Character Model Sheets and explaining the characters.

With all the costumes sorted I can move onto my model sheets, I wrote in my learning agreement that I wanted to do character/model sheets I put character because I couldn't remember the difference between them, looking back I only needed to write model sheets.

So here are my model sheets showing the front and back view of the characters with a full explanations as to why they are wearing what they are wearing and why they look the way they look.

Iron Maiden:

• To achieve the shape of the Iron Maiden but still keep a feminine shape I decided to give her a full length cape. With an all over similar colour with the outfit it blurs the form and gives an illusion of being a huge intimidating figure especially from the back view, if viewed from the back it is hard to distinguish what gender the character is and if they are human at all. The cape is also a prominent piece of clothing from the Middle Ages where people would wear them to keep warm and to show status.

• The headpiece is a standard detail with the Iron Maiden device, I added the red cowl based off of a similar design I found in my Middle Age research, again this was added to bulk out the figure, it hides the neck and adds to the feeling of claustrophobia by having the figure hidden by several items of clothing.

• I wanted the character to have a tunic which was often worn by Middle Age time women, this was often held at the waist by a belt. I chose to make the dress a solid metal part of the body, this gives the illusion of being trapped inside with no way out. The belt along with the headpiece and cape give a bit of movement to the solid figure.

• I gave the character exposed eye-holes allowing to see a figure hidden inside of the Iron Maiden, this adds to the claustrophobic feeling and adds a touch of human nature to the device. Where the character has moving parts I added blood to give the illusion that the body underneath has been pierced by the Iron Maiden's spikes and is leaking out. The spikes on the shoulder show what is hidden inside the body.

Pear of Anguish:

• With the character being based visually on Steam punk to help play off the fear of machines I added pipes and metal hands to give the illusion of the character not being alive/human. The character features lots of cogs and metal objects all over to add to this fear of machines.

•  I used the petals of the pear of anguish device with the panniers to create a similar style of dress as worn by women Steam punk fans, attached to the panniers the petals can swing around, this adds to the fear of pain and sharp objects, the sharp ends of the petals hurt the characters legs when she moves, thus why she wears knee high boots to resist the effects of the petals, The characters dress is ripped because of the sharp parts of her metal hands, The long nails of the hands elongates the fingers to add to the creepy look overall and add to the fear of sharp objects.

• For this character I used lots of brass and copper coloured items and clothing, I chose a brass shade for the pear petals based on variants of the torture device being made of this colour, it also works with the fear of machines and is a colour often used in Steam Punk 

• Despite being very mechanic looking I wanted to show the characters feminine side, I went with the traditional era style make up, I chose the heart on the lips because as she was a French prostitute when human, I wanted her to have a flirtatious side, the traditional French beauty spots are specifically chosen to go with a secret sexual language, the ones I chose were "beside the mouth = likes to kiss" and "corner of the eye = passionate". Given the characters history I felt that these were the best ones to have and matched her personality. The character also uses the heavily featured white make-up to hide her skin and wounds caused by being tortured.

• The character is very thin, due to the nature of her injuries she can't eat and her body mass therefore decreased, she uses the panniers and pear of anguish petals as counter balance weights to hold her body up, the bodice as well as accentuating the thin physique, supports the characters spine and prevents her from slumping. Panniers were used by French period women as a fashion accessory to make the waist look thinner. The overall outfit bulks the character up in an attempt to make herself look less thin than she is.

Rat Torture:

• I took the cage that held the rat that ate her body and added it to her head, I done this as if the character had done this to try and prevent the rat doing more damage to her face, this also acts as a way to try and hide her mutated face as she would have been ashamed of what she had become. Given her past as a Lady-In-Waiting she would have been quite vain.

• I went for ropes instead of belts to play on the fear of being bound/tied up these would have been more to hand and a general item in this era.

• I gave the character a plain chemise, the character has been stripped of her rich clothing and is being left with nothing but plain clothing to humiliate her, the only item that shows her previous life are the pearls in her hair, her hair is also partially held up with curls which was a popular hairstyle in the Royal Court. Some of her hair is falling out so her trying to keep her hair neat subtly reveals the characters previous vanity. I had some of the hair falling out to add to the image of being bitten and ripped up by the rats.

• The character features a large hole in her stomach, this is where the rat ate its way out of her body due to the nature of the torture. The character itself is quite simple so this not only gives a bit of story to her but creates something visual that draws peoples eye.

• Her body is covered in buboes and sores, this plays to the phobia of holes. Normally buboes would be not so widespread as they come from the lymph nodes, I wanted to accentuate these both to play up to the gross factor and to amplify the fear of holes.