The Infinity Symbol.

In my trailer... once bitten by a zombie an " infinity symbol" will brand the skin.

I decided on an infinity sign as it means never ending, which fits with the 'new world' in my trailer - the world of zombies. The symbol looks like the number eight on its side and is a perfect design as it is bold, simple and symmetric. The zombies brand their symbol onto their victims' skin once they have been bitten and converted into a zombie.

I knew I needed a symbol of some sort and this was the simplest that I would be able to do on a large number of actors in a short space of time, and still look effective. I looked into a variety of different shapes such as triangles, hearts, diamonds, etc. However, this one had the meaning behind it, was simple to do and had an interesting design that was also adaptable in different sizes.

DEFINITION OF INFINITY:

in·fin·i·ty

   [in-fin-i-tee] Show IPA

–noun,plural-ties.

1.

the quality or state of being infinite.

2.

something that is infinite.

3.

infinite space, time, or quantity.

4.

an infinite extent, amount, or number.

5.

an indefinitely great amount or number.

6.

Mathematics.

a.

the assumed limit of a sequence, series, etc., that increases without bound.

b.

infinite distance or an infinitely distant part of space.

7.

Photography.

a.

a distance between a subject and the camera so great that rays of light reflected from the subject may be regarded as parallel.

b.

a distance setting of the camera lens beyond which everything is in focus.

Trailer Narrative

Anthony and I got together for a meeting how I was going to adapt his script to fit my brief. We went through each scene carefully, and discussed how we could make the script more make up focused. As we thought of ideas, we wrote it down and this is what we finalised:-

The story is...... A boy is given an 'infinity' pill by a dark and mysterious man, and is told to take it if he wants to 'stop time' and 'achieve the impossible'. The boy takes the pill and finds that the city has frozen... He steals money from shops, a laptop from a house, and explores this new experience. He begins to realise that the world he has reached isn't as fun as he thought, and then zombies begin to appear. He goes back to the man who gave him the pill, and is told that the more bad things he does, the worse it will get and the more zombies will appear. He tries to redeem himself by going back and putting things right, but its too late. After a vicious zombie chase he is bitten on the neck where an 'infinity' symbol is branded on his neck. The infinity symbol scars the skin once you have been bitten - does this mean the boy has become a zombie?

Renaissance shoot

Today I did another of my photo shoots with photographer Kimberley Garrod, who I work with at Double Take Studios, which is where we did the shoot. This was based on a mixture of styles contrasting the traditional Renaissance hair, pale skin and elegant figure; with dark almost gothic eyes, lips and structured cheekbones. I wanted this shoot to be fashion and editorial based whilst taking elements from old school horror films like Dracula where the heroine is quite glamorous with dark, edgy make up, which ties in with the zombie aspect. I didn't want the make up to be a typical zombie style as I wanted it to contrast with my other shoots, and use subtle qualities in the make up and hair to simply suggest it. For example, her poses - quite awkward and zombie like, but totally different to my other shoots. The hair is based on a typical Renaissance hair style - I wanted to create shape and texture to the hair and this old school hair style contrasted well with the modern make up. My model who Kimberley found at a model agency in Bournemouth, had beautiful bone structure, however she had really bad acne on her chin which I managed to cover with a thick Dermacolour concealer, so that it wasn't seen on camera.

Instead of using white contact lenses, I used black and white eye shadow to represent the white eyes of a zombie. I also edited some of them in black and white with a grainy filter which creates the traditional old style horror movie element.

I was really pleased with the pictures and the only editing needed was to achieve grainy effects.

Illamasqua talk

Spob O'Brien and Adam Sidwell are 'Illamasqua' make up artists who came in to give us a lecture on the new founded Illamasqua make up brand by Alex Box, which is only 19 months old.

They told us all about their branding and how it is about self expression and exploring your alto ego which is every person's darker side. It is all about not being afraid to try new things and experiment with bold colours.

I feel I learnt a great deal from this talk as Alex Box has come from a fine-art background and she expresses colour and texture within her work which is similar to how I like to work, therefore I can relate to her creative thinking. This has inspired me to be more free with my make up and loosen up with brush marks and colour, a distinctive theme of Illamasqua's brand. They like bold colours, shapes and structural shading techniques. Alex Box treats each make up design like a painting and that is something I should acknowledge within my work also.

Suzanne by Plan B

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7uwVBIrup4

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.

Another Photoshoot required!

I was really happy with my graduate make up design as it ticked all boxes such as the Club Kids theme, zombie theme, quirky with a hint of horror. UNFORTUNATELY... I wasn't totally happy with the images for use as part of my final design therefore I will be organizing a re-shoot.

I have found a photographer called Lee Knight who is on the fashion photography course to take the photos. The model has kindly agreed to help me again and so I have booked the studio for the 16th!

I'll try and get the same clothes from the fashion show that she wore before, don't know whether this will be possible..