Claudia and Quentin in the flesh.

A lot of the time when I create make-up looks I have an idea in my head and I try so hard to re-create it on a model but it never translates properly. After I had finished my Claudia I was so happy with the result. I found that the image I had of her in my head was conveyed so well through my model.
I found there were some variations to my original design though.
Firstly, the model that I had originally chosen was absolutely perfect and was also slightly intertwined in the drawing of my model. She absolutely loves horror and had the perfect features and skin for my look but was not available when it came to doing the look. So I chose a different model who usually has long hair so I was worried the short hair would not suit her but she ended up being really responsive to the poses I was giving her and really understood the role.
When creating my burn there were several items such as spirit gum and red gelatine that I didn't have so I had to compromise and use duo glue instead of spirit gum and red jelly instead of gelatine. I was so worried that they weren't going to look the same but they came out really well, if not better.
I also found that with the wig I wanted to have a short bob but there weren't any available to me so I had to get a longer one and then cut it. But by cutting it unevenly it made the look work so well.
Lastly, I wanted to have the writing on Claudia to be small type writing but I couldn't get hold of a stencil that was the right text so I ended up using random script letter all over her and it looked really effective.
It taught me to have a positive outlook on my idea despite their being hiccups because the look was so exact to my original plans.

Quentin's design was already simple to begin with so there wasn't much room for change. However I wanted my model to convey sadness, although he was just part of Claudia's imagination I still wanted him to play the victim but have a sense of handsomeness about him.

I wanted my Quentin to have a beard, but the model I chose had a mixture of blonde and black hair so creating a stubble that look realistic was particularly hard, therefore, the beard looked slightly ginger. I managed to cover most of it up with the burn as well as the sprayed writing but I was still disappointed with that.

One thing I would have liked was to be able to shoot my models together because that would have really added to the storyline. However, I couldn't get them together at the same time but it would have really emphasised the dynamics between them.

Other than that I found my Quentin was again so exact to my original drawings so it has really worked well with my storyline.

I think if I were to improve both images it would have been to make the shoot warmer in colour. I feel the colour of the images doesn't match the idea of a fire so I would have used light better in my images.

Claudia and Quentin on paper.

The idea behind Claudia's look was that I wanted to show the physical representation of the two sides of her. So one side of her face is a fresh burn that Quentin gave her by starting a fire to destroy the stories that she was writing.

The burn will be created the same way I created it in the practical lesson.

The contact in her eye is to show that the demon is inside of her and can't escape but obviously only in one eye because only half of her is consumed by the demon.

I intend to buy a ginger/strawberry blonde wig and cut it unevenly to show that she cuts her own hair but also since the demon has entered her body she doesn't take much pride in her appearance.

Her face make-up will be simple with just a neutral foundation and a blush on the left side of her face. I will apply fake eyelashes to make them seem thicker because I wanted to create the idea that she is beautiful but damned.

The final touch will be to spray her hair with water to make her look wet.

I will then spray her upper body with a grey spray and then use a stencil to paint on random letters because although she writes words on Quentin she also has gone so mad that she has resulted to drawing on herself.

Quentin on the other hand is meant to play the victim because although he is a figment of Claudia's imagination. 

I will apply a small amount of foundation to Quentin's face just to even his skin out.

I will also style his hair to be young and fresh but also messy from the treatment of Claudia.

I will use the same technique of spray and stencilling down one side of Quentin's face to emphasise that he is just a piece of paper to him and that although she keeps him captive he is just part of her game.

I will also add a small burn to his lower cheek to show that he has been caught in the act of starting a fire and she has punished him.

I wanted to emphasise how long she had kept him captive by giving him a small stubble.

The

Introduction to Claudia and Quentin...

Claudia is a girl in her 20s.
She has had little parental guidance.
She has developed an unhealthy relationship with horror movies.
Genuinely believes they are real.
Agrophobic- stays inside.
She models herself on a variety of girls from horror films.
Her neighbours give her essential things that she needs.
Danger is always lurking.
She seems normal and has a cheerful disposition.

