Mrs Laderman - Final Images & Evaluation

Here are my two favourite images taken of Mrs Laderman. Ive edited them like my Claudia Images in the same manner to maintain continuity. 

Overall Im really pleased with the outcome of this look and shoot. I feel that the combination of a male model with female styling, a matte rep lip and strong posing has given the images a very sinister feel which will appeal to the existing audience. I also feel that Ive balanced elements of masculine and feminine nicely - you can clearly see that my Mrs Laderman is a man (thats the point of the character) yet she has very feminine styling which says to the audience that this character is actually trying to come across as a woman - which is intriguing, especially to the part of the demographic that belongs to the gay community. 

Mrs Laderman - Make up, Hair & Styling

From my character development you will know that my idea for Mrs alderman is fairly complicated and quite in depth.

For my Mrs Laderman I have a male model who is comfortable and has frequently dressed up in drag previously. 

I Have devised this mood board to represent some of my ideas and colour scheme for the characters look.

As you can see the mood board for the two characters Im creating are very contrasting and this is on purpose to create some kind of comparison within the audience. Mrs alderman's character is evil and this is conveyed quite clearly through her appearance, the audience will be able to identify this and see that her character isn't redeemable. Whereas Claudia's character appears innocent, yet tainted (due to manipulation), her indiscretions aren't her own fault therefore her character is redeemable to the audience. 

For the make up look, I tried to age the character slightly as my model is only 21 and the character I've devised is supposed to look around 30-40 as he is Claudia's elder and unconventional guardian. Ive featured a very prominent red lip, which is a feature I've included because I think it makes the whole look quite sinister. It also hails back to previous episodes in AHS: Asylum where the lipstick colour 'Ravish me Red' is worn by an evil nun known as Sister Mary Eunice, so I feel this is quite a good idea as it will intrigue an already existing audience of people who have already watched previous episodes. The brows are a bit more tamed and angled and the eyes are dark and smokey to further the connotation of evil. 

Claudia - Final Images & Evaluation

Here are my two favourite images from the shoot with Alice, my model. I edited these images a little to darken them, and add an effect around the edge of the image to give them a darker feel that I feel fits in with the sinister nature of the programme and if these images were to be used in promotional material I feel they would intrigue and engage the target audience. 

For the shoot I decided to take the photos in a bedroom, near the door because I wanted to capture the idea that the character is a prisoner inside in her own home. I feel that the styling with the night gown also reinforces this idea that Claudia is a agrophobic - because she has no need to wear anything but her night clothes. I also think the night gown is a good choice because it is very reminiscent of the film Rosemary's baby, an iconic film of the 60s, which many of the target audience will have seen and will remember. So this effect means it will add further intrigue in to the character and appeal to the target audience.

I feel that my selection of model was good as Alice naturally has a very fresh, clean complexion which fits very well with this character and she is able to carry off a look of innocence tainted very well. 

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 I particularly like the image above because I feel it really portrays Claudia's turmoil inside. 

Im very pleased with this image as well because I feel it really gives an idea of isolation, you can see she's sat quite tight up against the corner of the room. I also love the way she looks down the camera, I find her eyes very poignant in this image. Overall Im really pleased with the make up and wouldn't change anything there really. I think if Id have had the time to reshoot the images I would have done so in a studio - I just get the feeling that because they're taken in a bedroom they look a little amateur.

Overall Im quite pleased with this character, however there are a few things i would change about the styling overall. with the hair, I find the overall look is quite scraggly and doesn't look that professional in my opinion, I think if i were to do it again I would perfect the style a little.

Claudia - Face Chart & Hair

Moodboard devised for Claudia featuring make up and hair ideas as well as images of inspiration and a colour scheme.  Ive kept the colour scheme quite pale yet feminine to heighten the connotation of innocence within a 60s genre. 

This is my face chart for the character of Claudia. Ive kept it fairly simple, but tried to include influences from the 60s horror icons Ive studied (Barbara Steele & Mia Farrow) such as the bold brows and, pale matte skin and heavy focus on the eyes. With the eyes I've also taken influence from the 60s era, which old horror films of the 60s often did. The lips are typical 60s style, a nude peach tone. 

