Final Look 2 Hair Practice

This is definitely the hair style that stretches my ability the most because I want all the plaits and strips of hair to be as neat and slick as possible. I am most nervous to do this hairstyle than any other hairstyle on my model because it is very time consuming and even after practising it many times, I still struggle to make it perfect.

This was my final practice so I completed the look with hair extensions, like I am going to have to do on my model, as her hair is not long enough to complete it otherwise. I used a big needle and threaded the hair extensions through the plaits, trying to keep them all the same width. The most challenging part was securing the ends of the hair extensions in the plaits because they had a tendency to ping out. I found that applying lots of gel to the ends and making multiple small loops with the hair worked best at keeping the hair in place; creating small loops will also make the extensions less visible in my model's blonde hair.

The sectioning looks neat, straight and even and the plaits look slick; however I need to remember to make the french plaits as tight as possible to make them look flat. I need to remember to add enough hair oil all over the hair to make the hair style look slick and neat and I need to add gel on each strip of hair individually before adding them into the next plait to avoid fly aways.

Revised Production Schedule

I had to revise my production schedule again due to my next shoots being postponed by two weeks. Even though I had told my team the dates months in advance, the cameraman did not book out the equipment soon enough so he was unable to get the equipment he needed for the correct dates. We had also planned to shoot on a Sunday in my studio at home; however my cameraman thought the footage would a higher quality if filmed in the studios, which were closed on a Sunday. Another cause for my production schedule to change was that we needed to re-shoot a lot of the footage from the previous shoot as it was shot out of focus. To be time efficient, I swapped some tasks around so I started my website earlier than expected, instead of delaying other tasks. 

Further Planning Scene 2 Shoot

I made a clear list of everything I needed to take to this shoot to make sure I did not forget anything. I packed everything the night before because I planned an early call time and wanted to be organised.

List of things to take:

Makeup
- Moisturiser
- Eye cream
- Matte primer
- Concealer
- Loose powder
- Pressed powder
- Illamasqua contour palette
- Eyeshadow primer
- Makeup Geek eyeshadow palette
- Huda Beauty eyeshadow palette
- White supra colour
- Eyebrow brush
- Brushes
- Makeup wipes

Hair
- Hair oil
- Hair gel
- Brush
- Pin tail comb
- Clear elastics
- Hair grips
- Hair spray
- Hair piece (for strips)
- Big needle
- Hair piece plaits

Styling (She)
- Black dress
- Black shorts
- Black strappy top
- Black bra
- Sewing kit

Styling (Society)
- Doctor top and trousers
- Black shoes

Other
- Nail varnish remover/cotton pads
- Storyboards
- Laptop
- External hard drive

Photography
- Camera
- Extra lenses
- Spare battery
- Battery charger
- Clear memory card
- Spare clear memory card

Set
- Table
- Chair
- Pile of paper
- Extra paper to be scrunched on floor
- Plain pencil

After doing my first shoot, I decided I didn't want to have the behind the scenes footage filmed because I don't think it will be interesting to watch. I also felt that the behind the scenes images were more important as they would be the banner of many pages on my website, so I wanted to make sure they were good quality and professional looking. I will create a slideshow of behind the scenes images to replace the proposed video.

The most time consuming preparation for shooting scene 2 was doing all the alterations to the black dress that my Sofia's tailor had made. The most time consuming part was tightening all the loose strips of elastic around her stomach and hips because I had to cut them shorter and then sew each one on individually. Sofia's tailor stuck the strips of elastic on with glue so some of them had pinged off what put on the model and some of the glue was very visible. I therefore had to remove a lot of the glue and sew the loose strips back on. The leather lining around the bottom of the skirt had come loose so I stuck that back on with double sided sticky tape. The tailor used red thread on some areas so I covered that colour with a black pen. There were other small aspects I had to fix; however once I was finished I was pleased with the outcome and couldn't wait to try it on my model to see the finished result.

Image shows me making the dress alterations.

Receiving Shoot 1 Footage from Harrison

I have just looked at the footage from my first shoot and I am really disappointed with the footage. The scenes look way too dark so lots of the detail in the styling and makeup is not visible. All the footage where the models changed their outfits are out of focus and so looks very unprofessional and I would not feel happy submitting it. I am so disappointed because I had specifically hired Harrison to film my work because I was confident he would produce great quality footage; however this is not the case. I paid him £75 to film just this scene, so for the footage to come out this unexposed and blurry is devastating.

I am now feeling extremely panicked because I feel awkward telling him that his footage is not good enough for me to submit and I don't know whether to continue to use him, whether to find someone else or whether to record the footage myself. I feel frustrated because I have seen Harrison's previous work and it looked high quality and correctly exposed, so I am confused why my footage did not turn out as successfully. I am also frustrated because I have postponed my shoots to when Harrison's equipment is free, meaning I am now running out of time and have less time to correct mistakes, like this one!

