Anita Berber- Continuity

Otto Dix (German, 1891-1969). The Dancer Anita Berber, 1925. Oil and tempera on plywood. 47 1/4 x 25 9/16 in. (120 x 65 cm). Loan of the Landesbank Baden-Würtemberg in the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart.

Anita Berber was a famous performer in Weimar Berlin. Her alcoholism, drug addiction, bisexuality, androgyny and promiscuity were some of the traits that made her so well known.

We were asked to create a historical hair and make-up look which we were to create in 45 minutes on a partner two weeks in a row, to practice continuity. This was to be based on how we think she would have looked when this painting was created.

 This was my face chart for this look. I chose to keep the look quite simple so I didn't struggle to complete it in the time given. I used supracolour on the eyelids to give a shiney, greasey finish to the look. I also chose to not cover the natural brows too much as when I was looking at Anita Berber I noticed that you can see her natural brows underneath those that she had drawn on. 

The image on the left is from the first week, and that on the right was my recreation. The supracolour reflected the light differently when we used the studio lighting, and I had lost my phone so didn't have the images from the week before when I was recreating this look. These things considered, I think I did a good job at recreating the look. The eyebrows remained the same shape, as did the lips and the eye makeup.

Fraulein Kost Face Charts

Fraulein Kost design 1

 For my first Fraulein Kost design I kept the makeup quite simple, wanting her to look natural. On the eyes I wanted brown shadow smudged along the lash line, and soft thin brows done with powder. The blush is stippled on to give a flushed look, and the lips are a matt red colour. As I am using myself as a model, and I want my Fraulein Kost character to be in her late 20s, I would like to contour and enhance a few lines on the forehead and cheeks slightly just to age me a little. I do not want this to be too theatrical though.

Fraulein Kost design 2

 For this look I kept the make up simple again, but curved the brows a little more and decided to experiment with smudged, gradient lips to look a bit like red wine stains. I have made the lines and the blush more subtle so she doesn't look too aged, and I have added mascara which I want to be thick to look like she is constantly reapplying and layering it up between customers. This is my favourite look for Fraulein Kost, and I think this is the look I will use.

Fraulein Kost design 3

For this look I used more blush in a redder shade to look like she is again layering up her makeup, and applied a dark lipstick in a pout to fit with the fashion at the times. I have kept the mascara off one eye on this face chart just to show the brown smudged pencil on the lash line.

Scratch Wigs

We played around with wigs to see how they change the face shape and complexion.
To apply this you need a hair brush, hair grips and a hair stocking or pair of tights.
Scratch wigs are rougher on the inside, and are synthetic. They can be restyled by steaming.

• Start by parting the hair in a centre parting, brush through and French braid the hair, staying close to the ears.
• If the hair is very clean, add a little wax to the hair to hold the braid.
• Ensure the plait is tight against the scalp.
• When at the nape of the neck, plait to the end of the hair.
• Wrap loose plait around the head, secure with grips.
• Add the hair stocking, pin by the ears.
• Add the wig.

 The darker hair on Megan makes her look younger, paler, and brings out her freckles.

 The curls on the left make Meg's face look rounder.

 The long blonde on the right gives Meg a warmer looking complexion, and the choppy bob on the left make her face look more ovular and her complexion look warmer.

The afro wig makes her face look rounder, and brings out her freckles.