Quentin is her imaginary boyfriend.
His appearance changes depending on what mood she is in. i.e Beckham, coach potato chav, literally anything she imagines.
He doesn't live with Claudia, he visits her sometimes. Or calls.
He is really into horror movies too.
Claudia thinks he is cheating her.
She retrains him so he can't cheat.

Having studied gothic horro during English Literature A Level so many ideas sprung to mind when given the initial brief.
My first inspiration was Disturbia- by Rihanna because it's the idea that she has been possessed.

I then decided to go home and watch, dare I say it, Evil Dead. Now I hate horror films because they scare the living daylights out of me but I thought it was all in the name of my course. So after several reviews on how scary it was I watched it. I was expecting so much more! But having spent the whole term learning about special effects and gore I could see how most things were done so I thought RIGHT bring on more horror films. So I proceeded to watch Sinister, The Conjouring and some of Insidious 2. And although they weren't horror I began to have a better perspective of evil spirits and being possessed.
I also researched into schizophrenia because I wanted my Claudia to have no idea she was doing such evil things when she was back in her original state- So I look into The Shining because main character gets taken over by the house and has no idea what he is doing, knowing that he hurting his family.

Which is when I created a new storyline for my Claudia...
She believes that she has a split personality. One side of her is evil and is taken over by a demon who tortures Quentin.
The other side of her is the classic protagonist of the story.
The inspiration was initially taken from Evil Dead. The idea that the girl has been possessed by a demon.
There is an amazing scene in Evil Dead where the demon has reached the girl and she has been consumed by it and she rises from the water and it's pouring with rain and she is drenched.
I saw amazing imagery from this and thought the moment I was capturing these images of Claudia would be just after Quentin has tried to escape Claudia and has run out into the rain and she is so angry but calm that she has had to leave her house in order to bring him back. So she too will be soaking wet.
I wanted to add a twist to my horror story in that part of Claudia's normal state she writes her own horror stories and then when she goes into her other personality she plays out these horror stories because she thinks they are real.
I then thought of a way I could represent this so I watched the film Inkheart in which the characters are pulled from a book but those specific characters have writing on them of the stories in which they were pulled from.

Man oh Man!

Creating a male comb-over with a female dummy. Impossible right? Exactly what I thought but it's not, you just have to seriously smooth the hairstyle out.

We were given George Clooney's classic comb over as inspiration because it showed his hair in a fairly high side quiff and a perfectly neat side parting.

Begin by brushing all of the hair and section the hair so there are two side partings that stop at the crown of the head.
Prepare the hair by creating the French pleat shape.
But when you come to clipping the hair into place try and create a big cone around your hand and then clip it as flat as you can. By creating a larger cone it means that when you clip it against the hair it won't stick out. It should clip fairly flat to the head, therefore not making a big shape at the back.
You then back comb the front section of the hair but making sure there is a side parting on one side.
Once it is back combed pull each side to the back of the head and clip it, trying to make sure the clips aren't visible.
Smooth the hair out by applying hairspray to your hands and lightly combing over the frizzy areas.

I found that the front that I created was really good but my French pleat shape was too big which made the hairstyle look too feminine. If I were to do it again I would make it flatter and conceal it more with the front sections of hair.

Smoothing out.

One class task that was set was to smooth out and straighten hair without using straighteners. Which sounds easy but it is far from.
The model we were given had naturally curly hair so we put some smooth product on the hair to give it a greasy texture, making it easier to smooth.
Then using a hair-dryer and rounded brush we applied heat to the root of the hair and pulled outwards. We had to do this several times on each strand of hair because the curl started at the root so we had use the heat to smooth it out.
We then tied the hair into a low ponytail by wrapping the hair tie around the hair, quite tight.
We then took part in a class evaluation in which we compared the looks of our models and the outcome was that we had not applied enough heat and pressure to the hair therefore it was not smooth enough.
So we returned to our model and applied the right amount of pressure and heat and found that we had a smoother hairstyle.

Dirtttttyyyyy.

One thing that is hard to create is a face of make-up that makes the actor or client look like they aren’t wearing any make-up at all. For this look it is best to use grease products as it reflects the natural oils in a person’s skin.

Use a cream blusher because it blend into the skin rather than sit on the skin like a powder would.

