Contemporary Victorian Hairstyles Inspired By 'American Horror Story'

   In todays hair session we was shown how to recreate Victorian inspired hairstyles from the hit TV show 'American Horror Story'. Today we was shown Moira, a maid that used to work at the house and was murdered by the pervious owners. Moira's hairstyle embodies aspects of a late Victorian hairstyle.
   To create this we used hot rollers over the whole head, using the brick method over the whole back of the head and stacking the rollers on the remaining bits of hair (the front and side sections). After the rollers had cooled down I removed the back section and pinned the very bottom curls up and together to create a lift to the hair, next I started to pin the rest of the hair, following the way the curls wanted to move and exaggerating the design of it and making it look more stylised. Lastly I took down the front rollers and did exactly the same as the back curls by pinning them into more stylised curls on the sides of the head and parting the hair into a middle parting.
   When trying to recreate this design I did stumble across some issues. I do not see myself as being good at hair, so trying to get my head around pinning curls in places and learning how the hair moves once you curl it or put it in rollers. However looking at my design now, I can see where I can improve this look but I'm also very happy that I managed to complete this in a somewhat successful way.

Storyline Idea: Being Hurt By Words (Emotional Abuse)

   In my background story of Claudia and Quentin, even though Quentin is imaginary Claudia is still able to effect him emotionally and physically but also physically hurt Quentin with her words either towards him or any derogatory words she says during her emotional outbursts. When I figured out this idea I thought of way I could show this concept, and what sprung to mind was the idea of emotional abuse. But instead of the words not leaving a visible mark on Quentin, you see every scratch, bruise or cut on his face and body.  

   Psychological abuse, also referred to as psychological violence, emotional abuse or mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterised by a person exposing another person to behaviour that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. This abuse is often associated with situations of power imbalance, such as abusive relationships and bullying.

   In a review of data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (a longitudinal birth cohort study) Moffitt et al. report that while men exhibit more aggression overall, sex is not a reliable predictor of interpersonal aggression, including psychological aggression. The study found that no matter what gender this person is, aggressive people share a cluster of traits, including high rates of suspicion and jealousy; sudden and drastic mood swings; poor self-control; and higher than average rates of approval of violence and aggression. Moffitt et al. also argue that antisocial men exhibit two distinct types of interpersonal aggression: one against strangers, the other against intimate female partners, while antisocial women are rarely aggressive against anyone other than intimate male partners. Male and female perpetrators of emotional and physical abuse exhibit high rates of personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Rates of personality disorder in the general population are roughly 15%-20%, while roughly 80% of abusive men in court-ordered treatment programmes have personality disorders.

TW: Schizophrenia

   Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterised by abnormal social behaviour and failure to understand reality. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation. People often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, major depressive illness or substance use disorder. The cause of schizophrenia is believed to be a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Diagnosis is based on observed behaviour and the person's reported experiences. During diagnosis a person's culture must also be taken into account. As of 2013 there is no objective test. Schizophrenia does not imply a "split personality" or "multiple personality disorder" a condition with which it is often confused in public perception.

   Individuals with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (most reported are hearing voices), delusions, and disorganised thinking and speech. The last may range from loss of train of thought, to sentences only loosely connected in meaning, to speech that is not understandable known as word salad. Social withdrawal, sloppiness of dress and hygiene, and loss of motivation and judgment are all common in schizophrenia. Impairment in social cognition is associated with schizophrenia, as are symptoms of paranoia. Social isolation commonly occurs. Difficulties in working and long-term memory, attention, executive functioning, and speed of processing also commonly appear. About 30 to 50% of people with schizophrenia fail to accept that they have an illness or their treatment.

TW: Psychosis

   Psychosis refers to an abnormal condition of the mind described as a "loss of contact with reality". People experiencing psychosis may display some personality changes and thought disorder, depending on its severity, this may be partnered with unusual or weird behaviour, and difficulty with social interaction and in carrying out daily life activities.