I wanted the hair for this character to also reflect Horror films of the 60s, but I also wanted it to have a fairly disheveled look to it, as in my head Claudia's appearance wouldn't have been spotless - it would have been the best representation of what she sees in Horror films.

Looking back at images I have sourced from 60s Horror films, I found these two hair styles on Barbara Steele in the films Black Sunday () and The Horrible Dr Hichcock ().

I like these hairstyle because they fit in with their respective films time period as well as retaining elements from current fashions - for example the hair is quite typical bouffant style of the 60s, with little hair around the face to draw concentration to the eyes and face. 

At this point I was really sure how to start adapting these ideas for my models hair, so I took to youtube for some ideas on how to create a similar hair style. 

I found this tutorial online and take some steps from it to adapt the style for my character of Claudia. 

 Starting with the top of the hair, I put the hair in to rollers. For the top section of hair I made sure the hair was rolled pointing downwards as I wanted the surface of the style to be quite smooth whereas the layers underneath needed to be very volumous to create the body of the style so I rolled these upwards.

Here you can see the mannequin with the finished style. I was really pleased with the volume created and thought that it looked very 60s and quite dramatic, which is suitable for AHS Asylum. 

One issue that did occur to me is that my model has a small fringe - which I decided I would incorporate in to the design. 

Claudia - Development - Innocence Lost

My original idea of Claudia stated that I wanted her look to be influenced by 60's horror films - which are provided to her by Mrs Laderman as a ploy to make her identify with these women who are often victims.

The people I found most interesting from these films were actresses Barbara Steele, considered the queen of horror in the 60s, and Mia Farrow (Rosemary's Baby).

I found Barbara Steele's looks in her many horror films most intriguing.

Black Sunday (1960)

The Horrible Dr.Hichock (1962)

The Horrible Dr. Hichock (1962)

The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962)

I found Steele's character in most of her films, most particularly the two featured above, was often portrayed as a victim. In Black Sunday (1960) she plays a beautiful witch who is burned at the stake and later seeks to exact revenge on her murderers. In Dr.Hichcock (1962) Steele plays Cynthia Hichcock, the second wife of Dr.Hichcock whom intends to kill cynthia to restore his first wife whom he accidentally killed during a sexual funeral game. 

I feel that these characters played by Steele align themselves greatly with my Claudia - who is a victim and manipulated in to something evil due to someone else's influence - which makes her redeemable to the audience - much like Steele's character in Black Sunday who is an innocent turned evil due to her murder. 

I find the make up and hair styling of steele's quite reminiscent of the 60's decade - nude lips,heavy emphasis on the eyes, long lashes, dark prominent brows, a flawless matte complexion, miminal contouring. The hair is very reminsint of 60s styling also, with backcombing at the crown, side fringes. 

It was also suggested to me that I look at the 60s horror film entitled 'Rosemary's Baby' (1968). This was a film I'd heard of but never seen. 

The film is about a young woman called Rosemary (Mia Farrow) who becomes pregnant under very mysterious and frightening circumstances. Strange occurrences begin to happen and Rosemary begins to suspect her neighbours are manipulating her pregnancy. In the end it turns out that her husband and neighbours have been manipulating her in to conceiving a child fathered by the devil. At first after delivering the child, Rosemary fights against this but eventually gives in and the film ends with her cradling the child. 

You liken this story to that of Claudia's as it is about innocence being manipulated and lost. 

Mia Farrow in Rosemarys Baby (1968)

In these images of Mia Farrow you can see how the film makers have tried to influence your perception of the character. She comes across quite naive and innocent, this is created through the use of a very short pixie cut - which gives the impression she's very young - almost like a child - this further emphasises by her often featured in a long, shapeless night gown. Her make up in the film is similar to that of Barbara Steele's. She has very pale, natural looking skin with emphasis on the eyes, pale lips which echo the 60s trend. 

