The Walking Dead Audience Demographics

The Walking Dead has quite broad demographics - the majority of the audience ranges from 18-49. 

I think the reason why this appeals to so many people is because there is something for everyone to identify with, whether it is age, sex, ethnicity, the relationships they are experiencing, etc. 

However, I feel that the main reason viewers become so attached to the programme is because you become involved with each and every main character, and the situations that they are going through; you become very sympathetic, or in some cases, even empathetic.

With the focus on humanity instead of horror, The Walking Dead tells a zombie apocalypse tale that's relatable, and it just makes you feel privileged and thankful that you are not in their position.

I think the twists and surprises involved in the show keep the audience intrigued and watching; once you start, you cannot stop, no matter what age you are. You just assess the situation and wonder if that is what society would actually be like, should a zombie apocalypse happen… 

My Chosen TV Series...

I have chosen the The Walking Dead

There are several reasons for this:

• It evolves - the show appears to have gotten better as time goes on, and I definitely did not lose interest. 
• It's not necessarily about the zombies - the zombies are a set piece, but it's about how humans react when their humanity is stripped from them. The zombies are a metaphor, if not always a clear one, in addition to being a cool, terrifying element of the show.
• It has great characters - you feel you are emotionally involved with virtually every character within the show, which is quite an achievement considering how many characters come and go throughout the series’ .
• It's unpredictable - it tells a story whilst having high stakes, making it a unique viewing experience for dedicated viewers, and there are a number of deaths which you do not see coming
• It cares about its credibility - Zombies do not exist, but the show makes you believe they could and it doesn't seem that far from a possible truth. 
• I like the thought of creating a zombie-like character -  the “walkers” look real as they stumble through the woods and murder main characters. If you pay close enough attention, you can actually notice that the walkers look more and more decrepit with each passing season as they age and starve, as there are a smaller amount of people left to feast on.

Gender In Horror

Women
Women are normally murdered for indiscretions and rule breaking, but after years of playing screaming victims, women in today's horror TV series/films depict something much more scary - repressed female anger... 

http://www.wallpaperup.com/29375/dark_horror_fantasy_gothic_vampire_women_face_blood.html

Female Horror Archetypes:

• Sex crazed bimbo
• Badass babe
• The smart one
• The bitch
• The invisible one
• The witch
• The postmodern 
• The final girl, e.g. in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scream, Saw II, etc.

"The viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl partway through the film." - Carol J. Clover, 1992. Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film

Blondes:

• Slashers tend to prefer blondes
• Different types of blonde - dumb/evil/innocent 

"Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." - Alfred Hitchcock

Men

• Men are the expendable gender
• Men are neither supposed nor allowed to be dependent - they are expected to take care of others & themselves, when they can't/won't the assumption is that they are somehow less than men and therefore unworthy of help

Double Standards: Abuse - Female on male

• It's humorous?
• Retribution 
• Women aren't really strong enough to harm a man/can only be a weak man
• Men have done something really bad to be injured by a woman
• Women would only resort to violence when necessary 

The Attraction To Horror

• Temptation to play God?
• The possibility of salvation
• The opportunity to see things that are taboo
• Affinity with the monster within us all
• Addressing mans inhumanity to man
• We like to be scared... 

Target Audience 

• 14-35 year olds
• Male
• These teenagers & young adults want an adrenaline rush from being fearful of something/someone

The New Demographic

• The biggest and still growing demographic is women
• E.g. the demographic for The Walking Dead is 18-49

Horror is a great vehicle for this demographic because...

• It has a limited amount of ideas to be explored
• It often features metaphors for life
• It offers cautionary tales (horrific consequences of the actions of the protagonists)
• It explores social commentary
• It explores fear of the unknown
• It explores awareness of our own mortality and death (and our own attempts to cheat it)

Contemporary horror characters are indicative of postmodern society - antiheroes (they do bad things but for good reasons, therefore the audience forgives them). They tend to:

• Be confused & conflicted 
• Lie
• Be tough
• Not be graceful
• Have eccentricities 
• Function outside the mainstream & challenge it

Vivienne Westwood 2013 A/W London FW Interpretation

Vivienne Westwood - Red label 'Kabuki Diva'

Make-up artist: Val Garland

“Val created a look for the show which was inspired by Catherine DeNeuve in Belle De Jour and Helmut Newton images. The look was avant garde and really graphic. We outlined eyes and lips with mac black or white acrylic paints. We then painted eyes and lips in bold primary colours – reds, yellows, blues and greens using mac chromoline and mac acrylics. Each model had a unique makeup look.”

