Project Evaluation

The Claudia and Quentin Brief is so far, the mot enjoyable, exciting and pleasing project i have ever done. I loved every single part of this project and i don't think it could have gone better if i tried. Besides the problem with shooting Quentin through the window, the one image i did manage to get was amazing, and looked better than i thought it ever would, I really enjoyed developing a character of my own with their own back story and set of emotions and style etc. And i feel that this project has given me more enthusiasm toward a makeup career. From doing this project i learnt that not eveything may turn out the way you want it to, but when it hits the mark the feeling you get is amazing!

Quentin Evaluation

For my Quentin Character, i am pleased with the overall look of the makeup, costume and hair. Everything, also, turned out how i wanted. However, i did face alot of Trouble with the shooting. I origianlly wanted Quentin to be shot through a window while he is looking out to capture a feeling of longing and no escape. But as i began trying to shoot this, i immediately was faced with the problem of the reflections on the glass. I tried to put on the flash from the camera to get rid of the shadows, but the light from the flash was then reflected on the glass instead. The only image i could take through the window was a profile shot when taken at an angle. It is this particular image that is by far my favourite shot out of the whole project; Claudia included. By shooting through the glass, it created a kind of speckled film between the model and the lense. This translated to the image give the viewer a sense that there is an almost invisible barrier; which is Quentins cage. He can see into the outside world, but is trapped there by Claudia. The Candles in front, i feel, complete the look and add to the essence of the image and character. To take my front shot i changed the location and took it in front of a brick wall; which looks like a prison, in my opinion. Which was very fitting for my character. Overall though, i am extremely please with my Quentin design.

Here is the Image that i feel would look really amazing if my reflection was not visible on the glass:

I also feel that the car in the background is a bit of a shame, but if that was removed, the just the reflections of the trees on the window would make the image appear very aesthetically pleasing.















Once i turned on the flash, the possibility of images i could have taken was once again ruined by the flash reflection:

Claudia Evaluation

In my opinion, i think that my Claudia interpretation wen t extremely well. I was worried that the Lighting wouldn't give the effect that i intended, but in actual fact it exceeded y expectations and turned out better than i thought it would. I particularly like how The mood lighting give teh image an extra siniter feeling to the image; which makes it perfect for my AHS theme. I was also unsure about the outfit, as my original outfit didnt work out so i was worried that this one would give the appearance i was aiming for. But in actual fact, i think that the outfit works very well; i wanted my model to have the Boho, indie, Kitsch style as stated in the brief, and is the style of Violet who shee is based upon.  I particularly like the blood running down the arm in the image, it turned out better than expected and gives the image that sense of mystery and pain. I am very, very happy with the outcome, and i cannot think of anything wrong with it as everything went according to plan. And my Creation was brought to life perfectly!

Quentin Final Design

Claudia Final Design

Quentin Final Hairchart

I initially had 2 options for Quentins hair relevant to his character; Combed and slicked back, or cobed and slicked forward. BOth of these styles are worn by Tate in AHS, the slicked back one relating to his alter- ego. I eded up opting for the combed back look, for a number of reasons. The first being that, with the detailed makeup i didn't want hair over the top of it covering the look. The other reason being that i just personally thought that the slicked back look would be lot more visually pleasing than if the hair was forward. I also feel that forward hair would emanate a youthful, boyish, immature vibe to the character; which is the last thing i wanted. The hair being slicked back however, give off a superior, self-assured, mysterious almost sinister appearance, which is what i want my character to exude. I will slick the hair back by spraying the hair with hairspray and combing it back until it stays.  

Quentin Final Facechart

For Quentins appearance i wanted incorporate Tate from AHS. Especially his scenes where he is portaryed a killer and asked with Skeleton face paint. As stated before, i thought that this fit in really well with Quentins Character profile. I will first begin the makeup transformation by concealing any blemishes before hand and powdering over them slightly to get rid of the dewy appearance. Then, using the Aqua colours, predominantly black, with the occacional white, i will apply the Skeleton makeup. The makeup will be continuous down the neck on one side, but rather than bones i will continue with the lines and stripes created with the aqua colours that are visible on the blank spaces on the face. On the plain side of the face i will create dark circles under teh eyes to give a tired appearance; relevant to the Tate and Quentin Character.

Claudia Final Facechart

For Claudia's Makeup design, i wanted to give her a fairly natural, and clean look. But then offset with dark striking Lips. The eyebrows will be filled in naturally, and a shimmery brown/ purplish eyshadow will be applied to the crease of the eyelid. THe eyes will be lined with natural brown eyeliner, and mascara will also be applied. The face will be contoured on the cheeks the eccentuated with a peach toned blusher. The lips on this facechart are a deep red, but on further consideration, i want my Claudia look to be more gothic and striking, to realte to AHS. So instead i will apply a deep purple colour to the lips with a slight shimmer to them.
I really like the makeup designs i have created and feel that it will portray my visualisation i have of claudia very well. I also feel that it will incorporate the AHS mood very well.

