Hello! My name is Katie Binions and my major project is a modern reimagining of Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). In my version of ‘Creature’, I wanted to explore the environmental impact of pollution, both chemical and physical, on the Creature’s habitat, the Amazon river. I used my research on real-life habitat destruction and pollution in the Amazon to envision what changes that may have on the Creature’s physical body, what mutations and deformities could be seen as a result of this pollution.
Because I was unable to create physical makeup looks due to the pandemic, I used a range of programmes (mainly Procreate and Blender) to design my characters. I taught myself to use Blender to create a 3D model of the Creature, so that I could create a fully realised look at the character. To create the slimy, skin like texture for the Creature character, I painted two different colours of scales on my skin, and stretched out a thin sheet of pale skin coloured gelatine. I photographed these makeups and imported them into Procreate to colour and texture my Creature drawing.
I also had to reconsider how to tell the story of the film in an alternative way, so I created a website in the universe of Creature from the Black Lagoon, as if it were the website for the scientific institute where the human characters work, with an accompanying blog documenting the narrative of the story in a series of blog posts.
Link to the in-universe website: https://katiebinions.wixsite.com/maiainstitute
