SOCIAL MEDIA

Ever since I started creating Phantasia, I knew it was important to utilise social media to give my project recognition. I posted inspiration, snippets of behind the scenes cropped previews and also short videos and gifs. I valued comments and likes as a form of encouragement as sometimes I would find myself questioning my work and my abilities, it was good to know that people gave my project a positive response. Facebook and Instagram are the two main social media platforms that I use, although I found that I have a larger audience on Instagram. The use of hashtags makes it easier for to come across my work.

One Instagram that I find a lot of inspiration on is beautifulbizarremagazine. I have used the #beautifulbizarre and they have liked a few of my Instagram posts which made me a lot of motivation and encouragement. I feel that my work very much relates to the aesthetic of the magazine and  I hope to get in touch with the magazine in the future and submit some of my work as being featured would be a very exciting accomplishment and will hopefully open up more opportunities for me as an artist. 

SHOOT 6: SNAKE

This shoot was the easiest of them all because it was a series of self portraits. Since I was the model, I was able to adapt my poses quickly to portray the emotion I needed. I was wearing a long green cheongsam which I found restricted my movement as I tried to pose, however I think that the dress works to give a subtle snake element as because the dress was wrinkling with the contours of the body just like how the skin of a snake folds as it moves. 

Overall, I think the shoot went really well and that we were able to capture a snake like essence. The only think I may change if I was to reshoot this look was the hair. I chose to wear a wig because it would drastically change my appearance. I chose that peculiar style of hair to make me look younger and more innocent however I don't think that the hair works as well with the sleek movement and slender long shapes I was creating. 

I used red mesh to symbolise the shedding of a snakes skin, although subtle, I think it creates very interesting images.

The image above is one of my favourites from the shoot because the angle has really elongated my body with the hip sticking out resembles the curves of a snake. This photo is eery because the viewer is not sure whether the eyes are open or not; there is simply a line of red. My arms look awkward but I think it works for the context of the picture, I look as if paralysed. 

MY DREAMS & SELF PORTRAITURE

Since I was a child, I have always had very vivid dreams. I have many memories of dreams, some dreams from many many years ago still haunt me. Growing up, I have always been very intrigued by the supernatural, horror has always been a love of mine and I often fill my mind with stories of ghosts and demons. Nightmares are my favourite kind of dream, the feeling of terror brings excitement and upon waking I feel very much inspired. I guess my own dream world is the main motivation and inspiration behind this project. 

My most vivid dream memory is being chased by a gigantic emerald green snake. Snakes are my biggest fear. They always slither into my dreams and terrify me. I have not questioned the meaning of these dreams until I began this project, dream dictionary gives a plethora of explanations such as running away from emotions or dealing with intimidating situations. However, the explanation that I am most drawn to is the symbolism of transformation - snakes shed their skin. I feel that especially during the last couple years and throughout this project I have transformed not only as a make-up artist but also as an artist. 

For the last character of my Phantasia series, I want to create a series of self portraits reflecting on my personal dreams - the idea of incorporating the self into my work is inspired by the art of Cristina Francov which I have talk about one of my previous posts. I think that concluding the exhibition with a personal message will create a personal connection between the viewer and the artist. 

In a subtle way, I plan to use the theme of snakes - I will become the snake who sheds skin and transforms. 

Mood board of lighting, colour and beauty inspiration.

For styling, I am thinking of wearing a emerald green cheongsam - a tight traditional Chinese dress. The sheen and pattern of the dress can resemble the skin of a snake from a distance.

SHOOT 4: VISITATION DREAM

For this series of images, I tried to experiment with different lighting, combining both cool and warm colours. I achieved this by using two spotlights on either side of the model, one utilising a cool gel filter and the other a warm gel filter. In a couple of the images, I created a hazy gradient background by aiming a pink light upwards from under the model. Using a cloth filter over the camera lens also gave the images a dreamy effect and the model an airbrushed feel which smoothens the skin whilst adding a glowing effect. I found that this setup worked particularly well, I also found that adjusting the intensity of the light gave different effects, making the image either softer or more contrasting. I was very happy with the studio set up, having regularly assisted shoots in the past, I feel that I have put to use the skills that I have learnt from various photographers and adjusted techniques to find my personal style. By using similar effects on all series of images I will be able to keep the images looking consistent. 

I was very happy with the model, I had a conversation with her before the shoot about the Edith Wharton story that inspired the character and having also seen Crimson Peak, she understood the dark gothic romance storyline. 

