Editing the video/film

The video that I made using Final Cut Pro consists of my two final characters that were chosen presented in a conventional, stereotypical way which then is rubbed away showing my interpretation. I came up with the idea of having the model run away the makeup of the first piece then the second piece would be put in reverse to seem as though they are rubbing off the first and forming the second with their hands.

When editing the video together I knew that I wanted it to be more of a fine art piece than a simple range of images. I also knew that I wanted it to be purely visual with no sound, this would mean that people who are viewing it are free to come up with their own views and perceptions of what they are seeing. This was an alternation of what I had previously planned which was to have a recording of someone reading out the characteristics of the character on the screen, explaining what you are seeing. The reason why I chose to change this was partially because I thought it was too obvious and on the nose. Another was that I thought that although the audio would be linked to the images, it would deter from what the viewer was seeing and them coming up with their own interpretation.

as the part of the video where the makeup was rubbed off was so long and time consuming, I decided to cut up this segment so that when you are watching it, the clip cuts to small parts of the model removing the makeup. I did this by using the blade tool and cutting the clip into small parts then deleting every other small clip.

Second Character: Two Face

Prior to doing a survey of who people thought I should do, Two Face was one of the characters that first came to mind when thinking of who to do. This is due to the fact that his appearance is not only very iconic but has a lot of things that I would be able to work with when recreating the look in the second part of the video. There are many different portrayals of this character, one being in one of the most recent Batman films 'The Dark Knight' played by Aaron Eckhart. In this film, two face is presented in a very realistic, gruesome way. (Picture below)

Although I wanted to look into many different representations of Harvey Dent\Two Face, this particular one wasn't something that I wanted to achieve as my project does not involve prosthetics and focuses more on body paint. Even though I did not want the piece to appear realistic, I did want it to have a very harsh, clear line down the middle, making the two halves completely separate from each other.

I then discovered the comic 'Dark Victory' which showed Two face in the exact way I wanted my makeup to appear. (pictures below)

Conventional comic makeup:

My Interpretation:

 When designing what my own interpretation would be, I thought about creating the feeling of something that had been split or broken without presenting this in an obvious way much like the conventional version. I thought that it would be quite effective to incorporate a broken/cracked aspect that would create the illusion that there was some kind of face or different level beneath the cracked surface.

Outcome:

Working to my Final Piece

For my final piece I knew that I wanted to include a comic/cartoon like well known version of the people I would be creating contrasted with a different interpretation. To start this I had to have a good idea of what characters to include in this. I decided to do an additionally small survey to decided on what characters are the most visually striking and iconic to people to the people I asked. As there was a large possibility that due to their being so many iconic characters in history it would be unlikely people would choose similar people, I researched into famous film and book characters in history and made a list of people who I discovered. From this list, people I surveyed were able to choose one person as their choice and I would then see who was the most popular out of the collection. Each person had two votes as I would be doing two characters.

Survey with characters people can choose from:   total number of people who answered - 26

Batman - 9
The Joker - 14
Catwoman - 2
Poison Ivy - 1
Wolverine - 4
Two Face - 10
Captain America  - 2
Spiderman - 2
Superman - 3
Green Lantern -
Wonder Woman - 0
The Hulk - 2
The Wicked Queen - 1
Ursula - 0


First character: The Joker

from my previous research, The Joker was very well received by outsiders and came up as the most popular in my second survey in which people could pick who i included in my final outcome. As the character does have such a range of iconic looks, I wanted the first bit of makeup I did of him to be instantly recognisable and very conventional. I looked into old comics in which The Joker obtained his most well known look. One comic in particular that I looked into had the best representation of him in my opinion which was 'Batman: The killing joke'. (pictures below)

I thought that this representation was the closest to what I wanted to capture, so i used this as my primary reference when doing the first piece of makeup that would be rubbed off to reveal the alternative Joker underneath. I looked into people that had previously already done makeup in a comic style which appeared very 2D, with little to no shadows etc. I found a number of people who had done this in articles and on Youtube including a woman, who's channel is called 'Madeyewlook'. On this channel she does multiple different comic and cartoon like body art pieces, and when looking  into these I was able to get a good idea of how to begin my own work.

Links to her Youtube videos that I found useful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kVl5VPBMkc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izpI8heNfhA&t=321s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq3JRFjPUTk

I also discovered an article about an artist called Kay Pike who is a body paint artist who recreates whole body designs of comic book characters Article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq3JRFjPUTk
Although she does very extreme body art which covers almost the entire body, I found her work to be most helpful and inspiring in terms of what I am trying to achieve in my final piece.

