Research Document Proposal

 I had to put forward a Research Document Proposal for my first exam, this is it:

Onderzoeksvoorstel – Imogen Smid; IllDB4

1.Shortly describe your subject. What is the cause for this? Where does this interest come from?

I plan to base my research project on the world of costume design and making. I have had an interest in costumes for a long time, being exposed to many fantastical film costumes from a young age. More recently (three or four years ago) I got myself behind the sewing machine and really started getting into the making of costumes. Born from this creative passion, is a longing to know more about costumes: from when the concept started, to how they are made, to what artistic value and meaning they can add to a production. I think having a better knowledge of this will help my creation of costumes. Also being an illustrator and thereby not directly connected to costumes, I want to discover what my place can be in the world of costumes.

I plan to focus on the sector of costumes for Film (and Television). I do this as the whole world of costumes is a colossal subject stretching from music (band image) to national costume. I am going to be basing one of my exam projects on film costume design and craft so this is the cause of picking Film (and Television) over other Costume sectors. I eventually picked film as the right sector for my project as it is the one I personally have the most interest in due the connection it has to illustrated books such as children's books and graphic novels. In film, unlike stage and real-live productions, the director is constantly steering the audience's point of view by the use of camera angles and close-ups. Personally I find it more of an interesting challenge to make costumes that need to be able to work with the method of filming than ones that are viewed live on stage. Also there are wider possibilities in the film costume sector, as there is the possibility of enhancing the final product with CGI Effects.

Not only is the knowledge of costumes important to costume design, but it can also be used for book illustration and the like. By knowing more about this subject I will be able to use clothing as a tool to strengthen characters in my illustrations to add an extra layer of meaning for the viewers' experience.

2.In which model (or combination of models) does your subject fit?

See Below → Question 3. Alpha

Position in the Illustration Field

The Main Questions are based on the model of Position in the Illustration field as I wish to know what I as an illustrator can mean to the world of costume. I belief this can be concluded by firstly researching the field intensively. Then I will take this new information and compare this to my own work, methods and personality to draw my conclusions.

See Below → Question 3. Beta 1

Research in Subject or Thematics: Theoretical, Historical and Biographical

These questions are based around creating a definition of costumes in past and present, technical costume creation and relative people involved in this world.

See Below → Question 3. Beta 2

Research in Subject or Thematics: Image Analyses, Comparative Research and Actuality

These questions are based around what costumes add to a performance, how they compete with modern technology and the differences within the field.

3.What are your research questions?

Alpha - Main Question:

What can I as an illustrator bring to the field of costume design?

Beta - Sub Questions (to help discover the answers to the Alpha - Main Questions):

1

What are costumes?

How has costume design come to be what it is today?

What are the different occupational positions involved in Film Costume Design?

Are there many illustrators who have an involvement in costume design or have there been many in the past? Who are most relevant to me and my work?

How are film costumes made?

Which techniques and parts of this process can be relevant to an illustrator?

2 How are film costumes used?:

How do costumes enhance characters?

How much do the costumes add to the viewers experience of the film?

How do costumes for film and costumes for Television differ (if at all)?

How do costumes on a low budget compare to those on a high budget? (Hollywood and Art House?)

How does costume design compete with the digital world (eg. Animation and Motion Capture Suits)?

4.What will be your approach or method of research? Make a plan as much as possible.

As mentioned earlier, I plan to discover the answer to my main question by first of all finding the answers to smaller questions related to the subject of film costume design. Some of these questions may seem elementary, but I believe it as vital to put down a good answer to these first as to have a sturdy foundation for my research and conclusions further on.

When applicable, I plan to look into the theories put down by philosophers to answer questions. By doing so I can look at all the angles before conclusively forming my own opinions. I'm not sure if there are many theories directly connected to costumes though. I have found some references to masks (Nietzsche and Karl Marx) but this is more metaphorical than physical costume masks. (Mini-Hypothesis: I probably won't find too much here in reference to film costume.)

