Gothic In Great Expectations

The book Great Expectations has many elements of horror in it for example:

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Strange Places: In Great Expectations Miss Havisham and Estella live in Satis House. The house in the book is described as very odd and strange place, this is due to the fact that Miss Havisham is living in the past, as the clocks are all stopped at a certain time and that's where they have stayed, also because the up keep with house has been neglected meaning that it has just been collecting dust and other things which I think adds to the thought that this house is strange place to be.

Clashing of Time Periods: Because Miss Havisham was jilted at the altar and was so distraught she lived in that moment of time when we was happy about getting married, and from then on she lived in that time era. but as in Great Expectations it shows time going on as Estella grows up in to a young women.

Power and Constraint: At the start Miss Havisham has a lot of power over Pip as she is a wealthy woman, he believes with her help that he will one day become a gentleman, however when the time comes she doesn't help him become a gentleman she just gives his uncle money for him to be an apprentice at his work. I feel like Miss Havisham has this power over Pip because he wants to become a gentleman so much so that Estella and him can be together, meaning that Pip would do anything that Miss Havisham has said so he is in her good books and is a candidate for Estella to marry.

Sexual Power: The sexual power in this book is between Pip and Estella, as when Pip first sees Estella he thinks she is really pretty although she is a bit mean showing that she has the power over Pip and almost like she has Pip wrapped around her little finger, because she is quite mean to him making him cry but yet he still comes back to play with her in the Satis House.

The Uncanny: Miss Havisham by far is the most strangest character in the book, she's an old lady who lives in this neglected house, lived in her wedding dress since she got jilted at the altar, obsessed that everything is kept in the same way and place and if it is moved she has like a panic attack.

Crisis: The crisis in Great Expectations is that near the end of the book when Pip discovers that his benefitor is Magwitch, as this is not what Pip was expecting and with knowing who it is comes some danger as the law are still after him for what he did in his earlier years.

Existing Miss Havisham's

Reference: Paula Wilcox in the 2013 theatre production of 'Great Expectations'

Although I haven't seen the production of 'Great Expectations', I can tell from this image that they have portrayed Miss Havisham as a crazy,cruel women who is stuck in time, just by the way her facial expression is and the dramatic makeup that she has on. As this is a theatre production the makeup had to be more extreme for the audience to see. Because I have not seen this I'm not quite sure what point this is at in the film, but from the makeup it seems quite early on as she looks younger, but then because of the dark lipstick it could also be near the end of life, as I feel like they are trying to show that she is a cold women and that she hasn't looked after herself since she got jilted at the altar.

Reference: Helena Bonham Carter portraying the character Miss Havisham in Mike Newell's film adaptation of 'Great Expectations' in 2012.

When it came to this interpretation I feel like they have portrayed the fact that she was ghostly looking and I feel like that came across really well, however when watching the film I didn't feel like she had changed much from when we first saw her, the only dramatic change was near the end, where she catches on fire, just before then thats when you see her looking more older. Although I feel this one made her more crazy in the way she acted which she got more crazier as the film went which I felt added to the character a bit more than other ones that I have seen 

Reference: Gillian Anderson playing the character Miss Havisham in the 2011 BBC production of 'Great Expectations'

Whilst watching this three part adaptation that the BBC had created I found that they had really portrayed the character well, with the way that she is really made to look like she hasn't seen sunlight for a long time, and how well they made her look gaunt, The thing I like the most about this interpretation of Miss Havisham is that they have made her lips really dried and cracked, emphasising on that fact that she doesn't look after her self.

Victorian Hairstyles

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Painter: Joseph Karl Stieler
Sitter: Nanette Heine
Year: 1829

National Portrait Gallery
Replica by Sir George Hayter
Sitter: Queen Victoria

The above two photos are from the early nineteenth hundreds, I can tell this because of the hair style as they have tight almost ringlet curls tight to their faces, they were always close to the head and never went past their chins, to create these curls they would only use the front half of the hair, which would have a middle parting and be very sleek and smooth to the head, with the rest of the hair they would plait it and put it into a bun. At the very start of this time the bun would be very high almost at the top of the head and this was known as an apollo knot, which was a Georgian hair style that had carried on over from that period into this one, which soon moved on, as time went on the bun slightly moved down the head.

