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!

Chosen models: Claudia & Mrs Laderman

Claudia: Ellie Nevill

Age: 20
Hair type: Thick, Medium length, Dyed dark brown
Skin type: Normal - Dry
Skin tone: Fair
Eye colour: Hazel

Notes: N/A

Mrs Laderman: Liv Purcell

Age: 19
Hair type: Thin, Long dark brown hair
Skin type: Combination
Skin tone: Light - Fair
Eye colour: Green
Notes: Some dry areas of eczema 

Chosen models: Heathcliff

Heathcliff: Josh Mason

Age: 21
Hair type: Short,thin, Dark blonde
Skin type: Normal
Skin tone: Fair with pink undertones
Eye colour: Blue
Notes: Be careful when applying latex around his beard moustache.

Face chart #2

This the face chart i am using for my final assessment. It is similar to my first face chart however i have gone for making the character look a lot more ill. Ill because he has lost the person he loves and has made himself ill being so upset and lost without her. I also have some tiredness and ageing in there also. I added deep lines to the forehead which shows ageing as my character is based around when he was growing old without the person he loved (Cathy).

Products used:
- Illamasqua matte primer
- Kryolan foundation palette (wrinkles)
- Kryolan foundation palette and elf foundation palette for cover ups
- Kryolan 101 blush for contours
- Red,purple,yellow and black supra colour mixes for around the eyes, nose, cheeks, ears and neck.
- DUO eyelash glue for dry lips
- MAC 'Brun' for all over the beard, moustache and side burns to create depth

Self reflection:
I much preferred this look as it definitely tells the story of my character much better than the previous face chart. Making my character look ill definitely fits much better than mostly tired. I still wanted my character to look a bit run down but mostly ill.

I got a bit worried looking at other peoples face charts and designs when i was thinking of ideas and producing my face charts because compared to my design they were very extravagant. A lot of people had cuts,burns and very almost theatrical makeup. When i read the brief to this project i took it as to make a realistic version of your character from the novel so i wanted my character to look like a real ill person instead of a ill person that belongs on the stage. Stage makeup and make up for tv and film are very different and thats why i wanted to keep mine to being realistic which i almost considered 'boring' compared to everyone else.

Apart from having chapped lips from being in the cold and windy conditions of the yorkshire moors, my character doesn't have a reason to have any cuts, bruises etc so i didn't want to create somewhere that was totally unbelievable.

Hair chart #1

My model has some facial hair which i wanted to incorporate into the design as it was very popular for victorian men to have a lot of facial hair and side burns. My model's hair is blonde which means that his facial hair is very light, however i am going to add a light brown shadow to the beard, side burns and moustache to make the hair appear darker and make the hair appear fuller than it is.

For the main bulk of the hair i want to create the effect of a side parting which was very popular in victorian times however, i want to create the look that he is wind swept as Heathcliff (who my character is based on) loves the outdoors, so his hair would be windswept/ effortless. Although i want the look to appear windswept i want the hair to be neat in a side part, so when i say windswept i want the hair to be dry in a neat side part and give the look as if he just combed his hair when he woke up and didn't do anything else (effortless). I am going to put the hair into a side part using just water and a comb, no product. I will do this before i begin the makeup so that when the makeup is done the hair should have dried naturally into a side parting without using any heat, it also means that all the hair is out of the face whilst doing the make up.

Fever, Sweat & Tears

Health & safety:
- When applying the supra colour, if you add isopropyl alcohol to it, be careful not to go near the eye area.
- When using eye drops, make sure that you get the individual eye drop sachets as these can be thrown away after one use to avoid cross contamination as the eye area is extremely delicate and sensitive.
- When using glycerin make sure to not go near the eye area either.

Fever,Sweat and Tears

This technical was the easiest that we have done so far in terms of the products used and how you apply them. 

Fever:

• Redness around the eyes,nose,cheeks, tops of the ears etc.
• Sometimes dry skin
• Sweating on the upper lip and around the hair line.
• Could apply water to the hair to create greasy hair from sweat.

Sweat:

• Apply Glycerin using a stipple sponge to areas where you can sweat if you have a fever (upper lip, above the brow, around the hair line)
• Glycerin can be bought in boots or any type of drugstore.

Tears:

• Individual eye drops can be purchased in boots.
• Be careful of contamination as the eye is a very sensitive area.

