUG bringing together a number of updated animations produced during this Moving Image module. This is still very much an ongoing project, the final version of which will form part of my final Visual Communications Sustaining Your Practice degree portfolio.

Home Movies is a series of animations and creative video narratives about the experiences of everyday life in my home, garden and the street where I live. They experiment with different moving images approaches:

Love, Life and Death in Stop Motion is a series of stop motion animations of kitchen and household items, sometimes humorous but also depicting violence and feelings of frustration at the powerlessness of much of everyday life.

Wildlife Experiments use video of different animals in my garden, using After Effects and Creation Effects templates to mimic family videos, but also convey different moods - nostalgia for hedgehogs that seem no longer to come to the garden, cartoon cats.

Walking in Fragments explores different fragmentary experiences of walking down my 'Anywhere Street' based on hyperlapse and SloMo iPhone footage and photographs at different times of the year.

For this particular Moving Image assignment I focused on further developing two of my Assignment 1 stop motion experiments, using skills subsequently developed in Adobe Premiere animation and Adobe Audition sound.

For all the videos please see the link to the left to access the full resolution versions - these cannot be uploaded within the WordPress file size limits. The final videos will be reformatted for viewing on the Zemni Images You Tube channel I will be setting up in early 2023, and they can then be embedded in this WordPress page.

Other contributory research

This involved going through the other projects in the Course Guide - though I do not have the skills to do the project on Making an Optical device, nor do I currently have the resources to invest in equipment for offline screening of my animations.

I therefore focused on research relevant to online viewing, but drawing on some of the ideas for more immersive experiences. These are not possible on SMUGMUG with my current coding knowledge, but I am hoping that at some future point I can be more experimental with the on-line gallery experience.

Future visual concept animation projects:
research on After Effects and Creation effects techniques

My initial intention with this assignment was to work further with concept animation in After Effects as part of my overall SYP conceptualisation of 'Edges', taking forward earlier iPad work on 'Edges in Time'. However because of issues with RSI and the very steep learning curve involved, this is now a longer term body of work. This research did however open up new ideas on how to approach other forms of animation in other software and will be taken further in the wildlife video animations and 'Walking in Fragments' project.

On-line Presentation and Social Media Platforms

My main current visual communications work aims to produce engaging material on contemporary issues to reach a global audience. I want to produce moving image work that brings together my creative documentary work in video, photography, printmaking and/or illustration is a way that can be downloaded to reach a range of different global audiences. I also need to be able to monetise this in some way over time to enable me to free up the necessary time to produce the work I want to produce - both personal work under Zemni Images and work related to my professional consultancy.

This final assignment therefore focuses on on-line presentation, continuing some initial research I had started for the Visual Essay in Assignment 4 looking at:
What cross-platform strategies would be most useful for me in developing a successful moving image social network audience?
This research look started to look at the work and lessons from other video and animation artists who have been successful on different platforms, and the strategies they use and recommend that would be relevant for my own work. This is includes:

content selection and what has proved popular, including different visual techniques like compositing, morphing and erasure

audience research and communication

technical considerations on different platforms, including equipment and image quality and accessibility

use of found visuals and audio resources and collaboration/networking with other social network artists

overall cross platform strategy to grow the audience

These are issues I will continue to research going forward beyond this module.

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Part Five looks at ways of getting animation out into the world and thinking about audience and implications for the type of event, scale and duration. For Assignment 5 I chose to focus on an on-line 'Home Movies' gallery on my Zemni Images SMUGMUG bringing together a number of updated animations produced during this Moving Image module.

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Everyday is a Life Experiment: Sketchbook Process

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Everyday is a Life Experiment: Sketchbook Process

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'Everyday is a Life Experiment': a daily sketchbook diary April-May 2021 and revisited April-May 2022. overlaying 'old normal' memories, daily reflections and serendipitous responses against a backdrop of news events and daily changes. Visual recording of news items in spontaneous 'kneejerk rages and rants' helped calm down my thoughts for more objective analysis. But I found it was only manageable to keep up this momentum of response for short periods.

Cutting Edges of Subconscious: emerging narratives from cutting up A4 sheets of quick sketches in my front room. An extension of earlier surrealist experiments in randomisation, the images seen in random lines often reveal ones underlying subconscious thought processes and preoccupations.

Even from my comfortable armchair my personal and psychological life seems constantly 'on the edge'. There are always so many things to keep me sitting to avoid doing. Reflecting on guilt, inertia and life moments not grasped. With access through a large TV screen to the world, if I am not already personally stressed, I find stresses either responding to everyday events bombarding me in the news and advertising - donkeys, cats, young girls all over the world needing my help - then wars and climate disasters not to speak of Novak Jokovich's all-important (now irrelevant) visa.

At the same time, I feel compelled to somehow remember and record this time, to slow life down as it flashes past one day merging into the next. Something to remind me in case a time comes when all I have energy left for is memory. I want to remember it as it was at the time, not just after my brain has sloshed them around to try and clean them and hung them out to dry.

!!Ref to Susan Sontag 'On Photography' about memories and snapshots

Diaries and sketchbooks can provide a 'safe creative fun space' explore my own 'personal edges' - philosophical and political views that characterise my 'voice' so that these can be explicitly and strategically integrated into my more 'objective' observational as well as subjective creative practice.

Particularly during Lockdown life seemed much too short to waste getting bored. This project evolved from assignments for a personal development Sketchbook course to start to develops habits and manageable ways in which I can keep better creative track of my evolving thoughts and daily news around me to generate ongoing and well-informed inspiration for future work. Diaries and sketchbooks can provide a 'safe creative fun space' explore my own 'personal edges' - philosophical and political views that characterise my 'voice' so that these can be explicitly and strategically integrated into my more 'objective' observational as well as subjective creative practice.

'Everyday is a Life Experiment' is a daily record of everyday experiences over the month April- May 2021 leading up to my 67th birthday on 9th May 2021. Pages covered both personal reflections as I reach yet another age milestone, and everyday tumultuous events in the daily news on my TV screen under lockdown.

It started with personal development work for Assignment 1 of Illustration Sketchbooks. I looked through all the empty sketchbooks I had at home. I found an A5 hardbound sketchbook/diary that I bought many years ago at a museum in London waiting for a good use. It has three sections of lined paper, small square graph paper and blank sheets and quirky photographs of daily life, people and places by Elliott Erwitt on each spread. I thought this would be an ideal balance of blank space to fill and daily prompts to respond to if I got stuck.

I started by pencilling in the dates on a corner of every other page to map out two spreads a day each day between April 10th 2021and my 67th birthday on May 9th. Then each day I pencilled in and sketched my thoughts, moods, events and discussion in the news and/or responses to the Erwitt photos. If I had time I finished the spreads that day. Other days when I had a lot of work, I just jotted notes and came back to them later. Sometimes my mood, the event or the Erwitt image reminded me of something I had done in an earlier sketchbook or a photo I had taken, so I cut and paste that.

I also periodically reflected on my concept on 'everyday normal'. I started off with a Zen approach, that every day is a potential for choice and creativity. Life is much too short to be boring, even in Lockdown. And I was always cheered up by the Erwitt photos. On a personal level the very process of keeping a daily diary routine is to intensify that experience of living - potential for getting lost down depressive rabbit-holes and mood swings as well as creative appreciation of seasonal changes in my garden and daily walks - in the this case Spring. Then the everyday bombardment of information and news - sometimes really interesting, sometimes upsetting and making me very angry, often repetitive and cyclical as not everyone is a news junkie watching several times a day.

I also became very interested in the effect on my sense of time, the merging and interlinkages between the present with flashbacks to the past, and also thoughts about 'future normals'. Sometimes fearful of climate change and further waves of COVID affecting other countries I have worked in even if things are OK here. Sometimes hopeful and inspired at the thought that the disruptions of COVID may force a more fundamental rethink of 'normal' and our everyday activities and responsibilities to the planet and to each other.

The Sketchbook so far is still very much a work in progress. This will be revisited and updated, with additional spreads, over the same dates April-May 2022 to consider everyday changes on personal and global levels. Although it was very useful and I learned a lot through the discipline of making contributions every day - enriching the way that I lived them, I found that it is difficult to maintain that pace of experience for longer than about a month at a time without it becoming a chore and losing freshness. Many pages from very busy days are still in pencil draft.

The 2021 Sketchbook will be revisited in April/May 2022. Possible things to explore further in representations of time:

to do different perspectives of the same object

layering of thoughts over time eg using tracing paper or just gouache

experiment with transfers and gelliplate printing

I would need to consider copyright issues on the Erwit photos, or work over these, if I develop the diary as a publication. Still to be decided.

But there is a reason why I have always had difficulty keeping a regular diary - life has always been so busy being lived. Like the quantum uncertainty principle (proper ref here) measuring and recording thoughts alters and changes them. Even in quiet periods it is difficult to reflect and live at the same time. Every 'now thought' flashes to the past and a new thought comes before the last one was fully grasped. Never mind recorded and put on paper.

I need to develop sketchbook activities that help me create 'new normals' in my personal everyday life at home in a flexible and manageable way that I can integrate into busy as well as more intensive periods of creativity.

Creative Cuts: Edges of Subconscious

One of my first sketchbook exercises was a series of 'creative cuts' - emerging narratives from cutting up A4 sheets of quick sketches in my front room. An extension of earlier surrealist experiments in randomisation, the images seen in random lines often reveal ones underlying subconscious thought processes and preoccupations.

The actual stories themselves need a lot more thought about relationship between text and image, and making the text more powerful and less cliche. But I was interested in how my subconscious made connections between the drawings and the potential to create spontaneous narratives that could then be further worked on. Although any horizontal and vertical lines can become a landscape and the eye automatically searches out faces, some of the other associations were not so obvious. The process certainly has a lot of potential for work on location.

!! To do more of this and look for more exercises of this type.

Emerging Narrative 1: Landscapes in Red

The original A4 vertical rapid sketch was done in red oil pastel of a corner of our gas fire, a small table and looking just round the corner into the dining room. Because of the texture that would block pens and brushes, I worked into it in pencil.

The images that emerged after cutting turned into red and grey landscapes of some sort of flood apocalypse - influenced probably subconsciously by the news about the climate change discussions and my work on the Norfolk Marshes for SYP 'Moving Edges' projects.

Emerging Narrative 2: CAGED

The original A4 horizontal rapid sketch was done in somewhat dry black marker pen of our leaded bay window looking onto the garden. I went over some of the weaker lines and shapes in black oil pastel to make them more dramatic, though not always obscuring the marker texture. Again to avoid clogging pens, I went over some portions of the oil pastel with pencil, particularly the title page.

The images that emerged here were of rats and feeling locked in - influenced by continuing lockdown and all my sketchbook drawings of the rats, particularly a young one that appeared each morning scratching at the window to come in. Quite sweet really - if it had been the only one in its family.

Emerging Narrative 3: Spirits

The original A4 sketch cut into a spiral was in Cretacolour graphite pencil of a corner of the settee, a cushion and the corner of a 'Fine Whisky' mirror - hence the rather unoriginal idea of Spirits. Though that also reflected the very rapid, smoke and flame-like marks. I did not develop this one yet into a narrative.

Other Links

VIDEO AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

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Everyday is a Life Experiment: Sketchbook Creativity

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'Everyday is a Life Experiment': a daily sketchbook diary April-May 2021 and revisited April-May 2022. overlaying 'old normal' memories, daily reflections and serendipitous responses against a backdrop of news events and daily changes. Visual recording of news items in spontaneous 'kneejerk rages and rants' helped calm down my thoughts for more objective analysis.

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photography anna atkins body flower art fabric rauschenberg contemporary john herschel negative

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A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft, and later in other machinery, processes, and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. Stories about them and references to them as the causes of especially inexplicable technical and mental problems of pilots were especially popular during and after World War II.

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Gremlins is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character. It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions-" gremlins"-in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows a young man who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, mischievous monsters that all wreak havoc on a whole town on Christmas Eve.

The film was the center of large merchandising campaigns and opts for black comedy, balanced against a Christmastime setting. Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer, with the film being produced by Michael Finnell.

