carousel horses

These first three images I personally took in the Blackpool pleasure beach as I think the bright colours on the horses is very inspiring for a colour theme, also because the carousel was one of my favourite rides as a child and so they bring back a lot of good memories for me. The carousel horses seen from Blackpool pleasure beach were all hand painted which makes every horse different and special in their own individual way. Personally I think the horses attract little girls more than boys as the horses are very pretty, elegant and feminine looking, also the colours are very feminine for example pink, purple, gold, white, yellow, red and orange. The other three pictures I researched form pinterest and are very inspiring to me in terms of the vibrant variety of colours seen in all of them. As seen in one of the pictures above the bright colours are created as the coloured light bulbs on the carousel is lighting up a fog around the ride, I find this lighting effect extremely beautiful as the colours are somewhat faded in the atmosphere, I would love to research more into this lighting effect and maybe visit some fairgrounds at night time to create the same effect.

Belle Vue archive

From the 1830s to the 1980s Belle vue was extremely admired by the British public and was the ultimate holiday and day out for many families around the country. Belle vue gardens attracted a big population of the British public as it consisted of a magical, fantasy world that many of the people in that period of time had never experienced before. It had beautifully crafted exotic gardens, a very open magnificent zoo, three glamorous ballrooms, lively thrilling fireworks display, a variety of exciting competitive sports entertainment and also heart racing rollercoasters. Now Belle vue no longer exists and is known as a hidden part of Manchester's heritage. These images contain the different entertainment Belle vue included of, for example the Chinese inspired restaurant, the exotic animals, the mystical circus and the thrilling rollercoaster. After hearing about Belle vue's history from archives Claire Turner and Michael Powell, they have inspired me to research into the circus entertainment side of the fairground as I am very curious of what were the performers costumes like and if the animals were included in the acts would they wear costumes too? Another area of the fairground that inspires and interests me is the variety of foreign cultures that was portrayed in parts of the fairground for example why did they have a Chinese decorated restaurant and how did they create that foreign atmosphere? 3 Images from 'Looking back at Belle vue Manchester (book), Robert Nicholls', The Bobs rollercoaster image from https://www.facebook.com/groups/BBBelleVue/?fref=ts

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Blackpool pleasure beach

Here are some images I took, containing beautifully made costumes accessories. These pieces of costumes are situated in the Blackpool pleasure beach costume wardrobe. These costumes are very inspiring to me as they are full of vibrant colours, they consist of amazing looking feathers and they represent liveliness and an extravagant mood, almost as if the costumes are alive! As these costumes are made for specific shows shown at the pleasure beach they have to look extremely appealing to the audience and credible of the character that's created. The variety of the exquisite fabrics used to create these mystical costumes are very carefully picked as they are not only chosen because of their attractiveness but also chosen for a purpose, for example for an ice skating show the fabrics would have to be light in weight and would have a certain angelic flow when the performer moves. Another aspect that inspires me about these images is the lively feel the costumes give out to the audience, these costumes are made to attract and fascinate the audience, to make the character magical and dramatic but also credible. The costumes used in fairground shows are one of the most interesting parts to a fairground in my opinion, they look absolutely immaculate and are very expressionistic, I plan on researching more into the costumes worn in the Blackpool pleasure beach, research into some old historic costumes worn in other fairgrounds and also research into the materials used on some of the costumes.