Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Practice. Show all posts
Other than Digital Image, this has been my favourite part of the project.

Hannibal is something that is really close to my heart so I was  really excited to do this. I put a lot of effort into this. I used research from the films, the books and the tv series to make my characters as true to the Hannibal legacy as possible.

I really enjoyed trying to make these characters and their stories fit into the series. I thought really hard about what make up I would be doing because I wanted to include SPFX but I wasn't very confident in my ability.

I thought I could have played it safe and done not much SPFX but I thought it wouldn't have been a challenge then. I'm really glad that I made the effort to do something more challenging.


If I could go back and change anything I would have blended the the stippled colouring more. In the photos it looks good, I just feel as though I did my designs justice.

I like the techniques that I used. Some were ones that I had struggled with so it felt like such an achievement to execute it well. I love my mood board, these are also something I struggle with. This is the work I feel so proud of. I like all of these. Some of my favourite photos I've taken.

I'll be editing the photos and making them look like the posters that advertised the tv series.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this lesson. I mean, we don't really see 'horror' make up on the runway. As much as I'd love to see this I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.4

Kat talked us through what we were going to do this lesson and I felt pretty excited. We got to pick a photo to recreate. I really liked the one that looks all smudged lace. 


Products used:


  • Kryolan Foundation
  • Dermacolour concealer
  • Illamasqua Translucent Powder
  • Satin Skin Base
  • Kyrolan Supracolour in Red, Blue, White, Lilac, Black
  • Isopropyl alcohol 
  • Brushes
  1. Cleanse, tone and moisturise
  2. Apply skinbase
  3. Apply foundation and blend well
  4. Apply Concealer
  5. Using a latex sponge to apply the lilac shade, mix a little bit of red.
  6. Blend it out. I've applied it along the cheek bones and across the eyelids
  7. Stipple in some reds and soften the edges with your fingers
  8. Using  a brush, 'press' some white onto the cheek and around the eye. It'll look like petal shades
  9. Using a clean brush soaked in Isopropyl alcohol, gently press this onto the skin, when it drips down it'll cause the make up to bleed. This giving a really cool effect.





Tools/Equipment


  • Heat protection spray
  • Heated Rollers
  • Curling tongs. Size will depend on the desired outcome.
  • Roller pins or Clips
  • Pin tail comb
  • Hair Brush
  • Hair pins
  • Bobby pins
  • Hair elastics


Method:



  1. Brush all of the hair so it's free of knots.
  2. Spray Heat protection spray into it and brush through
  3. Using a pintail comb, make a centre parting
  4. Take the white rollers and put them in the front of the hair. It's important to not too much hair in the roller or you won't get the results you want. As a guide line it's important to take a section of hair that is the same width as the roller you are using. When putting hair in rollers use your pin tail to tuck in and of the rebellious ends. This gets easier with practice. It can feel really frustrating to start with.
  5. You need to put 4 white rollers in along the hair line. It's the shape you want to achieve. Secure this with the roller pins or the clips. I prefer the pins as the clips can sag a little bit.
  6. When you've let the rollers cool, take the hair out and style as desired. You can use loose sections of the hair and put them into a ponytail or a bun and pin the lifted curls you've created with the rollers and pin it in a pretty design.
  7. Roll the hair back on itself and pin it in place. Almost like a 1950s hairstyle you see that pin up girls have
  8. With the front two sections, create loops and pin at the top of the roll you've created
  9. Lightly backcomb the crown and pin in place
  10. Hairspray to finish



I was excited to do this because it wasn't overly complicated and Cam is really photogenic. The make up wasn't overly taxing. It was just about getting it right.

Products Used:

  • Kryolan Foundation
  • Dermacolour concealer
  • Illamasqua Powder
  • Collodion
  • Flesh Scratch
  • Blood
  • Supra colour
  • Contour Shade
I applied a base and concealed and patches that were slightly red from where he'd shaved the night before. He has really good skin so there weren't any blemishes to worry about.

I powdered and contoured and made sure it was even. I wiped away a little foundation from around the eyes to make him look tired/like he'd lost a lot of blood.

I bring the foundation down on his neck.

I apply about 4 layers of Collodion on his neck. All directly ontop of each other, after the last coat I gently pinched the skin back on itself to give a 'valley' to fill with blood and colour.

I apply some red greasepaint into the crease and blend it out.

I add some flesh scratch and gently 'pull' it out of the wound to give it some meaty texture.

I stipple this around the wound to make it look sore.

I add blood to the chin and finally his fingers.
It had been a hectic day and I was really nervous about doing the make up for this as I wasn't sure if it was going to work

Products used:



  • 2 plastic 'horns'
  • Synwax
  • Spirit Gum
  • Supracolor palette
  • Liquid Latex
  • Blood
  • Flesh Scratch
  • Kryolan Foundation Palette
  • Illamasqua Translucent Powder
  • Matte Blackberry lipstick
  • Black Mascara
  • Brown Contouring Shade
  • Matte neutral eyeshadow
  • Light silver shimmer
  • Brown brow eyeshadow for brows.

