one sequin at a time

     Francesca and I were at Goodwill about a month ago. We always go there to look for photo props. I think I got a denim jacket and some lace and as we were checking out she saw a roll of sequins for $5.00. At first I was like, no. I didn't want them at all. But she kept bugging me and told me we could use them for something. So I gave in and got them. Since then they have been sitting in my car slowly rotting away. I couldn't think of anything to use them for. But Francesca suggested that we wrap her head in them. (these are the kind of friends I have). And then my mind started going.

     I have done things similar to like that in my past work. Both times were with caution tape. I liked them because of the letters on the tape gave a cool pattern to the image and the bright yellow was also a nice touch.

  

     This time I wanted to do something to really show the sequins. The first thing that came in my head was to do it at night. That way I could use some type of lighting to reflect off the sequins. I thought of using my car head lights, but I knew they would be too strong and bright. I walked around my house looking for things and I found a box full of candles from my birthday part I had. They were perfect.

     I thought of having Francesca sit at the head of the table sitting straight up looking across into the camera. There is something very eerie and mysterious about mask, or wrapping a head. Something about not being able to tell the identity of someone. Two images were brought to my head when I thought of this. One was from the strangers. That movie has to be one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. Without their mask it probably would not have the same effect. Another image was from a short clip played at the Lady Gaga Monster Ball tour. It was called the manifesto of little monsters. You can watch it below.

the strangers

manifesto of little monster

 

      Going with that idea when it came to editing I wanted to keep the visuals that were in that video. Black and white with some grain. I also wanted to keep a since of eeriness that the film the strangers had. I didn't want to use her natural hair. I wanted it to have a little bit of fantasy. So we used a 60in blonde wig. I thought visually it would be better to wrap the sequin strands around the hair rather then under. 

     The positioning of the candles was a bit tricky. I didn't want them to be so perfect and set up, but I also did not want them to be scattered around randomly. I have to position them to light the shot too. I used no other lighting then the candles.

 

 

     I have to say I have some of the best friends in the world. I don't know many people that have friends that would willingly allow them to wrap their face in sequin strands and light candles all around them and have them sit their for 15 min barely able to breath and sweating like crazy. But I can say I have friends like that. And I love them. She sat there like a pro. lol 

 

     I'm leaving for vacation in less than 4 hours and I haven't packed yet a single item. All day I went school shopping since I am getting back the day before school starts and I shot these pictures at 10pm. But I wanted to get the shoot done and have a blog post for you all to read before I go. Hope you enjoy it. 

xx austin