Portrayals of Estella

Jane Wyatt 1934

Walker, S. (1934) Great Expectations.

This 1934 film directed by Stuart Walker had Jane Wyatt depict the character of Estella. I don't find this film to be historically accurate according to the visual styling of the character. Jack P Pierce was the makeup artist on this film. As can be seen in the picture above Estella's makeup reflects the late 20's early 30's rather than the minimal cosmetics used in the 1800's. 

Valerie Hobson 1946

Great Expectations (1946) (no date) Available at: http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie%20Summaries/G/Great%20Expectations%20(1946).htm 

Directed by David Lean this 1946 interpretation of Estella was portrayed by Valerie Hobson.Although this being one of her more famous roles Hobson later called the experience of working with Lean on the film "the unhappiest' and called him "a cold director- he gave me nothing at all as an actress" 

Sarah Miles 1974

KaB Music – Nadějné vyhlídky (no date)

Directed by Joseph Hardy 1974 TV film shows Sarah Miles portray Estella. Although I think this is quite a realistic portrayal of Estella as she has mid to late Victorian hair style, this productions criticism was mainly negative. 

Gwyneth Paltrow 1998

cinematic corner.: Great Expectations (1998) (no date) Available at: http://cinematiccorner.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/great-expectations-1998.html

In 1998 Alfonso Cuaron created a modernised interpretation of dickens novel set in New York. Gwyneth Paltrow played Estella. Roger Ebert, a movie critic gave it 3 out of five stars and said that "...Especially in the early Florida scenes, it seems timeless. Hawke and Paltrow project that uneasy alertness of two people who know they like each other and suspect they'll regret it. "

Justine Waddell 1999

Pix For > Great Expectations 1999 (no date) Available at: http://pixgood.com/great-expectations-1999.html

In 1999 Justine Waddell played Estella. Fran Needham was the makeup designer. Although I didnt feel the makeup department went in the right direction when developing Miss Havishams makeup, I think they did really well with keeping Estella fresh faced and young. 

Vanessa Kirby 2011

Correspondent, L. C., Education (2010) Return to real lessons: Dickens and key dates in history to be taught to raise standards. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291188/Modern-students-poor-grasp-history-depressing-says-Schools-minister.html 

Although not the latest adaptation this is probably one of the most famous portrayals of Estella.  One of my favourite aspects of the makeup designed by Kristin Chalmers is the skin. it is flawless almost like a porcelain doll to signify how beautiful Estella is.

Holliday Grainger 2012

Nail and Rockett Blog. (no date) Available at: http://www.nailandrockett.com/Nail-and-rockett-blog.html 

This is the  latest and my favourite portrayal of Estella. The hair and makeup in this film is reflective of the era in which it is set. Estella looks young and natural but still her beauty is evident. I have used this image of Estella as inspiration towards my design.

Estella Quotes

When we first meet Estella its clear she is cold and emotionless. In the first scene we meet her she slaps Pip.

"Am I pretty?"
"Yes; I think you are very pretty."
"Am I insulting?"
"Not so much so as you were the last time."
"Not so much so?"
"No."
She fired when she asked the last question, and slapped my face with such force as she had, when I answer it.
"Now," said she. "You little course monster, what do you think of me now?"

In another quote she openly talks of her lack of sensitivity.
"I have not bestowed my tenderness anywhere. I have never had any such thing." 

Correspondent, L. C., Education (2010) Return to real lessons: Dickens and key dates in history to be taught to raise standards. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1291188/Modern-students-poor-grasp-history-depressing-says-Schools-minister.html 

Estella Analysis

Estella is a character who darkly undermines the notion of romantic love and serves as a bitter criticism against the class system in which she is mired. She was raised by Miss Havisham since she was three years old and brought up to torment men and "break their hearts". Pip is infatuated with Estella and although to him she seems like the longed-for ideal of the upper classes, she was born even lower-class than he. She is the daughter of Magwitch, the convict Pip helps at the beginning of the novel.

