Back to the shoot. I had known a stylist from last year which I loved to collaborate with as she was extremely talented, Zoe Pujol. I have contacted her and told her that I wanted to collaborate and we decided to do something together along with another group of brilliant people. So for this to work, I was therefore responsible with the make-up and hair design for the shoot and to lead the make-up artists team to reinterpret my vision. This sounded super exciting and it was indeed, I haven't done this before except from the Front competition, but there was a somehow equal amount of work put in by both of us when working in a team. Anyway so Zoe and the rest of the team handled all the other aspects such as finding agency signed models, cool location, magnificent clothes and so on, and following their instructions by email I have designed the makeup. The email from Zoe included image references of the styling and aesthetic and was at follows:
Hi Simona,
Here is a detailed explanation of the shoot in the photographers words: This project explores the concept of revolution through the recreation of the events of the 1st of October in Catalonia, where a self-determination referendum was conducted with extreme difficulties and violence from the police. This recreation will be done through three photoshoots representing three revolutionary elements of the day: Violence, Patience and Solidarity. Each chapter will result in 4 to 6 shots most of which will be group shots with 3 to 7 models. The shoot of the11th is for Solidarity -or the caring moment that people engaged in during and after the fact.
Have also attached the corresponding moodboards (sent by the photographer), female models (still waiting to confirm male ones, so also take into consideration that you will have to create some mens MUA looks too), location images and call sheet. Here is a pinterest board with related style and colours/tone for the shoot: https://www.pinterest.
After reading the email we discussed more on facebook and she also sent me more details about the context:
This is the what the photographer sent me: In my new project I will reenact through a series of fashion images the events that took place in Catalonia on the 1st of October of 2017. On that day a referendum took place. It had been called by the Catalan government and organised by groups of citizens as it was declared illegal by the Spanish central government. The referendum was meant to find out whether the Catalan people wanted to remain in Spain or have their own state. During that day, the police attempted to stop the referendum by violently seizing the ballot boxes or at least attempting to do so, as the population managed to conduct the voting successfully.
Through the exploration of this event I will look at what could be called “stages of revolutions”, as I believe what happened that day was of a revolutionary nature. I have decided this stages in three parts, and thus the series will have three chapters, which will be differentiated by composition and tone.
The first stage will be called Patience (names are susceptible to be changed as I find more appropriate words), it refers to the organizational period previous to any social change or “revolution”. This chapter will have reddish light that suggest nighttime, the composition will be vertical, suggesting layering. the layering of excitement, expectations and fear that preceded the day. There will also be a still life in this chapter, a food still life, as the people that presented themselves to vote and guard the voting stations brought breakfast to share (as they had been sleeping in the schools or presented themselves around 5 in the morning to make sure everything worked well). There was, coffee, cakes, biscuits and other sweet foods in abundance.
The second stage will be Violence, representing the shock cause by the brutal act of the police. It will be lit with blue lights, increasing as the composition becomes more chaotic and expressive. The bodies in the pictures will engage in disorganized movement, like that of a punk dance or the Guernika of Picasso. There will also be a still life for this chapter including earring, an umbrella, glasses and other objects that were lost during police intervention and remained on the floor after.
The third stage will be Solidarity, or the caring moment that people engaged in during and after the fact. The colour will be yellow and the composition will have circular pattern to it, or a weave like pattern, with people forming lines holding each other.
Having all these informations at hand, I have thought about ways of translating this into a make-up and hair design. In this post I will explain the design process and give instructions and clear visual examples of how the look is supposed to be like, so the other make-up artists working alongside me will know what is expected. There were three looks, starting with the most simple one and builded/changed upon change of clothes. The main look in my opinion was supposed to be the one with white applications to the face, but on the day the third look, the colourful one was.