   The term "psychosis" is very broad and can mean anything from relatively normal aberrant experiences through to the complex and catatonic expressions of schizophrenia and bipolar type 1 disorder. In properly diagnosed psychiatric disorders, psychosis is a descriptive term for the hallucinations, delusions and impaired insight that may appear. Psychosis is generally the term given to noticeable deficits in normal behaviour (negative signs) and more commonly to diverse types of hallucinations or delusional beliefs, especially as regards the relation between self and others as in grandiosity and paranoia.

Hallucinations

Hallucinations are different from illusions, or perceptual distortions, which are the misperception of external stimuli. Hallucinations may occur in any of the senses and take on almost any form, which may include simple sensations (such as lights, colours, tastes, and smells) to experiences such as seeing and interacting with fully formed animals and people, hearing voices, and having complex tactile sensations.

   Auditory hallucinations, particularly experiences of hearing voices, are the most common and often prominent feature of psychosis. Hallucinated voices may talk about, or to the person, and may involve several speakers with distinct personalities. Auditory hallucinations tend to be particularly distressing when they are derogatory, commanding or preoccupying. However, the experience of hearing voices need not always be a negative one. One research study has shown that the majority of people who hear voices are not in need of psychiatric help.

Delusions

Delusions are false beliefs that a person holds on to, without adequate evidence. It can be difficult to change the belief, even with evidence. Common themes of delusions are persecutory, when the person believes that others are out to harm them, grandiose, when the person believing that they have special powers or skills, etc. Karl Jaspers has classified psychotic delusions into primary and secondary types. Primary delusions are defined as arising suddenly and not being comprehensible in terms of normal mental processes, whereas secondary delusions are typically understood as being influenced by the person's background or current situation e.g., ethnicity; also religious, superstitious, or political beliefs.

TW: Bipolar Disorder

   Bipolar disorder is a mental illness characterised by periods of depression and periods of elevated mood. The elevated mood is known as mania or hypomania depending on its severity or whether symptoms of psychosis are present. During mania an individual behaves or feels abnormally energetic, happy or irritable. The person may often make poorly thought out decisions with little idea of the consequences. During a period of depression, the person may be crying, have a negative outlook on life, and poor eye contact with others. The risk of suicide among those with this illness is greater than 6% over 20 years, while self-harm occurs in 30-40%. Other mental health issues such as anxiety disorder and substance use disorder are commonly linked to bipolar disorder as well.

   The cause is not clear, but both environmental and genetic factors play a part in why someone could develop bipolar disorder. Environmental factors include a history of childhood abuse and long term stress. It is divided into bipolar I disorder if there is at least one manic episode and bipolar II disorder if there are at least one hypomanic episode and one major depressive episode. In those with less severe symptoms of a prolonged duration the condition cyclothymic disorder may be present. Other conditions that may present in a similar manner include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, personality disorders, schizophrenia and substance use disorder as well as a number of medical conditions.

What Is A Mental Illness?

   Mental illness is a condition that can affect the way you think, feel and behave and can also effect that persons way to function on a daily basis, and everyone reacts differently to their mental illness even people with the same diagnosis. They affect around 1 in 4 people in Britain, and range from well known mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, to more uncommon problems such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A mental health problem can feel just as bad, or worse as any other physical illness only you cannot see it.

   A mental health condition isn’t always the result of one life event. Research suggests that multiple, interlinking causes are more likely to effect the person more compared to one life event. Genetics, environment and lifestyle also influence whether someone develops a mental health condition, as well as a stressful job or home life makes some people more vulnerable, as do traumatic life events like being the victim of a crime. Biochemical processes and circuits as well as basic brain structure may also play a role too.

