Quentin

Quentin is my second character. I've decided to make Quentin a new Police Officer in town, fresh out of high school and Claudia's only real friend/ ally. I thought that Quentin and Claudia could be a pair of monster hunters trying to get rid of the bad guys. However Quentin doesn't know Claudia is a monster herself. Quentin likes to stick to the rules unlike Claudia who is a bit of a wild child and is a bit of a bad influence on Quentin. I would like Quentin to be the opposite of Claudia so tanned, dark hair and eyes. I would either have Quentin with a scar or cut on his face from a fight with a mystical being. Claudia maybe? I haven't fully decided yet.

The word that I have chosen for quentin is The Woods. I chose this word as part of the series is set within some woods. A lot of the murders that go on occur within the woods so I felt that it would be fitting with my character as he is part of the police and trying to find the killer. I would probably add a few cuts and scrapes and possibly some mud stains as if he had a fight with some creature in the woods. I think my word fits Quentin quite well as I want him to be mysterious and slightly scary. 

Claudia

So my first character that I chose was Claudia. I am thinking of making Claudia, Roman Godfrey's long lost cousin on his mother's side as Roman hasn't met any of her side of the family. Roman's mother originates from Russia, however left and moved to England where the rest of her family are. Claudia comes from a wealthy family and I want her to be a little rebellious and to be completely different to the rest of her family. I want her to be a little edgy as she hasn't grown up with her parents affection and want to try and gain some sort of attention from them, even if it means getting trouble. Roman is a Vampire and has an ability to make people so whatever he wants them to do. I want Claudia to share that power however the consequence is that it can cause bleeding from the eyes and nose. I would like Claudia to be blonde with pale skin and big eyes. I want her to look 'doe' like. Cute but with a firey personality. 

The word that I have picked for Claudia is Fork. I chose fork because it is seen in the series that Olivia Godfrey uses a knife and fork to cut up the flesh of her victims to eat. I thought that I could link in Claudia with this way of eating.The thought using a knife and fork on a person is quite disturbing which is where I am hoping to portray Claudia as. 

Character Overviews

We were given the task to fit in two characters into the series of our choice. We were given 3 character overviews and we have to choose 2 of them to include in our series.

The first character that we we given was Claudia. The brief that we were given on her is:

Claudia is a girl in her twenties. As a child she was left alone to develop with very little parental guidance and through her relationship with T.V and 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 decor. She is Agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside world through her neighbours who provide her with 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 in her appearance.
The script portrays her as psychotic and there is always a feeling that her character is scripted/ can be seen as humorous, danger is just round the corner. However all this is normal to Claudia and she is of cheerful disposition in this mad world of hers.

The second character that we got was Quentin and the brief that we were given is:

Claudia has an imaginary boyfriend, Quentin who is long suffering and a constant disappointment to her. They don't listen to her 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 look guy, while in another scene he will appear as a Pete Docherty, Daniel Craig or a Hollyoaks babe. If she is having a bad day he will morph into an uncouth couch potato cha with all that brings with it.
He is as into horror film genre as she is  and into role-playing to suit her whims and moods.
Claudia has a paranoid suspicion that he is constantly having an affair behind her back and keeps her firmly under her thumb, sometimes restraining him or keeping him locked up in one of the rooms. 

The last character that we were given was Mrs. Laderman and her brief was:

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

Along with choosing two characters we have to pick a word that fits with our character. We were given a list of words from which we had to pick one:

Special Delivery, Blue Coat, Hydro Bath, White Rose, Ascend, Glass Prison, Red Rave, White Rave, Taste, Bandages, Fork, Stitches, Save us, Hellevator, Slipping, Veiled, Spinning, Exam, The Woods, Spiral, Awakening, Face, Door.

Hemlock Grove

Like the first half of the assessment we were given a list of tv shows and we had to choose one to create characters that fit in with it. The list that we were given was:

The walking Dead, American Horror Story, Dexter, True Blood, Bates Motel, The Strain, Supernatural, Penney Dreadful, In the Flesh, Being Human, Hemlock Grove, Hannibal and Grimm.

The two that I was deciding between was Hemlock Grove and Supernatural which is one of my favourite tv series.
I chose to do Hemlock grove because I wanted to do a series that I had never seen before. From the list that we were given I had heard of most of the series and none of them really appealed to me. So when I did a little digging into the others I found that Hemlock Grove intrigued me which has led me to watching the first season to get a better idea. This series is set in a fictional town called Hemlock Grove in Pennsylvania. It’s got werewolves, Vargolves, gypsies and things I can’t even pronounce!!

Hemlock Grove has an audience demographic of 16-30 year olds, mainly the male population due to the fact that there is a lot of gore and can be linked to types of video games. I think what might draw in the female population is the fact that there are a lot of young fit males in the cast which may catch the female eye!! I would say it mainly target the younger population due to the fact of the young cast and also because the amount of mythical creatures and gore that is included. It is also a Netflix Original series which may help with the younger audience. Hemlock Grove is rated an 18 however I am sure there are those younger than that watching this series.

