Evaluation

This term’s project theme was Gothic Horror. As a whole I really enjoyed this theme and learning about all the different types of Gothic meanings and how they can be portrayed via make up and character design. It opened my eyes to the thought that goes into creating a character within a Tv series (for example) and how all the tiny, little details have to be taken into account throughout the whole of the filming. Both parts of the project showed the detail that goes into it. The second part of the project, which was the character design, showed me how much detail has to go into each individual character to make sure that it fits into the storyline. The first part of the project which was the continuity assessment showed me how important it is to take notes and pictures on every little detail that you do to make sure that the continuity is good and the make up and overall image of the character looks the same.

I enjoyed the technical lessons with Sue the most as special effects is something I have never done before. I now have a much better understanding as to what all the different products can do and what they can be used for and how to improve what I already know to make my special effects skills better. Before Sue’s lessons I had never used gelatine or latex before. I found these products to be the most interesting to use throughout the project. The pre made gelatine moulds were my favourite part of special effects as I think they looked the most realistic and were good for continuity. I didn’t enjoy using the latex as I found it very hard to use, however I’m sure with practice I will get better at using it to create different wounds. I would like to try different techniques using latex and gelatine as I found them both hard to use but when used correctly they gave a really good effect and looked really good on camera.

For gothic horror as a whole I looked at various make up artists who did work for Tv programmes such as Dexter, Walking Dead, American Horror Story etc. I found that after I had been taught some basic special effects make up I found myself really looking into detail at the make up on screen on a Tv series or film. I read an article and watched a time lapse of how the special effects wounds were created on Leonardo DiCaprio for the film The Revenant. Sian Griggs and Duncan Jarman were a part of the prosthetics team for the film. It was amazing what they could create on Leo to make him look like a completely different character. When it came to designing my characters based on the Tv series Dexter I knew I wanted to include blood because Dexter is a blood splatter analyst in the series. I came across work that Alex Box did for a Issey Miyake show late last year where she used MAC pigments and a water based mixing medium with a straw to create a splatter, blown out water colour effect around the eyes. I was really inspired by this as I knew I wanted to include something like that on my characters face, so i tried different tools and products to see how I could create a similar effect. I ended up using a toothbrush and brushes with different densities to create different textured splatters on the face influenced by the work done by Alex Box where she used straws to create her desired effect.

The part of the project that went best for me I think was the continuity assessment. I really enjoyed working with my model Josh to create a look based on the Wuthering Heights character, Heathcliff. Coming up with the look was really fun as we could use any of the techniques we learnt in class with Sue to try and create a character based on what we had read in our chosen novels. Creating one look and then having to recreate it a week later for continuity was a massive challenge as we had never done anything like that before but I enjoyed trying to create the exact same make up and hair look using my notes and images I took of the previous weeks. I think I did well with achieving the continuity in the 2 looks I did and I thought they were very similar for my first ever go of trying to recreate the same character look.

The only problems I had during the project were issues with shooting my final images for Claudia and Mrs Laderman. At the time of shooting the studios in the university were fully booked so I didn’t have the option of shooting in a studio with a large space. I had to use one of the smaller beauty booths upstairs which limited what I wanted to do lighting wise and I didn’t have the correct equipment that I would have had in the larger studios. I also had an issue with models, unfortunately one of my models fell ill at the time I wanted to shoot so I had to find someone quickly to replace her. The images for the Mrs Laderman shoot didn’t come out as well as I wanted them too at all. Next time I will make sure to have a bigger studio so that I have the correct equipment that I need to shoot the best images I can. Although they didn’t go to plan I learnt from my mistakes in the first shoot and when it came to shooting Claudia those images were really good and came out a lot better than I had expected!