Final Outcome and Evaluation

The aim of my project ‘Beauty in the Beast’ has been to create a journey into a fantasy world through the medium of a book, where nature provides the backdrop from which to showcase the hair and make up creations. Over the course of this assignment I have learned a lot about myself as a hair and make-up artist, and also about managing and producing all the elements that go into creating an entire project.  

Throughout this project, my ideas changed quite drastically from my initial proposal. Originally I wanted to create a book with ten different photo shoots using elaborate costumes, props, hair and make-up to depict over-the-top dramatic fantasy images, similar to those of photographers such as Kirsty Mitchell and Tim Walker. However, after reviewing my initial ideas, I decided that they were overly ambitious for a small team of just myself and a photographer to achieve in such a short period of time. I also took into consideration feedback that I had received from my tutor reminding me not to be too cliché when creating my shoots and to make sure that they were as original as possible without copying other artists ideas. My tutor was also unsure what my unique selling point would be, so that made me again revise my ideas and come up with a new concept but based on the foundations of the original proposal.

After much thought, research and discussion with my photographer, I decided to go with the theme ‘Beauty in the Beast’, mixing the idea of nature and beauty together in a fairytale style book. I also decided to differentiate my book from others on the market by including introductory prose to each photo shoot, and then to close the chapter having a simplified, studio version of each theatrical shoot, with a double exposure nature image merged into it in order to match the theatrical photoshoot it belongs to, totaling eight different shoots (four theatrical and four studio). I decided as well to include a ‘Behind the beauty’ section at the back of the book showing images of myself creating the hair and make-up looks to give the audience a peek into how the looks were created.  

Once I had decided which shoots I wanted to do, I got busy ordering any supplies, costumes and props I needed and organized my photographer and models, which was quite difficult as my photographer had a full time job so was only available at certain times and my models were all based in different areas around the country, so I had to make sure the schedule suited everyone and that it stayed set. Although this was slightly stressful, it taught me that I have good organization skills, which will be useful for me to have in my career.  I also managed to stay under my initial budget, which was helpful.

When carrying out the shoots themselves I felt that my time management was good as I always arrived at the location early to set up ready for my model in order to be efficient as possible. Although I did not carry out test shoots for the majority of the looks, I did practice the hair and make-up looks before hand so I felt prepared and confident when creating each appearance, and I also always made sure my kit was clean and prepped for the shoot the day before, making me feel professional and organized. However, the rain and wind was a problem when shooting the looks, as the wind was blowing the models hair out of place and was extremely hard to fix outside in the persistent bad weather, and it was making the models freezing cold so they started to look stiff in some of the shots. In an ideal situation I would have waited until the weather was warmer but I shot the majority of my looks over February and early March so had to make the best out of the situation. 

I was extremely pleased with the outcomes of all of the shoots as they captured what I had envisaged and I could not wait to put all the edited images together into my book. I made sure to have plenty of meetings with my photographer so that I had some creative control over the selection and post-production of the images. However, I made the decision that I was not pleased with the mermaid photo shoot that I had done, as I felt there was not a great enough variety of different shots and that it was not of the same standard as the rest of the shoots. In consequence of this I decided not to include it within my final outcome and instead came up with a new concept for another photo shoot in which I only had four days to organize, source my models costume and design a hair and make-up look, which put me under extreme time pressure. Doing this last minute shoot also meant that I did not have time to put my book together before I went on holiday as my photographer had not finished editing the images, which put me behind schedule.  

I felt that up until this point of the project my time management had been carried out well and I was on schedule, but the last minute changes of the final photo shoot jeopardized my project. I was on holiday for three weeks over the Easter period, so when the photographer had edited the images from the last shoot I began to create my book online, but when I went to order it the website would not let me as I was abroad. This started to worry me as it meant that I would have to wait until the end of April to order my book putting me a month behind my initial schedule and not giving me much time to amend any mistakes that may have occurred during the printing process. I received my book a week after ordering, and although the majority was good, there were a few changes I needed to make such as the colouring in some of the images and the clarity of the text. Re-ordering the new version of the book was risky as it was due to arrive a day before my hand in and it also required me to hand paint the front cover so I felt under immense pressure. Luckily the book arrived on time making it possible for me to hand make the front cover in time for submission.

Overall I feel exceptionally pleased with the final outcome of my project and am proud of what I have managed to achieve, and thoroughly enjoyed creating and bringing my visions to life with the help of my brilliant photographer Holden Tuffield. I feel that my book is relevant to the current creative industry as people are always looking for artists to present their work in new and unique ways, which I feel I have done through the use of combining prose, theatrical hair and make-up designs and mixed media photography to create a fantastical peak into an enchanted world. I am confident that my work is of a professional level, as I prepared for my shoots well, chose the locations specifically to fit the ‘Beast’ character I was creating, and worked with a talented photographer and re-toucher so that I could present my images in the best way. If I had had more time, I could develop this project further by creating more concepts for shoots and different stories behind them so that the book would be fuller with many small tales to depict and would show a wider variety of my work and skill sets. I would also potentially create each book with a different hand-made title to add value to the book, much like a collectors item, and I would also sell ‘limited edition’ prints of some of the images from the book framed in elaborate carved gold photo frames. I feel developing these small attributes would further differentiate my book from anything else like it on the market and would make it a truly unique experience to behold. 

Final outcome of my hand-painted 'Beauty in the Beast' book