How to make 'Robert' look anorexic

Firstly, I researched on the internet what someone would look like anorexic.

I found that they looked very gaunt, pale, had bad skin, thin and usually quite skinny, with a redish colour around their eyes. The redish colour around the eyes was to signify the lack of sleep he was having and to portray how cold it was where 'Robert' and 'Dianne' were staying.

These were some of the pictures I found that helped inspire me to give 'Robert' the look I thought was best suited for his character.

1. This photo is a clear example of the gauntiness I was previously talking about, however it is not very clear.

2. Whereas this picture is the look I was going for with 'Robert'. I was unable to find a photo of a man that looked obviously anorexic.

Its almost as though the skin is a little transparent, where you can see the veins.

3. Someone with anorexia would tend to have dark circles around their eyes and a defined shape to their cheek bones. This is due to the little amount of fat they have on their face.

4. This image is more insightful as it presents the look I want to show on Robert. It has the round circled eyes and the gauntness I want to display on Robert. I may need to use dark shadows underlining the cheek bone to emphasize on this.

Make-up of Robert

The make-up for Robert was the most challenging for me as I wasn't sure whether the dark blue - black shades would work, however came to find that they did work and the portrayal of a gaunt, skinny, malnourished Robert was conveyed and demonstrated through his make - up. It can be argued that the most significant display of his anorexia is through his make - up whereas if Robert's appearance seemed normal and skin tone seemed healthy it would then not be clear to the audience to acknowledge his illness and fragile state.




Here you can see I have used red eye -liner to highlight Robert's sleep deprivation. I have enhanced on this by adding dark shades around the eyes creating circles giving him bags. Also I found that I had to use a lot of make - up and repeatedly re-do Roberts as it was melting dut to the fireplace secenes resulting him in sweating. Another reason for make - up touches is due to the on screen off screen appearance. On screen, the make - up seems much less and is not as visually clear whereas off screen it is shown as you would see in these photos.


I used pale foundation all over his face including his lips. No colour on the lips and face can be suggested to appear unhealthy and due to lack of nutrition and vitamin. This is another representation of his crumbling state.


Lastly, I made sure the gauntness of Robert was blatant and striking and even tried to make him look shockingly disturbing. I followed the definiton of his cheekbones all the way down to the lower part of the face. Also, as the film is a lot of the time grey, dull and misty, the film symbolises on the coldness through mise en scen, costume, lighting and make -up.


Through my learning experience during this production, I have come to realise the significance back stage efforts have on filmmaking such as make - up, costume etc as it can be argued that off screen is as much part of the production as much as on screen.

Research on Boom Operating

A boom operator is an assistant of the sound production. The responsibility of the boom operator is microphone placement. The boom operator can also attach wireless microphones to the actors anyone whose voice requires recording.

The boom operator must decide where to place the boom microphone based on the location and projection of any dialogue, the framing position and whereabouts of the camera, the lighting, avoiding all shadows, and any unwanted noise sources.

During the making of October Sands I found that working on film sets can be the most amazing feeling and there's a lot of job satisfaction when you see the finished production, however the hours can be long and hard. Boom operating demands a lot of ones time and therefore it would benefit the boom operator if he/she was was patient. The current film industry demands a lot of your time and you have to be willing to persevere.

Synopsis of October Sands

October Sands underlines the theme anorexia which was of Ethan's personal choice as the theme represents his own personal past experiences.
Robert and Dianne try and re-inject their marriage with the passion and romance it once had by going back to their holiday cottage however due to Dianne's infatuation with romantic ideals she instead pushes Robert further into his lack of emotional hunger and causes his emotional deterioration. Therefore both characters neglecting the other ones needs, instead become totally isolated from one another, resulting in their marital breakdown.

Make-up of Dianne

Choosing the right colours for Dianne were not very difficult for me as I had a rough idea at the beginning of the pre-production stage how I wanted her to look and appear.













1. Kate Beckinsale was an obvious choice of mine as soon as I read over the script and had a full understanding of the narrative. Dianne is a bright-faced character who believed in the typical romantic fanatasy portraying the classical beauty look in which influenced me to partially use and take on this natural glamorous look portrayed by Kate Beckinsale.






2. Norah Jones is another influence that made me want to stick to the natural - beauty look. As Diannes character has brown hair it would only make sense to give Dianne the same kind of look as this was another look I wanted to display through Dianne.









You can see the light purple eyeshadow used on her eyelids to empasize on the rosy - look I was going for, also the burgundy lips and and rosy cheeks to illustrate this. Again, the purple - pink scarf to carry out the rosy, classic beauty look.


Here you can see I used black eye-liner to show off her eyes and to make them look bigger with white eyeshadow inside the inner corner eye-lid to create this illusion.

Overall, I would like to think that the look I have given Dianne is the flawless yet somewhat modest beauty in which the make-up details.

Shooting 'October Sands'

We shot October Sands in Newcastle - Embleton on the 25th of February for four days and we headed back on the Monday.

The journey to Newcastle was one journey I will never forget as we almost never made it up there. We missed our first coach which mean we had to book another which we did, we then missed that coach and tried to catch up with it. The coach was heading to Golders Green and we were in the cab going hysterical. Looking back at it it makes me laugh and happy as we all (Me, Nayomi and Ethan) pulled together as a team. We eventually made it to Golders Green and got on the coach.

We started filming the next day as we got there too late in the evening. We didn't stick to the storyboard exactly as we skipped a few shots and went back to the ones we needed shooting and added a few of our own. This was to have variety and more choice as to see what suits better.

Filming October Sands was exciting and so much fun however it was very draining and tiring. The reasons were because of the time schedule. One of the reasons were because we didn't realise how time consuming the bathroom scenes would have taken. The lighting was difficult as we had to make sure the splashing of the water wasn't getting into the light bulbs. To prevent that from happening we covered it in a transparent plastic bag. We used a smoke machine to add effect and mystery at why Robert was melting. Also it was challenging for me to make sure the boom stick was in the appropriate area and was picking up on all significant sounds as Robert was shouting and in my opinion, making slight disturbing noises however suited his state of mind as it was severly deteriorating due to his lack of emotional hunger.

I had to make sure the boom stick wasn't getting wet as Robert was splashing hysterically using his arms, waving them everywhere. This is overwhelming me and it can be stated boom operating can be very demanding.

Overall, my role in the October Sands production was to operate the boom, make - up, costume and prop organising. I enjoyed the production of October Sands to the extent where Ethan and the film itself ahs inspired me to go away and create a stylistic piece of film. Something which is passionate to me as much as it clearly was to our director Ethan Race.