As the century progressed so did the hair styles, instead of having tight curls up round the face, they had move on to letting them drop down, at first it was only a little bit more than the chin,this look gives the impression of girls looking more romantic as in this time period the idea of a women was to be very feminine but eventually they got further down the body, this is also due to the fact that victorian's didn't cut their hair, which you could image grew to some incredible lengths. With the length of their hair constantly growing, made the hairstyles expand even more, making the hair styles grow in height as well, some women even styled their hair with height that would then be hidden by a hat or some other hair accessory. To create this padding they would use their own hair that would have fallen.

In the latter part of Victorian era the hair styles has progressed even further as in the 1870/80s the curls had moved from the side of the head to the back of head, as the image below shows. Women used the help of a marcel wave named aptly after the man who created itf, to create these curls, this also saw the start of the gibson girl which is at the very end of the Victorian era but is associated with the Edwardian era.

 

Above are my attempts at early Victorian hairstyles, with the use of both plaits and curls that only reached to the bottom of their chin, whilst creating these hair styles I found them a bit tricky to get the hang off especially when curling the front half and also when it came to plaiting the front because you need to do it in the direction so then you can get a perfect loop that shows the ear.

'Great Expectations' 2012 (Mike Newell)

Whilst watching the film 'Great Expectations' I found that some of the scenes were not of significance and if they were, they were dragged out making it feel like the film was longer than two hours, which made me lose focus on the film. However I did start to read the book before watching this adaptation and again I found that hard to read. Although of what I have read I feel like this interpretation is more accurate with how the events unfold in the book than the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations. Even though the BBC covered it with three one hour episodes I felt like I wasn't watching it for as long and that it was more fast moving than the film. 

The portrayal of the character of Miss Havisham played by actress Helena Bonham Carter wasn't what I was expecting. At first knowing that Helena was playing Miss Havisham I thought that she would portray her really well as she has always been in slightly dark gothic movies, and starred in many of her then partner Tim Burton who is known for his gothic movies. I also feel like it was just Helena dressed in an old dusty wedding dress, looking a little bit gaunt but not that much, I didn't notice anything unusual for this character, seeing as she was left at the altar she didn't seem like she was in any pain, although she was acting very strange and loopy at times, of which I can understand that can happen seeing as Miss Havisham hasn't left her home for a long period. I also found that it wasn't just Miss Havisham character wasn't what I was expecting it was also most of the cast, I feel like they were not right for the role and that there wasn't much emotion in it, making the whole feel of the film dull and unenjoyable.

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Beauty in the Victorian Age

HOME-MADE REMEDIES and SECRET MAKE-UP
Due to the fact that makeup was seen as a bad thing and that only women of the night and actress wore it, it was very important for the rest of the women to have a fine complexion as this was an indicator to youth, health and social standing. While many women of status avoided getting a tan, by covering up with clothing, there were of course other ways to achieve the perfect skin, simply by following these 'The Toilette of Health (1834)' household guides helping to get the perfect blemish,freckle,wrinkle free skin; a concoction of bitter almonds, oxymurite from quiksilver and sal ammoniac which was a way to remove suntan. Wrinkles was an obvious sign that youth was fading away, a way to take them away was to use distilled juice from green pineapples and then use pimpernel water to blanch the complexion. Freckles were seen as an imperfection, to get rid of these fresh bean boiled in water, crushed and applied as a poultice on the freckles, "would work wonders and have an excellent effect". Another guide had said that if that hadn't worked then, freckles could be dabbed with an uncomfortable mixture of turpentine and camphor. Obviously not every women had the same skin type, but Victorians had started to notice this and started to give tips for people who had greasy skin, there advise was to  wash in fresh cucumber juice, and another equally good remedy was the water from spinach flowers that had been boiled.

PURCHASING THE SKIN
Skincare was a blooming industry at this time, cold cream was the longest established cooling moisturiser, the earliest known recipe for it was made out of fats and water, which was produced by a man called Galen. Later on in the century cold cream was produced by nearly every provincial chemist, to the smartest bond street perfumers.

Complexion whiteners were another of victorian ladies favourites, there was a massive range of products that were designed to blanch the skin, remove spots, freckles and socially inferior signs of sunburn.

A collection of vintage Vaseline tins, dating back from the late 19th century.

New skin products were coming over from America, a man called Theron T. Pond noticed that native American Oneida people were using a substance of boiled witch hazel to help burns and wounds, which he collaborated with Oneida's medicine man and produced this product. By the latter of the 19th century Pond has expanded his company to include toilet cream, lip balm and soap. Theron went on to work with more chemist around the New York area, where he found Robert A. Cheeseborough, who had visited an oil factory, in which he witness workers using one of the by products of oil extraction called 'rod wax' which is a stocky petroleum residue that clogged up drilling rigs, on their hands to also help heal cuts and burns. Cheeseborough took a sample away, which he processed and refined that eventually ended up being called Vaseline petroleum jelly,which of course is still a well known brand that i'm sure is in everybody's make up bag or handbag.

