CMU School of Drama


Monday, November 01, 2021

Lisburn costume designer shares her creative skills

Ulster Star: Susan Scott has spent more than 20 years creating stunning costumes for actors including Daniel Day Lewis, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Anna Friel, Sean Bean, Jessie Buckley, Ben Hardy and Guy Pearce to name a few.

3 comments:

Viscaya Wilson said...

One of the strangest things about our work is its deviations from the path you expected. The American educational system is that you go to school, find something you’re good at, go to college to study it, and work in that field until you retire. Very straightforward and predictable. If you have good people skills you can social network, a good resume will get you hired. However, in our field it rarely is this simple and predictable. We see young talented technicians and designers breaking into the field through union work and apprenticeships, no need to even attend a college. But there are also people who go to undergraduate, graduate, and pursue education beyond that to break into the industry. Sometimes the most wonderful things in our lives can occur through a chance. However, by supporting and creating programs that help give more equitable opportunities to all gives more reliability and stability to those who do not have fate on their sides.

Jeremy Pitzer said...

As technology advances and we step into the world of science fiction, I think one aspect of our lives that will practically explode is the concept of education. With programs like the one described in this article we’ll be able to learn from anyone anywhere in the world, and not just in the static relationship of teacher and student. The possibilities are endless to transition this program in seminars, meetings, or even conventions large and small. On the topic of this article herself, Susan Scott is a most fascinating character. When I think of a costume designer, this woman and her dog in the middle of the set of Game Of Thrones is not foreign at all. I think she is absolutely fabulous and I wish her dog the best in his friendships with some of the world’s greatest stars. Her journey is fascinating when broken down into steps, as it seems so easy when in truth a career in the arts is a toss of the dice.

Selina Wang said...

In this article, costume designer Susan Scott says that “there’s such a huge range of talent needed on a film set”, which I find is absolutely true. During the past 3 months here in CMU, I have learned so much just by working with talented people, and I think a lot of the things are not & cannot be learned in lessons through simple teaching. Most of the time, the skills we learn are through ‘field work’. So when Susan Scott talks about working under Joan Bergin on several different sets, I think it’s a valuable lesson for us — to try different things, welcome new changes and always be eager to learn. Especially like Jeremy said, our world is changing and developing rapidly with the advancement of technology. It's important for us to have an open mind and stay on trend by incorporating what we already know and what we’ve newly learned.