Final Evaluation

I have had great fun working on this unit and researching different makeup brands for fashion and beauty. My chosen brand is Ellis Faas because of the diversity which made it stand out to me. My favourite part of the project would have to be shooting my editorial images and getting my work recognised by Ellis Faas herself. I have enjoyed sourcing and spraying the items and designing different looks that would compliment the background. I have also liked turning the images into the style of V Magazine, who Ellis has previously worked with.

I have learnt a lot more hair techniques this project, from different styles of plaiting to creating contemporary chignons. I have also learnt a lot more about the studio, such as how to use different colour backdrops, how to use gels and other different types of lighting. I would like to develop my photography skills further as I have found the lessons enjoyable and helpful. I feel I have taken some good photographs this project just by using the techniques learnt from this year and I look forward to creating more photographs with the skills I will learn next year. I have enjoyed using InDesign to edit my photographs into a magazine type format. I found the technical lessons useful and I cannot wait to use this programme more next year.

Ellis Faas is a photographer and makeup artist so I have tried to learn as much as I can in my photography lessons in order for me to take successful images that I produced myself. Ellis is definitely a creative person which has helped motivate me to pick up as many skills as I can. She has influenced me to not only do the makeup and hair myself, but to take the photographs and edit them too. I feel the most successful part of my project is my editorial images. I got my inspiration from Ellis’ monthly visuals where she seems to focus a lot on different styled backgrounds. It was the pipes and chains in her March visual that got me thinking about using a mechanical theme to resemble the inside of the human body.

I encountered many problems in my project, from models to equipment. Some of my models were at college and work and I didn’t want to miss any lessons at University, so it made it difficult to arrange a suitable time. In the end I had to miss guest speakers in order for me to shoot, which I was disappointed about. Going abroad over Easter also caused a bit of a problem for me in terms of shooting as my models would have been free due to the half term break. However, I used this time to catch up on blog work and editing the images I did have. I was concerned for time when I came back but I managed to shoot 4 different looks in just over 6 hours with no help for the makeup and photography. Another problem I faced was the weight of the mechanical background items as I could not psychically carry them from my house to the studio, therefore needed assistance. I was unable to permanently fix the items to the board due to the weight so I had to allow extra time in the studio to set up the background prior to shooting. I also found the advertising and catwalk images difficult to design and shoot. Most of the makeup brands to choose from are fashion brands too which makes it easier or those doing catwalk shoots. Nearly all of the brands had advertisements to follow too. For me, choosing Ellis Faas was difficult as she doesn’t advertise her work in magazines or on TV, she does it through her website and videos. Because I had nothing to follow it meant that I could literally do anything, however I needed to keep it to her style. This also applied for the catwalk looks as she, or her ambassadors, occasionally worked with different designers for fashion shows, using just her products.

Overall, I think this project has gone really well and I am happy with the outcome of my images. For my brand, there was nothing to follow so I had free reign to edit them in whatever style I wanted. However, I do like to have some kind of guidance to keep me on track and with the theme of the brand. If I was given the chance to complete the project again, I would not book a holiday over Easter and use my time effectively and although I felt like I saw Kat a lot for tutorials, I feel I could have seen her more at the beginning to discuss ideas before shooting them. However, the ideas I originally had have helped to develop my work into final outcomes. I would also like to point out again that I haven’t done many detailed hair charts or outfit designs due to me following my brands style of work.