Costume and Make –Up
Costume is an important part of any production as it can give the audience an insight into who characters are and tell a lot about their individual background by bringing characters to life onstage. As part of my job role, I will have to work alongside our team’s director to make sure that the look of the costume designs, make-up and hairstyles all suit the look of our production, ‘Love First, Live Incidentally.’
A costume designer will…
Costume designers:
• Take control of the overall look of the clothes
• Research and design the costumes
• Have excellent design skills
• Be organised
• Work well to a budget
• Work well under pressure
• Create and sketch costume ideas for the performance
• Take measurements of the actors (waist size, shoe size, clothes size)
• Choose fabrics for the making of the costumes
• Buy or hire outfits
• Take control of the fitting, altering and adapting the costumes
• Clean, iron and mend the costumes
• Make sure that wardrobe items are available at the right time
• Keep the look of the costumes the same between shoots or scenes
A make-up artist will…
Make-Up Artist:
• Communicate with the director to clarify visual requirements
• Look into the Production study, reading the scripts to ascertain the materials and the look required
• Work to a necessary budget and identify areas where research is required
• Produce and sketch design ideas for hairstyles and make-up
• Ensure the overall look/effect is consistent and coherent
• Demonstrate and implement a practical understanding of lighting, the photographic process, colors and the impact of special effects/make-up processes on the skin
• Understand individuals skin conditions and the side effects
• Maintain awareness of health and safety issues
• Fit and maintain wigs, hairpieces and prosthetics
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of available make-up and beauty products
• Source, budget and order materials and equipment
• Have good time management skills- knowing how long the individual actor will take to be made-up
• Work quickly and accurately in time-pressured conditions
In our production, we have five different actors all playing the role of Zelda Fitzgerald. Each Zelda will have a different look to show the different stages of her life that each actor is representing. It is important for the actors to all look similar so that the audience understands that the actors are all playing the same character, however, it is as equally important for them to all look slightly different so that the audience realise that each actor is representing Zelda at different points of her life. In order for our concept to be clear, it will rely heavily on costume and make-up. I aim to put together sketches of costume designs and discuss my ideas closely with the director, so that together we can come up with a suitable costume for each actor that will allow the audience to recognise the time period that we are transporting them to. This will require research into the fashion and hairstyles and cosmetics of the 1920’s.
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/CostumeDesigner.aspx
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/1756_costume_designer