Professional Development Statement

 

I hope to have a fulfilling career in the film industry, eventually designing prosthetic make-up for feature films.  I intend to develop my skills by continuing to design for makeup and hair for short films, music videos and commercials. I think it is important for me to branch out of university projects and try to gain experience within the industry.

 

Throughout this project I have developed this and tried to make some contacts in industry. I have set up a social media pages for my make-up work and through that I have been in contact with artists such as Todd Debrecini and John Schoonrad, I really hope that these initial conversations will progress and I will be able to get some experience with them.

 

So far in my journey as a make-up artist I have designed 3 make-ups for 3 short films and assisted on another 2 others. The most significant of these films was the first one I worked on, Beyond the Line (2013). As it was the first and most successful film I have designed, I also had an assistant on this film as it was great to take charge of the makeup and also have the experience of delegating and supervising another artist.

 

I have learnt something on every set I have worked on. I think it is invaluable to assist another artist and the work to their design, this is a skill I learnt and developed when working on Bad Omen (2013) and Sleep (2014). During this unit I also assisted Clare Hedges with her work and shoot, this was really an invaluable experience for me, because I feel that I learnt twice as much during this unit then I would have because she used some different techniques and moulds then I did. She also gave be some good feedback on my assisting skills. Such as “You have a great work ethic and have a lot of initiative.” I hope this attitude will take me far.

 

As this project continues I am becoming increasingly attracted to art finishing techniques, including hair punching, flocking and especially silicone painting which I started to explore during the Make-up Exploration unit, and my interest has continued to grow with this project as it is very colour based.

I also believe that my mould making skills have developed and I am starting to enjoy working in the workshop, and researching about moulds and prosthetics more and more.

For this reason I am inclined to choose the (Prosthetic Make-up Effects) specialism, and continue to create prosthetic based makeups for all practical projects in third year.

 

My peers have told me that my painting skills and designs are my stronger attributes within makeup and that my ideas are ambitious, which I take as a good thing. Within my work experience placements I have been told that my attitude is positive and I carry an air of professionalism on set, one testimony that I received whilst working with a photographer is. “Your attitude and approach is very refreshing and a great pair of hands to have in the studio. - Penny Freeman.

 

 

Vocational Action Plan

Before level 6 my intentions are to undertake some work experience out of university. I hope to get some work experience within a prosthetics studio and also continue to make connections within the film industry, I have a plan to also make a directory of industry professionals to gain some knowledge of their work and also who I could contact in the future, his should help me plan where to go after graduation. In level 6 I would like to carry on making and directing films that are based around prosthetic makeup and improve my skills in the workshop. 

 

Negotiated Project Agreement for Professional Make-up Project

 

For Professional Makeup Project I intend to create a body paint with body prosthetics, which will then be filmed for an environmental awareness campaign. Collaboration will be considered, as to date, work experience has been supported by BA Film, allowing work relations to be developed and will also be maintained into level six and beyond. (LO2)

 

My initial ideas and research surround current issues and popular environmental campaigns that certain non-governmental organisations are fighting against in 2015. These include NGOs like Greenpeace, EIA, Peta and WWF and issues including; climate change, ocean pollution, deforestation and animal welfare. 

 

For the makeup concept I want to use the techniques that these campaigns use, and use it to convey a message, I was really inspired by the recent work of Danny Marie Alias; recently she published a beauty makeup with body prosthetics, and I decided that if I were to do a body paint I would have to include prosthetics, to show more technical ability. I also took the time to talk to Julia Townend about body painting and prosthetics when she came to visit and she agreed that most things in body painting had been done to exhaustion and that the industry needs to progress, and the use of more prosthetics and a different context may do this. (LO1)

 

My goal is then to communicate with some Non-Governmental Organisations to see if they will publish my work and work with them as a client, and treat this project as a live brief.

 

In terms of my professional identity this project I am aware that this project is not character based and that the direction I want to go in after university is film and character makeups but I believe this project will show a high standard of painting skills and good technical ability, especially with prosthetics. I hope that it will show off my design skills and attention to detail, and also raise my profile as an Artist outside of university.

Within the university, I hope that this project will allow me to make more connections with students that I can collaborate with in the future, especially those on the Film Production BA course.  (LO4)

 

For this project I am handing in a digital log of all my research, development, experimentation, a record of communication between people working on with me to create my piece. Photographic documentation and evaluation and sped up application of the makeup. I will also be handing in the latest edit of the film, my chest cast, my fibreglass moulds, the final prosthetics and some of my sculpts.