Having already moved the Wednesday test shoot to 4 hours on Friday I was last minute let down by my photographer and female model. This was a huge learning curve for me having already got my male model a performance student having chosen him due to his ability to confidently perform, i decided to carry on with the test shoot myself so at least if no good images were gained i could see how he performed in front of the camera and a potential model 'audition' for the lead role of Captain Crewe for the final images. Not being experienced with a camera myself i found this a huge challenge trying to set up the correct lighting for the purpose of theatre but also in correlation to the narrative within the scene. I then had a few troubles due to the low lighting and my camera focus finally getting this figured out with help from another student i feel i gained some productive learning curves consequently from this. I felt that patrick was confidant in performing natural in front of the camera and due to this have booked Patrick as the lead male model his ability to perform for the camera is portrayed through the basic photography within the images below and i found he was quick to take direction interpreting the idea of the scene and conveying that through the camera as if it was being performed on stage. In addition Patrick further has a good bone structure something that i was looking for, for the role of Captain Crewe as discussed in the character profile he is young and striking yet with a mouldable look that could be transfered to an older age to suit the narrative of that character.
{ Three scenes that were tested - Images below unedited}
. Captain Crewe leaves Sara at the Boarding School .
In the madness of dissertation i took a moment out to enjoy one of my favourite songs being surrounded by the quietness in the library i was captured by this video. The naturalistic and beauty of the atmosphere that has been created in this music video is inspiring and really captured the feel that I want to achieve within my personal project of the theatre brochure, it brought me back to the reason I chose theatre: the feel that you can get watching a play is something that can resinate with you, taking this away into a book is my main goal!
I will show this to all my creative teams as i feel it really captures the aesthetic and overall feeling i want to achieve I especially am captured by the camera angles it made me feel as though i was experiencing the playful child like world that was being created, being able to do that with a static image will be more challenging but something i want to play with.
{ Bring images alive, atmospheric and an experience that resonates! }
In reflection of my meeting with Lottie, we discussed the character profiles for each wig design i was wanting to loan from her i chose 6 wigs. Two for each of the characters for Miss Minchin and Amelia due to not being sure about colouring and will experiment further with this when I test my wig designs. As Miss Minchin and Amelia are sisters I will be either using the brunette and dirty blonde or the Light ash and the Red as this would work better in relation to the narrative. Having received my wigs I feel i am on progress towards the design stage already envisaging how I can turn the wig into the intended character.
During this session it was a chance to give an update on our current points within the project, the feedback was that i had done a lot and achieved many things that were not shown here in my reflective journal. I needed to cut back on the description and really begin to start bringing depth in analysing and explaining always 'WHAT IS NEXT'. I explained that i find visually its helpful for me to have a folder of which i have all the things that had not been shown on my reflective journal, the transferring of this information needs to be done bringing my file to the blog.
This information below is my contacts and a the costing i have been quoted at this point and my final collaborative team is yet to be confirmed. Seeing all my gathered contacts and quotes i feel confidant in my organisation, this shows that I am able to along side the creative development keep on-top of the business side of the project, In always being organised it is allowing me to keep on top of current team members having them all in one place being in instant reach has been a success so far.
Contact List & Budget Plan Makeup/Hair & Wigs:
Myself and Lottie Davies will be lending my the use of the University wigs that are lace fronted. Wardrobe:
Hampshire Wardrobe- 01962826725/ hampshirewardrobe@hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk
£50 holding fee
starting fees adults £20-£30 per costume
shoes £7.50
outerwear £10
accessories £2.50-£5.00
Children's wear 50% off Price quoted
10% Student Discount
. Amelia- Unable Still Searching . Boarding School Girls- Unable Still Searching
. Sarah- Taylor
Photographer:
. Dionne Lockyear
Location:
. Uni Studio 4
Wigs:
. Amelia - brunette (Lottie Loan)
Wardrobe:
. Dress Amelia.
. Pretty big dresses & Rags Sarah & Girls - petticoats?
Props:
. Sheer Curtain
{Screen Grab / Scene Selection}
{ Previous To Test Shoot Day }
Within this shoot i want to explore the idea of the curtain and see if its feasible, as i am still in model searching for Miss Amelia and the boarding school girls i will be using just Sara although I am disappointed that i wont be able to get a clear visual of this scene without the others I am staying positive that i have made a start in my test shooting and can at least test lighting and compositions with the photographer.
{Personal feedback for my personal project was to really find the importance of books as a medium, and the target market, creating something that is worth investing and people want to come back to and read over and over again. Sharon suggested looking to interactive children's books as a point of inspiration although i would like to vary the range of interaction within the book i need to keep in mind my target audience and that was around 30-45 mark.} - (Sharon Mentor session)
As suggested above i need to keep the context of my imagery in the for front of my mind, remembering that the imagery is for a theatre brochure evolving book. For my proposal i had a very clear aesthetic of layout, typography i wanted to have so keeping this in mind while creating my imagery is important so all aesthetics' are coherent.
