Starman - Stage Four

Step by step we are arriving out our destination. With our ideas in place, sketched and locations found it’s probable we have an idea of the props or wardrobe we need to create the images in our series. All shoots will come with a budget needed, although much can be achieved on very little.


FOr the series of images I wanted a formal looking StarMan, for reasons only known by myself, but I trust my judgent and have gone with it.

Needed:

1 suit - grey/black

shirt - double cuffed

black shoes

braces

tie

After scooting through Ebay for a while I was able to pick up the entire outfit for £24. 

with regards to the helmet I created that from a cosplay helmet template, some cardboard, some hessian , black spray paint and some rubber tubing at a total cost of £18, and although I’m really proud of the result I tried it on and didn’t feel it suited the character one bit, so opted for using the same template to create a hood type thing which I do think suits.

Budget also has to include travel to locations, and any other props you may need to include. Although I have the chair I want to use , it did cost £15 from Facebook market place, which is another treasure trove of bargains.

With the ideas in place, wardrobe and props sorted it is now the delightful task of shooting.

With my work I can choose to be both on location and/or creating composite images so some shooting can be accomplished in the studio which helps with the nefarious and completely unreliable weather we get in Britain :)

Next time we should have some images to talk through, and I’m sure it can be seen that even with all this planning, when it comes to the shoot a little flexibility is always useful

Do ask questions in the comments if there is anything you need to know!



Starman - Stage Three

So far we’ve developed the idea through brainstorming and from that a grouping images. Next stage is to actually put some leather in and  find those spots where your images will work. I’m fairly lucky living next to the coast as sea and that distant horizon really does fit with the idea of yearning which I feel is part and parcel of the idea of ‘absence’. I’d like this narrative to reach a greater audience and so felt it really important to seek out different locations just in case. I wandered through a nature reserve I didn’t realise existed quite close and found a lake!! Bliss. Along with this the paths around the park also resonated with the passage of travelling. I simply took a few snapshots and with those in hand I’ll go back to the sketches and refine as it’s really important to know presicely what the images will look like as well as being really helpful for you to know what you will actually need to take to accomplish your vision.


There is of course no need to find any more location than your living room if that works for how you’ve put together your narrative.

Next up wardrobe and props which will need you to set a budget.

Do feel free  to post your images in the comments and show me what you’ve been up to as you work through your process.

See you next time


Starman - Stage Two

To continue with the show and tell of creating a series of narrative images, the next stage is to extrapolate (gotta love that word!) images from the words and feelings you get from your brainstorming mentioned in Starman - Stage One.


These images don’t need to be cultivated masterpieces, more like shorthand notes giving you an idea of where you are, what kind of props you might be using in the images and to develop more than one. Once again, do as many as you can mange, rest, do some more . Even the action of refining images you’ve drawn previously will give you either more ideas or a greter sense of that particular image.

The landscapes I’ve used are ones I know are within easy reach of where I’m based and aren’t too arduous should I decide to use some studio equipment, although these constraints shouldn’t hamper your imagination as much can be composited in the final stages.

I’ve used the chair to represent a person/persons who are ‘lost’ in the seas of time and feathers to me, especially white ones have always had the connotation of souls; ethereal, and pure. These are symbols I feel speak to me in this way but that doesn’t mean they will speak to you in the same way. Find and feel out symbols for your own work and then through the images they will speak more of you than anyone else.

I rested from the tiny sketches, only for about an hour or so, allowing the fluff of ideas settle and started again.


As you can see they all protray a person, with a chair, either dragging it or simply being next to it. That emptiness of seat will, hopefully, resonate and create that idea of absence and loss. In the last image, the Starman appeared and he will be the ‘star’ of the show, the protagonist in search of fallen memories.

Now that we have our base thoughts in place a few things can follow. A series must feel the same so what kind of tone or colour might be used? Will the images  be black and white? What costume details are needed for ‘Starman’? What time of day might suit the images best?

The more detail you have about your ideas the easier it is to lock down on the images you will create, and although copying prior planning might not seem creative and wild, the thinking has been before the shoot.

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