The Mrs. Laderman & Claudia Story & ideas...
The horror story chronicles (1970) Available at: http://theamericanhorrorchronicles.tumblr.com/post/100143995011/fionagoodeinthehoode-jessica-lange-as-elsa-mars (Accessed: 23 April 2016).
Inline Citations:
- (The horror story chronicles, 1970)
The story behind Mrs. Laderman is that she rescued Claudia from a fire near the carnival where some rebel children caused arson on what they thought was a abandoned house where in actual fact Claudia lived abandoned by her parents and Mrs. Laderman knew she was in there and was intrigued so she saw what was happening and decided to rescue her, however Claudia was burnt so bad, her was so severely burnt it couldn't be saved, Mrs. Laderman took her in a reconstructed a 'puppet/doll' to join in her freak show, as Mrs. Laderman was a talented ventriloquist and could be a master piece with an act with them together to finish each show.
This was carried out, Claudia is kept in the back room away from the other freaks, as she had a misunderstood, dark aurora which frightens off the others. Mrs. Laderman eyes turn white when she needs to control people for them to love her and do what she says, It is the 'Medusa' effect she uses, this is used on Claudia when she is needed to be on stage and when doing what she wants her to do,however, Claudia has side effects with twitching and scratching her skin when left out of sight of Mrs. Laderman, I will recreate the makeup as if she has been picking at her new face with cracks in the makeup to show this, also with blood dripping to show it is a new scratch/crack.
Mrs. Laderman, will look like a ring leader of a circus/ carnival, in control with her black blazer on, white shirt, red bow tie, top hat with sequinned band. I want her to look feminine yet in charge with a masculine outfit on (unisex).
Her hair will be waved, with a classic 1950's/60's style, sprayed white to show her age but also during that time silver/white/blonde hair was popular among show girls and I wanted to show this through her character.
Her makeup will be glam with, rosy red cheeks, high arch definite brows making a statement, with blue circular eye shadow also very 50's/60's style with glitter dabbed on top to create a powerful, bold appearance, making her eyes stand out with her white eyes because I will be shooting the photo whilst she's hypnotising Claudia. Her lips will be blood red, very classic, iconic and timeless.
I am very excited to see how my design ideas come out on the day of the shoot and testing them before hand.
Claudia's "misunderstood" story & ideas...
For claudia I am going to create a puppet/doll creation, I gathered inspiration from 1950's/60's dolls and with recreation of dolls in a modern day and to mix to the two together.
Classically in the 50's/60's dolls had classic blonde hair, with porcelain skin, shiny/ waxy skin due to them being plastic toy, I wanted to try and make the skin look shiny and plastic looking, I thought I could coat the skin with baby oil after the make-up had been applied by doing this with dabbing motions in order to not mess up the makeup but for the camera to capture this look.
With the makeup look i wanted a classic high arch 50's doll eye brow and circular in shape, big wide eyes by using white and dark toned makeup to create this illusion and with false eye lashes on the top lid and bottom to really expose the eyes. I want blood and dirt rubbed into her hands from where she's been kept and scratching herself, I want ribbon wrapped around her wrists to show how she's a puppet and how controlling Mrs. Laderman is with her, keeping her trapped and in her guard only.
I want her to have bright red lips and created in a sweet heart look as this was popular to see on dolls during this era. I will use SFX with blood and putty to create cracks and effects of the scratching of distress on her skin, I am excited to get started and to play around with ideas that I have gathered on my mood board.
Because of my characters background of being saved from a fire and being recreated by Mrs.
Laderman, being completely controlled and under her wing.
She was transformed into a human like puppet/doll and being the main act at the end of the show I want her to have a crack in her makeup, to show her destress when she's lonely and under Mrs. Ladermans control her side effects are clawing at her neck and face. But when she's about to appear on stage Claudia is hypnotised by Mrs. Laderman, like a 'Medusa' effect, you will see Mrs. Ladermans has the power to do this to all her freaks to keep them in line and for them to love her, but when it wears off Mrs. Laderman places her freaks and Claudia into cells to prevent them from doing anything, and Claudia's side effects her distressing, from scratching, tearing away at her skin which her go a little insane due to her loneliness and people are frightened but intrigued by her presence.
I am going to add a modern look, for a more spectacular look, with a white mesh around the neck to make her look pretty, dress her in white to symbolise her being misunderstood with red ribbon to enforce her fear and her near death. She will be wearing a white dress to also symbolise her innocence yet misjudgement from others, how she's been misunderstood.
With her hair look i am going to play around with a few looks to see what will look best but have been inspired by modern and vintage styles of the 1950's/60's and will incorporate them together to form a perfect doll/puppet look with the ribbon wrapped in her hair, as a lot of dolls had this in there hair. Her hair will be mousey, nor black nor blonde to keep it different.
