Examples of TV series or films that play in the early and mid/late Victorian era

I just had a look for TV series that play in the Victorian era and there are just so many. So I decided to list some, I either know or which looked quite interesting.

The first one is Jane Eyre. 

There are several adaptions of the novel written by Charlotte  Brontë in 1847. She was one of the three Brontë sisters (other two were Anne and Emily). Even though the novel is said to be set during the reign of George III. (1760- 1820) , you can see early Victorian hairstyles were being used. 

I have seen two versions of Jane Eyre, the 2006 and the 2011 version. In both we have typical early Victorian hair and mid Victorian hair.

2006 version:

Was a TV miniseries by BBC One and directed by Susanna White. The miniseries was divided into 4 parts.

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The typical hairstyle for Jane Eyre is here the early Victorian plaited bun, the front is middle parted and two strands go back and join the bun. In this case the two strands are plaited as well. Something I noticed is that they started quite low with the plaiting than we did during class. Here in the trailer you cans see that the plaiting of the two strands starts just underneath the ear.

Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre

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 Later when Blanche Ingram appears you can see the tight ringlets on the sides that were worn during the mid Victorian times. At the back was still the plaited bun.

Christina Cole as Blanche Ingram

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2011 Version:

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikiwska and Michael Fassbender.

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In this image of Jane Eyre you can also the the typical plaited bun( like in the 2006 version) , something they changed are the front sections that are going to the back to join the bun. In this case they are looped and go underneath the ears. 

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Imogen Poots played the role of the Blanche Ingram in this version and apart from the hair colour there are not really changes when it comes to the hairstyle. She as the tight ringlets on the sides as well and the bun too. I don't know why but somehow I prefer the look on Imogen Poots more than Christina Cole from the 2006 s´version.

Bleak House 

BBC TV miniseries which has 15 parts.2005 adaption. Directed by Susanna White and Justin Chadwick. Based on Charles Dickens novel Bleak House.

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In the images above you can see some of the key points of Victorian hair like the ringlets on the sides, bun with plaits at the back but they are more loose and kind of messy. In the last pictures of Gillian Anderson, who plays Lady Honoria Dedlock, it is hard to say if she had a bun at the back or not also the front is more wavy and not as straight as it was during Victorian times.

Oliver Twist

Novel by Charles Dickens, There are also several film and TV series adaptions based upon this novel.  I chose the 2007 version, which was directed by Coky Giedroyc and produced by Sarah Brown. This miniseries has 5 episodes ans was broadcasted on BBC One. 

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Oliver twist is set during the Victorian era. I tried to find good images to show the hairstyles but I couldn't really find a lot^^ But I found one image were you can see the early Victorian bun with the sections going to the back. But instead of being more loosely looped the section are higher up and then join the bun.

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From Hell

2001, Horro, Thriller
Is based on the novel 'From Hell' by Alan Moore and was directed by Albert and Allen Hughes. Johnny Depp, Heather Graham and Robbie Coltrane are starring in the movie

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I choose to list this movie as well ,because first of all it plays in the late Victorian era (1888) and also shows the poverty in England. Here especially it portraits the prostitutes, who don't wear the typical Victorian hairstyles. They wear their hair down in loose curls. I think it is more interesting to see how the 'real life' was for most of the people (which does not mean that all of them were prostitutes :), just that more people lived in poverty) than to always see the superficial lives of the rich with their nice hair. But another big factor for choosing this movies was of course Johnny Depp.! I think I don't have to explain :) :)


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Heather Graham as Mary Kelly

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Other films or TV series:

Bram Stoker's Dracula, 
1992,
 directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins and Wiona Ryder, American Horror film, set in later Victorian era (1897)

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The Young Victoria
2009
directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

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A Christmas Carol
1984
based on novel by Charles Dickens
directed by Clive Donner, starring George Campbell Scott and is set in 1943.

