What is Gothic Horror?

Gothic horror can be seen in lots of different ways, the actual definition found on google states that ‘Gothic fiction (sometimes referred to as Gothic horror) is a genre of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. As a genre, it is generally believed to have been invented by the English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. Melodrama and parody (including self-parody) were other long-standing features of the Gothic initiated by Walpole.’

https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gothic_fiction.html

When learning about Gothic Horror in class we found that it has different elements to it; it is a mix of Gothic and Romance, including Gothic architecture. It can include things like torture and rituals, some words that were found to be linked to this genre were ‘corrupting, mutating and decaying.’

There are lots of different elements to the gothic genre, some of the key motifs are things like sexual power, the uncanny, the sumblime, crisis and the supernatural and the real. It also includes:

Strange places: In a gothic novel the characters often find themselves in strange and scary places, somewhere unknown.

Clashing time periods: Gothic novels often take place in times of transition, for example between the medieval period and the Renaissance.

Power and Constraints: Its stories are full of constraint, trapped and forced actions. Scenes of extreme threat and isolation either physical or psychological are always happening or about to happen in these novels.

Terror versus Horror: Terror can be said to be morally uplifting, it doesn’t show horrifying things just simply suggests them. Horror on the other hand shows things explicitly.

A world of doubt: gothic being a word of doubt, not knowing what exactly is going to happen in a scene, but that possibility is accompanied by uncertainty.

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gothic-motifs 

In Great expectations Satis house if the perfect setting, having a gloom atmosphere of decay and ghostliness, highlighting the lifestyle of Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham herself being bizarre, hovering on the borderline between sanity and madness. In the novel Great Expectations not only does Miss Havisham resemble the dead but Magwitch could as well. Miss Havisham is seen as a mother figure, at the end of the novel she realises the damage she had done hurting pip and seeks forgiveness; being consumed by the fire (a Christian was of cleansing as well as punishment) and the reader forgives her for what she’s done to pip as we feel sorry for her. 

Image link:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=great+expectations+satis+house&espv=2&biw=1517&bih=741&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=QovPVKi8OcyxafO_goAF&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&dpr=0.9#imgdii=_&imgrc=re7yHmJm2RTlgM%253A%3Bh4S-Jqdc-GNnnM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fi.dailymail.co.uk%252Fi%252Fpix%252F2011%252F11%252F22%252Farticle-0-0EE5E74500000578-342_634x434.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%252Ftvshowbiz%252Farticle-2064629%252FGREAT-Expectations-Gillian-Anderson-leads-star-cast-BBCs-festive-adaptation-Charles-Dickens-classic.html%3B634%3B434

How the Skin Ages

Because we were looking at aging the skin in class I decided to look at how the skin ages. In my research I found that skin changes are among the most visible signs of aging. Evidence of increasing age includes wrinkles and sagging skin. Whitening or greying of the hair is another obvious sign of aging.

With aging, the outer skin layer (epidermis) thins, even though the number of cell layers remains unchanged. The number of pigment-containing cells (melanocytes) decreases, but the remaining melanocytes increase in size. Aging skin therefore appears thinner, more pale, and clear. Large pigmented spots (called age spots, liver spots, or lentigos) may appear in sun-exposed areas. Changes in the connective tissue reduce the skin's strength and elasticity. This is known as elastosis and is especially pronounced in sun-exposed areas (solar elastosis). Elastosis produces the leathery, weather-beaten appearance common to farmers, sailors, and others who spend a large amount of time outdoors.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004014.htm

I found that the most common effects of aging on the skin were:

-Skin becomes rougher.

-Skin develops lesions such as benign tumors.

-Skin becomes slack. The loss of the elastic tissue (elastin) in the skin with age causes the skin to hang loosely.

-Skin becomes more transparent. This is caused by thinning of the epidermis (surface layer of the skin).

-Skin becomes more fragile. This is caused by a flattening of the area where the epidermis and dermis (layer of skin under the epidermis) come together.

-Skin becomes more easily bruised. This is due to thinner blood vessel walls .

