CLARE HEDGES
COLLABORATION WITH FILM AND COSTUME
Initial production meeting with Conor Chalk ( film)
Initial idea - short film based around animal poaching - potentially a surgery scene where parts of animals (as prosthetics) are cut off a human. For example, a prosthetic tusk or fin is cut from a human in the environment which looks like an operation theatre.
Considerations: Conor explained that it would be crucial for the environment to look exactly like an operation theatre for the film to look credible. This would be a massive production design job and would perhaps be too much work as such items (e.g. operating theatre) are hard to source
CONCLUSION - this idea either needs further developing or perhaps should be scrapped.
Second Production Meeting - Lloyd Cook
IDEA - experimental film based on my own character - inspired by Rankin & Damien Hirst film 'Myths'
Potential LOCATIONS - Durdle door, Tyneham Village, New Forest (potentially more than one shoot day?)
Producer Lewis Spearing is applying for permission to shoot a film at Tyneham Village as this is the preferred location - this is only open on particular days which may be an issue
Lloyd wanted me to consider the hands as these may be in shot. He intends to use various camera techniques such as lense whacking and wide lense shots.
THINGS FOR ME TO CONSIDER:
- Costume
- Character - is he searching for something? his family? food?
- There is no narrative so I will not need to create a script
Costume - Beth Hicks
Beth Hicks
21 March 12:18
Clare Hedges: Hey Beth, I know this is a long shot but thought i'd send you a message. I'm working on a fantasy based character for my final project and was wondering if this would be something you or anyone you know may be interested in collaborating on? your work is awsome!! anyway, i know you must be super busy so no worries if not but thought i'd just ask! hope you're well!x
21 March 16:58
Beth Hicks: Ooh that sounds exciting, tell me more! X
Clare Hedges: i'm only in the early stages of designing the make up but its going to be a character which has only recently been discovered. It will be being filmed for a documentary, channel 4 style interview, following the character in its day to day life trying to get used to living in normal society. I'll send you some ref pics of the kinda thing I've been thinking !
Beth Hicks: That looks awesome! Very Labyrinth/Brian Froud I'd love to help x
Clare Hedges: Yay!!! Thank you so much. Yes!! Brian Froud is the main inspiration for my project I will give you a message when I have sorted some designs The film wont be shot until the end of april, beginning of may xx
Beth Hicks: That's great, I'll be pretty busy but I'll make time to do this with you xx
Clare Hedges: I really appreciate that!! I'll have some designs sorted by next week, would you fancy meeting for coffee at uni towards the end of the week to maybe talk through some ideas? no worries if you are busy!! or after easter if thats better for you? xxx
Beth Hicks: Sure! Lunchtime one day? Xx
Clare Hedges: how about friday? xx
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10 April 11:38
Clare Hedges: Hey Beth! Hope you had a great Easter I was just wondering if you had a chance to check out that board? I mentioned previously that the back of the neck would need to be covered but I have now extended the make up so back of neck won't necessarily need to be covered. but it would need to be a higher neck at the front as my piece is only going down to the collar bone - hope that is ok!
26 April 14:20
Clare Hedges: Hi Beth I was just wondering how everything is going and if all is ok ! xxx
26 April 18:27
Beth Hicks: Hey, good thanks i had a look at your moodboard and love what you're thinking. I will be visiting charity shops tomorrow and send you some pictures over. What price range are we looking to stay in?
Clare Hedges: Ah exciting! Around £50 if possible with a maximum of £75 if you find something awesome! These are Martins measurements:
Shoes - 11
Trousers - 36in
Shirt - Large
These were two of the coats which Beth sent me pictures of that she had found. I could not envisage my character in this coat and was not too keen on it. The second coat I liked a lot more. I had told Beth that ideally I would like the coat to have some sort of fur or sheep skin, as I imagine my character would have found the clothes that he is wearing. I really liked the second coat and it was within more of my budget.
I had explained to Beth that the backstory to my character was that he was living in a villiage which had been abandoned during WW2 and therefore I wanted there to perhaps be a little military reference. She sent me a picture of this shirt as it has a bit of a military feel to it. I agreed that this would look good layered with the above beige coat. She also found a pair of combat trousers which would be perfect.
Beth also found these boots which I really like and feel they fit the character well.
COSTUME FITTING
I had a fitting with Beth and my actor Martin on the 29th of April. The whole costume fitted Martin perfectly apart from the shoes which will require bigger socks as they are a little too big. I think the outfit will go perfectly with the look that I want to achieve for my character.
Beth will be dirtying the costume and making it look old and worn. She will do this by using dye and making the pieces look dirty. This will really add to the character.
INSPIRATION - RANKIN Myths
This Rankin film was a big inspiration for my concept for the film, as I like the way that it shows the various make ups close up. I also like the sound that accompanys it and the experimental style of it. I like that there is no particular narrative but it shows the make up in a detailed way. This is something I would like to achieve with my own film.
This lense whacking technique (taking the lense away from the camera to give blurred effect) is something I could potentially use in my own film. This would be weather dependant as you can only use lense whacking if there is some sunshine.
I like this close up shot of this make up and feel it is effective in showing the make up but also creates atmosphere as the whole face is not revealed immediately.
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I also like these out of focus shots which look as though the character is being watched. Interesting perspective - could incorporate in own film.
Horrick - Filming (test shoot)
This was my first run through of the make up.
My bald cap and neck piece applied really well, the edges blended nicely and I was happy with the look of it.
I later realised that we had stuck the neck down too low which created problems later on.
I had real problems with the face piece as I did not have a blendable edge on the piece. This was the most important piece as the edge is on the forehead and in the most visible place. There was an edge the whole way around the front piece which I was very disappointed with.
We tried to use sculpt gel to blend the edges however I am not very experienced with sculpt gel and found it very difficult to use. I did not feel as though using it helped to blend the edges at all.
I also found that using prosaide was quite time consuming with a make up like this, as a lot of time was spent glueing and hairdrying the prosaide.
I also had massive problems around the mouth area and also issues with the eyes. I feel I did not place the piece in the correct area when positioning it, although I thought it was right I did not focus on whether the mouth was in the right place. This meant that the mouth would not stay in place. We then sculpt gelled around the mouth which looked terrible as the colour was not correct and generally did not work very well. There was no cap plastic in the eye area of my piece which meant that the edge around the eye was just silicone. This obviously made it impossible to blend and gave a horrible edge. I realised that the reason I had no cap plastic was because I was not spraying enough layers of cap plastic when preparing to inject - I forgot that when spraying in cap plastic you need to spray between 7 - 10 layers. I was only spraying 3 (as this is how many you would apply if you were brushing in your cap plastic)
Although initially I really hated the result of this make up, once I had stepped away from it, I appreciated it more. I was still disappointed by the edges however in general I really like the make up as a whole. This was the first time I had used silicone pigments and painted with them properly. I only realised while we were filming that the character looks a lot more anaemic than I had designed and planned. I was aware when painting that it was crucial to be subtle with the paints and I ended up a little too subtle. It was not too much of a problem as it suited the film and location.
I really loved the outfit and think it worked perfectly with the location and the make up. The breaking down of the outfit, particuarly the dyes on the shirt complimented the character brilliantly.
As I was creating a silicone bald cap, I had not considered creating a bald cap to go underneath. This was an important point which I took from this test make up. I found that because I had nothing to stick my silicone bald cap to, that it became baggy underneath the orbital bone.
A still from my short film 'Horrick'