Mrs Havisham Recreated...

Wow... recreating Miss Havisham was a real challenge, exciting but challenging. It was difficult to make a young lady look aged. it was an experience, but with everything i had learnt i just had to put it all together. At first i didnt want to make my Miss Havisham really old because she wasn't? But it had to be modernised.

Unfortuantely my model had extremly short hair and i wanted to create the curls at the front of the head just as Miss Havisham had throught out the film, so luckily hair extensions came in helpful.

This is my favourite image above, using an old mirror as a prop i took the photo through the reflection, and i really like the outcome. 

I wanted to create the effect of route, flakey, dry lips as Miss Havisham had, so by using a silver Gold Leaf i could create a similar effect.

Mrs Havisham..

Miss Havisham is the character which in my opinion has a lot more excitement to it, I can begin to play around with not only ageing someone but also their body parts such as fingers as this is something I would like to include In the shot of her.

In the end Miss Havisham is consumed by a fire (a Christian image of cleansing, as well as punishment). But throughout the book/film she and her personal belongings are just gathering dust and slowly decaying around her. She wasn’t particularly old she just appeared it as she’d become damaged by the lack of sunlight and fresh air.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 film)

 I came across this film ‘What Ever Happened To Baby Jane’, I watched and researched up about it, to begin to see a visible link in the storylines of this and Great Expectations. There are 2 characters ‘Baby Jane’ and “Miss Havisham’ which I believe have similar character traits.

Summary-

 “In a tale that almost redefines sibling rivalry, faded actresses Blanche and 'Baby' Jane Hudson live together. Jane was by far the most famous when she performed with their father in vaudeville but as they got older, it was Blanche who became the finer actress, which Jane still resents. Blanche is now confined to a wheelchair - Jane ran her over with the car while drunk, even though she has no memory of it - and Jane is firmly in control. As time goes by, Jane exercises greater and greater control over her sister, intercepting her letters and ensuring that few if anyone from the outside has any contact with her. As Jane slowly loses her mind, she torments her sister going to ever greater extremes.”

Estella

So I did my shoot for Estella!! I used my friend Kristie as she already matched Estella perfectly! With flawless skin, a youthful look and natural brown hair she was easy to work with. 
I found creating the character Estella quite simple, as she didnt wear much makeup. But as we were photographing our models we still had to apply makeup to make sure we had flawless skin. I was extremly lucky to have Kristie as my model.
With Estella i chose to do a teen/ young adult version, i began by applying a light base to match her skin tone. After applying the base foundation, we made sure we jumped infront of the camera we would be using to make sure it was exactly what i was looking for. Unfortunately the first time round i had matched the foundation to her skin tone too well, which usually would be a good thing however in the victorians they had rather pale skin. This was important to me also as this was the main part of her makeup. So after removing it and starting fresh i finally got it!! This meant i could move on to sculpting the face! Using Illamasqua Disobey blush i began to sculpt parts of Kristies face such as her cheek bones and above her eyelid, this made her face more defined. Then topping it off with a rouge pink blusher to add colour to her cheeks.

I was very excited to start with the hair, but nothing goes perfect all the time! it was more of a challenge, and although i had practised in the studio and at home i had never actually practised on Kristie and every bodys hair/ head shapes are different. which i realised at this point. However i had to power on, the problem i had was creating the barrell rolls across the top of her head at the front, i managed to do it fine but it did not look correct on Kristies head. With quick thinking on the spot i continued and pulled the rest of her hair back in to a tight bun at the back which had to plaits leading to it. At the front with the hair i had left over i created some curls and kept it in a centre parting but pulled more hair back.

























These are my final outcome images! i am proud of them but there is always room for improvement and i can see where it stands out in these images.

Hair Designs

I came across an old collective ornament in my house which my parents have collected through their parents, and it was this one that caught my eye the most. It reminded me of the young Estella in the Great Expectations film. With her hair pulled back loosely and a ribbon headband around her head really captures the young Estella. Also with the added detail of the high neck dress portrays her innocence in the beginning of the film.





















These are the hair templates which i have come up with, i want to achieve more detail in the hair design than i do with the makeup as i am trying to create the young estella she wouldn't have worn makeup. By creating rolls with the hair at the front of her head, styling the rest of the hair back into a bun, leaving some loose curls at the back of the head and topping it off with a head piece, i will be able to achieve a sweet and innocent hair style.

Joan Bennett, 1935 Blonde                                                           Betty Grable, 1940


I was looking through a blog site of famous Hollywood actresses of the 19th century and came across these two photographs. Imediately my thoughts focused straight on Estella and how these 2 ladies hair styles are perfect for her. The effect of this appearance produces a meek, sweet innocent type character.                                  

Estella' Hair

After rewatching the 'Great Expectations' film, I have noticed that Estella wears her both up and down. This makes it more experimental for me to chose a hairstyle to do on Wednesday. I am most likely to do a half up half down hairstyle, this allows me to keep the curls in the bottom half of her hair and a bun on the top.

