A tale of Pimps and Bananas

You can skip down to the bottom of this post for a film clip from the session, or enjoy some behind-the-scenes photos & stories below..



A title that warrants some puzzlement and, hopefully, intrigue, I know... But it makes all the sense in the world. The tale goes that photographer Andraz Blaznik had an idea for a project. It was to include pimps, cigars, bling, high heels and stockings. Needless to say, I was interested. :)

It all started off innocently enough. Getting to the location in Hackney in East London, setting up the equipment, a quick strategic plan, a couple of biscuits, and we started!

There were quite a few people involved, actually. From left, there's Sašo (whose involvement (or lack thereof) I'll be getting back to in some detail later on), yours truly and Tomas Bohinc.

Barbara Mensah was our makeup artist, who brought along a suitcase or two of equipment. One might think that's a bit over the top, but then again what she was asked to do wasn't just put on a bit of lipstick.

She was to transform N for her role, which included a rather larger-than-usual makeup scheme.

 

Once the costume & makeup came together (if the odd bits still sticking out are neglected) N ended up being a rather lovely (and entertaining) banana.

Following the process closely, of course were the boys - Andraz the photographer and Tomas the pimp. Guess which is which.

Eventually we got off to some photography. This included portraits, group shots and, most importantly, the storyline shots. Those are covered in the film at the end of this post.

Them pimps.. Got all the love of the bananas, and this is how they repay them.. Tsk, tsk..

Which is perhaps why eventually the banana decided to take thing into her own hands. Or, under her own heels, rather. She even threatened to use her cane if people kept taking her biscuits.

 Of course, being at the Regent's Canal, all this commotion did attract quite a crowd. Strange, that...

We did manage to calm our banana down eventually and she became as adorable as before.

Of course this story looks quite different through Andraz's camera.. But that one doesn't show the lovely hoodie that N is sporting in some of the pictures, namely of UK's 2010 TJF/Jujitsu National Randori champions ;)

Of course I had to pitch in my five cents, or pence, rather, bossing the people around (and airplanes by the looks of it). But don't be fooled by Sašo to the left in red, looking like he's working...

The thing is, Sašo dropped in. Apparently there wasn't anything on TV at the time. (Or there was no TV? Or Internet? Or neighbours? :D)

But he was hired on the spot (for lack of a better word) as an assistant. Not a really tough job, one would think. And not really that much to do, to be honest. Yet still, he decided he'd rather have a beer than hold up a flash or two. He even held one of the cameras for a while to make himself look like he was busy...

 He then decided to have a spot of lunch, seeing as he's had a hard day so far... And tried on the banana costume as well...

He even took on the job of entertaining (well, I say entertaining.. It was actually hugging) some of our other guests/spontaneous helpers. But even Harpreet eventually saw through his feeble attempts at not working ...

Eventually he was given a task that he and N would enjoy. (Although perhaps not for the same reasons ;) )

But to be honest, he did play his part in the end (though not straining himself) and it wouldn't have been quite as entertaining without him on the set...


Although that's not the end of the story quite yet. Seeing as I've taken quite a few photos (as you can see.. otherwise these comments wouldn't have been very sensible) and film clips as well, the idea was to combine them all and share them with you fine people of the Internets.
 

Now, to be honest, there were quite a few clips. More than list above, and that was after a bit of cleanup. And, unfortunately, they don't lend themselves to showing quite as effortlessly as photos do..

So I've decided to complicate my life a bit by making a title scene. But what would fit the topic, the place and the style best? Well, graffiti of course. But, strangely enough, I didn't spot any graffiti to do with pimps or bananas when we were there.. So I did a bespoke piece of digital graffiti.

Of course going out with a couple of spray cans just wouldn't do (one is far too civilized for that). Or using just a standard typeface... No, instead I opted for a massive, heavy, 3d sign with ludicrously exaggerated perspective, a pinch of gloss and a cup of depth.

And as I was doing it,I though I might have some fun with it at least. This is probably the only place where the detail of the sign is visible.. Down to the faux splatter (fitting each colour used, mind you), a background grille, as well as the aforementioned 3d sign, with some added bling, shine & sparkle. Of course with an added glossy arc (so web 2.0, I know), some drips, and to finish it all of, a scent of the original (ha-ha) structure of the brick to show the texture of the wall. And it all comes together in the film clip below:





Pimp my banana (behind the scenes)


(mind the HD option...)


And they all lived happily ever after, as in any good tale.