What I like so much about this series is the fact that there are so many twists and turns and there are so many different story lines to follow that you can never get bored! What I will say is that towards the end of the first series things start to get a little weird in the way that the storyline is all over the place and I don't think it was that well done. I did enjoy the first series however I don't think that I will be watching the rest.

Using Moulds

Now this lesson came a little to late for my liking as I could've used it for my continuity assessment, however the outcome of my practice is horrific so I am kind of glad that I didn't use this technique. We were using pre made gelatine moulds and learning how to apply them.

If you want to make your own moulds obviously you are going to need the mould of your choice and then gelatine to fill. Spray a thin layer of Petrolease which is a release spray to help get the gelatine out of the mould once it is dry. Using moulds is really good for continuity as you will constantly get the same shape cut it will all depend on the colouring. If you have made a batch of moulds and want to use only a few at one time, cover the rest in talcum powder and the place them in a sealed tub, this way they won't stick together. 

To stick the mould onto your skin you will need to pros-aide (which is a form of glue) on back of the mould and the area of the skin where the mould will go. The good thing about pros-aide is that it is pliable and can be moved around on the skin until positioned in the correct place. Pros-aide is a contact glue so will only stick if there is glue on both sides of the surfaces. You need to wait till the glue goes a clear colour on your skin and on the mould before you place the two surfaces in contact. This way the mould will definitely stay in place. Depending on how you have made the mould some edges may need to be blended away so that it looks slightly more realistic. You can use witch hazel to do this. Now this sounds pretty easy to do, however I think i nearly cried trying to do this as it was an incredibly frustrating step as I wasn't able to get the edges blended out. I thought that it would be a quick and simple step however it made me realise that a lot of time would have to go into it to make sure that it turns out well. The last step is to add colour. Using my Supracolour pallet I started to build up the colour however I did have to use either some moisturiser or brush cleaner to thin out the colour. I then added some wound filler and some blood to make it look slightly more realistic. To get the mould off you will need to use Pro-Clean which is a type of oil. If you have left the glue to dry properly there won't be any other way to get it off.

I would have to try this technique quite a few times before I got the hang of it without getting frustrated throughout the whole process. 

As you can see the edges aren't that blended out and it looks really fake. Trying to blend out was incredibly difficult and I actually ended up giving up which you might of noticed. Also trying to get colour on it was difficult because I ended up accidentally lifting up the mould meaning there were pieces flying all over the place.

Continuity Assessment 2

Let me tell you the second assessment was just as stressful as the first. However I was able to get things done slightly quicker and I was more pleased with the outcome than with the first one, however there were a few problems. Let me explain....

There I was again, all in black, model in front of me and my make up all laid out. I started off the same as last time with doing the fringe part of the hair in the rollers and then I moved on to the face. After applying a layer of foundation I moved on to the vampire bites hoping that I could spend a little more time on those and less on the shading of the cheeks. After doing them last week I had a general idea as to what I needed to do and I was able to get them done in a lot quicker time. I then mover on to the shading of the cheeks and eyes. In photos you may not see the difference but it was slightly darker in the first set than thy were in these ones. I then moved on to the hair. Now because of the whirlwind that was the last assessment I didn't know where I pinned the curls, however I did remember how many curls that I did so that was one thing that was constant. Like last time I did have to rush a little but not as much meaning my stress levels weren't that high. The last step that I did was to add the blood to the lip.

Looking at the differences between the photos you are able to see that the blood on the lip is slightly more to the right on the first one and then more central in the second one. This particular style has taught me that if I am ever going to need to do continuity again I will have to be extremely wary of the placement of things like dripping blood. Also the hair is pinned slightly differently in both photos. This was something that I knew I would have to be careful about when I chose to do this design, however I didn't realise it would be as noticeable. 

Overall these assessments were stressful and it was all down to the fact that I didn't practice. The outcomes for both sets were better than I thought they would be and I am pleased how they came out. 

Continuity assessment 1

Continuity assessments. What can I say, I hated it. I hate all kinds of assessments as I find them incredibly stressful. This one more so than others as to be truthfully honest I didn't really do a whole lot of practice so everything I was doing I was kind of winging it. Yes I had practiced doing each thing individually but never as a whole thing, so I wasn't really sure of the timings. 

