make-up and hair

When researching for make-up and hair artists, i began posting advertisements hoping to receive some replies....

 

I emailed several people, but thought this artist covered all the requirements we were looking for, ranging from hair, make-up, body paint, etc..... The photos below show some of her creations from her portfolio.

I`m just waiting on a reply ....?

 

 

costume sketching

When thinking of clothing, I like the idea of using the hook (prop) as a key reference point and using a bow perhaps in the hair or around the neck, as this would convey a similar appearance as the traditional rhyme.

We want the costume to be modern yet traditional, emphasizing the importance of high key fashion. I thought of maybe considering a layering dress design, as this would highlight the importance of movement and sophistication.

This sketch was drawn by Laura. The style replicates a hourglass shape (short and bodice style fitting) The idea of suggesting vulnerability and corruption!

These sketches shown in my skecth book, replicate a similar style as the french designer Jean Paul Gaultier.

 

From men in skirts to Madonna's infamous conical bras, i think Jean Paul Gaultier's innovations have always pushed the conventional boundaries of fashion. In 1970, Pierre Cardin hired the 18-year-old, who had no formal training, after he received some promising sketches in the mail from him. Six years later, Gaultier launched his women's wear collection in Paris. His work has been described as "Frencher than French," and indeed there is an extreme enthusiasm and provocation in his clothes that can occasionally verge on caricature, though it is always married to exceptional technique.

Throughout my skethes, i have tried to portray a unique modern twist, hopefully something the group are willing to devlop further.

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The skecthes shown above, are ideas that i think could be devloped for our costume design. The colours i chose could be changed to our choice, but the drawings show, a rough idea of how we as a group would want the style to be seen.

I also researched into material, that i thought could be used when asking fashion promotion to make it?...

characterisation and idea

After group discussion on Friday, we decided we want our model to be young ( early 20's), have defined features (eyes, cheekbones, plump lips). And would like the model to have dramatic contours on her face creating a theatrical look. We would like the characters skin to portray a pasty appearance, yet not convey a washed out appearance. The model must be a strong minded person, shown in her poses and eye contact with the camera perhaps entering the idea of the psychological element. However her features must still convey a softness, portraying a sense of natural beauty, fantasy and theatrical fashion.

 

Through research, we thought the model Kate Moss is a clear reference of what we like to perceive. The character stages a masculine style yet her features and mysterious eyes create a compelling and endearing appearance. She stages each of her characters facial expression, with ease and conviction that then embodies a specific look.

 

When anaylising this photo, i like the idea of the hardness created by the dramatic relationship between light and shade, and how the light refelcts on her face creating a dramatic harsh yet subtle composition. 

Since the task, I have developed further into the casting task and have made several contacts with people who might be interested. I've posted several social messages on network sites such as Facebook, and also looked at modelling sites such as, Elite Models etc… I thought I would research several sites, as I could perhaps get references of what we are hoping  to convey.

 

 

I think when researching through the Elite Models London website , I came across several models that I thought reached our requirements. The model, Alexa Corlett was an ideal candidate, as her jaw structure and facial features were similar to the notes we had in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another model was, Alizee Gaillard. Her facial features, size and appearance was suitable for our characterization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General reference`s on make-up

 

 These three images show the different aspects of the facial area that is defined. As you can see the cheekbones, and lips are the main focal point and as a group we want to define this feature. The makeup around the eyes is subtle, but bold accentuating the eyes. I feel the eyes are very important as this can create the narrative of the scene, if captured at the right time.

 

references of our final nursery rhyme

 

After deciding on the nursery rhyme `Little Bow Peep`, we firstly began brainstorming ideas of what we could embellish.

 

"The earliest record of this rhyme, is in a manuscript of around 1805, which contains only the first verse. There are references to a children's game called "Bo-Peep", from the sixteenth century, including one in Shakespeare's King Lear (Act I Scene iv), but little evidence that the rhyme existed.

 

After researching into folk tales, the `Bow Peep` rhyme was known for the character using  her sheep to cover the tracks of smugglers along the shoreline in East Sussex, but as not much information can be found on this rhyme, we don’t know if this fact is true?  

 

As a group we later decided to begin researching different representations of the nursery rhyme specialising in this specific era, and identify if there are any variables that were the same and how the context of them had influenced their portrayal.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GV9VIFBTW8&feature=related

 

 

The Paris-based photographic team Sofia Sanchez and Mauro Mongiello, show their work, titled La Niña Santa (The Holy Child). The narrative behind the images are video installations,  and illustrate colour saturated fashion spreads for the likes of Vogue Japan.

 

When viewing the images, researched by Christie, i noticed a new direction is taken from the traditional rhyme `Bow Peep`. The idea of duplicating it, is shown through a character of inexperienced beauties on the brink of dishonesty. I like this idea of changing the narrative into something darker. Yet the models are pictured as innocent similar to the traditional character.

 

 

Changing idea : Nursery rhyme re-think.......

