Project Evaluation

What the Dickens?

When I was given the brief, I immediately started to research the Victorian era. Having not seen or read ‘Great Expectations’, the first problem to overcome was to understand the storyline and the characters within it. After watching a few versions of ‘Great Expectations’ and reading a couple chapters I was confident I understood the plot and characters. Then I began to research more of the Victorian Era in order to give myself a fuller understanding of context. When I came to designing my Miss Havisham character, I was troubled as to the age I should present her with, having learnt how to do theatrical ageing makeup in practical sessions, I was tempted. However, after reading more about Miss Havisham, I came to the conclusion that she wasn’t really that old and chose to present her more realistically. I practiced the look twice on my partner before the timed assessments. When it came to the continuity assessments, I was most challenged by recreating the makeup, particularly the redness and darkness under the eyes, this shows in the final images, as the under eye area appears redder when I recreated Miss Havisham two weeks later. I found the hair relatively easy to recreate, however I feel that I should have paid more attention to detail for example the arrangement of the flowers and loose strands of hair. When it came to designing and creating my Estella, I tried to make the look very beautiful, keeping in mind of the cold and cruel aspects of the character. I had a hard time finding a model and ended up using an Asian model, I tried hard to overcome this obstacle by adding western features through contouring. I found this brief very interesting and the research progress fun, I felt that learning historical context really helped me create my characters.

Claudia and Quentin

To begin with I was confused about the characters Quentin and Claudia, but after class discussions, I became more confident of the brief. First I researched the horror genre, which lead on to the idea of femme fatale, which I thought, was a perfect concept for Claudia. I then began looking for inspiration through Pinterest, films and music videos for both characters. My ideas for Claudia was clear whilst my ideas for Quentin were still afloat, I couldn’t decide between the look of physically abused or the look of a sinister mask/face paint. I decided to add features that resemble a skull and sown lips for Quentin as I felt this was more interesting. I tried to make both characters very attractive, as they must be appropriate for a music video. I am overall very happy with my outcome and choice of models. However, despite this, I feel that I should have experimented more, and tried out different looks to decide on the final image. Unfortunately, I felt that I was short on time, and this shows I should improve on my time management skills in the future. 

Creating Claudia

Choosing a model to portray Claudia was difficult. I wanted Claudia and Quentin to look like a realistic couple who suited each other.

This is the outcome and final images. 

This is the face chart that I chose and worked off: 

As you can see there is a little difference in the eye makeup. Since the model had lovely large eyes, I decided to create a gradient with black eyeshadow on the eyelid from the outer corners towards the tearducts with more definition on the crease instead of the original matt black eye. I feel that doing that created more dimension and worked well with the model's eyelids.

Claudia's Hair

I had trouble designing Claudia's hair. I wanted to create something that would oppose the face makeup to create more of an impact. I also wanted to play around with the character of Claudia, and wanted to add a flirty aspect and keeping a youthful element whilst still being quite sexy and seductive. In the end, I decided to use a blonde wig, as the model had naturally brown short hair, this completely transformed the look. Although I thought that the wig had a unnatural colour, the quality of the hair was very natural and photographed well. With unnaturally blonde, almost silver hair styled in pig tails, I thought that it gave an impact. Although the face makeup is quite mature, the hair contradicts that and creates a feeling of dress up. In the brief, Claudia is said to have based her looks off of horror films, it is not unusual for her to wear a wig. Additionally, when I was researching female movie villains, it was common for a female villain to purposefully die their hair blonde before attacking their victim.

The wig that I used was a synthetic wig, however, it is heat style-able up to 220 degrees. The wig was originally straight, and previous to the photoshoot, I had used a large curling iron to style it, brushing it though making sure it was shiny and tangle-free. When applying the wig onto the model, I first french braided the hair and then applied the wig cap to hide the model's natural hair. I then parted the hair and styled into pigtails, wrapping a section of hair around the hair band to hide it.

Overall, I am very happy with the outcome, however, I wish that I could have photographed the two characters together. Unfortunately, it was impossible as the two photo shoots were done in two separate locations on different days. 

Creating Quentin

I have always pictured Quentin as a very attractive male. As a result I looked for a male model who had dark hair and dark eyes with a very pale complexion. 

