Monday, 20 February 2012

Horror Make Up

We researched the make up used to signify that a person has been possessed. Although for the trailer we want the girls to appear normal in order to contrast the unnatural things happening to them, we will use a shot that shows a girl to be completely possessed for the webpage and poster and for this we would like supernatural make up.

In 'The Exorcist', the possessed girl's face becomes pasty and covered in cuts and marks that appear like injuries. The girl has huge shadows under her eyes, which are completely white. We really like the idea of changing the face to make it appear distorted and decaying so that it appears more shocking and unnatural. The injuries on the face suggest the power the spirit has and the fragility of the human, and we would like to incorporate this idea into the possessed make up. Making the eyes unnatural also appeals, as it really makes the image appear scary as the humanity is taken away from the victim to be replaced by something unnatural. The greasy hair of the victim also adds to the effect of making her appear no longer human. We would like to replicate this look, as it is haunting and stays with the audience even after the viewing of the film has finished. The unnatural nature of the look is especially effective because the character is a child, and we hope that this shock will also be created by a similarly unnatural look on a teenager. The contrast of decaying features with a normally youthful and healthy face acts to emphasise the disturbing nature of the spirit, and shows it to be a threat even to the life of the victim, as well as normality.

We were also interested in the markings on the skin that are used in 'The Haunting in Connecticut' [pictured right], and in two episodes of science fiction television programme 'Doctor Who', 'The Impossible Planet' and 'The Satan Pit' [pictured below right]. These are effective as they cover the whole body and reflect the nature of the spirit as they seem to communicate something about its past or what it wants. In 'The Haunting in Connecticut', the markings are carved into the skin, making it more shocking and upsetting to see and creating sympathy for the victim. In 'Doctor Who', the markings are instead unnaturally branded to the skin and only appear when the victim is possessed, being removed when the possessive entity is hiding. They are a different language, creating a sense of mystery as they cannot be read, but also emphasising the supernatural nature of the possession as the markings do not even seem to make sense and instead reflect a completely different species or culture. In 'Doctor Who', the face is also somewhat changed by red eyes and discoloured blue lips, making it appear even more unnatural. We find this idea interesting and would like to incorporate markings on the face of the possessed victim, as well as unnatural decay make up, in order to reflect the spirit's link with the world and hint at its past. We are going to use ouija board letters across the girl's face in order to reflect the manner in which the spirit was contacted and maintain the theme that the ouija board plays a large part in the events that follow. They also emphasise the gothic and supernatural nature of the film as they are in the same font used on ouija boards, which is decorative and old fashioned. We are also going to edit the victim's eyes to make them appear unnatural.