Poster Test Shots

We tried out different make up on the face to find the kind of effect we wanted of decaying skin. We wanted to create shadow on the face to make the face appear more gaunt and also more threatening. Meg used her skills learnt in Art and Design to aid the group in exploring different techniques in order to find the more successful one.

This attempt used porridge oats, fake tan, black paint, flour and water, with a layer of face paint over the top in order to accentuate the black circles of the eyes and the lips. However we found that the mixture did not create the desired effect of flaking skin and instead went brown and sticky. It was also incredibly difficult to paint on without the paint being obvious. Emily's similar colouring to our main character meant that she was selected for the initial experiment of the makeup, while Meg tried different techniques.

This attempt used just porridge oats, flour and water as we thought that the last mixture may have combined too many ingredients. This mixture was also too runny, making it difficult to paint on without the paint running down the face and creating black streaks. The mixture went see-through in some places, making it appear less realistic as so many different skin tones were visible. It did however emphasise the black eyes, although they were perhaps too obvious and created a panda effect. The mixture was somewhat flaky in areas.

This mixture used the same ingredients as the previous test of flour, porridge oats and water, although less water was added in order to make a less liquid-y product. This worked as it made the skin appear more flaky and decayed. It also created an easier base to paint on as it hardened to become more solid. This is the mixture that we moved on to paint over as it was the most successful.

The face paint used over the top worked to accentuate the eyes without being too dark. It makes the face appear gaunt and threatening, reducing the human nature of the face. Some shadow was used across the cheek bones and mouth to create texture across the face and make it appear more decayed. The base mixture was especially effective as the face paint made it flake slightly, leaving some parts darker than others.

The face painting was continued and other colours were added in order to make the face appear more unnatural. The colours mainly used were green and purple, with the purple appearing almost bruise-like to connote ideas of violence and threat. Letters from the ouija board were copied onto the face in random places. We first spelled "Penance", but decided that it looked too contrived so used other random letters. We did not want to completely cover the face in order to maintain the effects of the face paint, but used enough to make it evident that it is important. We thought this looked effective as it appeared unnatural and hinted at the mysterious antagonistic entity.

We then began experimenting with the poses that would be used for the poster image, using the idea of the girl leaning forward out of the darkness towards the camera.


The end result of Emily's face makeup took a considerable amount of time to produce, something that definitely made this process necessary.

-Emily (post and model)
-Meg (makeup and photographs)