My General Inspiration.....

AIMS:

One of my main aims is to create a piece of work that expresses my individuality, and passion to create unique ideas. I have an eclectic range of inspirational sources that I have applied. Through previous professional experiences such as Charles Fox, art foundation, and a variety of work experience, I have learnt a great deal and will incorporate my observations and take into account feedback, both negative and positive. Much of my influence is taken from general day to day experiences and things I've seen in: magazines, TV dramas, film, harrowing news stories and music. The latter is a highly influential part as I relate a great deal of my work to music and songs, such as hip hop, grime and dubstep.

PLAN B:

I was listening to the solo artist Plan B's second album and there is a song called 'Suzanne' its a macabre song yet I can't stop listening to it, it tells a story about a young girl who gets murdered by a man dubbed the 'Camden Ripper'. I wasn't sure if it was a true story, but it made me want to research it in more detail. I found a great deal of information on the a man who had murdered several girls and hid their bodies around Camden. The disturbing and shocking information created a visual in my head of what might of happened, and gave me an idea of what I could include as a make up design. From writing this post I have just realised that actually Plan B's first and second album have been a major influence in many of my design thoughts especially the ones based on distortion, disfiguration, murder and gore. I often listen to his music as he is one of my favourite musicians and many of his songs are about dark issues and I'm combining these influences with a mixture of quirkiness, fashion and editorial, film, fine art and graphic design. Plan B addresses issues of urban violence relating to street culture, and generates different characters for each story. He has taken much influence from his childhood experiences and expresses his anger towards people who didn't listen to him and the forgotten kids of society, the underclass. They were getting written off because of the violence and stabbings that had occurred, but what Plan B understands and is trying to get across is why they were doing these things and he explains this in one of his songs. Also other events that have happened in his life such as his best friend who got pushed off a tower block and his fury when his mother fell in love with a 'crackhead' have all encouraged him to write and get across a message in his music, and these things have made his writing so dark.

He has taken influence from The prodigy, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, Nectro - who is an artist that raps about murder and explicit issues but tries to turn it into humour. Plan B doesn't particularly like Nectro's music but finds the lyrics interesting, that our society try and make jokes about serious situations everyday and so in some of his music he shows how this can be done.

I empathise with Plan B's way of thinking and writing and I really like the way he makes me think about what I am creating and for what purpose sometimes without realising it.

I design make up ideas using mixed media and collage to re-create a story. I want to do the same thing for my final designs, and think of the story behind the creation and question myself on each step. Why have I applied blood to her mouth? What sort of implement would have caused the wound? How old is the wound? What sort of blood should I use - congealed blood, runny blood, dark or bright in colour? I also need to think of the amount of pain it would be causing which would show in lines/frowns on her face, the other effects like bruising, dark shadows through pain and stress under the eyes, and burst blood vessels in the eyes and around the wound. Also the circumstances of the event, in relation to the victim.

REASONS BEHIND THE MAKE UP:

For the editorial zombie girl shoot I described how I used thread wrapped around my models mouth to symbolise blood. This blood was bright red not dark red because it was a fresh wound it was right round her mouth and taken up to her cheeks as she had been eating a limb and the blood had splattered all over her mouth. I then painted on black bottom eyelashes on one eye. This was because deep down inside her zombie facade she was crying out for help and the tears, black from mascara, were streaming down her face from her white zombie eyes.

The idea I have for another shoot will capture someone getting gagged before they are strangled to death. I will have to consider what gag is used as it will have an effect on any marks or dents to the face. The tighter it is the more purple the marks will be because of the lack of blood circulation. The lips will be dry and cracked as they'd have no saliva. What situation was the person in as this would effect the state of their skin. If my story was about a zombie that was found dead in a garden he would have dirt, grass stains. Why was he dead was he murdered, with what? Was he burnt to death? What by? This would be evident in the make up as I would have to create a different type of burn depending on how it was produced. These are scenarios I have to question not only for my photoshoots but for the characters in my trailer in order for it to fit within the context.