http://www.pinterest.com/libbycreighton/
My pinterest includes my image boards that I created for my chosen words; Romantic, cold and eccentric inspired hairstyles. It also includes other boards that have images that I am collecting to help inspire my final Miss Havisham look.
Monday, 27 January 2014
Information on the characters featured in Great Expectations...
Miss Havisham-
Her look can be described as 'over grown.' As she begins with short hair then grows out mirroring the progression of her becoming more and more unstable. She has a decaying appearance, her lack of natural sunlight leads to depression. Vitamin D is also essential for healthy bones we get it from natural sunlight so due to Miss Havisham constantly being indoors results in vitamin D deficiency causing softening and weakening of the bones and even bone deformities. In adults the lack of vitamin D normally leads to Osteomalacia, which causes bone pain and tenderness. We see Miss Havisham slowly become weaker and weaker for example when Pip is asked to leave London to visit her, he pushes her around the table on a chair illustrating how she isn't able to hold her own body weight anymore due to weakness of her bones. She also has a very white complexion due to no exposure to sunlight. She's wealthy, eccentric old woman. I think we as an audience are made to be quite scared of her character. They've have been very specific with her portrayal, her character is very unpredictable as most people walk on egg shells around her due to her psychotic persona however if you take away the harsh exterior she is really quite insecure and weak as her response to being left at the alter was the predicted and planned reaction of her betrayers.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Acrylic, synthetic hair used for effect in the film. Large layers of thick, twisted hair an almost dread lock style to create the decaying effect. Dark and light shades of grey and black mainly seen to connote the neglect of her self preservation. Wig also used to create layering effect, hot sticks maybe used. Twisting and backcombing used to create dread lock effect.
Pip-
A passionate, romantic character. Unrealistic at heart, see only the good in most things, naïve. He's also powerful as he is very confident and brave when it comes to expressing his emotion and feelings towards Estella.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Curled/waved styled then purposely messed/roughened using dry shampoo/wax to create a dirtier, rougher styled look. His character is portrayed as a poor young boy who is seen outside a lot of the time therefore is hair is seen to be a dark blonde due to the sun highlighting it. We see his hair slowly change/grow as he becomes older and more mature. His hair is much darker in his older years, the hair is styled using water spray or hair polish for a shiny, natural looking style.
Estella-
Beautiful young ward. She is brought up by Miss Havisham to be cold, cruel and have no heart. She purposely raises Estella this way so that she can seek revenge on the male sex. At first in the 2011 film version we are introduced to a cold hearted, big headed, harsh Estella however her character is styled to look quite innocent with her red hair seen in tight curls representing a more youthful, free spirited character the opposite to what we see when she is introduced to Pip. This misleading portrayal really makes the audience question and analyse Estella's character in more depth as we see her develop through the film.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Her hair is perfectly styled in tight barrel curls connoting wealth and beauty the opposite to Miss Havisham's portrayal. However as Pip visits more often we see Estella's character become a little more sensitive and softer. When she is teaching Pip to dance like a gentleman we still see her as the more dominant and knowledgeable one but her hair is styled in pig tails, a much more innocent and young look showing that she has let go a bit of that harsh exterior that she is always taught to withhold.
Her look can be described as 'over grown.' As she begins with short hair then grows out mirroring the progression of her becoming more and more unstable. She has a decaying appearance, her lack of natural sunlight leads to depression. Vitamin D is also essential for healthy bones we get it from natural sunlight so due to Miss Havisham constantly being indoors results in vitamin D deficiency causing softening and weakening of the bones and even bone deformities. In adults the lack of vitamin D normally leads to Osteomalacia, which causes bone pain and tenderness. We see Miss Havisham slowly become weaker and weaker for example when Pip is asked to leave London to visit her, he pushes her around the table on a chair illustrating how she isn't able to hold her own body weight anymore due to weakness of her bones. She also has a very white complexion due to no exposure to sunlight. She's wealthy, eccentric old woman. I think we as an audience are made to be quite scared of her character. They've have been very specific with her portrayal, her character is very unpredictable as most people walk on egg shells around her due to her psychotic persona however if you take away the harsh exterior she is really quite insecure and weak as her response to being left at the alter was the predicted and planned reaction of her betrayers.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Acrylic, synthetic hair used for effect in the film. Large layers of thick, twisted hair an almost dread lock style to create the decaying effect. Dark and light shades of grey and black mainly seen to connote the neglect of her self preservation. Wig also used to create layering effect, hot sticks maybe used. Twisting and backcombing used to create dread lock effect.