I applied a base, contoured and set it with the Illamasqua powder. I feel as though I can do this in my sleep now. I'd packed my kit night before and double checked in the morning to make sure I hadn't left anything out.

The most time consuming part of this was attaching the horns. I applied them using spirit gum and I held them in place to make sure they'd stay stuck on.

Using wax that I'd warmed up using my hands, I applied a lot around the base of the horns. This would double up as the skin it was breaking through. I used wooden spatulas to apply and remove the parts I wouldn't be using.

When I was happy I applied a layer of liquid latex over the wax just to make sure it wouldn't move. I diluted the foundation with Isopropyl alcohol to make it easier to cover up the wax.

I 'pushed' flesh scratch in between the horns and the wax to give it a more realistic finish. I mix some blood with the alcohol and stipple it on and around the area of the wax to show the trauma that has been caused by the horns. I mix up a brown and paint the horns

I applied the mascara, eyeshadows and filled in her brows. I took extra care applying the lipstick.

Finally I apply a smudge of blood coming out of her mouth as if she'd tasted Quentin's blood.

I was really happy with the photos I'd taken. I got some feedback with the hair. So I curled her hair and sprayed some sea salt spray into them and made it look messy.

I have to admit, I'm extremely happy with how this went. The photos look good too.

 
THIS IS THE MOST PERFECT DESIGN!

Well, I think so.

I'll be doing the cut on the neck that Abigail gets from her father. Instead it will be Claudia who does it. It won't be as deep, it's more 'proving a point' wounding and he's a young hunter who Hannibal feels he has taught well enough.


I'll be doing a collodion based cut. A wound with a hunting knife would be thin and there would be no ridges or tears.

I intend to do a fair few layers of this to get depth.

I'll use some dark reds to make the wound look deep and then i'll fill some parts with flesh scratch. I'll then add a small about of Kensington Gore and stipple it on to make the skin look sore and put some in the wound.

I'll put some of the blood in his mouth and on his chin as though he's been choking up blood because his mouth would fill with blood with this kind of wound.

I like his hair looking a little bit messy it gives the impression of a struggle.

I'll add some blood to his fingers so it looks like he's tried to stop the bleeding.

Overall, I'm really happy with this design. I think it's going to be really fun to shoot. 



Quentin is supposed to be the victim in this. It's almost like a Stockholm Syndrome victim. It doesn't matter how horrible Claudia is to him, he's always there for her.

On this face chart I wanted it to look like he'd been beaten up by Claudia. I was aiming for black eyes and bruising to the face.

This really touched a nerve for personal reasons and I won't be doing this. The more I thought about it the more it didn't fit the series theme.

Hannibal always made quick and clean kills. (When he wasn't trying to prove a point) I stepped away from this idea quickly despite the fact doing bruises are my strong point.



This was quite the challenge. I didn't think it would be as difficult as it was, but trust me. It's the first time in about 8 years that I've done make up on a man. I asked Cameron to make sure he was clean shaven so I made these designs with the goal to do this with.

When thinking about what special effects make up I wanted to do I found it quite a challenge. Part of me wanted to do chunks of flesh missing from his cheeks which would be a homage to Hannibal Rising.

I think that I'll just draw up the idea and see how it looks on paper before I select my final idea.

I am intending on keeping the base as a normal application. I don't want to detract from the SPFX.


I'll be looking 'cut' out the cheeks in two fillet-like steaks. 




This is the design I will be using for my Claudia character. Combining elements from both of the previous face charts.

This time I've added a little bit of eye shadow, not too much but the colours you'd see on a china doll. I used a couple of matte shades and the smallest amount of shimmer.

I'm looking at concealer to cover any blemishes but not looking to use too much because the foundation is pretty high coverage.

I won't be using blusher, I don't want it to look too human-like . I like the look of powdered skin instead.

I've decided to put wax around the edges of the horns to make them look like they are bursting through. I'll add some flesh scractch and use a 'watered down' foundation mix to cover the wax. I'll use a tiny fan brush to apply some fake blood into the wax wounds around the horn wounds.

I've stuck with the dark lipstick I just think it looks right.

I added a tiny bit of blood the the middle of her lips and let a little bit trickle out the side of her mouth. Overally I'm really happy that this is my final design. I can't wait to do it.


I tried to make this a little more intimidating.

Instead of giving her a white face I intend on using my model's natural skin tone. Thankfully Megan is naturally pale so it works. I felt the white base wouldn't work too well as she was only in the early stages of being a Wendigo.

