This Diesel Ad caught my attention for a number of reasons. For one, I was trying to figure out the usefulness of floating glasses (which, according to this ad, makes me smart).
But then my eyes wandered to the small print in the bottom right corner. “Be stupid.”
Who came up with this awesome concept for an ad? To me, it does a fabulous job of translating that even the dumbest concept can reap great benefits. All you have to do is get creative.
Sometimes, though, I can’t figure out what to create to save. My. Life. So, I thought, well maybe there’s a technique I need to know to get my creative juices flowing.
Maybe the technique used to create a concept is something I’d learn in a makeup effects school.
I looked it up. It is.
I’m on a mission to learn How to Design A Character Concept.
What is a concept?
When I think of a concept I think of a storyboard. I think of several sketches, magazine clippings, swatches, etc. I’ve never personally done a storyboard like this for one of my own makeups, and truthfully, I can’t imagine doing this every time I have an idea.
But I also learned that creating a concept is crucial to every makeup. I just need to make it easier to do one.
A concept by definition is:
A story.
That’s right. It’s a story. Something that’s told and gives you the purpose (content) and the manner in which it is told (form)*. In our case the form is the makeup, the content is the back story.
A simple way of creating a concept is to ask yourself these questions:
WHO?
Who are we trying to appeal to with the makeup? What person or group of people is it for?
WHAT?
What is the soul of the character? What is at his/her core? Did he have a tough childhood? Does she have a fear of spiders?
WHEN?
Pretty self-explanatory, but when is this being alive? In the past? In the future?
WHERE?
Where does your character live? Where is he from? Where is she going?
HOW?
What will the character use to get the point across to the audience? A prop? Something in the makeup? The costume?
WHY?
This is basically the reason this character exists.
The beauty in makeup effects is that a picture speaks volumes. We’re capable of speaking those volumes in a way that written word or even photography can’t match. It’s live 3D art.
* Read more about creating concepts.
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