Pip-
A passionate, romantic character. Unrealistic at heart, see only the good in most things, naïve. He's also powerful as he is very confident and brave when it comes to expressing his emotion and feelings towards Estella.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Curled/waved styled then purposely messed/roughened using dry shampoo/wax to create a dirtier, rougher styled look. His character is portrayed as a poor young boy who is seen outside a lot of the time therefore is hair is seen to be a dark blonde due to the sun highlighting it. We see his hair slowly change/grow as he becomes older and more mature. His hair is much darker in his older years, the hair is styled using water spray or hair polish for a shiny, natural looking style.
Estella-
Beautiful young ward. She is brought up by Miss Havisham to be cold, cruel and have no heart. She purposely raises Estella this way so that she can seek revenge on the male sex. At first in the 2011 film version we are introduced to a cold hearted, big headed, harsh Estella however her character is styled to look quite innocent with her red hair seen in tight curls representing a more youthful, free spirited character the opposite to what we see when she is introduced to Pip. This misleading portrayal really makes the audience question and analyse Estella's character in more depth as we see her develop through the film.
Appearance in 2011 film version of the novel...
Her hair is perfectly styled in tight barrel curls connoting wealth and beauty the opposite to Miss Havisham's portrayal. However as Pip visits more often we see Estella's character become a little more sensitive and softer. When she is teaching Pip to dance like a gentleman we still see her as the more dominant and knowledgeable one but her hair is styled in pig tails, a much more innocent and young look showing that she has let go a bit of that harsh exterior that she is always taught to withhold.
Tuesday, 21 January 2014
Gothic visual references...
What does the term Gothic mean?
Think dark, subdued, moody, misty/foggy, remote/isolated, often based on ancient buildings or religious settings perhaps - graveyards, mausoleums, tombs, churches, castles etc. The architectural style of high stone (not brick) buildings and complicated architectural styles are often, but not always, the setting for such stories, - though the stories themselves have to be 'macabre or mysterious events - unexplained events, murders, ghosts, demons, devils, body parts etc.
The term Gothic definitely denotes the words listed above. The major theme related to the word/genre are dark and negative things. The more I research into the meaning of the word I see more and more relation to Dickens story and his character Miss Havisham in particular. We are introduced to the film (2012 version) seeing dull and dingy settings including swamps/marshes and one of the prisoners slowly rising from the water as if he was the antagonist of the film. A lot of film adaptation in particular includes a lot of elements from the horror genre. This had to be portrayed as the novel itself is set in 1861 a very difficult period to live in. The major themes of the novel also included ambition and self-improvement, social class, crime, guilt and innocence. Quite serious and harsh themes as Dickens explores the class systems of Victorian of England.
Victorian Gothic related images...
Alexander McQueen for Givenchy. "Elect/Dissect", Haute Couture Fall/Winter 97/98
scanned from the book "Gothic - Dark Glamour"
scanned from the book "Gothic - Dark Glamour"
Ellen von Unwerth, From Revenge, 2002. 16"x20", Gelatin Silver Print, Edition of 15
Plate LXXXVIII. A Combination of Half-Timbered Upper with Lower Walls of Stone.
Plate LXXXV. Hall in English Castle of Gothic Architecture and Early Victorian Furnishing.
Gothic Revival was a big influential style of the 19th century. The designs were mainly based on patterns used in the middle ages, A range of civic and domestic buildings were built and furnished in the Gothic Revival style that blossomed from 1830 to 1900.
Monday, 20 January 2014
Introduction to my new found knowledge of Great Expectations the novel...
This Semester I will be studying the novel Great Expectation's by Charles Dickens. There are many different adaptations of the tale that include very different interpretations of each character. This is a really interesting element of the famous novel as each person has a different portrayal of each character described by Dickens. I will be concentrating on the Make-up and hair mainly but also researching other elements such as the central themes and other aspects.
