Final evaluation

    Overall, I enjoyed a lot this final part of the project. I liked the idea of having the task of creating out own characters and more than thins I enjoyed the freedom we ere given to show our ideas, and to search our own inspiration. As a first wxperience in this area, I think I have done a good job , but there is always more to improve. I am concious of some mistakes I have done and of course I will try to do my best to corect them.,.In the end everyone learns by making mistakes.
    I enjoyed a lot in challanging myself in doing thing I have never done before. It was really interesting to discover how the special effects we see usually on our screens are made, and even more interesting was to tru to create them with my own hands. It also helped me to understand that I need a lot of practice to perfect my work because most of my works looked more theatrical than natural and realistic.
     Regarding the characters- Claudia & Quentin, I think it was an interesting task to deal with and challanging at the same time. Art the beginning, I was very confused of what we need to do and how to make this project work. This is why my presentation during one of our sessions wasn't as good as I expected it to be. All the ideas I had were in a complete disorder and I was even panicking a lot. Only after being criticized I understood from where I need to start.
    In the end I am happy with the final results. I challanged myself in creating Quentin's look, Because I was always hideing myself and try to avoid if possible, creating special effects because I was affraid of the final result. In the end I learned that nothing is impossible and if putting a lot of passion, patience and practicing a lot you can reach your goal. Unfosrtunatly I couldn't show all the pictures from the practice I did because I experimented it on my younger brother who is a model for Elite Model Italy, so I am not allowed to post his pictures on websites.

Moodboard for Quentin's design

Moodboard for Claudia's design

Final shot for Quentin

These are some pictures from the final shot of Quentin. I put more pictures becase I haven't made my mind yet, so I still don't know which pictures to use as Final ones. I tried to create the atmoshere of a destroyed place. As I did this shot in Italy, where I live, I searcher for places where there are abandoned houses, so that I can transmit better the message. I find symbolic the third picture because of the locket and the semi-closed old door. It shows the idea of danger and how people try to protect themselves as Claudia does by never going outside.

This I another picture that I really like from the shot because you can see very well the ruined house and the old door. The models position is also showing weakness which is symbolic as well for me, because as being an imaginary boyfriend of Claudia, means that Claudia has the power on him and also because it is typical for zombies, as he is suppoused to be dead inside and really weak from a certain point of view.

Final shoot for Claudia

This is the final shot of Claudia. Messy hair, Dirty body and face and dirty T-shirt gives the Idea of all I wanted to show through this design. I also like that my model have light blue eyes and from my point of view it make a strong effect which I like. It might not be a really artistic picture Butas I concentrated my attention on make-up and her style. But anyway I'm happy with the final result and I think this character is very suitable for a film set.

Final Design for Quentin

    The final design for Quentin is different from what were suppoused to be my initial ideas. At the beginning I thought to create a make-up with no special effects, and this for vcarious reasons: One of the reasons was because I thought to create  the character of Quentin inspired by one of the heroes of the TV series who is not infected , and second reason is because I am not happy with my results when creating special effects. So I thought to challange myself because running away from difficulties is not the best way to deal with thins and also because we are here to learn, to make mistakes and to perfect.
   I also practiced several times this design to try to make it look better especially as I am self-concious that usually the special effects I am doing ar more theatrical than realistic. Unfortunatly I am NOT ALLOWED to put my practice pictures online because I did it on my brother who is a model for Elite Model Italy, and his agency doesn't allow him or anyone else to post his pictures on website for personal interest.
    I thought to create a design as a zombie also because I thought It might be interesting the idea of havin two different characters, one good and one bad because opposites attracts each other. Also I created only half face zombie because Quentin is an imaginary boyfriend and he changes his personality all the time, so creating half face as a good character and half as a bad one transmits the idea of his constantly different personality.

Final Design for Claudia

This is the final design for one of the characters of this project- Claudia.As I already said before, the main characterustic of this design is the dirtyness. I thought it would represent perfectly the fact that she is inspirated by the Tv series " The Walking Dead" because these TV series are based on the idea of surviveing, fighting for saving the world and the own life. Dirtyness is what shows in my point of  view that the person doen't have time or even possibility to take care of him/herself.
    I also wanted to show sufference, not only because it is what I can see in the Tv series, but also because Claudia have never seen the daylight which obviously is a consequence of a trauma she might have in her childhood. This is also a reason why I have chose these TV series and not any other that I could. It shows properly the cruelty of the outside world, that can properly explain the terror of Claudia.
    Also the scar I showd on the cheeck is to enpower the idea of the fight for surviveing. The lips were suppoused to be of natural colour , which on the facechart it appeared of an more intense colour.
    From my point of view this design represents Ideally my ideas of Claudia and the influence of the TV series on her lifestyle and her look.