This is the result and final images. 

As you can see, the face makeup differs a little from the original face chart. 

As you may have noticed, I left out the outlines of the exposed teeth area, I feel that this gives a cleaner look and makes the face less busy as the model has very striking features already. The simple lines and shading on the mouth also look like the lips have been sown together. This could represent the metal abuse that Quentin has been receiving from Claudia, he is may be restricted from speech because Claudia only wants to hear what she wants to hear. 

I also created fingernail scratches on the chest area because I felt that I should show a little flash of physical abuse from Claudia. This was created with Kyolan's Supracolour palette. The finernail scratches also have a very seductive and sensual feel to it, adding to the 'bad boy' image that I have created.

Quentin's Hair

When I came to styling the hair, I was torn from a sleek slicked back hairdo or a messy greasy bed hair look. I chose to style the hair messily creating volume and lift, I first used a mini pair of straighteners to lift the hair away from the scalp creating lift and twisting the straighteners at the ends of the hair to create ways and to separate the hair. I then used hair mousse and gel to fix the hair into position. However, throughout the shoot, his hair will start to fall and flatten down and had to be touched up. I felt that this was caused by the sheer weight of the hair, to prevent this, I should have used stronger gel and hairspray to set the style into place.

FaceCharts: Claudia & Quentin

I did four facecharts in for each character.

Claudia

For this design, I tried to take a dolly approach. I picture Claudia to appear 'fake' as she bases her appearance off horror films. This look is inspired by the main character of 'Sucker Punch'. She uses her dolly appearance and seductive dance moves to seduce and win her opponent, although, this is not a femme fatale look, I feel that this could work for Claudia. 

Emily Browning from Sucker Punch
Available from: http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21300000/Emily-Browning-Sucker-Punch-demolitionvenom-21316254-281-585.jpg
Last Accessed: 24/04/2014

For this design, I tried to create a sinister image with aspects of femme fatale. I was inspired by the goth culture, and American musician, Marilyn Manson. However, I do not like this design because I feel that it takes away too much felinity and youth from the character. I think this look is not as attractive as the others and may be too harsh for Claudia. 

Marilyn Manson American Musician
Available From: http://www.tvqc.com/2014/04/sons-of-anarchy-saison-7-marilyn-manson-se-joint-serie/
Last accessed: 24/04/2014

After studying the villains from Disney films, I was inspired to create the look above with harsh pointed eyebrows and dark raccoon eyes reminiscent of the evil queen of Snow White. However, after creating this face chart, I felt that the lip colour didn't match the rest of the face makeup very well, Instead of a pink orange shade, I should have use a dark purple plum shade to balance out the darkness of the eyes. 

However, I still do not think that the shape of the eye makeup appears very seductive and sexy as I wanted it to be, it doesn't strike me very much of femme fatale, I also think that alike the previous design takes away too much youth from the character Claudia. 

Evil Queen from Snow White
Available from: http://www.thegloss.com/2013/03/22/fashion/villainess-style-the-evil-queen/
Last accessed: 24/04/2014

After researching the term 'femme fatale' on sites such as Pinterest and Deviantart, I found that most femme fatale makeup consists of dark feline elongated eyes and a powerful dark blood red lips with purple shades. As a result, I created this final facechart. I feel that this look is both seductive and sinister and gives a powerful effect. It reminds me of Megan Fox, who I consider a very good example of femme fatale in the horror flick 'Jennifer Body'. 

Megan Fox
Available From: http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-a-red-tinge-to-your-mona-lisa-smile-1494347
Last accessed: 24/04/2014

Quentin

I have never created a face chart for a male, so the first one proves to be a challenge. This look is inspired by vampires. I wanted to create an illusion that alike the last project for Miss Havisham, a character that has never seen the daylight. I felt that it was natural for Quentin to have a pale complexion. When I was creating this face chart, I was reminded of Roman from Netflix's original Hemlock Grove. I like the dark shadow over the lids reaching the brow bone as it creates an illusion of very sunken in eyes and an effect of tiredness. I felt that strong facial structures such as cheekbones were a very important aspect of Quentin, and I shuld bear this in mind when choosing the appropriate model. 

