Evaluation

For my last post on this project I wanted to write a brief evaluation. 

I have enjoyed this project quite a lot really, the thing I found most challenging was getting going with this project because I didn't know where to start but once I got going I began to notice and think about different things I could explore. I found it interesting looking at all the different reference points we could find (for example how Dickens created his characters) and developing my final looks. 

I am overall happy with my final looks/photos and they portray what I wanted them to, the only issue I had was that the lighting for the Estella shoot was a bit too bright and so made the black eye a bit less obvious and the colour work for the black eye (it mainly affected the yellows and greens I used) doesn't show very well, however because this would be filmed in HD for HDTV there wouldn't be this problem because it would be more detailed and so more realistic. 

So I guess that't it, another project over.. time for the next one!

Final images for Miss Havisham

Final Images for Estella

"Love her, love her, love her"

""Love her, love her, love her!  How does

she use you?""

""Love her, love her, love her!  If

she favours you, love her.  If she wounds you, love her.  If she

tears your heart to pieces ­ and as it gets older and stronger, it

will tear deeper ­ love her, love her, love her!""

""Hear me, Pip!  I adopted her to be loved.  I bred her and educated

her, to be loved.  I developed her into what she is, that she might

be loved.  Love her!""

(all from chapter 29, page 180)

In my first post on this blog I said that i had named my blog "Love her, love her, love her" because I had found it an interesting poignant repeated line in the book, bu I have come to realise over the course of this project that it completely fits with my concept of Miss Havisham living her life through Estella now she has been deprived of her own life. The quote now means more to me and has become even more poignant because I think Miss Havisham repeated it and desperately wanted Pip to love Estella so much not just so she could break his heart but so she could feel loved through Estella now that she couldn't feel loved herself.. It's all fallen into place!

Styling

I tried to style my looks to the best I could but keeping to quite a tight budget, luckily I realised I already had quite a few things I could use..

Estella

For the styling of Estella I picked a vintage black lace evening dress that I already had. I decided upon it because I wanted her to be wearing black because it was quite a somber and mysterious colour which suited her and it also had quite a Victorian neckline. I also chose to use some vintage purple dangly earrings because they fit with the rich colours of the Victorian era and I also thought they could have been a gift from Miss Havisham because Estella is her prize possession. I didn't want to use a necklace or hair accessories too because I see her character as being neat and tidy and elegant so it wouldn't have fitted for her to have lots of accessories.

Miss Havisham

To style Miss Havisham I found a high neck lace top (to look like a wedding dress in the photo), I thought this worked because I feel that lace is generally associated with younger people because you can see through it so by having it on an older woman I could show that she was young when she first got into it but she hasn't taken it off. I also chose for her to wear a thin shawl and a veil with a trim, this is to complete the wedding look, I also dirtied the veil and made sure nothing was too white so that it looked realistically old and worn. I also thought that the vale could show how she is hiding behind the image of her marriage and how she is desperately trying to hang on to the memories. I will use a prop for this look which will be a dead bouquet of flowers, they are very authentic because they are my bridesmaids flowers from my sisters wedding about 6 years ago! The flowers will not only be part of her hanging on to the memories but they will also represent how she is deteriorating, is fragile, is just holding her structure but also was once very beautiful.

Products lists

Here are the lists of products I will use for the two looks:

Estella’s look :

Face –

Illamasqua satin primer

Illamasqua and Screenface foundations

Illamasqua blusher in ‘Disobey’ & ‘Rude’

Illamasqua loose powder

Eyes –

Screenface concealer palette

Kryolan Supracolour

Maybelline Colossal Volum’ mascara

Screenface eyeshadow palette

Lips –

Screenface lip palette

Miss Havisham’s look :

Face –

Illamasqua matte primer

Illamasqua and Screenface foundations

Illamasqua blusher in ‘Disobey’

Illamasqua loose powder

Eyes –

Screenface concealer palette

Kryolan Supracolour

Screenface eyeshadow palette

Lips –

Screenface lip palette

Liquid Latex

I didn't realise until i had compiled this list but I'm going to use a lot of the same products for both looks. This might seem odd as the looks are so different, but the difference is that I use the products for different reasons and I use the same palettes to start from and then blend my own colours depending on what I need for that look.