Quentin Hair Design #3 - Final

   For my final (and my chosen) design, I decided to make a mixture of both my first and second hair design in combining the messy 'rock-n-roll' vibe with the classic 60s heartthrob hairstyle, with created this messy, slept in quiff. This design will also fit my final design so much better due to it being very care free and messy looking, which will fit with my scene I want to capture Quentin in. I have also considered putting some fake blood within the hair, again to tie in the whole look. To achieve this I would follow the same as my second look, with slightly curling the top of the hair but not being too neat with it and not curling as much hair as the first look, then backcombing the hair to loosen the curls and create messy knots within the hair to make it look like it has been tugged at. Lastly using texturising gel and sprays to make the hair even more messy and undone.

Quentin Hair Design #2

   This second design was truly inspired by the heartthrobs of the 60s, which is when Asylum is set in. I thought I'd do a design inspired by the 60s male hairstyles purely because the 60s had some of the best hairstyles for men and was also worn by some serious heartthrobs which is what Quentin is meant to embody, true beauty. Although, again, this may not be my first chose for my final design as I want Quentin to be shown when he is at his worst, bloody and gory, so to show him with a neat and tidy hair design wouldn't work well for my final outcome.
   Parted at the side with messy, curly/wavy hair styled on top and to the side of the head. I'd achieve this by slightly curling my models hair (if he hasn't already got naturally curly/wavy hair) then add texturising products to help bring volume and texture to the hairstyle, as this hairstyle is all about texture.

Quentin Hair Design #1

   This first Quentin hair design was inspired by Nirvana's lead singer Kurt Cobain. My idea was to have semi flat long, messy curly/wavy hair that embodies the 90s grunge theme, as this was one of my final ideas for how I wanted Quentin to look like. To achieve this look I would flatten my models hair, yet still keeping a tiny bit of texture in his hair to make it look very slept in, again another vibe I wanted to go for Quentin. Although this may not be my final design, I felt I had to design a hairstyle that would show off a rock-n-roll version of Quentin.

Claudia Hair Design #3

   For my final hair design I just wanted a simple centre parting, slightly knotted, messy pony tail. Again keeping with the messy and rather simple theme, I just wanted to show another side to Claudia, a more relaxed version of her. Still rather textured and loose hairs falling across her face, but I imagine her being so much more relaxed compared to my other designs the situation she would of been in would see her in distress and not comfortable, whereas now she's a lot more content, most probably around Quentin or taking her mind off her own thoughts. Unlike the other two, this design wouldn't really fit with my chosen design, as I wanted to show her while she's coming down from her emotional outburst.

Claudia Hair Design #2

   For the second design I wanted to go the opposite from the first design and make Claudia seem a little more tidy, but still embodying a 90s grunge vibe with messy, knotted hair thats been flicked over to the side. Again, I want this look to be very textured and almost knotted/slept in by using various texturising sprays and gels to scrunch though the hair, paired with backcombing to really get a lift to the hair. Another thing I wanted to keep from the first design is the hair falling over the face. I think this idea really makes the look, look very messy and undone which fits with Claudias whole aesthetic and I think this hairstyle would work really well with my 3rd face chart that shows her for 'natural' side to her.

Claudia Hair Design #1 - Final

   My first hair design I wanted to show Claudia in distress, and untidy due to the environment she's in but also to suit her emotional outburst. To create this I would have my models hair rather straight and over textured, to do this I would use a mixture of sprays and gels to keep the hair big and rough. Another element I wanted to add to this design was strands of hair covering the face, again to show her distress but to also show her own movement with her hair, to show how she must have touched and grabbed her own hair whilst having an outburst and this was the finished result of that. Looking at my design now, another finishing touch for this design would to make the hair slightly dirty/greasy to again add to the overall effect of her being untidy and not really taking care of herself whilst she's in the mental unit.

