Saturday, January 21, 2012
Cirque du Soleil's Ovo: How to make costumes that look like bugs
LA Weekly: "I was always fascinated by insects since I was a child. I would go into my backyard and look under rocks, to see what the insects were doing," says costumer Liz Vandal, whose first assignment for Cirque du Soleil is Ovo, a show about the insect universe.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Personally, I think that this article is incredibly fascinating because of the ideas that it leaves the reader with. Costumer, Liz Vandal, is going beyond simply explaining her vision of the stage and how she thinks the bugs should look. She explains how she started to think about how a bug would see another bug and how they see humans. These thoughts were completely legitimate and unusual, but probably very interesting and effective. I believe that Cirque du Soleil wants the audience to be immersed in the show and experience things from a character's point of view, in this case a bug's point of view. It is therefore a good match with the costume designer who thinks the way the characters do and how the audience will perceive the actual show. I only wish I could witness the end result.
To begin, I have the upmost respect and admiration for the costume designers for any show, let alone a Cirque du Soleil production. Their ability to create a costume that not only adds to the stunning overall look and feel of the show, but also not inhibit the actors' ability to move is a spectacular talent. As stated in the article, it must have been a challenge to take a creature that most people view as ugly pests and transform them into a magnificent piece of art that is only expected from Cirque. Going alone the lines of thought presented by a previous comment, thinking like a bug in this instance greatly aides in the creation of the world and, in this case, costumes of the productions. The only thing I wish would have been included were most images of the costumes of this production. Looking online for other images leads to a stunning and colorful result. I only wish I too could see the end product.
This article is much different than I thought it would be. I thought there would be description on fabrication and how you make an insect look like we would think. The most interesting part to me is the fact that she not only though about how we perceive insects, but how they perceive each other. The creative thinking that individuals go through really brings out the light in the world in which we want to audience to recognize. The costumes are absolutely stunning and amazing for Ovo. Costume designs are absolutely amazing. They might work with fabric, the they definitely know how to manipulate and use the resources they are given!
I find it really interesting that the costumer, Liz Vandal, chose to try and imagine a bug from a bug's point of view, instead of from a human's. This causes her costumes to look very different from what we typically think of as a bug costume, while still being recognizable as a bug. This changes how people react to the character. Instead of thinking "EWW, a bug", the thought pattern becomes much more inquisitive, to try to figure out what makes these insects different. It changes the whole audience reaction
I love that Liz Vandal was able to bring to life something that fascinated her as a child. One of the things I love about Cirque shows is how imaginative and fun they are. Liz got to make costumes that embody the fascination some people have with insects as children, and therefore she created colorful, quirky bugs that do not scare the audience away but instead make their world more accessible. It was smart for her to try to see an insect's perspective on life. I think it would be a good idea for a costumer to do that with any character, actually. But this is an interesting case study because it requires a human to consider the detrimental effects that our civilization has caused for many small creatures. This process seems to have worked well for Liz, as her whimsical, colorful insect costumes make the little critters seem like friendly companions that aren't out to get us, after all.
I found this article very interacting and I would even like to know more about how the costumes were constructed. I particularly liked the idea that the costumes should be designed based on how the bugs view each other not how we, as humans, view bugs. I think that by thinking about the costumes in this way it really provides the audience with a unique experience. I also think that the freedom required for the dancers and acrobats in a Cirque de Soleil poses a particularly difficult challenge and I wish that more was said how the silhouettes of the costumes had to be adjusted to accommodate them.
I find it interesting that the designer used the perspective of how insects view other insects. I feel like that's an interesting way of evaluating the insect's body structure much like how humans evaluate themselves and the other people around them. Even in how materials were selected, I like that the designer considered how the body of the insect contributes to the way it functions and how that can be translated on the human form; not to be in the way, but to enhance how the dancer moves and functions in portraying a particular insect.
I happened to see Ovo in Boston while it was on tour there, and was blown away by the costumes. I could see where the dancers getting hot could be a concern, so it was neat to read how they managed to keep the performers warm. The costumes did an excellent job of enhancing their insect movement in the show.
I have always been stunned by worlds other than our own, smaller ones that go unnoticed only if/ when we decide to take a more studied, concentrated look at a new and different perpective. I am enthralled by small details, and I'm sure that in re-creating these insect costume much consideration is invested in them. From what I can see from the images, I also appreciate the colors of each costume, the variety aqnd vibrancy that often times is not explored by the human eye, that categorized bugs as green, brown, "yucky" colors. It adds a whole new depth to the created perpspective.
Post a Comment