First attempts at aging makeup

First attempts at ageing makeup

In lesson we learnt how to create and age people using makeup, ageing makeup is often used in theatre therefore would have to be exaggerated for the audience to be able to see. The only benefit to this theatrical makeup being that as it will not be filmed it does not need to be perfect at it will not be seen in detail.

To create this look you will need:

- A small angled brush

-Supra Colour Palette

-Foundation brush

-Kryolan Foundation Palette

-Mascara Wand

-Tooth Enamel (for nicotine affect)

- Foundation for base

- Illamasqua powder

1.       To make it easier to apply the supra colours cleanse tone and moisturize the face then apply a base foundation

2.       Then apply a small amount of moisturiser to your palette then mix red and green to create a brown colour, you could add a little bit of yellow if needed.

3.       To make it easier to see where the natural lines would be on the models face, ask them to scrunch up their face to create the lines, while like this draw on the lines using the small angled brush.

4.       To create more depth you could add white slightly above the lines.

5.       Work in the colours with your fingers, blending it into the skins to create the natural look, typical placed to apply it include the forehead, sides of the eyes, chin and underneath the cheek bones to create depth.

6.       Then mix white with a little bit of yellow and apply to the brows and eyelashes.

7.       For the lips get the model to scrunch up their lips and apply Illamasqua powder by patting it on.

8.       You can also create broken veins by using a sponge and pink/red supra colour, applying to the cheeks and nose, then blend to add colour to the cheeks as well.

9.       Ask the model to dry their teeth as much as they can then dry using a baby bud and apply the tooth enamel 

Portrayals of Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is a prominent character in the Dickens novel ‘Great Expectations’. Many actress’ have taken on the role of portraying her, including Helena Bonham Carter and Gillian Anderson.

In the 2012 movie version Helena Bonham Carter plays the jilted bride in an interesting way. For me personally I found it really hard to see her as the frail and heartbroken women in the novel. When watching the film I found that she didn’t seem as damaged as I would think she would need to be. For example in the 2011 BBC TV movie I think that Gillian Anderson portrayed her really well. I felt that out of the two she was the best, showing both a broken heart but also how damaged she is at the same time, she appears in the TV movie to be weak in her physical appearance but so strong in her mind to avenge what happened to her and break young boys hearts using her adopted daughter Estella.

In the films she is shown to be quite old but in the dickens novel she is said to be actually only in her mid-fifties, highlighting the damaging effect of years of heart break and her neglecting her health.

On the left is Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham and on the right is Helena Bonham Carter.

Image links:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=miss+havisham&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=c3XCVL2BO4ryUOL8gKAH&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=667#imgdii=_

Introduction to Victorian beauty

When I first saw the brief for this terms project my initial thought was that I wasn’t really looking forward to the gothic part of the project, but after looking further I am more interested. I don’t really have a lot of knowledge on Victorian beauty ideals but after some research have found that it doesn’t really have anything that stands out in particular. I looked on Pinterest and found that dark eyes were quite popular on some women and also pink cheeks. Most of the looks in portraits show simple styles, the makeup in particular. They all have a romantic feel to them, almost like the sitting is looking at their lover.

When thinking about gothic horror and Victorian beauty I decided to look at the definition of ‘gothic horror’ and then ‘Victorian beauty’ to see how they go together; When looking at the definition of gothic horror I find that it is a genre of literature with both elements of horror and romance. Also when looking at gothic horror images they showed darkness and ‘scary’ stories. For Victorian beauty I found that towards the begging of the Victorian era it was about modesty and natural beauty. Women of higher class practiced limitation with their makeup. Although many still used powder to tone down shine and give the skin a glow, it was used cautiously. Even eye shadows and lipsticks were very pale in tone and carefully applied. Bold colours and heavy makeup application was initially said to be a taboo and was used only by prostitutes. The use of cosmetics actually became controversial with many religions banning them as immoral or labelling them as “the tools of the devil”. I think when combining gothic horror and Victorian beauty they don’t really fit in together but putting the two together you get a romantic and dark outcome.