Creating Anita Berber for Continuity

1. Hair prep:

·      Brush hair and create an off-centre parting.

·      Section hair – brow line all the way around the head.

·      Curl the hair from the top section and pin to allow the curls to set and cool.

2. Skin:

·      Apply Prittstick to the eyebrows using a cotton bud and allow to dry.

·      Apply Illamasqua Matte Primer to the skin and neck.

·      Using the Screenface foundation palette, contour the face with the lightest and darkest shades.

·      Apply Illamasqua Cream Blush in Laid to the upper cheeks/cheekbone, and blend.

·      Pat and brush on Illamasqua Loose Powder to the entire pace, especially heavy under the eyes.

3. Eyes:

·      Apply white eyeshadow all over the eyes, including over the brows.

·      Blend in pink to inner eyes and lightly around.

·      Blend pale blue around the crease and under the eyes.

·      Using a darker blue, exaggerate the sloped crease and under the eyes.

·      Pat on light green to the lids and blend all around the eyes.

·      Work dark green into the crease and under the eye.

·      Line the outer lash lines with MAC Coffee pencil.

·      Apply black mascara to upper and lower lashes.

·      Brush away any excess powder from under the eyes (reapply foundation if necessary)

·      Draw on the eyebrows using MAC Coffee pencil.

4. Contouring:

·      Using the contour kit, apply the two lightest shades to the highlighted areas and the darkest shad to the hollows of the face.

5. Lips:

·      Line the lips with Rimmel Black Tulip.

·      Then fill the lips with the bright and dark red.

6. Hair:

·      Backcomb the underneath section, roll up and tuck into a bob.

·      Take out the curls.

·      Brush down the hair flat to the head and pin.

·      Arrange the curls to the bob and pin into place.

·      Put on earrings.

Product List:

Prittstick

Illamasqua Matte Primer

Screenface foundation palette

Illamasqua Cream Blush – Laid

Illamasqua loose powder

Contour palette

Eyeshadow palette

MAC pencil – Coffee

Rimmel lip liner – Black Tulip

Lipstick palette – dark and bright red

Hair Equipment:

Tongs

Grips

Clips

Pintail comb

Brush

Week 1:

Week 2:

Due to different lighting and camera arrangements, the images look noticeably different. Although this factor changes the digital images, I feel that there are some aspects of the looks which differ between weeks. I feel that the hair differs as there are grip showing in week two which were meant to be hidden and were unnoticed until the images were compared. Also the tightness of curls differ as I used different curling tongs (which I thought wouldn't be an issue) and they are looser in week 2 than in week 1. I feel that the makeup looks very much the same in both weeks. Unfortunately, the camera I used in week 2 hasn't picked up the pink tones around the eyes and have been whited out by the flash. All in all, I am pleased with the outcomes of my designs in comparison to my hair and facecharts. I feel that improvement could have definitely been made with the continuity by taking a lot more photos from different angles. 

Creating 1920/30s Hair: Bob and Waves

Equipment:

·      Tongs

·      Pintail comb

·      Brush

·      Grips

·      Pins

·      Hairspray

·      Leave-in conditioner

Directions

·      Brush client’s hair and create a clean side parting.

·      Section the front of the hair away, from the crown to the ear.

·      Spray some heat defence onto the front section of the hair and brush through.

·      Starting at the top, create a small section of hair, angled backwards, and tong away from the hairline at an angle, approximately 45 degrees.

·      Continue to tong in this direction to form a brickwork pattern.

·      Once you have tonged the hair in this direction to the back of the section, change the direction you are tonging and angle the hair towards the face.

·      Pins, and allow the curls to cool set.

·      Whilst the curls are cooling, the bob can be created.

·      Section a row of hair at the back of the head and pin away to use at the end.

·      Using the remaining hair, heavily backcomb to create a mass of hair to use to create the structure of the bob.

·      Tuck under the backcombed hair into the desired bob shape and secure with grips.

·      Bring the top section of hair over the top and smooth down.

·      Tuck the hair underneath the backcombed bob and secure with grips.

·      Once satisfied with the shape, check the curls to see if they have cooled and unpin.

·      Gently brush the curls together and apply a very small amount of leave-in conditioner to smooth out any frizziness.

·      When brushing the curls together, you will notice a prominent direction of the hair.

·      Manipulate the hair into this waved direction and secure with pins and hairspray.

Characterisation: Wigs + Wig Application

Wig Application:

Equipment:

·      Brush

·      Pintail comb

·      Hair ties

·      Grips

·      Hairspray

·      Wig stocking/cap

Directions:

·      Brush through hair.

·      Part the hair into two sections in a centre parting.

·      Create two french plaits, on on each side of the head, and tie.

·      Wrap the plaits under the hair and secure with pins underneath.

·      Fix any look ‘baby’ hair away from the face using hair spray.