Ideas for Quentin's look

Firt idea for Quentin reflects my Idea of how I immagined him as Claudia's friend, but it is again a design for a fashion presentation more than for a film or Tv series. It is based on the ideam of imperfection and dirtyness, but with some avant-garde touches. The makeup for the eye transmits the idea of disimilarity as one eye makeup is completely different from the other one. I wanted to create dark eye, which can be interpreted as an idea of strengh. Also the lips were suppoused to be black on the edgesand it goes into white inside. On the right side of the lips there is long continuing red contuour that is representing dry blood. It also has a blood mark on the lft cornr of the left eyebrow.












The second design of Quentin also includes the idea of dityness but ikn a more evident way. One eye is suppoused to be with a brown make-up in around it which represents the dirtyness and on the the same side of the forehead I thought to create a scar/ burn which migh be a resulf of a car crash that exploded. The other eye would have a black contour only just to put it in evidence.The lips were suppoused to be of a dark brown, and with unsimetrical application of the lipstick.
















For the last and my final design I wanted to chalklange myself and to create a Zombie face. I said challange myself because I've noticed during this year that special effects are not my point of strengh. This is why I thought to make half of face natural and half of it as a zombie, burned and fill of blood. I though about this idea because the whole plot of the Walking Dead is based on the infection of the world of zombies. So I thought that it would be interesting if this character would represent the dark side of the storyline.

Ideas for Claudia's look

  

My first design for Claudia was based on the idea of dirtyness. As I said in previous blog post, it is the aspect on wich the esthetic park of the Tv series is based on. I thought to create dirtyness on the face using different shades od dar eyeshadow. I wanted tyo create a natural make-up on the eyes. On the right eye I represented a false eyelash. The reason why I did it only on one eye is because I wanted to create the idea of imperfection and also as in the plot, the real character is fighting for life and of course the make-up cannot be as perfect as it was at the beggining. The lips were suppoused to be of a light red colour and smudged.
    I liked a lot this design, but I couldn't go for it because it looks more as a fashion make-up than a makeup for films and TV. I was observing it and I understood that it looks quiete avant-garde which is a style that usually is not used in tthis area.

My second idea for Claudia's design is based on the same idea as the previous facechart. It is also based on the idea of dirtyness, but i tried to make it look more natural and that it reflects the idea of "fighting for life". I thought to make her to look like she is crying... so I thought to create tears falling from her eyes, that in my point of view are symbol of suffering. I also wanted to direct the attention eve more on the eyes by make a kind of dirty/messy smoky eyes, which I thought would look great also because my model had light blue/grey eyes. The lips were suppouse to look dry and natural with darker shades of brown on the corners.













The next design reflects even more the idea of dirtyness because almost all the surface of the face was going to be covered with eyeshadows which are meant to represent dirtyness. The lips are of a dark reddish-brown colour and all smudged. In this facechart I also used colours like green- colour of grass, greys, blacks and browns- colours of ground. The reason why I didn't choose it as my final idea is because of my usual mistake of creating more avant-garde looks than natural ones. From my point of view this design would be great for a photo shot instead of being filmed for that film. Yes, it had the idea of dirtyness and sufference, strengh for fighting, but i think it is still not for a film because of the make-up of the eyes.

Influence of the Tv series for creating the new characters

http://strawburry17.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03
/The-Walking-Dead-Season-5-date-710x400.jpg

 
 The Walking Dead is the TV series I've chosen as inspiration for the new project: " The Gothic Horror".
 