Gremlins was theatrically released on June 8, 1984 by Warner Bros. to critical and commercial success. However, it was heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences. In response to this and to similar complaints about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) alter its rating system, which it did within two months of the film's release, creating a new PG-13 rating. It was followed by a sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, in 1990, which has a more satirical tone and parodies Hollywood sequels, to generally positive reviews from critics, but was a box-office bomb.

Struggling inventor Randall Peltzer visits a Chinatown antique store, hoping to find a Christmas present for his son Billy. Inside, Randall encounters a small, furry creature called a mogwai ( Cantonese: , 'devil'). The owner, Mr. Wing, refuses to sell Randall the creature, but his grandson secretly does, warning Randall to remember three important rules: do not expose the mogwai to light, especially sunlight, which will kill it; do not let it come in contact with water; and above all, never feed it after midnight.

Randall returns home to Kingston Falls, where he gives the mogwai to Billy as a pet. Billy works in the local bank, but fears that his dog Barney will be put down by widowed miser Mrs. Deagle. Randall names the mogwai "Gizmo" and explains the three rules. Gizmo is friendly and docile, but when Billy's young friend Pete accidentally spills water over Gizmo, five more mogwai spawn from his back, a more troublemaking sort led by the aggressive Stripe, named for the tuft of fur on his head. Billy shows one of the mogwai to his former elementary school science teacher, Mr. Hanson, spawning another mogwai, on whom Hanson experiments. Back at home, Stripe and his fellow mogwai trick Billy into feeding them after midnight by severing the power cord on his alarm clock. They form cocoons, as does Hanson's mogwai, which soon hatch, emerging as mischievous, dark green, reptilian monsters, who then torture Gizmo and attack Billy's mother, Lynn. Hanson is killed by his gremlin.

Lynn and Billy are able to kill off the gremlins, except for Stripe, who escapes to a local YMCA. There, Stripe jumps into the swimming pool, spawning an army of gremlins who wreak havoc in Kingston Falls. Many people are injured or outright killed by the gremlins' rampage, including Mrs. Deagle. Billy reports this to the police, but they prove to be no help as they don't believe his story, even after he shows them Gizmo.

As Billy rescues his girlfriend, Kate Beringer, they hide in the now-abandoned bank where Kate reveals to Billy and Gizmo why she hates Christmas: when she was nine years old, her father went missing on Christmas Eve and did not come home on Christmas Day either; several days later, he was found dead in their chimney while dressed as Santa Claus. Planning to surprise her and her mother, he had accidentally slipped and broken his neck while climbing down the chimney. Still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the event, Kate confesses this is how she discovered the truth about Santa Claus.

Billy and Kate discover that the town has fallen silent and the gremlins are watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the local theater. They set off a natural gas explosion, incinerating all the gremlins except for Stripe, who left to commandeer more candy at a Montgomery Ward store across the street. As morning approaches, they follow Stripe into the department store, where Stripe attempts to use a water fountain to spawn more gremlins. Gizmo opens a skylight, exposing Stripe to sunlight, killing him.

As the local news reports on the day's mysterious tragedies, Mr. Wing reclaims Gizmo at the Peltzer home. He criticizes both the Peltzers' and Western society for their carelessness with nature. However, as he turns to leave, Gizmo, having bonded with Billy, bids the young man goodbye. A touched Mr. Wing then concedes that Billy may be ready one day, and until then, Gizmo will be waiting.

Mogwai and Gremlin vocal effects provided by Brad Kesten (uncredited), Michael Winslow, Bob Bergen, Fred Newman, Peter Cullen, Jim Cummings (uncredited), Sonny Melendrez (uncredited), Mark Dodson, Bob Holt, and Michael Sheehan.

Gremlins was produced at a time when combining horror and comedy was becoming increasingly popular. According to Professor Noël Carroll, Ghostbusters, released the same weekend as Gremlins, and the comic strip The Far Side also followed this trend. Carroll argued that there was now a new genre emphasizing sudden shifts between humorous and horrific scenes, drawing laughs with plot elements that have been traditionally used to scare.

The notion of gremlins was first conceived during the 1920s when mechanical failures in RAF aircraft were jokingly blamed on the small monsters. The term "gremlins" also entered popular culture as children's author and RAF pilot Roald Dahl published a book called The Gremlins in 1943, based on the mischievous creatures. Walt Disney considered making a film of it. A Bugs Bunny cartoon of the era, Falling Hare, has him battling a gremlin on an airplane. Joe Dante had read The Gremlins and said that the book was of some influence on his film. In 1983, Dante publicly distanced his work from earlier films, explaining, "Our gremlins are somewhat different-they're sort of green and they have big mouths and they smile a lot and they do incredibly, really nasty things to people and enjoy it all the while".

The story of Gremlins was conceived by Chris Columbus. As Columbus explained, his inspiration came from his loft, when at night "what sounded like a platoon of mice would come out and to hear them skittering around in the blackness was really creepy". He then wrote the original screenplay as a spec script to show potential employers that he had writing abilities. The story was not actually intended to be filmed until Steven Spielberg took an interest in turning it into a film. As Spielberg explained, "It's one of the most original things I've come across in many years, which is why I bought it." Spielberg considered Tim Burton to direct the film after seeing his Short film Frankenweenie.

After deciding to executive produce the film, Spielberg chose Dante as his director because of his experience with horror-comedy; Dante had previously directed The Howling (1981); however, in the time between The Howling and the offer to film Gremlins, he had experienced a lull in his career. Dante began doing storyboard work on the film while also working as a director on Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), a film which Spielberg also served as a director on. The film's producer was Michael Finnell, who had also worked on The Howling with Dante. Spielberg took the project to Warner Bros. and co-produced it through his own company, Amblin Entertainment.

The film's script went through a few drafts before a shooting script was finalized. The first version was much darker than the final film. Various scenes were cut, including one which portrayed Billy's mother dying in her struggle with the gremlins, with her head thrown down the stairs when Billy arrives. Dante later explained the scene made the film darker than the filmmakers wanted. There was also a scene where the gremlins ate Billy's dog and a scene where the gremlins attacked a McDonald's, eating customers instead of burgers. Also, instead of Stripe being a mogwai who becomes a gremlin, there was originally no mogwai named Stripe; rather, Gizmo was supposed to transform into Stripe the gremlin. Spielberg overruled this plot element as he felt Gizmo was cute and that audiences would want him to be present throughout the film.

The film mentions an urban legend in which Kate reveals in a speech that her father died at Christmas when he dressed as Santa Claus and broke his neck while climbing down the family's chimney. After the film was completed, studio executives insisted upon its removal, because they felt it was too ambiguous as to whether it was supposed to be funny or sad. Dante refused to take the scene out, saying it represented the film as a whole, which had a combination of horrific and comedic elements. Spielberg did not like the scene but, despite his creative control, he viewed Gremlins as Dante's project and allowed him to leave it in. A parody of this scene is featured in Gremlins 2: The New Batch.

Phoebe Cates was cast as Kate, Billy's girlfriend, despite concerns that she was known for playing more risqué parts, such as Linda Barrett in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982). Spielberg urged the casting of the relatively unknown Zach Galligan as Billy because he saw chemistry between Galligan and Cates during auditions. Galligan later compared himself to Billy, saying he was a "geeky kid", and that being in the film "was really kind of a dream" given "what I get to do, what my character gets to do, blow up movie theatres", adding that he "got to work with great people". Spielberg commented when Galligan was testing with Cates that "he's in love with her already" and that was how Galligan won the part. Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson also auditioned.

In contrast to Galligan, many of the supporting actors and actresses were better known. Veteran actor Glynn Turman portrayed the high school science teacher whose study of a newborn mogwai leads to his death after it forms a cocoon and emerges as a vicious gremlin. Dick Miller, who was a regular in Dante's films, was another experienced actor on the set, playing a World War II veteran who first refers to the creatures as gremlins. Rand was played by Hoyt Axton, who was always the filmmakers' preferred choice for the role even though it was widely contested by other actors. Axton's experience included acting as the father in The Black Stallion (1979), and he was also a country music singer-songwriter. After an introductory scene to Gremlins was cut, Axton's voice earned him the added role of the narrator to establish some context. Mr. Wing was played by Keye Luke, a renowned film actor, whose film career spanned half a century. Although in reality he was around 80 at the time of filming, and his character was very elderly, Luke's youthful appearance had to be covered by make-up.

Corey Feldman, who up to that time had primarily been in commercials, played Pete Fountaine, establishing his early credentials as a child actor. Polly Holliday, an actress best known for her role in , played Mrs. Deagle. Dante considered the casting fortunate, as she was well-known and he considered her to be talented. Two other well-known actors, Fast Times' Judge Reinhold and character actor Edward Andrews, received roles that were significantly reduced after the film was edited; they played Billy's superiors at the bank.

Some of the performances were shot on the Courthouse Square and Colonial Street sets of the Universal Studios Lot in Universal City, California (Mrs. Deagle's house was one such set as well as the opening street scenes in Chinatown, which were filmed on the Warner Bros. Studios backlot). This required fake snow; Dante also felt it was an atmosphere that would make the special effects more convincing. As the special effects relied mainly on puppetry (an earlier attempt to use monkeys was abandoned because the test monkey panicked when made to wear a gremlin head), the actors worked alongside some of the puppets. Nevertheless, after the actors finished their work for good, a great deal of effort was spent finishing the effects. Numerous small rubber puppets, some of which were mechanical, were used to portray Gizmo and the gremlins. They were designed by Chris Walas. There was more than one Gizmo puppet, and occasionally Galligan, when carrying one, would set him down off camera, and when Gizmo appeared again sitting on a surface it was actually a different puppet wired to the surface. These puppets had many limitations. The Gizmo puppets were particularly frustrating because they were smaller and thus broke down more. While Walas recommended making the mogwais larger to make their creation and functioning easier for the special effects team, Dante insisted on keeping their size small to enhance the cuteness of the creatures. Consequently, to satisfy the crew, a scene was included in which the gremlins hang Gizmo on a wall and throw darts at him. This was included on a list that the crew created known to them as the "Horrible Things to do to Gizmo" list.

A few marionettes were also used. Other effects required large mogwai faces and ears to be produced for close-ups, as the puppets were less capable of conveying emotion. Consequently, large props simulating food were needed for the close-ups in the scene in which the mogwai feast after midnight. An enlarged Gizmo puppet was also needed for the scene in which he multiplies. The new mogwai, who popped out of Gizmo's body as small, furry balls which then started to grow, were balloons and expanded as such. Walas had also created the exploding gremlin in the microwave by means of a balloon that was allowed to burst.

Howie Mandel provided the voice for Gizmo, and prolific voice actor Frank Welker provided the voice for Stripe. It was Welker who suggested Mandel perform in Gremlins. The puppets' lines were mostly invented by the voice actors, based on cues from the physical actions of the puppets, which were filmed before the voice work. When developing the voice for Gizmo, Mandel explained, "[Gizmo was] cute and naive, so, you know, I got in touch with that... I couldn't envision going any other way or do something different with it". The majority of the other gremlins' voices were performed by Michael Winslow and Peter Cullen, while the remaining voices were done by Bob Bergen, Fred Newman, Mark Dodson, Bob Holt, and Michael Sheehan.

The film's score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, who won a Saturn Award for Best Music for his efforts. The main score was composed with the objective of conveying "the mischievous humor and mounting suspense of Gremlins". Goldsmith also wrote Gizmo's song, which was hummed by a child actress and acquaintance of Goldsmith, rather than Mandel himself. Goldsmith also appears in the film, alongside Steven Spielberg, in the scene where Rand calls home from the salesman's convention.

The soundtrack album was released by Geffen Records as a specially priced mini-album on LP and cassette (Goldsmith's music comprised all of side two) and reissued on compact disc in 1993 only in Germany.

Gremlins...Mega Madness - Michael Sembello (3:50)

Make It Shine - Quarterflash (4:10)

Out/Out - Peter Gabriel (7:00)

The Gift (4:51)

Gizmo (4:09)

Mrs. Deagle (2:50)

The Gremlin Rag (4:03)

"Gremlins...Mega Madness" was also released as a single, with "The Gremlin Rag" as its B-side.

In 2011, Film Score Monthly issued a two-disc release of the soundtrack, with the complete score on disc one and the original soundtrack album on disc two (representing the latter's first North American CD issue); this was the label's final Jerry Goldsmith album.