60s Mens Hairstyles

   The 1960s era had been considered to be as the completing piece of what the 1950s had produced concerning the hair industry. In the 1950s era, men’s hairstyles had been hugely transformed. The 1960s era, had transformed the 1950s men’s conservative hairstyles into more stylish hairstyles. The 1960s era had produced very stylish and elegant hairstyles for men, one of the most seen and worn 1960s mens hairstyles are; the crew cut hairstyles. Those hairstyles had been worn by many men with different ages from the young boys to the business men. The men in the 1960s also had worn the other forms of that crew cut hairstyles like; the buzz-cut hairstyles and the flattop hairstyles. Those hairstyles had been, and still are, very trendy among those conservative men with any age. Another trendy men’s hairstyles in the 1960s, were the Rockabilly hairstyles, those hairstyles had been worn by many celebrity for example; Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Another very trendy 1960s men hairstyles were the Mop-top hairstyles. Those hairstyles had been introduced and popularised by the Beatles band and also the Herman’s Hermits rock groups. The mop-top had the fringes which covered the men’s eye brows and hit the shirt collar in the back.

Quentin Face Chart #2 - Final

   For my second Quentin design I wanted to kick it up from the first design, making this one a lot more gory and intense to show what Quentin could look like after being involved in Claudias outbursts. As you can see I would have a lot of open wounds across the face that are dripping blood, partnered with scars across his body to show old fights the two have had. Red, sore eyes and eye bags are going to be a big feature of this look as well, the whole aim is to make him look as gory and ugly as possible. Again, to create these wounds I would use gelatine to create the raised and irregular texture along with possible use of wax to create raised scars.

Quentin Face Chart #1

   For Quentin, I wanted to show the effects of when Claudia has an emotional outburst which can lead to him being psychically effected by her actions, even though he is imaginary she can still touch, feel and smell him. For this design I wanted to show that he had been recovering from an episode, so he would have a few large and small scratches and scars across his face and body along with a rather large wound on his forehead. For all these wounds I would either use wax or gelatine, gelatine especially for the head wound to create the irregular and raised texture a wound can have. When creating the scars I want to make them look raised and pale which I could create using gelatine and a stipple sponge to add the pore texture of skin, also once the mould is created and you've powdered the mould it starts and have that skin texture. For the rest of his face I would have his eyes looking tired and irritated a long with a few bruises in different healing stages, scattered around his body and face focusing it around wounds and hallow areas of the face.

Character Profile: Quentin

   Quentin is Claudia’s imaginary boyfriend, who has been in Claudia’s life since she was in her teens. Quentin is in his mid twenties and doesn’t age like a normal human, as he is imaginary. At the very start when Quentin would ‘visit’ her, he would only show when sh was in distress and needed comfort or a friend, however Claudia has since then fell in love with Quentin and they now see each other regularly, even though she has been in an asylum  for the past few months, he can just appear whenever she so desires him. To Claudia Quentin is very much real, as sh can see, hear, touch and feel him whenever he is around which means he can be affected by her emotional outbursts, which could be though psychical or emotional. As he is part of her imagination his appearance can change to suit her mood. In his normal state, he is a tall with messy dirty blonde hair, almost a Kurt Cobain look alike, with a dashing smile.

Claudia Face Chart #3

   Inspired by 90s grunge make-up, this is the kind of 'natural' vibe I wanted to achieve, although asylum isn't set in the 90s I thought this hollowed out grungy look would still fit within the 1960s theme just like when Girl, Interrupted. Although this isn't a very bright and cheerful look that someone would have as there 'natural' face, I wanted this look to be very natural and minimal but still sticking with the theme of hallowing out the features on her face. Again, she will still be rather pale, however that is also to do with the fact she probably hasn't been outside in a while or not been outside for very long if she has gone outside. This kind of look would also be how Claudia would look when she's with Quentin, so at her happiest.

Claudia Face Chart #2

   This second design I wanted to keep a little more subtle than the first look but still have a few elements of the first design such as the red, irritated eyes and hallow face. I decided to do this because I wanted to try and show different stages to Claudia, as she has many different stages to how she feels and they all have different looks to match. In this look this isn't her everyday, happyish self, she's a bit upset/down about being in the unit and wants to see Quentin, hense the irritated eyes. She will sill be very pale and with very extreme bone structure and possibly a few scratches, switches or bruises on her yet not as intense as my first design.

