Claudia & Quentin Brief

This stage of the project will allow you to utilize your skills in design development and characterization. Using references to Gothic Horror as a point of inspiration, you are asked to design two proposed characters for a TV series intro – Claudia, Quentin or Mrs Laderman. TV series intro is a show opening conveying the essence of the production: title, cast, the tone, mood and genre of the programme. Claudia, Quentin and Mrs Laderman characters must reference gothic and/or urban horror and you are to use the suggested themes referenced in the seminars.

To embrace the range of possibilities through research and subsequent design development you will continue to develop a blog to record your journey throughout this project. Use your blog to record thoughts and ideas together with any sourced imagery, video and music that you feel would be of help to the production team at planning meetings with set and prop designers, hair and make-up and directors and producers.  You will have to create moodboards to support your concept and the characters. As the emphasis is on developing your skills in gothic hair and make up, you will be expected to record several test shots to establish the look most suitable for the characters.

How can you use the ideas and techniques from the project brief for Great Expectations, TV series, gothic horror text, film and historical references to inform the makeup design for the characters of Claudia, Quentin and/or Mrs Laderman.


Character Profiles:

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 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.

He is as into the horror film genre as she and into role-playing to suit her whims and moods.
Claudia has a paranoid suspicion that he is constantly having affairs behind her back and keeps him firmly under her thumb, sometimes restraining him or keeping him prisoner in one of the rooms.

Mrs Laderman
Claudia’s neighbour in her 40’s. She alternately changes into a variety alter egos and is Claudia’s friend and confidant. Living in the apartment opposite, she was Claudia’s only link to the outside world. Although they are friends there is suspicion that Mrs L’, has designs on Quentin. In fact she has designs on Claudia.

Scarring

Scars can be made from moulds by pouring gelatine or latex into the mould and being left to dry, once the mould is dry in order for it to come out easily adding a layer of prosade and also baby powder which will avoid the prosthetic from going tacky and sticking to other prosthetic pieces.

Firstly before applying the prosthetic to the skin apply a barrier cream to the area especially if the client has sensitive skin.

Next apply a layer of prosade glue to the area and to the back of the prosthetic and wait until the glue goes clear. Prosade is a moveable glue used to stick on all prosthetic pieces.

Once the glue has gone clear apply the prosthetic to the area applying plenty of pressure. If the glue is not clear the prosthetic pieces will slide and not stick to the skin.

when the prosthetic is firmly stuck down using witch hazel and a baby bud get rid of any rough edges blending the prosthetic into the skin.

when blending the prosthetic into the skin powder the prosthetic and use you mirror to judge how the prosthetic is looking along the way.

Next apply foundation to the prosthetic to make it blend into the skin and look more realistic.

then use wound filler to apply to the centre of the scar, wound filler can be applied either by using a spatula or a thin makeup brush.

Next apply colour such as reds yellows and blacks from your supracolour to the prosthetic using a fine line brush to make it seem more realistic.

Finally apply blood to the area or puss and also Vaseline which can e used to give a blister effect. In order to create a splattered blood effect use a stiff paintbrush.

Dark Eyes and Lips

To create my dark eyes and lip look I firstly applied a primer to the skin to give the make-up a better finish.

Then I applied a foundation to the neck face and ears using my foundation brush.

once the foundation looked even I then used a translucent powder by Illamasqua to set the make-up base.

Next I used my sculpting powder by Illamasqua to contour the face.

Then I applied a light pink from my Illamsaqua blush pallet to my cheekbones to add more depth.

Then I applied a brown from my neutral Illamasqua pallet to the eyelids.

Using my black from my neutral pallet by Illmasqua and my rounded blending brush I applied colour to the socket areas of the eyes to create the smokey eyes effect.

I then used the cream from my reflection pallet and white from my Illmasqua neutral pallet to highlight underneath the brows.

In order to make the eyebrows appear more sharp I brushed a small amount of brown from my neutral pallet through the brows.

Using my gel eye-liner I outlined the eyelids by creating an eye-liner flick.

Finally I applied a mascara to the eyes.

In order to complete my look I applied a deep red colour to the lips.