After our group discussion we have finally came to the decision that focusing on 'The Old Wise Owl' nursery rhyme as our visual reference would have been too challenging to convey its meaning and value, due to the fact of not being a well known nursery rhyme.
However, we all have decided that nursery rhymes are still our main focus point, focusing on the dark and psychological meaning and context of them before Disney and the 'clean teen act' came along. We want to highlight the fact of nursery rhymes meanings becoming lost. We like the idea of twisting the social connections of these rhymes; touching on issues that are present outside the context of the pieces and in society itself. From looking back at our work, we defiantly want to progress with twisting society's expectations of certain people and their value; This was Christies example of this idea :  women's role; that even after the suffragette movement and Margret Thatcher, there is still a social barrier that excludes women from a male dominated society as they are still seen as the nurturing body.

We all wanted to convey the idea of role reverse, the idea of the unexpected. So the group and I, looked at the Nursery Rhyme 'Little Bow Peep'. We were intrigued of how we could portray the idea of the little girl loosing her sheep; perhaps a metaphor for her changing from a girl into a woman? The innocent being exposed to the big bad scary world. These ideas highlight the notes that we were discussing earlier in the week.

 

MORE IDEAS FROM GROUP DEISCUSSION…..

 

 

Ø>Even though the nursery rhyme was spoken to and edited for children, we could address adult issues and have a modern look of it in a contemporary context.

> Keep items such as the hook to give visual reference to the rhyme.

ØInstead of saving the sheep, perhaps she is eating them (a turkey drumstick).

Ø Table is wonky, the unnatural balance of things (inspired by the scene when Alice is falling through the hole in Alice in Wonderland). Everything is miss matched and out of place.

 > Set  build is centred around a place in the middle of the woods, eerie and unsettling. Victorian style lamps are hung from the branches a pile of 'bones' from the sheep. Model very un - feminine (messy makeup, table manners non-existing, 'blood round the mouth' etc)

 

> Instead of creating a set that has fantasy elements reminiscent of Tim Burton or Tim Walker; look to create atmospheric elements through the props; a sense of eeriness and the psychological.  

 

As this rhyme is better known than the 'Old Wise Owl‘, my group felt we had more freedom to experiment with the social connections of this rhyme, emphasizing  the different avenues and ideas that we could work on as a group. However we still wanted to keep certain aspects of the rhyme as clear reference points to enable the audience to fully understand the context of this piece of work e.g. the idea of the backdrop being in the woods …..

 

(http://www.rhymes.org.uk/little_bo_peep.htm)

 

Little Bo peep has lost her sheepAnd doesn't know where to find them.Leave them alone and they'll come home,Bringing their tails behind them.Little Bo peep fell fast asleepAnd dreamt she heard them bleating,But when she awoke, she found it a joke,For they were all still fleeting.Then up she took her little crook.

Determined for her to find them.

She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,For they left their tails behind them.It happened one day, as Bo peep did strayInto a meadow hard by, There she espied their tails side by sideAll hung on a tree to dry.She heaved a sigh, and wiped her eye,And over the hillocks went rambling,And tried what she could,As a shepherdess should,To tack again each to its lambkin.

Task 2/ initial and NEW photographic casting and the characterization idea for our concept

When we got our topic my team decided that we quite liked the idea of the theme 'Literature' looking closely at the topic of nursery rhymes and how their meaning and significance in literature has changed. Although we have decided to change our theme of nursery rhyme, we still want to explore ‘dark photography’ as we want to portray a twisted side of our chosen rhyme and a psychological characterization. We have looked at macabre style photography, such as the work of Eolo Perfido, Sarah Ann Loreth, Robert Dann and the more theatrical work of Paolo Roversi. But we have began to explore further identifying and finalizing ideas and thoughts.

When beginning our casting, i began looking at the several mood boards my group I made. When analysing the various rhymes, I knew we wanted to take inspiration form the photographers such as Tim Walker and Tony Kim that incorporated the literature into their fashion shoots. Their models portrayed the style of character that we would like in our fashion shoot. From this reference, we took inspiration from Chinese paintings of women; their chalk like faces defined by the rosy cheeks and the subtle makeup is a theme we might want to explore further. We also looked at how even the most natural looking makeup is still defined by the cleaver use of lighting to define the cheekbones and facial structure. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are some of the images we researched (these are by Tony Kim and Tim Walker). Both photographers based their pieces on literature either it be books (Walker and Tim Burton) or nursery rhymes like Tony Kim.

 

To help with our casting, we all looked back at our previous notes on cinematography, literature, illustrations, and music which helped us understand the representation of a more 'darker' theme that could be presented in our casting.

 

I think all these images that i have captured of my friends resemble the type of features that we are considering for our chosen character. I have mentioned some notes above, but here are some other bullet points of  key elements we are also considering....

 

strong emphasized facial features

thin, preferably size 8

similar resemblance of the models from the work of the photographers, i have mentioned above.

 

Due to changing our theme of nursery rhyme,  we are still deciding on ideas and concepts that we could portray in our shoot production. We think we have finalised a nursery rhyme and idea, but are still thinking on how we can portray this approach. By Monday we hopefully will have a final decision and how we can portray the narrative. I have also mentioned ideas and notes in previous blog entries about themes etc...

 

In previous blog entries i have also mentioned about my role i am playing within the group which is make-up, hair and costume manager and camera manager. I was chosen for these roles, as the group thought i had good skills  working  with digital cameras, and due to my knowledge of performing, they thought i would be good at desinging theatrical clothing and presentation of styling.