Dramatics Magazine Online: Costumes are crucial to any show. Costume quick-change is key, but screenwriters occasionally leave only a short amount of time to transition from one to the next—sometimes not even enough for the actor to get to the dressing room and back.
In cases like these, you’ll need to design a smooth costume quick-change.
11 comments:
This is a really helpful article. I just worked as a wardrobe supervisor for a show that had lots of on and off stage quick changes, and many of the approaches in this article are the steps that we took in designing the changes for the show. The idea of layering or underdressing certain items throughout the show turned out to be a crucial step for us as there were many things that would be put on in one scene that then only were shown a few scenes later. Tights for instance were one of those items for us. We also combined or jumpsuit a couple different dress and undershirt combos into one dress. My experience differs from this article a little bit because I was brought on later in the process and couldn't really get as much of a head start on the quick changes as I would if I had been collaborating with the designer early in the design process, but we ended up collaborating on some changes in the tech process. I also generally think that wigs can go either way in a quick change. True that complete style changes are more difficult with natural hair, but wigs can pose so many problems of their own. Some of which we encountered in our show.
This is a really useful article. While it’s original audience base is in the film costuming industry, it still applies to the theatre costume industry. I think it is logically spelled out and does not make any step feel beginner level or superfluous. Reading the script and attending a read through or rehearsal is super important for 99% of technications on shows. Talking with the director for the quick change needs and motivations is super helpful. I would also add talk to the stage manager or assistant director (film) to that bullet point to get more imput and a fuller picture of what the traffic of the scene looks like. Costuming with quick changes in mind is imperative. At times I find designers think through the quick change of what is being put on but not always what is being taken off. Thats an important step that can really impact time. Overall a great costume resource article.
This article is really interesting and intellectual as it teaches me in how to design quick changes with costume design. This is something that is truly fascinating and magical whenever a see a production is how the quick changes are being performed and in what ways that are being used. It is often scary to me whenever I think about the possibilities of it going wrong and causing trouble that it would not end up with a successful production. In addition, the process in how costumes should be designed in order to make the change quick and smooth is also a problem that have troubled me a lot as I have been encountering and hearing about different quick changes. This article definite helped to solve some of the concerned that I had and issues that I thought people would face as they are performing quick changes on stage and in rehearsals.
As others have pointed out, this article is extremely helpful, not only for a costume designer, but for anyone who may have to deal with them. I actually think it's crucial for directors and stage managers to understand how quick changes work and what needs to happen in order to get the actor on stage as quickly as possible. Even just a basic understanding has the potential to ease a lot of tension that may arise when a director has lofty or specific ideas about costumes.
My one and only time costume designing was for a show called Stop Kiss. The main character literally had a costume change every scene -- not only that, but the play jumps back and forth between past and present, sometimes revisiting days, so careful coordination needed to go into tracking costumes. We ended up using the same pair of pants for most scenes and just changing the top when she was in casual daily wear. I also saw a production of the same show where the costume changes took place on stage and wear built into the choreography between scenes. It was interesting, but also slowed down the play a lot.
But the article pointed at something that is truly the most important aspect of quick changes: the opportunity to practice. Costumes is often overlooked in tech and that is always such a mistake. Time dedicated to rehearsing quick changes alleviates a whole lot of stress come performance time.
I really enjoy reading about costume mechanics because they’re what got me interested in the world of theatrical costumes. I remember seeing Rodger and Hammerstein's Cinderella and being bambeezled like 3-4 times with all the quick changes wondering how it worked so quickly. Step 6 is my favorite part about quick changes in modifying the outfit to come off or go on faster with short cuts and tricks. I like the bit in the beginning talking about reading a script not scene by scene as a costumer but reading it as a flowing show to visualize how the costumes have to change and in what time frame. I also appreciated the last step of practice because sometimes with any costume change there are not enough practices for the actor or the crew assisting it and things go awry. Another step is sometimes having a backup if for some reason the original plans fails like lines or operations to cover up whatever didn’t go to plan so in the event a garment wasn’t cooperating then there’s a plan in place.
