Further Reflection & Quotes

In the begining I was originally focusing my ideas and plans for the book more towards hollywood films and how I could interpret make-up designs and looks from the film industry. However along my journey the direction of the book has changed slightly. Research and inspiration has been laregly focused on art works and work of other make-up artists.

I have been inspired when thinking about my chosen dance styles and what mood each style portrays when being performed. When delving into moods and feelings of dance, colour becomes a huge aspect and can be used to compliment certain dance styles and the message I am attempting to display.

When considering the books content I want to try and include quotes which are in keeping with the theme of dance. I think involving quotes into the pages of the book will tie the theme together and give an artistic edge to the layout without having to describe too obviously what my book is based upon.

Here are some examples of dance quotes by famous dancers, philosophers & writers:

‘’Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire’’ – George Bernard Shaw

‘’ To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak’’ – Indian Proverb

‘’Dance is the poetic baring of the soul through motion’’ – Scott Nilsson

‘’Great dancers are not great because of their technique: they are great because of their passion’’ – Martha Graham

‘’Everything in the universe has rhythm, everything dances’’ – Maya Angelou

‘’It’s not how you move its what moves you’’ – Pina Bausch

‘’Dance is the movement of the universe concentrated in an individual’’ – Isadora Duncan

‘’Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery’’ – Martha Graham

‘’Dance is a song of the body, either joy or pain’’ – Martha Graham

‘’The movement moment itself, its content, meaning and relationship to the human spirit’’ – Rodolph Laban

‘’There are times when the simple dignity of movement can fulfil the function of a volume of words’’ – Doris Humphrey

‘’The dance : a minimum of explanation, a minimum of anecdotes and a maximum of sensations’’ – Maurice Bejart

‘’Dance is like life, it exists as you’re flitting through it, and when its over its done’’ – Jerome Robbins

‘’Ballet is a dance executed by the human souls’’ – Alexanda Pushkin

‘’Let us read and let us dance – two amusements that will never do any harm to the world’’ – Voltaire

‘’Dance are athletes of god’’ – Albert Einstein

‘’Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul’’ – Plato

Reflection so far...

I want to write a reflection post so far, to note down any thoughts or worries I have regarding images and preparation for the printed book.

I am pleased with many of my shoots planned and created so far however there are a couple that I think are not to my best ability.

I had a nightmare on the day of my 'Jazz' themed shoot and ended up with no photographer which then put strain on a lot of other aspects of the shoot ending up in me compromising time in hair and make-up to set up the shoot and hire camera and all other necessities in order to take the photographs. Because of this problem I had on the day I am not happy with the overall final images for 'Jazz' and I want to plan a re-shoot in the holidays. I will hire a camera and set up a studio from home as I am lucky enough to have access to leads and lights to borrow from local film studios at home in London.

The other shoot I am also entirely pleased with is the 'Contemporary' shoot. After having feed back from the tutors I am concerned about the standard of the shoot. I don’t want to include a shoot that isn't one hundred percent right and fitting to my book. If possible I am going to re-shoot this theme also in the holidays and use models I am in contact with from home in London to hopefully create a stronger shoot to use in my FMP.

Time is my main worry at the moment and how I’m going to put the book all together in InDesign to be sent off to print on time for submission. I have begun playing around with layouts in InDesign and using a template downloaded from Blurb which is 12x12 square book.

I will be printing my book with Blurb as their service is reliable and I have had various emails back and forth with Blurb concerning my book and what I will need to do to have it printed in time, paper type, thickness and pages and sizes.

I am planning on having 50-60 pages if not more if possible for the final product as I have aimed to complete x10 photo shoots. I would like to have glossy pages inside the book and perhaps a wrap around glossy cover also on the outside.

Time is ticking now and its time for me to focus on finalising my shoots and edits and getting these re-shoots I need done in order to move forward and finish the layout of my FMP in InDesign.

Wish me luck!!

Edits from Contermporary Shoot

Here are a couple of edits from the contemporary shoot. 

The green stripe that goes through this image below creates a sense of movement without using the staggering technique on all the final images. Also it is matching the colour pallet of the makeup deisng and styling. I do think this image gives a modern feel and mood to the audience however some of the shading on the face does seem to be lost which is an issue for developing this image further and potentially using it in the printed book.

Feedback :

Another meeting with my tutor took place and I was able to show the images from this shoot and also these edits to see what the thoughts were on the whole shoot, make-up, fashion, hair and theme.

Feedback I recieved was that the photo's are in danger of making the model look like she has bags underneath the eyes and some of the shading could also be mistaken to look dirty on the face. This was no way my intention for the shoot but looking through the pictures afterwards, I do see where my tutor is coming from. I do not want to display makeup designs that in any way look dirty or not in keeping with the theme.

This edit below in particular, you can see what my tutor's point is even though some of the shading has been blended on photoshop it could be mistaken to look dirty.

I need to sit down with the pictures and analyse what needs to be done in editing to pull the picture and idea back to look professional or whether it is a case of re-shooting to get the perfect image for the book!

  



Contemporary Shoot

These are images from the contemporary theme shoot. My model Caroline Raymond has long hair so as you can see I decided to slick back the hair with gel to create a fairly fashion style shot. I didnt want to make the hair too busy as I had intended it too look sleek and modern.

I chose a green top with spikes on the shoulder pads to tie in with the green coloured make up and the modern theme - spikes are very modern at the moment so wanted to fit the theme so tried this out in the shoot.

I am happy with some of the compositions from the shoot and I think the lighting works better in some photos as apose to others. However I do think something isnt quite right with the final outcome of the shoot. Im not entirely happy as it doenst seem as strong as some of the other work I have done already. Perhaps editing is key with this shoot and can make or break the images. Again I want to include a sense of movement into the photos but in a different way each shoot!

Time for some editing I think.....

Contemporary Dance Inspiration and testing

I would like to create a contemporary dance inspired shoot. Modern styling matching the make-up design. Here is a moodboard of my initial ideas for the shoot. I think it would be great in this look to create two tone lips as this adds a dimention to the look disimilar to any of my other shoots so far.

I did a test for the make-up look and here are some results:

Here are some snaps from testing. I see contemporary dance as a very calm, free, modern with high expression movement and moods. I think green could emulate the mood I am aiming for in the photo's, Id like to encorporate alot of shading and two tone lips to add an interesting aspect to the look.

As you can see from the images shown I will be applying loose powder around the eye in a speckled effect to perhaps add depth to the make up look.

Blending of the colours on the cheek and around the cheek bone blend well and this could look effective once its on camera under lights also!

Shoot pictures are to come!