Estella Assessment

The assessment for Estella was Informal and I had 1 hour and 30 minutes to create the whole look as my own interpretation of Estella. I created a face chart which listed all the products I needed to use for the make-up and a step by step guide. I also created a hair chart with a step by step guide, this way it helped me along the way enabling me to create my look to the best of my ability in the amount of time given.

I started off with the Estella make-up and I firstly began by applying a natural colour foundation base to the face, neck and ears making sure it was all blended well using my blending brush. I then contoured the convex areas of the face using black eye-shadow from my Kryolan make-up pallet. I then created the black eye on the right hand side of my model by using a variety of different colours from my Kryolan eye-shadow pallet, including purples, yellow, greens and black. Then to create the sore on the top left hand side of my models lip I used a small amount of latex, gently dried it with a cool heat on the hair-dryer and once it was completely dry I then applied different shades of red using my Supracolor make-up pallet.

I then created my own hair design for Estella and to do this I sectioned the hair into two parts right through the middle, starting from one side of the temple through to the other side. I then started with the top section I then took a small section of hair from the back of the head to enable me to do a plait. Before creating the plait I folded the top section of hair over leaving a gap in the middle and I put it in place using Kirby grips. I then took the smaller section of hair from the top and created plait going all the way around the fold and pinned it into place. I used the exact same procedure to create the bottom section.

Understanding Continuity

It is important to understand the use of continuity for hair and make-up artists, this is because when working in TV, Film or Theatre it can take about 2 days or longer to shoot just once scene. So therefore all the actresses and actors will need their hair and make-up redone each time, so it is vital that each time the look is redone it looks exactly the same. Otherwise when the audience are watching they will be able to see all the mistakes, for example, it could be that the hair isn't positioned in the same place as before or the eye make-up is darker than before. Hair and make-up artists can make it easier for themselves by taking photographs, using face charts and having a list of products used. This way if they forget then they can always refresh their memory by looking at these.

For my Miss Havisham continuity assessment, I had a design template in order to recreate my hair design . After my first continuity assessment in order to make it easier to recreate my Miss Havisham hair design I labelled my sketch and updated my step by step tutorial in order to get the design as similar to the original as I could. I also used photographs from my previous design as a guideline.
For my Miss Havisham make-up for the continuity  assessment, I created a face chart with the list of products to use down the left hand side so this way I couldn't forget anything I had used.

Miss Havisham Continuity Assessment - Part 2

For the second part of my continuity assessment, I had to recreate my first Miss Havisham hair and make-up design, which I created a week ago ,however the key element was to make sure that the hair and make-up was exactly the same as the first part of my continuity assessment, which can be quite difficult. Continuity is an important aspect when working in TV and film, due to filming a scene takes a lot of time sometimes even a couple of weeks therefore the make-up and hair must be exactly the same otherwise the audience will identify noticeable changes.
Before recreating my Miss Havisham, I made sure I had printed off the photographs from my first assessment to enable me to get as close to the look as possible.

When recreating again I decided to start off with the hair as I felt the hair was much more simpler and quicker to create. Firstly I sectioned the hair at the front into two parts, I then back-combed both sides and with my fingers gently rolled each section up and then secured them in place with pins. Next I back-combed the rest of the hair giving it that messy look as if it hasn't been brushed in a very long time. I then sprayed dry shampoo all over the hair to show that the hair is losing its colour and going grey. To finalise the hair style I then placed the Veil onto the head pinning it in place just behind the two front curls.

