Reflective Evaluation: Commission, Community, Collaboration.

Final Photo Situation: Character photoshoot.

The photos have been handed over to our editing team that will focus on making them the right file size and creating the transparency required. However, Roy stated that he'd rather not have these photos displayed online or on social networking sites, especially while the game is still in a process of production. He also doesn't want to potentially ruin the surprised for people who will be playing the game. For this reason I haven't uploaded the final photos to the blog.

Orpheus Costume.

Upon showing my designs to the actor who'll be performing as Orpheus, we discovered he already owned clothes that matched the costume I had designed, so I requested he send me photos of the outfit so I could ensure it fits within 50's era England that had previously been decided.
Overall, the items are clothing are pretty perfect for the designs I drew, the only changes are that it may need to be distressed somewhat? But this always ben done through facial makeup if Jordan (Orpheus) would rather not have paint rubbed into his waistcoat! This situation also means that I know that the costume fits the actor well, and nothing other than braces (if we're still going to use them) will need to be sourced. Further contemplation of what to do with hair and makeup will need to be discussed though, as 50's men would usually sport a short back and sides haircut.

Orpheus Initial design

Moving forwards from the mood boards and historic research, I drafted up a simple initial design for the character of Orpheus.
- Slicked back hair, but made to look a bit messy, like it's been slicked back for a few days.
- Grey waistcoat. Men in the 50's had a very limited dark palette of dark browns, blues, and greys.
- Patched up and re-repaired braces underneath the waistcoat, giving opportunity for the waistcoat to be removed in scenes, e.g. If Orpheus is sitting at the piano, he could have the waistcoat over the back of the chair.
- Rolled up sleeves, give a more informal vibe as well as shows that he cares more about working than appearance.
- Simple black trousers and tie.
- Black shoes; actors own.
- Makeup would be simple dark circles beneath the eyes and potential contouring to create gaunt, tired features.
- The whole thing should be distressed and emphasise the lack of wealth and social situation Orpheus is experiencing.

Orpheus Inspirational Sountrack.

Below is a small playlist of tracks that I feel fit the atmosphere of 'The Underworld' burlesque bar in our rendition of Orpheus. All are labelled with the song title then name of composer.

In general I went for jazzy tunes that could be played in a sleazy cabaret bar. There are different moods of songs, e.g. upbeat, light hearted, fast paced an dramatic, to suit different scenes of the play.

:Each link will open a new window to take you to the song.


Oooh - Caravan Palace

Posin' - Peggy Suave

Cry Me A River - Postmodern Jukebox

Seven Nation Army - Postmodern Jukebox

Chambermaid Swing - Parov Stelar

The Princess - Parov Stelar

Demon Dance - Parov Stelar

Young And Beautiful - Lana Del Rey 

Pinterest Links.

Mermaid and Clown Inspirational Pinboards

The above link will open a new window and take you to the Pinterest page I put together when researching and collecting inspirational images for the makeup's and costumes of the Clown and Mermaid characters, for the 'Real Medway and Swale' project.

Group Orpheus Pinboard

The above link will also open a new window displaying the group Pinterest board that myself and the Orpheus team put together, in order to collect historic reference images and visualisations for the characters and environment.

Maidstone Studios: Contextual Background

As the UK'S largest independent TV studio, Maidstone Studios possesses access to professional equipment and high-profile TV shows , with opportunity to network with leading industry professionals.
Facilities include: 25 Apple editing suites, screening, audition room, sound booth, kitchen, kit room and library. Access to the actual TV studio spaces are also available, which is where we were able shoot 'Teach Em' A Lesson.' I believe we were making use of Studio 2 which is 6,000 square feet and equipped with the capacity for 200 seated audience and boasts a full saturation lighting grid of 116 barrel hoists.


Examples of shows filmed at Maidstone Studios:
Later With Jools Holland, Catchphrase, Take Me Out, Sports Relief's Top Dog, Mister Maker, Jo Brands Great Wall of Comedy.

Orpheus costume mood boards: 1950's male fashion.

With the students coming to visit us at Farnham I also had the opportunity to sit down with the pupil who'll be performing as Orpheus and chat with him about the potential costume. As lead designer for the male characters, (Hades and Orpheus) I still hadn't been given any information on what the Performing Arts students wanted for the main characters so this was a prime opportunity to straighten this out. In general, I got the idea they wanted a man kitted out in generic 50's male fashion. However, I was also able to discuss characterisation for the figure of Orpheus:

He's not wealthy at all, and working at 'The Underworld' club as a struggling musician and club presenter with his love, Eurydice. Down beat, desperate, love stricken, afraid and frustrated, Orpheus is also horribly in debt to Hades; a debt he's struggling to pay off. Having this conversation gave me a lot more to go on, and now I have more of Orpheus' characterisation understood. Hades on the other hand  is the puppet master, the over lord, a dominant and twisted man who manipulates anyone for his own gain.