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2013/287/3/f/the_walking_
dead__maggie__hdr_re_edit_by_nerdboy69-d5gs9u4.jpg

  For my fisrt character who is Claudia, I took the inspiration from the actress Lauren Cohan who was in the role of Maggie in this Tv series. She lived with her father and her sister in a secluded farmhouse. Her personality represents goodness, love and innocence. She got broken hearted and this proves her innocent heart. She has to think how to survive and to save the people she love. She fights for life, and from here appears her tired look.This is what I wanted to show through my character. Also the aspect of dirtyness, which is the basic description, the best proof of all dificulties she is passing through.

http://bamboozo.com/sites/default/files/Daryl-Dixon
-The-Walking-Dead-Wallpaper.jpg

 





  For the second character- Quentin, I took as inspiration Daryl, who is another character from The Walking Dead. Norman Reedus, which is the real name of the actor, is playing the role of tracker and adept survivalist. He is a hunter. He had a complicated childhood, marked by a father often drunk. He was raised by his brother, severre with him, although he was often absent because he ended up in a reform school. Despite his tough character, Daryl has a strong sense of the group, it does not aim to head and is always ready to help other members, without asking for help or support. I thought to create a look for this character, Quentin that represents a strong character and who is the completly opposite of Claudia. Quentin is suppoused to be Caludias imaginary boyfriend, and what girl doesn't dream of having a REAL MAN by her side??...

The Walking dead

http://static.ilfoglio.it/redazione/gallery/2014/10/1886/The%20Walking%20Dead%202.jpg

    The Walking Dead is an American TV series produced in 2010. It is based on the bestseller by Robert Kirkman comic, published by Image Comics in the US.

    The Walking Dead is a drama full of action and suspense that tells the story of a group of American survivors of a zombie invasion. Led by police officer Rick Grimes (played by British actor Andrew Lincoln, already seen in AfterLife), survivors wander in search of a safe place to escape to, and along the way face many dangers and conflicts, even of a personal nature. Because there is no longer a place to feel safe, and it is no longer time for hope. You just have to survive at any cost!

    A huge cast participated for the production of these TV series. But I will bring my attention on people who have dealt with the esthetic part on the actors- the make-up artists and hair stylists.

The hair stylists who were responsible for the hair designs were: Taylor Knight, Vincent Gideon, Nikki Bell, Shunika Terry, T.A. Henderson, Andrea C. Brotherton. 

The persons who were responsible for the make up and all the special effects were: Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, Andy Schoneberg, Kevin Wasner, Jake Garber, Carey Jones, Garrett Immel, Donna M. Premick, Gino Crognale, Essie Cha, Mark James Ross, Yolanda Sheridan, André Freitas, Toby Sells, Jaremy Aiello, Caley Brooks, Bill Johnson, Char Coats-Crump, Derek Krout, Kerrin Jackson, Matthew Silva, Norman Cabrera, Miracole Burns, Duane Saylor, Alex Diaz, Dave Grasso, Manuel Beccaro, Jessica Lang, Christopher Padilla, Denise Tunnell, Beth Hathaway, Grady Holder, Tracey L. Miller-Smith, Malika James, Chauntelle Langston, Addison Foreman, Mayumi Murakami, Christopher Allen Nelson, Kaleigh Brooks, Lee Grimes, Steve Katz, Richard Maybery, Clare Mulroy, Dirk Rogers, Michael Ross, David Wogh.

    

    I have decided to choose this Tv series because I find it very interesting all that storyline about the life after the dead! I was always asking myself if zombies have ever existed and can be life after dead. Obviosly it is just a TV series, and nothing in it was really endearing. I also thought it can be a good chalange for me to create some interesting special effects for the new project, especially as special effects are a real challange for me in general. I also thought that it might be really interesting the idea to base all my project on dirtyness- which is the most important element. And it is quite interesting because I always fight for perfection and trying to create imperfection is going to be a nice experience.

LINKS:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520211/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Practice on dark Make-up

During one of our sessions we were aske to create a look that we saw on the papers that our teacher gave us. These looks were based on various avat-garde designs. Here is mine:

I have decided to create a full look that includes not only make up but hair as well. It is an avant-garde look inspired from that picture I had to copy and I would defenetely use it for a catwalk. I completed the look creating a hight placed ponytail adding some dry shampoo to create the white line. I decided to make this line in the hair to give an extra touch.It completes the look with a light point that make to attract the attention even more.

Final Evaluation

    Overall,  I'm pleased with all the designs I've done and the final looks I managed to create.

