I'm really intrigued in using this sort of cage hairstyle to emphasise the state of emotion being entirely conjured inside of an individuals own head, using the hair as an extension of the skin. She is trapped by her own body. The style was based off of this drawing that I produced:
The first time that I tried this hairstyle it was very messy and almost unrecognisable as a hairstyle:
Obviously this is not an aesthetically polished hairstyle but as a first attempt it shows that the hairstyle is doable and gives me an idea as to how it will appear on camera. I also learnt from doing it the first time that it was important to use gel or wax on the connecting strands, and to take hair from further back on the head. It is imperative to test this style out on a real hair model rather than the fake head, as working with real hair is a lot different to the synthetic hair of the heads.
Secondary tests incorporating the above factors produced the following images:
Although they are unedited images, they were very successful. It really made a difference working on real hair that was long enough for me to hide pins and bands. I used gel to neaten up those connecting stands and it looks a lot more professional. Its not quite industry ready but its a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the first attempt. The shoots show different angles of the hair (one side had a connecting stand to the rest of the hairstyle and the other didn't, so that I could see if this was necessary - it was not) Im happy with the way that it looks from different angles and I think that will work from this frame as well as for the odd close up shot when considering final production. I'm really pleased with my progression in this, especially as hair is not my strongest area of work.
Aesthetically, it looks high fashion and akin to something you may see in industry in popular hair magazines or websites. This can also serve the purpose of increasing my audience to hair stylists or hair enthusiasts.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
The shoot was also an opportunity to test with a new photographer, Heather Smith and a new model, Meg McDaniel. This is important because if anything were to happen that would cause Susann to drop out or miss a shoot, I will need to have a back up. Ive worked with Heather before and I can see that she's growing as a photographer and I'd be happy to have her involved in the project if needed.
Meg is a competent model with previous modelling experience so I'd like to have her involved in the project now that I've seen her modelling abilities on camera.
WHAT DIDNT WORK AND WHY
The hairstyle needs securing better if the model is going to be mobile in the video or while changing poses when shooting. After a few shots in different positions, the hairstyle fell:
It is imperative that this doesn't happen on camera on the day of filming, so my next step is to find a better way of securing this hairstyle and/or hiding the bands that keep it together.
PLANS FOR NEXT TIME
Use see-through hair ties and maybe use more hair from the back of the head so that the actual plaited section is longer, and therefore easier to tuck and hide behind the front section. This section needs to be secured better, using back combing to give the pins something to grip to better.