I felt she would be washed out so I gave her a really dark lip colour. I like how this contrasts with the skin.

I've taken away some of the nose marking that made her look like Doe-like. I thought the baby horns were enough.

There still seems to be something missing.


I was really excited to do these face charts. The first one consists of a snow white base. I am going to give Claudia doe horns. As to me, she is becoming the Wendigo.

The theme throughout Hannibal is light and dark. In the series, Will is the light side to Hannibal as Hannibal is the dark.

I thought the idea of the White Stag would be really good.

I also included Doe-like make up, I made her look like a white Bambi. I love this because she's psychotic but she still looks innocent. Doe's aren't seen as intimidating so it's almost like a contradiction.

I've managed to make some horns out of a Vera Wang perfume bottle lid. I thought it was quite innovative.

I really like this but I think it's too much and doesn't fit in with the show as well as it could.



Progressing from the Basic Victorian hairstyle we did in the previous week, we are advancing onto a Late Victorian Hairstyle. This involves more technical skills including the use of heated rollers. I really like how this looks and I kept it in for the rest of the day after Justine had completed it on me.

Tools/Equipment


  • Heat protection spray
  • Heated Rollers
  • Curling tongs. Size will depend on the desired outcome.
  • Roller pins or Clips
  • Pin tail comb
  • Hair Brush
  • Hair pins
  • Bobby pins
  • Hair elastics


Method:


  1. Brush all of the hair so it's free of knots.
  2. Spray Heat protection spray into it and brush through
  3. Using a pintail comb, make a centre parting
  4. Take the white rollers and put them in the front of the hair. It's important to not too much hair in the roller or you won't get the results you want. As a guide line it's important to take a section of hair that is the same width as the roller you are using. When putting hair in rollers use your pin tail to tuck in and of the rebellious ends. This gets easier with practice. It can feel really frustrating to start with.
  5. You need to put 4 white rollers in along the hair line. It's the shape you want to achieve. Secure this with the roller pins or the clips. I prefer the pins as the clips can sag a little bit.
  6. When you've let the rollers cool, take the hair out and style as desired. You can use loose sections of the hair and put them into a ponytail or a bun and pin the lifted curls you've created with the rollers and pin it in a pretty design.
  7. Look at a hair plate to see what you want to do with the excess hair. It's nice to use the curling tongs to curl the rest of the hair and pin in place.







Victorian Hair Inspiration:

What I love about Victorian hairstyles is that I don't just have to go by what was done in paintings. There were this ingenious things called Fashion Plates. These would have popular hairstyles on them for a women to follow and keep up the with trends. Of course these were made for women with money. It's evident in photos and adaptations that people who were working class would wear a simply hairstyle and sometimes a simple bonnet.

It's really clear that the Victorians fully endorsed using hair pieces. There was no shame to this. 

The typical early Victorian era hairstyle was parted down the middle and tied back, often with ringlets or braids at the sides. A woman’s hair was her “crowning glory” and cherished by poor and wealthy alike; only illness would usually force a haircut, but a tiny fraction would be trimmed or singed off monthly to encourage growth and keep the ends healthy. Washing hair was infrequent, due to the harshness of the soaps, so constant brushing cleaned the long tresses and distributed naturally occurring oil, along with the application of other oils and perfumes. Women also put puffs under their hair at the sides to give it more volume. This was to create an illusion that their waists were roughly the same size as their heads. Artists made a point of painting their subjects with these proportions. Women also had hair pieces crafted to be fastened to their heads. In the 1870s curled hair became very popular, because the curling iron was introduced (first patented in 1866) and more elaborate hair styles were expected. Previous to this curling papers or rags would be worn at night (by men too) achieving limited success. Women with straight hair who desired waves or curls could achieve excellent results with this new curling iron invention, but the heat was damaging to their tresses and sometimes burned their hair, so the reasonable alternative consisted of a hairpiece with curls and plaiting, creating the illusion of spending hours on their coiffures. This fad boomed from the late 1860s to about 1875.
An assortment of Victorian hair pieces made available for sale in catalogues. There were hundreds of styles, and also custom made choices. They were listed as coiffures (complete hairstyles pinned on top) and chignons (buns and rolls pinned at the nape).Throughout the 1800’s women bleached their hair with various mixtures, the main ingredients diluted barium, potassium hypochlorite, and lemon juice. Blonde hair was very popular, because it gave young ladies an angelic aura, going nicely with the high moral standards. Brunettes who tried bleaching sometimes ended up with startling shades of red, and dry brittle hair. Dying was achieved to limited degrees using organic compounds like henna, but in 1856 the first synthetic dyes were produced from coal tar. This led to cheaper, stable, enduring, and far more varied colours for fabrics, and long lasting black and brownish options for hair through the 1860s and on. Silver nitrate was utilized to darken hair, and excessive use created a purple shade. It was generally ladies who wanted to hide grey hair who tried the dyes that were available. Bleaching continued with stronger and stronger chemical concoctions. Most of the solutions used for either dying or bleaching were harmful to the scalp, and ingredients included; lead, magnesium, sulphur, iron, glycerine, oxalic acid, &c.Note: The word shampoo was used throughout the 1800s. It came from India, as a word for massage, from the Hindichampo to knead. It originally meant to wash and massage the body. By the late 1840s it can be found included as a sort of scalp treatment, with a vigorous washing and exfoliating. Scurf was a common word for dead skin and dandruff, which would be washed or combed out, oils shampooed onto the scalp and brushed through the hair. By the late 1860s, shampoo could mean to thoroughly wash with soap and water, and included the hair and scalp, with oils or grease worked in as well, and people would shampoo their teeth with charcoal tooth powder. Hair wash was the term used for what we would consider shampoo today, marketed from the late 1830s onward, to clean hair and remove dandruff. By the late 1800s, the word shampoo had evolved into a hair cleaner and washing process, not a body massage or tooth-brushing. 
  • (Fleming 2013)
  •  






