Kayleigh Sutherland

I would like to start with an apology – it has been a few months since I have posted any news. This is due to the amount of work I have been doing and getting ready to leave for Australia.

The film “Breakdown” was written and directed by Alan McLaughlin. He is just finishing his third year at university. He brought on board a great team of students who were all just as excited as I was to be working on his project. I have now seen the end product and I am very impressed with all aspects of the film and I believe he will do well in his chosen industry.

Straight after “Breakdown” I worked on a film called “Morning After” written and directed by Ashar Aftab and Steve Pool. This was a small budget film based in Edinburgh about a woman who is with a younger man and they have a pregnancy scare, which makes her questions the relationship. On this project I got a lot of experience. We had some exceptionally long and tiring days but I got on well with the people involved.

Since my last news update I have now had my Graduation Ceremony. This was held in the Greenock Town Hall near James Watt College where I studied. It was a fantastic day out with my family and I got to see old class mates and lecturers. I was also awarded the “Charles Fox Make-up Award” for my efforts in and out of class. The award was a nomination by the lecturers of the college. I am so grateful for everything they have done for me during my three years with them.

The news about my trip to Australia to work in the Melbourne Arts Center and the Sydney Opera House has appeared in an article in the “Edinburgh Evening News” The article reads as If I am moving over indefinitely which is not the case. I have been offered a 6 month working experience placement. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to have this and would like to say a big “Thank You” to Andrew Keshan the Head of the Department..

On my placement I will be working on:

The Mikado written by Gilbert & Sullivan,

The Pearlfishers written by Georges Bizet,

La Boheme written by Giacomo Puccini,

Don Giovanni written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and finally

The Merry Widow written by Franz Lehar

The final film I have worked on before I leave for Australia is a short called “ No More Shall We Part” written and directed by Shaun Hughes, a masters student from Edinburgh college of Art.

This film is set in Quebec Canada, 1847. We join Henry in his remote log cabin pulling the body of Grace, his dead wife, from an old steel bathtub. A former butcher by trade he has been primitively trying to preserve her body to keep her around for companionship, emotionally continuing their relationship and avoiding the onset of grief and loneliness. After losing his two daughters to cholera, contracted on their journey after being forced from their home during the Highland Clearances, Henry cannot and will not accept the loss of his wife. Problems arise when James, Henry’s rebellious brother from Scotland, arrives seeking refuge. In an act of panic, alarmed by the possible discovery of his wife’s corpse, Henry shoots his brother. Through James’ death Henry is finally able to let go of Grace. Burying her beside their two daughters he begins the grieving process but keeps James’ body around for companionship.

The cast of experienced actors were so professional and just phenomenal to watch. The crew ranged in age and experience and the whole experience which was a fantastic opportunity to learn from. I thoroughly enjoyed the week we were filming and I truly believe we have made a great film.

Last month’s production Cunning Little Vixen went wonderfully. The show was a roaring success and had a great reception amongst critics. The Guardian newspaper gave it 4/5 stars, their review (including a picture of my make-up) can be seen here. Working with the RSAMD and Scottish Opera was wonderful. I also got to work alongside some very talented people such as Jacqui Mallett who has worked on the likes of Still Game and Rab C. Nesbit. The experience was great and the opportunity to work with past and present students from my old college (James Watt College) was fun and rewarding. The final cherry on an all round excellent production was the honour of having David Pountney (the original director) come to see the show!

Next up for me is a short film entitled Breakdown (working title). It is set in Edinburgh and documents a man’s difficulties in dealing with the grief he feels after failing to intervene in a crime he is witness to. The film is written and directed by Alan McLaughlin. I am excited to work on it as I will be in charge of make-up which gives me another opportunity to develop my abilities working on my own and with individual responsibility as well as the opportunity to use my own creativity.

After this project I will then be working on another short film being made in Edinburgh called Morning After. It is being produced by Cinematik Productions who recently had their short film Sarah shown at Kinofilm Manchester European Short FF 2010, London Independent FF 2010, Miami Short FF 2010 and the prestigious Cambridge FF 2010.  Morning After unfolds over an eventful day in the life of a woman who has been in a long-term relationship with a younger man. The day’s events force the woman to question the relationship, which has become one-sided and fractious over time. Cinematik Productions are hoping to create a piece worthy of entry in to the major international film festivals and I am very keen to be a part of it.

I also have exciting news about the rest of my 2011. In May I will be flying over to Australia to work for the remainder of the year between the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Stage Theatre. It is a fantastic opportunity for me and one that I am extremely pleased to be doing. The job will have me working with colleagues from all around the world and from a range of backgrounds. I think the experience will be truly inspirational and extremely rewarding for my career. Safe to say I cannot wait to go! I’ll update more when I have more to tell you all.

For more pictures of Cunning Little Vixen, please click here.

This month will see me working with the RSAMD and Scottish Opera in a repeat of January 2010 where I worked with them on the sell out opera War and Peace. This year, the show will be David Poutney’s creation and adaptation of Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen. The performance will be on at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow on the 21st and 22nd of January and the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh on the 27th and 29th. The opera is filled with humour and “explores the relationship between man and nature, and the cycle of life from birth to death”. I am really looking forward to working with such a successful and well-credited Scottish production team. The performances last year were phenomenal and highly acclaimed. I look forward to being part of the same standard of show again this year.

Recently I also had the chance to see how post-production work was going on Electric Man. As part of some of the cast and crew, I went along to see a first cut of three scences of the film, as well as some of the bloopers. It was amazing! We were all very impressed with the work the team has done since filming finished. I was very happy with the quality of my hair and make-up, it appeared very professional. The film is still going through some more editing but it is hoped that it will be ready to be submitted in March to South by South West Film Festival in Austin and then to Tribeca in New York in May. After that we hope to show it in the Edinburgh Film Festival and then to be picked up by a distributor after that. For more information on the making and post-production status of the film, this article is well worth reading.

