American Horror Story - Coven Presentation

•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. 

The Scene

• The scene begins Claudia sat drinking tea with her dolls in her kitsch décor apartment, She then stiffens like a doll when she hears footsteps and Quentin enters.

• 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.

• John Galliano 2010 s/s Pat Mcgrath          

• Colour pallet  - Pinks, purples, bright greens, yellows, clashing colours.

• 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!