Claudia Face Chart #1 - Final

    For my first face chart for Claudia, I wanted this design to be the one when Claudia has had one of her emotional episodes towards Quentin or another patient and this is her in the come down from that. I wanted to show how distressed she can get by hallowing out her face and her having irritated eyes to make her look like she has been crying for a long period of time. What was a huge inspiration for this character was Angelina Jolie's character in Girl, Interrupted (Lisa Rowe) which is set in a mental unit in the 60s. One scene that Jolie performed was when she got bought back to the unit after escaping for a period of time where she looks completely drained and, some could say not even alive looking, like something has taken over her body and left her in a venerable state. For this look also, I was considering having bruises and scratches/scars down her body and to then have busted knuckles to show her outbursts and how physical she can get when she has one.

  

Character Profile: Claudia

   It's 1964 and this is Claudia a girl in her twenties and is a patient in a mental unit. Claudia has a very worn-out, 90s grunge vibe about her, with her unbrushed hair, pale skin, hallow cheeks and eyes and her oversized, miss matched fashion choices. As a child she was left alone to develop with little parental guidance and through her relationship with T.V movies developed an unhealthy relationship with Horror films, believing this to be the way life really is. This relationship with horror movies and her distant parents has also impacted the way she has future relationships, making her lash out and have emotional outbursts causing anyone around her and also herself to be possibly harmed. However another big factor of these outbursts are due to an imaginary boyfriend Quentin which is mainly why Claudia has been put into a mental unit. Claudia started to see Quentin when she was in her teens and he has stayed with her since. He only used to appear when Claudia was distressed and needed comfort, however in the recent years Claudia has became madly in love with him and has figured out how to make Quentin stay almost permanently.  

   All the scenes take place in various parts of the mental ward, including the common room, Claudia's room and work rooms. She is diagnosed as psychotic due to her creative imaginary of Quentin, but also receives treatment for her antisocial behaviour. She is kept in touch with the outside world by her neighbour in the asylum who is 100% sane but was wrongly accused of a crime 15 years ago. 

Busted Knuckles

   For Claudia, due to the nature of her character I wanted her to have busted knuckles to show distress and her violence when she has her emotional outbursts so I thought I'd try and see if I could create this effect. Looking at my final outcome, I'm rather happy with the result considering it was my first trial, however I also see rooms for improvement. I felt I could of trimmed/ripped the skin more around the knuckles as when my fingers are stretched out the 'skin' just looks like theres too much than what should be around the knuckle, and also when colouring under the 'skin' I felt I went a bit too dark for what I was looking to have.

Method:

1. I started by painting the knuckle area in different tones of red until I was happy with the intensity
2. apply tin layers of liquid latex around the wound and build up latex closer to the wound
3. wait for latex to dry but continue to move your fingers to help the latex move a lot better when you pick it up and helps you move your fingers better
4. powder latex to take away the shine
5. carefully pick the edges of the latex up to create the broken skin effect, whilst ripping edges to make it look more realistic
6. colour slightly under the latex and consider going a few shades darker to show dried blood
7. finally add some vaseline to the centre and if you desired so, some fake blood

Sticking & Colouring Wounds Made Out Of Moulds

   In our most recent make-up session we went back and revisited on how to colour wounds, but we also covered how moulds are made and how we apply them to the skin. Using moulds is a great way to keep up with continuity as you're guaranteed the same result every time you use moulds, the use of gelatine for these kind of moulds (wound shapes) works best due to once the gelatine has set and you've applied powder to the mould you'll see that it looks and feels rather flesh like. Another tip we was taught was about using adhesives when sticking these to our skin and more importantly the type of adhesive that works best with these kind of moulds, which is a glue called pros-aide. Unlike spirit gum or latex, pros-aide is said to move with the skin and gives it a lot more flexibility which helps make the wound look a lot less fake if it's being placed on someones face.

