|
As you know in May and June, I ran a competition to find some KICKING concept art for Cancer Hair, my ambitious little short. It has been an interesting process all facilitated via Talent House. Talent House crowdsources great artists for you – if you offer a prize. My prize was paltry in comparison to some of the big boys but I wanted to go global and get people interested in helping Cancer Hair become a reality. Cancer Hair is about a young, self-conscious women in remission from cancer, who goes on a date with a likely-lad who is seemingly after a one night stand. We had over 20 submissions over the course of the competition and I am delighted to so we have three winners. Two that we chose and one "peoples choice" - we have decided, the public have chosen. So who has won? Our two winners were:-  David Vidal – David’s work can be seen HERE What we liked about this image was that it captures some of what the film is about. A young couple on a first date get off to a bad start, partly because she is self conscious that she has lost her hair while undergoing chemo and partly because he says some things he shouldn’t. Although our couple don’t kiss in the script, this image provides a hopeful what if moment that our audience can follow. David, as well as being an illustrator and fine artist, is also a music producer and can be found at https://www.facebook.com/jakoboofficial Well Done David. And thanks, we love your art.  Diane Gibson – Diane’s work can be seen HERE What we liked about this image is that it really convays the emotions that the characters are going through. Again, the scene doesn’t necessary appear in the script but we love the rawness of it. This young woman is trying to get her life back after cancer has devastated it. She is going to be scared of what comes next. Will she be rejected? Will he like her? Will she want to run away? Diane is a mother and a grandmother and has her hands full. As well as being kept busy by the family, she is also a talented artist, drawing out the emotion from the situation and laying it bare for all to see. Diane’s portfolio can be found at http://www.talenthouse.com/shamrockedlady Thanks Diane, we love this piece. The Peoples Choice winner was:-  Diego Valdez – Diego’s work can be found HERE
What we liked about Diego’s illustration was that it showed a haunting portrayal of a woman without hair staring proudly at the viewer. It was a very powerful and arresting image and we can certainly see why this won the people’s choice. There is even a touch of angelic wings coming our the back of his image which gives the piece an ethereal feel. Diego is a formal fashion model who is now an artist, author and illustrator. He has a number of projects on the go and more can be found out about Diego at his website http://www.diegovaldez.com/ . We also recommend you follow him on twitter at @realdiegovaldez Thanks Diego and Well Done!  I've just spent five very pleasant days at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Many interesting and insightful things have come out of this but one of the ones I have taken very much to heart is the fact that everyone - from Oscar winning producer down is in the same boat.
What do I mean by that? There are very few people who manage to have a sustainable and financially rewarding career in film. It is a lifestyle job. But you know what, that's OK. It doesn't matter that you cannot support yourself 100% with writing or producing or industry "stuff". If you can find a way of doing what you love at the same time of doing something you have to to pay the bills then that's OK. It's the game everyone in town plays. There are probably about 1000 people max that are able to sustain themselves to any reasonable degree within the industry. So temping at a bar, or as in my case doing interim communications contracts is OK. Whatever you need to do to make your lifestyle work for you is what you do. Interestingly at almost every session I attended a question was asked which was along the lines of "how are you managing to live?". The implication being that there is a secret way of doing things that some of us aren't being told. There is no secret. This shit is hard. Pay the rent with what you can and try to sustain the energy, and money, for being a filmmaker on the side. When you are in filmy company, like I was this weekend, then just play the "I'm a filmmaker|" routine like everyone else and STFU about your day job. Similarly, where possible in your day job STFU about your film life, nothing breeds annoyance like an individual with a life outside work. Two worlds, never the two shall meet, as long as one of them pays then you can keep them in balance.  We are still in the very early stages of bringing Cancer Hair to the screen. One of the things of key importance to us is the ability to showcase what the film is about to potential funders. The easiest, and best, way to do this is via Concept Art.
Good concept art captures the essence of the film without giving too much away. It brings out the themes and concepts (hence the name concept art) of the piece into one image. For me, the reason it is so key is that it puts an image to the film before the image themselves have been captured via a camera lense. We have teamed up with creative powerhub Talenthouse to find WONDERFUL concept art for Cancer Hair. Amazingly, like actually amazingly, Nokia have sponsored our creative call and so we are pleased to announce there is even some cash in it for the artist/designer or expert illustrator who manages to a) capture our attention and b) promote the heck out of their entry via their own social networks. Let me tell you a bit about Talenthouse. You really should consider using it, if like us you are looking for great art or a way to collaborate with creatives around the world. Basically, it is where creative people meet and collaborate with each other, with brands, with projects and get paid and recognised for their work. The concept is quite simple. You put out a creative call via Talenthouse – for in our case – Concept Art. Talenthouse promotes this to their community of artists around the world and if they are interested in your project, they will submit something. You can choose the “best” submission for you. But the best bit is that there is social element to the voting on talenthouse. This means that the artist can use his or her social capital to promote their work, or your project. That means you benefit not just from their great art but the halo effect of their friends, and followers, knowing about your project. Genius stuff. If you are an artist, designer or illustrator I’d love for you to go our call for submissions and enter something. Cancer Hair Concept Art Call On Talenthouse. If you are a producer, director why not have a look at Talenthouse as something you can work with as part of your engagement going forward. |
AuthorGail Hackston is a filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. Her blog is about getting things made in the UK Film Industry. Archives
November 2014
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed