THE WHITE WALKER
The White Walkers are supernatural or otherworldly humanoid creatures that dwell north of Westeros, beyond The Wall and have grey-white skin and icy blue eyes. The White Walkers were created by the Children of the Forest, who along with the giants ruled Westeros, to protect them from the First Men, who came in from Essos thousands of years before Robert’s Rebellion. The Children lost control over the White Walkers and they became the most feared creatures in Westeros, associated with long, hard winters. They were defeated by the Children, the giants and the First Men in the War for the Dawn and driven beyond The Wall. The White Walkers carry weapons that can shatter steel and have the ability to reanimate the dead. 

THE GIRL
Mohini Basu finished Class XII from Calcutta Girls’ High School this year and is currently applying to colleges. Her hobbies include playing the guitar and face painting. “The first thing I did after my ISC exams got over was immerse myself in my make-up and SFX (special effects) work. These skills are completely self-taught, with the help of YouTube. I have never been to an art class, so all I know is based on trial-and-error and the Internet,” said Mohini, who has a Facebook page called ‘Strawberryfrootpunch’. Here she posts her cosplay, SFX and make-up work every Tuesday. Her next plan? To start a blog on make-up tutorials. 

BUT WHY A WHITE WALKER, GIRL?
“I really like watching Game of Thrones. And since I am totally into make-up and SFX, the White Walker transformation seemed to be a bit more challenging than doing the other characters. The actual SFX in the show probably took an entire team and many hours to pull off. So I thought, why not test my skills with my limited resources?” smiled the Sovabazar girl. 

IT TOOK 4 HOURS...
“The materials required are very easy to gather but the process is long and quite complicated. From start to finish, the whole transformation took me four hours.... You require a black-and-white make-up palette, plus, blue if you don’t have contact lenses. Also, powder and a few brushes. The rest is all about shading and a lot of patience,” said Mohini. 

THE t2 SHOOT
Since this was Mohini’s first “proper photoshoot”, it was “a bit nerve-racking” to begin with. “But the overall experience was awesome. Managing the costume was tough, especially while shooting with my eyes closed, since the blue eyes were drawn on the eyelids, but it’s the challenge that made the shoot a whole lot of fun. The last time I had mounted a horse was a long time ago, so I have to admit I had some initial jitters. But my horse, Chagall, was gentle and so patient with me! Thank you t2, for giving me such a great opportunity to showcase my skills,” added our lady White Walker. 

 

 

Text: Samhita Chakraborty and Malancha Dasgupta
Pictures: Rashbehari Das and Zeba Akhtar