Birthday Timeline Concept

Take #2 on Birthday Timeline Shoot

So on my last Birthday timeline blog I discussed how I did my first attempt at the photoshoot and wasn't happy with the outcome - Click here to view blog. So I decided to do the shoot again but by tweaking a few elements of it. 

As I wasn't happy with how the prosthetic piece turned out and I struggled with blending it, I decided to change this and stick with the cheek prosthetic idea which I had initially created - which tied in with the idea of the golden ratio. I felt that this would give a much more flawless execution and a look which I could be pleased with. 

I decided after my trouble with the last face prosthetic in the shoot, I would instead use Ben Nye Nose & Scar wax to create the high pointed cheekbones which I wanted from the look.

Hair

I also decided to change the way in which I was going to do the hair for this shoot. In the previous one I had made horns which I wrapped the hair around to make the 'hair horns' on the models head. Again I wasn't happy with these as I felt that they looked messy, and almost looked like bunny ears on the head - which distracted from the look I was trying to create.

I came across this picture (Reference 1) of TOWIE star Megan Mckenna at a fancy dress party, with gold leaf brought up all the way into the hair which was backcombed and full of volume. She also did a similar look again for a snow ball (Below also reference 1) using silver leaf and glitter, bringing it down onto the face also.

I was really in love with these looks and they became a huge base of my inspiration for the hair in this piece. 

Particularly this wintery themed one on the right, as it encapsulates the idea of ice and snow - an element I felt would look fantastic in a white witch themed shoot. 

I decided to create this look with the hair, by backcombing and spraying the hair to create a beehive style look like in the above picture.

Hair gel would be mixed with silver glitter and silver leaf, and essentially pasted onto the hair to ensure that it would stick. This would also give the back-combed hair more support and structure from the use of the gel.

I designed this hair chart of how I would be styling the hair. As you can see it was really backcombed, straightened, and pushed back off the face to create a beehive style effect. 

I have also included an indication of where the cheek prosthetic will be on the face, coming down from the top of the cheekbone to the bottom. 

Shoot Day

On the day of the shoot the biggest battle that I couldn't account for was the heat. I had done the make-up in my house, but as we got on set in the forest it turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year! This made it extremely hard as the scar wax I used can begin to melt under heat, so I was conscious that we had to work quickly to get the shots done that I needed.

I was really lucky that where I'm from in Wolverhampton, there are lots of forests and woods everywhere! I live on the same road as a national trust forest, and so this was the perfect opportunity to shoot there. I felt that this fit extremely well with my piece, as it is based on a mythical creature character who hides and preys upon people - so I feel that I couldn't get any more of a perfect location than a forest. In post edit I ensured that the images looked very cool toned instead of warm, to convey the white witch aspect.

I was really pleased with how the entire shoot turned out, and the overall look was much better than the initial one which I'd carried out.

Final Images 

I was torn between these two images about which to use as my final. I liked both of them and felt that they both portrayed my character in the way in which I wanted. In the end I decided to go with the second image, as overall it is a lot more effective. It captures all of the forestry in the background and also the detail in the outfit and hair - bringing the piece together as an entire creative look.

Evaluation:

I was so much happier with these images than with the first ones I tried to create. I feel that I needed to do those first ones in order to find out what did and didn't work, and then make the necessary tweaks to create images I was happy with and proud of.

This project as a whole has pinpointed my need to practise further with prosthetics pieces, and ensure they are really well executed before putting them on a shoot; something I've learnt the hard way here.

I did find the body painting element quite tedious. I had planned on using the airbrush both times for this to ensure a quick and flawless of silver with layers of skin tone - but was told that I wasn't able to use the university airbrush compressor meaning this was not plausible for me as I don't have the means to buy my own. 

I love the way the skin looks on these images and the silver glow she is giving off is exactly the final look I was going for - creating that character of an evil white witch who preys upon people. I also captured the vanity of the virgo in these images through the models poses, and I feel as though they are really powerful when you look at them.

Considering I was also doing this outside on one of the hottest days of the year the make-up stayed on really well, and I had to act on my feet to keep the make-up in place by using fix sprays and extra adhesive on the prosthetic.

References:

1. Mulpix.com. (2016). megan mckenna towie makeupartist on Instagram. [online] Available at: https://mulpix.com/instagram/megan_mckenna_towie_makeupartist.html [Accessed 6 May 2017].