Drawing Developments

I have drawn some ideas to decide which look I prefer. I have taken inspiration from many things from this era but David Bowie especially with the hair styling due to the fact he was such an inspirational icon of the 70's due to his fashion sense and sexual orientation. 

Drawing number one 

Wavy/curly hair with volume at the front and left the curls to hang loose on her back...

Drawing Two

Eyebrows are half blocked out with a bold colour on top to match the hair. Hair is short and cropped giving her an androgynous look. Heavy contouring around the eyes and cheek bones.

Drawing three

This one is my favourite as it reflects the characters innocence at this point in her life. I want the hair to look like her mother has cut it so uneven and slightly wild. This will also represent her emotions and confusion within herself. The eyebrows will be blocked completely and heavy contouring around the eyes and cheekbones will give her a contrasting harsh look.

When thinking about location and positioning, for my first shot I am wanting to represent her innocence and confusion. I want the character to look almost disconnected to her surroundings. For example this first image shows her standing out with her contrasting bright ginger hair and pink coat against the stone and brick building (the church). I want the model to be holding an orange in her hand like a child would to reflect the name of the book and the hold her mother has one her at this point. 

This second drawing is inside the church where my character will look like she is praying in church sat in the isles. There will be a couple of rows behind her and a statue or a bold ornament which shows where she is. The orange will be held up near her face like she is showing it to God. This shot will be much more intimate showing the audience her character.

Idea Boards

When emailing a couple of Fashion Photographers, I sent them a few image boards so they could get the idea of the kind of look and style I am aiming to create.

All these images I put together have a dark and deep colour. It portrays the themes of the idea beautifully.

I want the colours to POP but yet have a dull tone throughout the rest of the picture. There almost an imaginary yet unsettling edge to this lighting and style, which I think will create the perfect atmosphere for the image. It will show how she feels uneasy and misplaced in her life whilst trying to understand her own identity. 

This next board explores way in which the photographer has created a sexual and intimate atmosphere. The top left image is one which stylistically I find really beautiful. I want to give my character a high fashion androgyny look with her hair and makeup. the blocking of eyebrows and the shading using eye shadow makes the face and her character look naked and exposed but subtly. I want to portray real passion, not necessarily just sexually towards Melanie but also for herself and her life - e.g. the church, her family, her religion.

Makeup Ideas

Heavy contouring, shading and highlighting to give off an chizzled androgynous yet beautiful appearance. The eyebrows will either be completely removed or half removed with shadows, little mascara. I really want to strip back with her face making her look almost like a statue. As the images progress I will add in lip tints such as dark reds or purples to represent passion, love and rebellion.

Hair Ideas

I'm wanting to make my character ginger, it represents her inner fire and links to the colour orange (the name of the book). Here are a few looks I am considering of the three of my shoots...

When thinking about styling, I created a board which would represent the era and her personality perfectly. I have asked a couple of stylists I know to get a second opinion on my idea. I'm wanting to revamp and renew the fashions within the era this was set in...

Many faces of Jeanette

A few drawings I created as ideas and inspired by fashion, TV and photography.

Inspired by the BBC's adaptation of Oranges

A thought of mine I had to get down on paper, bullied, unaccepted, a misfit

Fashion, inspired by LOVE magazine

A moodboard I created to showcase how I want to portray her character in a high fashion way.

A clash between natural and extreme to symbolise her confused and uneasy personality...

A few images I find inspiring and portray the kind of image I am wanting to create for Jeanette...

Storyboards

I have created a couple of storyboards focusing on important changes and positions within my characters life which I could chose to shoot...

The first storyboard highlights the very start of the book, where Jeanette is completely shadowed by her Mother and her religious way of life. The pink raincoat which she is forced to where would be a good fashion statement for the first shot. The lighting would be underexposed and shadowed over her face with all light focusing on the coat.

The second drawing I have chosen is where Melanie is taken away from her leaving her heart broken and confused. The lighting would be over exposed showing her true emotions, this image is more dramatic and real but with a beautiful church location.

The third and final drawing for this storyboard is taken with the character stood on top of the hill where her Mother used to take her. The image looks peaceful and calm showing how she has come to terms with her own identity.

My second story board has a lot more to do with her emotions. The first scene would be capturing the romance between Jeanette and Melanie. Passionate, loving but secretive.

The second scene is where Melanie is taken away from her leaving her heartbroken at the church.

The third scene captures where Jeanette leaves the church gates and her life to create her own identity in the world.

Art and Religion

I found this charcoal drawing of a nun by Justin Kautz which I though was really inspiring. The cross is upside down which has some relation to the devil and Satanism. The dark eyes are really expressive and an aspect which I want to take into my own styling for makeup. There seems to be a fascination with nuns being rebellious and sexual figures.

 

Although my character isn't a nun, I wanted to look into people's perspectives of Holy figures...

Churches commonly have stained glass windows with images and paintings of the lord, the cross or religious stories on them... This use of popping colour can be incorporated into my styling of the characters whether it be in makeup, hair and/or their clothing.

Religion in Fashion Photography

To inspire myself, I have searched the internet to find fashion photography which have themes of love and religion within them. Most of these images are dark with shadows or are in black and white. These are just a few I found exciting and influential...

Collages

I have a box of magazine which I have collected for a couple of years including hunger, vogue, style and glamour. I decided to create a collage of models/people, inspiration images and colours which will help me in the process of developing my designs.
My first collage is one which I have created to help with my first idea for the start of my book when she is younger.

I found the image of the young ginger girl which I found useful for giving me a center piece for my collage. The rose symbolises her youthfulness, her growing up and how delicate she is emotionally.
The multicoloured foot with paint symbolises what is to come, how creative she will be and how her mother has high hopes for her in the religious sense.
There is a beautiful image of a cross in the top left hand corner which represents the calm before the storm.
The orange is symbolic of the book title and her hair.

My second collage is more about style and concept. The words around the page are a mix between religion and love, the two themes which I aim to capture when producing my three photo shoots. The top left hand corner is the style of clothing from this era of the 1960's which I will incorporate into my images. The ginger hair on Florence and the Machine and the hair image next to that is the kind of style of hair I will be creating on my character. The religious architecture such as the angels and the cross, are ones which I will use as props and will be in the location I choose to shoot.