Should steampunk look old?

[Waterbug]

I saw Sherlock Holmes today and thought of this thread. Unfortunately the distraction occurred during the movie. Please don't read the following spoiler if you haven't seen the movie and plan to.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

At one point there is a scene on the Tower Bridge as it is under construction which I thought clever. Really puts one into the time. But I snapped out at seeing the entire bridge made to look 100 years old and unmaintained that entire time. The iron and even the wood boards. Aesthetically I thought it all very gorgeous, but as a maker I thought it a strange choice. I assume a lot of thought went into the matter so I doubt it was an oversight. Perhaps they thought movie goers require an aged London to be believable. I think at least here in the US most only know of London in that context. I do think it would have been a bolder move to show the bridge under construction and not aged as it would have been doubly clever.

I wonder if some artists feel that items need to be aged for patrons?

A fine movie enjoyed by all in the party.

[Mr. Hatchett]

I wonder if some artists feel that items need to be aged for patrons?

Yes, and sometimes they're right.  Go to tvtropes and look up, "reality isn't real enough."  That probably wasn't the case in Holmes - they probably just wanted to maintain consistent visual storytelling - but sometimes you have to play to your audience's percept, accurate or not.

[TimeTinker]

It is a constant source of difficulty for me in my work on TV sets when directors look at props I have produced and they tell me "it doesn't look old enough". We spend an inordinate amount of time "patinating" props and "breaking down" costumes.  I have no problem at all when this is to make something looked well used but do struggle when it is to make something look old.

This has led to a certain crossover in my steampunk projects though.  I suppose I have unconsciously developed a personal rule of thumb... If something is a "prop" or accessory made to look decorative etc I normally patinate/age it.  If it is a fully functioning object I intend to be used  then I tend to make it look brand new.   That is only personal however and I respect anyone's decision to produce things aged or new as they wish.

As for homemade or perfect - there is a certain charm to Heath Robinson style bodging together as well as perfection. 

Anything goes, this is steampunk after all.

[Waterbug]

Thanks much for the TV Tropes link. Very interesting to me.

As I browsed though I kept thinking, yeah, but maybe if they did away with the trope people would get it and like it better. Then I ran into this from the site under Space Is Noisy:

Another more 'technical' explanation has more to do with the rules of television production: a silent space battle is supposedly incredibly boring, and unlikely to attract viewers that have just tuned in. Of course, those who have tried generally found the above untrue, but trying requires a certain amount of creativity many creators lack.

And that has always kind of been at the back of my mind. I've always found aging an item will cover a multitude of sins so I'm sometimes tempted to reach for aging when it isn't called for by my tastes.

An aged item will generally look more real when photographed than non-aged given the same production cost. The opposite being true when in hand. So there is that consideration too.

[Major Twangy Rubber]

Thanks for the reassurance. I think that my slight disappointment about my metalwork skills might have been colouring my judgement!

I'll worry about patina later on, I've got to get the blasted thing stuck together first!