Products used:

• Red supra colour for the redness on the face
• glycerin for sweat, dab on with a stipple sponge 
• Tears, individual eye drops. When using the eye drops make sure that you use the individual sticks of solution as if you use a container of eye drops that can be reused it is very easy to cross contaminate the product and therefore cause infections within the eye, this area in very sensitive.

Reflecting:

This technical was easy to complete, however applying the products so that it looked natural on the skin was difficult. It was hard to not place the red supra colour on the cheek where you would apply blush, this was my natural instinct to do this, so next time i have to make sure that i apply it in a shape that doesn’t mimic blush.

This is the technique that i am going to be using in my final continuity assessment as i want my character to look like he ill. He lost the person that he was so in love with and that made him become ill and weak. I want to recreate the ‘ill look’ by applying the red around the eyes nose and the perimeters of the face and also create bags underneath the eyes to look like tiredness. 

In my practices before the final assessment i’m going to make sure that i work out where i want to apply the red so that when it comes to the continuity assessment i can get the exact same look with the red in the exact same places. I also need to practice where i am placing the red so that it doesn’t look like makeup and looks like a natural flare up on the skin.

Late Victorian hair TECHNICAL

Helen started off the lesson by showing us images of late victorian  hairstyles and looking out how they differ a lot from early victorian hairstyles. This was adapted to fit the popular fashion at the time, what was going on in the world (wars etc) and more. This can all be explained in my Late victorian research post.

Compared to early victorian hair the styles have dropped, there are a lot of curls and the hair has been pushed to the back instead of focusing on plaits at the front and side of the head. These hairstyles were popular with women who wore extravagant headwear as the hairstyle had to fit the shape of the hat.

For this hairstyle we used heated rollers to create the shaping and volume of the hair at the front of the head that was brought back into the curled style to shape the face and make it flattering. For the rest of the hair we used hair tongs to create the curls which we then pinned.

Sectioning was extremely important for this hairstyle as if you got it wrong the whole hairstyle wouldn't work. We started off by sectioning the front 2 sections vertically behind the ear and then in a middle parting. Then with each of those separate sections we took 2 horizontal sections starting from the top and then 2 vertical sections of hair underneath that. These sections were for the heated rollers.

After that we created 2 pony tails one underneath the other at the back of the hair, leaving some remaining hair underneath. We then separated the hair within the ponytail into sections and curled using the tongs. Once curled we pinned the curls leaving some remaining curled hair out of the pin. With the remaining hair at the bottom we lifted it to attach to the pinned curls on the back of the head and this gave the hairstyle it's waterfall look.

We then removed the rollers at the front of the head and with the bottom 2 sections we combed them together and brought them to the back of the head and pinned in with the rest of the other curls. With the top 2 sections we combed them together also and brought it back to where we pinned the bottom section but just slightly above. If you did the rollers correctly you would have got volume at the centre parting creating a very soft wave in the hair. This was very flattering to the face.

Reflection:
Surprisingly i found this hairstyle quite easy to complete. I really enjoyed creating it as i have never used heated rollers before and the end result looked so pretty. The hardest part was applying the rollers. You had to make sure that the hair was all straight and even so that the rollers could go in and sit tightly. If one side was loose it wouldn't create the right curl. It took some getting used to using them, as they are quite hot and where i was applying them carefully and slowly they started to burn my fingers hahah. I was happy with how the end hairstyle turned out, i think it went well for my first attempt at using heated rollers and pinning curls.

Early Victorian hair TECHNICAL

In class we created this early victorian hairstyle. The images that we focused on trying to replicate were the images shown above. Queen Victoria used to wear her hair with a plaited bun at the back of the head and 2 plaits looping underneath her ears ( so they were exposed) and attached to the bun. These hairstyles were popular so that women could wear bonnets, so they made sure the hair was as flat to the head as it could be, but you still had the detail of the plaits around the ears.

I had to make sure i sectioned the hair correctly so that it would create the loops underneath the ears. I found it quite difficult to do on Leah's hair as she has very short hair so the plaits couldn't fully loop underneath the ears and into the bun so they loop halfway down the ear.

The hair was very smooth and all brought off the neck because it was important in early victorian times to show the décolletage. This was an easy hairstyle for girls who were of a lower social class than queen Victoria. A lot of girls looked up to her as a style icon therefore this was an easier hairstyle for them to recreate at home.

Reflection:
If i did this hairstyle again i would make sure i added hair pieces to make Leah's hair a lot longer, so i could then get the plaits to loop underneath the ear and wrap around the bun to make that bigger as well. I would also want to take more time to make sure the pins were hidden in the bun. Overall i found this hairstyle quite easy to recreate, the only difficulty i had was making it look realistic to portraits and photos etc from the time as Leah's hair wasn't long enough.

