Character 1: Claudia - My Final Design

Products Used (in order):

• Illamasqua's Matte Primer
• Kryolan Ultra Foundation
• Kryolan Concealer Palette
• Illamasqua Translucent Powder
• Kryolan Glamour Glow Palette
• Benefit Brow Zing
• Mac Cool Neautral Palette
• Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara
• Kryolan Creme Liner
• Kryolan Lip Palette
• Kryolan Transparent Blood (dark)

Consultation Notes:

Skin Type: Combination

Skin Sensitivities: None

Current Skin Care Regime: Moisturises daily

Allergies: None

Skin Disorders: None

Contact Lens Wearer: No

Design

Above is my design for my Claudia character. For my design, I wanted my character to look very feminine as she is influenced by TV shows, and currently the show 'Scream Queens' and therefore has a preppy style. I felt that using pink colours in my design would translate this chosen style well, which made me decide to incorporate the colour in both her styling and her make-up to compliment each other. After experimenting with different feminine eye make-up, I decided on a cat-eye as this makes her eyes look  more sinister yet empowered, to suggest her strong personality. I decided on a hairstyle that, again, is feminine, but I also wanted it to be a style that Claudia could realistically do on herself as she lives alone. I wanted my model's skin to look fair and not tanned due to her very rarely leaving the house, despite the hot climate of Miami. Lastly, I added the blood on her face to contrast against pretty and feminine aspects of my character after she commits a murder. I felt this would work well against her appearance and shows the audience that you can't judge a book by it's cover. I wanted the blood to look like it was splattered on her face, as it may be expected after frantic stabbing. I also wanted her hands covered in blood and a bloody hand print on her face to look like she accidentally touched her own face without realising the blood on her hands due to her zoned out state after realising what she has done. I also felt the bloody hand print allowed me to add more blood to the face as the splatters alone did not create enough impact on their own. I also felt the use of blood splatters would be a great edition due to Blood Splatter Analysis being a key theme to the show due to it being Dexter's profession.

Character 1: Claudia - Initial Designs + Feedback

Above is my initial design ideas and then my final idea that I had decided on for my class presentation.

Idea 1 - for my first idea, I went for a simple feminine hair and make-up as I felt it closely fitted with how the characters from Scream Queens might typically look. 

Idea 2 - After looking at it, I decided that I would like to do something with the hair that was a bit more visually interesting as well as a bit more preppy. I felt adding adding a very subtle smokey eye might make her more sinister in appearance. After looking at it, I realised that although it fitted with my intended type of visual outcome, it still looked too pretty and innocent and I was going to have to go with with something a bit more dramatic with the eyes if I want my character to have a sinister look.

Idea 3 - I decided that winged smokey eye makes a much better impact to the eye shape to help it look more mysterious and slightly less girly, to suggest something is up.

Feedback:

As my initial intended scene for my character would be an establishing one, my designs included no special effects which is something that is essential to the brief. My teacher advised my that I find a way to include some special effects, therefore I decided to change my character's scene to a post-murder one, which meant I would have more of a open approach.

Character 1: Claudia. Mood board.

In this mood board, I have red, white and pink throughout. Firstly, red because I am designing my character after she has brutally murdered her boyfriend. Therefore, she will be covered in blood on her face, as will her hands. Secondly, I have chosen white as a suggestion of purity. Before the murder, the character is sympathised with. Although she is sometimes controlling in behaviour, the audience is made to understand that she is anxious of the world and a lost soul. She is innocent as a whole, but we later find she had a very dark side to her that initially only. suggested. Only later do we see it's full potential. I have also chosen pink as this ties in with the white. Pink is typically a cute colour and one I plan to have her wearing when she commits her murder. The pink also reflects her preppy side which she has adapted through watching a lot of American tv and has created an idealised version of herself.

A lot of my chosen images are ones which I feel reflects the contrasting sides to Claudia's personality. I particularly found this in cute or well presented human forms with something disturbing such as weapons or blood with it. My favourite image amongst these is the top left where there is a woman in a pink and well-fitted dress with complimenting accessories holding a chainsaw. I feel like this is a literal representation of my Claudia character.