Videos i studied of hers for techniques when doing my makeup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaJUCq4uc7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsFyw76U7Js
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu5Mp2HxAcY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8IwgNfpfM

After looking into all these aspects I chose a feminine male model as a number of people said to me that they saw The Joker to have a feminine, slender quality so I thought that the person I chose would be perfect for that. I then did a small sketch of where I was going to position facial features, clothing etc on the model before I actually did it. This helped me to be more precise and not loose certain details that I wanted to include. It also allowed me to practice The Jokers face on a body shape that would obviously differ from a humans.

Conventional comic makeup:

My interpretation:

When i looked at how I personally perceived The Joker, I saw him as a mainly a character who hides their identity behind a scary, alternative exterior and this was my starting point. I researched into covering identities and faces and gathered images that I found inspiring.

Some pieces of art which inspired me:

Hidden identity by Perry Rowe

I was drawn to this piece as it has the subtlety that I think is important in my piece, yet still gets across the message of something darker that is hidden behind.

                                                          Painting by Jeremy Olson

I love the abstract and obscure nature of this painting, and like the other one, I am drawn to the choppy, layered aspect

Outcome

I believe that my final outcome of my interpretation of The joker was successful in terms of the research I did on other themes involving disguising your identity and fragmented personalities. I knew that whatever the final piece was I wanted it to include the long split mouth element, which is classic of The Jokers character. I also wanted to keep the dark around the eyes so that this, with the mouth element would still hold connotations of a clown like character. The fragmented facial features was something that I came up with when designing what I would be doing with the makeup. This was based on my research but also came from what people told me about how they perceived the character as being broken, hidden and also most importantly frightening and I think that the makeup definitely holds an element of fear.

Focusing on one character for practice

The Joker

One of the most famous perceptions of the character of The Joker was Heath Ledgers take in the film The Dark Knight. This particular version of the character defied the normal representation of him as the joker is usually presented as being very clean cut, block coloured and sharp. However, in Heath Ledgers joker, he was tatty, messy, broken and this form of makeup was so powerful and bold in my opinion. This complete contradiction of Jack Nickolson's joker was still presenting the same characteristics, yet their appearances were very juxtaposed. The makeup artist responsible for this makeup was john caglione jr who won an award for the makeup done in this film.

I wanted to play around with perceptions of the jokers character with makeup, I found it interesting to compare the stereotypical portrayal with the idea I had inside my head and the ideas of others. Knowing this, I decided to begin exploring this by doing makeup on a model but instead of simply doing makeup that I had already planned out, I would ask them to guide me as to how they saw the character and wanted them to appear. This would also link to the drawings they had previously done as to bring their own character to life on their own face. I did not allow my model to look into a mirror during this process as I wanted the outcome to be purely what they thought the makeup should look like, not changing or altering which would be likely if they could see the development of the face in the mirror. 

I allowed the model to completely take control of what I was doing, choosing colours, shapes, what sized brushes I was using so that I was purely working for them and they were my client. Doing this was very helpful in my development as I was able to create something completely new and fresh that was a collaboration of my eye as the artist and someone els' ideas which is definitely what I wanted from when I first came up with my idea for the project. Additionally, the process took a lot less time than a normal piece as I went into the piece with no previous ideas of plans of what I was doing, therefore not spending time on specific intimate details. I was able to purely go with what my model was saying in a much more care free way of working.

In my opinion, the finished piece held The Jokers character very well, yet also not being a stereotypical representation. When I showed the piece to several people, many of them couldn't identify the character we were working with, however I found this to be a sign success in this area of the project as you have to look deeper into the shapes, colours and mood to see who is being portrayed. 

Other people that attempted The Joker makeup which I used as a reference to give me an idea of how I would go about doing that makeup in a comic/cartoon way. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-DstuUuGA

This particular person did the modern day version of The Joker from the film 'Suicide squad' which was not as comic like as I wanted mine to be, however when on this video another makeup piece was suggested to me by an artist called Jordan Hanz (video below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJeg7sMTWQU

Further Primary Research

The next thing that I decided to do was to get a smaller number of people to do a range of small, quick drawings of what they thought of when thinking of a particular character. The first form of drawing I asked them to do was a 30 second drawing using only a pen, which meant that they would draw the main and most important features first as they wanted to fit in it. I also did this as I didn't want the drawings to be too refined, just a simple look into their perception of them. The second drawing I asked them to was a blind drawing using a colour pen of their choice. This would be a much more abstract, raw drawing of what is in their head.