To convey the slit wrist i want to apply something like this to my model, and then apply alot more blood and let it drip down her arm (towards her elbow), I  feel that this effect will give teh image a slightly eery, Gothic, AHS feel!

Claudia Final Hairchart

Claudia's hair design is based on my models hair, as it is shoulder length, and seems appropriate to do so. My original design of a fishtail plait down the center of the back would be impossible to do, so I reevaluated the designs i could portray, and decided to keep it simple. I will curl the hair with tongs and shake out the curls to make them loose, and give the model a side parting; and then pin the fringe sections back into the hair only lightly. I feel that this Hairstyle, even though it is so simple, reflects the main inspiration of my claudia character; Violet, In AHS Violets hair is always down, and natural with very little to nothing done to it. This is to portray her character who is depressed and unsurprisingly doesnt do much in regards to styling her hair, and i wanted to convey the same with Claudia.

Quentin Developement

I am basing my Quentin Character on Evan Peters who plays Tate Langdon in AHS. within the Show Tate is trapped in the house because he was murdered there; not dissimilar to Quetin, who is trapped in Claudias house/ imagination too. Tate also has an alter- ego who is a killer, but he is not aware of that aspect about himself for a long while. Quentin on the other hand doesnt have an 'Alter- ego' as such, but he is known to dissapear from the house for long periods of time with Claudia not knowing what he's up to. So I want to incorporate this aspect within my Character designs. Tate's Alter-ego, ahs his face painted as a Skeleton, so somehow i will incorporate this within my design. My initial thoughts are to do half the face Skeletal and half the face normal, to portray both sides to him.
When shooting my Quentin Look, I wanted to convey the fact that he is trapped, so i thought of maybe shooting the look through a window, with the light off; if the images turn out how i imagine and intend them to, then i am very excited to see the outcome!

http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130806021729/americanhorrorstory/de/images/7/77/TateLangdon.png

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/004/1/9/tate_langdon_by_xchiarax-d4latww.jpg

Claudia Developement

I am basing my Claudia Character on Taissa Farmiga who plays Violet in the AHS series. In the Show, she portrays a young, misunderstood, shy, depressed girl. I feel that these character traits aren't quite exactly the same as Claudia, but they are very similar. As Claudia suffers from personal issues, that cause the same feeling of anxiety. In one scene in AHS Violet actually self harms and cuts her wrists, and i feel that i want to portray this within my Claudia character. This is because I think that it will help to relate to the show, and give the image a bit of a Horror element, which is the predominant theme throughout all the series within the show,
When shooting my Claudia design, i want this to take place in the studio, very much like the picture below; in regards to having the black backdrop, but i also want to incorporate mood lighting to portray the essence of AHS.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/0b/bb/2e/0bbb2e6795a2b577ea8cae185e4329a6.jpg

Presentaion of AHS

American Horror Story (Murder House)

Final Evaluation

Overall, I really enjoyed the Victorian Unit. I am always fascinated with learning about historical aspects of Hair and Makeup trends. Within this project, I gained a vast amount of knowledge that i know will one day prove helpful to me in the future. In hindsight, i am pleased with the result of my character designs, epecially with my Estella portrayal. With my Miss Havisham, I was not quite as impressed, but i feel that i can only learn from my mistakes, which will make me a better makeup artist in the long run. I found it very interesting and surprising to realise just how detailed and difficult continuity makeup could be, and i did find it very challenging at times. From this Unit i learnt a few things that i need to improve within myself as a makeup artist, for one, i need to focus more on the finer details to make my work look the best it could possibly be. I also learnt that simple doesnt necessarily mean 'Boring', and that i need to know what designs are appropriate to use and create for different situations; in regards to my Miss Havisham. Although I obtained alot of knowledge during this unit, i also felt slightly restricted in a way. I didnt feel like i was given enough creative control for my designs and at times i lost interest within my work as it wasnt, technically, my own designs. But I understand that the aim for this unit was not to create extravagant, designs, but to see how well we can follow a brief, character description, apply makeup for TV and Film and Continuity; all of which i feel i have wide and confident understanding of.

Estella Evaluation

My Estella final design, I feel, went very well. I felt confident and prepared beforehand so that was a contributing factor the the success of the overall look. My intention for this Estella design was to create a makeup look that was natural, yet suitable for on- screen, and i do feel that i have achieved that. I think that the makeup application went exceedingly well, with little to no mistakes or regrets. The only thing i wish i would have paid more attention to though, was the dark circles under the eyes, stepping back and analysing my makeup application as i go along is a habit that i need to start having, as it will ultimately help me in the long run. However, for the Hair, i feel  that there are a number of aspects i would like to change. But first beginning with what i am happy and proud with; I didn't manage to get a chance to practice the hairstyle on my model so i had to be quick thinking and altering the height and layout of some of the features of the hairstyle to accommodate my models slightly shorter hair. And even though i had to do this, and didn't practice, the outcome, i feel, was executed very well. A few different ways that is could have been improved however, was to smooth out and fix all the fly away hairs, and to make sure that there are no gaps or inconsistencies within the style. 