Sharon mentioned looking at interactive children's books as a point of reference, although i see that she wants me to explore the interactive element within children's books i want to stay away from it becoming child like, I will explore this further realising that if i want to create something innovative its essential that i open my mind to a variation of publications.
{ Proposed Aesthetical Outcome of Book
Screen Grab from Proposal! }
{Children's Books Initial Idea Research}
Through my initial research of interactive children's books, i have found elements of interactive books that have been executed in a more adult fashion and something that could appeal to my target market of 35-50 year olds. This has opened my mind to innovative ways of creating a book and made me realised i don't need to keep myself in the box of what a book should look like. I want to push the boundaries and create something exciting and something children's books do creating work that can be experienced and main aim in my proposed project.
These are the proposed mood board initial designs for character profiles I want to expand on them within this post exploring why I have chosen the aesthetic for the character and how it will translate within the theatrical industry context and to my target audience.
I was captured by the description of Miss Minchin from the original novel 'cold, fishy smile' (Burnett, 1905) this quote especially gave me so many visuals about the character profile instantly getting an image of her glamorous and evil persona, although within the Film and Book she is captured as quoted 'respectable & ugly' (Burnett, 1905) I imagined her in a very different way, I have gathered some inspirational imagery that I feel captures my interpretation of the character. I began also cross referencing other character profiles such as the ugly step mother in 'Cinderella' and Miss Hannigan in 'Annie' similar roles of the evil figure within the narrative but portrayed as glamorous women with a certain 'sass' to there aesthetics. I feel this will work with the audience of 'A Little Princess' production i will be able to create a flamboyancy that can read on stage compared to that of a 'respectable & ugly' woman that would be more mundane in creation and harder to read from a distance.
'Cinderella' 2014 Film 'Annie' 1982 Film
This clip below explores the character of the evil step mother played by Cate Blanchett they talk about the depth she was able to bring to the character, from this i have learnt that finding the right model is important to convay not only the correct aesthetic but the atmosphere that model can create of the character within the narrative.
. Proposal Mood board .
In the classic 40's 50's styling, clean, polished, glamorous but with a striking harsh sense about her. I feel these images capture the atmosphere I would like my miss Minchin to hold, well poised, elegant but with that malicious glare to her eye. Leading on from this I designed a face chart that projects the makeup I would like for the character.
Initial Face Chart
Amelia
Miss Amelia is the younger sister of Miss Minchin. She is very friendly but always is in the shade of her dominant sister. Miss Minchin makes all the decisions and Miss Amelia never dares to contradict her although she does often not agree, especially as far as Sara is concerned. But slowly a change takes place inside Miss Amelia. It can be noticed for the first time near the middle of the series and more and more it becomes clear that one day Miss Amelia will lose her awe of her older sister.
I feel that Amelia as a character is kind, caring and thoughtful with an eccentric edge about her this being the reason that Miss Minchin looks down on her as she is carless with her appearance. I have taken inspiration from war time utilitarian fashions such as the head scarf and although it's practical gives that relaxed feel to her character as though she is in her own world. Below is the proposed mood board of inspiration although I feel that the wig design for this character is the key aspect of her aesthetic on stage as the makeup will be very minimal and natural. I feel that once I have found the model of Amelia this will help with the character design gaining a sense of the natural features and moulding them to the character profile.
Captain Crewe
Crewe is portrayed in both the book and film as a young attractive man as explored through the quote references below from extracts of the book. I want to explore the narrative of the character in context of the story using the time lapse of story telling through the character design, using elements such as beards and colour ageing to depict that characters point within the story I feel will give the character a readable narrative to the audience as it is in the context of a book depicting this carefully will need to be considered through the design development.
Sara Crewe
This is my initial inspiration board for the main character Sara, she's very intelligent, assertive and lets her imagination run wild. when we first see Sara she is adorned in the most expensive rich fabrics and textures, only the best from Captain Crewe and as the story progresses we see this disappear and Sara becomes stripped of all her beautiful things left with only a simple rag dress.
I have included images of bruising as i imagine that Miss Minchin would have beaten her and Becky (other maid and friend of Sara) if they hadn't obeyed her rules, i love the raw colours in these images, the femininity of the colour pink not only in pretty images such as the silk material but in the raw lip image, this colour represents Sara's age but also her connection to her understanding of the adult world.
{ Intelligent Brave Kind Generous Storyteller }
This mood board shows the style of imagery i want to capture i want to explore the sinister elements within Sara's character, such as the quote below from the book 'weird and interesting little face' (Burnett, 1905)this is very different to how she is shown within the film, shown there with blonde perfect hair and a very pretty face portraying the 'princess' element to how a society stereotypically thinks of a little princess.
