ACE Gothic Horror: March 2015

In order to develop ideas for my characters of Miss Havisham and Estella I researched Great Expectations by reading the book and watching film and television adaptations of the story. I also researched the Victorian era and looked at the hairstyles and products that were used during that time and then started developing my designs. I completed several designs and used the best elements of all of them to create my final two character designs. I had to practice my designs and make small changes to them so that they suited my models natural features and also to make sure I could complete my designs in the assessment times. I also made continuity notes and took photographs of all of my practices and my first assessment of Miss Havisham so that I could re-create the look in the second assessment. I thought myself and my partner Becky worked well together as we were always there for the other person to practice their designs on and gave each other helpful advice.

I enjoyed learning how to complete Victorian hairstyles and learning how to use make-up to make people look as though they are from the Victorian era and I used some of these techniques in my final designs. Overall I am quite pleased with how the project has gone, especially the practical assessments which I think I completed as well as I could of done at the time. Hopefully I can improve on my continuity skills in the future as there were some small mistakes, which I hope will improve as I keep practicing my skills.

Estella Practical Assessment and practices

Estella Half and Half Face

In a practical lesson we were set the task of creating two possible make-up looks for Estella and applying each to half of our model's face so that the differences between the two looks were clear. On one side of the face I created a look that could have been used on Estella's wedding day. I tried to subtly define the eyes and cheekbones so that they would show up on camera without it looking like model was wearing alot of make-up as in Victorian times make-up was frowned upon. Especially at weddings where the brides was suppose to be innocent and pure. I gave my model a slightly warm complexion and used a hint of pink on the cheeks to make her look happy and make her into a 'blushing bride' to show that Estella was happy on her wedding day. I wanted the lips to look natural so just used a pale pink/nude tone so that they had an even colour. I think this look works well however I think the skin needs to be paler as in Victorian times pale skin showed you were in the upper class and at the moment I think her complexion is a little bit too warm.

On the other side of the face I created a look to show Estella's cold hearted side and that she was unhappy at certain stages in her life, for example through some of her marriage. I made the complexion very pale and used cool tones to make her look slightly ghost like and almost lifeless. To emphasise this idea I contoured using dull shades to try and make her skin look hollow and used the same shades on her lips to make them look dry and grey. I think this look could work well for theatre but for TV and film it would need to be softer and more subtle so that it doesn't look like she is wearing make-up.

For my final make-up design for Estella I adapted the look from my half and half design by making the skin paler and making the contouring more subtle by blending it in more and using different colours around the eye area to make it look more natural. I also used more of the nude coloured lipstick and less of the pink to make it more natural and less dull around the eyes. I made these changes because I wanted to portray Estella when she is a young women, before she is married. in the upper class, well presented and feminine.

For Estella's hair I wanted it to be a later Victorian design as I think the softer hairstyles work well with the make-up look I designed. I choose to have the front of the hair pulled back away from the face as this was popular in Victorian times and also the hair would not be a distraction from or hide the actresses facial expressions if it was used for film or television. I used curls at the back of the hair as this was popular especially with younger women and pinned them up to try and create a flattering shape that was in keeping with the Victorian hairstyles. In my final look I want to have more of the hair curled and hanging down and the curls pinned at different heights so the hairstyles works better as a whole because at the moment I don't think the hairstyle flows and looks a bit disjointed. Also I am going to use a side parting as this became more popular in the later Victorian times and I think this will look more flattering on my model as she usually has a side parting which suits her. Also I am going to curl the hair differently so the curls are less like ringlets and use smaller sections as I think this type of curl will look better when pinned and is more late Victorian than tight ringlets. To do this my tutor suggested spreading the hair along the barrel of the tong more when I curl the hair instead of curling the hair like I would if I was putting a roller in. Also my tutor suggested preparing the sections of hair with hairspray so the curls keep their shape better as my models hair is very soft so sometimes it's difficult to keep the curls in place. I am also going to use thicker tongs to help me create the shape I want and to stop the curls looking so much like ringlets.

For my final look I added flowers to the hair as hair accessories were popular in late Victorian times. I changed the style of the curls and the hair parting as I had planned to and I think this made the look work better as a complete look. The make-up I kept the same design as in the practice and I managed to recreate it to look the same as it did in the practice. The curls could have been a bit neater and I may have changed the positioning of the flowers so you could see them better in the photographs, for example putting more it the back of the hair instead of all around the top of the head. However overall I was pleased with my design.

This is the face chart I used to create my final Estella design and I adapted a previous idea to make the design more Victorian. For example I made the skin paler and used softer sculpting of the face which I think works well to create a look of a young Victorian women.

I think this design would work well to show that Estella was in a unhappy abusive marriage. However for my final design I want to show Estella as a very young women before she is married and so I am not going to use this final design.

I originally did this design for a Miss Havisham wedding day look but I changed my mind and decided I wanted to portray Miss Havisham after her wedding so I thought the look my be suitable for Estella as a young women. I thought some of the colours that I used were too modern for the Victorian times so I adapted the design.

I think this design works well as it looks like a young Victorian womens hairstyle, Also as the hair is pulled back all of the face can be seen which is best for when acting on screen. I originally had plaits in my design put I think it looks better without them. Therefore I am going to use some of the same type of flowers in the hair as I did for my Miss Havisham design to show how Miss Havisham and Estella are similar in some ways. However I am going to use different coloured flowers because I want the link to be subtle and Estella is different to Miss Havisham in someways for example she is not as unkind as Miss Havisham.

This was my original design for Estella however my models hair works better in a side parting so I am going to use that instead. Also I put the plaits in so that it linked with and looked a bit like my Miss Havisham design and shows that Miss Havisham has controlled Estella and made her the way she is and therefore part of them is the same. However I think the look would work better as a whole if all of the hair at the front is pulled back as in this design the plaits look a little detached from the rest of the design.

Miss Havisham Second Assessment

For my second assessment I took in photographs from my first assessment and notes so that I could recreate the look accurately.

I chose this as my final design because I want to portray Miss Havisham a few months after her wedding. So I have made the skin very pale as she has not been out in the sun and also on her wedding day she would have had pale skin as in Victorian times the upper classes favoured pale skin. Her face has different shades of grey and purple on it to make the skin look a bit hollow and to try and make her look a bit ghost like as if her soul is fading away. The lips are pale and dry as they would not have had moisture on them and I wanted it to look like all the warm tones had drained away from Miss Havisham's skin. I did not put dark mascara on the eyes because although this would have worked well to define the eyes it wasn't used in Victorian times. So I used grey and white instead to make it look like the eyelashes had dust gathering on them. Also I used shading around the eyes to bring the viewers attention to them by making them look hollow and to try and make it look like its just her skin and not make-up.

I chose to use this design because I think the different elements work well to produce a bridal look. I am using decorative flowers and a headband to make it look more bridal and using intricate twists in the bun. I will use powder on top of the hair to make it look as though dust has fallen on the hair because Miss Havisham has been inside in the same place for several months.