MOVING IMAGES

Since I wanted to incorporate moving images within still images I decided to experiment with gifs. I created the first two using clips that I had filmed for the test shoot for the proposal and the last from the sexsomnia shoot. My aim was to create a hypnotising and surreal images and I achieved these by slowing down, reversing and distorting movement. I think the last gif works particularly well because I used a filter which makes the image look three-dimensional.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO: COLOUR AND STORYTELLING

Guillermo Del Toro is one of my favourite film directors and is one of the main inspirations behind this project , I especially adore his dark fantasy works such as Pans Labyrinth (2006) and Crimson Peak (2015) which combines gothic horror, fairytale and romance. His use of colour is fantastic and has inspired me to work towards a filmic aesthetic. The colour red is predominantly utilised in many of his films.

Pans Labyrinth is a film combining two worlds. In the fantasy world the colours are warm, "deep crimsons and golden ambers, almost like amniotic fluids," notes Del Toro. In this world, the edges are round and soft. In the harsh reality of Ophelia's life, there are many sharp edges and angles, more contrast in colour which are predominantly blues and greys. 

As the film develops and the two worlds or narratives start to come together, the colours begin to mix. "I decided that we were going to do a contamination process, that one world was going to start infecting the other," says Del Toro. "As the movie goes on, they combine more and achieve unity, and ophelia's view of the world becomes as real as the fascists'." By using colour as their key, "we found the language we needed to help the audience understand the complexity of the movie." 

Crimson Peak is a film that combines romance and horror, a tragic love story that like many of Guillermo's films portray ghosts yet present the humans as the true monsters. There are sexual echoes carried throughout the film - red symbolises love and sin.

The ghosts of Crimson Peak are stained blood red, Del Toro explains:

The ghosts are buried in the clay," he tells me, "like the bog people in The Mummy, and I thought it would be interesting to treat them in the same colour as the clay under the house which is a bright crimson. The house is built over clay mines, and the clay is a bright red. They are visually coded and the only red in the entire movie. Everyone who has a bit of red has something to do with the ghosts. The rest of the movie does not have that colour at all. I was trying to make that red the past. To have that past seep through the floor, seep through the snow and reveal its true nature. Crime never stays hidden in classic romance.

Red has always been my favourite colour to use when creating art, I want to utilise red as a running theme throughout Phantasia for it portrays many conflicting emotions. Red is a sinister colour because it can represent love and passion yet it can also represent danger, sin, anger and destruction. Like Guillermo, when creating my images and editing in post-production, I will be considering the use of warm and cool tones and to determine what feelings that image should portray.

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Mills, R. 2015, Colour and Storytelling in Films. Available: 
http://www.robertmills.me/colour-and-storytelling-in-films/

Krupa, D. 2015, Del Toro Talks About Crimson Peak. Available: 
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/05/14/5-creepy-and-cool-things-del-toro-told-us-about-crimson-peak

Jenkins, D. 2015, Del Toro Interview: 'I like the kubrick films nobody likes' Available: 
http://lwlies.com/interviews/guillermo-del-toro-crimson-peak/

THE COLOUR RED

Stanley Kubrick Supercut: RED

DARIO ARGENTO: TECHNICOLOR IN HORROR

SUSPERIA, (1977)

I decided to intensively utilize primary colors — blue, green and red — to identify the normal flow of life and then apply a complementary color, mainly yellow, to contaminate them. A [horror] film brings to the surface some of the ancestral fears we hide deep inside us, and Suspiria would not have had the same cathartic function if I had used the fullness and consolatory sweetness of the full color spectrum. To immediately make Suspiria a total abstraction from what we call “everyday reality” I used the usually reassuring primary colors only in their purest essence, making them immediately, surprisingly violent and provocative. This brings the audience into the world of Suspiria. 

- Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli

 INFERNO, 1980

In 1980, technicolour was at it's prime. In Inferno, Dario Argento drenched his characters in vivid colour. These hues interact with the main characters to cinematically illustrate the horror of physical, psychological, and supernatural chaos in motion. Viewing these colours results in a chaotic mental state due to our distracted focus of the colours and the emotions it portrays. The use of coloured lighting is unnatural and gives the film a dreamlike aesthetic, 

My aim from the very beginning is to create images with vivid colour in a filmic aesthetic; Dario Argento's work is the perfect example of the coloured lighting that I want to achieve in my images, specifically the use of contrasting hues of red and blue. 

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American Cinematographer, The International Journal of Motion Imaging, 2010, Vol 91 No. 2, Pg. 68

Cristine Sellin, Film Theory and Criticism: http://mahara.cs.lewisu.edu/view/artefact.php?artefact=4363&view=554

STOP THINKING BEAUTIFUL

Recently, I feel as though I try too hard to make the models appear even more beautiful than they already are - this way of thinking limits me creatively. I don't want to create standard beauty images, I want to create powerful thought provoking imagery by using unusual makeup techniques and unconventional materials. It is time I pulled myself away from my comfort zone and think outside the box. I have been inspired by makeup artists such as Alex Box and Val Garland who are constantly distorting and experimenting with new texture, form and shape of makeup. 

Image from Pinterest