Presentation of Character Design

In our lesson today, we had to present our character design development to the class. 

Below is a sequence of my slides which included a moodboard for my chosen character, hair designs and face designs. 

Some of the feedback I received was:

-Good keywords, but how have I related them to the face and hair charts and character design?
-I didn't explain who the women on my moodboard were or why I chose them.
-For my hair chart: Good choice of colour and reasons behind it.
-Look at scenes of Marlene Dietrich films.
-Second face chart is the best design, but consider other options for lip colour.
-Include more historical references.
-Include more real women of the period; Jean Harlow, Theda Bara etc.

I'm going to do a little more research over the next few days particularly into the historical figures. 

Technical Post: 1930's Fingerwaves and Bobs

Products and Tools needed for Hair:

-Small/Narrow Curling Tongs

-Pintail Comb

-Smoothing Brush

-Denman Brush

-Kirby Grips

-Sectioning Clips

-Hairspray

-Shine Spray

-Vitapoint

Instructions:

-Make sure hair is washed and prepped.

-Part hair in a left hand parting in line with the highest point of the brow.

-Section front of the hair from the crown and separate from the back.

- Start curling larger front section (Section 1) in a brick formation, downwards towards the ear, in 1 inch barrel curls and clip to set.

-Curl the smaller front section (Section 2) in 1 inch barrel curls backwards towards the back of the head and clip to set.

-Start curling the back section (section 3) in 2 inch barrel curls, downwards towards the neck, in a brick formation. Clip to set.

-Once all the hair is fully set, brush out each section using your smoothing brush. Use a small amount of Vitapoint to define waves, and allow hair to sit in the direction it was set in.

-Roll the bottom section of the hair up and secure into bob using Kirby grips.

-Apply hairspray to set, and shine spray to front section to add shine.

Anita Berber Continuity Assessment Part 1

Below are the images of the first part of the continuity assessment. I'm quite pleased with how the look turned out given the time frame. If I'd had a little more time I would have spent a little longer frizzing the hair, but I will need to recreate this look exactly, flaws and all, next week.

Anita Berber Continuity Assessment: Character Design

For my design, I chose to go with a look that Anita was often seen wearing. She had very dark smokey/smudgy eyeshadow all over her eyelid, and black kohl pencil drawn around her eye. She would also wear a red lipstick in an exaggerated heart shape. 

Web Image http://mujeres-riot.webcindario.com/anita-berber10.jpgViewed on 19/10/14

I would like the eyebrows to be quite defined in the 1920's/30's shape. They were very thin at this time and Anita would often just draw a thin black line above her natural brow. I will use eyebrow blocking to achieve this look to make the eyebrows a prominent feature in my design. 

 Image screenshot from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3QcIa0cCA viewed on 19/10/2014 

Web Image http://fleursdumal.nl/mag/wp-content/uploads/anbe039.jpg Viewed 19/10/14

I chose to create Anita's classic 1930's bob in the way that Seema taught us in the lesson. I would also like to use a headscarf like she was sometimes seen wearing.

Web Image https://33.media.tumblr.com/10ef7637b52f73a50683ef6ee321aad0/tumblr_mo0wcinhoh1r2ogbfo1_500.jpg Viewed 19/10/14

Web Image http://media-cache-ak1.pinimg.com/736x/60/21/8f/60218f6f6324d3f8f205ae63f7aa82f0.jpg Viewed 19/10/14

Web image http://www.cabaret-berlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/anita_berber_in_1922.jpg Viewed 19/10/14

Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Decadence

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Anita Berber (1899-1928)
Cabaret Dancer
Actress
Extreme Performer
Anita Berber was the epitomy of excess and decadence of the Weimar Berlin era. The whole culture was fascinated with morbidity, addiction, horror, ecstasy and narcissism. Anita Berber indulged in all of the above. She was addicted to cocaine and morphine, but her drug of choice was equal parts of ether and chloroform. She would allegedly stir this up with a white rose and then chew off the petals. This later transitioned to a cocktail of cocaine, opium and cognac.

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When she was performing on stage, Berber's pieces were extremely erotic. She famously appreared naked at 'Die Weisse Maus' ('The White Mouse') cabaret in Berlin. This was a small and exclusive club in Berlin, where the audience wore white masks to remain anonymous. Of her performances there, it has been written:

'After midnight, the guests were ready for the apocalyptic moment when the blouse-less girls pranced up the stage ramp. Anita's girls were powdered in deadly pallid shades and appeared like figures of death incarnate. But Anita performed with bitter sincerity. Each intrusion annoyed her. She responded to the audience's heckling with show stopping obscenities and incident provocations.Berber had been known to spit brandy on them or stand naked on their tables, dousing herself in wine whilst simultaneously urinating.

It was not long before the entire cabaret one night sank into a groundswell of shouting, screams and laughter. Anita jumped off the stage in fuming rage, grabbed the nearest champagne bottle and smashed it over a businessman's head.'
Berber has been described as many things, such as a "totally perverted woman", "countess of sin" and an incarnation of the perverse. 

Her relationships were as unconventional and troubled as her performances on stage. She married wealthy young screenwriter Eberhard von Nathusiu in 1919, but soon after began a series of lesbian affairs, including one with the young Marlene Dietrich. At the same time, she explored S&M sex. Her marriage ended in divorce in 1921. 

