Evaluations

MISS HAVISHAM

Overall I am really happy with the way my final Miss Havisham turned out. I had quite a positive outlook on this project from the start. I rarely came into contact with issues but when I did, for example the veil. I didn't want to waste ridiculous amounts of money of a veil so decided to make one using a net curtain and a make shift flower veil which were all tea stained and ripped.The outcome was quite successful if I do say so myself. Initially I wanted to go down a more fashion, avant garde side of the hair and make up industry, but was then told I wasn't allowed to so had to change my current research which was based aound the idea in making the grotesque appealing through the use of techniques we had learnt. However I had to change the plan and apply my current research into something more suitable for film and tv. I still incorporated my research into gothic architecture and the colours  used - for example a dark red glow to the contour in the cheeks (although not visible on the picture). As well as the purpley tones under the eye, which then also signified tiredness and illness.




ESTELLA

  For Estella my main focus was to make the hair the center piece. Which actually worked in my favor due to the fact 1. my model had beautiful long hair and 2. the make up in late Victorian times was very natural almost non existent. I applied a very pale, youthful base focusing on the warm rosy tones on the cheek and lips and then quite a strong, but natural, highlight on the cheekbones and inner corners. One of the big issues with recreating Estella was that we were only taught one late Victorian hair style and I found following an image made in the Victorian times very stressful, never the less I still managed to create a look that reflects an illustration but instead I have put my own twist onto it. The top part of the hair was most defiantly my favorite part but it was a shame this section as well as the general hair looked better in one of my practices. I am still very happy with the way it has come out.



THE PROJECT AS A WHOLE

In regards to this part of the project I have really enjoyed it - I enjoyed learning all about the different special fxs and the way hair and make up is used to create continuity in films was also very interesting. I have never really been into period make up and hair and learning about different eras in history but I actually had a lot of fun learning about the Victorians and the way they do things etc. Although at the beginning I had a slight flop with wanting to go down a different route - in the end I much preferred having tighter reins on what we can and cannot do in regards to final design.

Estella Final

After looking back at my photos I felt that my second practice was a lot better than my final, I still really like how the final images have come out I just felt the texture on the top of the head was a lot better and more successful in my previous attempts.

I had to edit out the poly board in the background hence the dodgy hair line at the top - I included it as I liked the texture that the hair gave off in this particular photo.

Estella Practice

PRACTICE 1 - JUST HAIR

As I had previously done the make up I decided to just focus on practicing the hair on this occasion.

I understand an obvious flaw is the clips on show in some areas but this was the basic idea and I am really happy with how this has turned out. The other issue I had was her curls dropped at the back and became much looser than I wanted them, in my next practice I should really spray the hair with hairspray first then curl the hair to help maintain the shape a little more.

PRACTICE 2

I am so much happier with the way my second practice came out, the curls are much neater and shinier and the texture on the top is exactly what I am going for - it has a very romantic feel to it which was what I was going for.

Estella Ideas

Going along with what I originally said I have completed face charts and hair charts to portray my ideas for Estella.

IDEA 1 - MAKE UP

I previously did an experiment, messing around with looking at the perception of Estella and the way people see her but also to the way she actually is. The face chart above represents the way she actually looked - I would of really liked to look into create a more Avant Garde side of her (like I previously did for my experimentation) and for this to show the way she treats people ad the way she actually is through the use of make up. However, I am working to a brief that is needing me to create a look that represents her as a TV character and this is what I have come up with. Pale, youthful face with rosy cheeks and rosy red lips, I am going to concentrate on the highlighting trying to make it work in my favor by trying to get it to look non existent but also brighten up my models face.

IDEA 1 - HAIR

As for the hair - I have a lot to work with so I am going to make it the main focus of the look. The back will all be curled and pinned up into the twisted bun to create a waterfall effect. The front of the hair will also be curled and pinned and then waved on the forehead into the bun to then add some more curls to the back.

A little similar to Gwendolen Harleth from the film Daniel Deronda:

IDEA 2 - MAKE UP

This design is very similar to the last one but this time I've done it when she's the oldest we ever see of her - so she had bags under her eyes and a drawn out face with a dull complexion, still very pretty but emotionally drained, I prefer the previous design as I feel it represents the Victorian era a lot more as well as we see Estella in that state more frequently than this one.

IDEA 2 - HAIR

As you can see this style is very loose and pretty around the face with a big twist at the back - saying that I feel it really does represent Estella as a person; this young beautiful girl with very twisted morals. Despite this aspect I think I much prefer the one above, mainly because my model has a lot of hair and it has so many possibilities, not only that I feel that it shows more skill.

IDEA 3 - MAKE UP

I slightly touched on this idea earlier but I really wanted to make it one of my designs and make a face chart of it. I understand that I am not allowed to create a look that is very contemporary or avant gaurd but due to the fact a couple of my Miss Havisham designs are of that nature I felt inclined to at least make one of my Estella's the same. This idea represents her personality on her face - a cold hearted women with an ugly personality and ugly morals. The greys and blues represent her cold ways and the placement of them represent the idea of portraying her ugly side.

