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.

FINAL GIRL

The concept of the "Final Girl" is often used in horror movies and stories, which consists of the last girl alive who is to confront the killer and spread the story of her experience.

This theory is apparent in my chosen gothic urban legend, as the survivor of the story, through luck, escapes death, but not the trauma as the killer continues to torment her through the message he leaves on the bedroom wall in her roommates blood.

I found a couple of blog posts explaining and referencing examples of the Final Girl

BLOG ONE

BLOG TWO

CHARACTERS

As I have to design two looks I decided to take inspiration from both the themes I identified but also the characters (victim, killer and survivor).

VICTIM

The first character I identified is the victim of the story; the girl that was murdered in the room and found the next day by the roommate. Due to the story being an urban legend, the exact cause of her death is uncertain, leaving more for me to explore. However I feel that this character is fairly flat as her fate is already decided, in that she will definitely die in the story. If I were to represent this character, i feel that it would become more focused on horror and special effects/gore than a fashion focused editorial style image.

SURVIVOR

The survivor or "final girl"is more of a main character in my eyes, as her story line involves fear, a close encounter and luck. She is the one that survives but will always be haunted and traumatised by the experience (the victim is no longer suffering). I think that the factors and themes I have identified with this character give a much more unnerving feel to the character to play upon for a fashion based image; its all about subtle hints at danger and an unseen presence. 

MURDERER

The most haunting and fear evoking character is obviously the murderer. The one that hides in the dark, an unseen predator, contorted and camouflaged in a place you associate with comfort and safety. Giving the audience the idea that nowhere is safe, you must always be on-guard and looking over your shoulder... but not for too long just in case you turn around to meet your wildest fears in front of your eyes. I invisage a slinky murderer, able to contort their body to fit the smallest of spaces and bend into positions to blend into the architecture and furniture of your bedroom without detection; almost like a horrific version of Catwoman.

HORROR AND FASHION FUSION

I created this mood board to get an understand of the cross over between horror and fashion, both on runways and studio shoots. I looked at multiple images, and I feel this mood board gives me a good spectrum of the amount of horror I could choose to include and how to represent it in a fashion based piece.

Along with runway collections I looked at nail art and styling as these are areas I want to include in this project, as I felt they had been overlooked in past projects.

After deciding on an urban legend, I looked at the main themes throughout the story.

The three most important themes that I came up with are:

LUCK, BLIND & CAMOUFLAGE

Luck, because this is the only reason the survivor of the legend was not killed

• could link to russian roulette and other games of chance

Blind, as there was an unseen presence in the room; this thought would continue to haunt the survivor

• could link to blindfolds or the cover of darkness, as well as the senses in general

Camouflage, as the killer was hidden in a private and intimate setting without detection

• this will become apparent in my chosen colour pallets and the composition of my images

Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn On the Light

THE URBAN LEGEND:


Two dormmates in college were in the same science class. The teacher had just reminded them about the midterm the next day when one dormmate — let's call her Juli — got asked to this big bash by the hottest guy in school. The other dormmate, Meg, had pretty much no interest in going and, being a diligent student, she took notes on what the midterm was about. After the entire period of flirting with her date, Juli was totally unprepared for her test, while Meg was completely prepared for a major study date with her books.


At the end of the day, Juli spent hours getting ready for the party while Meg started studying. Juli tried to get Meg to go, but she was insistent that she would study and pass the test. The girls were rather close and Juli didn't like leaving Meg alone to be bored while she was out having a blast. Juli finally gave up, using the excuse that she would cram in homeroom the next day.




Juli went to the party and had the time of her life with her date. She headed back to the dorm around 2 a.m. and decided not to wake Meg. She went to bed nervous about the midterm and decided she would wake up early to ask Meg for help.


She woke up and went to wake Meg. Meg was lying on her stomach, apparently sound asleep. Juli rolled Meg over to reveal Meg's terrified face. Juli, concerned, turned on the desk lamp. Meg's study stuff was still open and had blood all over it. Meg had been slaughtered. Juli, in horror, fell to the floor and looked up to see, written on the wall in Meg's blood: "Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights!"

I chose this urban legend to inspire my two make-up looks as I felt there was more I could do to explore the characters, rather than having a pre-conceived idea of how the make-up would look. This way I could explore themes within the story rather than giving a more literal representation of the legend.

Initial Reactions

After looking at the project brief for this Urban Gothic Horror unit, I am equally excited and terrified! I can sense a lot of sleepless nights ahead for a wuss like me, however I suppose that I must suffer for my art!

I am really looking forward to getting to grips with new and more theatrical make-up techniques, and A LOT more test shoots in my own time!

I have already been sifting through some make-up artists and music videos and am totally inspired (if not slightly creeped out), and am excited to try and create beautiful yet disturbing characters for a music video.

I am going to look through the ubran ledgends as well as films, music videos, short stories, make-up artists and fashion catwalks to get a grounding in how different looks evoke fear and dis-comfort for the viewer, whilst still being perceived as beautiful or glamourous.

Marilyn Manson

Miika Lommin

Make-up Artist I discovered on Facebook

Miikka Lommin

Black Swan - example of beauty & insanity

Another Artist I Have Discovered on Facebook

I think it will be interesting to explore different music genres as well as the different gothic urban legends in order to create my characters, and will create a spectrum from mildly demented (in the style of Rihanna) to extreme horror and gore.

Slipknott - Left Behind

Evanescence - Bring Me To Life

Lady GaGa - Bad Romance