I think ill be taking inspiration from both these characters looks to help create Claudia's person of 'innocence lost' due to mrs ladermans manipulation. I also really like the idea of the night dress in styling - Claudia rarely leaves the house so she wouldn't have the need to wear anything else - this item is also seen in both Rosemarys Baby and films that feature Barbara steele as a victim so i think it would further my representation of tainted innocence. 

Character development & Audience

Here is a piece I wrote to develop my characters and further help me understand where I wanted to take the characters. 

Mrs. Laderman isn’t a Mrs. at all. She’s actually a man in women’s clothing, most notably a nun’s habit – although she is far from godly. She acts as Claudia’s advisor and career, her costume is part of a ploy to design upon Claudia.

Mrs. Laderman’s real name is Jacob Miller. He was a former inmate at Briarcliff Sanitarium for the criminally insane. Before his exile to Briarcliff Jacob was a married man, to wife Wendy. However, forced in to a heterosexual marriage by his abusive father Jacobs homosexual tendencies often surfaced in the form of him adopting his wife’s clothes and frequenting young men. His habits worsened and over a period of time Jacob was permanently adopting a female persona, much to his wife’s dismay. His wife caught him in the act in their marriage bed one evening and after a heated row, Jacob slaughtered his wife and current lover. Days later Jacob found himself in Briarcliff, the year being 1962. His time at Briarcliff was short-lived,  although befriended Sister Mary Eunice who would later heavily influence his Mrs. Alderman persona. He remained there a total of two years, managing to escape through his charming and manipulative manner when the sanitarium was sold to the state in 1965.

After his escape, Jacob found himself an apartment occupied by a Mrs. Laderman whom he smothered and disposed of. He adopted her identity from then on.

She became close to Claudia, who lived across the hall, when she would frequently arrive with gifts for Claudia such as food, toys and unusual items often encouraging her unhealthy obsession with horror and the occult. Mrs. Laderman would always make her presence known to Claudia by announcing her arrival with a “Special delivery!”.

Having very little experience of the outside world Claudia has never questioned Mrs. Laderman’s unusual appearance or dress and looks to her as a sort of twisted mother figure. Unknown to Claudia, Mrs. Laderman is actually responsible for her parents disappearance when she was 6, which went almost unnoticed by Claudia who is used to an unsupervised childhood. Mrs. Laderman encourages Claudia’s imaginary boyfriend, Quentin, but instills the suspicion in to her that Quentin in unfaithful which provides a constant disappointment to Claudia, although she would never speak upon it, instead Claudia suffocates her concerns and vents her frustration through physical abuse towards Quentin often keeping him under restraint in her apartment and abusing him.

Claudia has very little understanding of how the world really is. What she does understand has been obtained from 60s horror films and text, provided by Mrs. Laderman.  Being in her twenties and having never felt true human compassion Claudia yearned for a companion and thus developed the figure of Quentin.

Claudia is an innocent at heart, she’s merely the outcome of neglect and manipulation. But she’s unaware of this.  She’s addicted to horror films and fiction and bases her understanding of the world around them. The only woman she has ever related to is often the victim of vicious crimes ad horror. Claudia understands two types of women – those who get murdered often due to the sinful sexual exploits and the girl who survives. Claudia most relates to the first. Deep down Claudia craves human contact, she’s lacked it her entire life, which is the reason for her conjuring of imaginary Quentin. But her desire for contact and pleasure means she assigns herself to this horror archetype and assumes that she is wicked and will ultimately meet her demise. This confusion between what she yearns for and what she understands of the world causes her great frustration. However, on the outside Claudia seems of a cheerful and confident disposition, a guise mounted to retain her claim on Quentin who fears is unfaithful – a concern installed upon her by Mrs. Laderman.

Mrs. Laderman’s manipulation of Claudia reaches a climax when Claudia snaps under growing suspicion of Quentin’s affairs (enforced by Laderman) and stabs him. Wracked with guilt, Claudia seeks Mrs. Laderman’s help, which she willingly provides. However, the manipulative Mrs. Laderman had always intended this and uses her position over Claudia to have her carry out acts of vengeance on her behalf towards those who wronged him or acted prejudicially towards him when he lived as transsexual Jacob Miller.