IDEA 3 - HAIR

Estella Research

Whilst creating my Miss Havisham I was constantly thinking about how I was going to portray Estella, I am doing it as the same time I had done Miss Havisham, when Estella was early 20's maybe late teens. I am also sticking to the fact I am doing it for film so it can look really realistic.

The time era I will be basing it on would be late Victorian and from precious research I understand that the hair would be really soft and romantic in comparison to early Victorian. Similarly to early Victorian the make up would still be really natural almost not existent, I am looking to create a healthy youthful glow on my models complexion so will still obviously be using make up but my main focus for this side of the project would be the hair.

I was looking to create something quite extravagant as well as periodic as my model has a lot of hair to work with.
This was my main inspirtion:

The top right image was what I am going to try and aim for, all curly with a waterfall effect of curls at the back of the head and waves on the top. From these illustrations you can also see how little make up they wore back then so this is a good indication of how I should go about creating my look.

The Way Estella Is Perceived

"At least I was no party to the compact," said Estella, "for if I could walk and speak, when it was made, it was as much as I could do. But what would you have? You have been very good to me, and I owe everything to you. What would you have?" "Love," replied the other. "You have it." "I have not," said Miss Havisham.' (2.38.36-39) - 
Miss Havisham brought Estella up to love her and no one, but she didn't think of the consequences of bringing up a child that dislikes everyone, and that soon she will start to dislike her.

"Do you want me then," said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and serious, if not angry, look, "to deceive and entrap you?" (39.105 -
Estella was straight up honest about her intentions, it just seems that she simply doesn't care enough to lie about it, which aids my impression of her being a heartless girl.

Whilst watching the film and reading part of the book, I didn't quite picture Estella as being a cold hearted girl, I understand that at the start she was spiteful towards Pip but initially I never saw it as anything more than the fact she was a spoilt little girl. However as the film digressed I saw the fact she was more heartless but only due to the way she was raised, you can sense that there was some love there, more specifically for Pip. I would have loved to create the character of Estella as the interior the exterior but I have to create her as I did Miss Havisham.

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Art of Gothic - Documentary

BBC Presenter Andrew Graham Dixon created a 3 part series, all an hour long, based on this idea that Gothic Horror was an Art form, to what extent is this really true?

From watching the series I got the impression that this idea of Gothic was a way of portraying the gruesome, peoples fears and death in a more respected way. No one dared speak about horror during these times but this idea gave people a reason and opportunity to express it, either through writing or art.

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This idea of Gothic horror first came about by a man named Horace Walpole, a writer, who wrote the first Gothic Novel, The Castle of Otranto, despite having not actually read the book I actually feel privileged not to; it is said to be written very poorly with an extortionate of grammatical and basic English mistakes. However the ideas behind the lack of literacy skills were the start of a new era. It included many of the stereotypical ideas of horror that we see in today's society, such as haunted houses, supernatural beings and just general horror figures.

During these episodes he looked into the architecture of this era, which originated from the Anglo Saxons, mentioning the link between what the public feared and what they also spiritually believed - these were both reflected through what their own homes would look like, for example Walpoles Strawberry Hill mansion. I am mostly interested in this part of Gothic Horror. He mentioned majority of the stuff that I had previously researched into, however I am now mostly interested in the colours used rather than the shape of the buildings and windows which was my main inspiration before I had to change my ideas.

Overall, my personal opinion on the documentary was I felt it took the mick out of Gothic Horror, the soundtrack and special FX were a mockery of how beautiful this era should have been depicted. I understand they would like to engage a variety of audiences so making it slightly playful is understood, just maybe not for a BBC documentary.

Continuity - The Importance

Our main objective for this side of the project was to work on our continuity and try and make our design twice and make them exactly the same. In film and TV the idea of continuity is very important, it simply makes the piece look more professional. Some of the most well known films have obviously struggled with this idea in the past. There are obviously many elements of continuity, our main focus was costume/the hair and make up though. The way I had done this was take photos at every stage when creating it the first time so it was really easy for me to look back into my work and see what I had done and then recreate it. Although I obviously think the hair and make up continuity is a really important aspect of it all I also find one of the key things would be the actor them self; they would have to consistently be in this character otherwise the whole show wouldn't flow as well as it should.

Here are some examples of poor continuity in films:

HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN

FRIENDS

COMMANDO

AMERICAN PIE

All of these mistakes were easily avoidable just but taking photos or making simple notes or even just briefly looking back at the previous scene to refresh your memory - it can make the best film look slightly unprofessional.

Final Miss Havisham - Continuity Assesment

I am really pleased with how my final design has come out and when comparing it to my previous version they are very similar. The only thing that really was a hindrance when comparing the 2 would be the lighting and camera settings as I had no control over them. You can clearly see this in the side by side picture but other than that it turned out okay.

Front

Side

Close Up

Comparison

Here is the side by side view of my final pieces - as you can see the lighting on the right side is far to over exposed, I tried to sort it out post production but then when I wanted to make the face darker the hair too became darker and didn't look like I had done anything to it, so I decided to just leave it as it is.