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Miss Potter
2006
based on life of Beatrix Potter
directed by Chris Noonan, starring Renée  Zellweger and Ewan McGregor

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Nicholas Nickleby
2002
based on novel ' The Life And Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby' by Charles Dickens
directed by Douglas McGrath

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North and South
2004
based on novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
directed by Brian Percival
has four episodes and was broadcasted on BBC One

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Creating Miss Havisham: Hair Designs

Design 1:

Materials:

pin tail comb

paddle brush

veil

dried rose petals

heat protection

self made birds nest

baby powder

section clips

tong

pins

elastics

Steps:

• Apply heat protection
• Brush through well
• Do middle parting
• Part hair in 3 sections-> I on each side at the front for curling and one big one at the back which will be used for the bun
• At the back: take a small section of the bun section (on the top) to incorporate later in the nest, section the small section into 2 and plait both of them tightly ; section bun section into 3 sections-> 1 big middle one to do a twist, left and right smaller ones which will be plaited (take them a tiny bit apart->look is supposed to look a bit messy) and will be later wrapped around the twist bun part; take middle section and create a  twist-> wrap it loosely around itself  to create a bun shape but pin it very tightly so it won’t fall apart!; then take left and right section and plait-> take a bit apart and wrap it around twist; try to create a big bun, secure with pins and try to hide them as good as possible(but if not it doesn't matter that much as the model will wear a veil over it )
• Go back to front: put hair spray in before curling-> better hold; curl front sections-> around 4 sections on each side, do nice ringlets; pin curls and leave them to cool down( maybe it would be the best to do the ringlets before doing the bun so they have enough time to cool down)
• Place nest on the right side of the head(right side if you stand behind the person)and pin it in tightly-> add the 2 plaits into nest-> weave through the twigs  and pin them
• Take pins out of the curls and comb them up to create messy curls
• Apply a bit of baby powder to make hair look dry->not too much because the look is supposed to be not too long after her almost wedding
• Place some  dried rose petals and leaves into the hair
• Pin in the veil-> veil is covering all of her head and a bit of forehead

Design 2:

For my second design I decided to do a simple early Victorian look but also wanted the hair a bit messy and dusty looking. I also added a few small flowers in the bun at the back which were left from her wedding day. 

Steps:

First create a middle parting and then create a section on each side at the front which will be used later to do plaits. At the back you take all of your hair and do it into ponytail. You can either plait or twist it wrapped it around itself and pin in. Make sire the bun is secure. Take out a few strands of hair and backcomb them so it will look messy. You can also add baby powder or dry shampoo to give it a dry and dusty look. Back to the front. Take each section and staring from ear height start plaiting. You can do the plait a bit messy and don't pin it into the bun that nicely. Time has past since her wedding day so the hair doesn't look that accurate anymore

Design 3:

( somehow the last image shows up like that even though it is originally the right way around?)

This design is very similar to the second one apart from the fact that it is not messy and hasn't got any flowers in it. I still added some baby powder to make it look dry and she is also wearing a veil over her hair. The steps are the same as in design 2 apart that you don't mess up the bun or plaits

Creating Miss Havisham: Make Up

Design 1:

In this design I wanted to portrait Miss Havisham rather pale and tired and a bit ill looking from the lack of nutrition's, isolation and lack of sunlight. Therefore a created big dark circles, hollow cheekbones and kind of bloody lips from her biting her lips. For this look I mainly used grey, blue and brown tones (from Kryolan eyeshadow palette and Salvation palette), For the lips I used duo to create some extra skin and then fill some bits out with the dark red supercolour. For the base I mixed the Alabastar from the Kryolan Foundation palette with the Illamasqua skin base. I wanted a kind of white for her face but not as white as the Elizabethan white.

Design 2:

That design is more fashionable and is supposed to show Miss Havisham a few years after she was dumped at on her wedding day. Of course they didn't wear mascara during the Victorian times but because it is my fashion interpretation I wanted to have run down and smudged mascara from the crying. She also has a very pale face because of the lack of sun and nutrition's. Her cheeks are also hollow and here we have as well that she is biting her lips out of nervousness. To show that time has past I glued some tried rose petals on face which fell down from the roses she had in her hair. I decided to go for that design as my final design but because I was worried that it is too contemporary I made some developments and changes which you can see in the following face chart.

Design 2_ Development: 

The design itself is basically the same apart from the fact that the run down mascara is not that dramatic and dark. You can see her dark circles more clearly and the run down mascara tears I created by mixing water and a grey pigment together in a pipette and dripped them down the face. The lips also don't look that dark anymore. And in the first design I used black eyeshadow for the eyelid but changed that to a grey-brown tone. Now it doesn't look to modern anymore.