The reason I clicked on this article was because costume quick changes were like one of the first crew assignments I had in high school. I loved it so much and still do and it is one of the reasons I love designing costumes and being in this line of work. I really love this article because of how they list everything you can do to make that quick change successful! I feel like quick changes can be stressful but also can be almost an adrenaline rush if prepared and practiced well. My freshman year of high school I was on the quich change crew for Gentelmans Guide to Love and Murder. We had about 15 different quick changes for the same person ranging from a time length of 15 seconds to one minute. The reason we were successful in those changes was because we did the steps in this article.
I think this article broke down each technical aspect about quick changes really well. It was so thorough and it took into account everyone involved from designers, to the actors, even to the crew. Most of the tips they had to make about designing quick changes were really interesting too because there were different concepts in costumes that I had no idea about, like how which fastener is just as important for a stitcher like it is for a carpenter. And that’s awesome! All of our jobs are so similar to each other in draft but different in medium and execution that any of the small similarities like fasteners or materials choice is so cool because it gives us similar vocabulary to communicate with each other in the future and it deepens our understanding and connection to each other and theatre, and that’s really beautiful to me. This article can appeal to more than just costumers, like carpenters!
Quick changes can be such a nerve racking and tedious task to complete during and before its entire process. This article does an exceptional job with laying out all the details that come with completing and constructing a successful quick-change through providing solutions to problems many costumers face and a wide variety of suggestions to enhance the process and look of the quick change on and off stage. Additionally, as a person interested in going into the film industry I was unaware that quick changes also persist and are include within this side of the performance world. Which makes me more curious as to how costumers adhere to the set, lighting, sound and camera work of the film. Additionally, I enjoy how precise this article gets as you continue to read it. The order in which the various topics on quick changes are introduced allows for a smooth reading article that continues to expand on its previous points.
This article does an excellent job at breaking down the art of the quick change. While I have thought through some of these steps, I haven’t seen it spelled out this clearly and precisely. Point number six entitled “Design the quick rig” is really interesting, as it shows both the pros and cons of several kinds of garment fixtures. While I feel like not everyone needs to know the intricacies of a change, it is really useful for management to understand it. Stage management so they can monitor the change, keep an eye on what’s working, etc. Production management because there is a potential for damage to the costume when changing out of it so quickly. I also liked that the seventh point utilized the language of ‘choreograph the crew.’ This ensures that the movement is specifically planned, reducing the potential for error. In a stressful moment backstage, this is always preferable.
It is interesting to read an article about the basic steps of how to go about designing quick changes in costumes for a show. Having just finished being a part of the Wardrobe crew for dance Nation, where there are a lot of different costumes end good number of the changes are quick changes, this was pretty interesting to read cuz it shows how much thought needs to go into the actual design process when working with a show where the costumes change a lot before you even think about having to actually execute these quick changes. This article makes it seem like costume design can sometimes be a puzzle to figure out especially if there are a lot of quick changes and especially especially if those quick changes need to include completely different costumes. Overall, this article was fairly interesting to read.
(Spoiler Alert) I saw the wanderers last weekend and it was a really good story. I like the juxtaposition of the modern kids and they’re technology and their parents with their orthodox customs. Super cool set by Anne - she did a great job with the two different levels (mostly) separating the two different worlds so that they could co-exist at the same time. The actors were great (always are) and the play explored some very interesting themes. The one thing that I thought was weird was from a playwright perspective (here comes the spoiler alert.) The main character spent the majority of the time corresponding with who he thought was really a famous actress he had once met, but actually turned out to be his wife. He admits all sorts of stuff to this fake person including that he doesn’t really love his wife. I liked the idea of this actress being a vessel for seeing his inner thoughts, but it was just really weird.
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