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.