Initial Ideas

 

As this project is the first time to completely choose what I want to explore with the ideas and concepts of makeup I decided to create a list of various ideas and thoughts that could be created. I thought that this was an important stage in the process as I want to create something that pushes my skills and helps to develop cohesive concepts. It was also important that the idea could be completed to a good standard at the level at which I am currently at, not thinking too big so that I could not complete the final result, however it was also necessary to not think too small, in order to not stretch and develop as a makeup artist. Below I have listed some of the ideas that I came up with for this project, I have explored exisitng examples and films in which similar ideas have been created in order to convey the idea. 

 

Aliens

Immdiately most people would think to create an alien of some sort, that is because there are infinite possibilities to create wild and unique designs that have not been seen previously. Looking at the forms of various animals and objects to inform the design on a human being would be great for experimentation and development of design ideas. This is an element that I need to improve upon, coming up with multiple ideas that could structure the outcome. This project would also allow for variation in colours and work on the paint scheme a lot. It would also allow me to explore sculpting in much greater detail as this is something that I am interested in persuing it would therefore prove beneficial. 

 

Frankenstein

This idea would be the remaking of the classic character of Frankenstein's monster. The iconic Frankenstein is very well known and has a distinct style with the squared forehead and green colouration it would be challenging to create a version of this monster making it different from the original following the same outlined details given in Mary Shelley's book. Initial brainstorming would take it down a more realistic route, with flesh colours rather than green, playing on the decay of the face as the character has died and been reincarnated through science. An interesting idea could be leaving part of him unsewn back together to create a more horrific look, as if he came back to life too early for the full patching together. 

 

Realistic Disney

Disney is incredibly realistic, with many films recently being base upon live action versions of the stories, it could be interesting to take one of the non-human characters and turn them into a realistic version. For example Beast from Beauty and the Beast or equally lumiere (the candlestick) and creating a take on these characters. Another idea could be taking characters from an animation such as Lilo and Stitch which has many alien characters and translating this into a makeup. 

 

Egyptian 

I have an incredible fascination with Egyptian history, as it has incredible concepts and the styling is very powerful. This would take one of the gods, or perhaps ruler and creating a horrific powerful character. Gods such as Anubis, Horus, Ra, Thoth and Sobek are amalgamations of human and animal hybrids, which could allow for exploration in the design as well as creating a full head prosthetic with fabrication to finalise the effect. Equally along the Egyptian vein the mummy is an exciting idea to play with, creating a decomposing body, that has been embalmed focusing on the traditions of the time and the processes in which they conducted the post death rituals. One could incoporate the use of scarab beetles into the design, as these are iconic insects that link to ancient Egypt the could prove an interesting element to focus upon. 

 

Cyborg

For the previous projects, one of the elements that I researched was the idea of cyborg, I feel as though the cyborg makeups that I created were not especially successful, therefore creating a full head cyborg with more interesting components could be a route for this project. This could combine elements of makeup with fabrication of the surrounding components to create a realistic result. This would also push my skills to create things that I have previously not tried. 

 

Dinosaur Hybrid

Dinosaurs have incredible forms and structure to their bodies and faces, this could be very interesting to experiment with textures and combining human elements with animals. The dinosaurs have a slightly more fantasy element than animals found today and could therefore create an interesting effect. My initial thought was to try to create a Stegosaurous-like spine down the back as this would bevery visually striking and would play on my skills on human an animal anatomy. 

 

Freakshow

Old school freakshows isplayed some incredible feats of human nature, some genetic deformities, others incredible skills. For this idea it would be focusing on the visuall elements of a freakshow, the deformities that would attract audiences for miles around. This would allow for exploration into genuine deformities of the body, for example the Elephant Man (Joseph Merrick) who has massive tumours over his body creating his distinctive figure. This woul result in a more realistic makeup and may also allow experimentation with creating moulds on areas other than the head. 

 

Mythological Creatures

There are numerous examples of mythological creatures that have extraordinary designs and concepts and would therefore prove a great field to explore further into. Looking at the amalgamation of creatures and humans to create a powerful being that exudes the mythological element of the design. Mythological creatures come from many different cultures, therefore it could prove interesting to look into the varying influences that structure the design. One such culture is Japan, which has wild and bold ideas and visual elements. This would be an element of the design that I would really like to explore, the influence of the style of artwork upon the makeup. It would be a style that I have never explored and could therefore provide a great amount of research and development. 

 

Gods and Goddesses

I have an incredible interest in the Gods and Goddesses of many different cultures, three that I find particularly exciting are Greek, Hindu (Indian) and Aztec, these cultures believed in Gods with powers an special abilites, they had very distinct looks. Particularly the Aztecs with a very tribal style to the design. Creating a series of Gods and Godesses based around their powers, or subject area that they are focused upon could open up a very diverse range of makeups that could be created from the diverse range of beings that are believed in and their supposed traits. 

 

Super Villain

Villians are incredibly powerful beings, they can be a wide variety of evil, from intellectual to physical abilites. They generally have a dark menacing air about them, which makes them all the more visually powerful. This could be interesting to exlpore, what makes the villain look villanous and explore the different abilities which could influence the design. This would typically fall into the superhero genre as the villains are more generally visually powerful in this type of media. Therefore it would be interesting to adapt a comic book into a realistic makeup. 

 

Horror Villain

Similar to the super villain character a horror villain generally has a very striking effect on the viewer. This is normally because they are grotesque and have a horrific quality to their design. Examples of this are Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, Pinhead and Leatherface. Many of these characters have some kind of deformity creating a brutal effect that creates the horror. One idea that I came up with was to create a man who's skull had become detached, the individual bones that fuse as a child have drifted apart creating a horrific effect.

 

Seven Deadley Sins

The idea of the seven deadly sins is quite frequent in film and television, however turning these sins into creature based makeups does not occur too often and could therefore prove an interesting result. Choosing one of these characters and turning it into a horror character could be exciting, although turning them into a fantasy style makeup would be unusual and different from the norm, it is a point to consider when choosing the overall project theme. 

 

Plant Inspired Makeup

Using plant life to inspire a makeup could be an unusual direction to go, however it could result in some exciting and strange makeups. Using the shape, texture and colouration of the plants to create form and wild colours could be very powerful. I would probably base the makeup around a rainforest style plant, with vibrant colours and large powerful shapes, similarly the venus fly trap is an excellent example of a plant which could inspire many different designs.

 

Star Signs

Taking the elements that are made up to form each of the star signs and translating this into a makeup and character design could prove very interesting, for example gemini is twins therefore could play on the idea of creating two of something, e.g. heads and scorpio is linked with scorpians, therefore there are many possibilites that could be created and might prove a different theme and idea to follow. 

 

Werewolf

Werewolves are classic characters in film, they have a dinstinct look, however this could be altered with thought and varying designs. It could focus more on the human-wolf transformation, perhaps a halfway point through the turning process. It would also allow me to play with hair work as well as prosthetics, as I feel I need to improve on both of these skills for the area of the industry in which I wish to enter.