Roman Godfrey from Hemlock Grove
Available from: http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2838479/bill-skarsgard-hemlock-grove-exclusive-interview-02/
Last Accessed: 24/04/2014

This second face chart to me represents a physically harmed Quentin. I tried to keep the face attractive, even with the cuts and bruises. However, I feel that this look doesn't fully represent the character Quentin fully, I feel that Quentin is more damaged mentally instead of physically on the outside. For my next designs, I feel that I should focus in creating symbolism within the makeup. 

I started to experiment more with creating shapes in this design. I took inspiration off the 'war paint' that  punk rock 'Black Veil Brides' used to wear. I feel that the black eyeshadow around the eyes create a mask around the eyes. The eyes being the window to the soul has been framed in black which I think symbolises that Quentin's soul has been tainted by Claudia or the fact that we really don't know the true identity of Quentin because Quentin is an imaginary character which Claudia has created. I also feel that line that goes through the eyebrow and the smudge from the eye creates a feeling of rebellion, is Quentin trying to rebel from Claudia? There love is after all forbidden.

Black Veil Brides: Perfect Weapon Music Video

Available From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXut97F2Qew

Last accessed: 24/04/2014

This is the last face chart that I created for Quentin. I wanted to create a mask like effect like the previous design. However, this time I decided to use shapes that represent a skull. I think that a skeletal form presents Quentin as a character which is not fully developed, always changing depending on the feelings and emotions of Claudia. I feel that this look will be appropriate for  Quentin as the dark eyes and lines create an illusion of anger and frustration, a skeleton is also a universal symbol of depletion, death and secrets - which could imply that Claudia has created Quentin because she can no longer trust anyone. Someone who is dead or non-existent can never tell secrets. 

Exploring Claudia and Quentin

Claudia and Quentin are an interesting couple. 


Claudia definitely has the upper hand in this relationship, she is also often violent and abusive towards her boyfriend. I question what Quentin has done to deserve this cruelty towards him, he must deserve it, because a lot of men are capable of protecting themselves from being beaten up by a woman, therefore, he must be accepting the punishment. 

In society today, it is more acceptable for women to beat up men than vice versa, it has always been that way. A woman has also been considered the weaker sex, therefore, a woman will use violence as a last resort. A woman couldn't possibly physically hurt a man unless he thinks he deserves it. 

However, in our eyes, Claudia is the villain. 

What does a villain look like? Lets look at some great movie female villains.

Mallory Knox, played by Juliette Lewis, is one of the main antagonists from the movie,Natural Born Killers.

As a child, Mallory suffered physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her father (played by Rodney Dangerfield). Mallory devotes herself to Mickey, stating he is her one true love. Mallory often tells stories and fantasies about her and Mickey living in paradise, to which Mickey often responds, "That is poetry." Of the two, Mallory seems to be the more aggressive, showing signs of being an uncontrolled psychopath with zero empathy for the people she kills. One example is when she and Mickey kill their last victim, Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.). Mallory continues shooting Gale repeatedly after he is dead.

Queen Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron: is the selfish and tyrant ruler of Britain, who learns that her stepdaughter, Snow White, is destined to surpass her as the "Fairest One of All". However, upon learning that the only way to remain in power is by consuming Snow White's heart, Ravenna recruits a Huntsman to capture and kill the young princess in exchange she tells him that she can bring his wife back from the dead, which is a lie.

Elle Driver, fictional character from two part movie, Kill Bill. Elle Driver was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, known by her code-name California Mountain Snake.

“It's the first villain that I've played in a movie that has absolutely no vulnerability and no innocence, nothing whatsoever that is likeable about her, other than she's so bad. All the other Deadly Vipers have some empathetic quality: O-Ren Ishii has this horrible past, [Vernita Green] just wants to be a mom, the Bride has been abused, but my character is just bad all the way through, there's nothing to like about her, and you're going to hate her so much.”

–Daryl Hannah (on Elle Driver)

Maleficent, played by Angelina Jolie. She is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to a royal christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday. 

One of the sexiest villains has to be Megan Fox in Jennifer's body. This is a great example of femme fatale, using her physical attraction to lure in her prey and making a deadly move that was never to be expected. 


So what will Claudia look like? 

The look that we are trying to create should be appropriate to star in a music video, so, being a protagonist, we assume that she is attractive. From studying some iconic female villains, I have come to some conclusions. 