Miss Havisham destroys her ability to express emotion and interact socially with the world around her. She marries a cruel noble man Drummle, who beats her and makes her miserable. Some say Dickens uses Estellas life to reinforce the idea that ones happiness and well-being are not deeply connected to ones social position. 

In the final scene of the novel, she has become her own woman for the first time in the book. As she says to Pip, “Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching. . . . I have been bent and broken, but—I hope—into a better shape.”

Nail and Rockett Blog. (no date) Available at: http://www.nailandrockett.com/Nail-and-rockett-blog.html

Dickens, C. (no date) SparkNotes: Great Expectations: Analysis of Major Characters. Available at: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/greatex/canalysis.html 

Miss Havisham Continuity Assessment

The week after creating Miss Havisham we then had to recreate her for continuity purposes. I practiced mine a lot and so found it a lot easier to recreate her. Although it was harder than I would thought it would of been and looking back I wish I'd taken a lot more notes and photos the first time round.

This is my Miss Havisham the second time around.

                     

These are my two Miss Havishams together. I think I recreated it pretty well although there are some things I could of worked on. 

Why Is Continuity Important?

daud (2013) 20 Worst Twilight Movie Mistakes. Available at: http://humormadness.com/20-worst-twilight-movie-mistakes/ 

Scenes in movies are sometimes shot over multiple days, meaning that the hair and makeup must be done exactly the same more than once. When there is a slight difference it is easy to see it when the shots are put together and it ruins the continuity of the film. 
As a makeup artist its your job to oversee makeup and hair continuity during filming and work to the makeup and hair designers breif. 
When researching its clear that a lot of makeup artitst take sevral photos with clear indications and notes to make sure they can recreate the looks the next day. 

This is an example of the noted polaroids makeup artists use during shooting.

Foreign Correspondents - Melanie Lynskey Forever (no date) Available at: http://www.forcor.com/makeup/mel.html 

Miss Havisham First Final Assessment

This was my final look. I think it turned out how I wanted it too and so im pleased. Although I think it will be hard to recreate but because I've practiced it a lot that should help.

I think the lips will be the hardest thing to recreate in the continuity assessment as the placement of the Duo Glue and the way in which it rubs off may be different next time. While this glue was drying I distressed it with my finger to give it a dry, peeling skin look.

I took a lot of pictures of the parting of the hair to make sure it was easy for me to recreate on the next assessment. Its clear here that the hair parts just behind the ear and the curls go forward from there. 

The positioning of this veil will be an important thing to make sure I get correct in the continuity assessment.

Making sure I get the same amount of white on the brow is something I need to focus on, otherwise they could end up looking too theatrical and jokey. As my model has naturally very dark hair it is easy for these grey brows to look as though they are just painted on and that isnt something I want.

 

                                          

First Practice of Miss Havisham

This was my first practice of the eye look. I realised that it didnt show up well on camera and that I needed to enhance it. I wanted the eyes look look red and sore as if Miss Havisham stayed up all night crying. Although this was achieved in person the makeup wasnt strong enough to show up on camera and it was clear I would have to apply more. 

This was a good test for me to see how far I had to go with the makeup until it was visible under harsh lights and on camera. I learnt that a lot more makeup is needed than that to be worn under natural light. 

Next time I will make the colours a lot stronger. I also think the base needs to be paler to really reflect the lack of sunlight Miss Havisham would have had. 

Safe Products to Create Sore, Red Eyes

Makeup Artist, Courtney Little (2014) First Look: KRYOLAN EYE BLOOD | Courtney Little. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPF1108FpJs

I want Miss Havisham to have sore, red eyes. As red is sometimes a worrying colour to put in the eyes due to the pigment used to create it I researched other ways to achieve this. I found a video on Kyrolans Eye Blood.