    It's really interesting to see the variations of hair styles. They all have very similar characteristics it's clear to see they had trends. Curls were still popular like they were during the Elizabethan times, there was less frizz and more emphasis on smooth finishes.

    This will be something to bear in mind when doing hair up.
    The origin of our beloved monsters is very interesting. Some come from urban legends while others are created by the state of society. They are a reflection of human nature. We like to place these in different scenarios and stories to create hybrids. Good examples of this are films are like Twilight (Vampires vs Werewolves) and Underworld (Vampires vs Werewolves) It's almost like the novelty of having a film about one monster is a novelty and that we like to mix it up to create an interesting variety.

    Werewolves



    This is an interesting one, there are many original stories for where Werewolves came from.

    Lycanthropy comes from the Greek lykoi, “wolf” and anthropos, “man”Werewolves ShapeshiftingThe movie Van Helsing (2004) May have not had the best ratings,but it had some really epic werewolves!

    The legend of the werewolf is one of the most ancient and wide spread. Stories of werewolves can be found as far back as history has been written. These shapeshifter myths can be found all over the word from China to Iceland and Brazil to Haiti.This humanoid creature of myth and folklore had the incredible ability to shapeshift. They are said to shift into the form of a wolf or a human-wolf-hybrid. Some legends have them being able to shift at will and others after being cursed, scratched or bitten.Earliest Accounts of WerewolvesSome of the first accounts of werewolves come from Ancient Greek literature. Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, told of the Arcadian King, Lycaeon. King Lycaeon was visited by Zeus. Not believing him to be a true all-knowing god he decided to test Zeus by serving him human flesh in one of the many dishes served at a banquet in their honor. And not just any flesh — Lycaeon served up his own sons’ flesh. Yikes! His son Nyctimus was just one of 50, so I guess Lycaeon felt he had plenty more where that came from. 
    Unsurprisingly, this was not a very smart move… Murder and cannibalism was a major slight indeed. Upon discovering the tainted dish, Zeus changed King Lycaeon into a werewolf — since he obviously liked human flesh, the wolf form would be a more acceptable form to take part in such a vile activity. Zues then brought his son Nyctimus back to life. 
    Well Known WerewolvesThe most widely know story of the werewolf would be “Little Red Riding Hood”. The origins of the Little Red Riding Hood story can be traced to a time, likely preceding the 17th century,and various European countries. Making this tale relevant to the werewolf-trials of the time (similar to the witch trials). There are many ancient were legends to worn the fragile, small and easiest of targets — children. “Little Red Riding Hood” features a wolf who talks to Little Red Riding Hood and then dresses in grandmas clothing to fool the innocent little girl. Not something any regular ‘ol wolf could do. 
  • (Gryphon 2016)
  •  

    Vampires

    I really was more interested in the British view point on the Vampire Folklore. It varies around the world and there are soooo many ways it changed and how it's been adapted to that country. I found it easier to look up the British folklore:

    Vampire folklore within the British Isles is surprisingly scarce, this is mainly due to the fact that the contemporary image of a vampire (a charismatic bloodsucker with a black cape, a mesmerising stare, and a penchant for nubile young women; plus an aversion to holy water, garlic and crosses.) is relatively recent, being the result of Hollywood portrayals of vampires, and the gothic Hammer House Horror productions of the 1960's. The word vampire only came into the English language in 1732, its image developing in fictional works culminating in Bram Stoker's powerful novel Dracula. The main focus of vampire lore comes from Eastern Europe although variants of the vampire are found throughout the world. The real roots of the vampire are based on a mixture of early beliefs and folklore concerning death, the dead and disease. 

