Project Evaluation

The ‘Beauty and the Brand’ project has been my favourite and most educational since the start of university. The past projects, focusing on tv and film, have not been my strong points and I feel that I was not able to create what I was proud of. However, I have found that this project has helped me find my style of work and what I enjoy doing the most, which is editorial makeup, photography and styling. 

At the beginning of the project, I found it difficult to choose what brand I wanted and was daunted by the thought of having to shoot 6 photos of 3 different styles. However, once I chose Chanel, I was able to create a starting point, which was researching and beginning with the Chanel catwalk. This style was my favourite to create and formulate, as I was very interested in catwalk makeup and fashion and it taught me a lot about what goes into creating such an extravagant show, and it inspired and drove me a lot when creating my own. When researching catwalk makeup, watching Tom Pecheux and his team backstage was useful in seeing what products they used and how they worked, which I attempted to take on in my practices. I am pleased with my photos and, despite creating makeup and hair that was rather similar, I feel that the looks, combined with my model, the styling and the photography, imitate catwalk looks. Shooting these first looks were very educational for me in terms of photography and post-production and have given me more confidence throughout the rest of the project. I feel that relying on photographers for so many shoots was not sustainable and I wanted to be in control, therefore learning to photograph the looks myself has enabled me to become a more independent creator. 

I really enjoyed shooting the advertisement shoot too, as I was able to focus a lot on the makeup and hair instead of relying a lot on styling. I also think that this was the most realistic experience in terms of real-life situations, as I was in the makeup studio doing the makeup and hair on the model, and then shot the looks with my makeup equipment still with me to maintain the look throughout. I believe that this is much like what it is to shoot an advertisement in the working world, and so this was beneficial in giving me experience for future, professional ventures. This shoot was also useful in teaching me more methods with post-production and making my photos better than I could have made them in past projects. This constant working with photography and use of photoshop has enabled me to be confident in not relying on other students if I have to, and if I am ever left to do something like this myself, I am able to do it, which I would not have been able to do when I came to university. This has also taught me all elements of what goes into creating an advertisement. 

My editorial shoots were a new experience for me in terms of location shooting. It showed me that this is something that I am least confident in and so I would like to practice more as I liked the effect paired with the natural lighting. I felt that this shoot required less planning than the others, as I did not have to book a studio and arrange lighting. I was able to organise the makeup, hair and styling and then shoot outside with no time constraints which was more calm than studio shoots. However with this shoot I feel that I could have portrayed the themes stronger, as I don’t feel that they emulate the themes of the Chanel editorial. 

Overall, I have been the most organised for this project. I have blogged and planned throughout the semester which is not something I have been good at previously, however because I have been so passionate about it, it has driven me to document and research as much as possible. As a result of this, I feel that I have images that I am proud to have in my portfolio now.