Purple vs. Pink
It appears that I have totally lost my grasp on technology. Upon hurling myself back into the creative realm, it has become quite clear that I need to balance my conceptual development equally with my technical practice. The simplest of things have become nearly foreign to me. For instance, I learned long ago that dark colors don't read well on a television screen yet, when I was assembling my costume for my studio shoot, I was decked out in hues so dark that my face had nearly been washed out completely. Such lapses in memory have made me realize that I really need to think more about my work in a technical manner. As my production trudges further into the month of February, I am going to attempt to think more about how I can use the camera, lighting, and set design to achieve my artistic vision.
I conducted a studio test this weekend. Accompanied by Ivan and one of my co-workers, Dan, I wanted to attain an understanding of what my set might look like prior to any actual production. Of course, I also wanted to see if I could translate my internal vision into something more tangible and real. As outlined in my initial production proposal, all of my work in the studio was meant to represent my imagination - a colorful backdrop, fanciful costuming, and quirky props were all going to be melded into something so delightfully whimsical. Armed with a backdrop frame and a subtle purple sheet, I had hoped that we could just practice assembling the display and that our test would be a breeze. Once we began working in the studio, though, we realized that there were some obstacles to overcome. For instance, the light purple sheet that I had attended to use as a backdrop was so pale that it drained all of the color out of my face and I looked absolutely ill. While I thought I might have a more welcoming pink sheet somewhere back at home, we decided to work with what we had at that moment and discovered that gels, cookies, and some wacky white-balancing ease those troublesome hues. Also, I did enjoy how all of these newfound lighting effects altered the environment. Upon constructing our design in the studio, I began to look at the space differently and had the idea of doing some long shots where one would see the studio as it surrounded the entire set. I think this approach might make the imagination even more apparent and reflexive. After the evening was over, I definitely felt like I had a better idea of what everything would look like and I'm confident now that the imagination set will indeed look like another world.
That evening I found the pink sheet in my room. Upon giving it a second look, I realized that the pink sheet probably would add a lot more color and depth to my appearance and, when I do my studio shoot in two weeks, I'll bring them both just in case. I think the pink is going to win out, though. Go pink.