Conclusion (Miss H and Estella)

To conclude the Gothic Horror project for Miss Haversham and Estella I would say I’ve definitely enjoyed learning new skills and getting more creative. I loved the aspect of working with prosthetics within this project; it’s a skill I have not undertaken before and found this really interesting and brought out my more creative side. From the start of the unit I felt well prepared with research as I had read ‘Great Expectations’ and further watched the BBC series too, this made me feel more confident with the story line with being able to prepare and create my characters Estella and Miss Haversham. In our practical lessons we used techniques such as scaring, cuts, bruises, abrasions, theatrical aging, blocked out teeth etc so I fully got a more in depth feel for prosthetics. In our hair sessions we were able to collect different styles from Victorian times, these included early, mid and late Victorian styles. We then were able to create our own interpretation of Estella and Miss Haversham through hair and makeup and even styling. I chose for Miss Haversham to be a more theatrical character which could also be used on a TV setting. I used theatrical ageing quite heavily when it came to wrinkles on the face. As for hair I tried to make it pretty tame with a dandruff appearance on the roots of the hair using dry shampoo. I designed the hair to be a late Georgian style/early Victorian as this is when Miss Haversham would’ve been getting married before getting jilted at the alter. I incorporated a hair piece into the hair using techniques such as braiding, backcombing, curling and pin curling. I was pleased with the hair and really pleased with the facial makeup I’d created first time around. I then 2 weeks later did the exact same look on the same model for a continuity shoot. I was pleased with the outcome but felt the ageing wasn’t completely exact to the first shoot. The hair I was also pleased with how it turned out quite similar to the first shoot. It really made me aware of how continuity is so important and why you should follow the same steps each time you do makeup for e.g. film/TV. I then felt my Estella outcome was a positive outcome too. I really liked the hair aspect of this design. I got to be really free with the hair and I loved the outcome which was really romantic and curly just like late Victorian styles were. The makeup was a little more simple and very plain as I didn’t want to over do this as Estella in my mind is a natural fresh beauty. Overall I really enjoyed this part of the project and felt I have been able to explore my creativity within this unit. I hope to continue to practice special effects. I’m looking forward to the next part of the project too (Claudia and Quentin) so I can really push my boundaries with my work.