Hollywood Star Chart by Dorothy
The British design studio reimagines constellations as cherished classic and modern American films
British design and ideas studio Dorothy has just unveiled two Hollywood Star Chart prints, each of which re-imagine, and re-name, the constellations after some of the most culturally significant films to have emerged from American cinema since 1927.
The Golden Age Star Chart is, Dorothy tells us, “based on the night sky over Los Angeles on 6 October 1927, the release date of Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer. This film was the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue and its release heralded a new age of filmmaking and a decline in popularity of the silent film. There are 62 films on the Golden Age star chart, including The Jazz Singer, King Kong, The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and Rebel without a Cause.”
The second print reveals Dorothy’s Modern Day star chart and is based on an image of the night sky over New York on 16 June 1960, the date of the first screening of Hitchcock’s Psycho at the DeMille Theatre in New York. “This film, with its new approaches to storytelling, characterisation and the depiction of violence is seen as a key movie in the start of the post-classical era of Hollywood,” Dorothy’s Ali Johnson tells us. There are 108 films featured on the Modern Day chart including Psycho, Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde, The Exorcist, The Godfather, Chinatown, Star Wars, Pulp Fiction and Avatar.
“Films selected for commemoration in the prints include those that have been chosen by the United States National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the US National Film Registry, due to their cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance; films that have won Academy Awards; and a few films that are our personal favourites,” says Johnson of their selection criteria. “A key at the base of each print lists the actors featured on the chart, the date of their Oscar win or nomination and even the position of their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
Both star charts are available from today, Tuesday 4 June, in two distinct 60x80cm limited and open editions. Printed on 120gsm Keaykolour stock, the signed and stamped limited edition star chart prints utilize gold and silver inks, and are priced at £100 each. The open edition prints (printed on Munken stock) are priced at £25 each. Buy online from the Dorothy store.
Images courtesy of Dorothy