Through research I learnt that during the 50's the long trench coat and trilby styled hat was very common within the working 'businessman' class. Even though this was every-day wear, it also has a very formal appearance to it that I don't think would suit the down-trodden vibe of Orpheus. This style seems too mature and official. Instead I began concentrating on the style of younger men, or envisaging the fashions without the coat or hat. During this era, wearing a hat was 'the done thing' in polite society and all men would usually don the before mentioned trilby style before leaving the family home. However, if Orpheus is very poor then I can't visualise him in thick new coat and smart hat. Why wear clothes that hold a social status symbol when he's hit rock bottom? Because of this, I think a simple shirt, tie and waistcoat would be more accurate for the character, possibly distressed or aged up too? This would also be more cost effective and suit the minimal/ symbolic uses of the other costume.

I was also potentially considering braces, but don't want the fashion to come through too American in style, as the production is set in 1950's England. However, upon research, it turns out that braces would be worn very commonly in late 1940's/ early 50's England by gentlemen, e.g. A tailor would assume that trousers would always be worn with braces, as "any gentleman would insist upon". Because of this, I think that braces would suit the character as they were a commonly worn undergarment and no where near as fancy as a hat and coat, but I do think that aging them up or making them look patched up and old would be appropriate.

References:

http://histclo.com/style/pants/sus/sus/chron/20/1950/suspc-1950.html

http://fiftiesweb.com/fashion/1950s-mens-fashion/

Later on I discovered this photo on Pinterest, which I think sums up the visualisation I have of Orpheus in my head at the moment! Slicked back hair, distressed and aged clothing, dirtied face and skin (makeup), fake cigarette prop. The braces should be a little worse for wear, as should the trousers and shirt but that can be achieved with simple distressing methods. 

Contextual Document: Partner Profile, Ruth Torr.

Information and LinkedIn Profile:
http://www.uca.ac.uk/staff/ruth-torr/

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ruth-torr-1308b189

Bio: Leader of the new Acting and Performance degree at UCA Farnham, Ruth is currently collaborating with us through the 'Taking Flight; project; A series of half hour group productions of traditional plays  performed by small teams of the students. Throughout this project Ruth has organised face to face meetings alongside Fiona Watts, so that presentations and fittings can take place. Ruth has also made sure we have a good understanding of 'The Maltings' and its layout, which is where the final performances will take place.

Contextual Document: Partner Profile, TV Production student roles.

This is a list I put together showing all the names of the collaborating production students and their related roles as appear in the credits.

Series Producer: Wesley Denne

Studio Director: Jordan Parker

Assistant Producer/ Floor Manager: Adele Faldetta 

VT Producer/ GFX OP: Jessica Gray

P.A./ VT Editor: Alexander Barker

GFX/ Promo Producer and Vision Mixer: Megan Waters 

GFX/ Promo D.O.P & Studio Camera OP: Patrica C. Dixon 

VT Camera OP & Lead Studio Camera: Harry Taylor 

VT Camera OP & Assistant Studio CamOP: Plamen Dimitrov 

VT Director & Studio Camera OP: Lawrence Sedgewick 

VT Directors & Studio OP: Mary Green

VT Sound Recordist: Shannelle Laniyan 

Studio Sound OP: Mike Hoad 

Set Design - UCA Creative Arts For Theatre and Film:
Debbie Abbott, Jessica Ampleford, Carmela Arbelaez-McCarthy, Anna Beaumont, Charlottle Dean, Tara Dunne, Lily Greenhalgh, Bruce Hill, Louise Humphries, Leigh Osbourne, Hannah Quinn, James Wright.  

Contextual Document: Partner Profile, Roy Smith.

Roy Smith Bio:

'Roy Smith lives in the Medway Towns, where he works with young people and spends a lot of time writing nonsense. Most of his writing happens at night and other inconvenient moments, when he is regularly interrupted by his dog and the desire to play old video games.

Roy became interested in using Augmented Reality to tell stories after completing the University of Potsdam's 'Future of Storytelling' online MOOC, leading him to set up Real Medway and Swale with funding from Ideas Test Swale and Medway. He launched his first game, Monsters of Rochester in December 2015.

Roy also runs Seasonally Effected and open mic night for original poetry, music, short film, comedy and theatre performance.' - Written by Roy as requested by me.

Throughout the Medway and Swale project, Roy has been quick to answer all inquiries and incredibly supportive in our work. Offering criticisms and ideas along the way, as well as showing enthusiasm for our progress and designs, it's been a real pleasure working with Roy!

LinkedIn Profile:

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/roy-smith-6b78a8a

Contextual Document: Partner Profile, Del Brown.

Del Brown was the director and manager of the TV Production students at the UCA Maidstone studios while we collaborated on the 'Teach Em' a Lesson' project. Although our team didn't see a lot of him, he obviously managed the Production students well as they were all organised and his involvement meant that the project ran smoothly. I think without Del's supervision it would've been harder to come to definite decisions, and by having someone in that lead directing role that the Production students could run everything through, the project could be completed in time.



