Whilst designing my Miss Havisham and Estella I
found the most difficult part was thinking of how I could create several
different designs for each character. My Miss Havisham final design idea was
inspired by the BBC's interpretation of Great Expectations and I wanted her to
be portrayed as mysterious, beautiful and bitter. As my partner was Toby, I
modeled for his design and I found a model from outside of class to be my Miss
Havisham. I found that I had to work with longer hair than expected, this
worked in my favour in the end as I was able to create my desired hair design
and have her long curls cascading down her back. Recreating this look for the
second time proved quite challenging as i had to ensure that the curls were
placed and pinned the same and the make-up didn't differ in any way. At first I
felt a bit of pressure but I felt that my designing and practicing served me
well when recreating it again. When thinking about my vision of Estella, I
pictured her married and unhappy but still grasping onto her beauty so my
facechart featured a bruised face on one side and a natural innocent make-up on
the other. I chose a model with shorter hair as that's how I pictured her and
pulled the hair up into a small bun and pinned the curls to create the illusion
of thicker hair. When it came to working to the brief, I had to keep
reminding myself to read through to check that I was doing all that I should,
but the brief helped alot in the end as I was able to be clear with what had to
be done.
The creation of my Claudia and Quentin designs
required me to be more imaginative with my designs and ideas as I had to create
a story line that fit in with my chosen series American Horror Story- Coven. I
thoroughly enjoyed this part of the unit as we had free reign to be as creative
as we wanted, I would however have liked to have had slightly longer on this
project so we could develop these ideas further. Again as with our other units
and projects this project has pushed me in terms of my organisational skills,
timing and also technical skills as well and I have learnt new skills because of
this.
My Claudia photoshoot was a success! I found a model that was perfect for my design idea and that embraced the 'stepford wife' look that I was looking for. I decided to go for a blonde model as this is stereotypical of the 50's housewife in America and dressed her in a colourful dress with a pendant necklace to finish the look. In some of the shots she's seen drinking tea as that is how the series episode begins with Claudia sat drinking tea in her old apartment.
My idea for Claudia's costume came from the idea of the 'Perfect American Family' or at least how it is represented on TV. I envisioned that Claudia and Quentin's apartment was set in a rich part of town in New Orleans. The images that sprung to mind were what women were wearing in the 50's, almost like a stepford wife.
For Claudia's make-up I've decided to stick to the 50's theme and create a slick black liner with a rouge/full lip with flawless skin and soft contouring.
In my shoot I've decided to use a china teapot and teacup as this is what I imagined Claudia doing in the opening scene of my chosen series as Quentin enters the room.
Quentin
Quentin's costume is quite simple embracing the 50's businessman with neat slick hair and buisiness attire. I want him to appear cocky in my photography with high cheekbones and tanned shiny skin.
Above is my final ready image for my digital image project for Miss Dior, Here are some more of my favourite images from the shoot that I've yet to edit.
•My Chosen TV series is American Horror
Story – Coven
•The setting for the series is New
Orleans, America
Audience Demographics
• Audience
Demographic for my TV series is 18-49 majority of this being female.
• It
appeals to the younger demographic because of the relationships and teen
trouble references and the older demographic enjoy watching because the series
features a range of aged characters such as a Jessica Lange as the Supreme.
My First Character....Claudia
• Claudia is introduced as a new character
and is a participant in the 7 wonders alongside regular characters Madison,
Misty, Zoe etc.
• The setting within her flat is an idea
of Claudia’s hell as she enters the descensum part
of the seven wonders and cannot return from her own personal hell which is her
old apartment.
• The flat appears bright and colourful
(pinks, yellows) Claudia’s character always strived for
perfection, trying to make her relationship with Quentin flawless ‘The Perfect
Couple.’ But when Claudia suspects that Quentin is cheating on her with the
neighbour her drive for perfection turns to jealousy.
• They
both always aimed to look aesthetically pleasing to everyone so the scene
begins with them both looking plastic and doll-like.
• He
then
asks her ‘what the hell are you wearing?!’ and she replies by asking him where
he’s been
and if he’s been with ‘her’ again.
•In a
fit of rage she kills Quentin
as Quentin knocks the table over breaking the china. Claudia picks up a shard
and without thinking and slices his throat loosing him.
• Her
nosey neighbour then appears at the glass front door asking if it was Quentin
she had just seen going into the apartment and the scene ends with Claudia
holding him shouting ‘It’s fine, I’m fine’ in a shrill voice.
• She
lives this moment on repeat over and over again in her own personal hell.
•I’m
adding the element that Claudia is a witch and that her life is like a broken
record stuck on repeat and that Quentin is in fact dead and appears in her mind
as her idea of hell.
• The
look will appeal to the younger demographic through the use of colour and also
the overall feeling of tension as the character is introduced.
Most teens have experienced the feeling of jealousy especially at a younger
age, looking at other body images insecurities can take over.