I urged them to pick characters from history that they found to stand out visually and would be potentially recognisable from the small, quick drawing they had done

Some examples of the type of drawings I was looking to achieve:

The feedback I got was generally that people enjoyed drawing mainly comic and cartoon characters. When thinking about this I realised that pinpointing that specific genre of cartoons and characters would be something interesting to do as development as they are the most recognisable and over the top people I could work with. Superheros and recognisable cartoons were also well received in my group tutorial as something that would be more effective to focus on.

                        Development  -  Secondary Research

To develop on this idea I decided to research and begin to practice exact comic and cartoon makeup that almost appears as an illusion, this would allow me to learn how to portray a character on someones face through makeup which is very realistic to the original character. I could then use this to generate my own interpretation.

To do these makeup practice pieces i used a paint pallet rather than typical paint pots which I normally use when doing smaller makeup pieces. Two of them I done on myself as it was for practice, however I used a male model for my third piece as I wanted to attempt makeup that is so precise on someone els' face. I found it very helpful to do this as it made me realise that I wanted to makeup that would cover the neck and face, to almost dehumanise the person.

Primary Research

next stage was to research a number of iconic characters from history, then talk to a wide range of people and asked what they thought of when hearing that characters name. I did not ask them what they thought they physically looked like, but what came to mind when thinking of that persons identity. For example, I asked them to describe what colours they thought of, what mood they portrayed, what artist of art piece it reminded them of, what animal they reminded them of, what material they associated with them etc. Through doing this I would gain an understanding of how they saw the character in terms of their characteristics, not simply how they have been presented to them in the past through films or pictures. The people I asked did not know the aim of my project until after they had answered the questions as this meant that they would not be biased when answering them or try to describe an image they would want to see the character looking like.

The characters which I used to ask my questions were The wicked Queen, The joker and Humpty dumpty. In total, the number of people I asked was 37. From these people I initially took into account what the most popular or reoccurring themes were. I encouraged people to be as random and obscure as possible with their answers so that I would have a less conventional representation of the person, rather than the typical perception of them. I then made a separate sheet for each character, listing what people had said about them and then used this as a reference to start sketching and coming up with some ideas as to how I would make this into a physical makeup form. By using a mood board I was able to visually take into account what the people had said they saw in each personality, for example if the colour green was frequently mentioned, I would constantly see that colour when working on my designs, instead of purely seeing the word green.

List of what people said for each character

The Wicked Queen

• Green and envious
• Alexander McQueen
• High fashion
• Blood
• Leather
• Tortured
• Cat
• Sharp
• Inhuman
• Vulgar
• lifeless
• hollow - no feelings

The joker

• Rough
• Vintage
• Roy Lichtenstein
• Deformation
• Creased
• Rustic
• Dirty yet presteen
• Overgrown
• Wealth
• Storm
• Red
• angular

Humpty Dumpty

• Tragedy 
• fairytale
• Sadness
• Discrimination
• faded
• Isolation
• Bill Brandt
• Black and White
• Personification
• Young
• Vulnerability
• Distortion
• salvador dali

Development (inspiration from ALO)

From the inspiration of ALO's work in the exhibition of his that i visited, I wanted to create some designs that has an essence of his work. The child like, almost creepy atmosphere he creates in his work is something that I am very interested in portraying in my own work so i decided to make some sketches working with in a more conceptual way, rather than my typical subjective way when designing a makeup or costume piece. By doing this, I will be able to get a true feeling of the characteristics of the character I am drawing by letting that come through in the physical appearance of them. It was important to me that I did not spend too much time on this drawings and designs as I did not want them to start becoming too refined or realistic. To ensure that I stayed true to this method of working and really loosening up my way of drawing a character, I decided to do the drawings in permanent marker, meaning that my initial idea of the face and body that I draw on the page cannot be changed by me later on if I didn't like the aesthetic look of it. This would make it a true representation of what was going on in my mind at that point and these could be a starting point for me to begin working from.

I decided to begin by drawing members of my family and my friends as this would allow me to practice characterisation before I pick iconic characters from history. I also did this as i know their personalities and characteristics very well, meaning that I can allow those qualities to lead my drawing, rather than soley their physical appearance. When doing these drawings I had an array of photographs of each person to use as reference. I chose to do this rather than drawing them in the flesh as when drawing someone in front of you, you are only seeing them at that one particular point in time, in those clothes and in that mood. However I wanted to have a sense of the whole of the person I am drawing, not just how they looked or came across at one moment. This method allowed me to draw a true representation of that persons character. I wanted to avoid my drawings becoming too much like characatures, yet I also wanted there to be some aspect which reflected a slightly exaggerated representation of their physical appearance as well. I also used colour to connect with the personality of the person i was drawing as colour was such an important element of ALO's work which I was  inspired by.