    Traditions and Folklore important to the Vampire MythIn many ancient societies there are dark traditions associated with the dead and with corpses, which have their reflection in vampire beliefs. The return of a phantom from beyond the grave is a common motif in most cultures, but folklore also tells of animated corpses returning in the small hours, and spreading disease to the living population. In many of these stories the dead person has committed some cardinal sin and is unrepentant on their deathbed. Some tales even mention that the corpse had fed on the blood of the local population, an echo passed right through to the modern vampire myth.The bodies of those driven to suicide, or those who had died on the gallows were thought to be vulnerable to such nocturnal meanderings, and were often buried at crossroads to confuse their restless souls. Some burials have even been discovered pinned to the ground with stakes. Other people at risk of returning from the dead were those accused of witchcraft, those under a curse, and those who had been attacked by suspected vampires. The short period before a corpses burial was also deemed dangerous, for it was believed that if a cat jumped over the corpse, or the full moon shone upon it through a window, then it would return from the grave.Protections against vampires were numerous, and have their echoes in other folklore. Iron was thought to repel them, just as it was thought to repel many supernatural creatures. Garlic was also thought to be useful deterrent, probably because it was thought to have medicinal properties (it was also used during plague outbreaks) and was also a repellent for other denizens of the otherworld. 
    The drinking of blood is an important part of vampire folklore, and is a substance that is subject to taboos and superstition through out the world. It was believed that blood held the life force of a creature. To drink it was to absorb that life force and sometimes the attributes of the unwilling donor. This has obvious parallels with a vampire drinking the blood of the living to gain continued life. 
    Some British FolktalesThere are a number of British folktales recorded by medieval chroniclers (recorded as factual at the time), which have a very vampiric flavour. William of Newburgh, a monk and chronicler who wrote in the twelfth century, describes an incident in the county of Buckinghamshire, where a recently deceased man returned from beyond the grave. He came in the form of a spectre appearing before his widow and other relatives; to combat this they stayed up during the night and made noises to frighten him away. This only made matters worse, as he began walk in the daylight hours. The Bishop of Lincoln became involved, and seeking advice on how to stop it was told that the body of the man would have to be burned. The bishop ordered the body to be exhumed, whereupon it was found to be as fresh as the day he had been buried. After the body had been cremated the haunting ceased. 
    A similar tale is told of Berwick, which has became known as the 'Vampire of Berwick' (obviously after 1732) although the vampire in this case bears no resemblance to the modern concept. The vampire was the ghost of a local wealthy man with a bad reputation who had died sinful, probably of the plague, which periodically flared in the towns and villages of Britain in the Middle Ages. He was buried in un-consecrated ground, and was soon spotted roaming the town as a pale phantom, accompanied by a pack of spectral hounds. The townsfolk became so alarmed at the disease-spreading spectre, that a small group of volunteers were directed to exhume the body, cut it into pieces and then burn it, which we can assume put the peoples minds at rest. At Melrose Abbey in Scotland another corpse of a nightwalker, who had been a priest with a penchant for hunting was burned to stop his nocturnal meanderings. 
    Other British folklore suggests belief in creatures that are very vampire like: In Highland tradition some of the remote glens were thought to be haunted by a particularly dangerous female spirit called the Boabhan Sith (A similar root to the Banshee of Ireland). One story tells how a group of young men were attacked while staying at a remote bothan, the similarity with this and the image of a more modern vampire being obvious.Another famous story is that of the Croglin Vampire, collected by Augustus Hare in the 19th century at a wedding party. There is a distinct possibility that the story was fabricated at the time to impress the guests, but recent research suggests that the story may be older. 
    An Austrian Tale 
    Some of the aforementioned British stories echo the more famous tale of Arnold Paole from Austria, which was recorded in an Austrian Army Officers account from the 1700's, and is one of the earliest stories about a supposed vampire. Arnold was attacked by a vampire while walking through a graveyard in the dead of night; he managed to track the vampire to its grave, cut its head off with a spade, and ate some of the grave dirt in an attempt to ward off the vampires curse, namely that he would become a vampire himself.When he returned to his village all was well for a few years until Arnold broke his neck in a fall from a hay cart. After his interment strange things began to happen, people spoke of seeing Arnold wandering the village in the dark hours, and some of the villagers were discovered dead in the mornings after these sightings, apparently drained of all blood. These incidents could only lead to the speculation that Arnold had succumbed to the vampires curse. The rumours came to the ears of the Austrian army, who were sent to investigate. Arnold body was exhumed and found to be un-decayed, fresh blood was found to be flowing from the mouth, eyes and nose, and fresh skin and nails had grown. They quickly set to the grim task of destroying what they believed to be an undead, and drove a stake through the heart of the corpse, which let out and audible groan and bled from the wound as though it were alive. 
    Disease and Natural Effects 
    In the past when little was known about the mechanisms of diseases, especially infectious diseases and those that strike without warning, it was easy to blame them on some supernatural entity, which could become the focus for everyone's grief. Also in stressful and dangerous times such as plague outbreaks, superstition and strange beliefs must have held a strong sway over fearful minds. 
    Many of the attributes looked for in a vampire grave: bloated well-fed bodies with long nails and blood red skin, are related to the natural effects of decomposition. Gases build up in the body causing it to become bloated, the blood breaks down to give a deep red appearance, and skin shrinks back to make nails, teeth and hair appear longer than in life. Driving a stake through a body would lead to the rupture of gases and gore as though the body were still alive, the noise perhaps being mistaken for a groan or death sigh, especially with the hysteria that would be produced during such a supposed epidemic. 
    The Vampire in Literature 
    The strongest tradition about vampires exists in central Europe, where the first printed accounts of vampires appeared from the 17th century onwards, indeed the vampires of Eastern Europe were thought to have run amok during the 18th century, which has a parallel with the witch mania of Western Europe. 
    The real emergence of the vampire into common knowledge came with its appearance in the pages of fiction. The 1819 novel Vampyre - by Doctor John Polidori - Lord Byron's physician - was the first vampire of British fiction, then came Varney the Vampire written by Thomas Pecket Prest in 1847, as a series of Penny Dreadfuls, and then Bram Stoker's Dracula in 1897. Dracula - originally entitled The Undead - was based on the bloodthirsty Vlad VI, known as 'Vlad the Impaler' for his gruesome penchant of impaling his enemies on sharpened spikes. Vlad ruled in Transylvania during the 15th century.Stoker brought together many seperate strands of folklore for his book, and is responsible for defining the image of the vampire, which remains to this day. A few places in Britain will now forever be associated with Dracula, especially Whitby with its gothic abbey ruins, the place where Dracula came ashore as a black hound. Stoker had probably heard about the black dog that was supposed to haunt the cliffs of Whitby and utilised the legend for his novel. 
    Today the popularity of the vampire in fictional portrayal is greater than ever before, there is a long list of recent films about their nocturnal exploits, and the cult series Buffy has done much to bring the myth into contemporary focus. In some ways these portrayals may add to the myth, although if Buffy is anything to go by modern vampires are best subdued with a stunning roundhouse kick to the head. Of course Buffy is all in fun but there is also a dark side, with some recent murders having been linked with people delving into dark vampiric tendencies and preoccupations.  (
  • Parkinson n.d.)
  •  