DISC ONE: The Film Score

Fanfare in C (Max Steiner) / The Shop / The Little One 4:30

Late for Work 1:46

Mrs. Deagle / That Dog 2:22

The Gift 1:45

First Aid 2:17

Spilt Water 3:02

A New One 1:10

The Lab / Old Times 2:35

The Injection 2:56

Snack Time / The Wrong Time 1:49

The Box 1:24

First Aid 1:39

Disconnected / Hurry Home 1:03

Kitchen Fight 4:06

Dirty Linen 0:43

The Pool 1:07

The Plow / Special Delivery 1:16

High Flyer 2:22

Too Many Gremlins 2:06

No Santa Claus 3:27

After Theatre 1:39

Theatre Escape / Stripe Is Loose / Toy Dept. / No Gizmo 4:36

The Fountain / Stripe's Death 5:42

Goodbye, Billy 2:56

End Title / The Gremlin Rag 4:10

Blues 2:17

Mrs. Deagle [film version] 1:27

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen [traditional, arr. Alexander Courage] 1:12

After Theatre [with "Silent Night"] 1:36

After Theatre [without "Silent Night"] 1:36

Rabbit Rampage [Milt Franklyn] 0:47

The Gremlin Rag [full version] 3:35

Gizmo's New Song 0:35

Gizmo's Trumpet 0:30

Tracks 26-34 are listed as bonus tracks.

DISC TWO: 1984 Soundtrack Album

Gremlins...Mega Madness - Michael Sembello 3:52

Make It Shine - Quarterflash 4:11

Out/Out - Peter Gabriel 7:02

The Gift 4:58

Gizmo 4:14

Mrs. Deagle 2:54

The Gremlin Rag 4:13

Financially, Gremlins was a success. Produced on an $11 million budget, it was more expensive than Spielberg had originally intended but still relatively cheap for its time. The trailer introduced the film to audiences by briefly explaining that Billy receives a strange creature as a Christmas present, by going over the three rules, and then coming out with the fact that the creatures transform into terrible monsters. This trailer showed little of either the mogwai or the gremlins. In contrast to this, other advertisements concentrated on Gizmo, overlooked the gremlins, and made the film look similar to Spielberg's earlier family film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).

Gremlins was released into North American theaters on June 8, 1984, the same day as Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters. Gremlins ranked second, with $12.5 million in its first weekend, $1.1 million less than Ghostbusters. By the end of its American screenings on November 29, it had grossed $148,168,459 domestically. This made it the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, behind Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In August 1984, it opened in Argentina and Spain, and in October it premiered in West Germany. Screenings began in Mexico, Australia, and much of the rest of Europe in December. Since Gremlins had an international audience, different versions of the film were made to overcome cultural barriers. Mandel learned to speak his few intelligible lines, such as "Bright light!", in various languages, including German. Regional music and humor were also incorporated into foreign-language versions. Dante credited this work as being one of the factors which helped to make Gremlins a worldwide success. However, many critics questioned the summer release date of the film in America, as the film takes place during the Christmas holiday season, causing them to comment that it should have had a Christmas release date instead.[citation needed ]

In addition to this, there were also complaints from audiences about the violence depicted in the film. These complaints were particularly present in people who had brought their children to see the film, many of whom walked out of the theater before the film had ended.[citation needed ] Dante admitted to reporters later that "the idea of taking a 4-year-old to see Gremlins, thinking it's going to be a cuddly, funny animal movie and then seeing that it turns into a horror picture, I think people were upset... They felt like they had been sold something family friendly and it wasn't entirely family friendly".

The film became available to audiences again when it was brought back to theaters on August 30, 1985. This additional release brought its gross up to $153,083,102.

By February 1985, the film had grossed $59.6 million internationally, including $17 million in Japan. It grossed a further $0.2 million in 2019, taking its worldwide gross to over $212.9 million.

Roger Ebert approved of the film, awarding three out of four stars and declaring it to not only be "fun", but also a "sly series of send-ups", effectively parodying many elemental film storylines. In his opinion, Gremlins did this partly through depictions of mysterious worlds (the shop in Chinatown) and tyrannical elderly women (Mrs. Deagle). Ebert also believed the rule in which a mogwai cannot eat after midnight was inspired by fairy tales, and that the final scenes parody classic horror films. He connected Kate's speech about her father with "the great tradition of 1950s sick jokes". Gene Siskel gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, describing it as "a wickedly funny and slightly sick ride," and "a most original work. We're aware at every moment that someone is trying to entertain us. Playfulness abounds." Vincent Canby of The New York Times was mixed, writing that the film "is far more interested in showing off its knowledge of movie lore and making random jokes than in providing consistent entertainment. Unfortunately, it's funniest when being most nasty." declared, "Make room for adorable 'Gremlins' dolls on the shelves and start counting the take for another calculated audience pleaser from the Steven Spielberg-Frank Marshall-Kathleen Kennedy team. But that's all that's here in this showy display of technical talent, otherwise nearly heedless of dramatic concerns." Leonard Maltin disapproved of the film, and his view was made clear in remarks he made on the television show Entertainment Tonight. He called the film "icky" and "gross". He later wrote that despite being set in a "picture- postcard town" and blending the feel of It's a Wonderful Life (a clip of which appears in Gremlins) with that of , the film is "negated by too-vivid violence and mayhem"; giving the film two out of four stars. Maltin later made a cameo appearance in Gremlins 2, repeating his criticisms of the original on film, as an in-joke, before being throttled by the creatures; he later gave the second film a more positive rating, three out of four stars.

While some critics criticized the film's depictions of violence and greed-such as death scenes, Kate's speech, and the gremlins' gluttony-for lacking comic value, scholar Charlotte Miller instead interpreted these as a satire of "some characteristics of Western civilization", suggesting that Westerners may take too much satisfaction from violence. Gremlins can also be interpreted as a statement against technology, in that some characters, such as Billy's father, are overly dependent on it. In contrast, Mr. Wing is shown to have a strong distaste for television. Kirkpatrick Sale also interpreted Gremlins as an anti-technology film in his book Rebels Against the Future. Another scholar suggested that the film is meant to express a number of observations of society by having the gremlin characters shift in what they are meant to represent. At different times, they are depicted as teenagers, the wealthy establishment, or fans of Disney films.

Another scholar drew a connection between the microwave scene and urban legends about pets dying in microwave ovens. He described the portrayal of this urban legend in the film as successful, but that meant it seemed terrible. This is indeed a scene that is thought of as being one of the film's most violent depictions; with even Roger Ebert expressing some fear in his review that the film might encourage children to try similar things with their pets.

Colin Greenland reviewed Gremlins for magazine, and stated that "Two or three good jokes, three or four neat scenes, lots of detail, but overall a manic melee of pyrotechnics that made random grabs for my sympathy and failed to hold my attention, A bit more coherent thought, and who knows, it might have been something good."

Gremlins has been criticized for more than its depictions of violence. One BBC critic wrote in 2000 that "The plot is thin and the pacing is askew". However, that critic also complimented the dark humour contrasted against the ideal Christmas setting. In 2002, another critic wrote that in hindsight, Gremlins has "corny special effects" and that the film will tend to appeal to children more so than to adults; he also said the acting was dull.

Despite the initial mixed criticism, Gremlins has continued to receive critical praise over the years and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1984. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "Certified Fresh" approval rating of 86% based on 76 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic." On Metacritic, the film received a score of 70 based on 13 reviews, indicatng "generally favorable reviews".

Warner Home Video released Gremlins on VHS, CED Videodisc, and Beta in 1985. Gremlins made $79,500,000 in video rental stores. The film was released on DVD in 1997 in a bare bones presentation. It included both full screen and widescreen versions and the film's trailer. It was repackaged in 1999 with the same disc, but a different cover. On August 20, 2002, a " special edition" DVD was released, which featured cast and filmmakers' commentary and deleted scenes. A 25th anniversary Blu-ray edition was released on December 1, 2009. The film was again released on home video in 4K Ultra HD on October 1, 2019.

Since its release, the film has been criticized as being culturally insensitive. Jonathan Rosenbaum argued that the film compares gremlins to African Americans.

In Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies, Patricia Turner writes that the gremlins "reflect negative African-American stereotypes" in their dress and behavior. They are shown "devouring fried chicken with their hands", listening to black music, breakdancing, and wearing sunglasses after dark and newsboy caps, a style common among African American males in the 1980s. She argues that the choice of the film's only African-American character, Roy, as the first victim suggests that his "punishment may be for pursuing a place in a predominantly white society". Turner groups Gremlins together with Little Shop of Horrors as films that show fears of African-Americans "without realizing it", although she credits the film with containing "a rather charming love story".

Turner also claims that the origin of the gremlins with a Chinese character suggests that "no one in the dominant culture is to blame for the havoc wrecked [ sic] by the unruly aliens".

With its commercial themes, particularly the cuteness of the character Gizmo, Gremlins became the center of considerable merchandising. Due to this, it became part of a rising trend in film, which had received a boost from Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Manufacturers including LJN produced versions of Gizmo as dolls or stuffed animals, the latter of which became a popular high demand toy during the holiday season of 1984. Both Gizmo and the gremlins were mass-produced as action figures, and Topps printed trading cards based upon the film.

A Gizmo toy was produced which was a spinoff of furby.

A product placement deal with fast food chain Hardee's also led to a series of five book-and-cassette/45 records adaptations of the film's story. Starting in the early 2000s, companies such as Jun Planning and the National Entertainment Collectibles Association produced all-new Gremlins toys and collectibles. In 2017 Trick or Treat Studios began producing official Gremlins life-size puppets of Stripe and Gizmo. In May 2019, NECA unveiled their Christmas 2019 collectible, which features two Gremlins singing carols.

The screenplay was adapted into a novelization by George Gipe, published by Avon Books in June 1984. The novel offered an origin for mogwai and gremlins as a prologue. Supposedly, mogwai were created as gentle, contemplative creatures by a scientist on an alien world. However, it was discovered their physiology was unstable. The end result was only 1 in 10,000 mogwai would retain their sweet, loving demeanor. The rest would change into creatures the novel referred to as "mischievous". The minority mogwai (the 1 in 10,000) are immortal by human standards, though Gizmo explains to Stripe if he were to undergo the transformation himself, he would become like the others, "short lived and violent." This origin is unique to the novel but is referred to in the novelization of Gremlins 2 by David Bischoff. No definitive origin for mogwai or gremlins is given in either Gremlins film. The novelization contains a subplot that was cut from the original film, where the National Guard plans to neutralize the gremlins with fire hoses.[citation needed ]

Action-oriented video games

Several officially licensed video games based on the film have been produced. One of the first was , released by Atari, Inc. for their 2600 console.

Atari, Inc. released a completely different (and more technically advanced) game-also called Gremlins-for the Atari 5200 console and the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC computers. Although the Atari 5200 version went to manufacturing in 1984, the turmoil surrounding Jack Tramiel's takeover of Atari's consumer business resulted in it not being released until 1986.

In the 2000s, more games were released; Gremlins: Unleashed! was released on Game Boy Color in 2001. The game was about Gizmo trying to catch Stripe and thirty other gremlins, while the gremlins also try to turn Gizmo into a gremlin. Both Gizmo and Stripe are playable characters in the game.

A Gremlins Team Pack was released for Lego Dimensions on November 18, 2016. The pack includes minifigures of Gizmo and Stripe, a constructible polaroid camera and RC car, and grants access to an Adventure World and Battle Arena based on the film. Howie Mandel and Frank Welker reprise their respective roles as Gizmo and Stripe, while Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton and Frances Lee McCain reprise as non-playable characters Kate Beringer, Randall Peltzer and Lynn Peltzer respectively.

Gremlins: The Adventure

At the time of the film's release, an interactive fiction game based on scenes from the film, entitled Gremlins: The Adventure (1985), was released for various home computers, including the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. The game was written by Brian Howarth for Adventure Soft and was text-based, with full-color illustrations on some formats.

In addition to this, Gremlins brand breakfast cereal was produced by Ralston concurrent to and for a few years after the first film was released in 1984. The front of the cereal box featured Gizmo, and inside were decals of the malevolent gremlins, including Stripe.