LOOK 1 - neutral/earthy tones clothing
This will focus on the base of all the looks
All female models
- Clean skin, paler base (no bronzer, slight neutral colour contour of the cheekbones), little concealer and sheer coverage of foundation, dewy & highlighted look (skin very moisturised)
- Flushed cheeks, from the apples to the bridge of the nose slighty (preferably pinkish hues of blusher/cream blusher)
- Natural looking freckles on skin
- Neutral coloured eyeshadow-more like contour colour
- No mascara/clear mascara, possibly added a hint of gloss/a highlight or champagne shade on the middle of the upper eyelid, eyes sculpted slightly with the contour shade/a matte neutral soft brown shade, highlight in the inner corner
- Natural fluffy eyebrows, filled in lightly with powder and set upwards
- Lips in a natural colour, very soft edges, not defined, satin finish
- Powder in T zone lightly and under cheekbone where contour will be applied, only at the end of the makeup
- Facial spray before shoot
Male models
- Very moisturised face and LIPS, sheer coverage base, slight contour of cheekbones
- Eyes defined with the contour powder more towards the iner corner of the eye and the eyebrow
- Groomed eyebrows, fluffy looking and set up
- Maybe a hint of blusher (see on the day)
- Clean natural looking lips with chapstick
- Added applications of the face
- Facial spray before shoot
HAIR:
- natural model’s hair, maybe just straightened a bit or styled to look it's best
LOOK 2 Directions - this will work with the white clothes
(facecharts done by me in Adobe Sketch)
LOOK 2 symbolism
The llook will have the focus on one/two/three? main models in the centre of the image. Their face will be done in a very similar way, with rose petals coming from the edges of the face and stacked onto each other towards the hair, almost like a scarf wrapped around the face, framing the face in an “O”. The rose petals will start to disperse and fade towards the middle of the head/hair and from the sides of the face towards the neck. Small little white flowers will be used to fill in the gaps along with little white pearls, those helping with the “fading” effect. The rest of the models will have rose petals, small little flowers and pearls continued onto their faces, almost like a continuation of the main model’s looks, like a flow from the models in the centre of the image to the ones on the sides.
The symbolism of the look plays on the idea of unity and support, therefore all the model’s looks will be similar and the same elements will be used throughout the looks. The rose petals along with the small flowers and pearls, when together, symbolise the power of the people that come together for an ideal, when alone, they look fragile and small, but when together, they make a statement. The placement of the white rose petals around the face of the central models will help create a “circle”, an “O” aorund the face which again, plays with the idea of wholeness when united. Pearls have been used for centuries to suggest purity, therefore adding them to “fade” the look reinforces the feelings associated with selfless solidarity between humans.
We will see on the day but bring white eyeliner, something to replace white mascara and something to make freckles out of just in case. Hair to be discussed on the day but bring a straightener/curling wand and hairspray just in case.
Any changes should be discussed with the make-up designer and the rest of the creative team previously.
All female models
- add applications to the face, retouch eyes if added gloss
- “Blooming lips” / “Korean lips”: a pinkish, natural shade of lipstick is added onto the lips in a fade effect from the centre to the edges. The most intense colour will be in the centre of the lips. Added gloss.
- Add rose petals, small flowers and pearls to the face in continuity of the main look (eyelash glue/double sided tape to secure depending on the case)
- Skin sprayed with facial spray before shooting
Male models
- keep the base from first look and touch up where needed
- Added applications of the face
- Facial spray before shoot
Hair:
- Hair parted on best side of model, sleeked back (gel) where it suits the model. Example:
LOOK 3 - this will work with the colorful pink clothes
- remove the flowers and pearls off the face
- remove the freckles from the previous look and clean up the mess from the removing
- add blusher again
- Clean up the eyes from gloss and apply concealer as base, set with powder for good blending
- Create a colorful pastel look: combinations of purple+yellow, purple+green, green+pinks, pinks+yellows OR monochromatic pastel (blended well on the eyesm NO gloss) SEE EXAMPLES
- Keep the hair from previous look
This shoot took me a lot more time than I actually was supposed to have for it but it was all worth it in the end! I have taken Lia with me to be the other make-up artist and it has been the best decision because one of the other Muas did not turn up. It was challenging to finish all three looks in time but we've made it and I could not be more proud of the way we both handled the situation on the day and the smooth communication between us. It has been such a rewarding experience in the sense that I have finally worked with professional creative people and not just university students or people like the ones I have worked with before... The only downside to this is that although I agreed with the photographer that I will be able to use the images for my FMP submission, I did not know that in order for images to be published in magazines they have to be exclusive and unpublished anywhere else. Therefore it was hard convincing the photographer to give me some of the images and most of the ones received were primarily focused on hair & make-up, which is fine, but I wanted to have those good images!! Anyway I got one of the mediocre ones so I am happy with that too, but just for future reference if I need some images by e certai date and time for projects or so I should probably make a written agreement between me and the photographer so situations like not receiving my images on time or at all will not happen. But I am thankful and happy I had this opportunity and I think making contacts and being patient will take me further than just trying to rush things... who knows, maybe my work will actually get published.
Here's some behind the scenes:
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