Society in Weimar Berlin

I decided to look at society in Berlin at the time of the book, film and musical, as I felt it would give me a better understanding of the motives of each character, and also it would help me to develop my character further.
The Weimar Republic lasted from 1919 to 1933 in Germany. This began after the first world war when Germany found itself in a financial crisis, with many people going poor and the value of the currency rapidly decreasing while product prices soared. Cabarets opened up, prostitution reached a high and drugs and sex were everywhere. This ended when Hitler and the Nazi party came to power and brought in strict laws and regulations.
As Fraulein Kost is a prostitute, I decided to look at different types of prostitute to see what type I thought she would be as I understand there were many different types for different people and fetishes.
"Indoor Prostitutes
Chontes Polish-born Jews, also knows as Lublins, from the Polish industrial town of Lublin.
Demi-Castors Young women from good families who occasionally supplemented their allowances by working in high-class houses in west Berlin.
Dominas Leather-clad women who specialized in whipping, humiliation, and other forms of punishment, and worked in lesbian nightclubs that admitted heterosexual couples and free-spending male clients.
Fohses Independent prostitutes who advertised in newspapers and magazines as manicurists or masseuses.
Medicine girls Child prostitutes who were “prescribed” by pimps posing as physicians in phony pharmacies in west Berlin.
Minettes Exclusive call girls who enacted S&M fantasy scenes involving foot worship and forced transvestitism.
Race Horses Masochistic prostitutes who worked in “Institutes for Foreign Language Instruction” where the schoolrooms were equipped with bondage equipment.
Table Ladies Prostitutes who worked at expensive nightclubs often frequented by politicians and businessmen who paid “table money” for an evening of champagne and conversation prior to a backroom encounter.
Telephone Girls Child prostitutes, aged twelve to seventeen, who were made to resemble junior versions of theater or film starlets and were ordered by telephone.
Outdoor Prostitutes Boot Girls Dominatrices near the Wittenberg Platz whose sexual services were signaled by the colors of their boots, laces, and ribbons, sometimes worn in combination.
—Black boots: buttocks cropping (lying on bed).
—Brown boots: asphyxiation by boot or stockinged foot.
—Cobalt blue boots: forced feminization; penetration by female.
—Lacquered gold boots: bound feminization; physical torture.
—Poisonous green boots: psychological enslavement.
—Brick red boots: buttocks flagellation (tied to bed or cross).
—Scarlet boots: forced feminization; transvestite humiliation.
—Black laces: punishment with a short whip.
—Gold laces: defecation on chest.
—Maroon laces: verbal humiliation.
—White laces: collared like a dog.
—White ribbons on top of boots: a roleplay scenario in which the male customer begins as the dominant figure and ends as the submissive party.
Grasshoppers Lowly streetwalkers who performed oral sex in the Tiergarten.
Gravelstones Physically deformed women who worked in north Berlin.
Half-Silks Occasional prostitutes, often secretaries, shopkeepers, and office clerks supplementing their incomes after work.
Kontroll Girls Three defined classes of licensed prostitutes, whose health was certified by city physicians.
Münzis Pregnant women who waited under lampposts on Münzstrasse.
Nuttes Boyish teenage girls who framed their transactions with the protocols of dating, enticing their customers with lines such as, “Don’t you think we should have a coffee first?”
Tauentzien Girls Women wearing the latest fashions and hairstyles, often working in mother-and-daughter teams near the Kaiser Memorial Church."

 I think that Fraulein Kost is a Foshe- an indoor prostitute who advertised in newspapers and magazines as a manicurist or masseuse. I think she is a Foshe because every time we see her she is in the house, bringing a sailor in or taking him out so I get the impression that she simply meets them at the door and walks them to her room. Also, the same sailors are seen a few times so she would have had a more personal and regular relationship with them.

CABINET // Inventory / Everyone Once in Berlin!. 2014. CABINET // Inventory / Everyone Once in Berlin!. [ONLINE] Available at: http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/32/gordon.php. [Accessed 17 November 2014].

Weimar Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. Weimar Republic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic. [Accessed 17 November 2014].