• The
older demographic will be intrigued by the relationship and also the neighbour
next door who Quentin is said to be having an affair with.
What Key Word did you Use to describe your first Character?
• My
Key word for Claudia was ‘Save Us’
• It
inspired me because everytime she
looses Quentin she’s left alone and can never save him and she’s calling out to
someone to save her and bring her back to the real world.
• What
else
do you now need to do?
My Next step is to research into image obsessed couples and individuals and their
mannerisms to get a better idea of their personalities and physical appearances.
Claudia
• I used my John Galliano recreation by Pat
McGrath for inspiration for my Claudia Design as the colours are exactly what I
have in mind and the smudging of the liner is perfect for Claudia’s rocky
personality.
• For my first design of Claudia
I used Similar colours and wanted to make her appear doll-like so added false
lashes and feminine flicks to the eye. I will further develop this idea and
play around with the idea of dolls.
My Second Character... Quentin
• Quentin
was Claudia’s boyfriend whom she lived with in their apartment many years
before she embraced her witchcraft.
• He aswell as
Claudia became image obsessed and their relationship withered as Claudia’s
jealousy developed.
• He
first appears as a ‘Ken’ lookalike character with plastic looking features as
after all this is what they wanted to be?
• To
develop my character I will need to look into what products will make the skin
appear shiny and plastic, his hair will be made to look well kept in a
comb-over hair style and the make-up will be natural and make his skin appear
perfect and without flaws.
• All
young people of this generation strive for perfection so they will be able to
relate with the ongoing need
to look good.
What Key word did you choose to develop your second Character?
• I chose the word ‘Face’ for Quentin
because of how his image has changed due to his greed for perfection.
• The key word inspired me to look into
photography of people who have undergone surgery to alter their appearance and
also people who live their lives as actual human dolls.
• The scene in which Quentin appears he is
a memory of Claudia’s past life and a memory of what she had done so he appears
different to his normal self. Everytime
Claudia kills Quentin in her world he appears as someone different underlying
the fact that she always wanted him to change.
What
else do you now need to do?
I
need to now develop my face charts further to show Quentin’s character changes.
My Second Character... Quentin
This
is a facechart I
did as an idea of how Quentin would appear after he has been killed, my final
design will feature Quentin appearing doll-like.
Finally...
•What do you now need to do?
•I now need to develop my designs and
think about the hair, styling and make-up in order to truly portray my
characters.
•My main concerns are planning the photoshoot that
I wish to do on location as well as
the head shots.
•I’d like to team up with a videographer
to create a small clip for my story or failing that learn to create a short
video myself!
This week I had my Quentin shoot for my American Horror - Coven character idea. The theme I wanted to stick to was very vain, cocky and over-confident so I tried to think about how I could portray that in the photos and how his character would be seen to someone who didn't necessarily know my storyline or idea. Quentin's character in the series is a memory to Claudia that haunts her and is something she can never hide from as she is stuck in one of the seven wonders in which she failed. The idea was to make quentin look plastic and chiseled so I added alot of shine to the skin aswell as alot of shine in the hair to make everything seem a little more doll-like. My model's cheekbones were enhanced by using a sharp like to contour the face as if he had plastic surgery. Here are some of the images from the shoot. (these are not my final images).
This shot was after I tried to imagine how men look at themselves in the mirror before going out which I thought would portray Quentin in a certain way to the audience if this was used as a visual for him! Love the pout!
I came across this image today by make up artist Justin Henry and photgraphed by TinTin Hedberg that inspired me for my shoot for my Quentin character as I plan on making the skin look synthetic and plastic as if he has undergone surgery. I thought this image was particularly interesting as the model appears robotic and man-made.
I thought this might be an idea for my shoot, I'm not too sure whether they've used products or editing to create this effect but I'm interested in how it might turn out!
A little random but I thought I'd post about what happened the other night that scared the begeezes out of me! In my room the other night I noticed a letter had fallen next to me that was stored on top of a chanel bag on my shelf which I thought was a little odd but as I was doing some work on my computer I noticed that the letter had moved (creepy right?!) And that's not the end of it! As I was drifting off to sleep later that night I as woken up by the noise of something falling onto the floor in my room, as I turned on the light I noticed that all of my loo rolls had fallen or been knocked to the floor (this is when I got scared). Then it got me thinking about real horror and ghost stories that maybe films take inspiration from. Was it real or just our imagination creating something more dramatic and thrilling out of a coincidental situation? Can we really prove that the supernatural exists or do we enjoy the unknown aspect of horror and the feeling of being scared of what we do not know?
Victorian Hairstyles changed dramatically from 1830 to 1890. In the 1830's women's hairstyles appeared to consist of tight ringlet curls at the sides of the face with a neat bun (sometimes decorated) at the back of the head. Through research I found this image of 'Jane Elizabeth' Countess of Ellenborough in the 1830's who appears to be fashioning something along these lines. This portrait was recreated by Maxim Gauci after an unkown artist from the 1830's.