So there I was dressed in black, with my model in front of me, make up all set up and Sue starting the countdown as to when we could start and I realised that I really should've practiced more and I had no clue as to what to do first. I ended up starting off with putting the rollers in the front parts of the hair. I then moved onto the face and placed foundation around the face and the neck of my model. I then added in the grey tones under the cheekbones and around the eye sockets. I tried to make the eye sockets slightly darker so that they looked even more sunken in. I then moved on to trying to place the wax for the Vampire bites. This is where I screwed up. I had only practiced on my hand and not on a neck so I didn't realise how hard it was to try and position it without hurting my model. Then trying to get the colour on it and trying to make sure everything was blended was incredibly difficult due to the placement. By this point I only had about 40 minutes left to finish off the hair and add the blood to the lip. I thought I could do it easily in that amount of time. Boy was I wrong! I was rushing to get all the hair curled, because me being stupid chose the harder of the designs to do and trying to get all the hair curled and pinned meant that I didn't get any photos of where I pinned the hair so I would have to hope for the best next time. I had to swipe a quick line of blood across the lip to finish of my look and get it photographed. Overall it was a incredibly stressful process and I wasn't completely happy with the out come because I had to rush everything. I am glad that I chose the designs that I did because I think that they really fit in and suit the character that I had chosen but I think due to me not practising enough I found it really difficult to portray the designs properly.

Vampire bite

After testing out the cut throat I decided it would be best to try and create the vampire bites just to make sure that I would be able to do them quickly and easily to the best of my ability in the allotted time. 

So the first thing that I did was to create a small ball of wax and place it on top of my hand. I then gently blended out the edges so that it looked as thought there was a small lump on my hand. Now as I was doing this on myself I found it rather difficult to blend the edges without moving the wax ball. Once the edges were blended out I used the pallet knife to create a small indent in the middle of wax so that it looked as though something sharp had pierced it creating the vampire bite effect as I like to call it. I then added some foundation over the top so that it almost blended in with my hand. The next step was to slowly start to build up colour around the wound. I tried to make it so that there was a thin layer around the edge and that it got darker towards the indent. I then placed a small amount of wound filler into the indent and added some blood to make it look slightly more realistic. 

Cut Throat

I decided to practise doing a cut throat so that if I chose that to be my final design I would have an understanding of what to do and how best to do it.

The first thing that I did was to add a very thin layer of barrier foam just in case my model had any reaction to the products. I decided to use Sculpting wax as I thought it would be easier to use than Gelatine. I placed a large amount of wax into the back of my hand and using a pallet knife, warmed up the wax slightly so that it was more pliable and easy to work with. Trying to then place it on the neck was incredibly difficult. There were quite a few times that I got incredibly frustrated with it as it either kept sticking to the pallet knife or my fingers. After a while of trying to get the wax on I finally succeeded. I originally placed a long line along the neck and then used the pallet knife and dragged it along the middle to create the cut effect. More frustration occurred when doing this. The next step was to add a thin layer of latex over the wax so that when it came to adding colour it wouldn't ruin the shape of the wax. I then finally started to add colour. I started off using a light shade of red around the outside and started to build up the colour the more towards the middle of the cut. I found that I struggled to blend the colour without ruining the latex. I then added a small amount of wound filler and some blood to help make it look a little more realistic. 

In photos it doesn't look as bad but you are still able to where the edges of the latex are. On the first image you are able to see a slightly darker patch, which is where I accidentally placed a small black patch and wasn't able to completely get rid of it! However due to the amount of time that it took to do I don't think that I will be using this as my final design!!

Hair Chart 2

My second hair is also very similar to the first one. The only thing that I changed was the fact that the top half of the hair is in a plait wrapped around to form a bun. I would then curl the bottom half and pin it so that it frames the bun. I changed the idea slightly because it may be slightly difficult to keep up with continuity and also because time might be an issue. I am not as big of a fan of this design as I am of the first one but I think it still fits in with the character and the era that it was set in. (Again you'll have to excuse my drawing skills!)

Face Chart 2

For my second face chart I decided to try and keep it as similar to the first one as possible. I liked the idea of having the gaunt look to my character but due to timings I'm not too sure how quick the cut throat will take so I made a slightly easier version. Rather than having my designed my character after death, I decided to do it right before. So the gauntness is still there but rather than having a cut throat there are a set of Vampire bites. I think this look works just as well because it fits in slightly more with image of Vampirism. I don't think I explained it on my last face chart post but I decided to have blood dripping down the lip as I feel that it makes it a little more obvious as to the mythical being that I am trying to portray.

Hair Chart 1

When it came to designing my hair chart I had to make sure that it fit in with the era that the book was set in. Dracula was written so that it was set in late Victorian times meaning that the hair was a lot looser around the face and that more of it was up rather than down. I decided to take inspiration from the film rather than the book as I was able to get a better representation of what Lucy should look like. 

Now you are going to have to excuse the horrific drawings, unfortunately I'm not the best artist! The look that I was trying to convey was to have the back of the hair up and completely curled. I would then pin certain curls in a few places near the top of the head. I would use rollers to create the front parts of the fringe and also pin those back. In the film Dracula, Lucy often had her hair down and in both the book and the film she was seen to have had curls so I thought it would be good to include this in my design. 

