catforbrainsdesigns

[catforbrainsdesigns]

What Cat For Brains Creative Design is All About…

Ok so this is a small paragraph about myself, my work and my future goals in terms of life after university. When I first arrived at The Northern Film School I really didn’t know what department I wanted to work in, and then I was introduced to art direction. Art department within a film crew either large or small is the department responsible for designing, building and dressing studio and location sets for a film, as well as sourcing or making costume and props.

Immediately I was fascinated by art direction and since the very first short I ever worked on I have held positions in the art department including Production Designer, Art Director and Art Department Assistant. My experience ranges over many genres including short film, continuing drama and experimental and I have built, dressed and designed sets or assisted with the process many times before with some of the most talented people I've met at the school.

My main goal after finishing my course at The Northern Film School is to join an apprenticeship scheme with either a screen agency or a major broadcaster such as BBC or Channel 4. To prepare for this transition I have been compiling my three years’ worth of design work into both a sketch book portfolio and this blog so that I can exhibit my work to potential employers. I have also created professional profiles on websites such as myfirstjobinfilm.com and LinkedIn and I also aim to create another profile on both BBC talent pool and Craftandtech.com when the applications open once again to ensure that my work is out there for people to see

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chloe-huggins/70/266/29a

Myfirstjobinfilm: https://www.myfirstjobinfilm.co.uk/adm585/entrant-home.php

[catforbrainsdesigns]

These are the set and costume stills from Mandala. As I said before, both films are going through the edit process at the moment so these are more teaser photos at the moment. 

These are mainly photos of the astronauts suit we built up using household items like tubs that we used to make the main control console on the front of the suit. More photos will be uploaded soon.

Enjoy!

[catforbrainsdesigns]

These are the set stills from Candy Girl, as the film is still going through the edit these are more like teaser photos! We constructed two sets in the location.

1st: Vince & Franks flat: This is the set with the huge mural painted on the back wall. As the characters were drug dealers and thugs the flat was created to be very eclectic and seedy. We borrowed furniture from the location for the set including the awesome "Sofa King" graffiti sofa. 

2nd: Harry's apartment: Harrys apartment was also made up of borrowed  furniture from the location. It had a "hand-me-down" vibe in that Harry's family has all gone and he is the one left with their possessions cluttered into his flat. He doesn't really care how the flat looks and so we went for a shabby yet ordered vibe as Harry has very little in his life to occupy his attention. . 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

MANDALA & CANDY GIRL - 2/3 GRADUATION PROJECTS I HELPED DESIGN :)

I also worked on two other short films made at The Northern Film School as part of my degree in Film & Moving Image Production. The first; Mandala is set in the future and follows the harrowing decisions of a dead astronaut after he wakes in a futuristic hospital and is presented with a life and death decision. The second is Candy Girl, a hard-hitting story of "Marion" - she is the girlfriend and physical property of her controlling boyfriend and after escaping his clutches she meets Harry. Harry is a big-hearted man and he decides to help Marion out of her harrowing situation...With dire consequences.

Working on these shoots as Art Director was one of the best experiences of my life! Both films were so diverse in their genre and delivery and I am very excited to see them as they are in the edit process at the moment. 

Photos and set/costume stills will be uploaded shortly :)

[catforbrainsdesigns]

These images were some of my inspiration for the costume and set designs on Revolutions - Working Title. I took influence from tv shows and movies such as Resident Evil and The Walking Dead. I wanted to replicate the makeshift survival vibe these pieces give. 

Each character ha a different personality of course, but they're all in the same situation and as the world crumbled before their eyes I wanted to emphasize their need to make do with what is around them with regards to clothing and settlements.

[catforbrainsdesigns]

She would have been a fantastic villain in Revolutions!!!

De Enz Mecha Nizm

[catforbrainsdesigns]

Revolutions - Working title costume designs

These are the characters wearing their screen costumes. Each character has their own function within the group.

Tinker - Fixer

Beth - Cook

Pen - Hunter

Elle - Sorter

Maya - Scavenger

Outsider and Bandit 1&2 are wearing boiler suits to protect them from the outside radiation. Outsider's gas mask has been stolen in the story and that is why he has boils on his face.

SFX make-up by Rebecca Witt

[catforbrainsdesigns]

These a photos of the characters different areas as they were built in the warehouse. We used pallets, scrap wood and old material to make the areas. We also made an old door in the workshop to use as a wall in one of the characters areas. 

Jacobs area was much the same, but more private. we rented tea chests and a WWII stretcher for him to use as a desk and bed. 

