What did you do to prepare?
Before I did my first assessment I practiced the look twice so that I was very confident and comfortable with the look. I wrote a list of all the products, brushes and clothing and hair pieces that I needed for the look so that I didn’t forget everything and had everything I needed. I made sure my makeup and hair kit was clean and all my brushes had been washes to ensure a high standard of hygiene. I made sure I had enough or each product and if not, I made sure to make a note of where I could purchase it from before the assessment. I made sure I informed my model of when I would prefer her to last wash her hair and if I wanted her to wear fake tan or not etc. In my first assessment I took loads of images of the look, from different angles, close ups etc. so that I could refer back to them when recreating the look.
Did you record how much you would need of everything?
I practiced creating the look two times before my assessment so that I would know what base colours to use and how much product I ended up using. If I noticed that I was low on a product or that I used up a lot of a product that I re-purchased that product to ensure that it didn’t run out in my assessment.
Did you have enough makeup/products or did you run out, making it difficult to recreate the look?
After I practiced the look for the first time, I noticed that I was running low on my white supra colour and duo lash glue. I therefore found where I have purchased them from and bought another one of each to ensure that nothing would run out in my assessment. I didn’t run out of any products in my assessment so this did not effect me recreating the look.
Did you have accurate hair and makeup charts detailing how to create the looks?
I was very precise when drawing out my makeup and hair charts to make them look as detailed and accurate as possible; however I do struggle with drawing my hair charts so I made sure I labelled both my hair charts. I also made a step by step guide and equipment list to take with me so that I could follow each stage accurately.
If you or another person had to recreate the look weeks or months from now, would this be possible?
Yes this would be possible because I created detailed makeup and hair charts to follow. I made a detailed step by step guide on how to create the entire look. I made an equipment list so that would know exactly what products to get. They would need to contact my model and contact me to use the costume parts. I took many photos of the look, from closeup to full shots, so they could use that to reference.
Did you take enough images of your work?
Yes, I think I did, because I took close-ups or the eyes and lips and I took head shots from front on and different angles. I took mid shots and full body shots from different angles.
Did you make sure you had the first images to hand when repeating the look for the second time?
I had photos taken from the previous shoot within my step by step guide so that I could see what each stage of the makeup looked like so I didn’t miss anything out. I did have some images of the final look; however if I did it again, I would print them out bigger and print out more so that I could look at the makeup from every possible angle.
Looking at your pictures, what worked and what didn’t?
I am so happy with how similar the original look and the recreated makeup look turned out! I can only really see two differences, with the black lip line being slightly higher on the left cupids bow and it look smoother. The other difference is the positioning of the fringe; they are both very straight and both have small gaps in the middle, however the hairs are pointing in slightly different directions.
I am really happy with how the look came out. I think that the white supra colour along the lower lash line, with the lower fake lashes, makes the model’s eyes look very big, round and doll-like. I like how I didn’t make the look completely black and that I added in the burgundy colour because I think she would have looked very dull and ill looking without any colour to her face. I am so happy with the outfit choice because the corset incorporates the victorian aspect and the tutu incorporates the doll aspect. I think the wig worked very well and made her look a lot more striking. Using a wig was also easier to for continuity because I made sure I looked after the wig very well so it would look the same, instead of relying on my model to keep her hair the same.
Even though I had practiced the look before the assessment, we struggled to get the contacts in in the final assessment. My model said they felt very scratchy and uncomfortable, so we soaked them in new solution and re-applied them at the end and she said they felt a lot more comfortable. I found that whenever I put the wig on, the fringe looked slightly different and longer pieces would get in the way, so I made sure I brought scissors with me to the assessment so I could rectify any pieces that looked out of place. Looking back at the images, I think I would have over drawn my model’s bottom lip slightly because the shadows make it look like I haven’t gone right to the lip line.
What would you do differently next time? and how could you improve/be better prepared?
If I were to do this look again, I would apply some foundation over any red areas on her body and on her chest to make her look more perfect and doll-like and to make her body match her face texture and colour more accurately. I would also over draw her bottom lip slightly to make her lips look fuller but also because in certain lighting it looked like I hadn’t gone to the edges of her lips. I would also possibly make the blush on her cheeks more rounded and more concentrated on the apples of her cheeks to make her cheeks more of a feature.
I think I could have been better prepared for this assessment by printing out more images of the final look, with more closeups, from the previous shoot so that I could reference them and make every detail exactly the same.
What have you learned from this experience?
I have learned how important continuity is in film and how it can completely take away how realistic and believable the film is from it’ audience. I have also learnt how to accurately document a look, from makeup to hair to outfit, so that you can recreate it to look as similar as possible to the original look. I have learned how important it is to have photos of the look from every angle and close ups so that you can make every angle exactly the same and so you can pick up on small details that would be visible in film so there are no mistakes.
Becky Mercer 