Christopher and His Kind

Christopher and His Kind was a TV movie released by the BBC in 2011, and is the most accurate on-screen representation of Christopher Isherwood's memoirs. It differs to Cabaret (Both the film and the theatre production) and Goodbye to Berlin in many ways, but the most obvious being that Christopher (Who can be likened to Cliff or Brian) remains homosexual throughout the story, and does not become romantically involved with Jean (the inspiration behind Sally Bowles). Jean however, like Sally, is an actress who works in a cabaret bar and dabbles in prostitution. Throughout most of the film she is courting a man named Bobby who is an American business man that promises to take her to Hollywood and make her a star, before departing leaving a pregnant Jean with no more than a letter.
The Cabaret and the club don't feature heavily in this film, as it is much more focussed on Christopher's love life and his pursuits, but the politics and the changes in government and society are very similar with the Nazi party rising to power, and a betrayal to Christopher when he discovers that Caspar is a Nazi, much like in the script when Ernst is revealed as a Nazi.
I can definitely see how Sally Bowles is an extention of Jean- with the green nail polish, her open, frank way of talking and how honest she is whilst being almost in her own little showgirl world.
Quite a few of the characters from Cabaret and Goodbye to Berlin are noted in Christopher and His Kind, for example Fraulein Kost is seen on a few occasions walking a customer out and receiving payment before going back upstairs, and Fraulein Thurau is Fraulein Schneider, very much a similar character, always about and taking care of the house and herself.
I think it was interesting to watch Christopher and His Kind as it gives a totally different perspective to essentially the same story, and the differences in the way in which the characters act and are portrayed helps me to muddle things around in my head and start to think of my own perceptions of the characters a bit more.


Christopher and His Kind, 2011. [DVD] Sax, G, United Kingdom: BBC.

Cabaret Rehersal Resource

I looked at a rehearsal resource used for a theatre production of Cabaret in 2014. This provides a vast amount of information about the history of Germany, and the politics of the times which the film, script and book were based in. It also provides some detailed character descriptions which I found very helpful to look at.

Geigner, M, 2014. Rehersal Resource Packet. Northwestern University.

Painting the Face- Otto Dix

In this lesson we were painting onto the face to reconstruct an Otto Dix painting using Supracolours.
Supracolours

• Heavy application, not looking for a natural beauty look.
• Start with base colour, then add tones in
• Sponges are good for blending but keeping edges strong
• Work quickly and don't over work the colours- they will 'melt' together
• Set using powders or setting spray 

 

Dix, O. (1926) Painting of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden [Mixed media on Wood] Centre Gauges Pompidou, Paris [Online] Available at: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/Otto_Dix_Sy_von_Harden.jpg (Accessed 18/10/2014)

While painting the face I really focussed on the colours in the image, and the lines and shapes that were there. I enjoyed painting on the face with the supracolours and building up the colour, but definitely found it tricky to work with around the eyes as the supracolour would melt and smudge quite a bit there.

Colour Symbolism in Cabaret

To help understand the film and script a little more I have looked at the colour symbolism in the film Cabaret. Green and purple are the colours that come to mind when I first think about Cabaret- from Sally Bowles' green nail polish to her purple dress in her final performance.

"It's brilliantly ironic to have Sally dressed in purple for the final scene. The world is about to collapse around her and she invites us to follow her. Don't underestimate the role purple subliminally plays in this scenario. It is the colour that supplies the irony to all of this phony enthusiasm. It's the colour of mourning. "Come to the Cabaret... Come with me and play." Sally beckons. Come with me and die."

Bellatoni, P. (2005). Fantastic Purples- Cabaret. In: Actipis, E and Anderson, C If it's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die. Oxford: Elsevier/Focal Press. 197.

The purple is used to enhance a pretence that all is fun and games, when in fact there is a very dark situation brewing, and the end is soon to come.

Sally shows off her green nails in the film and the script, and it is one of her  most constant accessories along with her cigarette holder.

"The green fingernails are an archetypal cliché. Green as mold. Green as decay. It's brilliant in its minimalism. There is nothing alive about this green. It is dark and ominous"

Bellatoni, P. (2005). Fantastic Purples- Cabaret. In: Actipis, E and Anderson, C If it's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die. Oxford: Elsevier/Focal Press. 198.

I will definitely look into the colour symbolism for my historical character designs.