    Zombies:


    (Anon. n.d)


    You know what I find really interesting about zombies?  Unlike almost all of their monster contemporaries, they are the only ones who are believed to be entirely fictional.  And I'm talking about the undead, flesh-eating types, not the mind-controlled voodoo ones.  
    Nobody claims to have seen a zombie shuffling through the woods or has had investigators checking out zombie tracks from an alleged attack the night before.  There simply aren't sightings like there are for werewolvesvampires, or the Jersey Devil.  Zombies are entirely fictional creatures, at least for the moment.
     
    You know what I find really interesting about zombies?  Unlike almost all of their monster contemporaries, they are the only ones who are believed to be entirely fictional.  And I'm talking about the undead, flesh-eating types, not the mind-controlled voodoo ones.   
    Nobody claims to have seen a zombie shuffling through the woods or has had investigators checking out zombie tracks from an alleged attack the night before.  There simply aren't sightings like there are for werewolvesvampires, or the Jersey Devil.  Zombies are entirely fictional creatures, at least for the moment. 
    What are Zombies? 
    Though it is difficult to come up with a single definition of what makes a proper zombie, there are enough commonalities between the core mythologies to fashion a fairly simple description.
    First things first, zombies don't think for themselves.  Whether they are consumed by rage, a mind-controlling disease or magic spell, or are simply too dead to reason anymore, a proper zombie cannot think for itself.  This is what makes them so scary - there is no reasoning with them, no cure for their infection, they don't get tired, and they don't stop coming at you, no matter what.  Some (particularly more modern) writers have tried to change things up by creating zombies that reason, strategize, and even lead others.  In my opinion, this is where I have to draw the line.  It is no longer a zombie if it can think for itself or reason between any options on a higher level than instinct alone.  You now have a weird, crazy, possibly undead person - not a zombie.
    Secondly, a zombie's only real instinct is to feed off of living flesh. At this point we have to separate out the Haitian zombi (which I will from hereon only refer to as a 'zombi'), as these are essentially people whose minds are being controlled by a living person (magical though they may be).  A 'zombie', whether the living dead type or the disease-induced rage type, wants only to kill and to feed, and like a snobby food critic - only wants the freshest ingredients.  I'm not so concerned if one particular mythology describes their walking dead as simply wanting to take a bite out of you, literally eating as much of you as possible, or is picky enough to only want to eat brains.  It's all basically the same thing - feed on the living, the smarter the better.
     