' CLEANLINESS, INDEED, NEXT TO GODLINESS' 

- John Wesley, founder of the methodist movement in the Eighteenth Century.

Before this era hygiene was never seen as that important. The Victorian era, was the period known for the most productive which helped in the way we lived today, especially when they improved the way the sewerage systems and water supplies throughout Britain,which saw the opening of the first public bath and wash houses which made it more achievable to clean. Many etiquette guides stressed that bathing and personal hygiene were vital points in beauty, virtue and domestic harmony. Lola Montez advised that cleanliness should not be neglected by those who would shine in the courts of beauty. Another beauty advisor at the time recommended a minimum of one bath a day maybe even two, to avoid the sin of dowdiness, which could cost a woman her good looks and husband. She also preaches that one must be clean to be really good and that dirt and religion do not blend, which of course any women reading that at during the Victorian period, would follow as they were all very religious and anything that seemed like sin would guarantee them a place in hell instead of heaven.

'DIRT AND RELIGION DO NOT BLEND'

- Harriet Hubbard Ayer

Book Reference: 'Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian times to the present day'; Madeleine Marsh. 2009. Chapter Two ' Unpainted Ladies'.

Victorian Beauty Ideas

1837 marked the start of Queen Victoria's reign over Britain. During the era which saw Queen Victoria upon the throne, it was a time dominated by a strict moral code. religious values, modesty and sexual restraint, because of this the use of cosmetics decline as it was seen immoral to wear such things upon the face. Any women found to be wearing cosmetics would have been thought of having dubious morals. However it didn't stop women still wearing it.

Whilst prostitutes and actresses were seen as the same thing, they would wear strong make-up, ladies of the upper class would wear very little make-up and in natural tones. At this time it was seen idyllic to be delicate, very feminine and fragile. The idea to have a pale white complexion carried over from previous eras,which showed wealth,power and status. 

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To achieve such a pale complexion women of the upper class could afford not to spend hours working outside, as this would result into a tan, something considered vulgar at this time. Because of the decline in the use of cosmetics, ladies would preserve their pale skin by avoiding the sun, they would avoid it by using parasols which would help protect their skin from the strong rays emitted from the sun. Some women even went to the extent to drink vinegar.

For those who still used makeup and desired a pale complexion, they would use pastes, some of what came from previous eras, mainly from the Elizabethan era which had been passed down and through other eras. However it was during this time that women started to use Zinc Oxide, which was a white mineral powder that was a lot safer to use and still achieved the same effect, because of this so called desired look to have a pale complexion some women still went as far as to draw on small blue veins on their skin, making it look more translucent. Some went to further extend to create paler faces by emphasizing their dark circles. They would apply a red rouge to their cheeks and lips. The use of powders were used sparsely to prevent shine and give the skin a bit of glow.

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Internet Source: http://beautifulwithbrains.com/2010/08/06/beauty-in-the-victorian-age/ © 2008-2014
Date Viewed: 9/01/2015

Introduction to the Project

For this unit we will be looking at how to produce plans, storyboards and mood boards showing makeup and hair concepts for a particular production, showing consideration for the type of media production, whether that be digital fashion editorial, TV, film or music. This unit will cover interpreting a design brief and conceptualizing ideas using the above methods, we shall also be forming practical requirements for makeup and hair in a lens based environment, in which we will also learn how an image focuses on makeup and hair   and how it is researched, developed and shot to suit the productions period or style and for the intended audience.

We will also learn and record a continuity of the performers appearance. Throughout the next twelve weeks we will have informal timed assessments which will gauge technical competence and appropriate studio practise. 

I am genuinely looking forward to this project as we will be learning how to design and style ideas that can be developed and adapted for specific requirements of what area of the industry that I so desire to go into, I will also learn about continuity within different aspects which I am quite looking forward to as I think this will be a key to being the best that you can be within makeup and hair.
The fact the unit title is called gothic horror, when I first heard about this unit I was quite excited as things like this interest me quite a lot, and learning how to create characters out of briefs and making improvements on my work through informal times assessments, which I will then get critical feedback from peers from my class, which will help me both with my idea and how I can improve my technical skills as well.

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