1. Create 2 concepts

CONCEPT 1 – Miyazaki meets Labyrinth

Model takes on the dress and demeanour of Sarah character, mixed with elements of Miyazaki characters, most notably Sen from Spirited Away. Model will have blue jeans and white dress shirt with greyish vest. While the main character from Labyrinth has her hair down, I will probably have the hair of my model more closely match Sen to better help integrate that part of the theme. Of the many similarities I’ve noticed between these two films, one that strikes me is the presence of many “helper” characters and creatures of various sizes. I rounded up every stuffed animal I could find, but in the end I think I may go with a cute little Japanese cat lamp.

CONCEPT 2 – Face emerging from darkness

Model would have all black dress, on a black BG to fade into darkness, wearing white face paint with small touches of red. I was inspired to do something like this from the previous assignment with my white skull placed on a black covered surface against a black background. I really like the way it appeared as though it was floating in that space. I have seen this effect of a face floating or emerging from darkness used in various films, movies and animations (Game of Thrones, Avatar the Last Airbender, and Westward to name a few). I like the possibilities a dark theme could open up. I think it would be cool to find ways of merging futuristic dystopian themes like Mad Max with the eeriness of ancient Japanese theatre like Noh.

2. Cast 1 model

My beautiful wife has generously volunteered to be my model, which is actually perfect for the themes I’ve chosen as she’s also a fan of all these films and shows I’ve pulled inspiration from.

3. Plan & source props

I will probably be aiming to do Concept #1, which means I simply have to find clothing items to mimic Sarah’s from the Labyrinth film. I’m not sure yet how the props will come in to play, but the fact that the Japanese cat lamp I have glows different colours will open up some very cool possibilities. I’ve thought of a few cool tricks I may be able to do with other objects as well.

COSTUME
- White collared shirt
- Blue jeans
- Beige vest

PROPS
- Crystal
- Stuffed animals
- Glowing Japanese cat lamp
- Umbrella
- Finger light (blue)
- Want to try and photo-bash in the effect of the light,
but remove the object itself from the image
- Ring
- Will shoot with this as actual object,
finger light above only for coloured light cast