    If talking about the first part of the project: "Continuity". The task was to create a look suitable for Miss Havisham's character from Great Expectation and then to recreate exactly the same look. It was an interesting experience, but at the same time demanding.I found it challenging to recreate same the same colour tones, textures, lines, the same length of the curls and exactly the same number of curls. Regardless all these details I'm happy with the final result even tough there are some mistakes as for example the skin tone, the smudged lips and the special effect of dry skin on the cheek-bone.

     Regarding the second part of the project which was creating the look for another character from the Great Expectation: Estella. This part of the project was easy from a technical point of view, but I found it difficult from the creative aspect. All the designs I created for this character were too much for a simple Victorian look. I love to let my creative spirit free, thing that I found very hard to do, especially in this part of the project.
    I think it was a really nice experience, I'm also very glad we have studied how to create special effects and I've also realized that this kind of make-up, especially the special effects, are not the job I'd like to do in my future. I enjoyed doing them but I realized that creating and doing some more creative looks as for fashion shows or even editorial make-up would be something more adapt for me. Also during the sessions while I was creating my special effects, at every single lesson the teacher was saying that my work was mor " Fashion" than "Realistic".

Dark eyes and perfect lips

We had a practical session in which we studied how to crete perfect black eyes: we had to try to crete the look we were given, and here is the result:

This is the design I had to follow:

I didn't apply any foundation or ather products. I was concentrated to create only the eye make-up and the perfect shape of the lips. I am happy with the resul because it came as I expected it to be.

Estella- final look

Estella's look was natural suitable with the Ideal Victorian look:

 

 

I believe it is a suitable look for Estella's character with very soft and delicate line. Unfortunatly my model couldn't take off her piercing but if she was without it, I think the make-up and the hair are suitable for thi character.

Miss Havisham- final result and continuity

Miss Havisham's first part of the assessment consisted of creating the look as we designed it, and here is the result:

The second part of the assessment consisted of creating exactly the same look as it was the continuity assessment:

 I'm quite happy with my result, even though there are some differences between the first and the second make-up. I'm not really happy with the lips, probably the base is whiter and maybe too much red colour under the eyes.

Estella's hair for the assessment

This is the hair design for the Estella's assessment. It is an early Victorian hairstyle. It consists of a middle parting on the top of the head. Each part is with straight hair that cover the ears in a soft way which ends are going towads behind..... Behind the head I wanted to create a bun which in my design is situated quite law but I changes it in a higher bun during the assessment. On the bottom side of the bun are falling some curls that make the design to look more mid-Victorian style.

Miss Havisham's hair for the assessment

   This is my hair design for the Miss Havisham's assessment. My idea was to create an early Victorian hairstyle but in messy way, as my character is ambiented in a period which is aproximately 5 years after the wedding.
   My design consists of a middle parting  of the front part of the hair and curled. One side has to be longer than the other one and I thought to go with finger through the hair to make them look disordered. Behind,I thought to make a high bun wich doesn't have to be a perfect circle with the bottom part left free down and curled. The bottom part wich is not part of the bun are curled as well in a messy way but is not well seen and the veil covers all the part behind.

Dead mask

After a seminar in which the main topic was "Death", where we talked about Memento Mori as well, we were asked to create a dead mask that I found an interesting task. Here is my first result:

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

After that I experienced at home on myself as well :

Creating Estella's look

     For our informal part of the assessment we had to create a look for one of the characters from the Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Estella. Here are my creations:

This is my first look that I created for Estella's character. I tried to maintain a natural look but still contouring a little the face. I also wanted to put in avidence the eyes by applying the mascara and some black eyeshadow aroung the eye-line. Also on the eyes I thought to apply a soft make-up with a light brown colour on the eye-lid. A peachy (very natural and light colour) as a blusher. And glossy redish lips.

I thought that this look could be good for a modern version of Estella, because As I needed to maintain the aspect of that particular period of time, the make-up must be as natural as possible, nearly invisible on the camera, because these are what the Victorian Beauty required.

    This is my second design for the same cahracter, Estella. This make-up includes a natural make-up for eyes and natural skintones tor the face, with peachy blusher a little bit of contouring. The lips are glossy pink. A detail that I think captures everyone's attention from my point of view are the eyelashes. I left myself go and I thought that this make-up would look great with fake eyelashes on the upper lid and small pieces of eyelashes on the bottom lids on the outter corners.
    I created this make-up thinking of a fashion catwalk with a topic based on Charles Dickens' character - Estella. And I think it can be very suitable as it is rafinated, natural and soft make-up but that still has a modern touch.