The film not only spawned the sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and an advertisement for British Telecom, but is believed to have been the inspiration for several unrelated films about small monsters. These include , , Hobgoblins, and .

In music, the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai are named after the film's creatures: as for the reason why the band chose this as their name, their guitarist, Stuart Braithwaite, has stated that "it has no significant meaning and we always intended on getting a better one, but like a lot of other things we never got round to it". Welsh singer and songwriter Rod Thomas performs under the name Bright Light Bright Light, which is a direct quote from the film.

In January 2013, Vulture reported that Warner Bros. was negotiating with Amblin Entertainment to reboot the Gremlins franchise. Seth Grahame-Smith was tapped to produce, alongside David Katzenberg. In January 2015, Grahame-Smith stated that the project has been put on hold. In November 2015, Zach Galligan confirmed that the third film will be a sequel and not a reboot.

In a December 2016 interview with Bleeding Cool, Galligan again spoke about a third film saying that "Warner Bros. definitely wants it, Chris Columbus wants to do it because he'd like to undo the Gremlins 2 thing as he wasn't thrilled with it, and Spielberg wants to." He claimed Gremlins 3 is being written by Carl Ellsworth. In an interview with /Film in 2017, a script was written by Chris Columbus. His script explored the idea that has been on the fan's mind for a long time: "if all the gremlins come from getting Gizmo wet and feeding his mogwai offspring after midnight, should Gizmo be eliminated?" He described his script as "twisted and dark".

In November 18, 2016, both Gizmo and Stripe made their appearance in Lego Dimensions as playable characters in their own Team Pack. Many of the other in-game playable characters, such as Supergirl, hint not to give gremlins water or light. Gizmo and Stripe also each have their own unique abilities and vehicles; Gizmo has the RC Car and Stripe gets the Flash 'n' Finish.

In 2017, gremlins were featured in the animated film The Lego Batman Movie, with director Chris McKay explaining he loved the characters. The gremlins were among numerous villains from outside of the franchise playing a role in the film, with many of the added antagonists owned by Warner Bros.

In 2019, Warner Bros. successfully gained registered trademark of the name and the franchise. That same year, the studio's parent company WarnerMedia greenlit an animated series, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai based on the property for its streaming service, HBO Max.

In February 2021, a Mountain Dew Zero Sugar ad featuring Zach Galligan and Gizmo was released.

Also in 2021, a trio of Gremlins including Stripe appear in Space Jam: A New Legacy. They were shown running towards the site of the basketball game between the Tune Squad and the Goon Squad and can be seen cheering from on top of the blue Bronto-Crane from The Flintstones.

Both Gizmo and Stripe appear as playable characters in the 2022 fighting game MultiVersus.

In response to some of the more violent sequences in the film, and with similar complaints about Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg suggested that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) alter its rating system by introducing an intermediary between the PG and R ratings. The MPAA concurred, and a new PG-13 rating was introduced within two months after the film's release.

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^ "Gremlins (1984)". Filmratings.com. MPAA. Archived from the original on January 27, 2019. Rating: PG

^ "Biography". Sonny Melendrez. June 22, 2019.

^ Carroll, Noël (Spring 1999). "Horror and Humor". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism: Aesthetics and Popular Culture. 57 (2): 145. doi:10.1111/1540_6245.jaac57.2.0145.

Dante, Joe, Spielberg, Steven (2002). Gremlins: Behind the Scenes (DVD). Warner Home Video.

^ Dante, Joe (2002). Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins Special edition audio commentary (DVD). Warner Home Video.

Columbus, Chris (2002). Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins: Behind the Scenes (DVD). Warner Home Video.

^ "An Oral History of 'Gremlins' (1984)". December 23, 2016.

^ Galligan, Zach, Dante, Joe (2002). Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins Special edition audio commentary (DVD). Warner Home Video.

^ "40 Things We Learned from Joe Dante's 'Gremlins' Commentary". December 8, 2016.

^ Mandel, Howie, Dante, Joe (2002). Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins Special edition audio commentary (DVD). Warner Home Video.

^ Steven Spielberg presents Gremlins Special edition: Theatrical Trailers (DVD). Warner Home Video. 2002.

Anthony Breznican, "PG-13 remade Hollywood ratings system Archived November 28, 2020, at the Wayback Machine", The Associated Press, August 24, 2004.

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"^ Release dates for Gremlins Archived March 17, 2017, at the Wayback Machine" IMDb.com, URL accessed May 11, 2006.

^ "'Gremlins' Hits In Int'l Marts". Daily Variety. February 15, 1985. p. 43.

^ Siskel, Gene (June 8, 1984). "'Gremlins' rots the brain - delightfully". Chicago Tribune. Section 5, p. 1, 2.

^ "Gremlins". Variety: 12. May 23, 1984.

^ Grant, Edmond (October 1990). "Gremlins 2". Films in Review. 41 (10): 485-487.

^ Miller, Charlotte (April 1985). "Using Gremlins to Teach Theme". The English Journal. 74 (4): 69. doi:10.2307/817310. JSTOR 817310.

Rosenbaum, Jonathan (Autumn 1988). "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Film Quarterly. 42 (1): 37. doi:10.2307/1212435. JSTOR 1212435.

Doyle, Charles Clay (January 1988). "The Avenging Voice from the Depths". Western Folklore. 47 (1): 21-37. doi:10.2307/1500053. JSTOR 1500053.

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Blake French, "^ Gremlins Archived 2006-05-23 at the Wayback Machine", Filmcritic.com, 2002. URL accessed May 3, 2006.

^ "Gremlins (1984)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021.

^ "Gremlins (1984)". Metacritic.

^ "'Gremlins' leads Saturn Award nominations". Reno Gazette-Journal. February 22, 1985.

"^ Business Data for Gremlins Archived December 13, 2020, at the Wayback Machine" IMDb.com, URL accessed May 7, 2006.

^ Gremlins Action Figure: Gizmo by NECA Archived March 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Amazon.com, URL accessed April 30, 2006; Gremlins Action Figure: Poker Player by NECA Archived March 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Amazon.com, URL accessed April 30, 2006; Gremlins Movie Photo Trading Cards Box −36 Count by Topps Archived March 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine," Amazon.com. Retrieved April 30, 2006.

^ O'Toole, Lawrence (January 16, 1987). "NY CLIPS Nell says no to fashion king and Warren's spoon is hot". The Globe and Mail. p. D.6.

^ Squires, John (December 27, 2016). "Zach Galligan Offers 'Gremlins 3' Update; "Warner Bros. Definitely Wants It"". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.

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^ "Here Are 45 Easter Eggs From The New "Space Jam" Movie - See Which Ones You Missed". www.yahoo.com.

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Gremlins is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character.

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On the 12th of February 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, back then Secretary of State of the US, used an until then little known framework to help him in making the case for the invasion of Iraq: the Knowns and Unknowns framework. I think it is fair to say that the reception by the press was mixed: some accused him of playing with words with little meaning, while others saw some method in what he was trying to do.

Rumsfeld's words have been turned into a poem, written by an unknown poet (very appropriately!) and included in a collection of poems all based on speeches by Donald Rumsfeld, Pieces of Intelligence, by Hart Seely (here in an edited version by Daase and Kessler):
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We do not know.
Finally, there are unknown knowns
The knowns
We do not want to know.

What is it?

The Knowns and Unknowns categorisation has been used since the Greek era and in many areas of knowledge. It is a powerful tool to surface what we know and don't know about a problem.

The apparent simplicity of the Knowns and Unknowns framework is deceiving: it can byte you and get people thinking that you are just playing with words, as happened to Rumsfeld. So you've been warned, be careful with it. And please don't let it into the hands of war seekers.

The framework can help us to understand our approach to knowledge, to research: What do we know already (known knowns)? Are we conscious of what we are not exploring (unknown unknowns)? What about biases and unconscious decisions (unknown knowns)? Are we aware of our assumptions (known unknowns)?

The known and the unknown have to be treated in very different ways. We need to adapt our methods to the type of knowledge (including our lack of knowledge, which is also knowledge, if we are aware of it).

If you are working with your unknowns (the Unknown Knowns or the Unknown Unknowns) you need to use exploratory techniques: How might we surface some of those unknowns? How might we prepare for the surprises ahead?

If instead you are investigating what you already know about a problem (the Known Knowns or the Known Unknowns) you have to work in an inductive way: how might we use those facts to learn new things? How might we test our hypotheses?

We will explore some ways of making sure that we take all our knowledge and lack of it into account as part of our research or Design Thinking methods. Before that, I have a few interesting stories about this framework.

You could argue that Socrates was using it indirectly when he said (according to Plato) " I only know that I don't know anything ". But the first use of the method comes much later, in the thirteenth century, by the islamic philosopher Ibn Yami. This is how he categorised human beings according to their knowledge:
One who knows and knows that he knows... his horse of wisdom will reach the skies.
One who knows, but doesn't know that he knows... he is fast asleep, so you should wake him up!
One who doesn't know, but knows that he doesn't know... his limping mule will eventually get him home.
One who doesn't know and doesn't know that he doesn't know... he will be eternally lost in his hopeless oblivion!
He tells us that the act of acquiring knowledge is as important as what we already know.

The Johari Window. Diagram by Simon Shek - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Johari_Window.PNG

In the 1950s two psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham, developed the Johari Window, a method to help people evaluate what they think about themselves in contrast with what others think of them. A Blind Spot, for instance, is something that we don't know or think about ourselves but others do see in us. As a side note, the method uses adjective cards similar to those used in usability evaluation tools like Microsoft's Reaction Cards.

The link between NASA, Rumsfeld and the Unknown

A few decades later, NASA reported that they were using the framework as part of risk analysis in space missions, specially to uncover Unknown Unknowns. In a presentation from 2003, we can see how they used the framework to evaluate the risks in the return journey of the Space Shuttle. They concentrate on moving the unknowns to the known realm.

Donald Rumsfeld re-appears in this short history of the Knowns and Unknowns: it is believed that it was a senior engineer from NASA that told Rumsfeld about the framework before he made use of it in the famous press conference in 2002. Rumsfeld certainly made the framework more popular than NASA, for good or bad.

Slavoj Zizek. Photo by Andy Miah - originally posted to Flickr as Slavoj Zizek in Liverpool, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3858994

The chaos and the bees

Slavoj Zizek is a Slovenian philosopher well known for his controversial statements, like this one: "We are all basically evil, egotistical, disgusting". He also has something to say about our framework. In his article " Rumsfeld and the bees ", Zizek tells us that the most important category of knowledge for humanity is the Unknown Knowns: those things that we know but remain hidden as unconscious biases and prejudices that we are not aware of when making decisions. He gives the example of Climate Change: we all know it is happening, but we fail to act on it on our daily decisions.

In decision making it has been used to identify different environments and how organisations should proceed in each of them. The Chaotic environment, for instance, corresponds to our Unknown Unknowns. The way to deal with chaos is by being prepared to respond to eventualities: agility and adaptability are key. Organisations that insist on doing forecasting and detailed planning in a chaotic environment will fail.

The South China Sea disputes

Risk analysis is another area that uses this framework in an interesting way. For instance, in the South China Sea disputes, the countries involved often create Unknown Knowns on purpose, so the other contenders are left in a state of limbo, not knowing for sure the sea borders recognised by others or how willing they would be to defend them, which creates unknown geopolitical risks.

Looking for anything

Alistair Croll & Benjamin Yoskovitz used the Knowns and Unknowns framework in their book Lean Analytics to describe different ways of looking at data. This is how they recommend to use the four knowledge categories:

Known Knowns (facts): you use analytics data to check those facts against them.

Known Unknowns (hypotheses): can be confirmed or rejected with measurements.

Unknown Knowns (our intuitions and prejudices): can be put aside if we trust the data instead.

Unknown Unknowns (it can be anything!): are often left behind, but can be the source of great insight. By exploring the data in an open-minded way, we can recognise patterns and hidden behaviour that might point to opportunities.

Scientific research often ignores what it cannot observe, that is our Unknown Unknowns. Researchers don't usually gather data in order to just explore it. Most often, a theory of some sort is already on the table before observations or measurements begin. Theories are often built based on previous knowledge, inferred, not observed. This leads to incremental improvements, but it cannot take you to a big leap in discovery. The unknown can take you there.

