Evaluation

Evaluation

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of working on Paintings for Inspiration, and feel like I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and experience both from working with the film department, and organising my own photo shoot. I’ve always known I’m far more geared towards film than theatre, so it’s been a great opportunity to work at a professional level both on the film and for the photograph.

Working with the film department has been such an incredible experience. I hadn’t worked on many films before, though have always had a huge passion for film and the film industry. It was amazing to be able to see what working on set is like as a designer and an assistant, and also to see all the other roles come to life on set. I did find designing for the film really challenging for a number of reasons, though am really proud of how it looks in the final film and think I ultimately made some great choices. The biggest challenge was working with child actors, as it made it a lot more difficult both in research and to source items, and did mean that I spent more than some others on my budget. This combined with the incredibly tight time frame, I found really difficult to feel like I was in control. It wasn’t until very late on, only a few days before the actual shoot, that I was given my actors and for one actor I had no measurements. Though this all worked out well in the end I think I let myself panic a little and doubted some of my choices the day before the shoot. I was really reassured seeing the girls in the items I’d chosen as they fit perfectly with the feel of the piece. The day went really smoothly and I felt really at home in the on set environment. Working with the film students has definitely confirmed for me that this is the industry I want to be working in.

For the styling shoot I definitely chose to do something that was really personal to my interests and something I felt really passionate about. Because of this I think I’ve managed to produce a really solid interpretation with a subtle comedic twist to it, which is exactly what I was aiming for. I absolutely loved researching for it and found it really fun pulling it all together. One of my biggest aims from the start was to have fun with the styling project and I definitely think that comes across in my photo. Seeing the final image now it’s exactly how I envisaged it from the start which I’m really pleased about, and I’ve had some really positive feedback about it. I feel like I tried to be really organised with my time management for this part of the project, though this fell through slightly towards the end due to unavailability of the photography studios which delayed me a week from when I had originally intended to shoot. This spiralled slightly as it meant that one of the models who I’d decided on from the start was unable to make it, and again as with the film, I really began to doubt myself and the potential success of the shoot. As soon as we were set up in the studio the doubt disappeared, and thanks to my photographer, Kevin Malbas, we managed to get, what I think, is a really successful image. For future projects it’s obvious that I need to keep confident throughout and really stick by my decisions.

For me, the best part of this project has definitely been the collaborative content as I’ve worked with students from both Film and Photography. It feels amazing that my costume work for Girl with a Dove has been one of many elements that brought the whole film together, and seeing it today as a final edit has made it all worth while, particularly as I’ve seen it from the absolute start to finish. I loved working with so many of the Film students, and really hope that I get the chance again next year and in the future to work with some of them again. I have some film work experience coming up this summer and feel more confident having done this project. The film industry is definitely where I can see myself in the future.