My Chosen Series:
I
have chosen American Horror Story: Asylum
because it’s quite different to the other programs in the Gothic Horror genre.
It revolves around Briarcliff Manor, an institute for the mentally and
criminally insane. The series is set in 1964 Massachusetts, and follows Sister Jude and Sister Mary Eunice,
two nuns who maintain the facility, unrightfully institutionalizing patients
including Lana Winters, a lesbian journalist, and Kit Walker, an accused serial
killer. As well as demonic possessions, this series features aliens, which is
why I find it a little different from other horror programs. The aliens are
unseen for the majority of the series, keeping the viewers on edge, abducting
Kit and his girlfriend for purposes unknown. Alongside the aliens, former Nazi
Dr. Arthur Arden experiments on patients, creating ‘Raspers’.
These mutated humans live in the woods outside of Briarcliff’s walls, being fed
buckets of human flesh by the Sisters. I have chosen this series because
asylums have always sparked curiosity for me. Asylum is set in the 1960’s,
which is close enough to relate to, it is believable that this happens and
could still be happening to this day. Asylums are well used throughout the
horror genre, but AHS has managed to apply a huge plot twist within the series,
making it the perfect setting for my two characters, Claudia and Quentin.
Demographics-
With
over 3 million viewers, AHS targets a wide
demographic of 18-49 year olds, with a 45% gain of women viewers from the first
series. The median of viewers averages out at 33 year olds. As a fan of AHS I
am personally drawn towards the characters, as well as the moments of dark
horror and grotesque scenes. There is just the right amount of gore in the
series, as well as jumpy moments. The characters draw the viewers in, and they
all are very much different. There is the character you want to be – Sister
Jude played by Jessica Lange, the character you fall in love with – Kit Walker
played by Evan Peters, and the character you hate – Sister Mary Eunice, played
by Lily Rabe, all
with their own feelings and motives. The plot involved everything, murder, the
supernatural, demonic possessions, love, unfortunately rape, monsters, aliens…
the list can go on.
Claudia-
"Claudia is a girl in her twenties. 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.
All the scenes take place in various parts of Claudia’s apartment, which is European in style with
a great deal of kitsch décor. She is agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside world by her neighbours who provide her with her every day requirements. She models herself on a variety of girls often twisting her look to suit whichever film she is watching at the time and there is often
a nod to the main character in the current film within her appearance.
a great deal of kitsch décor. She is agoraphobic and is kept in touch with the outside world by her neighbours who provide her with her every day requirements. She models herself on a variety of girls often twisting her look to suit whichever film she is watching at the time and there is often
a nod to the main character in the current film within her appearance.
The script portrays her as psychotic and there is always the feeling that although her character is scripted/can be seen as humorous, danger is just around the corner. However all this is normal to Claudia and she is of a cheerful disposition in this mad world of hers."
When creating my character of Claudia, I had
to take in consideration a lot of elements, particularly the setting. Claudia
has to fit into the series, and for this, my creation of Claudia will be a
patient at Briarcliff. She believes that she lives alone in her apartment, and
her unhealthy relationship with horror films will be due to her living one when
she was younger. She will be tormented by her experience, and believes in this
imaginary world to block out her trauma. She is a psychotic character, who easily
lashes out and will often be restrained in a straightjacket, and subject to
methods of scientific experiments to try to calm her, which is left unnoticed
by the law. She will be 20 years old whilst staying at Briarcliff. She will
suffer with a range of mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, which is when
her alter ego appears… The setting will
inform my character as she is a patient at the Mental Institution, in the 60’s.
Health and Safety would not be rife at this time, so often Claudia will be left
unwashed for days in her unsanitary living conditions. She will often be
clothed in dirty rags, or on a bad day her straightjacket. The look will appeal
to the demographic due to madness, hopefully sparking curiosity, as well as
trying to work out what is real and what isn't.
