 | |||||||||||||||||
             |
Notes and Commentary By: Robyn Barnette
It should be known right now that of all the characters in the Bratz Pack, my favorite always has been and always and forever will be Meygan. That said, it was only a matter of time before she got the ninth Bratz Photography Project I have completed. "Charming Meygan" represents what I believe to be the most finest photography of my Bratz dolls to date. And, since Meygan is my most favorite Bratz character, I was so determined to accomplish a project so damn good that....quite frankly, I couldn't set the bar any higher for myself. Furthermore, I devoted this project to what is considered to be one of the best Bratz collections ever released, Bratz Midnight Dance. Yet, things for "Charming Meygan" looked discouraging during the pre-planning stages of the project: I had stated that after my "Express It Yasmin" project, Meygan would get the next Bratz Photography Project, regardless of what collection she was in. When MGA Entertainment announced the Bratz Fashion Pixiez collection in October 2006, I was excited that there would be a Bratz collection devoted to fantasy. I was even more excited about the prospect of Meygan being included in the Bratz Fashion Pixiez collection, since I had this project already planned out and Bratz Fashion Pixiez would be a perfect collection for what I wanted to accomplish. Upon the release of the Bratz Fashion Pixiez collection in December 2006, it was learned that Meygan was inexplicably left out of the collection (much like how Meygan was left out of a lot of products and collections MGA Entertainment released, but that's a different story). Shocked about this news, I immediately announced that Bratz Genie Magic Meygan would get this project. Unfortunately, when it came to figuring out what types of photos I wanted to capture, and the song that I wanted to use for the project ("Without Love" by R&B Christian music artist Stacie Orrico), Bratz Genie Magic Meygan simply did not fit within the overall project theme. After a fruitless search, and in an attempt to maintain the overall fantasy theme I established with "Heavenly Jade,", I decided to use Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan for this project. Turns out, in fact, that the use of Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan for "Charming Meygan" was a very wise decision: The Bratz Midnight Dance collection was one of those collections that demonstrated how far ahead of their time MGA Entertainment was with the Bratz products and collections they created, and it was consistent with the fantasy element from the "Heavenly Jade" project that I completed in July — even though both Bratz Fashion Pixiez and Bratz Midnight Dance are two entirely different Bratz doll collections. The Victorian-influenced fashions; the black, purple, and navy-blue colors; the masquerade-ball style with the capes and masks; and just the whole "haunted castle glam meets urban hip-hop" appearance of the dolls themselves....it is no wonder why the Bratz Midnight Dance collection was a huge favorite in the Bratz community, despite parents' complaints and opposition about the dolls. Who the hell cares what parents think about Bratz? I do these Bratz Photography Projects for myself and for the fans, not for the parents. "Charming Meygan" is further proof that I wanted to deliver something that would make Bratz fans everywhere embrace this girl with a passion for fashion. And considering the amount of hard work and effort I put forth in this project, I believe that I delivered it. "Charming Meygan" is loosely based on my Bratz fan fiction "Meygan's Story," which I wrote in January 2005 and completed in October 2006. In the story, Meygan lost her sister Kayla to leukemia, and she wanted to fulfill her sister's wish. She fulfilled it a year after the death of her sister by performing in her high school's annual talent show. And one of the goals that I planned for the photography of "Charming Meygan" was to have direct references to certain chapters from "Meygan's Story." This is evident in the fourth photo, where my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll is visiting a cemetery. In the beginning of "Meygan's Story," Meygan visits a cemetery and pays tribute to her deceased sister Kayla. Another photo features my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll at a scenic overlook — much like how Meygan was at a scenic overlook during her date with Bryce. The difference, however, is that in the fan fiction, the scenic overlook is that of Siltes City; in this project, the scenic overlook is that of a mountainous fall foliage. The landscape for this photo is the most scenic of any photo of any Bratz doll that I have ever captured, and I don't believe that I will ever be able to capture a photo like it again....or at least, not until I work on the next Bratz Photography Project. Yet, of the nine photos that I captured for "Charming Meygan," the one that seemed to have a direct reference to the themes of death and grief in "Meygan's Story" was the final photo. As simple and elegant as the photo looks, it was not an easy photo to do. It was actually very sad to do this photo, and not just because it was the final