Admittedly one of my favourite Filmmakers by Far Rachel Maclean, she’s done it again, with her incredible new film “Make me up”, not only is this film a visually pleasing bust of colour but it touches on many large topics within todays society (Feminism, Technology, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Insecurity’s). Feminism in the age of technology, this dark comedy is both seductive and dangerous, it almost takes you back notch showing us a situation where surveillance violence and submission is acceptable in todays society, all while tackling contradictions, pushing many boundaries and remaining a virtual reality with a candy floss colour scheme.
After watching the film Rachel put on a Q&A that I attended, She spoke of her film being about “feminism in the age of siri” and the complications that can arise, she started questioning and challenging beauty stereotypes after graduating art school 10 years ago, Maclean stated she forged a language that despite it grossing out other artists and grotesque television comedies she aims to continue. Maclean has used green screen technology to perform against a backdrop in which she has designed prior; she knew she wanted “Make me up” to feature eating disorders in a Barbie princess world while civilisation is falling into ruins. She went on to express how she was trained as an artist not a filmmaker and aims to demystify the filmmaking process. She looks at the patriarchal idea of society falling through, the apocalyptic aspect (the people who would be liberated within this process.)
Maclean noticed the absence of a female presence within the art world in terms of artists and filmmakers yet only saw paintings and sculptures of women. When making “Make me up” Maclean stated she wanted a cheeky mash up, wanting Kenneth Clarke’s documentary voice in a woman’s body and that’s exactly what she did.
The discussion then turned to her casting process, typically Maclean plays all roles within her film through both costume and green screen, yet this film was a key moment for her as she took a huge step back to focus on filmmaking. But why is now the right time to start working with actors? MacLean answered “working with voice actors, the process of that was nice, I think it changes the process of things when you’re working with more people” explaining it gives you an insight into different cast, and “on a practical level you don’t have to direct yourself, this allows you to see the process better”.
She explained the hardest parts of creating “Make me up” was this being her longest film she had to find a (beginning, middle and end) something she hadn’t done before, having to extend the narrative, she found the most difficult thing the beginning and end. Yet she found this interesting due to being able to revealing things and play around a lot more, they also 3D modelled the whole environment.
