My Quentin model - skin consultation notes

Model: Josh

Skin type: normal - dry
Skin sensitivities - none. Tested for any reaction to Tuplast. 
Current skin care regime - cleans face and moisturises every 1-2 days, exfoliates 1-2 times a week
Full list of products used to create the look:

• Kryolan Foundation palette - shades Ivory and FS38
• Illamasqua Satin Primer
• Kryolan Concealer palette - shades D4, D9, D11
• Kryolan Tuplast
• Illamasqua powder
• Kryolan blusher palette - shade 101
• Vaseline
• Hairspray/gel 

Quentin - practising on myself

I applied Tuplast straight from the tube as the small applicator meant I could easily squeeze small/thick/straight/wobbly lines. I kept them fairly small, as though they were scars left from thin cuts. I then applied foundation to blend the scars with the skin, and coloured them with a darker concealer. Looking at the photos, my colour matching could have been more accurate; however, I enjoy working with Tuplast and think it works really effectively.

Tuplast

• Thick/thin/wobbly lines
• Cotton buds to drag product further/thin ends off
• See how it looks when moving - creasing, etc
• Applying foundation to blend with skin
• Colouring up - darker/pinky concealer

Claudia and Quentin hair designs

Claudia:

Following the idea of making Claudia appear doll-like, I started with a typically youthful look, styling the hair in high, plaited pigtails. I thought it looked a little too immature though, and verged on stereotypes of creepy dolls or scary young girls in horror movies - which doesn't fit in with the genre of my TV series Being Human.

To lessen that effect, I tried lowering the plaits, to create a slightly more grown-up but still girly hair style. I liked this design, although I thought it needed to look a little more messy, to fit with Claudia's restless, insane character. 

Finally, I drew a design with low plaits again, but with tendrils hanging around the face - which I will wet down to appear sweaty - and sections pulled out of the plaits, altogether creating a messier look. This will demonstrate Claudia's frantic nature, but still show her desire to look pretty and girly and impress Quentin.

Quentin:

Initially, I thought of doing a typical 70's hairstyle for my Quentin character. It would be long and messy, and perfect for the era Quentin died in - triggering Claudia's frustration at how much she dislikes his old-fashioned appearance. However, I wanted to consider how I could work with my model's hair, which is much shorter than this. I wanted to keep the scruffy look though, as it fits with Claudia's current interests in her boyfriend. 

I designed this look, slightly longer on top and shorter at the sides, and generally messy. I will use gel to mess it up; I want it to look quite fashionable, as though Claudia has styled her boyfriend's hair herself to look attractive and with-the-times. 

Finally, I toyed with the idea of a more slick look, styled with gel and fixed firmly in position. I thought it might represent one of Claudia's current fantasies - e.g. a David Beckham looking character, like it says in the brief. However, I preferred the messy look, especially as it matches with my designs for Claudia's own hair.

Practical 6: Creating wounds/scars using moulds

Products:

• Gelatine mould
• Prosaide (adhesive)
• Pro-clean
• Kryolan Supra-Colour
• Kryolan Foundation palette
• Baby powder
• Witch-hazel 

Equipment:

• Scissors
• Cotton buds
• Cotton pads

Health and Safety:

• Clean, tidy workspace
• Replace all lids on products as adhesive will dry out if not!
• Careful with scissors

Technique:

• Cut around the wound section of the mould to avoid having excess gelatine and to get rid of any hard straight lines
• Apply Prosaide adhesive to skin with cotton bud. Wait for it to dry clear and tacky, then press mould onto skin, pushing down hard to merge the mould with the skin
• Use witch-hazel on a cotton bud to blend any edges and remove any glue on the surrounding area
• Dab baby powder onto the mould with a cotton pad to remove any tackiness
• Use foundation and supra colour to blend with skin and fill the 'wound' with flesh/blood colours
• Consider colours and diluting the colour of some parts to create more texture and a realistic effect

I think this practical was my least successful. I did not like using the mould as I found it really difficult to blend it seamlessly with my skin. On reflection, placing it on my arm, or somewhere else that isn't as firm as the back of my hand, would have been better, as I could have pushed the mould deeper into my skin, thus blending it better and meaning it would not stand so high about the surface. I also applied a little too much glue, which meant I spent a while having to rub it off with witch-hazel. My colour matching could have been better, and the inside of the wound does not look very realistic - if it had been a smaller wound, or placed on my arm, it probably would have looked better, as a wound on the back of a hand is unlikely to look this intense. I thought my choice of colours to fill the wound were quite good though, although I could have thinned a few bits to let a more fleshy tone show through. Overall, I enjoyed getting to play around with further products, however I do not think special effects are the way forward for me!

Hair inspired by American Horror Story's Moira

First, I side-parted the hair and put all of it into heated rollers. The front section, I rolled sideways, away from the parting; the section at the crown of the hair I rolled downwards, and then the section at the nape of the neck I rolled upward. I made sure to use a brickwork technique, rather than lining all of the rollers up with one another, to avoid leaving gaps and partings. Using rollers creates a lot of lift and volume, as well as curl and shape. 

Once the rollers had cooled, I removed all of the ones at the back, leaving the ones at the front to keep the hair out of the way while I styled the back. I gently backcombed all of the hair that was curling downwards, from the root to about halfway down the length. This helped to fill in any thin gaps in the hair and added further volume. I pinned it in place at the bottom. Next, I curled the hair at the nape of the neck that was curling upward, and pinned it in place, placing a pin diagonally in the middle to join the two separate coils. 