To recreate my Miss Havisham make-up design I started off by applying a slightly lighter foundation than my model would usually use to her face neck and ears using my foundation brush and with the blending brush I made sure it was all completely blended. I then applied Illamasqua translucent powder to set the foundation in place. Next I contoured the convex areas of the face using a black eye-shadow from my Kryolan eye-shadow pallet. Next I used pinks, purples, and black eye-shadow underneath the eyes to create a tired look, I blended all the colours together which gave it an effective look. I then got my client to raise her eyebrows, frown and smile in order for me to see all the natural lines on her face. This way I was able to go over them with a sharp brown eye pencil to create the ageing look and I used my blending brush after to make sure it was blended in properly so the lines looked more natural. Next I highlighted underneath each line I created on the face using the colour white from my eye-shadow pallet so the wrinkles stand out more. Finally I created the cut on the left side of my models face and to do this I applied a small amount of latex onto the area and waited it to dry. Once it dried I created a fine line with a fine make-up brush and a light red from my supracolour pallet. Next I used my blending brush to blend the line out into the skin. Then I applied a darker layer of red over top of the faded line and blended the line out with the blending brush. Finally  I started to create broken lines with my fine line brush and dark red mixed with a small amount of black. In order to make the scratch appear more realistic I had to really blend the product into the skin and keep layering up the supracolour.

Miss Havisham Continuity Assessment - Part 1

As part of my continuity assessment I had to create a make-up and hair design for Miss Havisham a character from the great expectations, the make-up had to relate to the correct historical period and the hair had to convey elements of the early Victorian era.

The make-up and hair design which I created in my first assessment will have to be recreated exactly the same  again in a couple of weeks to highlight continuity.

Continuity is important especially when creating make-up and hair design in TV and film, due to the amount of time it takes to film a scene this means during every take the hair and make-up must be exactly the same otherwise the audience will notice changes.

In order to help with continuity, during my assessment I created a face chart conveying different elements of my make-up design with the products used on the left hand side, and a hair sketch conveying the different elements incorporated into the design , by creating a step by step tutorial with the tools and products listed this helped me to created my final design for my first continuity assessment.

I took several photographs of the hair and the make-up after my first assessment in order to make it easier to recreate . I took a photograph of the side  the back of the hair and the untidy parting . I also took a photograph of either side of the face and the front of the face. By taking  photograph of the hair and the make-up at a different angle this will be a good idea to use  guideline to recreate my look for my second continuity assessment.

I started off my Continuity assessment with the hair as I felt the hair was much more simpler and quicker to create than the make-up. Firstly I sectioned the hair at the front into two parts, I then back-combed both sides and with my fingers gently rolled each section up and then secured them in place with pins. Next I back-combed the rest of the hair giving it that messy look as if it hasn't been brushed in a very long time. I then sprayed dry shampoo all over the hair to show that the hair is losing its colour and going grey. To finalise the hair style I then placed the Veil onto the head pinning it in place just behind the two front curls.

For my final idea for the Miss Havisham make-up design I decided to create a tired, worn out, ageing look as this is how I picture Miss Havisham. 

I started off by applying a slightly lighter foundation than my model would usually use to her face neck and ears using my foundation brush and with the blending brush I made sure it was all completely blended. I then applied Illamasqua translucent powder to set the foundation in place. Next I contoured the convex areas of the face using a black eye-shadow from my Kryolan eye-shadow pallet. Next I used pinks, purples, and black eye-shadow underneath the eyes to create a tired look, i blended all the colours together which gave it an effective look. I then got my client to raise her eyebrows, frown and smile in order for me to see all the natral lines on her face. This way I was able to go over them with a sharp brown eye pencil to create the ageing look and I used my blending brush after to make sure it was blended in properly so the lines looked more natural. Next I highlighted underneath each line I created on the face using the colour white from my eye-shadow pallet so the wrinkles stand out more. Finally I created the cut on the left side of my models face and to do this I applied a small amount of latex onto the area and waited it to dry. Once it dried I created a fine line with a fine make-up brush and a light red from my  supracolour pallet. Next I used my blending brush to blend the line out into the skin. Then I applied a darker layer of red over top of the faded line and blended the line out with the blending brush. Finally  I started to create broken lines with my fine line brush and dark red mixed with a small amount of black. In order to make the scratch appear more realistic I had to really blend the product into the skin and keep layering up the supracolour.

Overall I was very happy with my first assessment, I felt everything went according to plan although the only thing I felt I struggled with was the cut on the left hand side of the face as I found it hard blending the colours together and making it look realistic and took up a lot of my time. Therefore on my next assessment I will make sure I am much more confident with creating the cut so I am in less of a panic and giving myself more time. 

Overall