Face Chart 1

So I started to think about ideas for what I could do for my character. Lucy Westenra was a high class female in society, however in unfortunate events Lucy was turned into a vampire!! I wanted to try and keep to the idealisations thought about vampires, so things like pale skin, smooth skin, pointy teeth and just overall looking flawless. However I also wanted to try and keep to close to the book, so Lucy unfortunately had her head cut off to make sure that she was officially dead in the vampire terms. So I tried to base my character around the dead version of Lucy. 

This is the basis of my first look. I wanted to include the slit throat as it links to Lucy's character but I also want to try at having a go at something slightly different. I think I am either going to use Gelatine or Sculpting Wax to create the cut and then add on the colour. I wanted to create slightly sunken in cheeks and eyes to create an effect that made her look as though she was dead. After bravely scouring through images of dead people and make up styles I came up with an in between version so that it wasn't over the top but it still had an effect. Apart from the throat, I wanted to keep my design simple so as I only have a short amount of time to get both the hair and the make up done and I don't want to be rushing.

Hat, Broom and a Back Cat

In broad terms Witchcraft is thought to be the practice of magical skills and abilities which can be practised by either an individual or group. Witchcraft has three main roles which is religious, divinatory and medicinal, however there are other smaller subjects that link with witchcraft such as sorcery, magic, nercromancy and healing.

Witchcraft originated from The Old Testament Laws which said that Witchcraft was seen as evil and was a form of devil worship. This soon led to the famous Witch trials, which was mainly done in protestant Europe. The witch trials caused people to be tortured, killed and scapegoated. Witches that were thought to have had melavolent causes were the first to be sent to trial where as those that were thought to benevolent thought were accepted into the community, however trying to tell the difference between the two types was incredibly difficult.

Witchcraft is mainly based on spell casting, so the ability to cast a magical action. A spell can be done in a few different ways, some of which are: Chants, runes or a ritual action. Spells can be done for all sorts of magic.

Necromancy: Necromancy is the conjuring of spirits and the dead. This would be classed as the devil worship magic and would cause the witch to go straight to the trials.

White Witch: White witches were thought to be the kinder witches, however in reality they were more like herb healers. This did end up killing a good few women as it was still seen as witchcraft.

In the 20th century people started looking more into the practice of witchcraft and eventually books were published stating that wtitchcraft wasn't acually bad. This then led to the Wiccan religion, which is still practised today.

A roll in the mud

Today was a slightly calmer day compared to the action packed ones in previous week. This time we were learning how to dirty someone up and make it look as though they fell. We also looked into tooth enamel so that we could create rotten or a missing tooth. 

The list of items that you will need is:

• Tooth enamel
• Surgical spirit
• Fullers Earth
• Supracolour
• Blood
• Sponges
• Baby buds

So the first thing that you are going to want to do is make sure that your model isn't allergic to anything or if they have recently had work done to their teeth so as that you don't ruin them. To remove the enamel you will need surgical spirit, just gently rub it over the tooth just don't swallow it.

• The first thing that you need to do is to dry your models teeth using a baby bud. If the tooth is not dry then the enamel won't stick.  Shake up the enamel and place a couple of drops onto a clean surface. This is due to health and safety reasons so that you don't use the brush on multiple people.
• Using a cotton bud, dip into the colour and then place on teeth. Place the darker colour on first and then a yellow on top. This is the rotten teeth done.
• To create dust you can either place on the model dry or you can add a bit of water to the mud and smear it on. Fullers earth is safe to place anywhere on the body. 
• Using a hair dryer you can dry the mud and it will turn a slightly lighter shade. It can start to crack off which may be a good effect. If you are going to place mud on fingers or elbows make sure that they are bent so that all the creases are filled in. You can also use colour hair spray to add more colour.
• Also don't forget to do up the fingernails as well.

A Full Moon...

So we have already gone over what a monster is and we looked into the vampire legend. Today I thought we could look into another well known create known as Lycanthrope or more commonly thought of as a Werewolf!! These particular beings are thought to be able to change in to a wolf or a wolf like creature either purposefully or by accident such as a bite or scratch from another werewolf. The folklore behind the werewolf came about around the same time as the witch trials were happening. It started off in what is now known as Switzerland and eventually spread across Europe. Soon the persecution of Werewolves was an incredibly common thing just like the witch hunts.

In the old European folklore there were many different characteristics that were thought to be able to distinguish a werewolf to normal human being. These included both eyebrows meeting in the middle, curved nails, low set ears and a swinging stride. However in wolf form there were very few differences from a normal wolf. One main one though is the fact that a werewolf will have no tail. This is thought to link to witches for when they are in their own animal form.