    At this point it seems fair to be able to split the remaining zombies into two categories - the fast ones and the slow ones.  Again, different mythologies have different definitions, but in our quest to define a "singular truth", provided below is how I would define the two primary types. 
    Fast Zombies 
    You start with a human being.  That human being is infected with a virus that causes them to lose all control.  They become mindless, rage-filled death machines looking only to kill and feed.  They are not unlike a transformed werewolf in this way.  This 'fast zombie' is essentially like a diseased PCP addict on a rampage, except they seek out 'normal' people to devour for food.  The hunger is what drives them.  As with any virus, it looks to spread.  Essentially the virus overtakes the human's mind and begins controlling it, driving the infected to spread this virus through saliva and blood transmission.
    Unlike werewolves or vampires, the bite of a zombie is dangerous in that it contains a virus, rather than a bacteria.  The virus takes over the victim's mind, and it's primary concern is to spread.  This is why zombies do not attack one another.  There is no need to infect someone who is already infected.  The virus is smart.  It knows this already.
    So the zombie looks to bite, or to spit blood or saliva on a victim.  Both the blood and saliva of a zombie are teeming with the virus.  The animal part of the creature looks to feed, and so it often tries to eat its victim, which displeases the virus.  But what can it do?  A feeding zombie lives to infect again another day.  The virus is patient that way.  It understands.
     
    Slow Zombies 
    Slow zombies are essentially the "living dead" or "walking dead".  They are the re-animated bodies of dead people and their goal is primarily to feed on living flesh.  The idea here is that their bodies are dead and rotting away and the only way to keep them 'alive' is by consuming living flesh.  Think of it like how a living person can cut himself and have the wound heal over time.  Our bodies are constantly regenerating new cells to replace dead or damaged cells, so it makes sense that zombies would seek this regenerative flesh in order to at least partially restore dead cells in their own bodies.  The slow ones in particular seem to favor brains, possibly because the human brain has significantly stronger regenerative power for the undead than the rest of the body.
    How they are re-animated happens in two primary ways.  Like fast zombies, a human can become infected through the transmission of a virus via an exchange of bodily fluids.  Unlike their faster counterparts, the victim usually dies before the body becomes reborn as a zombie.  They are truly just dead people walking around and looking for living flesh to feed off of.  One could create an army of the walking dead using only a virus, but this type of zombie also seems to reconnect with the original Haitian "zombi", where the creatures can be controlled through some form of black magic.  The only real difference between this type of slow zombie and the Haitian "zombi" is that the slow zombie is indeed dead, while the Haitian zombi may still be a living person. 
  • (Anon., n.d.)
  •  



    I think that our obession with death is channelled into these characters. Especially with the new modern obsession with Zombies, I think it's partly because we want to know if we as individuals would be able to survive in an apocalypse type situation. I mean, I have my Zombie Apocalypse plan. Do you? 

    For Bertha Mason, I am going to try and include elements that would be apparent due to her ill health. I'm treading a dangerously thin line between theatrical make up and character. If I can do it well, it'll look realistic but if I don't, it'll look like it would have be designed for the stage.

    As someone who is well acquainted with bouts of insomnia, I know from personal experience what effects this has on the face and skin. I will be looking to use different shades of purple grease paints.

    I will be using a red on the water line and gently spreading underneath the eyes. This is mainly to help with the description that is given of her in the book where Jane mentions that she is ghostly pale and has red eyes. Obviously, she's not going to have red eyes but red underneath. Any red near the eyes makes them look sore and tired so this'll work.

    Skin tone: will be light from lack of Vitamin D, so Illamasqua white skin base will be in there most 
    definitely be in there. I'll mix this in with the base to make it maybe one shade lighter than needed for my model.

    My model: I've chosen to use Harriet as Bertha. The character is said to be of Creole descent, and I think Harriet's skin tone and long hair are perfect for this. I mean, with Bertha being locked away and not maintained as a lady of her station should be; it makes sense that she has long hair.

    I may think about drawing veins on under the eyes, but again I think that this might be really theatrical. This might get scrapped.

    Lips: I want to try the technique of latex on the lips. This gives a chapped and malnutrition feel to her. I think this will probably be quite difficult to recreate in my continuity assessment but I'm willing to accept the challenge this brings.

    Products I want to use:

    • Kryolan Foundation Palette
    • Dermacolour concealer palette
    • Illamasqua translucent powder
    • Ben Nye Bruise Wheel
    • Kryolan Supra Colour palette
    • Liquid Latex
    There are many different ways of creating scars. You can create them using moulds or you can make them using Tuplast or Collodion. How scars look is very dependant on how they were made. Cuts that aren't so deep won't leave very deep or coloured scars. Having a few on my hands from various it's interesting to see how they heal. I've got a raised one on my hand where I sliced my hand open as a teen and refused to get stitches. This scar, unlike my others healed raised whereas the others just seem to turn into shiny silver lines that fade in time. 

