LESSON 5-7
In the 5 lesson, we gave each other an aspect of the pay that they had to be in charge of. I was in charge of the mediums of costumes and make up as a director, and had to think of what the “theme” of the play would be, as you can say a lot just by the clothes you wear (time, place, fashion, characters personality) I straight away got inspired by a recent movie I watched, which was a modern interpretation of Little red Ridding hood. The girl wore a very long cape (16 meters long in tail) and I personally thought it was aesthetically beautiful when she would drag it along, and decided that I would use a similar one. I had to think on what would also fit with the music, which was creating a dull, haunting and scary atmosphere, as well as the lights, as my teacher said “ The costume can be beautiful in design and colors, but if the lights are not able to make them justice the way you want them to, they are worth nothing”. I wanted to communicate to the audience by the costumes, that the people living in that city where disturbed, cold and guilty of something. After talking to Ali for the lights, I made sure we would use a transparent cloth for the cape, so that the color lights would go through the textile and would illuminate it, and also because it is flowy and easy for Natalia (red ridding hood) to drag down the aisle, an effect I think will look amazing and is my personal favorite. I got the idea from a performance I watched of “The Woman in black” an English production at the Madinat theatre in Dubai, where the woman in black came down the aisle with her black cape,. The moment was really intense, as she was also, like red riding hood a very dark and obscure character, and it made the audience feel a visceral experience when having her so close. I was thinking of making her wear a veil of the same material, to reinforce the idea that they all have something to hide, and that they don’t look like what they seem, that they are untrustworthy as they don’t show their faces , even red ridding hood:
I then though that this might not be as effective if not all the characters wear it, and therefore I guess it’s a detail that I will have to try out on the stage and decide…. Until then, the idea is there!
For little red ridding hoods dress, I thought the colour white would reflect the “COLD WEATHER, COLD HEARTS” following the idea of “cold as ice” where the people in the village have grown cold due to the climate, terror and lack of loving feelings. Also, I thought this would represent innocence, which is the characteristic that the convectional “Little red ridding hood” is given, and it would be used as an ironic technique for the ending, when the audience discovers she is not that innocent at all. Also, I thought it would create a nice contrast with the rest of the characters, which will be wearing dull dresses.
The make up is inspired on a gothic style, with big shades of black representing impurity and darkness in intentions and feelings, and it will be exaggerated as it is an on stage performance.
It was actually a great experience to work with all these new techniques that were new to me, as I learned a lot about the uses and effects of lights as well as helping Grace at how to loop songs for the tracks, but most importantly it gave us all a huge sense of responsibility for our areas!
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| Gothic dess 18th centuary |
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| Riding hood movie- inspiration for scenery, feel and colors (white and red) |
This image is from a American/Canadian dark fantasy movie I watched recently and used as an inspiration, staring Amanda Seyfried and directed by Leonardo Di Caprio and Catherine Hardwick. I loved the contrast in terms of color, as most of the scenes where set in the cold landscape of the mountains, surrounded by snow. Her wearing a bright red cape protected her from the cold surroundings although i believe its also used to symbolize a spiritual protection of evilness in the village. This was very effective for me and i used it as the atmosphere we were trying to create was very similar.
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| Mothers outfit |
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| Typical Riding hood, inspiration for contrast |
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| Gothic face make up |
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| Sketch of Red Riding hood coming down the aisle, beside audience |
Good links to how you worked with other members of your group and how their decisions affected your choices e.g. comments about you discussions with the dramaturge showed that you were making informed decisions
ResponderEliminarNice discussion of the connection between the Mother and Daughter realized on stage but you need to add how you contributed to this from your role. You make a vague reference to supporting this with makeup and costuming but were vague on details.
Watch for unjustified thinking. You make many points about the reasoning behind a decision but often don’t qualify these ideas with specific detail e.g. comments like “foreshadows danger” , “props reinforce this lack of love” and “aesthetically appealing” are good but only gain full credibility when you specify HOW this achieved and HOW the audience is expected to understand this.
Make sure you understand the difference between tone, atmosphere, mood, characterization and environment. Your descriptions often use the word interchangeably but in the wrong way.
When completing you role as costume and make up advisor, you were proactive in shaping the look you wanted but the research that supported the thinking behind the choices seemed to come after the fact. Try to make sure that you are making DELIBERATE choices that take into consideration what the audience will ‘read’ from them.
Good discussion inspiration and also good to see you sourcing images to help you refine these idea. When you include images you should A) Cite where they come from B) Annotate them to show their significance. ( You provide titles which is also important but annotations will be more specific about how you intend to use ideas in your own work.) Interspersing them between your works would make the connection of ideas and images much clearer. Use arrows or circles to mark out elements your wish to discuss.
ResponderEliminar