There are thought to be a few different ways on how a werewolf turns. The most common is one is on a full moon. This came about from French and German folklore, it was thought that if a man or woman was to sleep outside on certain Wednesdays and Fridays on a summer night with the full moon shining on their face that they would be able to turn. One of the more simpler way was to strip of clothing and wear a wolfskin belt. Another was to drink rain water from the footprint of that animal was said work. Remedies to help get rid of a werewolf include the medicinal use of wolfsbane, exorcisim or some slightly more painful methods. 

Since the 1900's Werewolves have become more popular in modern fiction writing. It was actually in 1935 that it was thought that silver would be able to harm a werewolf. It is also said in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' that a werewolf can only be harmed a 'sacred bullet' and they can only change forms during the night and not day. Also thanks to modern fiction it is thought that werewolves have heightened senses such as speed and strength. Each film or book depicts werewolves to look slightly different. For instance in 'Werewolf in London' the main character is said to keep most of his main features, while in Stephanie Myers 'Twilight' Jacob Black turns into a slightly larger version of a normal wolf. Another version is in J.K.Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series, Professor Lupin turns into a wolf form but walks on his two hind legs but has none of his normal features.

There is a medical condition called Clinical Lycanthropy. This is a rare psychiatric condition where the person thinks they can transform/ have transformed into an animal. 

Hair practice

Today in Helens lesson we were able to start practising what we are planning on doing for our final design. I didn't have a proper idea for what I wanted to do but I new I wanted some form of curls involved. I started of by putting the front parts of the hair in rollers like I did last week. I then tied the top half of the hair into a ponytail and started curling. Once fully curled I started pinning pieces of hair in random places on top of the head. It was at this point that Helen came over to give a little bit of feedback and advice. She told me that curling the hair means that it is going to be rather hard to keep up continuity as they can be different every time. She also said that it takes a lot of time curling and to maybe try plaiting the bottom part of the hair and twisting it up into the top section to help minimize time. I thought that this would be a really good idea however I also wanted to see how well curling the whole hair would be. I was able to curl most of the hair quite quickly however I would still need to be a little quicker than I was. The overall look turned out a lot better than I expected however I think trying to replicate this particular style will end up being really hard as I wasn't really looking where I was pinning. If I was going to do this style I would have to count how many curls I did so I could do the same amount next time. I would also have to photograph where I pinned each piece so I could do it the next time.

Throwing punches!

Not only were we creating fevers we were also causing a few black eyes. This was a quick last minute thing but when it comes to creating your bruise you need to think about how old it is. The fresh bruises are slightly more blue and purple where the old bruises are a green/ yellow colour. The bruise that I created in the continuity lesson was just hope for the best kind of thing as I wasn't really sure what I was doing. It came out as though it was slightly more in middle stage as it had that yellowing tone.

1. The first thing that you want to do is is place a bit of moisturiser on the back of your hand along with the colour you want to start off with. 
2. Gently pull up the eye so that there are no creases when you are adding the colour. For the colouring you can use supracolour or a bruise wheel.
3. To add the colour you can either use a baby bud or your finger. Make sure all the colours are blended and try to create a sort of mottled look. If you are planning on using a brush don't swipe the colour on, dab it.
4. Lastly add a small amount of vaseline to help create that 'shiner' look.

Like the rash the feedback that I got was to add more colour. I've found that I am incredibly wary that it looks too theatrical and I end up using less than I should. I need to start building up colour and to stop worrying as much.

Disease ridden!!

So in today's lesson we were giving people fevers! This is probably one of the more realistic things that we've done so although certain aspects were easier it was still slightly difficult to do. If you are going to give your character a disease of some sort you will need to look up the symptoms to help keep it realistic. 
One of the new products that we will be using today is Glycerin. This can be used to create sweat and tears. If you are planning on using for tears do not put in the eye but just under it. Tears come from the inside of the eye so place just below the dear duct rather than on the outside of the eye. Another way to create tears is to go to a chemist and buy individual strips of eye dropsand use these. They don't harm your eyes and they create more of a watery affect.

When it comes to creating a rash it may be easier to do on natural skin as it looks slightly more real. If you do choose to do this make sure you cover any spots or blemishes as they can ruin continuity. If you want to try and create dry lips you can either use latex or eye lash glue.

The things that you will need for this are:

• Kryolan Supracolour
• Stipple sponge
• Glycerin
• Latex
• Old set of brushes
• Moisturiser

1. So the first thing you do is place moisturiser on the models face and a small amount on the back of your hand.
2. I then placed a small amount of red Supracolour on the back of my hand and mixed it with a small amount of moisturiser. Using the black stipple sponge dab lightly on the skin around the cheeks and nose. Using your fingers gently blend it out so that it looks a little more blotchy.
3. Slowly start to build up the colour but be careful as you don't want to make it look to theatrical. This is where I struggled as in the end I actually didn't put enough colour.
4. Use a fine pointy brush around the eyes starting from the inner corner. Make sure you get right down to the lashes. If you want to get red on the waterline think about getting the kryolan red eyeliner.
5. Using a paint brush or one from your old set flick paint onto the face to help create blotches.
6. To create the dry lip get your model to screw up their lips and dab on latex. You can use a baby bud to get to the inside parts of the lip. Once the latex dried you can start to add colour and maybe a bit of blood for a split lip?
7. Now for the glycerin. Using the black stipple sponge dab around the areas where sweating may occur so the forehead, the upper lip and the cheek. You could lightly damped the hair to help add the affect of sweating. 
8. Using the eye drops get the model to tilt their head right back and place in the inner corner of the eye. You would do this right before the shoot so that the tears aren't already down the face and so that they don't dry out. 