Mrs. Laderman frames Claudia for murdering Miller’s abusive father, when she tries to tell the police of her innocence all that can be found at Laderman’s apartment is the rotting corpse of the true Mrs. Laderman.

Forced in to Briarcliff and to socialize with her fellow inmates, Claudia slowly has an awakening to the fact that she’s been manipulated her whole life and the world isn’t always the way she been taught it was. On top of this and the overwhelming guilt for Quentin’s apparent murder, Claudia slits her own throat in her cell promising Quentin that they can be together forever now.

Audience Demographic

"AHS is producing outstanding ratings, growing though its first four weeks in the network's target audience of Adults 18-49."

tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/10/...american-horror-story.../109061/

I would add to this by saying that the largest proportion of this demographic would consist of women as well as homosexual men. My reasons for this are that the main characters in Asylum are predominately female. Also, the producers of AHS Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk are renowned for creating series that empower homosexuality as well as other minorities such as 'Glee' and 'Modern Family'. Asylum is very much concerned with the theme of homosexuality - one of the main character is treated as Briarcliff for being lesbian - I believe my character of Mrs Laderman particular fits in with this demographic as it's an intriguing one as well as the fact that it shows empowerment of those who are homosexual. 

I feel my character of Claudia also appeals to this demographic because a lot of women would be able to relate to her story - trying to fit her identity to what she understands of the world and her yearning for human relationship.

CLAUDIA, QUENTIN & MRS LADERMAN - Initial ideas - Presentation

For the second half of this unit we were tasked to create two looks for new characters in an existing horror series. 

For mine I decided to focus on American Horror Story: Asylum, as it is a series I have already seen and find very intriguing due to its many themes and controversies. 

My initial ideas can be found in this power point presentation.

Looking back on this, I realise that this needed a little bit more work added to it. For example, I needed to add colour schemes and mood boards surrounding my characters.

Once I have furthered my research, I will go back and adjust my presentation to align itself with more developed ideas. In showing this to my lecturer and fellow students a few other issues were raised - My ideas for Claudia seemed more grounded than Mrs Laderman - My lecturer insisted I look at the 60's film 'Rosemarys Baby' for further inspiration - Pin point my exact target audience and how my character would appeal to these

Creating Estella - Informal Times Assessment

Overall Im fairly pleased with the outcome of the look. Overall I think the make up looks good and has subtle hints of a doll-like nature without being too over the top. I feel that the hair lets the look down a little, I needed to back comb and volumes the side sections of hair as they're a little too flat to her head. I also left a couple small segments of hair uncurled which I didn't notice until I got to taking my pictures. I think the hair looks better from the side than it does from the font du to the lack of volume but this could have been rectified with further practice with my model. In hindsight, I wish Id put further thought in to the styling of these pictures and my character, I feel the shirt I put her in is a little too modern and I lose some of the victorian essence. 

Developing Estella's Hairstyle

For Estella's hair I wanted something that was traditional in terms of the period in which the novel is set as well as something that accentuated her beauty and was also reminiscent of my porcelain doll concept. 

I then remembered a style I had previously looked at in my research in to victorian hairstyles. 

Character Katherine Pierce (Played by Nina Dobrev)
scene set in 1864
http://shessmart.com/fashion/katherine-pierce-dresses-on-the-vampire-diaries/

In brief the episode features a flashback to the year 1864, having recently returned from exile to ENGLAND Katherine Pierce begins life again in Virginia. I consider this a victorian hairstyle due to the time period as well as her previous location in England. 

I think this hairstyle is quite relevant to my representation of Estella due to the fact that the time in which Dickens places Estella as a adolescent, hair trends had changed and the tight curls of the early era had loosened and often cascaded down the back. I also find other elements of the victorian traditions in this style including the ringlets and centre parting. 

I find this style quite reminiscent to that of a china doll as well, due to the vast amount of curls. Take for example this image.

China doll with ringlet hair
http://ohgirl.ru/art/kukly-tak-pohozhi-lyudey

From this research Ive practised and devised the following hairstyle to coincide with my make up look.