This coming year is looking very positive for me. As well as The Cunning Little Vixen, I have recently received great news about a very impressive job offer I have been in discussions about. The job would see me working abroad for around 6 months in one of the world’s leading theatrical and operatic venues. I do not want to say too much more just now. Once I have more news I will update the website again. Until then, why not come and see The Cunning Little Vixen, I have included links to both venues below.

Festival Theatre

Theatre Royal

For most of September I worked on a low budget feature film called Electric Man. It is set in Edinburgh and involves two young men who discover a very rare and expensive comic in the shop that they work in. The film follows their adventures evading several interesting and unusual characters desperate to have the comic for their own. With both their livelihoods and love lives at stake, Jazz and Wolf discover that “heroes don’t always wear lycra”.

The film was fascinating to work on and I learned so much from it. We had some exceptionally long and tiring days but I got on terribly well with the people that I worked with and really enjoyed myself. There was a great ethos from everyone involved as we are all invested in the film and so it meant that the cast and crew put in enormous levels of commitment.

I was in charge of all things make-up and hair related which I relished. Having that level of responsibility really improved my confidence, particularly in my ability to make important, creative decisions.

The team was fantastic and I worked with some great names such as David Barras (Director), Ellen-Raissa Jackson (Producer) and Rich Steel (Director of Photography), all of whom have such extensive knowledge in the industry and taught me so much. I also received great help and advice from Carys Hobbs (Wardrobe) and Marrianne Gallagher (Art Designer) as well as everybody else who worked on the film.

If you would like more information about the film, including pictures as well as the ability to keep up-to-date with post-production progress, then please follow one of the links below:

Electric Man Official Website

Electric Man Facebook

August was an exciting and busy month for me as I worked on two operas in the Edinburgh Festival. I worked on Porgy and Bess and Bliss. Both operas were at the Festival Theatre and showed over a number of nights.

Porgy and Bess was first up and involved me working largely with make-up rather than hair. I had several performers to do and specific instructions to follow as regards to how the make-up should look. I was working as part of a team of local and French make-up artists which was a great experience. I enjoyed working with a mixed nationality team and learning from many of the French styles of make-up and how they worked.

Bliss was second and was an Australian opera, working in partnership with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and filmed for the BBC. Much like Porgy and Bess, working with an international team made it an enthralling job. I was mainly working with wigs on Bliss and enjoyed furthering my knowledge in this area as well as getting the chance to work with Andrew Keshan (Head Make-up Artist). Having it filmed by the BBC made it even more exciting and rewarding.

I really enjoyed the buzz that comes with working in theatre. It was great having a sense of pressure and responsibility but also being part of the excitement and anticipation before and during the performance.

I shall add some photos to the post soon. In the meantime, I am even more busy in September than I was in August as I am working on a brilliant independent film that is being shot this month in Edinburgh. I shall update more on this later in the month. Although, if you can’t wait you can keep up-to-date with me on my Twitter feed by clicking here.

Last weekend I worked at T In The Park as part of the ‘Refresh’ tent for Smujj which provided make-up and hair styling to all those attending the festival.

Our tent gave people the chance to come in and have their make-up touched up and their hair restyled. We got a great reception from everyone as they seemed very keen to take advantage of our services.

It was also great being part of a fun and hard-working team for the weekend. I really enjoyed myself and hope to work with the girls again sometime.

I also had some great news this week as I am going to be working on two operas at the Festival Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Festival. The operas are ‘Porgy and Bess’ and ‘Bliss’. I’ll update again next month with how I’m getting on!

Here are a few links to pictures from the TITP weekend: Picture 1, Picture 2, Picture 3

This week has been a successful week for me. I was awarded an A+ for my graded unit (final exam) and was given a Certificate of Excellence from my college for being the most consistently hard-working and committed member of my class for the last three years.

I was extremely pleased with my A+ as it required me to achieve at least 90 marks out of 100. The graded unit involved presenting my work at a show in Glasgow (see previous “Graded Unit Show” post) as well as submitting a folder of my work to college.

I was also very proud to get my Certificate of Excellence as I am part of  a hard-working class with a lot of talented girls so it was a real honour to receive the award.

I will soon be finishing college and would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me over the last three years. Whether it was by modelling, assisting in folder preparation or anything else, your help was greatly appreciated.

Last week I went to Stirling University’s swimming pool as part of a team of make-up artists from my college in Greenock. We were invited along by Simon Wright who is an aquatic sports photographer.

He is currently working on a project that involves taking promotional shots of swimming teams across Britain in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. He was visiting Stirling’s swimming team and needed the assistance of some make-up artists to create individual looks for the different members of the swim team.

I had a great time and I think our team created some really great work. The images can be seen on Simon’s website by clicking here. My specific creation was the bleeding chest look on two of the men.

Thursday May 6th was the show for my final graded unit of my HND course. The show took place in Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall and consisted of students from my own college (James Watt) as well as Clydebank and Coatbridge. We all had to bring our models and set up stalls exhibiting the look we had designed and the work that we had put into it.

My model was based on the Terminator character from the films. I had my model stand in front of a pre-built backboard that was designed to look as if he had burst through a brick wall. I had two laptops set up to demonstrate the work that had gone into the look. They had pictures and film showing the numerous stages that were involved in creating the end result. These ranged from creating the look to building the set, as well as the photoshoot that I had as part of the project.

The night went very well and I had a lot of great feedback. I also saw what other students had come up with and how they had designed their projects. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me put everything together for the night.