Context for my characters

Just a brief overview of how i would see my looks coming alive if they were going to be used for a production.

Who?

I would have Emma Watson or Olivia Wilde playing my Estella because they are both young, have dark hair and have the right face and slightly something behind the eyes look which my look requires.

Playing Miss Havisham I would have either Dame Judy Dench or Dame Helen Mirren (if she hadn't dyed her hair pink recently!) because they are both about the right age, have grey hair and are good at expressive acting.

Where?

My looks would be used for an HDTV production of 'Great Expectations', maybe one that shows Estella and Miss Havisham in a more in-depth/personal way. Because of the famous Actors and Actresses and budget restrictions it would only be a 4 part series, but detailed none the less.

Audience?

My audience would be families because it is interesting/suitable for all ages, people who know and love the story well might appreciate it more though because of its slightly different in-depth/personal take. The famous faces will also help attract lots of different people from all ages to watch.

On-Set?

The make up would be able to be done pretty much anywhere on set however extension leads or plug will be needed for the curlers etc. A lot of attention will have to be payed to continuity of the looks and modifying them to fit the story as it progresses. The budget for hair, make up and styling would have to be pretty decent because quite a lot of make up is used although the make up for the looks is pretty similar.

BBC adaptation

I looked at a few adaptations of Great Expectations but found the BBC version the most inspirational, I really like the way they are portrayed and think its very effective. I also like that the looks aren't too over the top and in your face.

(p.s. finally realised how you can put youtube videos on here, it's taken long enough!) 

Model Choices

I really wanted to try and get the model right for this shoot because I feet it is particularly important for a character based make up that they fit the ages and looks I require, also they needed to have expressive eyes and know how to portray what I want with them!

        For my Estella I chose Sophie Wallace, she has the long brown hair, expressive big eyes, beautiful, pale look I need.

       For my Miss Havisham I chose Ewa Budny (ex-actress and my grandma) because she has the grey but not white hair, expressive eyes, still have an element of beauty to her (to show glimmers of how Miss Havisham used to be), looks the right age for my Miss Havisham and also knows how to give the look I want because of her acting.

Face chart for Miss Havisham

       Askew curls/rolls - This is the style she would have had on her wedding day and since then she had religiously repeated this style so much that it has just become force of habit and she does it automatically, causing it to be messy, uneven and disheveled. Also as she has become more frail she struggles to do her hair like she used to.
       Bun and curls at the back - Similar style to Estella as explained in the last post, the main difference is that Miss Havishams hair is a lot more messy and fluffy/unkept.
       Messy brows - Again because they have grown scuffy because she doesn't take care of them.
       Tired dark circles - She barely sleeps because of her constant emotional torment and stress she puts herself through.
       Wrinkles - I think her age is about 60 - 70 years old but she looks older because all the stress and lack of care over the years have caused her to age prematurely as well as natural ageing. Also the crying she would have done after being abandoned at the alter would have taken its toll on her skin even if she doesn't cry/show emotion now.
       Natural coloured, dry, chapped lips - The cold of the house and her lack of care for them has caused her lips to become dry and chapped.
       Very pale face - She hasn't seen daylight for years so her skin would be very pale but also quite clear because environmental factors have not had the chance to damage her face for the majority of her life.

Face chart for Estella

So this is my face chart for Estella, I tried really hard to try and dip my toes out of my comfort zone for this project and not use a face chart template, I'm still not sure about my feeling towards painting and drawing again but it serves its purpose for now!