Method:

1. stick your chosen mould onto your skin with pros-aide (make sure you wait for the pros-aide to go clear)
2. blend edges using witch hazel or vaseline until you get a seamless blend from mould to skin
3. power wound to remove any shine
4. start colouring your wound, keep in mind to start light and build up colour to create a more realistic effect. It also helps to dap colour instead of rubbing/painting the colour on
5. once I was happy with my colouring I then added some vaseline to the centre to add depth
6. and for some extra gore, add fake blood to the centre and slightly outside the wound 

American Horror Story: Asylum

   The story takes place in 1964 and follows the patients, doctors and nuns who occupy the Briarcliff Mental Institution, located in Massachusetts and founded to treat and house the criminally insane. The wardens who run the institution include the stern Sister Jude, her protégé Sister Mary Eunice and the founder of the institution, Monsignor Timothy Howard. The doctors charged with treating the patients at the asylum include psychiatrist Dr. Oliver Thredson, who is a psychiatrist assigned to evaluate Kit Walker, who believes his wife Alma was kidnapped by aliens. It is revealed that Thredson actually committed the murders, and got himself assigned to Walker’s case to make sure he could pin the murders and Alma's disappearance on him. Kit is duped into taping a confession and is arrested for the murders but later escapes custody. Thredson also tries to "reform" the patient Lana Winters, the lesbian journalist who attempts to expose Briarcliff’s for their mistreatments of patients. Winters is in a relationship Wendy, who was blackmailed by Sister Jude into committing Winters to stop her from exposing Briarcliff, which she is then later on murdered by Thredson. Thredson agrees to help Winters escape the asylum, but she finds out about his dark secret and that he sees her as the mother he never had. He keeps her prisoner and tries to turn her into his mother figure. He rapes her, and is later going to kill her for his "indiscretion". Winters later escapes, only to end up back at Briarcliff, but it is then she learns that she is pregnant with Thredson's baby.

   The sadistic scientist Dr. Arthur Arden, which you later figure our that Arden is a former Nazi whose experiments have produced "Raspers", mutated former patients, who lurk in the woods surrounding the institution, and who are fed the flesh of dead patients.

   The patients, many of whom claim to be unjustly institutionalised, include lesbian journalist Lana Winters, accused serial killer Kit Walker, nymphomaniac Shelley and alleged murderer Grace Bertrand. Briarcliff's inhabitants are routinely subject to supernatural and scientific influences, including demonic possession and extraterrestrial abduction. The season primarily takes place throughout the 1960s with flash-forwards to 2012.

   Sister Jude was once a flirty nightclub singer who unintentionally killed a young girl in a drunk driving hit and run accident in 1949. This led her to become a nun and then work at Briarcliff. Sister Mary Eunice is a shy and innocent nun who fears Sister Jude. Later, she becomes possessed by the Devil during an exorcism of another patient and becomes cruel and evil. Sister Jude is terrorised by the memory and goes to see the family of the dead girl. When is when she learns the girl survived the accident with only a few broken bones. Sister Jude figures that God had a plan for her all along, and decides that it is her job to destroy all the remaining evil at Briarcliff. A possessed Sister Mary Eunice is able to get Sister Jude deposed and committed. Mary Eunice takes over Briarcliff, with Dr. Arden's help. She nurses the weakened Monsignor Howard back to health and he tries to perform a failed exorcism on her. But later Howard kills her by throwing her off the third floor balcony which also realised the demon inside her.

   Meanwhile, believing his wife is dead or missing, Kit takes a fancy with inmate Grace Bertrand, who had murdered her family after her father sexually abused her. She and Kit got caught having sex in the kitchens before his arrest which they’re then separated with the idea of them to be sterilised. However, she is abducted by the same aliens that had taken Alma but is later returned back to Briarcliff, heavily pregnant and about to give birth. He negotiates with Monsignor and arranges for Grace, himself, and their baby to be released. However when they arrive at his old home to find his wife Alma and with her own baby.