This apollo knot was very popular in the early Victorian era with a centre parting and tight ringlets at either sides of the head almost on the face. The knot at the back would often be achieved by adding hair pieces as it would require a lot of hair to achieve an exact apollo knot, decorations would also be added to add interest with flowers or jewels.
1840's
Moving onto the 1940's the hair style changed quite dramatically with the curls becoming looser and more 'romantic'. The curls were created by using a small curling iron which they would heat up in the fire or hot stone and then wrap the hair around the the hot iron.
1850's
Here is an image I've found of a lady in the 1850's painted by an English pre-raphaelite painter and illustrator, John Everett Millais. Her hair seems to be looped over her ears with a middle parting and a neat bun at the back of the head. The hair is quite simplistic and quite sleek at the sides where the hair was made into a definite loop around the ear making a difference to the earlier loose romantic curls of the 40's.
1860's
Here are some hairstyle sketches I found from hair from the late 1860's As you can see updos were an 'in' hairstyle especially with the curls at the back and the wrapped bun. This is probably my favourite of all the victorian decade hairstyles, I feel like the feminine curls at the back are really flattering and the buns are something copied even today.
picture number 1
picture number 2: http://www.ariacouture.com/1840s.html
picture numner 3;http://hoocher.com/John_Everett_Millais/John_Everett_Millais.htm
picture 4: https://www.pinterest.com/venfashions/1860-s-accessories/
For my design idea on Claudia and Quentin I decided to choose the American hit TV series American Horror Story - Coven. The episode that I am focusing on is part of the fourth series where the witches of the coven have to undergo several tests to determine who will become 'Supreme'. Claudia who is also a witch took part in the tests but failing in the decensum test in which the witches have to go into hell and come out again. Claudia could not return after the hourglass was up and so she is stuck in her own personal hell forever.
Claudia's vision of hell is her old apartment where she lived with her boyfriend Quentin. Claudia and Quentin are both obsessed with the way they look and their whole being revolves around vanity. Claudia who is constantly trying to impress Quentin becomes jealous when she hears voices telling her that Quentin may be cheating. She was unaware of her powers when with Quentin and acted out because of his suspicious and flirty ways towards the neighbour next door that visited once and a while. Both Claudia and Quentin were always striving for perfection Claudia to impress him and Quentin because he was quite the ladies man. They both appear plastic and doll-like in Claudia's 'hell' as that's ultimately what they both wanted. In a jealous rage one evening as Claudia was sat drinking tea, Quentin then enters asking Claudia 'what the hell are you wearing' she then replies asking him where he's been and as he answers saying he's been out with friends thee voices once again tell Claudia that he is lying and in a jealous rage she smashes her teacup, picks up a shard of china and slits Quentins throat.
She relives this moment over and over again on repeat and can never alter the outcome this is why it is her idea of hell. Everytime Quentin is killed he comes back as someone different depending on how she's feeling, most of the time he appears smart, good looking and cocky but when she's feeling helpless he turns into a childhood sweetheart kind of guy.
My final designs for Claudia and Quentin are going to reflect the feeling of vanity and I'm planning on having Quentin appear plastic and fake and having Claudia looking doll-like and creepy almost like a stepford wives sort of thing using bright colours.
For her hair design these are my initial ideas just using images I've found to inspire me.
My plan is to hopefully use a similar dress to the girl in the top left picture holding the telephone with big bouncing curls and big baby-doll eyes. I want her to appear as if she's trying to be the perfect wife!
My original make-up design and facechart was inspired by the John Galliano look I did in class from 2010 s/s by Pat Mcgrath. I am now howver thinking of toning the makeup down in colour as this design might not work as well with my styling and overall theme.
Facechart 1
Facechart 2
Quentin's design is going to feature prosthetics to make the skin appear plastic and as if the model has had surgery to enhance certain facial features. I've recently looked at Philip Toledano's photography work for 'A new kind of beauty' he has photographed people who have undergone surgery questioning whether it is us stipping down our own original selves, whether we put our fate in the hands in the surgeon, whether we are influenced by contemporary culture or simply revealing who we really are? The way in which they are photographed portrays them in a powerful manner not in a way that we sometimes see on TV which often appears in bad taste and we as a viewer are almost made to feel sorry for that person. These models from Philip Toledano's work look content and the images remind for some reason of ancient greek and roman portrait images due to their stance and demeanour.
Through a bit of research I've come across a few videos showing how to apply prosthetics to the face to create that high cheekbone look that many people aspire to have and have undergone surgery for. Here is a video from one of my favourite make-up gurus Chrisspy showing how she recreated Disney's Malefient look. I know this is very different to what I'm trying to achieve but the technique is still helpful!
Ballistics gel is also supposed to be good in replicating human flesh and there are cost effective ways of making it yourself and I may see which one looks more effective on the skin.
To make the skin look plastic I am going to see if I can use liquid latex and also speak to a lecturer to find out what products would work best to get that shiny effect.
