Tutorial with Sebastiane (Film Imagery)

I showed Sebastiane my makeup, hair, styling, location and lighting ideas for the opening and second scene of my film to discuss whether my ideas would work collectively to portray my film's concept. I learnt from filming my dance scene the importance of time management and leaving enough time to make any changes suggested. We quickly discussed how happy I was with the filming of the dance scene and he said that something I needed to work on was creating an image that didn't need explanation, but that spoke to the audience on its own. This made sense as in my previous tutorials I felt I had to explain every detail so that it made sense, but I should be able to create something that makes sense without explanation.

First Scene Feedback

Makeup, Styling and Hair Designs

Sebastiane said the mesh styling did not make him think of bandages or tied rope, but instead ballet tutus which was alarming as this was supposed to represent her incarcerated state. After discussing the dance scene and how we agreed the more simplistic styling put more emphasis on the emotion of the scene, I suggested I made the styling more everyday and simple, for example a grey t-shirt or pajamas. However Sebastiane warned me that with the mouthpiece the styling may start to look like S&M, which is definitely something I want to avoid, especially as my target market are young adults because they will find this distracting and possibly comical. However Sebastiane did agreed that more wearable styling would be more relatable and make it look less staged. Sebastiane also suggested I tried the styling with and without the mouthpiece incase it looked too sexualised. I was concerned the hair design would look out of place with the more simplistic styling; however Sebastiane said he thought the contrast would work. I think the avant-garde hair, reflecting painful barbed wire, combined with the wearable, basic styling will bring the image into a fashion film context and creating an intriguing counterbalance.

Test Shoot Images

Sebastiane felt this scene, with the styling and location, was too overloaded and fussy. He said the broken bed had connotations of sexuality and hostage which don't reflect the film's concept, as I wanted the bed to reflect her asylum bed that she has subconciously admitted herself to. I now understand that I tried to incorporate too many dominant aspects to the scene, when more subtle props and styling will conjure up more genuine emotion. Sebastiane suggested either using an everyday looking bed or a chair to make it look more relatable. He said the shots looking at the model through the bed's bars were slightly cliche and obvious, whereas using more simple shots would give the impression of isolation. Sebastiane also suggested I incorporated some everyday items in the scene to make it look more relatable, but also because they will look slightly out of place in the black space. I don't want it to look like a genuine bedroom, but having those couple of belongings surrounding her will add an eery feeling of a home away from home, suggesting she has been placed somewhere and only been given a couple of her own possessions. I will experiment with the use of either a more normal looking bed or chair and the objects that will be around her. He said the lighting worked; however when I explained that I had chosen it to represent the cage she is trapped in, he said the reasoning was too obvious so he encouraged me to think less literally. He said the shadowed lighting spoke for itself in representing an uninviting space so I will continue to use this lighting effect.

Puberty by Edvard Munch
(Munch, 2011)

Sebastiane said the contorted positioning of the model did not make her look isolated, but instead had sexual connotations. I wanted the model to look uncomfortable and angular to reflect her feeling inhuman and like a distressed caged animal; however I think it looks too staged and unnatural. I also think the fact that she is laying down on the bed suggests she feels more comfortable than if she was awkwardly perched on the end. Sebastiane showed me the painting above of Puberty by Edvard Munch where a naked young girl is sat timidly and uncomfortably on the bed. If this girl was lying on the bed it would have communicated a different story; however her closed, stiff body language reflects how uncomfortable and unwelcome she feels. I want my scene to reflect the same loneliness so I will position my model similarly, either on a chair or at one end of the bed.

Second Scene Feedback

Sebastiane thought the makeup and hair would work in portraying how she feels trapped by society and he liked the restricting styling; he said he did not like the skirt but that will be covered anyway as the model is sat down. Sharon said she thought I should do a more simplistic hair design and then edit in clips of the more dramatic hair design as she felt the hair would be too dominant and distract from the emotion. I will experiment with doing a more simplistic hairstyle on my model.

Sebastiane thought the location and props worked well in creating a relatable setting, as it could mirror an office or school desk; he particularly liked the clean stack of paper on the table. I made a haunting black silhouette for the societal figure; however Sebastiane was concerned that it wasn't obvious enough that it was a human figure. I explained that I thought it made the figure look intimidating and how it masked the human's identity as people in society are turning into clones and he understood that but he was still concerned that it didn't look like a human figure. Sebastiane previously suggested using more simplistic styling that reflected a doctor or another authoritative uniform; however I was concerned this would specify the member of society that was being discriminative which I did not want to do as the figure was supposed to represent society as a whole. I told Sebastiane my concern; however he didn't think it was an issue and thought it was more intimidating if the viewer could see the societal figure's expression. I will experiment with making the black styling look more like a human silhouette and look for authoritative styling for the human figure so I can decide which will be most appropriate. 

I found this meeting extremely helpful and look forward to making the improvements. I am glad that I have time to make the changes with thought and consideration as opposed to feeling more rushed when making changes to the dance scene. 

References:

MUNCH, E., 2011. Puberty, 1894 by Edvard Munch [viewed 28th March 2017]. Available from: http://www.edvardmunch.org/puberty.jsp