   Lana captures a confession from Dr. Thredson admitting to his crimes, but corners him in his house to say she has turned the tape over to the police and hopes he rots in jail. He states, because he is insane, no jury will convict him, grasping for a gun in a drawer she shoots him in the head. In the present, she has become a famous television reporter and gets Briarcliff closed down for its treatments. Lana reveals that Monsignor Howard committed suicide after she threatened to expose his neglect of the patients. She also goes on to say that Kit took in Sister Jude, after Alma was committed to Briarcliff for killing Grace. Jude's dementia worsens and she is taken into the woods by the children. Her mind is healed for a while but she later grows frail and dies. Kit is later abducted by the same aliens that took Grace and Alma after he is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

American Horror Story: Murder House

   The story takes place in 2011 and follows the Harmon family: psychiatrist Ben, his wife Vivien, and their teenage daughter Violet, who move from Boston to a restored mansion in Los Angeles after Vivien has a miscarriage and Ben had an affair with one of his students. Soon after moving they encounter the home's former residents, the Langdons – Constance and her two children, Tate and Addie and the disfigured Larry Harvey. Ben begins seeing patients out of his home office. One in particular, a possibly psychotic teenage boy named Tate Langdon, takes interest in kindred spirit Violet, who suffers from depression. Ben is unaware that Tate is both a ghost and the son of Constance. As they settle in, weird and wonderful events begin to occur increasing regularity. It is soon revealed that there have been upwards of 20 violent deaths in the home over the course of its history, and is known to be haunted by anyone who has ever died on the property. The season is primarily set in the modern day, with flashbacks to the 1920s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

   During the series, while exploring the attic, Vivien discovers a latex bondage suit that was owned by the previous gay couple who was murdered in the house. She later is raped by a man wearing it, who she believes is Ben, but is actually Tate. Vivien's rape results in the rare condition that the womb can hold twins by different fathers. It is later revealed that the reasoning behind Tate's actions was to conceive a baby for Nora, a ghost in the house who lost her own child.

   On Halloween, the only day the the dead can walk among the living, Violet learns that Tate is an infamous school shooter, who murdered a library full of his classmates, as well as crippling a teacher and setting Larry Harvey on fire to punish his mother Constance for having Tate's younger (and deformed) brother murdered. Trying to come to terms with the monster Tate is, and her own romantic feelings for him, Violet then commits suicide, however she doesn't realise was successful until weeks later when she discovers she cannot leave the house and Tate shows her, her own body. After many poltergeists, Vivien is committed to an insane asylum, while Ben is convinced that the second twin was fathered by Luke, a neighbourhood security officer but then later finds out Vivien was actually assaulted by Tate and has her leave the asylum.

   During Vivien’s birth she later dies and as a result Ben contemplates suicide to be with them. Instead, Vivien shows herself after not wanting Ben to see her, and convinces Ben to leave the house immediately for the protection of the baby. As Ben is leaving the house, he is caught and murdered by Hayden, who hangs him to simulate a suicide. Now trapped in the house, the Harmons team up with Moira and the other spirits to keep other families from moving in by scaring them away. Meanwhile, Tate is now living with Hayden as they have both been blocked out by the Harmons. Three years later, Constance returns to Los Angeles, but finds that her grandson, Michael (the Antichrist), has murdered his nanny. She slowly walks towards the smiling child as he rocks back and forth. She then smiles and whispers, "Now what am I gonna do with you?"

2nd Continuity Assessment

   This week it was time for the last assessment on continuity, so naturally I was slightly stressed on how I would preform and recreate my design exact like the first assessment. Surprisingly, when recreating this look a second time round I wasn't as nervous and took my time a lot more to make sure I was 100% correct in recreating it as when creating this look the first time round I rushed incase I couldn't recreate the look within the desired time, but ended up with half an hour to spare.
   Looking at both sets of images side by side I think I did pretty well to get my design pretty much exact to my first look, my only flaw I really see with my second design is that the scar wasn't as red compared to my first try. I was rather pleased with myself when  I saw that I got the scar pretty much in the same place on the face, as this was the part of the look I was nervous about the most because if the scar was slightly out of place you'd be able to see straight away.

