Project Evaluation

Overall, I really enjoyed the Goodbye to Berlin project.  I enjoyed the book and the film Cabaret, and I felt that it interesting to study a book and a script to gain my perspectives on the characters that I ended up choosing instead of the film.  However since doing this I understand why it is a better way of doing so.

The research behind this project was really interesting, and I enjoyed learning about Weimar Germany in the 1920s and 30s.  That period of the 20th century is so well known for the rise of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler, so it was intriguing to learn more about what life was like for the people actually living there at the time of his reign.  I also enjoyed the research for the second half of the project, club culture.  I found the outfits that the club kids wore so fascinating, yet they looked so painful.  Leigh Bowery was brilliant to research into because he was one of the first club kids and he was so extraordinarily out there, he gave me a lot of inspiration for when it came to my contemporary cabaret character.

During this project I feel that I have gained a few skills and enhanced on old ones that I learnt last year.  For example, when we swapped our historical designs with our partners, I felt that my communication was a lot stronger and clearly than it was last year for the Elizabethan assessments.  I have also gained some more confidence in my skills and myself, however I still need to gain more as I can doubt myself a lot and I am my own worst critic.

If I were to change anything about the project, I would suggest that we had more practical lessons that taught us specific techniques for the project.  I also would suggest some more hair practicals, as I felt that one was not enough for the whole term.  In myself and the way that I have conducted my project, I would improve on my organisation, as I can be quite a last minute person and I am working to change that.

Overall I have been quite pleased with the project, and I have enjoyed designing and creating my characters.

New Berliners

The final task for the Goodbye to Berlin project was to go around Southampton and photograph things in black and white that we thought represented a Modern Weimar Berlin.  It was a fun task and insightful to photograph everything and everything we saw.  Are we the New Berliners?  Are we living in a modern Weimar Berlin?

Contemporary Character: Kit Kat Girl

My contemporary Cabaret is one of the Kit Kat Girls.  I am pleased with how my shoot went to capture the look, and I like how the hair and make-up has shown up on the camera.  I think that the outcome of the hairstyle was a lot more successful for me than the make-up.  I am really happy with the way that the finger waves turned out, as they were really defined around the face and leading into straight hair at the ends. 

I think that the make-up went well too.  I am really happy with the shape on the eye that I created and I like the silver and black ombre lips.  However, the blusher does not show up as well as strongly as I would have liked, so this is something that could be improved for next time.  Also, I would have liked for the silver dots under the eyes to be more prominent.  To do this, I would make them slightly bigger or maybe even change the colour of them.

Contemporary Kit Kat Girl: Make-up and Hair Practices

Having chosen my final designs for my contemporary Kit Kat Girl Cabaret character, I have tested the ideas out to ensure that they look how I imagine them to, and I feel that they both are.

The make-up is fairly easy to create, however it takes quite a while to get the eye shape exactly right and equal on both sides.  When actually creating my final image for this character,  I need to make sure that I can get it as equal as I did here.  I will also need to concentrate on the lip colour, because of the ombre style that I have chosen.

For the hair, I am happy with the style of straight hair at the back and finger waves at the front.  I think that this is a design that is simple, yet effective, and will look good along with the make-up.  When creating the hairstyle for the final image, I need to make sure that I get enough definition in the finger waves at the front of the hair.

Contemporary Kit Kat Girl: Make-up and Hair Design

Above is my make-up design for my contemporary Kit Kat Girl character.  I have chosen to use mainly black and silver colours for my design, as my character is a showgirl and I can picture her to have quite glittery and dark eyes.

To create the look, I would start by applying foundation in the correct shade to match my model's skin tone.  I would then contour her face quite heavily in order to get good definition of her face shape.  Then I would apply Illamasqua's Laid cream blusher in a liney motion along each cheekbone.  After that I would powder the whole face and then concentrate on the eye area.  I would begin this area by creating the angular shape on each eyelid.  Once the shape is equal, I would then fill it in with black eyeshadow, and blend the top line slightly.  Then I would create a line using black eyeshadow on the under side of the eyebrows, and then I would comb some silver cream shadow through the top half of the eyebrow.  Then I would apply mascara to both top and bottom lash lines, and finish the eyes by adding silver dots underneath the eyes, from the middle to the outer corner.

To finish the look off I would then apply a black lip colour to the whole lip, and then add a silver product to the middle of the inner lips.

Above is my hair design for my contemporary Kit Kat Girl Cabaret character.  For this hairstyle, I have opted to create a deep set side parting with big defined finger waves at the front on the side with more hair.  The front hair on the other side would be pinned behind the ear, and then the rest of the hair straightened and made sleek and smooth.

Contemporary Kit Kat Girl: Moodboard and Inspiration

Above is a moodboard that I created with inspiration for my contemporary cabaret character.  I have used images from the 1920s as well as contemporary fashion images and some shots taken from the film Party Monster.

From looking at inspiration for my character design, I have had some initial ideas.  These ideas include bright colours in the make-up, similar to the middle bottom photo.  Some other ideas that I have had for the make-up involve dark eyes and lips and some glitter in places, and another idea involves making it more 1920s with a contemporary spin.  For example, similar to the photo in the bottom right corner.

For the hair, I want to include finger waves at the front of the hair, flowing into a more contemporary style at the back.  For example, I might incorporate plaits in the hairstyle or just keep it all down.  I know that I definitely want to keep the hair long and sleek though, as I think that this is more contemporary.

Party Monster

Party Monster is a film that is set in the 1980s and 90s New York Club scene.  Based on the true story and novel Disco Bloodbath by James St James, the film sees the life of club promoter and party organiser Michael Alig spiral out of control when he announces that he has killed his friend and roommate, Angel Melendez.

The film was really interesting to watch, and it was insightful to see the similarities and differences between that and Cabaret.  I feel that Michael Alig and Sally Bowles are quite similar characters.  This is because they both seem to live for the lifestyle of the night.  For Sally Bowles, she lives to perform at the Kit Kat Club in the evenings, whereas for Michael Alig, he lives to dress up and go out to get 'wasted' and dance the night away at the underground clubs in New York.

James St James and Michael Alig in the film Party Monster
Available: http://herlifewithbooks.com/2013/02/21/all-roads-lead-to-ya-lit-sex-drugs-edition/

References:

- Varma, S. (n.d.). Party Monster. Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0320244/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl. Last accessed 12th Nov 2014.