I think a recurring theme that i can spot within this analysis, is my attention to detail. I need to work on my attention to detail, and fixing the finer, less significant aspects of the look. It is the finer details that ultimately can make or break a look. 

Estella Final design

Miss Havisham Evaluation

For My Miss Havisham Character design, there weer a number of thing that i was not happy with and i feel that i could have done better or altered in order to get a better result. Firstly, i feel that i was bit too over- ambitious with my design; the style of makeup that i opted use to portray Miss Havisham was incredibly hard to repeat exactly the same the second time, as there were so many different aspects and details involved in creating the look initially, that it made it impossible to repeat. I also think that on second evaluation, My Character design is probably not the best or even the most realistic makeup design i could have done. The whole point of this was to make it suitable to be on TV or Film; which involves as essence of authenticity and reality to the look, and i feel that mine does not, However it would be good for theatre. I feel that i could have applied the aging technique alot better and more precise than i had done also. Another factor that i would change, if i had the chance again, would be the eye makeup. I feel that the Eye makeup within this look is what is bringing the whole look down, whereas even if i got rid of the blackness, then a realistic quality to the character would still be valid. A lesson I'v learnt from this is that i can practice individual aspect of the look, and have them appear near perfect, but when you put them together for the actual overall look, it might nor work out as well as expected. In future i need to practice the whole look so that i know what to change and alter. The makeup look, doesn't necessarily appear as it does on the chart so practice is key.

Despite disliking the majority of this Makeup design, one of the aspects of the design that i am proud of is the hair. I feel that the hair designs and execution is the strongest feature within my Miss Havisham look. It turned out exactly as i had hoped and intended it to, although i did have a bit of trouble with the dry- shampoo application, but it appears unnoticeable on the end result. Another aspect that i am proud of, though it is far from faultless, would have to be the continuity. Having to get the second design to look exactly the same as the first application is impossible, considering how complex and detailed my design actually was. But i feel, looking at the pictures and comparing, i didn't do too bad of a job. The shades and tones of some of the colours might be a bit different to each other but from the overall appearance; i think i got them as close to each other as i personally could. Learning from my mistake, i need to make sure that any continuity designs i do in the future are simple and easy to create, and i keep a record of the mixtures i use, so that the colour match up.
I personally don't want to work in the TV and Film industry, but i feel that learning the importance of Continuity is a skill that may very well benefit me in the future.

Continuity 1 (front)

Continuity 2 (front)

Contiuity 1 (back)

Continuity 2 (Back)

Estella Design Preparation

Step by step notes

Face chart

Hair Chart

Estella Hair Chart Initial Ideas

 Design 1

For my first Hair design idea, i gained inspiration from Holliday Grainger in her role as Estella. The hairstyle goes a bit against the norm in that period, but there are aspects which are also very Victorian- esque. The hair is first of all sleeked back into a ponytail and divided into 3 parts; then either using hair pieces of padding, the hair is woven around to form large rolls at the back of the head. A small piece of hair is also left out from the ponytail and plaited and fastened across the frehead to create a kind of crown. TO finish off the look decorative flowers and feathers are applied to the back at the center. I LOVE this design alot, i feel that it very aesthetically pleasing, and I can really see Estella wearing this for my design. The only issues i have with it though is that i may have gained a bit too much inspiration as i does look alot like her hairstyle already minus a few aspects. I want my design to be original and of my own creation and design, so i probably wont use it, but i will definitely attempt to create it at some point. It looks like a lot of fun to recreate personally, and am slightly disappointed that i cant use it.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0c/0b/02/0c0b027d32edb529ed0b170de17fcbcd.jpg

Design 2

For my second design I incorporated the looping plaits around the ears, and had the hair tied back into 2 vertical rolls. The front of the hair is sectioned into a middle parting and the hair at the top and the overall surface, is sleek and flat against the head; which is very in- keeping with the era. A decorative feather is place in the middle of the rolls for the final touch. In my opinion, I don't like this as much as the previous design, but i like the idea of fastening the hair at the  back using rolls, The overall hairstyle though, i dont think says 'Estella', Estellas charcater is supposed to be alluring and superior. This design is a bit too reserved and simple for Estella, so for that reason, it wouldnt be appropriate. The hair helps to create the charcter, and this would do the opposite i think.

Design 3

For my Last design, the hair is, again, parted down the center at the front of the head. And instead of being sleeked down the sides of the face, the hair is pulled up at the temples and fluffed up slightly to create volume. Tendrils are left to hang loose down by the ears to frame the face nicely. The rest of the hair is pulled back to the center of the head at the back, and fastened into a Chignon, and decorative flowers will be inserted into the Bun. I really like this design, and by default, will use it for my Final look. I really like how the hairstyle appears fairly simple, it also is not dull. I can Picture Estella with this style; which is the most important thing, and am very much looking forward to creating the character.