Glass Prison-
I
have chosen Glass Prison as my keyword for
Claudia. I chose this because I think that is how Claudia sees her world. She doesn’t realise it as she can see beyond the walls of
her cell in her imagination, just like you would be able to see the outside of
a glass prison. The keyword inspired me to look at glass prisons, which I found
often feature in horror films, such as Hannibal. They are often used for
mentally insane criminals, as Dr. Lecter is held in one while being questioned,
in the same way Raoul Silva is questioned in James Bond’s Skyfall. One
of the more humourous sides to this, is that they always end
up escaping. I see my character in the corner of a room hunched up, in dirtied
rags, emerging from the darkness. I am unsure of whether I will shoot her
character in the studio or on location, as I need to do more research into
places that would be suitable.
Moodboard -
This is my moodboard created in Photoshop, for my character of Claudia. The contents of the moodpboard consists of her trauma, her inner demons, torture, her mental state, the setting and the costume. The brief we have been given, I have twisted so that it is just her imagination.
Colour Palette -
Quentin-
"Claudia has an imaginary boyfriend, Quentin, who is long suffering and a constant disappointment to her. They don’t live together but he visits regularly and they talk on the telephone if he can’t get in to see her. As he is part of her imagination his appearance changes to suit her mood. Sometimes he will be a David Beckham looking guy, whilst in another scene he will appear as a Pete Docherty type, Daniel Craig type or a Hollyoaks Babe. If she is having a bad day he will morph into an uncouth couch potato chav with all that brings with it.
He is as into the horror film genre as she and into role-playing to suit her whims and moods.
Claudia has a paranoid suspicion that he is constantly having affairs behind her back and keeps him firmly under her thumb, sometimes restraining him or keeping him prisoner in one of the rooms."
My
creation of Quentin was more difficult than Claudia,
mainly because of the endless decisions I had to make when thinking of ideas.
Quentin will be a shape-shifting alien from the series, that can be seen as any
person they like, male or female. The reason Claudia sees him as so many people
is because he is able to change himself, but she believes it is in her mind. Like in the series, Quentin will
appear in flashes of light in Claudia's cell, so Claudia is the only
one to see him. I will show Quentin as the alien, rather than as someone,
stripping him right down to his existence. The setting does not have an effect
on alien Quentin, as he is able to shape shift himself into any chosen time
period’s style. I need to develop my idea further by looking at aliens, and
experiment with my capabilities and techniques of using prosthetics to
manipulate the facial structure. Quentin will appeal to the target demographic
as he will be scary, and horrific to look at, but only seen in short spaces,
making the viewer wanting to see more. I will make Quentin neither gender, as he is an alien, and can change himself into a male or a female. I will most likely use a female model and dress them down to look like a male, so you cannot particularly tell what gender the model is.
Veiled-
I
chose ‘Veiled’ as my keyword for
Quentin, because he is a mysterious character, always shifting into another
character, and the viewer will rarely see himself and himself. The keyword ed me
to investigate different ways of hiding identities, from sfx
makeup, altering the facial features, to covering yourself in material, to
being anonymous online. Its quite unnerving not being able to see someone’s
identity, which is why horror genres use it so often. The setting for Quentin
would be the woods outside of the building, which is where the aliens are seen
in the series. I now need to look at ways to conceal an identity using
prosthetic materials, as well as think about where I will be able to shoot the
images.
Moodboard-
This is my moodboard for my character of Quentin. I have chosen to create Quentin as a more scary and horrific character to look at. I have included Quentin's setting, the woods, as well as characters with hidden identities. I tried to convey how Quentin remains unknown, within his identity and character. Claudia does not know he is an alien, but believes she imagines him. Even Claudia who is so in love with him does not know his true identity.
Colour Palette-
I have chosen this colour palette to be cold, and dark. I was close to deciding on a warmer colour palette, but decided on this one as it was more unnatural, like Quentin. I see Quentin as a cold-blooded extra-terrestrial.