• Dramatic tendencies 
• Outlined the face with kabuki features, then filled in the spaces with acrylic paints in primary tones 
• Models nails airbrushed with rosy paint that extended up the fingers 
• Hair - reference to Madonna's strong & empowering image - showed off a super sexual & glamorous vibe 

  

  https://cdn.psychologytoday.com/sites/default/files/styles/article-inline-half/public/blogs/75174/2013/09/132821-132458.jpg?itok=NRaGItoG

My interpretation:
I used the Kryolan Supracolor palette to create this look

One problem I encountered when creating this look is that whenever the model opened her eyes, the make-up actually printed onto the eyelid/smudged, so I had to keep trying to correct it

I actually found creating this look quite difficult because I wanted it to be fairly precise but it had a fairly messy look/feel to it, which I am not used to trying to achieve...

The look actually changed depending on the model, because in this case, my model's eyebrows blended into the design and made it look different due to the colour and bold shape they were. After researching the concept, I think the model probably wouldn't of had purple eyebrows because this skews the concept, since purple is not a primary colour. 

Introduction to Claudia, Quentin and Mrs Laderman

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.

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.

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. 

Mrs Laderman

Claudia’s neighbour in her 40’s. She alternately changes into a variety alter egos and is Claudia’s friend and confidant. Living in the apartment opposite, she was Claudia’s only link to the outside world. Although they are friends there is suspicion that Mrs L’, has designs on Quentin. In fact she has designs on Claudia.

Evaluation Of My Final Assessment (Miss Havisham Continuity)

Overall, I was actually quite proud of how the 2 looks compared to each other - I think they looked very similar and I felt there was no obvious differences between the 2. As a whole, I think the make-up continuity was slightly better than the hair, because I feel the make-up is almost a perfect match, whereas the hair has very subtle slight differences, but it is very difficult to determine how the hair actually falls, but I feel that the actual styling of the hair is pretty much the same. 

The main difference that I realise as I look through the images is actually the headband; in some comparisons between the 2 images, the flowers are in a slightly different place, or the headband is slightly lower down or higher up than in the other image. Therefore this has taught me a key lesson, which is that accessories are just as important as the actual make-up and hair styling. 

In all of the images below, the one on the left is the first time I created the look, and the one on the right is the second time... It is key to note that the lighting is slightly different between the 2 (the 2nd time the images were slightly brighter), thus the make-up may look slightly different, but it should not affect it to a large extent. Although, on a film/TV set, this would not be my job to control the lighting and cameras, therefore this problem would not occur. 

Initially, my first thoughts when I was given the brief was that there was little room for individuality and creativity when creating the Miss Havisham character, and I thought that everybody's outcome would be very similar. The reason for this is because the Victorian's had a very clear idea of what was desirable and what was bad in terms of hair and beauty, e.g. you wanted long hair, and very natural but flawless looking make-up. However, as time went on, throughout the project I realised that this was not the case, and that depending which part of the book you decided to create your Miss Havisham character from, meant that the outcomes were actually very diverse, and this meant that the brief was actually quite flexible. Therefore, I enjoyed working to this brief because it gave you steady guidelines and boundaries, but it allowed you to put your own spin and style on your character design. 

I feel as though my hair styling has continued to improve throughout this project and it has allowed me to expand my knowledge about the history of hairstyles in different eras. Furthermore I definitely feel that I could recreate an early Victorian hairstyle in a heartbeat, due to how many times I have created one throughout this project! 

I believe my make-up application has improved quite a lot throughout this project and that I am now feeling more confident and comfortable as a make-up artist. The main turning point where I felt my design came together was when I invested in the extremely thin paintbrush to create the wrinkles - I feel that from then on my application became neater and 'sharper' and I became more concentrated and involved in the project. 

Overall, I have actually quite enjoyed the project as a whole, and it has definitely taught me about the importance, as well as the difficulty, of continuity when you are a make-up artist/hair stylist.