Information and Linkedin profile:
http://www.beds.ac.uk/news/2015/november/del-brown-masterclass

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/del-brown-876ba61

Final Prop Photoshoot.

Images above showcase all the props I had a hand in completing.

Team Credits:
1) Wooden prop trunk: Made by Leigh, Louise and I.

2) Firework: Majority made by Louise.

3) Medusa Head: I took the pins out and re-arranged the hair, ready to be stuck down. Majority made by Charlotte.

4) Chalkboards and Axe: Started and completed by me.

Prop Box: TV Production Prop

This 'wooden chest' designed prop box was made with the purpose of transporting all of the props (both the school themed scaled up ones and the historic ones) efficiently. from between the two UCA locations,  as well as moving the props from off camera to on set whilst shooting.

This was just a cardboard box that was painted up by me, Leigh and Louise. The rivets and beams down the side where wooden, as was the lock, but the rest was card that was reinforced with layers of glaze after painting. Having a specifically designed prop box meant that it matched the rest of the style of the props and blended in with the environment, rather than making do with a simple plastic tub.

Final Photoshoot: Clown makeup application

As the model for the clown, I was able to transfer the skills and technique I used when I practiced this look on my own model to my face today. Beginning with the base of white, I then followed the natural lines of my face to contour in over exaggerated blue lines. These where then shaded out and defined using light and dark tones. The red lips and 'bulls eye' nose could then be applied, this time using red face paint instead of red lip stick, as the materials were available to me this time round. The costume could then be put on and the overall character could be seen.

Overall this make up was a lot quicker to apply than the mermaid for a few reasons. Firstly I didn't have to glue my eyebrows down for this look, which saved a lot of time. Secondly, I'm a lot quicker applying make to my own face as opposed to a models because the caution of being too harsh isn't there. Thirdly, overall this was a simpler design. Because of this I prioritised getting the mermaid's makeup completed before beginning my own, as I knew I could finish this look in under 10 minutes. In terms of time management of the shoot on the day, I prioritised the more complex and time consuming character first.

I'm very happy with the final look of the clown, and thought it was odd how much it actually changed the shapes of my face! Because of this transformation I think that this design was successful.

Final photoshoot: Mermaid makeup with a model

These photos were taken by me on the day of the final photo shoot. After practicing the makeup on myself previously and making notes of the step-by-step processes  I found it a lot easier to transfer the make up to model. Without a practice run I definitely would have found this a lot harder!
This was one of the first times I've applied makeup to someone else so that altogether was quite an odd experience; I find with my own face I'll be quite ruthless with makeup, and found I was overly cautious using a model I'd never done makeup on before! Overall I had a lot of fun doing this though and would definitely like to do more makeup using models in the future. I'm also really pleased how the final makeup design has turned out, and think that the model was well chosen in order to convey the sassy, punky mermaid the narrative and I designed.

Chalkboards Final: Oversized TV Production Prop

Final chalk board props 'over-sized school items' game round of 'Teach Em' a Lesson'; Produced by the Television Production students at UCA.

- Made entirely of of MDF, therefore cheap to assemble
- Wood grain made with scenic painting techniques: A rocker comb and layers of paint and washes
- Drawn on with chalk afterwards for authentic writing style
- Rounded corners: Much safer than the sharp, square corners of the MDF before being rounded off.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out in the end, as they look quite authentic. The grain-effect came out well, and these are one of the props I'm most proud of. The only criticism I would have is that they were a little heavy; maybe a lighter wood could have been a better choice? I don't think foam would have had the right consistency, and wood was already the right shapes I needed in order to form the base and the borders for the chalkboards, so in this case a kind of flat, light wood was the ideal material.

Credit: This was a prop I completed on my own, as similarly to the axe prop, not a lot of work was needed to get these from a start point to completion.

Rocket Final: TV Production Prop

Final firework prop for the history round of 'Teach Em' a Lesson' produced by the TV Production students at UCA.

Credit: This was a prop I only helped to finish by sourcing the fabric for the flames and cutting them to shape. Louise did all the making and painting of this prop to the extent of my knowledge.
I then took the final portfolio photos as seen above.

Axe Final: TV Production Prop

Final axe prop for the history round of 'Teach Em' a Lesson'; Produced by the Television Production students at UCA.

- Wooden handle shaped on a lathe.
- Foam blade, hand shaped.
- Silver metal effect obtained through buffing with graphite powder.

Overall I'm happy with the general scale of the prop, but there are a few improvements I would make in retrospect.
Creating the handle out of MDF would have made the 'blade' thinner and a lot less chunky looking. It would have also been easier to create symmetry through a thinner base material.
Carving designs or text relevant to the historic period also could have improved this prop, but with the available time and medium that the prop would have been seen in, I don't think it would've been worth this small detail.

Credit: I completed this from start to finish. This was a fairly easy prop to get done quickly so it only needed one person working on it.