The novel for me didn't seem that interesting or exciting when I heard that people were finding the book quite hard to get into due to its slow pace however when I started to watch the 2012 release I was surprised at how captivated I was by the film. The narrative and individual characters was made much more clear to me and if anything I feel like I underestimated how interesting a dated film can be.
I preferred the most recent 2012 version of the film rather than the BBC mini-series that aired in 2011. Both were great adaptations of the films but the noticeable difference for me was the opposing interpretations of Miss Havisham. Her character in the film played by Helena Bonham Carter is a much more delirious, unbalanced character. Her actions and emotions are very unpredictable due to her crazed personality. But that's what I loved about her. Her overall costume and makeup was perfectly matched to her demented persona. Every detail right down to her socks were portrayed as aged representing how her she aims to keep everything the exact same from that very day she was left at the alter. Her whole appearance is seen as decayed and tattered mirroring the imitation of her house which has also not been touched, cared or loved for since her wedding day.
On the other hand Gillian Anderson's performance wasn't bad but for me wasn't in any way comparable to Helena Bonham Carters enactment . Anderson's portrayal of the character included all of her well known characteristics like her mood swings, odd behaviour and obvious lack of pride or effort in her personal appearance. However I felt like her costume and makeup particularly lacked her well known quirky, deranged style. Each of Anderson's garments were typically white and ghostly, reinventions of her weddings dress but they weren't effective in my eyes. They didn't look aged or decayed she just looked pretty and youthful if anything with a large amount of visible make-up on like my tutor mentioned. We agreed that her face was made to look to pale, she obviously needed a small amount of white based makeup to add to her ghostly, dead motif however her eyes were noticeably her natural skin colour and her hair was also to perfectly styled in my opinion. Carter's hair resembled a large, uncombed beehive/bush representing her lack of interest or care in her own appearance, in my opinion a more correct portrayal of Miss Havisham.
I was also intrigued by other characters in the film such as Estella and Pip, but Miss Havisham was defiantly one of my favourite characters to watch on-screen. I'm really looking forward to researching the film and characters so I can hopefully get a better understanding of the film itself and how and why its portrayed in this particular style.
Anderson's version.
Unknown, (2011), Unknown [ONLINE]. Available at:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gillian+anderson+miss+havisham&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSYxphCxCo1NgEGgQIBAg9DAsQsIynCBo4CjYIARIQ4gPLA84DSM8DM9ADMsoDNBog9sh5dwiWd1d1hdrKW_1g3Erh4pqpCVM2gtzyfRNiliHsMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgRMxTkNDA&sa=X&ei=pojdUoXGPMWzhAebk4Ew&ved=0CCkQwg4oAA&biw=1438&bih=684#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=vnNKRFxjLRqETM%253A%3B6W9jT0tzfDy8bM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wvg.com%252Fimg%252Fdvd_b%252F4006448361044_B4.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wvg.com%252Fceemes2%252F%252Farticle%252Fshow%252F148170%3B2858%3B4287
[Accessed 20 January 14].
Carter's version.
Johan Persson, (2011), Great Expectations, 2011, film shoot, UK, Credit:
Johan Persson [ONLINE]. Available at:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=helena+bonham+carter+great+expectations&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSXRpbCxCo1NgEGgQIAgg9DAsQsIynCBoyCjAIARIK3ATvBIcF8ATJBBog9KtZdweSaWpXbzqyNIhOhZiYyrl2gKmLbCnKyqt9p_1MMCxCOrv4IGgoKCAgBEgSM9WTCDA&sa=X&ei=0ofdUuGiFoyshQfGk4HQAg&ved=0CCkQwg4oAA&biw=1438&bih=684#facrc=_&imgrc=_AD_nb9z6eBUDM%253A%3BGDEe4RcmXuROEM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbloghogwarts.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F12%252Fhelena-bonham-carter-grandes-esperanzas.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbloghogwarts.com%252F2011%252F12%252F21%252Fprimeras-fotografias-de-helena-bonham-carter-y-jessie-cave-en-grandes-esperanzas%252Fgreat-expectations-2011%252F%3B3744%3B5616
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