Character 1: Claudia

Chosen Inspirational Word: White Rose

I chose the word 'White Rose' as I felt it reflected the innocent appearance that I want for my character. My reason for wanting my character to look this way is 1) the audience will not understand her complex psychotic tendencies from appearance also 2) because she doesn't perceive herself as a bad person. From this key word, I was inspired to look at existing films and Tv series where there is a psychotic or manipulative female role who is innocent in appearance:

When designing and planning for my character, I will have her in a scene where she just committed her first murder. A female who she had decided was involved with her boyfriend Quentin (although the audience will know that this is definitely not true as he is imaginary). From this, she will have blood splatters on her. Aside from this, she will have her typical type of hair and make-up: feminine, preppy, but with a slight change that makes her slightly more sinister in appearance to her usual type, most likely through her eye make-up.

Character 1: Claudia

Scream Queens. (2015). [image] Available at: http://www.hercampus.com/sites/default/files/2015/10/25/poster-de-scream-queens_1.jpg [Accessed 4 Apr. 2016].

The way that I will incorporate this character is by having her as one of Dexter's serial killer victims
My only adaptation to the given character description is that my character is into Horror Tv series as well as Horror films as this leaves her current influence/obsession more open.
From this, I have decided to make the character's current Horror Tv Show fascination to be Scream Queens. The visual aesthetics of the main character's in this series is very girly, preppy and pristine which I will incorporate into the appearance of my character.
Although my series is set in Miami, my character will not be influenced by this as she is agoraphobic, therefore she doesn't go outside and would not need to adapt to the hot climate, especially as houses are generally air conditioned.
Because there is a younger part of the age demographic for the Dexter series, her appearance and interests will be based on current trends and popular media.

Production Mood board

Above is a mood board that I created to reflect the mood and themes of my chosen series, 'Dexter'. My mood board focuses on the three main topics of the series: crime, death and blood. In the series, blood splatters are a reoccurring topic. I have therefore chosen images of different ways that blood and blood splatters are addressed, and the emotions that they provoke. In some cases, the use of blood is used in a sexual manner. Blood is often used spilled over intimate areas on a human body, most likely used to provoke conflicting feelings about an image. Blood is seen as such a gruesome and traumatic medium, yet it is used as a way to appreciate the human form in a male-gaze type manner - a typical audiences fears and fantasies combined. My top left photography image and my middle second from the left catwalk image gives inspiration to this idea and suggestion. I feel that this approach to feelings about blood is something that subtly but often occurs in the Dexter series. The rest of my chosen blood images are various ways that blood is addressed artistically but also it's like to police and crime.

In the series, I feel that the location is very important, and is deliberately used as part of a series of such dark topics. From the series being set in Miami, the audience almost fantasizes about Dexter's serial killer life, as he seems to have it all. Dexter lives in a idyllic home surrounded by sun, beaches and a general holiday type mood. Dexter works as part of an FBI team, which in America is a particularly well respected position. Despite all of this, every aspect of Dexter's life is dark and often disturbing. This is why I have chosen darkly lit pictures of the beach and palm trees to reflect how this is done.

Lastly, I have included a darkly lit photographic picture that suggests someone suffocating and also a graphic crime scene. I chose these images as they reflect how the killing in Dexter is typically done. As it's reoccurring through the majority of the episodes, I felt this was important as part of setting the mood.

Brief 2: Claudia and Mrs. Laderman - My Chosen TV Series: Dexter

Dexter Promotion. (2013). [image] Available at: http://horrorpedia.com/2013/07/29/dexter-tv-series/ [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016].

 

Dexter Behind the Scenes. (2014). [image] Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/322640760775824468/ [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016].

Dexter Scene. (2012). [image] Available at: http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/6/29/crime-scene-photo-from-dexter-season-6.html [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016].

My chosen TV Series for this brief is 'Dexter'. I chose this series mostly because it is a series that I watched a long time ago and enjoyed very much. I also felt that it was very approachable to design for, and left me a lot of leeway when designing.
My series has a large audience demographic, with ages ranging from 18-49. Therefore, I will consider the variety of ages when creating my characters, and how the audience will be able to relate to them.
I feel that my series appeals to the large demographic simply because the story line is always very thrilling and unpredictable. So much so, that romantic interest for the audience isn't needed and is very minor to the general plot. The series also appeals to be people with an interest in blood and some gore.
My series is set in modern-day Miami, therefore my characters will need to visually reflect people we see in everyday life today. As the setting is in Miami, there will be a few cultural differences to what I am familiar with, as well as geographical, meaning my characters will be suited to the hot climate in which they live.