COLOUR PALLETS & MOODBOARDS

MURDERER

SURVIVOR

TESTING TESTING TESTING

This was my test-shoot for my murderer make-up and hair, however I was very displeased with the quality of the hair, and I felt that the model was also the wrong choice for the look. 

It is important to get a model that will be comfortable and almost daring in front of the lens, to get the desired pose and effect you imagine when creating the look; unfortunately this model was uncomfortable and did not work well in the studio. I also feel that her face shape was not right for the role, as I wanted to give a more contorted, long shape to my character, however this model has a more round, plump face. I like the eye makeup, as I feel it looks smokey, and works well with the model's brows. I will re-shoot this with another model and a different hair style to see if this makes any improvements; if not I will have to go back to my face charts and design something more suitable.

MURDERER STYLING

I want the murderer to be very slinky, contorted and adaptable to its environment; thinking along the lines of a more lethal catwoman...

For this I want to style my model in disco pants and a high neck top, as if she has suited up to hide amongst the girls' bedroom.

Another reference I thought of was a character from CSI, "Sqweegel" who wore a latex body suit:

http://youtu.be/lHZjOgP8Las - a further youtube clip on the behind the scenes of the character

SURVIVOR STYLING

FABRICS

I went to a local haberdashery shop to look for possible fabrics that I could use to style my looks; wanting to re-use at least one fabric for both characters to link the pair (used in different ways of course). I came back with two large pieces of fabric and a line of black fabric roses.

I picked up the roses, as I thought I could trial them as a blindfold if the hair doesn't work, and also I liked the imagery and symbolism of using black flowers; reflecting the death of a young girl and innocence. If I use them other than a blindfold, I want to smudge some 'blood' onto some of the petals, again tying in the urban legend.

 The other materials are a variation on a sheer mesh, one more wiry, stiff and sparse than the other. The fabric on the left is a lot more sparse and could be used to create a good pattern by printing colour through and onto the face of my murderer (tying the characters together) as well as a more structured veil around the survivor.


The fabric on the right has a lot more elasticity to it, and could be nice stretched across the models face, giving a similar effect to the visuals from Illamasqua's new collection, "Paranormal".

Further examples of how I might use the fabrics & general inspiration

SURVIVOR

For the make-up, I wanted to keep the survivor very natural - following the theory of the Final Girl - with a fresh, dewey complexion, light blush and minimal eye make-up. I want the focus to be on her styling and hair.

 Carrying on the theme of not being able to see and darkness, I thought about using the hair (wet-look and slightly distressed) as a blindfold, and applyng a small smudge on the outfit or hair of blood to reference the story and bloody message very subtly.

I also thought about creating a sheer black veil to create the illusion of darkness, with the hair piled on top of the model's head in a full ponytail, coming round and across the face underneath the fabric.

MURDERER

These are my initial face charts that I had developed over a course of a few days as my vision of my character morphed from conducting research and thinking about creating a fashion based make-up. I wanted to ensure the theme of darkness and camouflage.

TESTING

I started using a black liner to create an exaggerated cat eye crossed with a mask (representing the dark) that flicked up toward the hair line to give a playful yet sinister impression. I felt that it was too harsh, so kept the top line very clean and hard, yet blended out the bottom edge into a more slate grey colour and smokey texture.







I then added a small amount of Illamasqua's liquid metal in superior along the inside of the shape, to give more dimension rather than a flat black mask.

I then experimented by trying to keep the intensity of the black in the centre of the shape, and blend out from both edges. I feel that if I kept applying and blending that I would get the desired effect.

On the other eye, I trialled keeping the concentration of black on the lid, and blending again outwards. I feel that this is more effective than the previous attempt, as it looks less messy (other than its intentional distressed/smokey appearance). I think I will merge the two eyes together for my final look, but block out the model's eyebrows. I like the contrast between the black and the blue of Tasha's eyes, so will try to keep this if I decide to use another model (I would prefer a model with darker hair for this character).

I quite like the effect of having two different shapes on the eyes, to add the idea of insanity of the character, however I don't feel that such a drastic difference will translate well into an editorial piece.

The idea of smoke came to me during trials, similar to the movie The Fog, carrying on the theme of not being able to see and something sinister coming out of the abyss.

MUSIC VIDEO

The title of this song is perfect for the theme of gothic horror and death coming closer to an individual. I like the dialogue at the beginning of the song, where a girl on a phone is asking if anyone is there; this could represent the victim discovering the presence in her room. The song is fairly 'screamo' for the first two minutes, which I feel may be a little too strong for a fashion based look, until I thought about the photography and techniques I could include to create a more edgy look. I also think that as the current music video only focuses on the band itself (and occasional broken crockery), it would make it fairly simple for me to create a video, or at least characters for a video, in a completely different style - one with more of a story line and narrative.

“Blood and ink stain the walls.Silently with bloodied knuckles, I carry onHoping it's not too wrong.You said the nights were far too long.”
The lyrics above also closely relate to my urban legend, especially the first line.