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Project Trivia
By: Robyn Barnette
- Filmed and photographed in three months. "Charming Meygan" was scheduled to last five months, but this project was completed a lot faster than scheduled, since I was committed to giving Meygan "one of the best damn Bratz Photography Projects ever," based on "one of the best damn Bratz collections ever released." This is due in part because Meygan is my most favorite character from the Bratz Pack — and a character who is seemingly neglected in many of the Bratz collections that MGA Entertainment releases.
- This project is loosely based on my Bratz fan fiction "Meygan's Story," which I began writing in January 2005 and completed in October 2006. Counting both the Bratz fan fiction "Meygan's Story" and this Bratz Photography Project "Charming Meygan," the total production for this entire project lasted approximately three years.
- I had hoped that for this project, Meygan would be included in the Bratz Fashion Pixiez collection when it was released in January 2007. After it was revealed that Meygan was not among the characters included in the collection, I decided to use Bratz Genie Magic Meygan instead. However, things did not work out correctly as planned, and Bratz Genie Magic Meygan was rejected.
- In an effort to maintain the fantasy theme from the "Heavenly Jade" project I did in Spring 2007, and to demonstrate my support for Bratz collections that I believed were well ahead of their time, I decided to use Meygan from the Bratz Midnight Dance collection for "Charming Meygan." The choice to use Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan for this project was met with widespread approval from the Bratz community.
- In preparation for "Charming Meygan," I washed the fashions of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll....in the washing machine. I figured that it would not be a bad idea to wash her fashions prior to beginning the project. Turned out that it was a very bad idea, since her fashions got ruined in the process. As a result, and since MGA Entertainment had long discontinued the collection, I had to purchase another Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll to replace the original fashions. However, the original version of the doll that I first purchased is the one used in the project.
- Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan was one of the most difficult Bratz dolls to pose correctly, since her eyes are off-center.
- I spent over a week editing and retouching the photo of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll overlooking the mountains and fall foliage landscape. This was because a slight breeze where the photo was captured caused Meygan's hair to fly all around, thus forcing me to restyle her hair. The initial results of the photo looked very awkward.
- A rejected photo featuring my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll at a cemetery during winter was captured in March 2007, while I was working on the filming and photography for my "Heavenly Jade" project. That photo was reshot in the fall, since at the time the photo was captured originally, I was not certain if I was going to use Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan for "Charming Meygan."
- The photo of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll with the Fall Harvest in the background took over twelve hours, three photo session attempts, and over 110 photos, to capture correctly. I woke up at 5:30 A.M. on a Saturday morning setting everything up.
- With the exception of the Indian Corn, all the food in the Fall Harvest photo was real and edible. My mom donated the squash and vegetables.
- There was a big concern in the Fall Harvest photo that the face on my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll looked a lot more brighter than it should have, since the photo was shot during sunset. The color of the face on my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll is not gothic white but actually pale peach. The pale peach color did not photograph properly on my digital camera and made her face appear white. However, the effect blended in very well and the soft focus effect applied to the photo made her face appear more "ghostly." It fit perfectly within the overall theme of the Bratz Midnight Dance collection.
- Another "ghostly" effect was featured in the photo of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll captured at a church. Because of the manner in which the photo was set up and captured, there was no possible way for me to achieve the pale peach color of her face during the photography.
- The same photo captured at the church was to have featured a rose, in something of an inspiration from the musical "The Phantom Of The Opera." Because the location for the photo was found at the last minute, it did not give me enough time to include a rose in the photo. The idea was eventually implemented in the final photo captured for the project.
- The song used in the video slideshow is titled "Without Love" by Christian R&B music artist Stacie Orrico. The lyrics to the song are a retelling of 1 Corinthians 13 from The Holy Bible, and it is the same song that Meygan sings during the talent show in "Meygan's Story," as a dedication to her deceased sister Kayla (ironically, when Meygan was introduced as the newest member of the Bratz Pack in 2002, Kayla was her original name before a trademark dispute by Mattel forced MGA Entertainment to change the name to Meygan).
- The version of "Without Love" in the video slideshow was remastered to make it sound like it was sung at an auditorium — just like how Meygan sang this song during the talent show in "Meygan's Story."
- First video slideshow to use MGA Entertainment's animated company logo. All the video slideshows from all the Bratz Photography Projects that I had completed will be redone using this animated sequence.
- Since "Meygan's Story" was about coping with the loss of a family member, the final photo in the project features a tribute to Dario Gutierrez, who died on January 9, 2007 — the same day that Bratz Heaven was featured in The Shanghai Bund Pictorial in Shanghai, China. Gutierrez was the grandfather of a very special Bratz fan, and the photo was done so that it would be simple and elegant. There is an image of Gutierrez on the upper left of the photo, even though the image is not in the best quality. Out of respect for the family, it was decided that the image used in the photo be left as is without trying to improve it.
- The photograph featured in the final photo of "Charming Meygan" is the Breeana-Jade Easter photo from the "Heavenly Jade" project, which featured a similar "in solidarity" dedication to Gutierrez.
- It took two months to research the appearance I wanted for the final photo, and one day setting everything up.
- The final photo was originally intended for this project. It was eventually decided that both my "Heavenly Jade" and "Charming Meygan" projects would each include a tribute to Gutierrez.
- I could not find a colorful bouquet of flowers to use for the headshot photo, and it was likely because the photo was captured during winter. I used a bouquet of white flowers and green mums instead. To provide an interesting perspective for "Charming Meygan," and because the colors did not coordinate properly, I originally captured the headshot photo in color, then transformed it to black and white and shaded it using a dark green tint.
- The dark green color is featured prominently throughout this project. This is because green is the color associated with Meygan. The color is evident with her "Funky Fashion Monkey" logo.
- Total number of photos captured for "Charming Meygan": Nine
- Total number of photos rejected for "Charming Meygan": Nine
- Originally scheduled for completion on Christmas Day, "Charming Meygan" was completed a week earlier than scheduled.
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