Behind the Scenes: The Olympian Photo Breakdown Part 1

Before I worked in The Industry™ or adjacent to it, I was just a regular person who would watch movies and think, “aw man, props and stuff, that can’t be that hard.”

I’m still a regular person, but you know what I’m not anymore? The movie watching thinking that props/wardrobe/hair/makeup/etc is easy. Because it’s not. It’s actually really difficult. And it takes a lot of time and planning and literally watching paint dry.

I’ve spent hours over the last week watching paint dry so I can add another layer to it and watch more paint dry. It is the WORST.

Why are you watching paint dry, Megan? Everything ok?

No, everything is not, and I believe I may have painted myself into a corner.

It all started when we need an image of a female Olympic wrestler for a featured image in a magazine that Alex, the main character in Alone Together, is looking at.

I’ll cover this in a later post, but as someone who has worked in rights and clearances, I’m very serious when I say that I would rather risk my life eating gas station sushi than try to clear the image of an Olympian at the Olympics or during an Olympic portrait session for a short film that has a budget like ours does. The last time I ate gas station sushi, my number almost got called. Ergo, we’re finding someone to pass as an Olympian.

That person happens to be my cousin Mackenzie. She lifts weights, she’s a cheerleader, overall, she’s a great young woman. She exudes strength and positivity, she’s exactly the sort of role model Alex would have.

In exactly 4 days, I’m going to be on an overnight flight to Michigan so that I can do a photoshoot with her as she plays the role of an Olympian. Because I don’t want to deal with clearing Olympic or regularly branded merchandise, I decided on the next best thing: making generic GO USA wardrobe myself.

So I hit Jo-Ann Fabrics, Amazon, and Michaels Crafts and got some shirts, some paint, some paint brushes, some appliques, some transfer paper, and some fabric and set to work.

I expected it to go smoother and quicker than it has so far.

Turns out it takes a long time for paint to dry, so I can’t whip out a shirt in a night like I was hoping to because it takes multiple layers so the shirt’s color doesn’t show through the white paint. Turns out shirts are also porous, so the paint will leak through to the other side of the shirt and get stuck to the cardboard shirt flattening insert you’re using. Turns out it’s also a challenge to keep your hands steady when you’ve shotgunned 32oz of coffee because it’s 5:30AM and you need to get a shirt finished today.

Turns out, none of this stuff is easy. Art, wardrobe, it’s ridiculous.

I’ve started to look at it like I look at girls who have makeup that always looks fresh faced and perfect (the no-makeup look, if you will) or people who do exercise and come away sweat free while I come away looking like a baked tomato.

The more effortless someone makes something look, the more effort it took.

And I’ve realized that’s true of realistic art and wardrobe. The sets and props that are the most authentic and most seemingly effortless are actually the most complex. Good production value takes a lot of work, but it looks like it doesn’t. A lot of work takes a lot of time. More time than I bargained for. Here are some pictures to prove it.

I want you to know that we as a team are not phoning it in for any aspect of these films. For myself, this is especially true. I don’t want shoddy art to be the reason you remember these shorts, I want it to be for the story (and to be honest, because the art is amazing).

The next four days are going to be hell, but there’s a reason for that. Much of it lies on my shoulders, for not getting more done sooner, but I’m learning about this as I go along so my inexperience is a handicap as well as a source of motivation. However, at least some of the delay is because of the fascinating world of rights and licensing.

Come by tomorrow to hear more about that.
-Megan