Steampunk

So after getting the brief and understanding what was asked from it, I decided to crack on and research these range of visual styles. I started with Steampunk and began researching a bit of what Steampunk actually means and the background and historical context that is portrayed within it.

"Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction, usually set in an anachronistic Victorian or quasi-Victorian alternate history setting. It could be described by the slogan "What the past would look like if the future had happened sooner." It includes fiction with science fiction, fantasy or horror themes."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=steampunk

"In three short words, steampunk is Victorian science fiction. Here “Victorian” is not meant to indicate a specific culture, but rather references a time period and an aesthetic: the industrialized 19th century."

http://www.gdfalksen.com/Steampunk

"An imaginary Victorian age, that features brass and copper clockwork and steampowered inventions that go far beyond 1800′s technology. Steam powered mechanical wonders, optimistic gear driven computers, dirigibles, clockwork firsts, and stuff like that."

http://www.monstercommute.com/other-steampunk-term/


After looking at a few websites and a few definitions referenced, quoted and linked above I now understand that 'Steampunk'. 

Putting it into my owns words i would describe it to be the following:

Steampunk consists of being related to a sub genre of science-fiction, fantasy or even horror. Steampunk usually contains elements machinery and technology which are ahead of its time, being compared to 19th century technology and time period being set in a Victorian sort of era.

At the time period of the 19th century the world was becoming more industrialised with technology changing, and improving with all different types of steam related technology like trains, steam engines etc, in which helped to bring a huge improvement on people's way of living and revolutionised the world and the way of life back then. This resulted inspiring this Steampunk sub genre in a lot of science fiction books and even films that portray this type of genre, along with creating its own visual style.

There are a lot of specific objects and items people would think of to refer to the Steampunk style and that from cogs, gears, goggles, steam trains, to coal mines etc. At the time people would have jobs (mainly men) who would work with different types of steam related machinery like trains and coal miners and would often wear goggles and work with gears so these types of aspects helped to add to this 'Steampunk' style at the time and is often portrayed in a lot of films that was set around this era.

People's main appeal to this style can be a variety of different reasons, from the fashion sense back then, or people who like that time period of the Victorian era who then get sucked up into the technology of that time period where all this steam technology was first introduced. Another reasoning could be the concept of the technology, people liking people's perceptions to the advanced technology of  the inventions at the time. The people who may be put of it might be due to the pollution some of the technology caused to the planet thinking this time period gave a gloomy, depressing atmosphere to this era of life.