Cabaret- Film and Screenplay

I have watched the film Cabaret and read the screenplay to deepen my understanding of the storyline and the characters' personalities and motives. As the screenplay I have looked at was the first draft, it is not 100% identical to the film, but similar enough for me to talk about them together.
The main thing I looked at in the screenplay was the first scene where we meet Fraulein Kost as she is the character I have chosen, and this first scene in the film/screenplay is very similar to the scene which I have chosen to look at for my assessment. In this scene (on page 24) Fraulein Kost is described as "not bad looking, a little heavy, badly dressed. She is furious." In the screenplay version of this confrontation between Kost and Schneider, Kost is seen as angry and argumentative whereas in the script she comes across as much more calm and cunning, which I prefer as I feel it gives an edge to her which I could bring out in my images with a smug smirk.
The screenplay is helpful in giving us descriptions of the actions, props and surroundings that perhaps aren't in the script, so this gives me more ideas to draw inspiration from.

Preston Allen, J, 1972. Cabaret Screenplay- First Draft. Available at: http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Cabaret.pdf.

Cabaret, 1972. [DVD] Fosse, B, United States: Allied Artists.

George Grosz

George Grosz was a German painter and illustrator who, like Otto Dix, documented the Weimar Republic in a crude and unrefined manner. These paintings and images bring back a reminder that it wasn't all glamour and cabaret at this time, and many ugly things were happening.

George Grosz, (1927), Untitled [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A2374&page_number=171&template_id=1&sort_order=1 [Accessed 16 October 14].

The image above shows a prostitute with a customer who has been painted as a pig. This is a classic example of George Grosz portraying men as boorish, crude animals around these women.

George Grosz, (1926), Cafe [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A2374&page_number=167&template_id=1&sort_order=1 [Accessed 16 October 14].

The above illustration shows a cafe scene as seen by George Grosz. I like this image as I feel there is so much to look at: There is once again a man painted as a pig with a prostitute in the centre, and on the right hand side there is a woman who appears to be being berated by a man or officer. Every time you look at this illustration you can see more going on, and that is why I find it so interesting.

Group Discussion: Seema's Lesson.

What characteristics define your choice of character?

Sally Bowles. She's extremely quirky, over the top, and very assure of herself. Selfish, blunt and confident.
Has absolutely no idea what she's feeling so she doesn't know how to express just one emotion. She's very confused, and drugs and one night affairs help her forget this, so thats why she possibly thinks thats all that she's good for, as well as showbiz. This might be why she does it so much (scene where her father stands her up).
She likes the idea of being 'corrupted" by the new male in her life, Max. She likes the novelty of new people but soon seems to get bored with them and doesn't favour them over everyone else anymore.
She looks a lot more feminine when she wears white (dinner scene).
She's not phased by seeing someone dead in the street at all.
She's very naive with what men promise her, this could be a result of the age she is.

What knowledge of the period did the designer consider possessing to be able to develop these characters?
Short hair and wearing accessories like hats in the day to give a different look. cakes herself in make up compared to other women, e.g., Natalia.
The designer has made the character Sally smoke, in his research he will have realised this was very popular at the time.

According to your research so far, do you feel that the character designs in the film are appropriate?
Her make up is influenced by 60s such as the big dark lashes and eye make up and bold lips, so the designers influenced by the 60s, even though this is set in the 30s (made in 1972). There are lots of the 20s and 30s hair styles in this too.

How might you improve it?
Consider the makeup products they would have used in the 20's and how easily available they would have been.
Show elements that she is still a young girl, one idea was props in the background of her room or certain things that she says.

Is it too subtle/too prominent?
Her makeup was prominent and made her look older than she actually was. However it wasn't made obvious in the film that she was only 19.
 

Which techniques were used to create the hair and make up?
Sally's hairstyle would probably been a wig for continuity reasons. This would have been cut and styled to suit her face shape.
Her face would have been powdered white and eyebrows plucked thin and gone over with a pencil.
Eyeshadow was put all over the lid with a darker shade of the same colour running through the crease to create a kind of flick.
When performing on the stage she could have a beauty mark that was a sequin the makeup artist would have used eyelash glue, however in the 20's they would probably used a bit of spit!
 