1. Most Female villains are very attractive. 
2. If they are blonde, 8 times out of 10, they have deliberately dyed their hair blonde. 
3. Eyebrows, evil sensual eyebrows, thin and arched is how a female villain likes it.
4. If the villain has light hair the 'good guy' has dark hair or vice versa. 
5. The villain has strong sharp features, almost pointy, whilst the good have rounder softer features.
6. They all have a power and a weakness. 

To draw some more inspiration, lets look at some music videos that have been inspired by the horror genre. 

Eminem: The Monster Ft Rihanna

You can see that this music video contains a lot of horror elements, it starts off by creating tension, a dark room, a very attractive woman and a series of absurd TV static and images. You can see that the makeup that Rihanna wears in this music video is very dark, dark lips and eyes make her appear much more sinister and malicious. The words in the song itself and those that appear in the video such as ''crazy'', ''monster'', ''death'' are repeated and are commonly associated with the horror genre.  

Lady Gaga: You and I

I present you with a weirder and more graphic video: You and I by Lady Gaga. Its is a love song, but can you spot the horror references? The dark colours, the creepy barn and cornfield says it all. The clip where Gaga plays her own lover is interesting and reminds me how Claudia has an IMAGINARY boyfriend who morphs into whatever she wishes. The lyric 'I'm not leaving without you' is open to interpretation, we see that Gaga has many transformations in the video and this can be compared to Claudia's different looks. You can interpret 'I'm not leaving without you' as a warning that she will do whatever she has to do to have her one, or a sign of mental disorder, where what she wants is unachievable and is trapped in the moment of insanity. 

Katy Perry: Wide Awake 

I have no idea what this song is about apart from she's 'Wide Awake'. However, surprisingly, this music video is packed full of horror film references such as Pan's Labyrinth, Nightmare on Elm Str., The Ring, Orphan, Alice in Wonderland and maybe even Brams Stoker's Dracula. No idea why there are so many horror references, maybe just to try to cover up how boring this song really is. 

Lets now look at Quentin. 

The brief tells us that Quentin morphs into whatever Claudia wishes. So, he is attractive, every girl wants an attractive boyfriend. The brief also tells us that he can be a Christiano Renaldo/David Beckham type, sometimes a Pete Dochery or a Daniel Craig type or maybe a Hollyoaks type and even some ''potato chav''.  

However attractive the guy is, if he's in a abusive relationship with Claudia, you should be able to see it physically. How do we make cuts and bruises sexy on a guy? Lets look at some pics.

Roman Godfrey from Hemlock Grove

Daniel Craig starring in 'Dragon Tattoo'

What if their abusive relationship isn't a violent kind? How would they look. The brief mentions that sometimes Claudia would lock Quentin in rooms. I can imagine him as a depressed character, greasy hair, under eye circles, sore eyes. Does he have a alcohol problem? A drug Addiction? 

Above and Below: Pete Doherty

Gerard Way, Lead vocalist of My Chemical Romance

Could our Quentin be mentally insane under the upper hand of Claudia? We are also told he alike Claudia bases his appearance off horror movies.

American Psycho (2000)

Roman Godfrey: Gremlock Grove
'I have an ugliness that is impossible to love'

Tate: American Horror Story
'I just shot them. Shot them all.' 

Doll makeup, Quentin can be portrayed as a doll, Claudia's doll. A doll on strings, pulled around and manipulated by Claudia. 

Special Effects Makeup: Dirtying down an artist

This practical session was all about breaking down an artist.

The break down an artist comes in different forms, examples include jumping into a shower with makeup on, getting lost in the woods and falling over, drug abuse, weather beaten, and even simply the wearing off of makeup during the day.

In this practical we played around with dirt, dust and stained teeth.

You will need

Grease paint palettes 

Stipple Sponges 

Brown Hair Colour Spray

Fake Dirt 

1. Mix a dirty brown colour using Kryolan Supracolour palette and mix with a little moisturiser 

2. Using your fingers dab onto face and blend slightly. Try not to make it so uniform. 

3. Mix a grey colour and dab onto the areas which you want to seem most dirty. You can also use a stippling brush.

4. From a distance, gently spray brown colour hair spray. This will give a dirty speckled effect. Keep the product away from the eyes. 

