Make Up and Hair Design for TV and Film- Introduction (Wiemar Berlin)

To start our Second Year of studying as Make Up and Hair Design students, our first project for Make Up and Hair Design for TV and Film will be based around Cabaret.  To help us kick start our research for this project, we have been encouraged to read 'Goodbye to Berlin' by Christopher Isherwood.  Goodbye to Berlin is a 1939 novel set in Wiemar Germany,  the book is divided into six sections. A Berlin Diary of Isherwood’s initial experiences in a boarding house in Berlin, whilst in Berlin he became involved with many different men and women: the caring landlady, Fraulein. Schroeder; and Sally Bowles, a young Englishwoman who sings in the local cabaret.  Many years after Isherwood's novel was published, the novel was adapted into a Broadway play called I Am a Camera by John Van Druten (1951), years after this, the book was adapted again into the Tony Award-winning musical Cabaret (1966) which was based upon the play previously mentioned.

1920s Berlin was a city of many social contrasts. While a large part of the population continued to struggle with high unemployment and deprivations in the aftermath of World War I, the upper class of society, and a growing middle class, gradually rediscovered prosperity and turned Berlin into a cosmopolitan city.

Surprisingly, I have never watched the film Cabaret before, but I have read the script.  The musical is set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, it is based around the Kat Klub, and focuses a lot on the 19-year-old English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with the young American writer Cliff Bradshaw.  I am looking forward to watching Cabaret in class next week, as it will give me a chance to see how the film will differ from the script, as when reading a script you often create your own ideas of what you believe characters and scenarios will look like. 

To help us create a better understanding of 1930s Wiemar Berlin we were also asked to read Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.  I had not yet read this book, and at the moment I am only a few chapters through.  However, what I find really intriguing so far is that Christopher Isherwood has used his own experiences in Wiemar Berlin as a basis for this novel, which in my opinion helps to really give you a feel of what Berlin was like back then.  In Wiemar Berlin there was a genuine attempt to create a perfect democratic country, a bill of rights guaranteed every German citizen freedom of speech and religion, and equality under the law, so living in Berlin at this time would  have definitely been interesting.  A creative renaissance also rose out of this period of upheaval. Literature, poetry, film, painting, opera and theatre all broke astonishing new ground. Berlin became a hotbed of creative activity.  In my opinion, from reading the script, Cabaret shows an interesting and sad way that society can pay for an individuals escape from reality. The characters from the film demonstrate to the viewer how the people of Berlin were desperately trying to escape from reality.

This semester, I am looking forward to creating some really abstract and interesting period make up looks with a modern twist, but most of all creating a meaning behind these looks.  Having completed the summer project, I have noticed how much the use of colour helps to shape a look, scene, story etc.     I watched the film 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and noticed just how much colour helps to create a certain mood.

This is one of the last scenes of the film and one of many examples, it is definitely one of the more cheerful scenes also.  Chiyo is spending time with 'The Chairman', the man who gave her the opportunity to become and Geisha, who she has also fallen in love with.  Not only is Chiyo dressed in pastel colours, which adds a light touch to the scene, she is also wearing make up, creating a more feminine look to the once young, dirty servant.  As for the background, the pink blossom tree adds a gentle reminder that this scene is  one of happiness.

Finally, I'm a little nervous about getting my head around 1930's Berlin and why this would effect the German Citizens style, as this is an area that I've never looked into, however with lots of research I feel I can build a better understanding.