I am so disappointed by the footage because I know how much hard work I have put into designing all the makeup and hair and choosing the styling. I have collaborated with some talented designers and music technicians so I feel pressure to create an outcome I am proud of. If I am honest, I did not think the filming of my project would be an issue because Harrison had also injected so much confidence in me, telling me I did not need to worry about the film side.

I am feeling panicked because Louise lives in London and visited me especially to do this shoot so she may not be able to come if I decide to re-shoot it, which I think I am going to have to. If I ask him to re-shoot the footage I am concerned the same thing will happen again where some footage is out of focus and I feel like I will constantly be looking at what he is filming to check if it is what I want. If I decide to film it then I will have more control over what is being filmed; however I am concerned the quality of the footage will not be as high. In my test shoots some of the footage didn't look as sharp as I'd like so I might use my own camera but look into different lenses that will give me a sharper image.

After considering all my options I spoke to Harrison and decided to continue to use him as my cameraman because he said that the small sections that were out of focus were a mistake and he would make sure it didn't happen again. We also looked at the lighting and agreed some sections were too dark, so Harrison said he would bring bigger lights to the next shoot to provide more lighting options for us to experiment with.

I considered adding another day of filming; however I decided to do the re-shoot on the afternoon after filming the first scene of my film because that scene is very short and the lighting set up is the same throughout so it won't take very long to film. I had planned to shoot my opening scene on Monday; however my dancer, Louise, was not free on that day to re-shoot her scenes. I therefore changed the scenes around so I could shoot the opening and final scene on Thursday. My main model, Harrison and my assisting team said they would be available to do this day and thankfully Louise said she was back from London for Easter and so would be available to shoot on that day! I was extremely grateful that my whole team were so supportive and understanding that I had to re-shoot.

List of Images for Photographer

I made a list of images that I wanted the photographer to take for each shoot to make sure I had enough images for my website. I made a list of what images I wanted to go on each page on my website and they are listed below.

Behind The Scenes Imagery

- Becky doing Natalie’s makeup
- Becky doing Natalie’s hair
- Becky doing Robert’s makeup
- Headshot of both models separately (show makeup and hair)
- Full length of both models separately (show styling)
- Shot of behind the scenes, including Harrison filming, Becky adjusting styling and Linda watching
- Shot looking through Becky and Harrison at Natalie
- Show all team wearing wristbands
- Everyone look at camera and smile

Final Image

- Images of the scene to promote film (no behind the scenes)

I said to my photographer that the images above were vital to capture and then I would like her to take any extras she felt necessary, just incase I wanted to replace any of my image suggestions. I felt this would be the most organised way of doing it, so that I wasn't left with images I wasn't happy with. I will also make sure I check the images at points during the day to ensure I am happy with the quality and shots. 

Practising Scene 2 Makeup

The hair design for this look is the focal point so I had practised it many times; however I felt I needed to practise the makeup to achieve my desired effect. I made sure I powdered the skin generously to ensure the hair design over the face did not get attached to any sticky makeup. I kept the skin very simple by perfecting her skin with foundation and concealer, powdering the whole face and then adding a subtle, cool toned contour to make her face look more defined and slightly sunken in. I applied concealer to the moisturised lips for a slightly blanked out effect to add to her drained and tired look. I combined many warm toned shades to her eyes, including pinks, purples and oranges, to build up depth in her inner socket. I used colours that reflected bruising and tired under eyes to emphasise her feeling of being controlled and emotional bruised. I felt the colours blended seamlessly together to create a shadowed effect. My model has extremely fair eye brows which I will lose some dimension to the face and make her look more inhuman, like an alien, reflecting her feelings of not feeling accepted in humanity. I added a subtle white line around her lash line to emphasise that my model will not be wearing mascara on her fair eyelashes, to emphasise the alien-like effect. I am very pleased with this outcome and am excited to combine it with the hair and styling!

Scene 1 Development and Concerns

Setting

Sebastiane suggested using a more normal looking bed as he felt the bent bed was too loaded, so I asked my dad to straighten the broken bed by fitting some stands in the middle. Sebastiane said I should make the bed look more everyday as opposed to a dramatic setting so I will add some white sheets over the top that are hanging off the bed slightly to make it look more worn in; I will positions these to hide the fixed joining in the middle of the bed. I didn't discuss what colour the bed should be, but I got the impression he wanted a wooden, slightly old fashioned bed that looked very homely; however I wanted to keep the bed and sheets all white to give a clean, clinical look to reflect that She has admitted herself to a mental asylum in her subconscious as she no longer feels part of society; this all white look also mirrors the second scene.

(O'Brien, 2011).