photo in the project: On January 9, 2007, the same day that Bratz Heaven was featured in The Shanghai Bund Pictorial, a very special Bratz fan lost her grandfather, Dario Gutierrez (better known as "Grandpa Dario"). It was the type of loss that broke everyone's hearts, and I wanted this Bratz Photography Project to include a photo that would pay tribute to Gutierrez and honor his memory. In fact, the idea to include a tribute to Gutierrez was actually reserved for this project. However, I felt that it was unfair for one project to include a tribute to Gutierrez, so I decided that both my "Heavenly Jade" and "Charming Meygan" projects should each include a tribute. And when it came to reviewing and editing the photo, I was amazed that the photo came out looking as simple and elegant as I wanted it to be. Of course, not every photo in "Charming Meygan" is a direct reference to "Meygan's Story": There was one photo of a Fall Harvest, and this photo took over twelve hours to set up and capture. I remember waking up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday morning, and I think it was because I knew on that particular Saturday was when I was to shoot this photo of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll. I spent a week researching the type of image that I wanted and then replicating what I created in memory to produce one of the most colorful fall photos you will ever see. My mom even helped out, donating a few items to help me accomplish the look that I wanted: Hay bale, fall leaves, butter nut squash, pumpkins, apples, Indian Corn....relevant items that paint a portrait of a fall harvest. Then there's Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan herself: She is not one of the easiest Bratz dolls to capture photos of, since her eyes make posing her in the correct manner difficult. I usually have the character looking straight at the camera....often times, even if her head is off a fraction of a degree, it can make editing and retouching the photo more difficult than it usually is. For the Fall Harvest photo, it took three photo session attempts and over 110 photos to capture the photo correctly, and a substantial amount of time was spent fixing the head on my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll so that the pose was correct. Definitely not an easy photo to capture, but in the end, I was very pleased with the results. And what made this photo even better was the "ghost" effect on my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll. There was some concern that the face on the doll looked a lot more brighter than it should have, since the photo was shot during sunset. My digital camera did not properly photograph the correct color of her face, but the "ghost" effect blended in very well and fit perfectly within the overall theme of the Bratz Midnight Dance collection. So I accepted the photo as it was. Another one of my favorite photos, and one that seems to define the entire theme of the Bratz Midnight Dance collection, was the photo captured at the cemetery. I had captured a similar photo in March while I was doing the filming and photography for my "Heavenly Jade" project, but at the time I captured the photo I was not certain if I would be using Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan for "Charming Meygan." And even if I was, I preferred to capture the photo in the fall, with the fall foliage in the background. Good things come to those who wait: I captured the photo during Halloween weekend. The cemetery was the perfect setting for this type of photo, and the fall foliage provided a nice backdrop to the photo's Halloween theme. My only disappointment, if any, about the cemetery photo was that the face on my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll was not gothic white like in a few other photos I captured of her. This was because there was a tree overcast on her face, blocking some of the light shining on it. I was able to brighten the photo enough that, although her face isn't true white, it was enough to blend in nicely with the other photos of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll that I captured for this project. It feels great to have finally completed a Bratz Photography Project devoted to my favorite Bratz character Meygan. Such a project was a long time coming, and I wanted to give Meygan the best damn Bratz Photography Project that I could give her, based on one of the best damn Bratz doll collections ever released. Looking back, I feel that I accomplished what I was destined to do for "Charming Meygan," and the time and hard work that I put forth in doing this project was well worth it. I wished that I could have captured more photos of my Bratz Midnight Dance Meygan doll for "Charming Meygan," but nine photos is enough. I know that this project is certainly not going to be the only project devoted to my favorite Bratz character: There are already plans to do another exciting and creative Bratz Photography Project for Meygan. However, it's way too early to think about such a project — right now, I'm just grateful that I have completed this one. | ||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright © 2005-2008 Bratz Heaven. All Rights Reserved. | |||||||||||||||||