5. Throw some artificial dirt onto areas of the skin. 

When dirtying down hands, you want to bend the fingers to get makeup in all the creases and get dirt underneath the nails. This will create a most realistic effect. 

Using Tooth Enamel 

1. Baby bud the tooth dry

2. Paint on the enamel carefully

3. Wait to dry before closing mouth

To remove the coloured tooth enamel, simply dip a baby bud into methyl spirit and wipe over the enamel. A few wipes should remove it all. 

When dirtying down an artist you should also dirty down the hair. To make hair appear greasy, comb through the hair with a little pomade. Remember hair gets greasy from the roots.

Meet Claudia. Meet Quentin. They are in love?

Following up the gothic horror theme to this semester. We swerve into the gothic horror fashion genre. 

Using references to gothic horror as a point of inspiration, we are asked to design two proposed characters for a music video - Claudia and Quentin. 

Who are Claudia and Quentin?

Claudia

Claudia is a girl in her twenties. As a child she was left alone to develop with little parental guidance and through her relationship with T.V. movies developed an unhealthy relationship with Horror films, believing this to be the way life really is.

All the scenes take place in various parts of Claudia’s apartment, which is European in style with a great deal of kitsch décor. She is agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside world by her neighbours who provide her with her every day requirements.  She models herself on a variety of girls often twisting her look to suit whichever film she is watching at the time and there is often a nod to the main character in the current film within her appearance.

The script portrays her as psychotic and there is always the feeling that although her character is scripted/can be seen as humorous, danger is just around the corner.   However all this is normal to Claudia and she is of a cheerful disposition in this mad world of hers.

Quentin

Claudia has an imaginary boyfriend, Quentin, who is long suffering and a constant disappointment to her. They don’t live together but he visits regularly and they talk on the telephone if he can’t get in to see her. As he is part of her imagination his appearance changes to suit her mood. Sometimes he will be a Christiano Renaldo/David Beckham looking guy, whilst in another scene he will appear as a Pete Docherty type, Daniel Craig type or a Hollyoaks Babe. If she is having a bad day he will morph into an uncouth couch potato chav with all that brings with it.

To get our heads around the concept of Claudia and Quentin,we need to understand the genre of gothic horror. 

Gothic horror originated from the 18th century. Many structures which were built during this time period would have many gothic horror features, such as sharp angular points and arches, height was also emphasised. 

Along with gothic architecture, there are the horror stories. They would be stories of death, vengeful ghosts, the supernatural, vampires and corpses. 

When we think of gothic horror fashion, we often think of the colour black. Black is a sinister, dark and mysterious colour. In the Victorian era, a woman in mourning would wear total black - this was called the mourning dress. 

Creepy. Woman who were in mourning were treated differently but often thought as fashionable. It is also said that wearing black for mourning comes from a Roman idea; the mourners could prevent being haunted from the ghost of the deceased by cloaking themselves in black. The material most associated with mourning was black silk crepe, which was almost exclusively manufactured by one company, Courtauld's. Crepe had a flat, lifeless quality - lustrous materials like furs, satin and velvet were forbidden. When a women's husband passed, they would be expected to mourn for at least two years. 

Queen Victoria in mourning

Great designers such as Alexandra Mcqueen likes to incorporate the darkness of the mourning dress into his designs, such as in his winter 2006 collection. 

Alexandra Mcqueen Fall/Winter collection 2006 'Widows of Colluden'

A strikingly beautiful women who was clothed in black could have been regarded as femme fatale. 

femme fatale

ˌfam fəˈtɑːl/

noun

1. 1.

   an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately cause distress to a man who becomes involved with her.

The Femme Fatale is a archetype of literature and art. Femme fatale in other words fatal girl. One who tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. In some situations, she will also lie or imply that she is a victim, caught in a situation in which she cannot escape; 'The Lady From Shanghai (a 1947 film)is a great example. 

The Lady From Shanghai - Mirror Scene 1987

The femme fatal's ability to entrance and hypnotise her victim with a spell was in the earliest supernatural stories; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having power that can be compared to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch or demon, over men. 

The earliest examples of femme fatale includes the biblical figure Eve, Cleopatra and Messalina.