Developing my Estella look

Estella - A high fashion, editorial look
Mostly for fun I decided to take what Id researched in to china dolls and Estella's character and create a face chart that was suitable for a fashion environment, so something more elaborate that wouldn't really be appropriate for film, tv or theatre. I thought this would actually be quite a good idea as I could then reign this design in and come up with another design following from it that would be more suitable for a theatre environment but still embodied the same concepts in a more subtle manner. 

As you can see Ive taken the china aspect quite literally but also tried to incorporate elements of victorian traditions of beauty as well. For example, I've kept the complexion very pale and natural with minimal contouring, but mentioned using a matt primer and powder to set which would enhance this doll-like porcelain complexion. Ive manipulated the lips in to a small heart shape, typical of that seen on dolls and featured it in a red tone - I find this quite poignant as red is a very sexual colour and actually one victorians steered clear of but in this scenario i think its quite suitable for estella because of the way in which she was brought up as a man-destroyer, I think the red tone fits her dangerous persona. Ive featured white and black liner around the eyes to give the appearance that they are much larger and think this works well with the addition of very long lashes and gives the overall look a more artificial feel. Again to emphasise this doll like manner as well as estella's character, Ive introduced some cracks to the skin, painted in supra colour, to further this idea that estella is cold and hard like a doll and has no warmth or capability of love. 

However much I love this look, its not suitable for film or tv quite simply because its not realistic. So Ive taken this design and adopted it, focusing on highlighting typical traditions of victorian beauty and enhancing them to give a slight, but overwhelming, sense that estella has doll like features, perfect and almost unreal. 

Ive added some contour to the face, to give the face more depth and seem a little more human than the previous design. Ive also lessened the heart shape of the lips, maintaining the shape but lessening the effect. Ive also reverted to a much more natural tone of pink which I think is still quite bold and doll like but is much more victorian-esque and appropriate for the media outlet. The brows in this design I've made more natural, as victorians never really styled their brows. Ive kept the effects around the eyes from the initial design because I think these work well and give a feel of intense beauty, the beauty that Pip admired and commented upon often. I think that this effect around the eyes would work extremely well on the stage, as from a distance the lashes and enhancing of the eyes could still be seen from a distance. 

Overall, Im pleased with this final design and look forward to producing it. I think it embodies victorian ideals of beauty and thus, fits estella's representation well. I also think Ive incorporated elements of the china doll in to the look subtly as to still uphold the appropriateness of the look for the media outlet I have chosen (theatre). 

I now need to complete my design by deciding on a hair style that will coincide with the look. 

Estella - A cold, hard, porcelain doll

 To further my ideas for Estella's character Ive been looking at images of china doll's as well as contemporary and artistic adaptations using make up.

Close up of a China doll -
http://tinyurl.com/qgfxtwx

On this example the cheek rouge is quite over the top and the eyebrows are very defined and symmetrical. 

Elegant victorian doll -

http://tinyurl.com/keby4em

This example is typical what I image when I think of a china doll with matt porcelain skin, ringlets, long lashes and a small neat mouth.

http://tinyurl.com/n5pyr32

This artist has taken the idea of the porcelain doll to the extreme and I love it. She's used liner around the eyes to give the appearance that her eyes are much larger and false falsest to lengthen her natural lashes. Her skin as well looks very flawless and gives that idea of artificial perfection.

http://tinyurl.com/onym89v

This example is a more toned down take on the look but you can still see influences through the exaggerated lashes, the heart shape of the lips, the boldness of eyebrows and the deep rouge on the cheeks. 

http://tinyurl.com/p33ynwv

I find this particular example very alluring, I like the effect the artist has created with the addition of cracks on the face to give that idea that she's a doll that been mistreated or dropped reinforcing the idea that her exterior is made from fragile porcelain or china. 

Miss Havisham Recreating Continuity - Part 2

 For this post I will be comparing images taken from my initial timed assessment and my second timed assessment where I was attempting to recreate the Miss Havisham look for continuity.