At its core, the way of using the Knowns and Unknowns in Design Thinking is simply as a reminder to take all forms of knowledge into account. By doing this, we make the problem space larger and so the solution space also becomes larger. There are many possible ways of doing this. The techniques themselves are not new. The power comes from using a combination that allows you to surface all knowledge and lack of it.

Design Thinking techniques that can be used to surface the different types of knowledge.

Unknown Unknowns

To surface the Unknown Unknowns you need to explore a problem with an open mind. In user research and design research, the interviews that are often conducted at the formative stages of a project can surface these unknowns. As an example, in a recent project we discovered that some users were creating innovative workflows with external tools in order to solve their very unique problems. That is the kind of insight that takes you on big leaps to understanding the problems and to creating products that solve them.

Unknown knowns

If you want to surface Unknown Knowns, you need to get people to speak their thoughts aloud without too much thinking. Brainstorming fulfils this need. The presence of a group is important, because something that a person says serves as the catapult for others to surface related facts. Also, there are points that some will ignore because they don't fit their agenda or some other reason, but chances are that others in the group will raise. Group sketching and other ways of rapid collective collaboration can also work towards uncovering Unknown Knowns.

Known Unknowns

With the Known Unknowns you want to create hypotheses. In a Design Thinking or UCD context this usually translates into creating quick sketches or diagrams with potential solutions that you then need to pass through the sieve of the team, and test with users. But these are basically just ideas based on existing knowledge. We have to make sure that we state them as hypothesis and not facts.

Known knowns

Facts are Known Knowns. With them you generate more knowledge. Lateral thinking techniques, like analogies, allow you to see those knowns in a different light, to create a parallel reality from the one you know. The goal is to break with convention, to create something valuable and original from something (facts) that is probably not that valuable, because it is already being exploited.

Use it!

I have been using this framework for a some months now, both for personal problems and work projects. I believe that, like other Design Thinking techniques, it opens up possibilities and forces you to think more holistically. It makes a good starting point when exploring any problem and a proven way of analysing our knowledge.

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The knowns and unknowns framework for design thinking

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On the 12th of February 2002, Donald Rumsfeld, back then Secretary of State of the US, used an until then little known framework to help him in making the case for the invasion of Iraq: the Knowns and Unknowns framework.

# data[].attributes.body
specter (n.) c. 1600, "frightening ghost," from French spectre "an image, figure, ghost" (16c.), from Latin spectrum "appearance, vision, apparition" (see spectrum). Figurative sense "object of dread" is from 1774.

spectrum (n.)1610s, "apparition, specter," from Latin spectrum (plural spectra) "an appearance, image, apparition, specter," from specere "to look at, view" (from PIE root *spek- "to observe").
Meaning "visible band showing the successive colours, formed from a beam of light passed through a prism" first recorded 1670s. Figurative sense of "entire range (of something)" is from 1936.

spectral (adj.)1718, "capable of seeing spectres;" 1815, "ghostly;" from spectre + -al (1). Meaning "pertaining to a spectrum" is 1832, from stem of spectrum + -al (1). Related: Spectrally.

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Wherever you are right now, the chances are that there are worms, woodlice, centipedes, flies, silverfish, wasps, beetles, mice, shrews and much, much more, quietly living within just a few paces of you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9KVycE4SyU

https://youtu.be/HdDpS9DWFpk

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The Garden Jungle: how to save our insects

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Edith Holden: delicate watercolour drawings with some (rather dated) poetry and a few seasonal notes.

Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden: http://amzn.to/2sNfvyr

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady: http://amzn.to/2v9QPkv

Richard Bell: more amusing publication with a mix of expressive black/white/colour ink drawings and selected informational boxes:

Rough Patch by Richard Bell: http://amzn.to/2ufXbma

Richard Bell's Blog: http://wildyorkshire.blog/

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Sketchbook Club 12: British nature diaries

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Guide to slugs and snails: how to identify common species and protect your plants

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Slugs and snails are the bane in many gardener's lives, but get up close to these little gastropods and you will soon realised that they are a valuable asset to the British landscape. It is believed that the average British garden contains over 20,000 slugs and snails, with a cubic metre alone housing a population of around 200 slugs.

Our guide to slugs and snails explains how these small gastropods play a vital role in the ecosystem, plus how to identify common species and to protect your plants in a wildlife-friendly way

Slug and snail facts

Where can you find slugs and snails?

Although snails hibernate during the winter months, slugs can be found anywhere where there is a temperature in excess of 5°C. 95% of slugs are underground, nibbling on seeds and roots and laying eggs - they lay 20-100 eggs multiple times every year.

Snails and slugs love dampness so after heavy rainfall you are likely to find more in your garden. The majority of snails act are nocturnal and don't like being exposed to sunlight.

What do slugs and snails eat?

Certain breeds of slugs and snails can consume over 500 varieties of plants and vegetation. Despite destroying healthy plants, most slugs eat decomposing vegetation, making them a vital part of the ecosystem. If you are considering growing lettuce, the Cos variety has proved the most slug-resistant.

Slugs consume around forty times their weight in the space of a day. They can also stretch to approximately twenty times their length in order to squeeze through narrow gaps.

How can you stop slugs and snails returning to your garden?

Moving a snail at least 20 metres away will ensure that it is less likely to return, as it will lose its bearings. Snails' homing instincts only cover short distances. Slugs can find their way back to where they came from by leaving a unique scent trail.

How fast can slugs and snails move?

Snails can reach a speed of one metre per hour, enabling them to traverse an average British garden overnight. Snails range from a few centimetres long to up to twelve inches long and can carry up to ten times their own body weight.

Do slugs and snails carry disease?

Snails aren't just a gardener's nightmare - they can cause severe problems for dog owners too. Some snails carry lungworm ( angiostrongylus vasorum), a parasite which affects dogs' heart-rates and breathing and can cause fatalities.

How do slugs and snails reproduce?

Slugs are hermaphrodites and can self-reproduce. If two snails mate them both become pregnant. It is possible for a single slug to amass a total of around 90,000 grandchildren.

Do slugs and snails have teeth?

Believe it or not, slugs have the ability to bite - they have approximately 27,000 teeth!

How to identify common species of slugs and snails

1

The large black slug can grow to 14cm when fully mature. Generally, black in colour but can be brown with an orange frill. Commonly found in gardens and woodland areas.

2

If you spot a leopard slug in your garden, don't despair as this species is not regarded as a plant pest. The preferred diet of the leopard slug is fungi, dead plant or animal matter making it a useful species to have around. Easily recognisable with its leopard-like spots, the species can grow up to 16cm and is commonly found in parkland, woodland and gardens.

3

A similar size to the great grey slug, yellow slugs can grow up to 13cm and are a distinctive yellow colour. Commonly found in gardens and parks.

4

The girdled snail has a pale brown shell of around 10mm with a white ridge. Found in gardens and parks.

5

The rounded snail has a circular shell with brown grooves and is commonly found in hedgerows, gardens and woodlands.

How to protect your garden plants from slugs and snails

While slug pellets are effective, it is possible to protect your garden from a slug and snail invasion without harming them. A natural way to dissuade gastropods from munching through your prized flower beds is to include plants which repel them in your beds. Generally, strongly smelling plants or plants with hairy stems are less likely to be an appealing feast, so try planting lavender, rosemary, cranebills or herbaceous plants around plants you want to protect.

Vinegar is the perfect ingredient to remove slug slime and to include in slug sprays. Snails are highly intolerant to salt and will die if the white stuff is sprinkled onto them.

Another method is to use plant pots with copper tape or sprinkle wood chip, gravel or crushed egg shells around your plants as gastropods dislike rougher surfaces.

Predators that eat slugs and snails

Hedgehogs, rodents, some bird species and ground beetles will eat slugs so encouraging them to your garden may help. Glow worm larvae feed exclusively on slugs and snails. However, it takes them two years for the larvae to grow into adulthood, at which point they have a limited time-frame of two to three weeks to reproduce before dying.

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Guide to slugs and snails: how to identify common species and protect your plants

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High rainfall and suitable habitat enable slugs and snails to thrive in the UK, much to the annoyance of many gardeners. Our guide to slugs and snails explains how these small gastropods play a vital role in the ecosystem, plus how to identify common species and to protect your plants in a wildlife-friendly way.

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Dragonfly and damselfly guide: common species in Britain, where to find and how to identify

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No stroll by the lake is complete without the rattle of dragonfly wings across the reeds and rushes. These large colourful insects are both brazen and yet also flighty.

They have superb all-round vision for hunting their flying insec t prey, but are easily spooked - stand stock-still and you will often see them return to the same stem perch or resume their regular patrol up and down the hedgerow or stream bank.

Our expert guide to Britain's dragonflies and damselflies, including species identification and where to see them.

Common dragonfly, damselfly species to see in the UK

Emperor dragonfly

Emperor dragonfly, Anax imperator ©Naturepl.com

Britain's largest species, up to 78mm, is a brightly coloured dragon with an apple-green thorax and a continuous blue stripe along tail if male or green stripe if female. Very active, it flies with its tail slightly held down and rarely settles except in cool weather. Found across England and Wales, scattered in Scotland.

Southern hawker

Southern hawker, Aeshna cyan ©naturepl.com

Large (length to 70mm) and brightly coloured, this hawker has broad green bars on its sides and thorax, and a distinctive pale golf-tee mark on its first tail segment. The male is dark with apple-green or blue dots down its body; the female is browner with green marks. Common throughout lowland Britain.

Brown hawker

Brown hawker, Aeshna grands ©Naturepl.com

This huge hawker (length to 73mm) has dark, smokey-brown wings, visible even from afar across open water. It usually breeds in large lakes, but will fly many miles from water to hawk up and down woodland edges, rides and hedges. Common in England, it is scattered in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Broad-bodied chaser

Broad-bodied chaser, Libellula depressa ©Naturepl.com

Medium-sized (length to 48mm) but highly distinctive, this has dark wing bases and a broad, flattened body - powdery blue in male, brown in female - edged with yellow spots. Common in gardens, it breeds in streams, ponds, ditches and lakes. Found across England and Wales, with inroads into southern Scotland.

Common darter

Common darter, Sympetrum striolatum ©Naturepl.com

Medium size (to 43mm), the darter has a narrow body - red in male, brightening for days after emerging; brown or straw-yellow in female. It sometimes perches with its tail up in the air. Often the last species to be seen, well into November, it is found in all water bodies across Britain except the highest Highlands.

Banded demoiselle

Banded demoiselle, Calopteryx splendens ©Naturepl.com

Medium (length to 45mm), this demoiselle has a fragile, narrow body, emphasised by its gentle fluttering flight. Metallic bluish body in male, green in female, it often settles on waterside vegetation along slow muddy-bottomed streams. It is found in England and Wales, scattered in Scotland and Ireland.

Blue-tailed damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly, Ischnura elegans ©Naturepl.com

Small (length to 31mm), narrow, fragile and delicate, this flies secretively through waterside vegetation. It is black with a pale blue thorax and bar across
its tail tip, while its pterostigma (lone wing-tip spot) is two-coloured on front wings. Found in any water body throughout Britain, scattered in Ireland.

Large red damselfly

Large red damselfly, Pyrrhosoma nymphula ©Naturepl.com

This small damselfly (length to 36mm) is bright red with black wing-spots. The male's abdomen is all red; the female's is barred lighter or heavier with black. It is often found in large numbers around water bodies, including ponds, meadowland dykes and peat bogs. It is perhaps the most widespread species in Britain.

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Dragonfly and damselfly guide: common species in Britain, where to find and how to identify

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No stroll by the lake is complete without the rattle of dragonfly wings across the reeds and rushes. These large colourful insects are both brazen and yet also flighty.

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Guide to British butterflies: how to identify and the best places to spot

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Spotting a butterfly is a delight in the spring and summer months, and these pretty insects play an important role in pollinating flowers. There are approximately 60 species British butterflies that grace our shores annually, including regular migrants.

Here is our expert guide on where to see and how to identify common British butterfly species, including tips on when, where and how to see them, plus how to attract more butterflies to your garden.

How long do butterflies live?

The average lifespan of a butterfly is short-lived as most adult species is only two to four weeks, with many species living less. Butterfly populations in the UK are affected by adverse weather conditions such as drought, wet and windy or unseasonably cold conditions.