Finally, I removed the curls from the front section of the hair and began placing them decoratively where I wanted them. I let the hair curl and sit where it naturally wanted to, pinning it into place away from the face. I took the middle section at the top of the head and curled it over in a larger shape, leaving a more voluminous upper part. 

I was really happy with how this hair lesson went. Having only used rollers once or twice before, I still am not hugely confident working with them, but I sectioned the hair well and rolled the rollers tightly, leaving a lot of lift and shape in the hair once removed, which I was really happy with. I received some really positive feedback from my tutor about the positioning of the rollers too. I thought that I styled the hair well, my only criticism is that the curls at the nape of the neck look a little untidy and unblended in the middle. Overall, however, I am really impressed with my work. 

Final Claudia and Quentin face charts

Claudia:

For Claudia, I have combined my two face charts from before. I want her to appear dirty, sweaty and scratched up, demonstrating how frantic she is and that amidst her insanity she unknowingly scratches herself; but I also want to show that she make an effort to impress Quentin by wearing make-up, reverting to child-like features of rosy cheeks, fluttery lashes and pink lips. 

Quentin:

As I have decided now that Quentin died in the 70s, I though about doing a more extreme look for him. I researched some 70s make-up, as if Quentin were to be a David-Bowie-type-of-guy, and was inspired by this image:

I designed a simple orange and pink look, and thought that, as Quentin is limited in how much he can change his appearance, it might be an explanation of why Claudia gets so fed up with him - she doesn't like his make-up. However, I though it was too extreme, and didn't want Quentin to appear feminine or exotic. Also, it still did not include SFX.

And so, I came up with my final design. I have combined the natural, attractive male look from before with some SFX, considering the fresh injuries from my previous face chart and turning them into old scars, which he got from his abusive relationship in the 70s, meaning they were there when he died and became a ghost too. I will use Tuplast to create keloid scarring to illustrate how badly he was abused, and then I will fill in any sparse brows and cover any blemishes to make him generally attractive. 

Changes and additions to Claudia and Quentin characters

Following the feedback from my presentation, I have made a few changes. I needed to incorporate more complex make-up to demonstrate my skills, and also wanted to make my character's backstories a little more interesting. 
Therefore, I am going to change Quentin's date of death to the 1970s. He was in an abusive relationship with someone who would attack and harm him, and one day she accidentally killed him. Consequently, my character will be covered in scars on his face. He will be wearing the same clothes he died in - a bright, patterned shirt left unbuttoned at the top. His hair will be slightly long, and still messy, as he is trying to look more modern for Claudia, who hates his 70s attire. After his death, Quentin spent years as a ghost looking over his former girlfriend, who despite the abuse, he still loved dearly. Once she died, he began to roam the earth, unseen by humans, unsure of what he was meant to do in order to pass over; until he met Claudia in 2010, (when the second series of Being Human took place). Being a vampire, she was the first person who was actually able to see him in years, and thus, he fell in love with her. 
Claudia, however, soon grows more paranoid and insane, as she isolates herself and refuses to give in to her hunger for blood. She then begins to behave cruelly to Quentin, manipulating him as she thinks he is just a figment of her imagination. It seems that Quentin is attracted to unhealthy relationships. 
My design for Claudia will now include more features that demonstrate her insanity - dirty hands and nails, scratches on her neck and face, and sweat. She will also still wear doll-like make-up, to show how she tries to look nice for Quentin, but in a slightly childlike way; showing her regression to a more childlike state amidst her madness. 
By adding these points to the storyline I feel that I have incorporated a more interesting dynamic between the couple. Quentin, although probably about 60 years old, still remains youthful in appearance due to being frozen at the time of his death. However, he has experienced much more in the last 40-odd years, even though he is almost 'trapped' in the 70s through his clothing. By creating Quentin's previous relationship, the audience will see that he is attracted to unhealthy, dysfunctional women who will hurt him, and thus they will feel sympathy for him. Claudia also stays at the same age as she died and became a vampire. 
This addition to the story allows me to use my make-up skills to create scarring, uneven complexions, scratches and dirtied skin, as well as the more normal make-up and hair from before. I think this will add nice, almost creepy contrasts with Claudia's youthful, doll-like appearance and Quentin's bright shirt and good looks. 

Claudia and Quentin face charts

Claudia:

For my Claudia character, my initial idea was to make her doll-like, with neat brows, small flicks on the eyes, long lashes, rosy cheeks and pink lips. To fit with the backstory that she never leaves her house, she would be pale. However, I realise that I need to incorporate some special effects make-up; so I designed a look which demonstrates her insanity - no 'beauty' make-up, only dirt, scratches and sweat, as though she is restless, fidgety, and unclean. I will most likely combine both of these looks, keeping the doll-like, 'innocent' look, as well as the more unclean, crazy effect.

Quentin:

For Quentin, I initially was just going to add some concealer, fill in the brows if they were sparse, add some moisturiser to create a healthy glow, and so on, so that he would appear a typical human attractive male. Again, though, I wanted to add SFX. I designed a look where he would have cuts and bruises, showing how he died perhaps - but in Being Human, ghosts appear how they looked normally when they were alive, i.e. without any fresh injuries. I need to think further about how I will include SFX, while keeping in theme with my character and the TV series.

Claudia and Quentin presentation - initial ideas