·      Apply a wig stocking to the head, behind the hairline, and secure.

Once our application was secure, we were free to try on all the wigs supplied in class. This was a fun exercise seeing everyone look so different. When I was trying on the wigs, I noticed how different I felt in each one and how they made me act in a certain way. This has shown me how wigs are a very important factor for characterisation and aiding actors to feel more like their character. 

This large ginger wig made me feel very silly and energetic. It's size gave me a strange confidence and I started throwing myself around in the same way the wig moved. 

You can tell by my facial expression in this image that I am completely out of my comfort zone in this short dark wig. I felt very unattractive and exposed. You can tell instantly that I look shy and uncertain. 

This blue wig made me feel a little more excited than the previous wig, but I was still very unsure on the length and style. I felt a little bit like a lego character. 

You can see my excitement with this wig on. I remember when I was trying it on it felt like a massive mane of hair and i felt like Beyonce. The movement and bounce reflected in my personality whilst trying this on. 

In this wig I felt like a middle aged woman who was having a slight crisis with her image and decided to get her hair cut regrettably short. Again, my pose shows that I am not comfortable with this style, but it was also very scary how aged this made me look.  

My pose shows how I'm clearly enjoying this colour and mass of hair of hair a little too much. I am holding a very serious and quite diva-ish pose. I really enjoyed this wig as it made me feel very glamorous, but at the same time, it shows that light blonde washes me out.

This style was probably my favourite. You can see that I am completely comfortable with the style as it is very similar to my own, but also that the colour isn't unusual. My expression shows how I look and feel fairly normal and could wear this on a regular basis. 

This style was quite scary for me, as I look very much like my sister and auntie! The style is very sophisticated and I felt like I should be working in an office, in other words, this style is very bland. My facial expression shows how I am not particularly excited, but just pleased that I look norma.

This style is very much like the one above, but I felt a little more interesting in it with the warmer colours running through the hair. Instantly I feel less boring and more youthful. 

Anita Berber

German dancer, Anita Berber, was famous for breaking boundaries with her outrageous performances. She shocked her audiences with her nude performances which displayed her love for drugs, her lust for sex and openly displayed her bisexuality. She often sported a short, red bob, wore her lipstick in a sharp cupid's-bow and wore very little clothing. She has been described as the "Countess of sin" - Mel Gordon, Feral House (2006), The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity.

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://cinevedette5.unblog.fr/748-anita-berber/

I found a particular quote which I felt summed up perfectly my idea of Anita Berber, and translates just how extreme she was as a human being:

“Anita Berber (1899-1928) was immensely famous in 1920s Berlin - for reasons not acknowledged in polite society. She danced (nude) in nightclubs, seduced a wide swath of the the population (both male and female), appeared (also frequently nude) in soft porn silent films, drank (on the average) one bottle of cognac per day, married three times, was addicted to cocaine and opium, was never seen in public without heavy make-up, talked incessantly, lied like a rug and, predictably, died at an early age.“

Shelley Esaak, viewed 15.10.14, Special Exhibition Gallery - Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s. Available at: http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/glitterdoom/gad_07.htm

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://cinevedette5.unblog.fr/748-anita-berber/

Her performances were unusually named "Suicide", "Morphium" and "Mad House". It's uncertain as to why they were named with such extreme names. These performances were created with her husband of the time, Sebastian Droste, who she married in 1922.

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/92060/A00C0886A9230283BF8FED60E8B6EF5BDA703DB2.html

Otto Dix famously painted her in 1925, The Dancer Anita Berber. Dix was never a big fan of the colour red in his paintings, but used red as his primary colour. The colour depicts her firery personality and the painting is insultingly powered with sexual energy. The background appears as if it is luring you to hell with with the colours ressembling fire. Even though Berber is clothed in this painting, her body position, including the positioning of her hands, are very suggestive. Her clothing is tight to certain areas of her body which creates the illusion of her naked body. The red heavily contrasts with the paleness of her skin, and matched the red in her hair and on her lips. This painting was created only three years before her death.

Shelley Esaak, viewed 15.10.14, Special Exhibition Gallery - Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s [online image] Available at: http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/glitterdoom/gad_07.htm

Amy Winehouse, the contemporary Anita Berber, shown below at her lowest weight due to drug abuse. Amy was an incredible performer, but her life was taken at a similarly young age due to the stress and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Here you can see the effects this rock and roll lifestyle Amy led; he frail physique, greyish skin and a look of worry on her face.

Viewed 20.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://www.myproana.com/index.php/topic/139451-amy-winehouse-at-her-lowest-weight/

Brendan, 2010, Anita’s Anniversary, viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at:

http://www.cabaret-berlin.com/?p=422

Lisa and Monica, 2011, Her Style: Berlin’s Naked Goddess, viewed 18.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://www.wornthrough.com/2011/01/11/anarchists-of-style-anita-berber-part-2/