Burns using gelatine

There are a lot of different types of burns so before you start a burn you need to think about how it was caused, how old it is, has it been infected? etc.

1st degree burns (Sunburn) can be created using Isopropyl alcohol to create that red,sore skin.

2nd degree burns (boiling water spilt on skin) has a a lot more texture to it as the skin starts to show through.

3rd degree burns (acid burn) the edges are a lot more blended however the depth of the burn is a lot worse and the inner flesh is showing.

If the cause was a house fire the flesh can burn like meat would. It would turn black when burnt and can also have soot in it.

Health & safety:
- Gelatine is known for being very gentle on the skin and it is very unlikely for someone to react to it, but just ask and make sure that they don't react to it, you could do a sample on their wrist just to make sure.
- To use the gelatine it has to be melted in a microwave and gets extremely hot so you have to be careful when applying it to the skin as it can burn someone very easily, so test it on yourself before applying it on their skin to make sure it is not too hot.

Gelatine:
- Melt the gelatine in the microwave for around 15 seconds until it has all melted to a smooth liquid consistency.
- If you add glitter to the gelatine if you were using it for another use other than burns then it cannot go back in the microwave to be reheated as metals cannot be put i the microwave.
- Unlike latex where you may have to use a barrier cream the gelatine can be put straight on the skin. It is very unlikely for someone to be allergic to gelatine so it's a really good product to use if you can't use latex.
- You can pour gelatine into moulds to keep continuity within your makeup looks. Have to make sure that you have coated the mould with vaseline or something similar so that the gelatine doesnt stick to it.
- Can use it to stick jewels on the skin, it's a good adhesive.

Application:
- Check that it is not too hot on your skin before you apply it to the model.
- As it starts to become tacky on the skin, make sure the edges are blended and then start to lift the product using your spatula to create texture to the wound.
- Cool with a hairdryer.
- Blend away hard edges with witch hazel and a baby bud.
- Powder over the top of it to matte out the area, shine can be added again later by using vaseline.
- Use a supra colour to add red to the area to create the look of sore, hot skin.
- Then take a look at your wound you have created and darken it in areas thats needed and you can add blood, wound filler and puss to make the wound stand out more.

Tools used:
-Gelatine
-Spatula
-witch hazel
-baby buds
- hair pins
- makeup brushes for supra colours
- hairdryer

Reflection:
I much preferred using gelatine to using latex, it was a lot softer on the skin and didn't hurt at all to remove. It's created a much better look, the texture felt a lot more skin like. The only part i found hard was blending the edges, i need to practice that more as the product was so much thicker than latex and dried extremely fast it was difficult to make sure all the edges were blended before it started to go tacky. Another issue was that the product was extremely hot when it was first taken out of the microwave, i ended up burning myself on the product. This is where i have to be really careful with a client as it could easily burn them. We are trying to give them the effect of the burn not actually burning them hahah. I have to make sure that i check it on my skin a couple of times before so that it's not too hot. Next time i need to take a lot more time to focus on blending the edges and creating a detailed burn to make it look real.

Cuts, Scratches & bruises

Health & safety:

-When applying the latex over the wax make sure that if the person has sensitive skin you apply barrier cream prior to starting any of the make up as this will prevent the latex from reacting to the skin.
- When making a cut from the wax using a spatula, it's important that you don't press too hard as when i was having a cut done on my face, the spatula actually scratched my skin and made it bleed a little.

Products used:

Bruises:
- Ben nye bruise wheel
- Kryolan bruise wheel

Cuts:
- Latex
- Moulding wax
- Supra colours
- Sealer ( if allergic to latex)
- Acetone to blend edges
- Blood ( colour of blood depends on the type of wound)
- Collodium (scarring) - use pro-shield foam before
- Wound filler ( texture of flesh)
- Puss (infected wounds)
- Alcohol

Tools used:
- Stipple sponge
- Black stipple sponge
-Kryolan blush brush
- plastic/metal palette knife/spatula
- hair pin

1. Apply the wax onto the skin using a spatula or palette knife and make sure that all the edges are smooth so that it looks like it's part of the skin.

2. Make the cut in the shape that you want and then apply latex using a stipple sponge over the top and blend the edges, this will hold the wax in place on your face.

