3 Points. . .

So referring back to the project brief, (which is what I need to do more often to keep me on track), I have to pick 3 different character points from my book and create 3 shoots, showing the progression and transformation of my characters emotions and state of mind through hair, makeup, lighting etc.

Project Brief:

"You will select one of the books from the ‘Book List’ (please see below) and take one character to study in great detail. From this, you will produce an in-depth analysis of the character. This analysis should be taken through all the stages of the book and observations made that detail changes in your character’s development.

Your in-depth research, analysis and narrative/character deconstruction will culminate in you producing a contemporary fashion version of your character.

In collaboration with a BA (Hons) Fashion Photography student, you will produce three images of your character - a head and shoulder, a mid length and full length shot. Your images may be studio or location shot and you will make use of hair and make-up design, styling, accessories, lighting techniques and a consideration of image composition. Each image will depict your character at a pivotal moment in your book and therefore, demonstrate how your character changes/develops across a period of time.

You are expected to provide practical solutions that are realistic and in keeping with your chosen narrative and character. Your job is to produce a well-rounded, totally believable character and understand his/her development within the narrative".

Look 1.

For my first look I am going to show Daisy Buchanan's flirtatious side. She was a socialite and majority of the time she got her own way by using her charm and her beauty on her side as an advantage. Although Fitzgerald does make her a character worthy of Gatsby's unlimited devotion, in the end she reveals herself for what she really is. So for my first look I want to really capture Daisy's flirtatious characteristics by strongly directing my model Lauren to practice similar emotions so she can really get into character. Perhaps looking down over her shoulder with a cute, smug smile as if she had just got what she wanted by using her charm. She herself is a great fan of the book and the story line so fingers crossed she will be able to pull it off. Also due to the fact that Gatsby is totally and utterly besotted by her. This picture of Drew Barrymore comes to mind...

I think for my first look, this will be my beauty shot.

When thinking of a way to visually describe the image I want to create for my first look, the character Merly Streep plays, Miranda, in The Devil Wears Prada is a good representation of this. The ruthless and cynical character reminds me a lot of Daisy as she is sweet when she wants something but deep down she comes across as quite the bitch. For when I do the final shoot I shall use this as an example to tell Lauren so she can get more of an idea of the expressions I want her to pull.

Look 2.

Despite her beauty and charm, Daisy is merely a selfish, shallow and in fact, a hurtful women. Gatsby loves her or at least the idea of her with such vitality and determination that readers would like, in many senses, to see her be worthy of his devotion. Although Fitzgerald carefully builds Daisy's character with associations of light, purity and innocence, when all is said and done she is the opposite from what she presents herself to be. So for my second look, I want to keep my focus on showing Daisy's 'true colors', with the facial expressions as if she has just been caught out but also hiding her feelings for Gatsby. As if she constantly has that sinking feeling which you see more of this throughout the book unlike your first impressions of her. To show as well that she constantly has a guilty conscience at the back of her mind. For my second look think this will my full length shot, to fully show how she is fealing by how my model carries herself by the way she is positioned and posing for the shoot.

This image of the imfamous Lindsey Lohen is a perfect example of the scene I want to create for my 2nd shoot. This is that part of the story where Daisy is fully aware that her husband is having affairs, yet she knows that because she has married a man with power and money and with the life that she has had, if she leaves him she will lose so much and her life will change dramatically. With this shoot I wanted to capture Lauren looking anxcious, nerves and quite uneased. Showing that she feels that she is stuck with what to do with her life.

 

Look 3.

For my third and final look, I want this to be the more intense image, to give more of a story through expression and to put my skills to the test through hair and make-up. For someone who was used to always getting their way, to then feel as if everything she was used to is crumbling around her, THAT is how I want my model to feel, so she can fully understand and get into character. I want this image to be after Daisy has hit and left Myrtle to her death. So to create such an intense final image and to round off my overall shoots for my project, I shall talk to my model, Lauren, about situations shes has been in the past where she gets anxcious and worried/distraught, and try capture this through imagery. Also the fact that her husband has money and power, she will be worried at anxcious at this point that from this revelation that she could potentially lose all of her belongings and her luxury living.

For my final look, this is the going to be my head shot so as the image will be smaller, I really want create a big impact with which I shall focus on the eyes. The make-up itself wont have changed much, apart from smudging and water applied to create a tear effect but with the camera angle being slightly lower than a front on head shot, with Laurens chin slightly raised so she is looking down more I think this will create the 'worried' look I want. 