Design 3:

For design 3 I wanted the eyes and lips to be the key points. To enhance the tried and ill looking look I used various brown and grey tones around the eyes and created deep shadows especially in the inner corner of the eyes which go up to the eyebrows. To have a little modern twist I did cat shaped eyes by using brown eyeliner in the outer corners of the eyes. Again she has hollow cheeks, which you can do by contouring with grey. The base is again a mix between foundation and skin base. As for the lips I used a deep brown red and smudged it out. This is supposed to show her  anger but also the passing time because the lipstick is fading more and more. In the end I decided not to use this design because it would be also too contemporary.

Design 4:

Design 4 show Miss Havisham having skin illnesses from the lack of nutrition and sunlight. The skin is very pale and dry. But she is also scratching her face a lot and because the hygiene is not the best as well she has some very dry spots on her face but also infected bits. To create this look you can use old age stipple, latex and duo to create the dry skin and then colour it in with supercolour, I decided against it because I wasn't sure if I would be able to create the exact same look for the continuity assessment again.

Design 5:

  Because I wasn't really sure how to create burns on a face chart I don't have a face chart for my last design. But as mentioned I wanted to create burns on her face to show the last moments of her life before she died of being burned. But I knew from the beginning that I wouldn't do that look as well, because it would also be problematic to recreate it for continuity. 

props for my Miss Havisham design

I prepared a few props for my Miss Havisham design/ assessment. Because my design is showing Miss Havisham not too long after the "wedding day" I had to stain my veil a bit otherwise it would not look authentic. I shared the veil with my friend so we decided to stain the veil with some nice earl grey tea:) we left the veil soaking in the tea for a while and voila it didn't look so new anymore. But the thing was even though you could clearly see that the veil was now dirty looking it didn't really show when we took the pictures with it. I  decided to buy some flowers to dry myself because I didn't want to pay too much for dried flowers on the internet. So I bought a very small rose bouquet and hung them up in my room to dry. The bouquet is supposed to represent her withered wedding bouquet. I also ordered a lace necklace online. I thought it would fit quite well with the design. 

Here are some images

The veil

 The dried rose bouquet

The lace necklace

And yeah I also built a birds nest which was part of my Miss Havisham hair design for the final look

I just got some cheap stuff from the 99p shop and The Works and made it myself while our student residence hadn't got any internet. Somehow I had to keep myself entertained :D 

The image above was the first version of my birds nest. 

But then I thought I should add some pearls to the nest, which is supposed to symbolize the wedding as well.

Which you can see in the image below.

The reason I built the nest was that I wanted to show that time has passed but Miss Havisham is still stuck in her nightmare, unable to change. And because nothing changes and she stays in her wedding dress and things birds were able to 'built' a nest in her hair.

Lesson: Burns

You will need:

• Gelatine/Gel fix- clear ; kryolan; block form
• Gel  lyck- clear flesh; screenface ; come also in dark flesh, blood and scar, comes in a bottle
• Or use Dr. Oetker gelatine->it’s okay to use for the assessment but not if you are on set
• Supercolor/aquacolor
• Brushes
• Sponges
• Powder- Illamasqua translucent powder
• Glycerine
• Vaseline
• Could also use latex->remember to use barrier foam when/before using latex

Health and Safety

• After heating up the gelatine test the temperature->test it on back of your hand before applying somewhere else->you don’t want to burn anyone!
• You can add supercolor/aquacolor when it is melted
• Can also add textures, glitter ,… in it->but when you add glitter and the gelatine got hard again don’t reheat it->glitter is metallic and therefore you can’t put it into the microwave!
• You don’t need any protection under gelatine
->when using the gelatine block: cut off  a bit and put in into a bowl->microwave for about 20 sec; but you can do 10 sec first and then check and do more if needed
->when using the gelatine in the bottle: put into a bowl with water and microwave->set for 1min and check every 15 sec  until it becomes liquid again
->after applying cool down by using a cool hairdryer
->can color over the top with supercolor
->Glycerine: adds shine or sweat
->Vaseline: adds shine
->when applying make sure you don’t have any hard edges
->then pat it up and down while it is still tacky->creates a rough burn
->gelatine will always be slightly sticky
->you have to powder it first before apply anything else(like supercolor, blood, glycerine) otherwise it will get stuck onto your brushes
->can use pins to put it up slightly
->when applying the color use  a fine brush
->start with the darkest red first(bluey reds are good)
->use fingers as well to smooth it out; stipple it on
->no hard edges
->blend well!!
->make it look more translucent ; shouldn’t look like it is painted on
->use a lot of different colors; depending what kind of burn you are doingdo research about burns!
->at the end hold hand up and look into the mirror->you will see in the mirror if you missed something or if there are hard edges
->add Glycerine/Vaseline at last
->then you can add some blood or even puss as well
->chemical burns are smooth and shiny

