When I started my Foundation year at AUB, I went in with a lot of uncertainty about what I wanted to specialise in within the arts. I’d spent the majority of my GCSE and A-Level years only exploring fine art and although I had a real passion for it, it didn’t feel like the right degree for me. I chose to do a Foundation year to give myself time to figure out what it was that I wanted to study.
The first term allowed me to get a feel for all the specialisms foundation had to offer. I found I connected most with the 3D and film specialisms. Ultimately, I chose to specialise in 3D and spent the majority of the year focusing on make-up for film and TV, more specifically the prosthetics side of make-up.
When it came to deciding on my final project for Foundation, I knew I wanted to make a film that would showcase the make-up techniques I’d learnt. This would also mean I’d get more of an understanding of the film specialism too. Luckily, my flatmate, Emily Ferguson, specialised in film, so we decided to collaborate. We wanted the film to emphasise both of our skill sets and concluded that a horror film would give us that freedom.
One of the biggest issues we faced early on was finding actors willing to work with us. We knew the film was going to be a very time-consuming project, so finding someone who had that time to spare was never going to be easy. Fortunately, one of our friends, Alma Boldrick, was really keen to participate; she was on the film specialism with Emily. However, we really struggled to find anyone else. We asked around to see if any other Foundation students were interested, and sent out an email to all BA (Hons) Acting students, but nothing came of it. Eventually, we decided that instead of allowing this to hinder our project, we’d make it an intentional part of the plot.
We spent a lot of time discussing plot ideas and writing scripts, before landing on our story, Liminal. The film follows art history student Maeve Campbell, who after a beach day with her friends starts seeing disturbing hallucinations of herself. Presumed to be suffering from Cotard’s syndrome, she descends into madness as her hallucinations become all too real. At the end of the film, it’s revealed that Maeve drowned during her day at the beach and the hallucinations were her way of coming to terms with her death before she could move on to the afterlife. The lack of other actors emphasised how everything we were seeing was a figment of her imagination.
Once we had a rough plot, we began writing the script, creating storyboards and making time plans for ourselves and Alma. As well as this, I had to ensure I found a photography student who would be interested in helping me take some professional photographs of each of my make-up looks. I got in contact with the Foundation photography technician, who introduced me to Jasmine Beusmans. Thankfully, she was keen to help me and was really open to ensuring she captured what I’d envisioned, as well as getting photographs for her own portfolio. This collaboration really helped relieve some of the pressure I had during this project and meant I had some high-quality images of my work for my portfolio and the Summer Show.
However, like any project, there were a few problems along the way, especially when it came to planning time to film the scenes involving make-up. Emily and I had to ensure that both Jasmine and Alma were free. Both of them had their own projects to do, so finding days when they were available wasn’t always easy and meant we’d have to be quite flexible with our time too. It also put a lot of pressure on me to have the make-up ready for a specific time, so I wasn’t holding anyone up.
Unlike every other big project I’ve done, this wasn’t a personal project. Therefore, I had to be open to taking on other people’s ideas who were involved in the film. Although initially I thought I’d find this a challenge, hearing lots of different ideas coming from people with different specialisms is ultimately what made the project so exciting. It also meant we were all showcasing our own strengths.
Doing this collaboration project was so impactful for me. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, where I’d limit myself to exploring only what I knew and forced me to try new things. I was able to get a feel for what directing was like, got to use filming and photography equipment and even tried voice acting. It also really helped me develop my organisational and leadership skills, but most importantly, it allowed me to get a taste of so many interesting courses and fundamentally led me to picking BA (Hons) Modelmaking for my degree.