Comment upon the colour palette of the film.
There is lots of opposites in this film, such as light and dark. Sally wears lots of dark make up thats as dark as her hair, which makes her look more seductive and mysterious compared to if she was blonde in my opinion.
As her hair is so dark and her skin so pale she really stands out. Everything has a monochrome colour palette, there is no bright scenes in the film that are associated with the cabaret shows and the kit kat club.

Otto Dix

Otto Dix was a Germain painter in Weimar Berlin. After serving in the first world war, he spent his time creating expressionist paintings which crudely documented the public of Weimar Berlin.

Otto Dix, (1921), The Salon [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.ottodix.org/index/catalog-item/130.005.html [Accessed 15 October 14].

This image features four prostitutes waiting for business. Otto Dix does not paint them in the most flattering or glamorous way, and is very blatant in showing how things were.

Otto Dix, (1926), Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.ottodix.org/index/catalog-item/135.001.html [Accessed 15 October 14].

"She walked in one direction and he in the other. Dix stopped in his tracks. "I must paint you, I simply must! You represent an entire epoch.""

Otto Dix - Catalog Item. 2014. Otto Dix - Catalog Item. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ottodix.org/index/catalog-item/135.001.html. [Accessed 16 October 2014].

Cabaret- Script

After watching the 1972 film Cabaret, I decided to read the script for the theatre production of Cabaret, as I often find that reading gives me my own ideas of how characters look and act, and I like to get my own ideas before the images from films get too engrained into my head.
The storyline in the script differs slightly from the film, which I predicted it would be as when something flows in theatre it does not always work on screen. As I understand, we are to look at scenes from either the script or the screenplay for the film to develop our character, and create the look for them in that particular scene, so I thought I should get familiar to the script. The difference between the script and the screenplay will affect me slightly as the character I have chosen for my historical look is Fraulein Kost who appears much more in the script than the screenplay and film, but I will be looking at both to find as much description and inspiration as possible to develop my ideas.

There are some story lines in the script which I find more interesting than in the film, for example I find the love affair between Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz much more interesting than the romance between Fritz and Natalia, as in the film I feel that it moves very quickly without much background and explanation. In the script although there are only a few short scenes which feature Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz, their story is told in a way that shows that they have history together and this is not a sudden romance, but something that has built up over time.
In the script, Cliff is much more outspoken, while still polite, than Brian is in the film, but Sally Bowles remains a very similar character- always energetic, floating around being bubbly and flirtatious in a way which shows how she treats life as a performance and is always playing a role.

Abstract Painting with Aquacolours

Abstract Painting with Aquacolour Palette

Health and Safety: Aquacolours are hypoallergenic, just be careful around the eyes as they can cause irritation

Think about where the light comes in, notice shadows and highlights.

Try pressing harder or being softer to change the effect.

Toothbrushes and mascara wands are good for flicking paint onto the face. 

Introduction

This unit is titled "Goodbye to Berlin". During the term we will be looking at 1920-30s Berlin, a period known as Weimar Berlin. We will be creating our own designs for characters of the musical "Cabaret"- one Historical and one Contemporary 'Club Culture' interpretation. Although I knew the end song from the film, I have never watched Cabaret, or read the script, Goodbye to Berlin or Christopher and his kind. I am excited to start looking into these sources though as they seem like the sorts of films and books that I am interested in, so I shouldn't find it too difficult to find inspiration for my looks. I have not heard of Weimar Berlin before and I don't know much about it but I definitely recognize the looks of the women that I have seen in photos so far. I am looking forward to learning new styles of make-up application and hair techniques, and learning about Berlin in these times as I already feel that it will be very interesting. I am also excited to create a contemporary club culture look as I find these contemporary looks are a great way for me to push myself to be more creative and innovative. I am nervous about creating a new, unique historical look as I feel it will be difficult to avoid having the images from the film and other sources in my mind when I design my look. I think that I can overcome this by doing lots of designs and practices to really pinpoint my ideas and narrow them down. After doing my summer homework and looking at the use of colour in films, I will definitely be making more conscious decisions about colour choices in my work, and in my contemporary design I may make colours a very important part of the look to share information about my character.

Summer Project Blog

My summer project can be found here.