THE HOURS
2023-2024
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The Hours is a Novel by Michael Cunningham written in 1998, followed by a Film script
It explores the lives of three women across different periods, intricately weaving their stories together. It delves into identity, womanhood, and the pursuit of happiness.
The story emphasises how three different individuals from three vastly different timelines all experience similar emotions and focuses on the timelessness of depression as a factor in the three women’s lives.
My focus is differentiating each time period and and designing the main characters (alongside their side characters) in their environments, through period styling:
Virginia, in the 1923 in Richmond, England
Side character: Leonard
Laura, 1949 Suburbs of Los Angeles, America
Side character: Kitty
Clarissa, late 20th century, New York, America
Side character: Richard and Louis
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VIRGINIA: Character design and application.
Transitional makeup from young to old.
Aging, hair styling, basic makeup emphasis on hollowing her face, and aged colouring w/ alcohol paint.
LEONARD: Character design and application.
Transitional makeup from young to old.
Aging, hair styling, basic makeup, and aged colouring w/ alcohol paint.
LAURA: Character design, prosthetics and application.
Transitional makeup from young to old.
Aging, hair styling, period makeup, wrinkle prosthetic (under-eyes and forehead) and aged colouring w/ alcohol paint.
KITTY: Character design and application.
Period makeup, and hair-styling.
CLARISSA: Character design and application.
Eyebrow blocking, aging, period makeup, hair-styling, and aged colouring w/ alcohol paint.
RICHARD: Character design, prosthetic and application.
Aging, probondo wound prosthetic, bald cap, facial hair, facial hair colouring, hair layering ontop of bad cap, wound colouring w/ alcohol paints and latex scabs
LOUIS: Character design and application.
Aging, hair styling, and aged colouring w/ alcohol paint.
Other Bits: Story-boarding, Photography, Lightroom, Photoshop, Poster design.
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Virginia Woolf is portrayed as a brilliant yet fragile writer, deeply affected by her mental illness. She struggles with isolation, torn between her desire for freedom and her husband Leonard’s protective care. Her sensitivity to life’s complexities shapes her reflections on existence, revealing a profound insight into human nature. Virginia’s character embodies the intense toll of creative genius, marked by both vulnerability and intelligence.
She ages from forty to her sixties within the text.
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Leonard Woolf is a devoted, protective husband who closely monitors Virginia’s health, balancing his deep love for her with the heavy responsibility of managing her mental illness. He is a steady, compassionate figure, torn between his desire to support Virginia’s freedom and his fear of losing her to her inner struggles.
He ages from forty-two to his sixties within the text.
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Laura Brown is a 1950s newly pregnant housewife who feels trapped in the confines of her domestic life, yearning for meaning and escape. She struggles with depression and a sense of displacement, seeking solace in literature, particularly Mrs. Dalloway, as she contemplates choices that could lead her away from her family and prescribed role in society.
She ages from twenty-six to her sixties.
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Kitty, Laura’s friend, is a seemingly cheerful, outgoing woman who hides her own vulnerabilities beneath a polished facade. Despite her warm nature, she has a deep sense of dissatisfaction and loneliness, reflecting the unspoken struggles of women in her time.
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Clarissa Vaughan is a modern-day embodiment of Mrs. Dalloway, living in New York and planning a party for her friend Richard, who is battling AIDS. She appears successful and content but grapples with feelings of unfulfilled potential, questioning her life choices and longing for a deeper sense of purpose and connection.
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Louis, a distant friend. of Clarissa, is an old friend and former lover of Richard, marked by a sense of restlessness and nostalgia. He is introspective and haunted by the past, often questioning the choices he's made and the people he's lost.
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Richard Brown is a talented yet troubled poet struggling with AIDS, whose intense sensitivity and creative spirit drive him to confront the fragility of life. He shares a profound bond with Clarissa Vaughan, who cares for him deeply, but his declining health and inner turmoil force him to grapple with his own identity and mortality, reflecting the weight of artistic genius intertwined with personal pain.
