Statues
Having decided to create my Fujin character as a stone statue come to life, I have decided to research further into this area of makeup, with film examples, primary research and makeups.
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Millie B (2012) Weeping Angel Makeup [online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOUvvYo7VDc&spfreload=10 [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
Dr Who, Blink. (2007) [TV Episode} Hettie Macdonald. London: BBC
Mulan (1998) [Film] Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook. USA: Disney Studios
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) [Film] David Yates. USA: Warner Brothers Studios
[Statue Bodypaints in Sydney} n.d. [online] Available from:http://bodypaintersydney.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/body-painting-stone-living-statues-in.html [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Statue Makeup] n.d. [online] Available from:http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/86/d4/16/86d4169fe596ae53d31b9c660c85bbed.jpg [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Statue Makeup] n.d. [online] Available from:http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/65/cf/27/65cf27a92f80d3889becd4f9b6ddd66a.jpg [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Shinto Statue ] n.d. [online] Available from:http://dkuhn04.deviantart.com/art/Shinto-Temple-statue-2-309106144 [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
Shinto Statues
[Shinto Statue ] n.d. [online] Available from:http://dkuhn04.deviantart.com/art/Shinto-Temple-statue-2-309106144[Accessed: April 8th 2015]
Shinto Gods and statues are often found around Buddhist temples. The religions are quite relaxed and so often intertwine. These two images are of shinto statues, but buddhist ones are still relevant to my research.
A lot of the statues are made of limestone-esque materials which have a kind of speckled grey look to them, similar to weeping angels in the Dr. Who Blink episode.
These two images on the left are of wooden statues that have been painted. The top one is of Fujin. I like the look of the cracked paint and I think that it would give me more textural opportunities than the opposite photos.
The bottom right photos is a wooden pigmented sculpture with traces of gilding. So I think its essentially an outwardly metal sculpture which has signs of wear and tear which I like from a painting perspective. I assume the sculpture above was made in a similar way, as it looks the same texturally with only a slight colour difference.
These are all elements I need to consider in my design work and see which looks most effective. Unfortunately only the bottom right statue had a date, showing it was from the Heian period. As these statues are all from the same temple, I'd assume they were all made roughly around that period.
The Heian period brought the spread of Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese influences.
"women's mouths were painted small and red, and their eyebrows were plucked or shaved and redrawn higher on the forehead.
Women cultivated shiny, black flowing hair and a courtly woman's formal dress included a complex "twelve-layered robe" called jūnihitoe, though the actual number of layers varied. Costumes were determined by office and season, with a women's robes in particular following a system of color combinations representing flowers, plants, and animals specific to a season or month"
This is definately information I could use to influence my design, were I to design both characters for the Heian period.
Wikipedia n.d. Heian Period [online] Available from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heian_period [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Fujin Statue ] n.d. [online] Available from:http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0027007.html [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Gaurdian Deity Statue ] n.d. [online] Available from:http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0034255.html [Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Gaurdian Deity Statue ] between 794-1185 [online] Available from:http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0034593.html[Accessed: April 8th 2015]
[Nio gaurdian Statue ] n.d. [online] Available from:http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/O0034255.html
[Accessed: April 8th 2015]
Mulan is quite a strange example, but it's one of the few films I could find thats based in Japan and features a statue coming to life. The dragon Muju is summoned by Mulan's ancestor to help her. Originally he took the form of a bronze statue, which then glows and then, amidst a lot of smoke, emerges as a real dragon. He also then summons ancestors by banging a gong, and they materialize as ghost-like people, translucent.
This theme of smoke is again apparent in my research, as it seems an often utilised element as a tool for transcending life to death, stone to skin, etc.
I may have to amend my script and use powder as a tool for my Fujin's awakening. I think it may translate more effectively than simply having the actor transition into a breathing statue....
The two film examples i found of realistic looking moving statues were in Dr. Who and Harry Potter. Blink features weeping angels, statues that move when not looked at. They used a combination of actual statues and people in makeup for the angels. The effect is the kind of limestone statues that can be seen in British graveyards.
I found a youtube video showing a girl re-creating the look with prosthetics. It wasn't descriptive but I could see she made an eye and a cowl prosthetic and how she painted them to create a stone-like texture. This has actually helped me realise how I could do the hair for my Fujin. As I can't create a cowl prosthetic (as we don't have access to a foam latex over) I could sculpt hair work into a bald cap. I know it won't pick up great deatil and this probably wouldn't be a technique used for film. However, if I create a statue-esque makeup, the hair won't be detailed anyway and its mean't to look old and imperfect, so I think this could be a great substitute for a cowl.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2, they created CGI statues which didn't speak.
These are just a few statue makeups I was able to find.
The first 3 are not very detailed Greek themed statues. I really don't like the use of the human looking hair just coloured grey, as real statues don't have life-like looking hair. I think it really shatters the illusion.
The second image I think looks good from far away. The variant paint work adds a really good old-statue texture, thats worn and has some moss starting on it. However, as this is all done with spotty paintwork, I think close-up it wouldn't be particularly effective, which for film it would have to work from close-up. I think the texture can be achieved with paintwork (unless it was a crack in the statue or something) but I has to be done even more intricately. Maybe some fullers earth might work if it didn't crack off.
The last image I found it obviously a take on metal sculptures. The green colouring is a recreation of oxidising copper statues. I think this is done increibly well, I can't really find a fault with it. it even seems to have a slightly shiny texture.
After checking the dates of the Heian period, this took place before the 12th century, and Geishas were only introduced in the 16th century, This means I cannot use Heain designs to influence my female character at all.
Living Statues in Myth
Golem/Golum was traditionally a Jewish piece of folklore. The Golem is made from earth or mud and cannot speak, but is usually build to protect people. They are often inscribed with Jewish writings and translated from Hebrew means "shapeless mass".
It has been rumoured that Jewish comic book book artist, Jack Kirby, based the designs for The Fantastic Four's, the Thing, on the idea of Golem as he was respeonsible for the visual designs.
Golum n.d. [online] Available from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stormantic/9255096479/ [Accessed: May 10th 2015]
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