Eyeblood 20 ml | Kryolan - Professional Make-up (no date) Available at: https://us.kryolan.com/product/eyeblood-20-ml

This product is designed specifically to go into the eyes. It makes the eyes appear bloodshot and sore which is what I wanted to achieve however it also makes the client cry blood tears. This isnt something I wanted and so I carried on researching safe things to use on the eye to achieve what I wanted to achieve. 

I found that Kyrolan also did a 'safe for eyes' red eyeliner pencil and so I decided this is what I needed as it would make the rims of the eyes appear sore and aggravated from lack of sleep and tears.

Miss Havisham Hair Step by Step

Miss Havisham Hair Style Practise

Products:

-Pintail Comb

-Paddle Brush

-Hair bands

-Hair Grips

-Curling Tongs

-Dry Shampoo

-Accessories

Method:

1. Section the hair into a Y shape from the from of the head. This should create two front sections and a large back section with a middle part.

2. With the section of hair at the back of the head, twist the hair into a bun in the middle of the head. 

3. With the front section, create a severe, clean middle parting using a pintail comb.

4. Curl the hair tightly towards the face at the sides of the face, so that the curls fall on the cheeks and finish at the chin. Backcomb these to create a messy effect. 

5. Spritz the hair with dry shampoo, building up around the roots.

6. I applied a veil to the hair over the bun.

Step by Step Miss Havisham Makeup

This is my Miss Havisham facechart. To achieve this look I used the step by step guide below.

Products:

Cleanser, Toner and Moisturiser

Illamasqua Primer

Kryolan Ultra Foundation Palette 

Illamasqua Skin Base (White)

Kryolan Camouflage Concealer Palette

Kryolan Brilliant Colour Palette

Illamasqua Translucent Powder

Kryolan Blush Palette

Eyelash Glue

How to:

1. Prep the skin. Cleanse, tone and moisturise to create a clean, even base.

2. Prime the skin with Illamasqua Matte Primer.

3. Mix the lightest shade of foundation from the ultra foundation palette, along with Illamasqua white skin base. Apply this to the centre of the face and blend out with a buffing brush making sure it blends into the skin. Dont forget the ears, neck and hands.

4. Set with Illamasqua translucent powder. 

5. Contour the face with the grey shadows. Build up the colour with the Brilliant Colour Palette. Work into the eye sockets, jaw line and cheek bones. The aim is to hollow out the face. 

6. With a small angled brush, work into the natural lines of the face with a light brown from the Brilliant Colour Palette. Create the look of wrinkles on the forehead, around the eyes, and lips. 

7. Apply red and pink shadows around the eye to make them look soar from the tears. Apply Crimson eyeliner by Kryolan to the water line. 

8. Apply vaseline around the eye to give it a swollen appearance. 

9. Apply White Skin Base to the eyelashes and the brows, to age them. 

10. Apply eyelash glue to the lips and rub over with your finger to distress that.

Miss Havisham Face Charts

This design I wanted the cheeks to be extremely hollow. She has excessive wrinkles and pale lips.

Miss Havisham here I wanted to be very skeleton like. Her cheeks are extremely hollow and her lips are thin and puckered. Her eyes are sore and she has crows feet.

This is my final Miss Havisham design and the one I am going to go with. Her lips are cracked and soar. Her eyes are extremely sore from lack of sleep and excessive crying. Her face is hollow from malnutrition and she has a single tear coming from her eye.

Miss Havisham Hair Charts

This is an early Victorian hairstyle I thought would be appropriate for Miss Havisham. It involves plaits which drape around the ear and join a bun at the back.

This is late Georgian hairstyle, I figured this would have been around the time Miss Havisham got married. However I found this hard to work out how to do and we hadnt studied it in class so I moved on.

This is my final hair design for Miss Havisham. Its an early Victorian hairstyle that involves a mid bun at the back and curls curling towards the face at the side of the ears. This will work well with my models hair as she has long hair which will curl well.