HowlRound: Every day we get up and get dressed. We may think for hours, days, and weeks on what to wear. For some of us this process begins with the buying of garments, and for others it is a no-brainer because our likes are clear and our needs are simple. We modify our look with what we wear. It is our armor. We use it to protect ourselves from the weather, to suit our mood, and to shield our psyche from the world. As a costume designer, I know this to be true. I use this process to discover the characters I am designing for the productions for which I am involved. However, how many of us have considered it to be a type of body modification? It is temporary, but it is also modifying. We are visually changing how we are seen.
6 comments:
As a perspective costume designer it is interesting to read what others think and feel costume design is. I agree that costume design is in a way body modification, however, I feel this author's/designers justifications for why she choses certain pieces and costumes are askew. I feel that a costume for a character should never be the choice of a designer, or what a designer likes. Yes, aesthetic comes into play when putting together a cohesive costume plot, but, I feel it should be the characters that motivate the clothes that are on-stage. Approaching a design from the characters perspective and not from what you the designer feels looks good is important.
A note on rhetoric, this article was very repetitive. However, of the information given it was a nice read.
This year at Carnegie has really opened up my eyes to costume design. I never thought too much about it before, I think some of that was due to working with such a small budget, both money and time wise in the past for costuming. I have really enjoyed working in the costume shop for stage craft this mini a lot. Seeing the detail and care that goes into making the costumes, as well as just hearing the designer talk about what they want is really inspiring to hear. All the costume work I now see on stage, I think twice about. I see how the costume effects the actor and shapes the character. I like to think about all the choices the designer made and why. Although this article probably doesn't bring up many new ideas, its new things to me, for someone who has been out of touch with the costume design world.
I believe that learning special effects makeup as a costume designer is one of the most useful tools one could have hidden up their sleeve. Special effects makeup has such a magical and visceral way of changing our experience and interaction with a character on stage that I think it really is an ultimate power that one could have in their toolbox. I also think that it not only helps the audience understand the story better, but it helps the actor/actress embody the essence of whoever they are playing. I saw this really utilized in the Plague in Venice that was just performed at Carnegie Mellon. I couldn't even recognize half the cast because of the prosthetics that they had attached to their faces-- it took me until the end of the show to realize that the King was played by Patrick Hart! The giant fake nose that was attached to his face brought me into another realm where features were obviously exaggerated (also due to the fact that the show was commedia dell'arte. Like Jake, I am a prospective costume design major and I believe that having that special effects make up background could be so extremely useful. I intend on taking classes in special effects makeup and hair when I find the extra time to.
I think the part of this article I connected to most was the very first couple of paragraphs, when the designer discusses the thought process that goes into not only how one designs a costume for a character, but also how that process reflects how we as human beings think and design costumes for ourselves every day, whether we realize it or not. This is the thinking that has effected every step I have taken since I began studying costume design.I think of clothing as my armor, as the thing which not only expresses what I am feeling any given day but which also protects me from the uncertainties of the world. Life may be crazy and things may be falling to pieces, but with my second skin I know I can take it. I think simply the fact that costumes are worn in such key moments of vulnerability, when an actor must bare not only their soul but the soul of their fictional, other self as well, makes this effect doubly palpable in costuming. I think about this any time I watch a play, movie, or television show - why is that character, that person, wearing that? Heck, I think it when I see strangers on the street. What is it that made you chose that shirt, those shoes, that hairstyle? And how do you use it to protect yourself? What does it both express and shield about you? I think asking this question is what has always kept my love of costume design alive, for better or for worse, and I thank this author for articulating it so well.
I agree with the article in some regards, but the whole concept seems like it's obvious. Yes you're transforming them into another person, isn't that the point of costume design? I think this artical is pretentiously written and doesn't really highlight all the research and director's wants that go into costume design. It just sort of says what costume design is over and over again. Yes, it does all those things. It sounds like a high school paper, with the first part being about how we all wear armor. I mean, I agree, what I wear is helpful to my self-esteem, but that's not really what costume design should be about to me. I think it should be about the characters, but also about themes, and who they represent to the author and the audience alike. I understand, man. But you're professional article about costume design and your career should be more candid, and more real, not so flowery in language about a basic concept of design.
This is such an interesting idea. I have never thought of clothing as a form of body modification, but it is so true! It is really funny though because growing up my mum always told me I do not need to get piercings or tattoos because I can already modify my body in less permanent ways through my dress, but I never really thought about it truly as body modification until now so that is really cool. Looks like my mum understood something about costume design long before I did for once. Modification of perception through the language of costume design is such a cool concept, and I will certainly keep it in mind for when I am describing what I do. I am particularly interested in Hart’s “Golden mean” and how it is used since it is a brilliant way to make sure nothing is forgotten. I feel like I learned so much about costume design in this article and I am really glad I came across it.
Post a Comment