3.  Dry the latex using a hair dryer on a cool heat.  Blend any edges that aren't smooth using acetone.

4. Using the alcohol and a supra colour, put a wash of red over the skin to create the illusion of sore skin. Apply all the others colours to create the kind of cut that you want.

5. Apply wound filler to the middle using a hair pin, this will deepen and darken the cut. Then apply some of the blood around the rest of the wound. This gives the wound some texture and makes the blood look glossy.

6. To create scratches on the skin you can take a black stipple sponge and some blood and drag it over the skin.

Scratches:
To create scratches on the skin all we used was either some of the fake blood / red supra colour and used the black stipple sponge really lightly on the skin and just swiped in a downwards motion. This will create the effect of a scratch.

Bruises/ black eyes:

Using the ben nye or kryolan bruise wheel, create the desired black eye or bruise you would want. You have to take into consideration that bruises change colour depending on the length of time they have been there. You can get different colour bruise wheels, yellow tones, purple tones, brights and dull colours.
Black eyes and bruises are ever just one colour, so you really have to look in detail at what colours you can see in a black eye and try and replicate that.

Reflection:
The cuts went well apart from the edges and some of the colouring. I need to get used to using latex and the wax and practice blending the edges more. I found it difficult to blend the edges of the latex even when using acetone, however the wax was a lot easier to blend. I need to purchase the right spatula to help make this process easier, as using a smoother, flat spatula makes it easier to smooth out the edges of the wax especially.
I found the wax a lot easier to work with than latex, a lot less messy and doesn't hurt at all when removing it.
My partner used a plastic spatula on me and it ended up scratching my face underneath because there was a sharp edge on it, so i definitely need to purchase a metal spatula so that it's smooth and i don't make that mistake with a client.
When it came to the black eye i din't have a lot of time to try this, literally had 5/10 minutes. So next time i would make sure i had a lot more time and think about the colours i should use and the placement of my colours.
I am not going to use either cuts or bruises in my design for my character, however the bruise wheel might come in handy for darkening up the eye area and creating a red sore look which is something i am looking at doing.

Ageing using latex & scars

Health & safety
- Test latex on the skin before use (little dot on the inside of the arm/wrist). Some people can be allergic to latex.
- Barrier cream/ foam on before you apply and latex based products, small prosthetics. It creates a barrier for sensitive skin.
- Latex can hurt if you apply it to 'hairy areas' especially when removing it.
- Remove products with warm water.
- Don't tip any products down the sink, it will block it.
- Cover the person's clothes over because it can damage all clothes.

When applying latex for ageing:
- Apply products with stipple sponges.
- Use acetone to blend away any edges.

Demo:
Decant the latex into a pot as it will help get rid of the smell. Keep the lid shut as it will form a skin in the bottle.

1. Apply the pro shield barrier cream around the areas you are applying latex.
2. Stretch the skin and stipple on the latex.
3. Test hair dryer on you so that you know it's cool so it won't burn the client.
4. The latex will turn clear when dry.
5. Layer up the latex as much as you want.
6. Look at the different colours in the hand, not just one colour ( it looks false)

Ageing:
- *Research how people age*. Skin ages differently depending on age, so think about this and the character you are trying to age.
- Around the eyes we are darker and a bit blue.
- Red liner for the eye (bloodshot eyes)
- Old age stipple latex.. same process as regular latex it just has colour. Can be bought it different skin tone colours.

Scar:

To create the look of an old scar we used a product called 'collodium'.

1. Apply barrier cream before using the collodium
2. Apply the collodium straight from the bottle in the shape that you want your scar and using a hair dryer dry the liquid
3. Then squeeze the skin together to create some texture to the scar


Reflection:
When applying the latex around the eyes i found it very difficult to blend the edges and make sure that the product didn't go in the hair. Next time i will have to be more careful when applying it and take more time. As you can see in the picture above some of the latex wasn't blending properly near the hair line even when i was trying to blend it with acetone. Another mistake i made was powdering it a lot more to make sure the latex became fully matte so it looked more like skin.

Using the collodium was very easy however the outcome wasn't very good. I didn't think it looked much like a scar it looked like pva glue had just dried clear on my hand. This is definitely a product i need to practice with to get better at creating scars.

My character is a youthful man so i won't be using any ageing as i don't believe he would have any ageing to his skin. He was an outgoing and adventurous boy growing up so i believe that his skin would be very youthful. For my character i want to use the latex technique described above but apply it to the lips to create dry skin on the lip as he was always outside and would be in contact with a lot of harsh weather, eg. wind,rain etc. This would cause the skin to become dry.