Soon after, she met Sebastian Droste, a dancer and a poet. They both understood that together they could create something theatrically bold, new and shocking, such as their production 'The Dances of Depravity, Horror and Ecstasy'. They got married in 1923. However, the pair fell into abusive and excessive drug use and the relationship failed.

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Then in 1924, she married American dancer Henri Chatin-Hoffman. They began performing through Europe and the Middle East with their new production 'Dances of Sex and Ecstasy'. But in Zagreb, Berber publicly insulted the King of Yugoslavia and was imprisoned for six weeks. Returning to Berlin, the pair returned to the cabaret.

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Tragically, yet unsurprisingly Anita Berber died in 1928, at the age of 29.  She collapsed while performing at a Beirut nightclub and was diagnosed with a state of advanced pulmonary tuberculosis, and died four months later in Bethanien Hospital in Kreuzberg.

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While in Düsseldorf in 1925, Otto Dix painted her now iconic portrait 'The Dancer Anita Berber'. The colours used in this painting represent fire, passion and danger- everything Anita Berber was. She looks considerably older in this painting than you would think she would at the age of 26. This could be the way that Otto Dix perceived her- after all she was a worldly and wise woman for the age of 26. I do however think that the excessive abuse of drugs and alcohol, combined with a lack of sleep, aged her considerably. Based on what we know these days about what drugs and alcohol do to the skin and the body, if someone was to be as excessive as Berber was, they would not retain their youthful appearance.

1 https://www.tumblr.com/search/anita+berber viewed on 19/10/2014 
2 Image screenshot from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3QcIa0cCA viewed on 19/10/2014
3 Image screenshot from  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm3QcIa0cCA viewed on 19/10/2014

4 http://www.cabaret-berlin.com/?p=365 viewed 19/10./2014
5 http://ozebook.com/nostalgia/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/anita-berber03.jpg 

Technical Post: Wig Application

Wig Application

Products and tools:

-Wig

-Wig Cap

-Pintail Comb

-Grips

1.    Prep the hair for wig application. To do this, section the hair into two halves. French plait each half of the hair tightly so they are flat against the head. If the model has long hair, take the bottom of the plait that is away from the head and wrap it round to the opposite side of the head and grip it to secure it. The hair should lie as flat as possible to the head

2.    Pull the wig cap over the plaited hair. Make sure any stray hairs are tucked away under the wig cap.

3.    Place the wig on the head. You may need your model or assistant to help you with this. They need to hook the front on their fingers and pull the wig down as you pull the back of the wig down.

4.    Once the wig is secure, fix any bits around the face so that it looks natural and sits properly.

Stanislavski's Acting Techniques: 10 & 11

Actioning
The active verb I would choose for Frl. Kost in this scene is to "allure". She is on a mission to attract potential clients. Her hair and makeup would be well presented, but her application deliberate. Certain features would be over-exaggerated to make herself appear more beautiful. 

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/marlene-dietrich/images/23183399/title/marlene-dietrich-photo 24/11/14

Score the text
Active verbs for the actor to consider in the scene are:

allure

əˈljʊə,əˈljɔː/

noun

1. 1.

   the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating.

   "people for whom gold holds no allure"

   synonyms:

   attraction, lure, draw, pull, appeal, glamour, allurement, enticement,temptation, bewitchment, enchantment, charm, seduction, persuasion,fascination, magnetism "the nostalgic allure of Paris in the fifties"

verb

1. 1.

   powerfully attract or charm; tempt.

   "will sponsors really be allured by such opportunities?"

   synonyms:

   attract, lure, entice, tempt, appeal to, whet the appetite of, make someone's mouth water, captivate, draw, beguile, bewitch, enchant,win over, charm, seduce, persuade, lead on, tantalize; More

flirt

fləːt/

verb

1. 1.

   behave as though sexually attracted to someone, but playfully rather than with serious intentions.

   "she began to tease him, flirting with other men in front of him"

   synonyms:

   trifle with, toy with, tease, lead on, philander with, dally with, make romantic advances to, court, woo, vamp; More
2. 2.

   (of a bird) wave or open and shut (its wings or tail) with a quick flicking motion.

   "a moorhen stepped out of the reeds, flirting its white tail"

noun

1. 1.

   a person who habitually flirts.

   "Jim was an outrageous flirt"

   synonyms:

   tease, trifler, philanderer, coquette, heartbreaker; More

consider

kənˈsɪdə/

verb

1. 1.

   think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision.

   "each application is considered on its merits"

   synonyms:

   think about, contemplate, give thought to, reflect on, examine,appraise, review; More
2. 2.

   look attentively at.

   "the old man considered his granddaughter thoughtfully"

   synonyms:

   look at, contemplate, observe, regard, survey, view, scrutinize, scan,examine, inspect; More

calculate

ˈkalkjʊleɪt/

verb

1. 1.

   determine (the amount or number of something) mathematically.

   "the program can calculate the number of words that will fit in the space available"

   synonyms:

   compute, work out, reckon, figure, enumerate, determine, evaluate,quantify, assess, cost, put a figure on; More
2. 2.

   intend (an action) to have a particular effect.

   "his last words were calculated to wound her"

   synonyms:

   intend, mean, design, plan, aim "his last words were calculated to wound her"

entice

ɪnˈtʌɪs,ɛn-/

verb

1. attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage.

   "a show which should entice a new audience into the theatre"

   synonyms:

   tempt, allure, lure, attract, dangle a carrot in front of; More