Girl with a Dove - Final Product

Today I saw the film put together for the first time. It looks fantastic. Visually its really beautiful, and I think the costume fits really well with the set and lighting. Here are a few screen shots.

Styling Project Final.

I'm so incredibly pleased with the final image. It's turned out exactly as I envisaged it to start and the girls and Kevin did an incredible job for me on Thursday.

There are only a couple small things I would change to make it fit a little better spatially and colour-wise but they're such small things, I think the perfectionist in me is picking them out for myself! I think the colour and line works really well and I've had some really positive feedback from family, friends and the team. I know that I could have tried to replicate the set accurately though I feel that the studio feel of the shoot adds a level of professionalism to the image which I wanted to achieve. 

Personally I love it and am really proud of this final result. 



I'd like to say a massive thanks to the Dorset Roller Girls, without whom this project wouldn't have been realised =)   

Shooting the Derby Stuarts

So today was the shoot day! It didn't take too long and I think Kevin Malbas has done an awesome job. The girls looked amazing and really pulled off the image as I had imagined it!

This is the shot I want to use. It'll need some touching up and editing but here it is in its raw state. 

Shoot Day!

So yesterday was the shoot day! We met bright and early at 7:30 and were on set by 8am.
The set was this amazing run down farm building, with one end filled with all sorts of interesting bird cages, which were added to with 5 more cages containing 6 very sweet birds. It had this great antique feel to it among the dusty run down space. 
As the only internal space was the shooting area we had a gazebo for our green room and costume area and a tent as our changing room! This actually worked really well, and luckily after some initial rain in the morning we had some great weather and our giant umbrellas were left unused!

Initially the plan was to get the actors on set for 10:15 to start shooting at 10:30, though with a combination of a bit of heavy rain and some electrical problems with the lights we had a late start at around 11:30. 

I had been a little worried about the costume the day before as we hadn't been able to arrange any fittings for any of the 3 actors. I'd taken a variety of potential costume items so we had the option to mix and match on the day, however my 1st choice items worked exactly as I had wanted them to and the girls fitted perfectly in everything! Des had bought a selection of shirts, trousers and shoes for me to chose from. I wanted a plain white shirt and plain black trousers, with black shoes, and he had perfect items for what was needed. I had two waistcoat options and the preferred one fit perfectly.

 Hattie Gotobed - Girl 1

 Melissa Gotbed - Girl 2

 Des Barron - Aviary Keeper

It was amazing to be on set. I'd worked on films before but nothing with the high level of equipment and planning as this shoot. Even when costume wasn't particularly needed it was really great to be able to watch on the monitor and see how the shots were looking. It was also great to have Charlie assisting me, as sometimes it felt like I needed to be in 2 places at once! 

Even after the late start, the rest of the day went relatively smoothly. A couple of shots had to be cut because of the delay as the birds were due back early, but they got everything they needed and I thought it looked amazing! We managed to wrap on time just before 5.

It was such a great experience and a really enforced for me that film is definitely where I want to be working! I literally can't wait to see how the film's final edit will look, and it seems sort of strange that even though my job as costume is done there are still so many steps before we'll see the finished product. I'm really proud of the work I've done for the shoot. 

Here are a few more detailed pictures of the set:

Final Choice and Next Steps

So as I said in my previous post, after my tutorial with Bunny Winter I have decided on using Lord John Stuart and his Brother, Lord Bernard Stuart. 

After seeing The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp transformed into a scene at a tattoo parlour I was so drawn to the comedy side of it as well as the alternative feel and I wanted to achieve something that also encapsulated that comedy in creating something a bit different. After the idea of recreating this as two 21st century Roller Derby girls sprung into my head I haven't been able to shake it as its such a personal love of mine. I've since been focusing a lot in my sketchbook on the key shapes and lines I want to replicate using the Roller Derby gear.

The idea is to turn the image of these wealthy 17th century men completely upside down, firstly by making them women, and more importantly by adorning them in the essential Roller Derby gear and giving them a bit of Roller Derby attitude. 

The next step is to look at the gear itself and how I can replicate the shapes, lines and colours with it. 

Images courtesy of the Dorset Roller Girls