Flapper Head bands. . .

During the daytime flappers wore a cloche hat but in the evening there was an amazing variety of exotic head dresses to chose from including beaded and feathered headbands and close-fitting caps. As a show of wealth, many of the more expensive headpieces were full of beads, feathers and more elaborate materials to show that they could afford the best.

If I could, I would totally make a headpiece like this but I wouldn't have a clue where to start. And I think as well, something like this might be a bit too much!

If anything I want to create something like these pieces. Simple yet with full effect, including the main aspects in traditional 1920s headbands. With either a fabric or peal band for the base, to then add feathers and maybe some form of large diamonte or if I can find one, a unique vintage looking broach for the main focus piece. 

Jewellry. . .

Bling Bling Bling!

Costume jewelry became popular in the early 1920s when the new fashions for women were casual as well as sporty and were not very well suited to the formal nature of precious stones. The Art Nouveau movement had already shifted the public's focus to appearance rather cost. Following the war there was a major trend towards non-precious jewelry.

As jewelry started becoming more popular within the 1920s, used more to give a statement and to show wealth, it got to the stage where the more diamonds, the better! Jewelry wasn't just narrowed down to necklaces and bracelets, it broadened to glitzy earrings, stunning headbands and sparkling hairpieces which were normally attached with hair clips/slides. 

Pearls were big news. The influence of the orient figured greatly during in the 1920s and with that great lustrous pearls became one of the must have items in jewelry. Strings of pearls, often worn in long strands or hand knotted pearls, known as 'rope length' pearl necklaces were either worn as a single loop or wrapped around the neck several times. These extravagant necklaces were often teamed with pearly stud earrings. As an alternative, long dangly earrings, particularly pearl earrings, were also hugely popular, typically worn when no necklace was accessorizing the outfit.

A still image from the upcoming film being released in May, of Daisy relaxing in a club where I got an clear idea of the jewelry she wore. Including the head band which I pan on creating my own for my final shoots, and hand accessories which include the fingers and wrists. 

Collaging. . .

In the early stages of the project, in one of our seminars we spent the afternoon looking through magazines to collect images to create collages/mood boards. This was a good chance for me to look and understand how current photographers/make-up artists work when referring different aspects to 1920s. Whether it is the way the model is posed, or the certain shades used on the lips. As well as looking at the make-up and styling of the hair, I also looked in patterns, materials and colors.

After finishing these collages, I feel that this helped me understand more the modern day feel and interpretations of 1920s hair and make-up. I found this task incredibly helpful with my project and I think in the future this is something that I shall definitely consider in the future. Although some of the poses and colours used on the make-up is quite dark, sometimes a Gothic feel, I feel that this will help me think of the mood and facial expressions I want my model to have when in the final shooting stage.

Practice Make-Up

I think one thing that I should consider for my blog was to show more development of my design process by practicing more on myself and blogging about it. As this shows skills, techniques and will help me when doing my final shoots to refer back to, to remind myself and clear my mind at what I am trying to achieve. Plus it gives me a chance to have a play around with products and to gain confidence within myself. So here it goes...

I started off with prepping the skin by cleanse, tone and moisturize then concealing the skin, then used Illamasqua 200 Rich Liquid Foundation and 001 Loose Powder to finish the base. Although the foundation was a shade slightly darker for my skin, as I am so pale I didn't want to create a porcelain look with pale pale skin. After the base was done, I contoured the skin using 'Disobey' then used my new 'Naked Rose' Powder Blush in a circular motion to give the cheeks a slight color. As an extra factor, I them applied my new product, 'Gleam' on the top of the cheek bones to highlight and give a slight dewy look. I think Gleam is my new favorite product! All these products are from Illamasqua!

Once the base was completed, I covered the lids of my eyes with Naked Rose as I thought for the base it was the perfect shade, that's what I like about Illamasqua products, the fact that they can be used all over the face/body. After the Naked Rose, I built up the color by layering different shades but mostly used Powder Eye Shadow in Livid. After the shadow was done, I experimented with my new products from the Alex Box show, I used Pure Pigment in Berber, a strong royal red which when blended, gives a gorgeous sheen and really brought out my eye color. For something a little extra, I applied Liquid Metal in Electrum on the center of the lid and the inner corner to really give the eyes something special.

