Present tests have caused me to slightly rethink the emphasis that I want my project to have. The more I test the more my project celebrates differences in skin, rather than focussing on that emotional connection. Nonetheless, there is still a huge natural emotional connection between the two.
I started looking at my own hands and thinking of ways that I could use makeup to trace the cracks and lines of the skin there, emphasising it in a beautiful way.
I used a silver Illamasqua Liquid Metal to do this and the effect was really sucessful. Its delicate, fine and ethereal, giving a crisp contrast to how we would normally perceive rough textured hands. This is a lovely balance. I moved on to see the other ways that makeup could enhance the lines of the skin. I brushed fine paint onto my knuckles and flexed them, which created a contrast between the skin and the paint which worked effectively in creating lovely patterns in the creases of the surface.
I then had the idea of building on this effect - what if out of those lines and wrinkles that you don't like about your skin, grew something beautiful?
I attempted to create something like this with materials I had at home (see above) but it was ineffective - it looks amateurish and child-like and no where near industry an standard.. It may be that I need to find a different way of portraying that idea but further tests will challenge that. This could be a really good practical concept for the "cracks and growth" portion of the film as it represents not only the textures of the skin but also the idea that something beautiful can grow from it.
WHAT NEXT
Next I will have to continue tests of this concept. I would also like to try the silver lines effect on camera, and on different skin tones. It would be interesting to try this on different parts of the body but I would have to see what parts would be relevant to the concept with this. I will also test this cracks and growth concept using fullers earth instead of white paint to give a deeper texture and therefore a stronger backbone to the concept.
