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CLUES! (And our social media secrets)
🕑 Added 2020-06-30 16:01:02 +0000 UTCHi Pals! Jillian (aka Susan), the social media manager here! With social media being used to communicate anti-racist resources, donation pools, and protest coverage these days, we've reduce our posting frequency. That being said, we still have clue posts to support your visual journey of Lakeshore. This post contains spoilers for up to Episode 11: She Belongs To The Devil (end of Casino Heist) of Lakeshore.
Every episode cycle we typically release 5 media items: A postcard with an important location; A clue in selective black and white with the important imagery in colour; A portrait of a cast member or character; A collage of superimposed thematic imagery; and A trailer.
Postcards
Some fun facts about our posts! All postcards feature real photos of old Toronto!
I search through www.oldto.sidewalklabs.com for neighbourhoods I think would have the kind of building or place I'm looking for. One benefit of being a tour guide IRL is that I know the city pretty well! I try not to use well known buildings unless we're really doing an homage (see Goodman's Distillery as fantasy Gooderham & Worts).
Clue posts
Clue posts are my favourite to make! I took a couple of these myself (naturalist meeting notes, sunshine vial, ARQ notes). I made the Lakeshore Exhibition poster and Drake Casino logo on good old Photoshop. Expo poster is silhouette clip art (my fave minimalist look) and I hand drew the fountain on the casino logo which took about two hours but it turned out awesome. Otherwise I do image compositions like the postcard rack and Hotch's conspiracy drug board.
Here's my favourite before and after:
Never underestimate what you can do with stock photos!
Collages
Most of these are stock images too but I throw in an archival photo when I can (boat, birch trees in High Park, distillery equipment). I thought collages would be a fun way to show overlapping themes or conflicts in the narrative that are separate from the places and people we visit.
BONUS CONTENT
All that said, I hope you enjoy the clues and collages I made for episodes 10 and 11- our Casino Heist episodes.
Episode 10
Clue: The poisoned whiskey
Collage: Rex's disembodied hand over the casino floor. The creepy crawly hands are such a powerful image!
Episode 11
Clue: Nox's father, locked up in the basement of the Drake. A reminder of past powers as we come up against new ones.
Collage: Games and Getaways. So much happened in episode 11! Seducing and threatening Ben; meeting Hazel; trying to break into a safe; summoning demons (there's no stock images on unsplash. I looked); shooting Rex; making a furious escape. I went for playing cards and the taxi which kind of bookend the episode and evoke both the location and time period. That's a real 1920s car outside the Royal York Hotel (which I used as a stand in for the Drake Casino. See postcard above).
I leave you with this fun Toronto fact: When the Royal York Hotel was built, it was the tallest building in the city AND the Commonwealth! In today's skyline, it's surrounded by much taller office towers and it's tallest neighbour the CN tower (Lennox Spire anyone?).
Thanks for reading!
- Jillian
