March photography blog

For the first half of March the lessons took place remotely while working from home due to COVID lockdowns, then in the second half of the month we were able to go back into University. During lockdown the majority of the showreel clips were shot on an iPhone instead of a DSLR camera, which was due to the difficulty of exporting film from the camera and because an iPhone was more accessible for filming alone. The main problem with shooting showreel clips on an iPhone was that when it came to transferring clips onto Premier Pro the film was not of a high enough quality compared to clips shot in the studio (figure 1, 2). Fortunately it is possible to recreate these clips in the studio to ensure there is a consistent film quality across the showreel. Additionally there was the problem of trying to capture interesting footage for the showreel in a home environment as there isn’t a dedicated workspace that looks clean and crisp as a background for filming, and there isn’t any professional lighting. When edited alongside clips filmed in the studio you can see a difference in the home footage that brings down the quality of the video and makes the showreel appear unprofessional.

The idea for this showreel is to showcase the makeup artist’s style which can range from prosthetics and special effects to glamour makeup and hair design. The logo for their makeup business is a face showing half a skull and half glamour makeup (figure 3), which demonstrates the two sides to their professional abilities. The aim this term is to recreate this look in the studio filmed in close up - the application of this look will appear at the start of the showreel, while a longer clip of the final look will be placed at the end so that the rest of the showreel builds up to this important image. So far the first half of the showreel is mainly clips of product close ups, wig work and glamour makeup, which then transitions into prosthetic work and special effects with sculpting and flat moulds. The overall showreel showcases the makeup artist’s abilities but in the editing stage it is hard to make the concept of the video flow. This is because in replay the quality is not consistent from clip to clip and doesn’t transition smoothly.

Figures

Figure 1: Bad quality image of video (Gaylor,2021)

Figure 2: Bad quality image of video (Gaylor,2021)

Figure 3: Business card (Gaylor,2021)