Happy Wednesday, Down Home readers! We have another treat for you as we continue to highlight our senior projects. Let’s hear from Amelia Walz and her project…
For my project, I designed five costumes (Arthur, Merlin, Mordred, Morgause, Guinevere) and built one costume (Guinevere) for the book The Once and Future King by T.H. White.
My process involved re-reading and analyzing the text, historical research, creating watercolor sketches, and building a costume. I set out to discover the purpose behind costuming and its impact on audiences. I wanted to draw attention to a relatively undercover part of theatre and film.
My big questions were: How does an image affect the way the character is perceived by the audience? and How do I design a costume to convey specific messages? As a designer, I had to ask myself what I want my audience to feel when they see my design and had to consider elements such as whether the character will be good or evil, their status, and their interests. Their evil nature could be revealed through dark colors or their wealth through the use of intricate gold trimming.
Costuming unites a writer’s imagination with reality. It is an essential piece of making the actor and audience comfortable in the character and connected to the show. However, costuming does not stand out. We rarely realize the messages that are conveyed through a garment. But an image is a gold mine of information about a character and a visual representation of their life story.