         Centre Parting, bun and curls - I chose these because they were a classic victorian style, but mainly because i wanted Estella and Miss Havisham to have very similar hairstyles to show Miss Havishams influence on Estella and how she has taught her how to do her own hair like she would do hers.

         Plaits - I found that plaits tended to be worn by younger Victorian women so I felt that draped plaits would be good for Estella as a decorative element to the hair

         Strong brows - Because she has quite a stern look about her and a dark, strong brow helps to give that look.

         Tired but mysterious eyes - She would be tired because like her mother she has trouble sleeping because of all the stress she causes herself and because they are both always thinking. Her eyes should be mysterious because we don't see the true Estella we see her under Miss Havishams influence, i real her is trapped inside.

         Natural lips - I chose a natural lip colour because the Victorians didn't wear a lot of make-up (pretty much none) because it was seen to be something that prostitutes wore so they wouldn't want to be associated, however her lips have to have a slight colour because she is young so would have a bit more colour to her face naturally.

         Slight contouring - Just to add shape to the face but not enough that it is visibly make up.

         Black eye - To show the domestic abuse she suffered from Drummle, I want it to look like an old bruise because I don't think Miss Havisham would have let her be seen/would have brought her up to not let anyone see her like that.

Storyboard for Miss Havisham

Storyboard for Estella

Ageing

We learnt in our studio lesson about ageing techniques, we used mainly liquid latex and old age stipple but also tried incorporating some of the things we had learnt from Kate Benton. I decided I wanted to use the latex on the lips because I thought Miss Havisham would have dry peeling lips because she didn't care about them and the cold of the house would have taken their toll on them too. 

I tried layering the liquid latex on the lips and then teasing/pulling it a bit with my finger and a cotton bud, I then added slight colour to some areas to show the contrast between the lip and the peeling skin, lastly I dabbed on some loose powder to add to the dryness. Even though I plan on having an older model it was still interesting to learn how to age because it will still be very useful for my look, just in moderation.

Trial: Victorian hair

We tried out a few techniques for Victorian Hair so that we could design out Estella and Miss Havisham looks with some ideas in mind. The techniques we used were mid-buns, curls and rolls. unfortunately there weren't enough small curlers so I had to use big ones and on my models long hair they didn't work as well as small curlers would have done but I got the idea.
        It was interesting to see how different techniques suited different people and different hair types and also how much attention we had to pay to sectioning the hair off neatly. I found this a very helpful lesson because it got the ball rolling for hair designs for my look now I know how to do some key Victorian hair techniques.

Charles Dickens

Thought I'd have a look at the person behind the book and its characters, its author Charles Dickens. Here are some of the most interesting things I found:

• He was an English writer and social critic who is regarded as the greatest novelists of the Victorian era.
• Found fame in 1836 with 'The Pickwick Papers'.
• Developed and published characters slowly so that he could get feedback from the readers about them as the story went on, giving his opportunity to alter the characters accordingly.
• His most influential work was 'A Christmas Carol'.
• He worked hard at developing interesting names for his characters, for example Mr Murdstone in 'David Copperfield' he made from 'murder' and 'stony' coldness.
• Worked closely with illustrators so his visions were portrayed just right.
• Quite a few of the names he gave to his characters have been taken into everyday life to describe people representing similar character traits to them, for example calling someone a Scrooge after Ebenezer Scrooge.
• He became known for his very memorable characters - they became so memorable because many were inspired by real people in his life so he was able to describe/portray them to the detail.
• Virginia Woolf in 1986 described his characters as 'Characters who exist not in the detail, not accurately or exactly, but abundantly in a cluster of wild yet extraordinary revealing remarks.'.

I found the last point/quote particularly interesting, I had known that Dickens' characters and story's have been used a lot but I hadn't ever quite understood how people could get such different interpretations to them.. Virginia Woolf's quote now makes me realise! The characters are so open to interpretation because they are not described (looks wise) much but are portrayed by character traits and what they say instead, this allows the reader to conjurer up their own image of the character without affecting the story that much.