Delving further into Costume Design

To rethink my ideas for making costumes, I started off by looking at the different types of costumes within the Entertainment Sector. 

From this I decided to focus on Film and Television Costumes.  Due to close ups and different camera angles a lot of details are worked into Film Costumes which I thought would be a good challenge but also that it would offer more opotunities for the addition of Illustrative Elements.  As Film or TV can be digitally altered in the editing fase I also felt it was a good choice so some characters or elements of the costume could be added digitally.

One of my main inspirations in the world of Film Costuming is the Weta Workshop Studio in Miramar, New Zealand.  These studios were a 38 minute drive away when I lived in Eastbourne, New Zealand and I was very lucky to visit the Weta Cave, their small museum and shop.  I love the way they create new worlds so authentically.  The costumes are also beautifully aged (see Gandalf the Grey's robe below) and include such exquisite detail.

Another real inspiration to me is the Costume Designer Gabriella Pescucci.  I only just discovered her recently when looking up who had designed the costumes for "The Brothers Grimm".  Looking on imdb, I then say that she had worked on other favourite films of mine such as, "The Name of the Rose", "Van Helsing", "Beowulf" and "The Borgias" not to mention many other amazing projects I was not yet familiar with.  She includes an amount of detail and elegance which seems so typical of the Italians.  She often combined classical historical styles with her own fantastical imagination.

One of my favourite movies is Mirrormask. This bizarre film was written, directed and designed by my favourite illustrator Dave McKean who also works on Graphic Novels, CD Covers, Animations and Children's Books, so basically he works in all of the field that I too have interests in.  I feel that Dave McKean's experience as an illustrator has really added an amazing dimension to the film making it really stand out in it's originality of design.  In his concept designs (Left Bottom and Top) he not only tackles the characters but also the atmosphere of the film which is also the approach I plan to take in my projects as I feel a reflection of the overall atmosphere is important to the costumes.