Week 8

As I have no studio space booked for myself until the Easter break begins, this week I assisted Amy on a shoot she had going on using the space in Re:So in the Marlands shopping centre. She needed the extra help as she had 3 models, each of which had a lot of hair which would have to be curled and styled. My roles on the day included, helping to collect the lighting equipment, set up the space, curl the  model's hair and apply the foundation bases, leaving Amy to finish off each look. I stuck around for the whole day to be there incase I was needed for any touch ups, to try and keep the models comfortable when they were not shooting, as it was snowing all day and the large space in Re:So was freezing, and to help pack away at the end of the day. I really enjoyed seeing how somebody else's shoot was run and I was glad to help. It was fun to be there just to help with the hair and makeup with no pressure on myself as it was not my shoot. There are some brilliant images from the day and Amy felt that this was her best shoot so far, despite the freezing cold conditions.

Facial Hair

After testing my look for the character of Mr A.H I felt that I needed some extra help and practice with laying on the moustache, which was also going to be necessary for the character of Prospero as well as him having a beard too. So to solve this issue I went into Sue's morning session this Friday to get her help with laying on facial hair. After taking her advice and practicing on myself I successfully laid on a realistic beard and moustache and now feel confident to go into my next shoots and perform the same techniques on my models.

Testing

After some obvious flaws in my first shoot and my tutor expressing the need for test shoots to be done, otherwise it becomes difficult to progress further with my project, I felt in necessary to practice the looks for my remaining characters. Testing being particularly essential for the character of Mr A.H (my next planned shoot) and Prospero The Enchanter as I will need to be laying on a beard and moustaches on my models.

Testing of makeup look 1 for the character of Celia: Pale base with slight contouring to enhance cheekbones and jaw line to look sharp on camera. Natural colour on eyes, with a small amount of mascara just to make sure the eyes are picked up on camera. Light application of a pale pink blush to add a slight rosiness to the cheeks. Natural looking all over lip pencil so as not to add any gloss or shine to the lips with lipstick or gloss. This is a simple look but I will need to ensure that on the day of the shoot all of my blending is flawless to give the impression of not having makeup on at all.

Testing for the character of Mr A.H: Pale base. Heavy contouring to create a ghostly look. Theatrical aging with lines and darkening around the eyes. Laying on a moustache with crepe hair. I feel that I need to seek help from Sue or Lottie to perfect the facial hair, something I have not had a lot of practice with.

Testing of makeup look 3 for character of Celia: 'Stage makeup' - To purposely look very made up. Heavily applied pale base. Heavily powdered. Bright rosy cheeks. Striking red lip. Enhancement of eyebrows. Black eyeliner and heavy mascara with highlighting of brow bone to make eyes stand out. A modern, dramatic twist on the first makeup.

Marco Shoot

I have now booked plenty of studio space over the Easter holidays which is a huge relief.

Yesterday was my first shoot for the character of Marco, modelled by James Trinder. Here are a selection of the images from the shoot...

 

My model was very handsome, photogenic and suited the character well. He has very striking eyes and strong facial features. I am very happy with the images I have from this shoot, with plenty I can use in my book. Although I do feel it is apparent that it was a last minute shoot and I could have been more prepared. This shoot has taught me that I need to be more confident at directing and making sure I know exactly what kind of images I want to get out of each of my remaining shoots, by way of poses and composition. Also, I need to pay more attention to the fine details such as, making sure the makeup is blended well and the clothing is looking sharp and in the right positions. This was my photographer's first studio shoot in some time and so some of the lighting could have been better. For example, the trousers getting a bit lost in the background in some of the full length shots. I understand this is also because of the use of black clothing against a black background, but I want all of my shoots to be shot against the black backdrop because it best suits the story. This can be fixed on photoshop during post production, but we will make sure to get the lighting set up better in my future shoots. Considering how unprepared and unconfident I felt going into this shoot I am pleased with many of the images, particularly the second image I have posted here, after some editing I feel they will be strong enough to represent this character in the final outcome.

MARCO

Grey-green eyes

His dark hair badly cut

His clothes are ragged but well kept, though his pants are too short and may have once been blue or brown or green but have faded too much to be certain

The boy grows up in a town house in London

The boy spends most of his time reading

His bright green eyes dazzling in the winter sun

Marco, a handsome young man with striking green eyes who quickly attracts the attention of both Burgess sisters

Marco watches her approach, confused at first but then the confusion is replaced by something else entirely

He could tell from across the room that she was lonely, but when she is near enough to look him in the eyes the loneliness – the shape of her face, the contrast of her hair against her skin – evolves into something more

None of them notice that his hands are shaking or that he is clutching the pen in his hand so tightly that his knuckles are white. Nor do they notice when it snaps in two within his fist, black ink seeping down his wrist

His bowler hat

Well cut but nondescript black suits. Crisp white shirts. A row of custom-fitted bowler hat

He sees no one, not even when his meals are delivered to his rooms, appearing by the door on covered trays and disappearing in the same manner.

The boy spends most of his time reading

Week 7

After my bad luck in regards to studio bookings, one of the other girls is having to give up her studio time this Thursday as her photographer cannot make it. So, I jumped at the opportunity to make use of the booking, got straight onto contacting my photographer and one of my models in the hope that they are both going to be available and luckily they are, so on Thursday I will be shooting the character of Marco with model James. I have already planned my makeup for each character shown on the face charts in my Week 6 post. Now with only a very short amount of time until my first shoot, I need to create moodboards to draw inspiration from and be able to show to my photographer and model on the day of the shoot to help them understand the character. I also need to read through my quotes and extracts on this character to gain a deeper understanding of the character so as to have an idea of what I want from my model by way of emotion and poses.

Wig Workshop

This is the second and final part of a two week wig workshop I have been taking with Sue in the makeup studio. In week 1 of this workshop I learnt how to prepare the wig block, put a wig onto the block securely and, using a photograph of a 1950's hairstyle, inserted rollers and pin-curls and set the wig using setting spray and conditioning solution. It then went into the wig oven to bake and be ready to style this week.

This week we took out all the pins and rollers and, using the guidance photographs from last week, created our chosen hairstyles. We then prepared each others hair by wrapping and pin-curling and covering with a stocking, ready to put the wigs on to each other and finish dressing them. I enjoyed and learnt a lot from this workshop and feel confident that I could now go out into industry and, as an assistant, be able to block and prepare a wig.

While at the wig workshop the sheets for the next weeks photography studio space went up on the board in the office downstairs and by the time I finished my workshop at 1pm all available space for the following week was already taken leaving me to feel quite anxious about getting studio time in order to progress further with my project. The only solution I can see is to make sure I am in the office first thing next friday morning when the new sign up sheets are put up to make sure I get space for over easter booked.