Initial timed assessment

Second timed assessment for continuity

On the day of the assessment I felt i had rushed the whole thing due to the fact that i finished much earlier than the previous time I created the look. I also realised after shooting my look that I forgotten to contour down the nose which i knew would make the overall face look rather different to photos of my previous attempt. I was also a little disappointed that I ran out of dry shampoo, used to whiten and a dusty effect to the hair, which meant the hair looked bighter and less dull and dusty than the time before. 

When I compare the photos taken on this day to the ones from two weeks previous I also notice a couple of other details Im not happy with. I found that although id forgotten the dry shampoo, the hair overall wasnt too different in tone. However, the hair on the second attempt was much curlier than previously. I did notice this during the timed assessment and tried to remedy it but trying to straighten the curls out a little but found that in the end they sprang back up too much. 

I also find that the lips in my second continuity assessment are brighter and much healthier looking which takes away from the overall effect of the look. 

Overall, I think I made a good effort on this look and the continuity of it but the result is by no means perfect. I think overall my Miss Havisham concept of self neglect has good groundings and is suited well to its purpose (theatre play) sue to its realistic nature and dramatisation of features such as the hollowed cheeks and sore eyes. In future, when working for continuity I will pay further attention to small details and make sure that I am fully prepared to recreate a look to the the exact same standard. 

Initial Ideas for Estella

Who is Estella?
Estella is the adoptive daughter of Miss Havisham. We meet her at the beginning of the novel on Pip's first visit to Satis House. She is cold, mean child a few years senior to Pip. Pip Grows fond of Estella and remarks on her beauty many times. Although throughout the book, as the pair grow Estella often treats Pip with disinterest and reminds him frequently that she has no heart and is incapable of love. We discover that Estella has been raised by Miss Havisham as an act of revenge on men, by teaching her to stifle emotion and empathy to break the hearts of young men, most notably Pips. She Marries Bentley Drummle, Pip's enemy, purely for money. Her marriage to Drummle is an unhappy one and it is suggested that drummle is abusive towards Estella. The marriage eventually ends when Drummle is killed and in the last chapter of the book Estella has become somewhat of an independent woman and tells Pip “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching. . . . I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape.”

Which part of the book do I want to represent?
My depiction of Miss Havisham was centred around our first encounters with her in the novel and the descriptions Pip gives us. I would like to do the same with Estella and focus on representing her as the youthful girl raised and manipulated by Miss Havisham. 

In Pips first encounters with Estella, he is far less descriptive towards her than Miss Havisham which I actually consider to be quite a good thing as it allows me a little more freedom to play around with concepts and ideas of what she could have looked like. 

“…the young lady, who was very pretty and seemed very proud…”

From this we can gather that Estella is traditionally beautiful, therefore she would possess natural features that coincide with victorian norms of Beauty i.e a pale complexion, a youthful blush

The fact that Pip describes her as 'proud' suggests that her appearance has an air of perfection to it, she wouldn't be seen looking anything less than perfect.

“…being a girl and self possessed”

The use of the term 'Posessed' again reiterates this idea that estella is quite proud and aware of her beauty, making it all the more obvious to Pip. 

“..her fair young bosom…her pretty brown hair…”

Pip remarks on her bosom, which suggests to the audience that she has reached the stage of puberty and has a womanly figure. One of the only specific comments Dickens makes about Estella's appearance is the fact her hair is brown. 

My understanding of Estella's appearance is that she is a typical beauty of that period, therefore she would adopt traditional conventions of victorian beauty which from my research we know to be somewhat like a porcelain doll including large dark eyes, rose bud lips, subtle rouge and a pale complexioned face. 

I find the idea of having Estella looking like a doll to be very intriguing due to the fact that it coincides with her character traits very well - she's cold and hard towards Pip, she describes herself as having no heart and incapable of warmth, she very much resigned to a life of loneliness. 

It is this reason that I have decided to look at ways of representing young estella as a cold china doll, a toy of Miss Havisham's created to entrap the hearts of men and break them. 

Here's the quote I found during my initial research back in january that's spurred this concept. 

Further in to Fenja Gunn's 'The Artificial Face' the author states that the 'Victorian Image of Beauty' was reminiscent of the 'innocent face of a China doll' with a 'rosebud mouth, dimpled cheeks' and 'small neat features'.