(Burnett, 1905)
Having developed this idea I would like to push myself to play with the ideals of Sara's aesthetic creating images that are not conventional to what society conceives as a princess stereotypical aesthetic also pushing the plays aesthetic allowing the audience to question the character. Below I have Created a chart with my initial ideas although due to the paper the tenderness of the colour application dose not show I would like this to be subtle so she looks as young as possible while also creating that raw feel with the use of soft pinks and fluffy lashes.
Initial Face Chart
Boarding School Girls
The boarding school girls are more of extras within the compositions and don't necessarily perform to the extent that the other characters do so these designs will be amended when I have settled on a firm idea for the others. I want the girls to perform as classic stereotypes of young girls growing up allowing them to be relatable to the younger audience members.
Having created my character profiles I feel i have a better visual understanding in the direction of narrative that I am heading in learning that although I am producing content that is made for the stage, the outlet of format is in a photoshoot context so i need to be precise to the thoughtful nature of application. From this I will now be able to apply my character profiles to any initial test shoots and from here will push the active design leading on from this stage.
In creating this mood board for the test shoot for the purpose of photographer and models, i have included imagery that show compositional lighting effects and atmosphere in relation to lighting something that is very important when creating production shots. The lighting shows the context of the imagery as if it was shot on a theatre stage, elements such as the back ground shadows and bright foreground lighting are key to bringing the theatre feel to the photographs.
My favorite images within this are 1st and 2nd bottom left and middle right these images capture that theatre production lighting sense while keeping the raw, gritty element i am after for the coherent theme throughout my photography. This was also a key element I felt really worked in the child shoot test creating a sense of depth in the imagery.
This scene is the very start scene and the scene within the whole of the book that the images will be more of a light nature in comparison, although i want to capture the sadness of the moment between Captain Crewe and Sara. I also want to emphasis the textures of luxury materials worn by Sara Crewe in juxtaposition to the dark gritty setting such as the images below the rich fabrics have a beautiful contrast the to mundane feel to the rest of the imagery. Further this will then show huge contrast to the next scenes narrative were the overall colour pallet of the composition will be of a bright colourful nature.
. Miss Michin talking to Captain Crewe about the care of Sara, Sara hiding behind her Papa during the conversation.
. Sara and her Papa saying goodbye, her sitting on his lap holding the lapels on his coat .
. Sara Sat Alone left with emily .
{ I will be creating the initial character aesthetics explored in 'Character Profiles' although the use of wigs will not be done due to the design's not being finalised yet, the makeup will be tested from my initial face charts proposed. This is a chance mainly to explore an adult as the role of Sarah and working with the photographer on the lighting to create the desired atmosphere. Exploring how the team works as a whole and the product from the test}
Test Shoot {Wednesday 6 till 9} Models: . Miss Michin - Unable to find an actress, continue search through the websites previously sourced. . Captain Crewe - Patrick . Sarah - Taylor Photographer: . Dionne Lockyear Location: . Uni Studio 1 Wigs: . Miss Michin - Dark Blonde . Sarah - Bright Blonde . Facial Hair Wardrobe: . Dress Miss Michin. . Arm Uniform suit . Pretty dress Sarah- petticoat Props: . Emily doll
{ Having found models for both the characters of Sarah & Crewe, my photographer was unable to attend the session due to a last minute change in her plans. This has been re scheduled for this coming Friday. This was frustrating as this is an area i feel needs attending to before i am able to continue with the design process, I am really keen to find the model of Sara testing if a adult works and from this can start devising makeup and wig design's as if this looks odd I will need to go back to the drawing board having already found the contact details for StageCoach Southampton as a possibility for child model scouting but would only use this if my female adult model doesn't work due to her visually looking too old.)
Having proposed to use Olivia Roberts and having been in contact with her from the beginning of my project as shown below, I have received new messages stating that she is unavailable for the initial date we had booked in and can now only do two weekends one at the end of February and one at the end of March. This was concerning as my production plan is already having to be re amended due to a slow start in the project, to amend this i have decided to do my test shoots with Dionne photographer below and if i stick to my intended production plan shoot with Olivia on provisional date booked end of March. Although this means i will be testing with an alternative photographer, Olivia is very experienced and I feel that she understands my concept as she has both a wedding photography and fine art background I feel very confidant that she will produced images that are coherent to both the test shoots and my envisaged outcome.
(facebook, conversation 20/01/2016)
Dionne Lockyear Photography
This is the communication so far with this photographer as we tested my child shoot option together I have been able to see how she works both on set and visually. Although she was very quite and a little shy we worked well as a team as i was able to take the role of director. Having said this in the child shoot this didn't work due to it being the wrong combination as she should have been making a relationship with the child model for her to respond in tern. Yet having decided not to use child models i feel that in my final shoots this will be a good collaboration. As my final photographer lives in cornwall and test shoots are unavailable i have decided that i will test with Dionne and further book her as my backup photographer for all shoots this way she can gain imagery for her website