Overall I found this task slightly easier than the others, however the feedback that I got was that I could have added more colour. I was cautious when it came to adding the colour as I didn't want to go over board.

Continuity?

When it comes to things like creating characters, you need to think about the characters background, status, characteristics, personality, state of mind, apparition and attributes. All of this is what makes a character who they are as a person. You have to treat them like real people because if not it's harder for the audience to get as involved and interested in the movie as they can't really relate to them.

The responsibility of continuity on set is down to the script supervisor however it is up to the make up, hair and props people to actually keep the continuity going. The character must have the same clothes, jewellery, hair style, make up and props at the start of every new scene as they did in the previous one. Without continuity it makes the film look a little stupid as it ruins the illusion that the film is meant to be real life. Careful notes and lots of photos have to be taken before and after the shot so that you can keep up with continuity.

We were given a task to show us how difficult continuity can be. We were to create a black eye on our partner, take photos, get them to remove it and do it again the exact same! Now it may sound easy but trying to do things like keeping the colouring and placement of the bruise was a lot harder than I thought it would be!! 

The one on the left was my first attempt and the one on the right was my second. As you can see they are slightly different colours as the left one has a slightly bluer tint while the right one looks slightly redder. However I think I did an okay job as the differences aren't really that noticeable. At least I don't think they are!

Late Victorian Hair

This week we are learning about the later hairstyles in the Victorian era. So unlike the earlier styles, the later ones were obviously slightly different. Rather than having their hair shorter and framed round the face, it was scraped back at the sides and big on top. Because of this the the styles of hat changed to fit around the hair. Although plaits and buns were still used, there were a lot more curls used and they were a lot longer and a lot looser. Along with hats, many other hair decorations were used such as flowers, pieces of fabric or Alice bands.  In the earlier styles we saw that the parting of the hair was down the middle. This stayed more or less the same but the start of fringes came about, and they aren't what you think they would be. The fringes were incredibly short and had tight ringlets. The hair styles changed mainly due to practicality. For instance between 1861-65 was the Americal Civil War. Girls changed their so that they could keep it out their face. Wig pieces were also used if a persons hair was slightly thin or they wanted to do an elaborate up do but wanted some hair down.

So for the practical side of the lesson we were using rollers and curlers. It was a pretty simple thing to do but it actually takes a lot longer than you think it does.

1. The first thing that you do is to create a middle parting.
2. Then create a rectangular section on top of the head facing downwards. Make sure that both sides are equal sides from the head so that neither side goes baggy. Then place a roller in and pin it down. Do this twice going down on both sides and then 2 going sideways.
   
3. The next step is up to you on how you want to design your hairstyle. What we did was to tie up some of the remaining hair into 2 ponytails and the curl them. You can also curl the parts of the hair that aren't tied up. Once you have curled the sections that you want you then pin them up so that it creates an almost waterfall affect. 
4. The last step is to take out the rollers. Take out the ones at the side and then pin them in the middle at the back of the head. Do this on both sides.
5. Lastly take out the ones on the top. Brush them out and pin them slightly higher than the ones on the side. This creates the middle parting we were talking about.

There's no such thing as monsters!

There are a few different definitions for monster:

• A large, ugly and frightening imaginary creature. 
• An inhumanly cruel or wicked person
• A thing of extraordinary or daunting size
• A congenitally malformed mutant animal or plant. 

The word monster originated from the Latin word monere meaning warn. It then slightly changed to monstrum meaning portent or monster. The last change was it becoming the word we know today. 

The monster that I am looking at today is the Vampire!! A Vampire is a mythical being that is said to live of the life of human beings. There have been many adaptations of what a vampire might look like from Stephanie Myers sparkly Edward to Bram Stoker's scary Dracula. Vampires were originally thought to have been bloated and dark skinned however in the 19th century that image was changed rather drastically to the pale and gaunt looking vampires we think of today. Vampires are a widely known legend and in the 18th century many stories including these foul creatures led to actual human corpses to be staked. 

The start of the vampire phase is all down to one man. John Polidori wrote a book called 'The Vampyre' which was one of the best selling books of the 18th century. However it is Bram Stoker's Dracula that people automatically think of when the word vampire is said and it is probably the basis of the modern vampire style and legend.