Above is a theatre set by Mark Obrien made completely out of cardboard. The rooms looks cold, bland and lifeless which inspired me to wrap She's bed in brown parcel paper to create the same effect. I want She to look extremely out of place, to reflect her emotions towards herself not fitting in to society. I will still keep the background and floor black to continue that theme throughout the film; however the set above inspired me to add other objects in the setting that reflect random objects you would have in your bedroom, for example, a book, lampshade, slippers or a teddy. The bed and surrounding objects will look unwelcoming and inhospitable, making She look extremely uncomfortable in her surroundings. I will experiment with wrapping different objects up in brown parcel paper to see which look the most effective and I will choose a couple to include. I still want the bedroom to look minimalist, so I won't add too many props to make it look crowded as I think that will send a different message of her feeling claustrophobic when it is supposed to reflect her social ostracism and depression.

Styling and Makeup

(BOOHOO, 2017a).

(BOOHOO, 2017b).

(BOOHOO, 2017a)

As discussed with Sebastiane, I think She should wear something appropriate for everyday wear to contrast against the abstract background and makeup/hair. I initially wanted her to wear something more avant-garde; however I think if the styling is dominant as well as the makeup and background, then it will look too confusing and busy and the emotion will be lost in the overpowering visuals. I chose to order the baggy t-shirt dresses above because they look very relaxed, they are neutral colours and they are plain, which I think make them very relatable to the young audience as loungewear or pajamas.

Face Chart

I am concerned the makeup and hair, together with the new dominant background may look too overpowering and confusing all together. The black mouthpiece is a bold statement and I am concerned it may reference S&M which is definitely not relevant in my film. However I do like the reference to victorian mental asylum head braces and operations, so I may use a lighter colour to make it less sexualised and more like a human body extension, distorting the mouth. I may try to match the colour of her top with the mouth piece to keep the colour palette small for a minimalist look. I may also consider painting the spikes in the hair design the same colour; however I will discuss this with Sebastiane in my next tutorial and experiment to see if this works. 

I am concerned I still haven't practised this makeup look. According to my production schedule I should have already practised the look and done it in a shoot; however because all the equipment was booked out and the studio wasn't available on the Sunday I had planned to shoot on, we had to postpone the shoot to 10th April. I will ensure I practise this makeup look, with the mouthpiece, this week to make sure the application and outcome work.

Filming and Editing

When I directed this scene for my last test shoot I was mostly inspired by the filming of Screw by Nick Knight, with the ambiguous closeups of the styling and pans up and down the body. The opening was very focus on the fashion element as it was so avant-garde, with textured mesh and depth in the layering; however after changing the styling to be more wearable I don't think these closeups will work as effectively because the material will be so recognisable and uninteresting. My model will also be sat on one side of the bed, with closed body language, instead of laying down in a contorted state, so panning her body will not be as ambiguous as it will be more obvious it's a human. 

Screenshots of Insanitarium (2008) made into collage.

The image above shows a collage of different screenshots of the film Insanitarium by Jeff Buhler. There is a scene where Jack has been locked in his cell and the editing used shows that time is passing. The same shot of the cell is used throughout but Jack is shown in a number of positions, cutting out the transitions of him moving, and therefore speeding up time. It almost looks like still images have been put together, adding a different media to the film and slowing its tempo, to show him moving from position to position in despair. I want to incorporate this editing technique in my film to emphasise the amount of time She has felt trapped by society's rules, in a depressive state. I want She to be shown in a multiple of positions portraying her deteriorating emotions into depression. I will experiment with this to make my storyboard ready to show Harrison. 

I want to include a combination of mostly slow motion and slow movement footage in this scene to reflect her depressed state; however I want to entwine some sped up movement, as seen in Screw by Nick Knight, to show glimpses of her panic and anxiety. I also think this will break up the otherwise slow paced scene. 


References:
O'BRIEN, M., 2011. Cardboard Set - Bedroom [viewed 3rd April]. Available from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62492512@N00/6520388145/

BOOHOO, 2017a. Katie Brushed Knit T-Shirt Dress [viewed 3rd April 2017]. Available from: http://www.boohoo.com/day-dresses/katie-brushed-knit-t-shirt-dress/invt/dzz59866

BOOHOO, 2017b. Ultimate T-Shirt Dress with Rolled Sleeves [viewed 3rd April 2017]. Available from: http://www.asos.com/asos/asos-ultimate-t-shirt-dress-with-rolled-sleeves/prd/7712749?iid=7712749&clr=Nude&SearchQuery=tshirt%20dress&pgesize=
36&pge=2&totalstyles=736&gridsize=3&gridrow=4&gridcolumn=1

Insanitarium, 2008[film]. Directed by Jeff BUHLER. USA: Stage Six Films