The Making of Childhood Wasteland: Part 2/3

The Making of Childhood Wasteland: Part 2/3

The shirt went through two rounds of samples. The first time it was too long, and some measurements were off. The 2nd time there were improvements, yet more fine-tuning was needed still. It seemed like no matter how well I had planned; something would always go wrong. All I could do was to try again and wait. So to keep myself busy between each turnaround, I met with my friends Jonathan, Reni, and Aaron.

I'm very grateful that the people I meet are always kind, genuine, and super talented. Jonathan is a photographer, Reni is an art director, and Aaron is a videographer/photographer. The four of us clicked right away, I told them about my upcoming design, and we all thought this would be a perfect opportunity to make something incredible together!

THE PLAN

To showcase the "Half Empty" Sweatshirt, we decided to create a visual narrative through a combination of photos and videos. We wanted to talk about the endless journey of finding, losing, and finding oneself.

Mind Map
The tone of the story should be melancholic yet hopeful. It would begin with an innocent girl discovering a mask. Through the play pretend, she encountered different sides of herself, lost her way, felt conflicted, and at the end, regained ownership of her many identities. 
Mask
Mask on head
I made a bunny mask from a template I found on Etsy, design by Macheanimal. I love that the style is more polished than cute, it looks great worn directly on the face and top of the head!
sketchbook
I then sketched out the full outfit with props and a few poses. It helped me visualize the concept, and communicate effectively with the team. 

sketches

Out of all sketches, this one spoke to me the most. I liked that the character seems to be contemplating. So I decided to expand the idea into a full drawing.

THE DRAWINGChildhood Wasteland drawing

I imagined a place that is luring and dazzling, with cotton candy covering the streets and buildings dripping in syrup. You may see some occupants poke their heads out from several windows; are they watching the girl, or just checking out the view? Some windows are sealed. What happened to them?

Amidst all the sugar-coated facades, there's a girl. She looked down at her bunny mask, then turned towards us. "Should I go in?" Her gaze seems to ask, "Will you come with me?"

 

TO BE CONTINUE...

While I was working on the props and planning the story with Aaron, Jonathan and Reni went location scouting. They did a fantastic job and found a perfect neighborhood! Next time on the blog, I will tell you about the location, our shoot, and how I almost had to cancel everything!

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