This is the last face chart that I also used as the one for the assessment. I tried to represent a natural look that consists of foundation a a light contouring; a peachy pink blush. On the eyes I wanted a natural make-up in which is used just some highlighter on the innercorner of the eye and under the eyebrow, and a darker shade (brownie) eyeshadow on the outter part of the eyelid. I also applyed some mascara. The lips, I wanted to keep them of a natural colour that tends to pink, even if on my face chart it looks orange.

Films or TV series with Victorian hairstyles

There are films and TV series which script is based on Victorian era. Consequently in this films or TVseries the make-up, hairstyles and costumes are represening the fashion of that time. I will make some examples of films and TV series which are based on that period of time.

• Wives and Daughters (mini TV series)- This is a 1999 TVseries based on a story about a daughter of a country doctor copes with an unwanted stepmother, an impetuous stepsister, burdensome secrets, the town gossips, and the tug on her own heartstrings for a man who thinks of her only as a friend. Persons who created and took care about actors' looks are: Karen Edwards (hair stylist / makeup artist (1 episode, 1999)), Sarah Grispo (hair stylist / makeup artist (1 episode, 1999)), Lesley Smith (hair stylist / makeup artist (1 episode, 1999)), Lisa Westcott (hair designer / makeup designer (1 episode, 1999)).
      The reason why I've chosen to bring this TV series as an example of Films with Visctorian hairstyles is because in TV series usually there are many characters and there we can see a big variety of Victorian hairstyles.
  
   
    
  • David Copperfield (1999)- This is a film based on Charles Dickens' novel. It is a semi-autobiographical taleof a boy who is sent away by his stepfather after his mother dies but manages to triumph incredible adversities. Through the cast we can see the following names: Janita Doyle (hair stylist / makeup artist), Paul Gooch (hair stylist / makeup artist), Caroline Noble (hair designer / makeup designer), Lesley Smith (hair stylist / makeup artist). These are the persons who worked on actors make-up and hairstyles.
        This film is a very famous film that I chose to bring as an example because it is not only about beauty or a love story ast the previous TV series I was talking before, But is more about lifestyle of that times.

• The Young Victoria (2009)- This is a film that dramatize the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert. This is the right film to watch if you want to know more about Victorian era, about her fisr years of rule and about English people of that perion of time. People who worked on actors look are: Francesco Alberico     (hair artist / makeup artist), Kate Benton     (hair artist / makeup artist), Mandy Gold     (hair artist / makeup artist), Jon Henry Gordon (hair stylist), Ashley Hill (hair trainee / makeup trainee), Joe Hopker (makeup artist), Susan Howard (makeup artist), Geraldine Jones (hair artist / makeup artist), Julie Kendrick (hair artist: crowd / makeup artist: crowd), Gary Machin (hair artist / makeup artist), Veronica McAleer (makeup artist: Mr. Bettany), Liz Michie (hair artist / makeup artist), Laura Morse (hair artist / makeup artist), Richard Muller (hair artist / makeup artist), Rosie Octon (hair trainee / makeup trainee), Marc Pilcher (hair stylist), Kath Rayner (hair artist / makeup artist), Maralyn Sherman (hair artist / makeup artist), Jenny Shircore (hair designer / makeup designer), Andrew Simonin (hair artist / makeup artist), Sam Smart (hair artist / makeup artist), Julia Vernon (chief crowd hair stylist / makeup artist: crowd), Ursula Adelhelm (daily makeup trainee), Corinne Bossu (makeup dailies), Kathryn Fa (crowd hair stylist), Louise Fisher (makeup artist), Sharon Holloway (crowd makeup artist: dailies), Uxue Laguardia (makeup artist), Kristyan Mallett (prosthetics designer/supplier), Cara Parry (daily makeup trainee), Gilly Popham (hair stylist / makeup artist), Tinks Reding (dailies makeup artist), Alex Rouse (wig maker), Rupert Simon (additional hair stylist / additional makeup artist), Rachael Speke (hair stylist: crowd, daily / makeup artist: crowd, daily).