'A Certain Defeat'
'Myself and a group of friends were in a PlayStation/Xbox game where we had to fight a vampire. We were given a certain amount of weapons to use, but as soon as they had been used they were gone. She started throwing boomerang blades at us and kept on getting me. I was trying my hardest to pull them out of my wounds and throw them back, but I was getting weaker and weaker. Eventually I was losing a lot of blood and I had to run off while the others continued fighting. When I got into a safe house I collapsed and was losing a lot of blood. I was lying in a puddle of my own blood and was shouting for help, so weak and helpless.'
It has been suggested that losing blood in a dream can symbolise severe exhaustion or that you are emotionally drained due to existing stress or conflict. In this dream I am showing weakness and give up on the fight in hand, leaving it for the others to deal with. I am also left crying for help which exaggerates the helplessness and frustration I felt. It is possible that I felt this way as I am facing challenges with juggling multiple aspects within my life and feel that there is underachievement from setting high expectations for myself, leaving me frustrated and dissatisfied with my performance.
I have chosen to recreate this dream because it impacted me quite a lot during the night and I feel that I can produce a representation of my current thoughts. The dream was dark and quite terrifying, but I would like to create a lighter aesthetic representation through carefully selected colour palettes, textures and photography techniques/editing.
INSPIRATION:
Pastel colours are very soft and delicate and present very little threat in comparison to darker, richer colours. The colour pink symbolises weakness, which has been my main inspiration for choice of colours with the photography set up, styling and makeup to translate the generated emotions from the dream. Below are some examples of soft textured pastel styling. The textures of fur and suedes combined with soft, pale makeup works really well. The models appear innocent and feminine, but also submissive and weak. The styling of the shoot for this dream will be similar to the below images with the use of multiple textures, pastel colours and delicate silhouettes.
Styling - Emily Beard
http://blog.materialgirl-mag.com/2014/03/13/editorial-alice-kitty-photography-by-xanthe-hutchinson/
The below images show Michelle Du Xuan take on a contemporary 'Sleeping Beauty' with the makeup and hair by Daria Slusarczyk and Mike Desir. The finish is sleek and glossy with bold choices of block colours for the lips and eyes. The look is very clean and polished and the choice of colours produces a romantic/spring feel. The choice of a bold coloured lip with a different coloured eye creates a really effective outcome, which I think will work well with this particular dream recreation. The waved, shiny hair enhances the perfection of beauty in this shot and I would like to create a similar result.
http://fashioncow.com/2013/03/laura-kargulewicz-and-tessa-vander-weyden-in-sleeping-beauty-michelle-du-xuan-madame-figaro-china/
To create a 'sweeter' version of the pool of blood, I would like to play with the idea of how it is represented. Blood is a very rich red which does not coincide with the them of this particular desired outcome, therefore I would like to use an alternative liquid. As this project is Sweet Dreams, I would like to include a liquid that has more pleasant effect, such as foam/bubbles. I saw an image of a bath filled with pink bubbles and really enjoyed using that idea as a blood substitute (as seen on the left). There is also a current obsession for bath bombs that produce beautiful marble effects in the water that I believe could be a possible option to replicate the pool of blood.
- creating a beautiful death - high fashion - look how weak women are represented - what decade? what colours, silhouettes?
- underwear trends - pastels - harness clothing
MOOD BOARD:
HAIR & FACE CHART:
MODEL & PHOTOGRAPHER:
Model: Kornelija Poderskyte
Kornelija's complexion and hair colouring are soft and natural, fitting with the pale aesthetics of this shoot. After seeing her model for a friend I believed she would be very confident in the shoot and would follow direction well.
TEST SHOOT IMAGES:
POST-PRODUCTION EXPERIMENTATION:
REFLECTION:
The photography technique included soft gel lighting to create a subtle pink hue. The colours are vibrant and work well with the idea, but I feel as though the beauty lighting is compensated. In terms of the hair, makeup and styling, there is definitely a lot that I would like to change. Compared to other dream outcomes I feel that this is too subtle and pretty and the hair lacks the statement I wish to create.
As I was shooting in the photography studios I was unable to create the foam blood representation without making mess and destroying the clothes I had borrowed. As a result, I attempted adding bath bomb images in post production. I think it works, but not very well. It is visibly fake and edited, and I'm not convinced with the effect.
Positively, the model was fantastic on the day and required very little direction and understood exactly what I was wanting. Her face pulled off the makeup and her hair in beautiful condition to style. I will be asking her to model again for the final shoot.
IMPROVEMENTS:
- Create a more dramatic makeup look with more colour, texture and theatrical drama.
- Produce a hairstyle that makes more of a statement, possibly with the use of a wig.
- Use a real material/liquid to create the blood pool effect around the model with consent from the staff in the studios.
- Consider improving the styling by choosing something that makes her look more vulnerable and is more disposable (low cost).
UPDATED FACE CHART:
Although I was fairly satisfied with the chosen makeup look, I decided I wanted it to be more theatrical. To do this I have added a stronger brow, and addition sparkle through the use of glitter on the pink and three crystal gems underneath the eye. The lips will be the same pigmented purple again, but the mixing medium needs to be more of a paste so it doesn't crack like it did previously.
STYLING:
I was not totally satusfied with the styling of the test shoot because I don't think it captured my concept and inspiration images from my moodboard. I have found an Instagram account - @creepyyeha that has posts images of pastel pink harness underwear and is very suggestive. The clothing is sold on a website. The pastel colours make it look innocent and submissive rather than seductive. I will use this as inspiration to style the final shoot with use of underwear to show her vulnerability. The use of underwear also means that it is likely I can find a cheaper option and I am more than happy to ruin this clothing with paint or foam and not return it.
UPDATED HAIR STYLING:
The hair in the test shoot was curled, but not set with any spray so the curls dropped. Using synthetic hair will ensure these curls will stay. I have decided to purchase a bright pastel pink wig! It reminds me of something Nicki Minaj would wear, but I think the colour emphasises the pink palette and creates a more artificial effect to create the dream-like quality. The wig was extremely stubborn and I had lost my scissors so it was near impossible to cut or style. But after lots of persistence and temper tantrums, the curls finally stayed and will only require application on the day of shooting.
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