There are many myths around that surround the Vampire such as that they have no reflection and don't cast a shadow (this could be because they lack a soul). Another thing is that garlic is said to harm vampires along with things like a rosary, holy water or a crucifix. It is also said that a vampire can't walk on consecrated ground such as a church or temple. They also can't cross running water. It is also thought that they sleep in a coffin and come alive at night. Lastly they can't enter a home without permission, but after the first invitation they can come and go as they please. Legend says if you're trying to kill a vampire you gotta have quite a bit of strength in you as a stake to the heart or decapitation are the more popular ways, and they don't sound easy

Now how did the vampire legend come about? Back in medieval times many people were buried alive due to the lack of medical knowledge. This caused people to scratch at the coffin causing fingernail marks making people believe the person had come alive. In the worst case the person may bang their head and face against the coffin door causing blood to come the face making it look as though they had been 'feeding'.  And an easy explanation for the noise coming from the coffins is the natural gas being released from a decomposing body. Sounds lovely eh......

Early Victorian Hair

So unfortunately I wasn't able to be in for this lesson due to personal reasons however I was able to pick up a few things from my course mates and after looking at their styles I was able to get an idea as to what I could do at home.

From what I have gathered, women in the early Victorian era kept their hair quite short and around the face. This is partially due to the fashion of bonnets. Many women wore this type of hat and so as not to ruin their hair they designed it so that framed the face rather than being placed on top. Buns and Plaits were still used however I don't think they were done as elaborately.

1. The first step that I did was to create a middle parting.
2. I then separated the hair from the top of the ear to the top of the head. I did this on both sides and clipped them out of the way.
3. The next thing that I did was to tie the last bit of hair into a ponytail and create a bun. I tried twisting the hair and pinning it, however by the time I had pinned it all in, it didn't look very twisted...
4. I think took out the front two sections and created plaits and then pinning the ends into the bun. I didn't want to plaits to be tight and right against the head. I wanted a slight loop in the hair.
   

Overall this wasn't the hardest look to do however due to the katie head having rather short hair I feel as though the style didn't come out quite right. For instance I would have liked the plaits to have a bit more of a dip to them. 

Fire Exit?

So today in Sue's lesson we learnt how to create a burn which meant looking at a few gory pictures to get an idea. The first image we saw was a 1st degree burn which is something like a sunburn. There isn't a whole lot of colour but the small amount that there is a very thin layer. When it comes to create our own burn means we would need to blend out the colour so finely that you can still see the skin behind the colour. 2nd degree burns are slightly worse and they eat through the skin. Things like acid can cause a 2nd degree burns. Again they have no hard edges however the colour is a lot more prominent. To help create the blended out edges you can use a brush and dab on the colour (stippling) rather than swiping on the colour. If that made an sense!! When creating the burn you have to think about what type of burn you are creating. 

The main thing that we will be using is Gelatine. This substance is simply fabulous however if you are a vegetarian/ vegan there are other options that you can use if you aren't comfortable with using it. Once melted down you can add colour to it if you want. You can only remelt it once because the more you do it the more it dries out. Once it cools you can place it straight onto the skin and when your done you can just peel it off! If your planning on doing things multiple times you can use a mould to keep it the same. All you need to do it put release spray or a bit of vaseline in the mould and then add the gelatine, once dry gently peel it off. If you are going to put it on the face you would place it on first and then add any makeup over it. Like the wax you can use a cool hair dryer to dry it as heat will melt it. Once dry pat some translucent powder over it and start to build up colour. You can use gelatine for things like cuts as well not just burns. You can buy gelatine from places like Neal's Materials or Charles Fox. A slightly cheaper way as well is using store bought jelly!

1. The first thing that I did to create my burn was to cut off the amount I need and place it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. However the timing will depend on the amount that you are using. The gelatine will be hot so give it a stir to help it cool down. 
2. Before placing it on your model, place a small amount of your own hand just to test the temperature. If it's too hot obviously wait a little longer but if not place on the model and double check with them that it's okay.
3. Layer onto the skin making sure that there are no hard edges. I found this part particularly difficult as I found that I couldn't move the gelatine around as easily as I thought as it dries rather quickly.
4. When it is drying you can create texture by dabbing it with the spatula this helps create a scarred look.
   
5. Using the hair dryer just cool it down slightly. You can't really tell when it's dry as it will always feel slightly tacky.
6. Using witch hazel you can thin out any edges that can be seen. This was another struggle as I ended up lifting some of the gelatine from the skin and I wasn't able to stick it back down. Now this can be good if you wanted to create flaps of skin but I didn't. This meant I had to reheat the gelatine and re stick it down.
7. Use an old powder puff dab on the translucent powder to take away the tackiness. This also helps the gelatine look slightly more skin like. 
8. Using brushes or a black stipple sponge, stipple on a thin layer of colour. You can use moisturiser to help thin out the colour. Using a pin you can create holes in the gelatine but again you have to be careful that you don't peel it away from the skin. Using fine brushes add a little depth to make it look more real.
9. The last thing that you can do is add a little bit of wound filler or dab some blood on it. 
   