    Using a scar mould will give you gelatin pieces to work with. These are quite good fun but can become frustrating when you don't get the results you want. The pieces we had to work with were rather thick so I didn't think I got a very good application but it's taught me a lot for the next time I try this. We had to use products that require special removers and special ways of applying them. I found this all good fun because I've never worked with anything like it. I learnt how sticky ProsAide is. Pros-Aide is very different from anything I've used before because it is a contact glue. I've never used it before this lesson and I had never heard of a glue that you need to apply to the skin and to the scar to make them stick together. To me it didn't make sense but all became clear when we started the practical.


    Light Scars from Moulds:


    The ones we used in class were already made however when you use a mould you need to have Petrolese, which is a release spray. A bit like cake release spray you spray in cake tins, you would spray this onto the mould before you use it.


    Tools: 


    - Pros-aide. This is a glue that is specifically designed for prosthetics.
    - Pro-Clean: This is the remover that you need to use to remove Pros-aide, it's pointless trying to use anything as it won't come off. It has a very oily consistency, a lot like spirit gium remover.
    - Foundation palette
    - SupraColour
    - Witch Hazel
    - Powder
    - Makeup Brushes- Don't get Pros-aide on these or you'll ruin them
    - Baby buds
    - Scissors, you may need to trim your scar before application
    - Cotton pads to put Pro-Clean on to remove
    - Fake Blood, optional



    Method:

    1. Take some ProsAide on a baby bud and apply the piece and apply it to the skin where you are going to apply it.
    2. ProsAide is a milky white colour and when it goes clear it is then you need to stick the piece to the skin, you need to apply a fair amount of pressure to make sure they adhere. Just be careful of how much pressure you apply, think of you model. 
    3. Using my new found love, Witch Hazel this is like a magic eraser. You pop some on a baby bud and using downward strokes will dissolve the edges of your application and make and harsh edges disappear. I never knew that this stuff could do that.
    4. Apply a translucent powder. This acts like a highlighter that will show you were you need to go back in with the a witch hazel baby bud and dissolve some more edges.
    5. It's clean up time! Using another baby bud, clean away any of the glue that might have sneaked out from the pressure of the application. It's important to not go underneath your application as this will cause it to unstick and that's not what you need! 
    6. Now this is the bit that I suck at consecutively. It's time to add some colour to the wound, I always apply colour really heavily and it ruins the overall look. So take extra care to lightly apply colour. Blend the colour onto the skin that surrounds the wound, this helps make it look natural and not like a £1 stick on wound from poundland that you'd buy at Halloween.
    7. When you need to take it off, gently peel off the wound and with a cotton pad covered in ProClean wipe the area until there is no glue left.





    Collodion Scars:

    This was my favourite type of scarring to use. I felt as though this was a really simple but really effective. Even when writing this blog I found myself getting confused about what was Tuplast and what was collodion.  Collodion gives inward scars that dry clear and give a puckering to the skin. This product is highly sanitary so you can double dip into it without fear of cross contamination.


    Tools and Equipment:

    • Barrier Cream
    • Collodion
    • Foundation palette / concealer palette (optional)
    • Supracolour
    • Make-up brushes

    Method

    1. Apply barrier cream to the area and make sure that it has absorbed into the skin well.
    2. Using the brush that comes it, it's better to use a disposable one, as collodion will ruin brushes. Paint it onto the skin in the shape you want your scar.
    3.  Slight pinch the skin together as it is drying so it 'puckers'
    4. You can colour these once it's dry but it isn't necessary. I wanted to create self harm scars that were still fairly new scars. To do this I used the lilac and pink from the Supracolour palette and I mixed this in with a concealer similar to the skin tone. This gave me a rough idea of what scar tissue would look like on this model.
    5. Use a fine detail brush to paint this down the scar you've created. Again, this is an optional step.



    Tuplast:

    Tuplast is an interesting medium to work with. This creates outward scars. I think this would be good to create scars that are formed from Scarification in tribes. As these scars are outward and sometimes are created in forms of intricate patterns. You don't need to Make up on top of Tuplast as it dries semi translucent. 

    Tools

    • Tuplast
    • Barrier Cream
    • Powder
    • Powder brush/puff

    Method

    1.  Apply barrier cream to the skin and make sure that it's been absorbed into the skin well.
    2. Squeeze out the scar design you you want onto the skin. I wouldn't recommend a brush application as this is almost like a glue that dries with a putty like finish.
    3.  When it has dried, apply translucent powder on top using a powder brush or a powder puff.
    A comparison of the two types of scarring methods that have been described in this blog post.