-->after heating up the gelatine  I waited a bit to let it cool down for a bit( you don't want to burn your model!) and then applied the liquid gelatine with a palette knife

-->you have to work quickly otherwise you will pick it up again, the liquid gelatine gets sticky quickly

-->make sure to have smooth edges, blend in well

-->dry with blow dryer and powder it afterwards

-->you can use a hair pin and pick up some bits if you want to

-->I used two different red colors from the Kryolan super colour palette and coloured the burn in, here again make sure to blend well and avoid hard edges

-->you could also use some brown and yellow depending how you want your burn to look like

-->then apply some of the blood

-->to give it shine apply Glycerin

Ageing Hair

If you want to age hair you can use several products. One which is supposed to be really good but also quite expensive is the Skin Illustrator palette (website). 

I thought the first row of colours would be especially good for aged hair.

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But for those who want to work with the products they have in their kit , they could use the Kryolan supercolour and aquacolour palette.

Kryolan supercolour palettte

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Kryolan aquacolour palette 

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When choosing the colour use very pale colours to very pale flesh colours. But remember if you use white it could turn out somewhat bluish on camera so mix a tiny bit of yellow into the white to prevent it. To apply the colour you can use sponges, mascara wands or tooth brushes. After applying comb through.

Really cheap products you could use to make the hair look dusty and dry are dry shampoo or baby powder.

Historical Victorian Hair: Late Victorian Hair

Products used:

• pin tail comb
• hair pins
• hair bands
• sectioning clips
• hair spray
• heat protection
• curling tong

Key points:

• curls have moved to the back, high up and looser ringlets
• use of hair pieces- switch
• centre parting, not sleek on the top anymore but the sides were more sleek
• curly fringes->very tiny and tight curls
• cascades of curls coming down
• incorporated flowers

STEPS
• Centre parting
• Take section at front, not as big as the early Victorian Hairstyle, until you reach ear height
• At the back: creating an U shape (horse shoe) section, put a  hair band in, needs a solid structure as the rest will be curled
• Section ponytail and curl them
• Cab backcomb a bit if you want to, then twist into little curls and pin them down, placement rather random, don’t create a proper bun shape
• Curl the rest of the back as well and place curls randomly around the first curls
• Women had a few loose ringlets hanging down at the back
• Front: top half:  2-3 sections, curls horizontal, using tongs or hot rollers ,sectioning clip on front to hold the curl->may have to use more if the model has really thick and long hair, take the curls and twist them a little to create a kind of wave and then take them back and pin it in  ;bottom half: 1-2 sections, curl vertical, sleek back, keep nice and flat, smooth, take the curls and take them back and pin it in
• Keep building up the bun
->ageing hair, can use Illustrator palette(but is more expensive), can also use super colour/ aqua colour, very pale flesh colours, white can turn bluey on camera->mix a tiny bit in yellow into the white, for ageing hair use sponges, mascara wands or tooth brushes, go over with colour and then comb through

section for the ponytail which will be made into a bun shape after curling the sections from the ponytail

after curling the ponytail sections I went back to the front to do 3 horizontal curls on top and 2 vertical curls at the side. Pin the curls down and let them cool down

curled the ponytail sections and made with the curls a bun shape, but don't be too accurate, you can place the curls randomly and twist them

underneath the bun you can see the section for the ringlets and for some extra curls to place them into the bun

after doing the ringlets and curling the rest of the hair. Placed the curls near the bun.

The Front

take out pins and take the curls( the 3 horizontal ones) and take them back and place them into the bun as well( they will have a wavy shape). Create  curls with the ends when you pin them in. Then take the 2 vertical curls and take them back but make sure they are very sleek.