Overall I think that my version turned out okay. It's not the best thing in the world as I couldn't get the colouring just right. I feel like it looks more like a cut than a burn!! I just need a bit more practice I think! 

Dracula part II

So I have finally finished Dracula meaning I've got a slightly better understanding to my character. So after writing my last post, Lucy had been killed with the next few pages of the book. Unfortunately Lucy had her head chopped off and a stake through her heart. Little gory but hey ho. This has given me a few ideas as to what I could do for my character design.

To help give a few more ideas, I decided to watch Bram Stoker's Dracula made in 1992. Now at first I was really enjoying the film however mid way through it started to go in the complete opposite direction from the book. I felt that this didn't portray the greatness of the book and it ended up just being a little too strange. However I was able to get a version of what Lucy Westenra was portrayed as. Instead of having blonde hair, this version had a slight ginger tone to it. The curls were there and the angelic look could be seen. During Lucy's time alive the film portrayed her as quite the seductress, with daring dresses and a confident attitude. Lucy had naturally pale skin accentuated by the pale pink cheeks and the slightly framed eyes. There is one scene where her lips were painted to match her cheeks. As her 'illness' goes on her skin becomes a slight grey/ blue colour and her cheeks and eyes become hollow. The small puncture wounds on her neck are barely visible as they blend in with the skin but there was a small amount of blood to help them stand out a little bit. Once poor Lucy had fully transformed her skin had gone completely white, meaning the paleness of her cheeks stood out. She had a small bit of blood on her lips and running down her chin. Let me say, she was a sight to behold.

Due to her head being but off I was thinking about maybe trying to do some sort of cut along my models neck. I definitely want to have some sort of blood around the lips as I think that it really makes a statement. Pale skin and rosy cheeks are an obvious but I need to do it in a way so that it fits in with the time period. When it comes to the hair I'm not so sure as to what I am going to do. I want there to be curls but I can't figure out whether the hair should be up or down or both!!

Ouch!!!

Today was another practical which caused us to end up with a few cuts and bruises! Not real ones though of course. I really enjoyed doing this style of work however it was a lot harder than I thought it was!! So before we start I'll give you the list of things that will be needed before you get going:

• Moulding Wax
• Latex/ Sealer if allergic to latex
• Hair dryer
• Collodium 
• Acetone
• Supracolour Pallet
• Wound Filler
• Cuts and Bruise Wheel
• Moisturiser
• Blood
• Rounded Metal Spatula
• An old set of brushes
• Black Stipple Sponge.

As you can see there are quite a few things that are needed, although not everything is directly needed for a cut. For instance Collodium can be used to create scars and actually isn't needed for a cut, but I thought it kinda relates so I added it in just in case. If you do want to create a scar, put barrier foam on first then place the collodium on the skin and lightly pinch it together. Once dried it will create a scarred look. You will need to use spirit gum to get it off.

So a few little points before I explain the steps. Moulding wax can be used on the face but like usual just be careful around the eye area. Double check with the model if they are allergic to anything so that you use the correct products and don't cause any harm. You will need to think about things such as what kind of cut so they have? Is it a knife wound, have they fallen and simply grazed themselves? You also need to think about what type of ground they have fallen on. Is there dirt? Did they land on glass? 

• So the first step is to get some of the moulding wax and using the spatula warm it up on the back of your hand.
• Place a small amount on the area where the cut will go. For me that was on the inside of the arm. Make sure that there aren't any hard edges so blend it out as much as you can. You are able to layer up the wax to create more of a shape. You want to make it look real and not over the top so really think about how the cut came about. Using the spatula make a line down the middle so that it looks like a cut.

• Once you have created the cut, cover it in a thin layer of latex or sealer and using the cool setting on the hair dryer wait until the latex has gone clear. Using the acetone make sure that there aren't hard edges. If you use the hot setting on the hair dryer it may melt that wax, which is something you don't to happen.
• The next step is to start building up the colour using your Supracolour pallet. Using the old brushes you can flick on the paint to create a mottled look. You want to be careful that you don't go crazy with the colour and make it look fake. You want to do it so that you can still 'see the skin' under the colour. 
• Lasty using either a hair pin or brush get a small amount of wound filler and place it in the middle. Add a small amount of blood to help it look a little more real. One thing this is that you've got to think about the colour of the blood depending where the cut is and how old it is. Also you would need to add the blood after they have fallen as if you do it beforehand the blood will run down the arm and it will look a little odd once they are on the ground. Lastly if you want to create a graze just lightly brush the black stipple sponge along the skin.