How many species of British butterflies are there?

There are 56 recorded species of butterfly found in the UK. Here is a list of some of the most common species to spot:

No one knows how this tiny early spring butterfly obtained its name. Formerly common locally in woods, the duke is now a rare and rapidly declining butterfly, primarily of rough, ungrazed or lightly grazed limestone grassland, where it breeds on cowslip and primrose leaves in shady situations.

Most colonies hold only a handful of butterflies. However, the males gather in sheltered territories, or leks, which are occupied annually. There they squabble like mad and launch themselves against all-comers.

They are most active in the mornings, becoming quiescent after 2pm. The duke flies at cowslip time, late April through to late May, and nowadays is best seen in early to mid May.

Where to see

Top sites are Noar Hill near Selborne in Hampshire, Heyshott Down on the West Sussex Downs, the lower slopes of Ivinghoe Beacon in the north Chilterns and Rodborough Common near Stroud in the Cotswolds.

Another butterfly in rapid decline, having been widespread and locally common throughout southern and western mainland Britain.

It lives mainly in woodland clearings and on bracken hillsides, but also on rough limestone grassland around Morecambe Bay and along loch sides in the Western Highlands, breeding on violets among fallen leaves or dead bracken litter.

It flies mainly during May, but has early and late years, depending on the vagaries of spring weather. Cannily, it flies when the bugle, its favoured nectar source, is in flower. This is one of our most graceful butterflies in flight, skimming low over the ground vegetation, pausing only to visit flowers or bask, the males ceaselessly searching for females.

Where to see

The New Forest woods north-east of Brockenhurst (Pignal, New Copse and Parkhill inclosures), Bentley Wood in south-east Wiltshire, Cwm Soden near New Quay on the Ceredigion coast, Arnside Knott and Whitbarrow in south Cumbria, and Loch Arkaig in the Highlands.

The British race of this magnificent royal blue butterfly was declared extinct in 1979. Since then, the Swedish race has been naturalised in the West Country by a dedicated team led by top butterfly scientist Prof Jeremy Thomas.

This race is now quite well established in the Polden Hills in mid Somerset, where several colonies result from natural spread. It is also being re-established in the Cotswolds and Devon.

It flies during June on sunny slopes where the grass is kept short, and visits wild thyme flowers. The larvae feed for a while on wild thyme before becoming predators of the grubs of a single species of warmth-loving red ant. The large blue lives for 10 months underground in the ant nests.

Where to see

Access is difficult at most sites, and most colonies are extremely small. The National Trust runs an open access site at Collard Hill, near Street, Somerset. This supports one of the largest known colonies in Europe.

This tropical-looking butterfly is so large and colourful it can be spotted from 200m (650ft) away as it patrols over reedbeds. Today, it flies only in the major river valleys of the Norfolk Broads, where it breeds on milk parsley, a scarce wetland plant.

It is on the wing mainly from late May through to early July, though it is seldom numerous. In hot summers there is a partial, rather localised second brood during August. Swallowtails love the flowers of marsh thistle, bramble and flag iris, but hate wind. On windy days, they patrol sheltered areas in the lee of woodland.

Where to see

Pedestrian access is difficult on the Broads, but Hickling Broad National Nature Reserve (NNR) and How Hill nature reserve are good pay-for-entry sites, and the edges of Marsham Broad and the Butterfly Conservation reserve at Catfield Fe n are also good. Mid to late June is usually the best time.

Our most graceful butterfly in flight, the white admiral effortlessly skims the edges of trees and bushes along woodland rides in southern England, where it is common locally.

No insect loves woodland bramble flowers more, or graces them better. It is most numerous in late June and early July, but flies for only about a month. The larvae live in honeysuckle tangles situated in dappled shade. Occasionally specimens lack the distinctive white bands. The undersides of these 'black admirals' are especially beautiful - a once-or-twice in a lifetime experience.

Where to see

White admirals occur in many southern woods, but they are particularly numerous at Bookham Common near Leatherhead in Surrey, Pamber Forest south of Reading, and the southern parts of Alice Holt Forest in east Hampshire. These woods also support good populations of the large and spectacular silver-washed fritillary, the happiest of butterflies, which flies at the same time as the white admiral.

One of the loveliest of our butterflies, large, brilliant orange and most graceful, with pieces of silver on the hind wing undersides. But it is also our most rapidly declining butterfly, and is restricted now to a few bracken hillsides in the West Country, a tiny part of South Wales, and its stronghold - the lovely limestone hills around Morecambe Bay at the southern end of the Lake District.

It flies from mid June to late July (later in Morecambe Bay), and delights in basking on b racken fronds and visiting bramble, knapweed and thistle flowers. Its larvae feed on violets among leaf or bracken litter.

Where to See

Heddon Valley in Devon, Arnside Knott in Cumbria and the Whitbarrow massif near Witherslack, Cumbria.

No one forgets their first purple emperor, our most impressive butterfly. It is brave, bold and powerful, but is hard to see as it lives mainly in the woodland canopy, is active only intermittently, and occurs at low population density.

Moreover, it does not visit flowers, though males periodically descend to woodland rides to imbibe moisture, often from unsavoury substances. In normal summers it is most numerous during the first two weeks of July - look for emperors when the white admirals and silver-washed fritillaries are well out.

Although associated with oaks in southern forests, it is actually a butterfly of sallow jungles in well-wooded landscapes, with the males gathering on groves of trees on sheltered hill tops, out of the wind.

Where to see

Bentley Wood, Wiltshire and Bookham Commons, Surrey, Botany Bay, Chiddingfold Forest, on the Sussex/Surrey border, and best of all, Fermyn Woods, near Corby in Northants.

This is our only mountain butterfly, necessitating a midsummer trip to the high fells of the central Lake District or the mountains of the south-west Highlands. Most colonies are found above the 500m (1,640ft) contour line.

There, mountain ringlets blow about in the wind, crashing moth-like into tussocks, and feed avidly on tormentil and, where available, wild thyme flowers. But it is well worth the trip, for no other British butterfly is quite like the mountain ringlet, and the iridescence of freshly emerged specimens is exquisite.

The flight season is very variable, seemingly consisting of pulses of emergence from early June through to late July, with early and late flying colonies.

Where to see

Ben Lawers NNR, Perthshire, is the classic locality in Scotland. In the Lake District, the slopes of Fleetwith Pike above Honister Youth Hostel are renowned, also Wrynose Breast and Cold Pike.

The electric iridescent blue of the male's wings is almost tropical, making this one of our most special butterflies.

It is a local butterfly of south-facing chalk and limestone hillsides in southern England, though in favoured places it is often abundant, and it has recently expanded its range due to conservation efforts.

There are two broods, in early summer and again in late summer. The second brood is usually much stronger, and often coincides with the tail end of the chalkhill blue season, its sky blue cousin. These butterflies both breed on the same plant, horseshoe vetch, in short turf.

Where to see

The south-facing slopes of the Isle of Wight chalk ridge and the Purbeck Hills of Dorset, Denbies Hillsid e near Dorking on the North Downs, many of the Wiltshire downs, and Rodborough Common in the Cotswolds.

The latest of our butterflies to emerge, the brown hairstreak flies from late July into September. This is one of our hardest butterflies to see, as observing it requires much standing around, waiting, searching ash trees with binoculars and neck ache.

But this butterfly has a cult following and its own website. It occurs at low population density in landscapes rich in blackthorn, the larval foodplant, but is indolent and flies mostly in early mornings.

The males then laze around, high up on ash trees close to blackthorn hedges or tangles, where they feed from sticky ash buds. Sometimes males and females visit angelica, bramble and hemp agrimony flowers. Females flit about in early afternoon, laying eggs on blackthorn shoots and basking in late summer sunshine.

Where to see

Alners Gorse in north Dorset, Noar Hill in east Hampshire, Shipton Bellinger Roughs in west Hampshire, the Steyning Rifle Range in West Sussex, and Bernwood Meadows in Oxfordshire.

To learn more about all 56 butterfly species found in the UK here are some useful resources:

Where to see butterflies in the UK

Meadows and pastures provide food and shelter for butterflies - here are six more places to spot them in summer.

Slievenacloy, County Antrim

This reserve's highest point overlooks Belfast and, on a clear day, you can see five of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Slievenacloy is known for its orchids (nine species) and waxcap fungi (26 species), but it is also one of the best sites in Northern Ireland for Lepidoptera. Species to look out for include the small copper (pictured), common blue and dark green fritillary butterfly. ulsterwildlife.org

Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire

Named for its many river valleys, the Yorkshire Dales National Park was created in 1954 and is home to a wealth of wildlife, including butterflies. Between early June and mid-August, look out for the rare northern brown argus in areas of unimproved limestone grassland. natureinthedales.org.uk

Box Hill, Surrey

More than 40 butterfly species can be seen at Box Hill in the Surrey Hills AONB thanks to its mix of habitats. The chalk North Downs grasslands support a range of blue butterflies, including the chalkhill and Adonis. The hillsides and woodlands
are also home to silver-spotted skippers, dark green and silver-washed fritillaries, white admirals and purple emperors. nationaltrust.org

Snakeholme Pit, Lincolnshire

For such a small reserve (0.8 hectares), Snakeholme Pit has an impressive number of butterfly species, including the purple hairstreak (pictured) and white admiral. The former clay pit was used as a fish nursery and now supports various dragonflies and damselflies, as well as kingfishers, nightingales and adder's-tongue ferns. butterfly-conservation.org

Lorton Meadows, Dorset

Nestled within the city of Weymouth is the 75-hectare Lorton Meadows. Small, large and Essex skippers, marbled whites and small coppers reside here, but keep an eye out too for dragonflies and orchids as you explore the meadows. The reserve is also the start of the Legacy Trail to Portland Bill. dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Gilfach Farm, Powys

Purple and green hairstreak butterflies live among Gilfach's meadows, open moorland and oak woodland, alongside dark green and small pearl-bordered fritillaries. Visit later in the year and you may be lucky enough to see salmon leaping up River Marteg's waterfalls. rwtwales.org

How to attract butterflies to your garden

Provide a food source

Grow nectar-rich plants for butterflies to feed such as bluebells, buddleia, cranebills, lavender and wildflowers. Allow your grass to grow a little longer and leave daisies, buttercups and clover for insects. Keep plants watered in drier months to help keep the supply of nectar going during the summer.

Avoid using pesticides

Unsurprisingly, pesticides are harmful to butterflies and other insects. If possible, avoid using them during the peak butterfly months of spring and summer to allow the species chance to thrive.

Allow some weeds to grow

Leave your garden to grow wild. Butterflies need longer grasses for warmth and shelter, so if you can leave the edge of your lawn to grow longer and leave the odd weed for butterflies to lay larvae.

Our expert

Matthew Oates is a butterfly expert and media naturalist for the National Trust. A passionate all-round wildlife enthusiast, he is the author of books such as Butterflies and All About Butterflies.

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Guide to British butterflies: how to identify and the best places to spot

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Spotting a butterfly is a delight in the spring and summer months, and these pretty insects play an important role in pollinating flowers. There are approximately 60 species British butterflies that grace our shores annually, including regular migrants. The average lifespan of a butterfly is short-lived as most adult species is only two to four weeks, with many species living less.

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British moth guide: how to identify, why they are important

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The most dramatic moths in Britain are the hawk-moths. Large and fabulously patterned, their heavy bodies make them slow to take off and they will sit on your hand looking wonderfully glamorous. The elephant hawk-moth is a vibrant combination of lime green and sugar pink. Poplar hawk-moths have sculpted blush-grey wings; displaying red flashes from marks on their underwings if they feel threatened.

To try and understand moths a bit better, we asked gardener and naturalist Susie White a few questions.

Here is our expert guide to British moths, including how to identify the different species, where to find, the difference between a moth and a butterfly. We also investigate why moths are important to the eco-system, plus how to protect your clothes from moths.

What is the difference between a butterfly and a moth?

Butterflies and moths are closely related and some moths are as large and colourful as butterflies, making it difficult to tell them apart.

A quick way to tell the difference is to look at their antennae: butterflies have clubbed antennae (bulbous at the tips) whereas moths, with the exception of the burnets, do not.