After each area was built we began to put props and furniture in to finish it all off nicely. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

As promised! These are the starting pictures for Revolutions - Working Title. The space we had to fill was huge, a warehouse/nightclub in Leeds. Myself and the co-designer had decided that each of the 5 characters would have their own private areas that they had built up from bits of scrap from around the desolate wasteland. Jacob - the leader of the group would have his own room that was shrouded by a makeshift door. 

These photos are of the warehouse before we began work and also of what we built in the workshop for the set.

[catforbrainsdesigns]

BA3 Continuing Drama! Coming Soon!

Hi everyone, 

Soon I will be uploading stills of my latest work on a Continuing Drama Project set in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Filmed in Leeds. There will be photos of both costume and set design. At the moment I'm incredibly busy with other uni work but I promise I will upload them soon! 

Watch this space!! 

Thanks! xox

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" Final day of shooting

On the final day of shooting I had to convert the set from an artists studio to a prison cell, this included removing two of the back wall flats and "floating" the left wall so that it sat next to the window. The conversion worked as the two sets were supposed to be portrayed as a mish mash of memory and reality and so recycling the same set was economically and realistically the best way to truly illuminate the action in the script. 

To create a sense of desperation I added chicken wire to the window with a staple gun and removed the door handle. I wanted to make the set as claustrophobic as possible. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" Pre-Production Day 4 and shoot day 1

Day 4 was the first day of shooting and so we began the day by properly dressing the set and making sure that everything was in its rightful place for the shoot. Half way through the days shooting there was a scene in which the lead actor throws a box of props around the set and it was my job to make sure that after the take was cut all the props went back to their place for the next take. Tiring!

The canvases in the Easel corner were added also - which were made by the art department earlier in the week - to give the set a personal touch. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" Pre-Production Day 3

Day 3 was a busy day, we had to finish painting "The Problem Wall" and begin preliminary dressing so that the lighting department could start developing lighting plans. 

By this point the set had changed from being a couples bedroom to an artists studio/creative space; the main reason for this was because the bed that we were going to use was so big it would have taken half the set up. I flashed the idea of it becoming an artists studio past the director and the writer and they agreed! So work began on preliminary dressing and prop sourcing. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" Pre-Production Day 2

Day 2 of the set build was one filled with challenges! Everything was going smoothly until the first layer of paint on the 2 far side flats began to bubble. We soon discovered there was wallpaper on the two flats! To keep on schedule we had to act fast and remove any wallpaper we could and get the wall prepared to be repainted. We used a steamer - admittedly not the best idea of MDF but we had to think fast. The wallpaper came straight off and we were able to get the wall sanded after it dried, we were set back around an hour and a half. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" Pre-production Day 1

This was the first day of the set build, the whole art department - and some other departments! - pitched in to help get the set up in the studio so that we could begin preparing it to be painted the next day. 

[catforbrainsdesigns]

"Lock In" - Production Designing a NFS Masters Shoot.

I had heard through my Production Design tutor that a Masters project at The Northern Film School was in need of help in the art department and so I asked for a script. I was then invited to attend a crew meeting the next week and so I went along expecting to meet an established student production designer to assist on the project. Unbeknownst to me my tutor had recommended me for the role myself and I was asked to design the entire project!! 

I gleefully accepted - even though I knew that I wouldn't be graded on the work I put in - and began work designing the set(s). The script had been through many changes already and so a lot of work was produced with ideas for the sets. At first the set was that of a young Agoraphobic man who had made his house into a fully functioning fantasy world; exciting! However as the script developed it became a bedroom set, a mixture of reality and fantasy. And so I had to start over again! 

Finally with the script locked off I began to plan the set designs and met with other Heads of Departments like the cinematographer and the director to discuss my visions for the sets. 

It was the first time I had ever built a set and so it was a huge challenge! I learned so much and worked with the most professional and lovely crew ever. I had a blast! And this is just the beginning!!

[catforbrainsdesigns]

These are the rough costume and prop designs I have done for the next short film I'm working on. Its a humble romantic story of a couples journey together and how they deal with terminal illness. Margery is terminally ill and sends her doting husband on a quest to find her rag doll that was a honeymoon present from George and "Bring Her Home". 

I wanted to distinguish clearly the difference in mood between the scenes where the characters are young and old. I used warm hues of red and burgundy to illustrate the younger characters both in set and costume design and I used cold, melancholic hues of blue and grey to determine the mood when Margery falls ill and how show how hard it is on both of them. I also used these hues to show the dwindling energy and life force from Margery; making the deterioration of her condition very emotive for the viewer and for George too.

As I am not the best illustrator in the world I used collage to show the costume designs; drawing isn't something I am strong in. But I think the message comes across ok. :)