Make sure you don’t apply lipstick or if you do make sure it is a natural colour and that it isn’t too shiny.

When it comes to eyelashes it is best to use brown mascara because that is the usual colour for a client’s eyelashes. An alternative is to get your client to have eyelash extensions. A lot of female actors have begun to wear permanent eyelashes because it means they don’t have to worry about applying eye-make-up.

One of the most important parts of any look that you are repeating is CONTINUITY. If your look is not consistent throughout the shoot or the film you are doing then it is no longer convincing and makes the whole look and storyline look fake.

If the look you want is meant to look like your model has been out in the rain or got wet then don’t use waterproof mascara because adding water to the face will naturally give you the running mascara look which looks more realistic.

When creating a dirty look you have to make sure you get every little detail, for example if the character you are creating is dirty from being in the woods you need to dirty the hands and arms.

When doing the nails, if your character is meant to be wearing nail varnish then chip the nail varnish so it looks worn down by whatever the character is doing in a scene or shoot.

Use a moisturiser and work it into the hands and arms.

Once you have done that use your Supracolour palette and choose browns and blacks to mix together and work into the hands and arms.

Remember- when you are doing this to get your model to claw their hand so you can get the colour into the creases of the hand.

When working in the colour push it under the nails and on the palms because the colour has to be consistent.

You must also remember when doing these make-up looks to make sure your model’s clothing is covered because a lot of it is grease based and can’t be removed easily.

Also if there are any rips in the costume your model is wearing then you need to make sure that the showing flesh is covered with the make-up, this also applies with the back of the neck.

When doing the hair you don’t want to over-do it but the best thing to use is brill cream because it makes the hair greasy at the roots.

To dull down the hair it is best to use dry shampoo because it makes the hair look dry and dead.

For the teeth you need to use tooth enamel-using black will erase the tooth and make it look like there is a missing tooth. The nicotine colour is meant to discolour the teeth so the teeth appear to belong to a smoker or a person that doesn’t brush their teeth.

The application of the tooth enamel has to be on a dry tooth so use a cotton bud to wipe any excess saliva off the teeth of your client.

Use another cotton bud to dip into the tooth enamel and then wipe it on the tooth you wish to colour.

You have to use Methylated spirit to remove it.

For the face there are several things you can do such a sunburn or creating a stubble.

To create a sunburn look it is a lot like the fever, you have to pick redish colours from the Kyrolan Supracolour palette and lightly dab and blend into the skin in the t-zone area.

For the stubble you need to use a stipple sponge and again use the Supracolour palette, the colour you use depends on the models hair colour because it is meant to look natural and match the models hair colour.

      You gently dab the sponge around the chin area, make sure you go onto the neck but not             too far down. But make sure the stubble line doesn’t go higher than the cheekbone.

Estella the finished product.

To create the Estella look it was very simple because she didn’t wear a lot of make-up.

After I researched into Victorian make-up I saw that it was a very provocative thing to wear make-up. I was trying to create an adolescent Estella which, in the book, was a time when she started to show a higher interest in men.

I began by applying a foundation base that was pale mixed with a neutral base colour.

I blended the foundation out so it made it look like my model didn’t have any make-up on.

I then concealed under the eyes of my model because I wanted her skin to look flawless.

I then chose a grease based blushed and applied it to my model using a contouring brush- I didn’t apply it too heavily because I wanted it to look natural.

I then powdered the skin to set the make-up.

Using the same blusher I applied this to the lips with a lip brush so it was a natural but pink colour.

I wanted to add something a little different so I used my brown eyebrow pencil to dot small freckles around and over the nose to make my model look a little quirky.

One thing that made this shoot particularly difficult was the fact that it had to be in black and white. Which doesn't sound difficult but because the images are monotone the detail can be lost. So any make-up that was done had to be emphasised, which I didn't take into consideration. I used my eyebrow pencil to add freckles to the face and I didn't want them to look too harsh and unrealistic so I didn't do them very dark so when you look at the images you can't see them very well. Another thing that I was disappointed with was the fact that I had to change the hairstyle last minute because the hair was too heavy for my original design which meant the sponge didn't sit in the right position. Other than that I feel I achieved a good Victorian look with a good concept of the age of my Estella.