Moths are also far more numerous than butterflies; compare the 59 species of butterflies breeding in Britain with some 900 species of large moths (known as macro-moths) and a further 1,550 or so species of micro-moths.

What do moths eat?

Some moths fly by day, some by night, and my garden is filled with plants to attract them. Single flowers are chosen for their easily accessed nectar, giving adult moths energy for flying and aiming to provide a year-round food supply. Some moths even fly in winter, with ivy flowers providing a late-season feast. My garden is at the meeting of several different habitats - woodland, fields and river - so it's especially rich in insect life.

Moth caterpillars feed on the leaves and roots of native plants and grasses, so I leave meadow fringes around the garden walls. I grow foxglove, primrose, mullein and thyme in the borders, or cultivated varieties that are related to native species: verbascum, purple plantain, honeysuckle and flag iris. Native trees are especially important and the caterpillars that eat their leaves provide food for birds. Birds feed their chicks with winter moth caterpillars collected from the tree canopy; a single brood of blue tits can eat up to 10,000, their breeding timed to coincide with the emerging larvae.

Moths and mimicry

Moths often use mimicry to protect themselves. Red sword-grass looks like a sliver of wood and has a head like a shaven pencil, only recognisable as an insect when it splays its legs to walk on my hand. Chinese character is a white moth with brown blotches that looks just like a bird dropping. The beautiful buff-tip mimics a broken-off birch twig.

Where do moths get their names?

Their imaginative names are a joy. Thought up by Victorian naturalists, these were often drawn from life in the 'big house'; there are ermines, satins, brocades, footmen and wainscots. Some names come from their markings: Hebrew character, garden tiger, feathered gothic, speckled yellow, blood-vein and leopard moth. Angle shades is a perfection of symmetry and herald wears the rich velvet of a medieval costume.

Why are moths important?

As well as being pollinators, moths play a vital in the food chain. They're relied on by birds, spiders, bats, amphibians and hedgehogs. Their declining numbers - down by 40% in the south of the UK - is alarming and is having an impact on other species.

How to identify common moth species

Here are 10 fascinating moth species you could find in your own back garden.

Scarlet Tiger Callimorpha dominula

The day-flying scarlet tiger flashes its dramatic underwings as a warning to predators that it's poisonous. The caterpillars, known as 'woolly bears', have irritant hairs and are only eaten by cuckoos.

Poplar Hawk-moth Laothoe populi

Resting with its hind wings projected forwards, the poplar hawk-moth has a sculptural outline. Hold one on your palm and it takes several minutes of vibrating its wings before it can fly.

Large Emerald Geometrapapilionaria

Every bit as colourful and large as a butterfly, this beautiful jade-green moth has delicately scalloped wings. It rests like a butterfly, too, with its wings spread out.

Merveille du Jour Griposia aprilina

Flying in autumn, the fabulous merveille du jour really lives up to its name. Wings are frosted green with sharply patterned black-and-white markings, camouflaged when seen against lichen.

Silver Y Autographa gamma

An immigrant species, silver Ys are seen as a blur of grey wings in daytime as they fly rapidly between flowers. When they settle, you can clearly see a white Y shape on their forewings.

Angle Shades Phlogophora meticulosa

Camouflaged to look like a crumpled dead leaf, angle shades has pinkish brown markings on creased and folded wings. Often seen in gardens by day, it's the moth that first got me hooked.

Buff-tip Phalera bucephala

The markings of this remarkable moth mimic a broken birch twig. Mottled silver-grey wings resemble birch bark while dark edging lines emphasise buff patches, the colour of pale wood.

Emperor Moth Saturnia pavonia

Emperor moths have four large eye spots to deter birds. Males can detect the scent of females from several kilometres away; you can buy pheromone lures to attract this spectacular species.

December Moth Peocilocampa populi

Flying in the middle of winter, the charcoal-coloured December moth looks like it's wearing a furry hat and warm clothing. Males, though smaller than the females, have impressive feathered antennae.

Buff Arches Habrosyne pyritoides

This extraordinary moth sports a combination of smooth grey wings overlaid with orange-brown wavy markings that distort the sense of space like a piece of 1960s psychedelia.

Best garden plants for attracting moths

Nicotine plant Nicotiana alata

Not all moths drink nectar, but night-scented flowers will attract those that do. Grow species with short tubes, such as Nicotiana alata rather than N. sylvestris.

Sweet rocket Hesperis matronalis

With a sweet yet spicy scent, this is a mid-height cottage garden favourite that self-seeds easily. Flowers vary between white, mauve and purple.

Catmint Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant'

This large catmint flowers from July to October and is a magnet for bees, hoverflies and day-flying moths, such as silver Y.

White rosebay willowherb Chamaenerion angustifolium 'Album'

Though it is invasive, I grow white rosemary willowherb as a food plant for elephant hawk-moth caterpillars. Stately and serene, it has waving tall white plumes.

BuddleJa Buddleja davidii

Also called the butterfly bush, buddleja produces an abundance of nectar-rich flowers that butterflies and moths find irresistible.

Wallflower Erysimum cultivars

Richly scented spring bedding, wallflowers provide early season nectar along with bluebells. Perennial wallflower 'Bowles' Mauve' attracts hummingbird hawk-moths.

Honeysuckle Lonicera

Moths with long probosces can feed on nectar deep in the tubular flowers of honeysuckle. Leaves are food for caterpillars of the early grey and twenty-plume moth.

Knapweed Centaurea nigra

Adult moths take nectar from both native and non-native plants but caterpillars need natives. Meadow flower knapweed is the larval food-plant of several species.

Marjoram Origanum vulgare

Purple and scented, marjoram flowers provide nectar for many insects, including moths. It's the larval food-plant of the beautiful metallic-sheened burnished brass moth.

How to trap moths

Trapping moths does not hurt them and I let them go the following night. It's similar to bird surveying with a mist net: catch without harming, identify and release. There are several types of trap but the one I prefer to use is a Robinson. Moths are drawn by the light of a bright bulb and funnelled down into the large black tub below. I line this with egg cartons so there are plenty of places to hide, setting the trap just before dusk and turning the light off at dawn. It's a race to get there before the robin who might take advantage of an easy meal.

Discover night-flying moths by simply leaving the outside light on or by making a sugary bait. There's a guide to moth traps in the Moth Recorders Handbook, downloadable from mothscount.org, and Paul J Palmer has written a book How to Build Your Own Moth Trap (CreateSpace, £6.80). Anglian Lepidopteris Supplies (angleps.com) sells a range of equipment for moth trapping; traps also available from Watkins & Doncaster (watdon.co.uk). The Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland by Waring, Townsend and Lewington (Bloomsbury, £40) shows moths in resting positions. For supportive sharing, go to Facebook @GardenMothScheme, and there are some good county websites, such as northumberlandmoths.org.uk.

Why do moths eat clothes?

Unfortunately, woollen and cotton clothing can be a very tempting food source for the tinea pellionella moth - a silvery case-bearing moth. The moths larvae will happily devour the natural fibres as they grow.

How to protect your clothes from a moth infestation

Washing your clothes at a higher temperature and then popping them in a freezer to kill the eggs can help. Moths dislike strong scents so for a natural deterrent, try hanging or placing homemade dried lavender pillows in your drawer or wardrobe. Cleaning and vacuuming regularly is another way to keep moth infestations at bay.

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British moth guide: how to identify, why they are important

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The most dramatic moths in Britain are the hawk-moths. Large and fabulously patterned, their heavy bodies make them slow to take off and they will sit on your hand looking wonderfully glamorous. The elephant hawk-moth is a vibrant combination of lime green and sugar pink.

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British beetle guide: where to see and how to identify

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Here is our guide to British beetle species, including where to see and how to identify.

How many beetle species are there in the UK?

With over 4,000 species in the British Isles, many of which are very small, beetles are often portrayed as being a 'difficult' group, the preserve of experts. However, there are plenty of beetle species that are either large, brightly coloured or easy to identify in the field or from photos, such as ladybirds, stag beetles, and longhorn beetles. Around 40% of the UK's insects species are beetles.

Confirmations can always be sought at the ' I spot nature ' identification site where your uploaded photos (of beetles, and indeed any organism) are regularly checked by experts and enthusiasts.

What do beetles eat?

British beetle species have a varied diet. Some species, such as the lesser stag beetle like to eat rotting wood, while the orange and black sexton beetle, favour decaying animals to lay their larvae.

Meanwhile, the dor beetle eats faeces from animals. Many other species prefer the pollen and nectar from plants.

British beetle species to spot

Green tiger beetle

With long legs and sharp jaws, this fearsome predator takes short flying leaps to attack prey or escape. It is very active on patches of sparsely vegetated or bare sandy or chalky soil.

Cockchafer

Mostly nocturnal, it is also called May-bug for its appearance in spring. Old reports note clouds of cockchafers banging on to lit windows or street lamps. Larvae are fat, pale, C-shaped maggots in the soil, feeding on grass.
Learn about cockchafers in this guide on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website
Rose chafer

This living jewel is metallic green all over. Unlike most beetles, it flies with its wing-cases closed and has a special notch at the side to accommodate its membraneous flight wings. It often sits on flowers.

Twenty-two-spot ladybird

The brightest lemon-yellow of any British beetle, this always has 22 round jet-black spots on its cheerful wing cases. A mildew feeder, it grazes on mould and fungal hyphae.

Whirligig beetle

This small, shiny oval beetle is so named because it swims in tightly, sometimes frenzied circles on the surface of ponds and slow moving rivers and streams. Here it hunts small creatures that fall onto the water. It can also dive to catch prey.

Violet ground beetle

A large (3cm long), fast-moving and aggressive beetle with a powerful bite that hunts worms, small slugs and other invertebrates. It roves at night in woods, meadows and gardens and has a distinctive purple sheen to its carapace. If alarmed, it gives over a rank smell.

7-spot ladybird

Our most familiar beetle and a nursery rhyme favourite with its bright red oval carapace with black spots. Still common though declining. Its dark-grey larva have a reptilian appearance and, like adults, prey voraciously on aphids.

Oil beetle

Up to 4cm long, these are hugely impressive insects with distinctively bulbous abdomens and are found commonly on meadow flowers, particularly celandines, in spring. There are five species in the UK and they are named for their shiny, oily appearance.

Soldier beetle

A raft of handsome species found on summer flowers (particularly thistles and umbellifers) and are fantastic pollinators. All have long, thin bodies. The red soldier is orange-red all over but with a black tip to its abdomen. Other species have black-grey heads and abdomens separated by red thoraxes.

Devil's coach-horse

Britain's largest rove beetle is a gothic monstrosity found under logs and stones. Its short wing-cases expose a flexible hind body - it will rear up and wave its large jaws menacingly, and it can nip.

Red-headed cardinal beetle

It is named for its papal colour scheme, which warns predators not to eat it as it contains poisons (harmless to pick up). Flat larvae, with two-pronged tail, feed under logs and bark.

Green tortoise beetle

Flattened and flanged, it clamps down on to its water-mint food-plant leaf if disturbed. The larvae keep hold of their dry excrement and moulted skins to make a predator-avoiding blob-parasol on their tail end.

Wasp beetle

This has deceptively wasp-like colours, plus striking red legs, jerky movements and hawking flight. Larvae feed in dead wood; adults are often seen in sunshine running on stacked logs, or buzzing over bramble flowers.

Stag beetle

The UK's largest beetle spends most of its life out of view. The larva feeds on dead wood below ground for five years before emerging as an adult. Only the male possesses the 'antlers', which are infact enlarged jaws. The stag beetle has declined due to a loss of dead wood habitat.
Learn about stag beetles in this guide on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website
Bloody nosed beetle

This handsome black beetle is flightless and can be seen walking along the ground or in low vegetation in April. It's often found in coastal areas and on grasslands in the south of the UK. The beetle's name comes from its defence strategy of exuding bright red fluid from its mouth when threatened.

Dor beetle

This large beetle has a distinctive black domed body that shines blue or violet in the light. It feeds on dung and is found in grasslands and woodlands grazed by sheep or cattle. The endless munching of dor beetles saves from being knee deep in animal dung.