In 1920s, major plucking took place to get rid of as much of the brow hair as possible. All that was desired was a thing line that curved downward towards the temple. A grease pencil then was used to darken the bizarre line. For my interpretation of the signature drooping brow, I used clear mascara and combed out my brows then concealed over. Using a black powder and a right-angled brush I tried to recreate a similar style brow. 

For the lips, I used a black pencil to line the lip and to really enhance the cupid-bow shape that was seen a lot in the 1920s. Once the liner was complete, I used a dark, dense purple to fill in the lip and then used a separate lip brush to blend the two colors together. Overall I think my practice session went well and I have noted what to focus on as I now know what is more time consuming as when it comes down to my final shoot I have to work at a steady pace. I think when my models hair is all done, the outfit is on and with this make-up look on, she will look stunning and I hope it all comes together well.

- The Finished Look -

Here is the face chart where my initial idea came from. I find with face charts although it is a good method of getting your ideas across, I think it is always best to practise either on yourself or model because the difference between paper and skin is important. 

Reflection

After practising this look on myself, I have learnt that to create and have the effect I want I need to apply darker tones on the eyes and layer up to really show depth in the make-up. One thing that I have learnt from shoots in the past is that when the make-up is first applied it looks good but behind camera, the flash tends to drain out alot of the colour. So I have to bare in mind that I will need to apply more to keep the density. I learnt as well that when I used the Illamasqua Pure Pigment, it was quite messy as although I applied the power on the upper eye lid, it tended to fall on top of the cheek bone and this made it look quite unkept and messy. So when it comes down to final shoots I will take note to place tissue under the eye when applying the powder so it came easily be removed when finished.

Alex Box Make-Up Show @ Selfridges.

On Thursday 25th April, I travelling to London to attend an exclusive make-up show by Alex Box inspired by David Bowie. As soon as I had the opportunity I bought a ticket because I couldn't of missed this amazing chance to see my idol do her thing. I find Alex Box an inspiration not just as a make-up artist, but an artist herself and as a person and the fact that when I met her, she recognized me made me the happiest girl!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As I had the chance to attend the show, although Bowie isn't anything to do with my project as it is set in 1920s, I decided to take the chance to do a post about the show as firstly it was incredible, so inspiring but also because from watching Alex do her work, I noted down her techniques and picked up on different things that I had learnt from watching her. Even down to how she held her brush and positioning of the brush/hand when applying make-up. It is a dream of mine to work for Illamasqua, and in my mind the final designs for my shoots could be referred to the Illamaqua style as this is something that I am teaching myself. The ticket was £100, (totally worth it), but the ticket after purchased became redeemable, which basically meant it worked a as a voucher as we were given the chance to instead of receive a goodie bag of products, we were able to pick £100 worth of products from the new Bowie collection which hasn't even been released yet. These are the products I picked...

Overall, one of the best nights I have had in years. It was such a fun, friendly and inspiring night, I have come away motivated and driven to do even better in this project, and to achieve my dreams!

Hair Practise. . .

During one of my practical lessons when I had already learnt how to finger wave the traditional wave, I tested out these 3-pin tongs as to see if they could create the same effect, but just be more time efficient. With finger-waving, and especially as I am planning on doing my shoots on location, I wanted to try out if using this tong it would create a similar effect but just be a lot more quicker, also as well with finger waving, if it doesn't go right then I worried I wouldn't have enough time to do it al again and then wait for it to set.  

To create my desired look, faster and more effective, I used these Babyliss 3-pin tongs. Absolute god-sent but one thing that I learnt from my first practise on Emma, is that when sectioning the hair I have to keep the same line when gripping the hair otherwise the waves will be un-even which will result in it being hard to maintain that 'S' shape that I want. 

Below are the pictures of when I practiced this technique on my model, Lauren Hannan. As Lauren has the perfect length hair for what I need, I made extra sure that I tried my best to get the line right at the root of the hair so all of the waves will fall together to create the 'S' shape. Still getting there but practice makes perfect!

This is an image I found on Pinterest and is pretty much the exact style as I want Lauren's hair. Still think and not totally sleaked down, but with the signature 1920s waves. This is a style that I think I shall use for atleast 2 of my final shoots.