So last week I learnt how to create a standard victorian hairstyle. This is one that i can use to create the character Estella. It was so simple to do but yet so effective because now I can take this skills and make new styles. Using the heated curlers i can create rolls in the hair, these can be made in many different places on the head.

Victorian Children...

Victorian Fasion...

During the early 1800's dress colours and prints were pastel and soft for a refined proper appearance. 

Lower cut necklines were worn only by the middle/upper class women as evening wear.

Young appropriate girls wore silky, delicate dresses to symbolise innocence. 

Its crazy to think that fashion from over a hundred years ago is being brought back into fashion again? Take this victorian top/blouse for instance from a high street shop Miss Selfridge.

The Last Of England- Madox Brown

This painting, 'The last of England' portrays a family leaving the shores of England to start a fresh start in Australia. Thousands of working class and lower middle class people, who were totally fed up with their life of poverty packed up the few possesions they had to make a long memorable journey to the other side of the world.

This painting and meaning reminds me a lot of the scene were Pip and Abel Magwitch are trying to escape across the sea.

"I have been bent and broken but hopefully into a better shape"

Estella is an emotionally crippled character, she is cold hearted. This is a character we have been asked to create again , but our own way. This doesn't mean we can add our own modernised twist though. I am excited to recreate this character as i feel it will be a challenge to try and make someone look younger than they are to get the youth effect of Estella. On the other hand i cannot wait to begin because there is one thing which i will be mostly focusing on, this is the hair. This is a crucial element of Estella, as she was too young to wear makeup. By rolling the hair and twisting it to the back i can create a child like look. i noticed throughout the film that Estella always has something in her hair whether it is a bow or a larger headpiece.

What is Beauty?... A Destroyer

Was Estella just afraid to love like Miss Havisham did...

But why still such perfect hair after all those years?

“You are not afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun 

since you were born.”

For a matter of fact, when i first saw Miss Havisham walking down the stairs i was scared. I dont like ghostly figures and the first thing i thought was that it was a ghost. In the film she describes her self as 'The ghost of the bride'

This makes me feel as though she believes she does not live a life ever since been left heart broken. She wants to be the bride of her husband who no longer exists to her.

I believe the lighting around Miss Havisham' scenes are thought through with care to create this ghostly illusion. When Pip first met her she glided down the old wooden oak stairs in her rotting mansion. Behind her is a curtain with a slight gap in allowing natural daylight to shine through, this backlights her figure and features.

Reading The Characters...

I am not a very strong reader at all, and find it so much easier to understand things when i can visualise it. So to get a better understanding of Charles Dickens 'Great Expectations' I chose to watch the film myself. This helped hugely with being able to connect with the characters involved and understand their meanings. 

This is Pip. 

He enters the film as a young orphan, living in the southest of England, Kent, with his sister and brother in law

• Romantic
• Passionate
• Caring
• Morally & Socially improving

Young Estella.

Estella was brought up by Miss Havisham to tourment men and 'Break their hearts', Estella wins pips deepest love.

• Cold 
• Cruel
• Uninterested
• Heartless

Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is a character who is broken over her wedding day which never happened. She lives in a rotting mansion and still wears her wedding dress every day, as she is determined never to move beyond her heartbreak. She adopted Estella as a weapon to achieve her own revenge on men. but soon begs for forgiveness when she realises she has caused Pips heart to be broken in the same way as her own.

• Cold
• Heartbroken
• Mad
• Vengeful 
• Sympathy Seeking

19th Century London...

Victorian London

London became a magnet for immigrants from colonies and poorer parts of Europe, it was transformed into the worlds largest city and capital of the British Empire during the 19th Century. With its population expansion to 6.7 million within this period London became a global political, financial and trading capital. Throughout this position it was unrivalled until the following part of the century, when Paris and New York began to threaten its dominance.  

Although the city advanced with wealth in the 19th century it was also a city of poverty; millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums. However Charles Dickens made the life of the poor famous in such novels as Oliver Twist.

My Thoughts...

Having got little knowledge about Charles Dickens, his life, books or even the era he was living in immediately i was excited to begin this project, it will be an intake of fresh positive energy.

With ongoing thorough research i will be enlightened by the history of this era, not only will i obtain understanding i will achieve huge benefits such as confidence which i will be able to follow through with utter determination to achieve the look and styling i wish for.

This unit consists of doing a lot of work in a short space of time in order to accomplish what is expected, i will find this very difficult having to juggle this with other tasks alongside but i understand that this is a key skill i need to be able to deliver in the industry. Hopefully being able to document the thought process and research through a blog will make things a lot easier as it is convenient through my daily routine. Although i like working in a sketchbook and have done for 3 years i can experiment with using the internet as a tool for documentation.

Im bursting with excitement to begin to dig into begin researching everyone and everything that i can do around this subject.