Sexton beetle

This distinctive beetle has a black and orange patterning on its wing cases. It performs an important service in burying and recycling carrion (usually small mammals and birds). Its antennae are packed full of receptors enabling it to smell a dead animal up to a mile away.
Learn more about carrion beetles in this guide on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website.
Harlequin ladybird

The most invasive ladybird, the harlequin arrived in Britain in 2004 and has spread rapidly. This beetle has the potential to jeopardise many of our native ladybird species through competing for food or eating their larvae. It is very variable in appearance.

Great diving beetle

Both larvae and adults are voracious predators of tadpoles, aquatic insect larvae and small fish. The larvae have a scorpion-like appearance and live underwater for two years before transforming into the adult beetle. The 3cm long adults come to the surface regular to replenish their air supply by sticking their abdomen's out of the water.

Thick legged flower beetle

This spectacular shiny metallic green beetle is most often seen on flowers such as daisy, cow parsley and hawthorn blossom. Only the male has the thickened 'thighs' that give the beetle its name; it uses them to impress females. The larvae live in hollow plant stems.

Glow worm

The glow worm is not a worm but a beetle. Adult female glow worms are famed for their glow; they are wingless and double the size of the males. Glow worms like chalky or limestone grassland where there are plenty of snails and slugs for their larvae to feed on.
Learn how street lights interfere with glow worm courtship, on the BBC Wildlife Magazine website.

Whether you have a large space, or just a windowbox, you can make a bug hotel that not only provides sanctuary for a host of fascinating creatures but also allows you to get close to them.

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British beetle guide: where to see and how to identify

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Here is our guide to British beetle species, including where to see and how to identify. With over 4,000 species in the British Isles, many of which are very small, beetles are often portrayed as being a 'difficult' group, the preserve of experts.

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British bee identification guide: best plants to attract bees to your garden

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Whilst many of us may be familiar with the honeybee and one or two bumblebee species, there are actually over 200 hundred species of bee found in the UK and the wider British Isles (and roughly 20,000 species in total around the world). The majority of which are species belonging to the solitary bees group, and can often be mistaken for other insects such as wasps and hornets, hoverflies, and bee-flies.

Our bee guide looks at why bees are important, how to identify the three groups, which plants to grow to attract bees to your garden (and which to avoid), how to help a struggling bee, and how to make a bee house for solitary bees.

What is the role of bees?

Bees are vital in the life-cycle of a plant, due to pollination. This process is essential because it allows plants to reproduce, and many plants depend on bees or other pollinators to survive.

A bee will collect nectar and pollen from the flower of a plant, as well as some from the stamens - the male reproductive organ of the plants. When the bee visits the next flower, the pollen is transported onto the stigma, or the tip of the pistil - the female reproductive organ of the flower. This is essential to the fertilisation process of plants, food and fruits.

Bees are perhaps the well-known of the insect pollinators, but there are a range of species which can act as pollinators including butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and flies.

How to identify common British bee species

Honeybee

European honeybees live in a colony, although they don't hibernate they do work industrially and cluster together to stay warm. They work together as a hive to create food (honey) which is created and stored throughout the summer.

Bees have been created honey for over one hundred and fifty million years. To make one pound of honey, bees fly over 55,000 miles, or in other terms, 2.2 times around the world.

There is only one species of honeybee in the UK, known as the European honeybee. Within the species, there are a number of different types of honeybee, referred to as races, such as the Italian bees and Carniolan bees.

Though some colonies exist in the wild, the majority are domesticated, living in hives all year round. The colony consists of a queen, who can live for three to four years, and many of her daughters. In summer, male drones will also hatch, and have the sole purpose to mate with queens. After mating, the males' sexual organs detach and the male dies. Males which have not successfully mated will be evicted from the hive by the female workers and will die. Hives can number between 20,000 and 60,000 bees. Honeybees have a short tongue length, meaning they are limited to certain pollen sources.

Honeybee colonies divide by swarming, with a queen leaves the hive to found a new colony, and takes a number of worker bees with her. The remaining workers stay in the hive and raise replacement queens, only one of which will survive. If you find a swarm that needs removing, volunteers from the British Beekeeping Association are often able to help out and to collect the swarm.

Bumblebee

25 of the UK's bee species are bumblebees. The majority of these also social bees, though colonies are significantly smaller and vary slightly depending on the species. A well established colony could comprise of up to 400 bees. Tongue lengths vary so different species feed on different flowers.

Some bumblebee species are actually parasitic and are known as cuckoo bumblebees. The queen cuckoo bumblebee take over the existing nests of other bumblebee species, killing the resident queen and getting the resident workers to look after her own offspring. Cuckoo bumblebees do not produce workers, only queens and males.

Solitary bees

The majority of the UK's bee species are solitary bees, of which we have around 250 species. Solitary bees exist only in the wild and are the most effective pollinators of all bee species. Their appearance can vary greatly.

Species that may get mistaken for bees

There are a number of other insects with similar colour markings that may get mistaken for bees, such as wasps and hornets, hoverflies, and bee-flies.

Do all bees sting? Do bees die after they've stung?

Not all species of bee are able to sting, and of the species that can, it is in fact it is only the female bees that are able to sting, as the stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg depositor). Bees usually only sting when they perceive a threat, either to themselves or to their colony.

Female honeybees (the queen and the workers) are able to sting, and die after doing so. The worker honeybee's stinger is barbed and stays in the skin of whatever it is has stung, tearing open the abdomen of the honeybee when it then flies away. However it's that thought that this is actually only the case when the honeybees sting something with quite a thick skin (like humans) and that when they sting smaller creatures (other insects), this does not happen. The queen's honeybee stinger is smooth, and she uses it to kill other rival queens.

Female bumblebees and solitary bees are not aggressive, and will generally only sting if roughly handled or trod on. They are able to sting more than once.

How to save a struggling bee

It's not just us humans who are struggling with the heat this summer. If you come across a struggling bee, it could be suffering from exhaustion, have a parasite or simply been caught out in the rain. Before you intervene, it's best to check that it is in need of help, as you may have just come across a queen bee resting during her dispersal flight. The Bumblebee Conservation Trust provides more information on this.

Eve Betts has rounded up a few things you can do to help perk your new stripy friend up.

Place the bee somewhere warm

If a bee is suffering from an internal parasite, there's nothing you can do. But if you think the bee is simply exhausted, slide a piece of paper beneath it and place it in warm, dry place. Bees can only fly if the temperature of their thorax remains above 30 degrees, so a greenhouse or your house is ideal.

Feed the bee

If there are flowers in the vicinity, you can gently move the bee onto it.

If not, you can create a simple sugar and water solution, with a 50:50 mix of water to white sugar on a spoon or clean milk bottle lid. Don't use brown sugar as this is more difficult for bees to digest. Leave the solution by the bee's head, and it may start feeding.

Never feed a bee honey, though, even if it's organic - bees can catch pathogens from other bees' honey.

Wait!

Many bees will recover in anything from a few minutes to an hour after feeding on a syrup solution. If it's not raining, put the bee somewhere safe outside, such as in a plant pot where it can stretch its wings and fly away when it's ready. Hopefully, it will back and buzzing about in no time!

How to attract bees to your garden

Stop using - or limit use of pesticides

Studies have found that pesticides can be harmful to insects and other wildlife, so where possible switch to more wildlife-friendly methods, such as using mulch around plants or simply regular weeding.

Plant for bees

Bees and other pollinators love plants such as dahlias, buddleia, lavender, clematis, foxglove, hosta and wildflowers. See our tips below for more detail on the types of plants bees do and don't love. If you have space, a patch of wildflowers or an overgrown lawn with dandelions and daisies is a big help to bees.

Provide access to water

Bees need water to drink and to use in their hives. While they will often drink the droplets off a lawn or a flower, you can help by giving them access to a water source. Deep water will drown the bee so simply spray water over plants in dry seasons, allowing the odd pool of water to gather to give them a chance of a drink.

Provide shelter

Bees - and many other insects, love a shady, sheltered spot. Allow, a spot in your garden to be a bit wilder with a couple of stacked logs or you could even treat the bees to a bespoke bee house.

Which plants are best for bees?

The more diverse flowers and plants you have in your garden, the more pollinators you will attract, however not all plants are good for bees. Discover ten to plant and ten to avoid below, and discover even more advice for attracting pollinators to your garden in this guide by wildlife gardening expert Dave Goulson.

Clematis have beautiful, wide flowers and are 100% bee-friendly.

Foxgloves are a bee favourite and despite being poisonous if consumed by humans, they are both honey and bee safe.

Try honeysuckle for deliciously scented results.

Snapdragons are equally as bright and arguably more attractive in small or large gardens.

Plant black-eyed Susans in tubs and along fences for a pretty, easy-to-grow substitute.

Lilacs are both beautiful and wonderfully sweet smelling. Easy to grow and are loved by bees and butterflies.

Hollyhocks are impressive and just as beautiful as the stargazer but bee-friendly.

Although not quite as exotic as their toxic counterparts, hyacinths are fragrant, gorgeous and easy to grow.

Dahlias are a highlight of late summer gardens. Beautiful and simple to grow, dahlias often flower until the first frosts of the year.

Why not try planting a classic rosemary bush - aromatic, resilient and favoured by bees.

Rhododendron Azalea Bog rosemary Amaryllis Heliconia Stargazer lily Mountain Laurel Yellow Jessamine Oleander Trumpet flower, or angel's trumpet

How to build a bee house

Bee houses are fun and easy to make. Your bee house will be ideal for aerial-nesting solitary bees (rather than mining bees or snail-shell nesting bees). These solitary insects do not belong to hives like honey bees, but make their own individual nests for their larvae. A variety of species can use bee houses, including red mason bee, patchwork leafcutter bee, and Willughby's Leafcutter.

If you're thinking of buying a bee hotel, or want to remove the cocoons over winter, wildlife gardener and award-winning author Kate Bradbury provides advice in this guide to bee hotels.

What are the small red things on a bumblebee?

If you're able to get a close-up view of a bumblebee, you may spot very small red invertebrates on it. These are mites, which are a type of arachnid (and thus related to spiders, harvestmen, and scorpions). Although they may look a parasitic, the majority of mites on bumblebees are actually quite harmless. They feed on wax, debris in the nest, and other small insects, and use the bees as transport between nests and flowers.

If an individual bee is so overwhelmed with mites that it cannot fly, you can gently brush the mites off with a very soft and small paintbrush (such as a child's paintbrush).

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British bee identification guide: best plants to attract bees to your garden

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Whilst many of us may be familiar with the honeybee and one or two bumblebee species, there are actually over 200 hundred species of bee found in the UK and the wider British Isles (and roughly 20,000 species in total around the world).

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Your garden is likely to attract around 20 species of bee. Learn more about some of the most common types, and how to protect them.

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Cyanotype prints in sun

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Wildlife gardens are one of the most important biodiversity resources out country has. But the prevalence of concrete 'improvements' and garden centre sterile ornamental flowers, and cutting down of trees seriously depletes this resource, rendering our towns sterile deserts.

I have been interested in wildlife gardening for as long as I have had my own garden - watching insects, birds, animals and plants (weeds are as interesting as flowers) create an eco-system. All my work builds on this observation. Among the things I have seen in our suburban garden are the following:
Mammals:
Squirrel families - including a black squirrel
Hedgehogs - but they did not come last year
Cats
Rats
Mice
Amphibians and Reptiles: Grass Snake, Frogs, Toads
Birds: Blackbirds, Sparrows, Dunnocks, Thrushes, Robins, Wrens, Pigeons - wood pigeons, collared doves, BlackCaps
Tits of all types, Sparrowhawks - to eat the pigeons, Tree Creeper up the willow tree, Firecrest, Jays, Magpies
Insects: Ladybirds, beetles, flies,mosquitoes, dragonflies, damsel flies, bees of many types, wasps
Butterflies: orange tips, Fritilaries, Comma, Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Holly Blue
Moths: Elephant Hawk Moth

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Stream of consciousness, learning about ‘self’

Everything is alive

Nature is cruel? Collaboration and competition?

Ironies of management: deciding moments

What is beauty?

Light and shade vs soundscapes

Underlying Angst, decay and death

Political: gardens cover a huge area. Mostly deserts because of commercially-driven ideas of ‘beauty’

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Islamic model of paradise

English lawns

Garden Centres

Wildlife Gardening