1st Continuity Assessment

   Last week was the first part of our continuity assessment where we had to complete both our make-up and hair design in 1hr 30 minutes and then repeat the same process exactly the same the following week. I'm so happy to looking over these images now and seeing my design on someone as I feel that they turned out better than I expected my final outcome to be. If I had something to pick about my design it would be how my final hair turned out, as I wanted my hair to look like a controlled mess however my model had a lot of short layers in his hair so it was slightly harder to make his hair look messy instead of just styled that way. Although to give a hint of victorian male into my design I used the well known trait of a side parting.

Women In Horror

   Misogyny in horror films is the degrading view of women who fight to survive in a male world within the horror genre. Specifically in slasher films, misogyny is apparent. There is no doubt that there is a sign of gendered specific violence towards women as well as; "the proportion of time spent watching young women cower, scream, or run in terror" compared to male roles. Males are pretty much never seen running away from the attacker, but they are killed quickly with no chase involved or scene of struggle.

Final girl

   The slasher film was the first genre that allowed gender norms to take a different path. The role of the final girl confused audiences with the portrayal of a female being a violent hero. However, there was finally a possibility that the heroine who defeats the monster is a female and is categorised as the final girl. The final girl is the “first character to sense something amiss and the only one to deduce from the accumulating evidence the pattern and extent of threat; the only one, in other words, whose perspective approaches our own privileged understanding of the situation.” The only way the final girl is able to kill or escape the monster is by taking on male characteristics. However, Clover cautions audiences against seeing "final girls" as products of feminism. Final girls are still seen like the other women who have been killed after taking part in sexual activities by being a part of "the chase". Clover concludes that the final girl is “an agreed upon fiction [for] male-viewers’ use of her as a vehicle for his own sadomasochistic fantasies.”

The female monster

   Shelley Stamp Lindsey states “Carrie is not about liberation from sexual repression, but about the failure of repression to contain the monstrous feminine”. Audiences are not supposed to identify with Carrie whilst she becomes the monster, instead they are supposed to be scared of her ability and destructive potential. Carrie is purposely portrayed in this manner because she demonstrates what happens when women gain power and are no longer repressed. Carrie ultimately tells its audience that they must live as a patriarchal world and if they do not then this is what will come of it.

   Aviva Briefel states that menstruation is the start of monstrosity. Once a girl has reached her puberty she is seen to be monstrous. Horror films feed into the female monsters identity through her menstruation. This then states that having your period makes you weaker. The overall objective in Briefel’s article, Monster Pains: Masochism, Menstruation, and Identification in the Horror Film, is that the female monster is unable to control their emotions when pain occurs whereas male monsters are unable to feel pain.

The repressive patriarch

   In every horror film the repressive patriarchal form of a monster is either “symbolically castrated, pathetically lacking…or he is overly endowed and potent.” The real sexual interest that occurs in horror films comes from the monster. “The monster’s power is one of sexual difference from the normal male. In this difference he is remarkably like the woman in the eyes of the traumatised male: a biological freak with impossible and threatening appetites that suggest a frightening potency precisely where the normal male would perceive a lack.”

   Men only stay on the screen long enough to show their inability, unless they are seen to be a true form of patriarchy. The repressive patriarch is often dressed as a female and because he does not represent patriarchy at its finest, the final girl is his “homoerotic stand-in”.

   The “masochistic monster” revels in acts of self-mutilation before the audience sees the harming of others being done. Briefel looks at films like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Fly (1986), Hellraiser series, Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991). All these horror films show examples of masochistic monster’s that take pleasure in the pain they inflict on themselves. It is something they must endure to be monstrous.