Although I knew the drawings would reflect my interpretation of the people I was drawing, It was also important to me that they were recognisable to other people that knew that person. After showing the drawings to my family and friends afterwards, they were all able to recognise each person I had drawn, even though some of them had almost no physical characteristics of the person. I found this very interesting as it showed that they were able to connect with the abstract portrayal of that persons personality. It also showed that everyone shares similar perceptions of colour.

Initial exhibition visits -

Exit from Aden at Saatchi Gallery

At this exhibition was the work of ALO who is an italian artist based in London who is an expressionist style painter. He describes his work as 'urban expressionism' as he draws inspiration from the outside world he is around. His work is very recognisable and early differentiated from any other artist working in this way. This is due to his vibrant use of colour and exaggerated, cartoon like characters. Although his work is far from realistic, the colours, mixed with the shapes within the work portray very strong emotions and feelings, making them very strong pieces as they evoke a lot of emotion in the viewer. The other aspect that I enjoyed was the shape of the canvases as they were long and skinny, accentuation the figure in the picture and I think that this very much added to the effect of the pieces. Another thing that I like about the way he works is how he layers colours and patterns to create bold shapes. Looking closely at the pieces, you notice that they are made up of very simplistic shapes, lines and block colours.

As soon as seeing this exhibition I instantly knew that I was extremely inspired by his work in terms of my project focusing on characterisation and personal perception of this. All of his pieces are generally single characters and this is something that I am interested in focusing on as there are no distractions from that particular figure, which is very powerful. As well as his composition, I am interested in experimenting with a more cartoon like and unconventional method of either sketching my ideas or actually applying the paint onto the body.

Makeup I did inspired by my visit to the exhibition:

I wanted to capture a child like - colourful essence so picked a sharp red/pink as my colour choice. I also chose this as it was a frequently used colour in ALOs work. I liked the idea of making something inspired by my primary research straight away without any thought because it allows me to churn out ideas quickly without thinking too hard about how I will use that artists work in my project.

Final Major Project - Through my eyes

My concept for this project is to look at a vast amount of well known fictional and non fictional characters in history and presenting them through my own interpretation. To me, it seems that the notable figures known to our society are always presented in similar ways, for example the vast majority of protagonists historically are male, however their defined characteristics could be interpreted as female. Similarly, characters in novels that have been created into media productions such as films or television series are conceptual and interpreted differently by whoever may have read the book. I want to take these characteristics that are well known to the masses and use them for my own creation of their character in an abstract way. By looking into experimental drag and theatrics makeup artists such as Mathu Andersen and Pat McGraph, I will be able to gain much more inspiration and knowledge in this form of makeup. I will also look into prosthetic artists such as Barrie Gower as I want my interpretations to be over exaggerated and abstract. Throughout this project I will be looking into how roles have already been presented in the media and even collecting information from people around me as to their personal perception of certain characters and taking this into consideration when designing my possible outcomes. I feel as though this project is very personal to my vision and approach to the subject. However, it also addresses a universal issue of characters being represented stereotypically without exploration of other possible genders, races and forms.

Beyond the fundamental

For this project we were given a subject or area to look into initially then could interpret this the way we say fit. For my subject and I was given the character The Hunchback of Notre Dame. When finding out what my subject was I immediately thought to research this character as look into the actual definition of the person rather than simply thinking of his stereotypical portrayal in the film version.         

                                                            Images of 'Quasimodo'

                                                             from google images

Drawing of him 

Definition of the character Quasimodo -Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday^[1]) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death.

I decided that I wanted to stay away from the stereotypical representation of Quasimodo and simply take his back story and use this as inspiration for my own creation of him. I considered his segregation, isolation, sadness, loneliness and applied this to coming up with ideas and designs for my own creation.
I looked into a number of other characters who were presented in an lonely and misunderstood way and thought about how i could interpret it into my character which I will be making on someone els. I began to do drawings and small designs of how I would manipulate the face and body, for example adding padding under the clothes to make places appear larger or smaller. I can also do this on the face by adding prosthetic pieces to accentuate the brow, chin and nose to make it appear more cartoon like and 'uglier'.