Probably more relevant than the above mentioned, I plan to be able to use gained knowledge from my academy theory subjects Philosophy of Humour and Aesthetics (maybe Ethics but I doubt it) and Cinematography. Also, I plan to use my knowledge gained over the years of analysing art in Art History (Iconography and so on).

I think it would be wise to interview some costume designers to ask them about their work process and experiences. This will give me an accurate and current view of the field. I plan on doing this via email as I would rather contact designers overseas. This is due to not particularly having an interest in the very small (compared to other countries) Dutch market or their film history. I have previously done interviews via the internet which worked very effectively. Some names that have popped up so far are Ray Holman and Sammy Sheldon. They both have experience in Film and Television projects that I am familiar with and admire.

I plan on personally analysing costumes in film to get answers to, for example the comparative questions. Naturally this analytic process will also be used in the final stages when discovering my own place in the world of costumes. I will be able to connect my own illustration work and of course the costume design project I am working on.

Any questions I cannot answer by use of the above mentioned methods will be answered by use of existing Literature on the subject. These questions will probably be the Historical and Biographic questions. There are all sorts of information to be found on the internet on this subject. Websites can be found via google but also external links can be found via database websites such as wikipedia and IMDB. I have also been searching the website www.amazon.co.uk for good books. I have found a few and one is currently on it's way.

I plan on tackling the Beta questions in the order I have put them down in above. I belief that by doing them in this order I will gain sufficient knowledge each time to tackle the following question. For example by first broadening my knowledge on what costumes are and how they have developed over the ages I will have a stronger leg to stand on when interviewing costumes designers. Also by researching the illustrations/designers involved near the beginning I can find who I want to target for interviews. It is naturally possible to re-interview one of the designers towards the end if I come across other questions that I can find no answer to (this also being a benefit of interviewing via email).

If getting replies from illustrators/designers takes a while, the questions are constructed so that the last couple of Beta 1 can be temporarily skipped and I can move on with Beta 2. Naturally these are just guide lines so that I know where to start, as I'm sure some questions will be interconnected and new questions will develop.

5.What do you expect your research will produce? Have you got any expectancies of the results? (Hypothesis)

Obviously I expect that at the end of this project I will have a broad knowledge on costume design and that I will have a clear view of what I can mean to it as an illustrator.

I think that I will find that there are large and wide opportunities for illustrators in the world of costume design as the creation is a visual process. I think that the costumes are a very large part of portraying meaning and information in a film and are thereby very strongly connected with illustration.

I feel that a film's budget will certainly have a large influence on the film's costumes. However, I think that there will be more room for artistic license in the smaller budget films than the larger budget films. I conclude this mainly due to the fact that Art House films are based on a more artistic interpretation opposed to the Hollywood films which are generally more aimed at keeping the masses happy and bringing in multi-million profits.

I don't feel that costume design is under threat by the digital world. Costume designers are still hired in to design the costumes for animated films and motion graphic films. Gabriella Pescucci for example, has worked on costume designs for real-life and animated films. What may be under threat though, is the actual art of costume making but I don't feel I can really give my opinion on this at this moment in time.

I doubt there are many differences between TV and Film costumes, not big ones anyway. Maybe TV productions are based on broader audiences than film?

6.Which sources have you obtained so far?

Terminology and Definition:

1.http://www.imdb.com/glossary/

Found Via: Previous Use

Technique and Proces:

1.“Batik, Tie Dying, Stenciling, Silk Screen, Block Printing – The Hand Decoration of Fabrics” by Francis J. Kafka; Dover Publications Inc.; 1959; ISBN:0-486-21401-X

Found Via: Academy Library

2.”Stagecraft – The Complete Guide to Theatrical Practice” by Trevor R. Griffiths; Phaidon; 1982; ISBN: 07 148 2186 1

Found Via: Personal Book Collection

3. “Costume Design 101: 2nd Edition: The Business and Art of Creating Costumes for Film and Television (Costume Design 101: The Business & Art of Creating)” by Richard La Motte; Michael Wiese Productions; 2010; ISBN-10: 1932907696

Motion Graphics:

1.”The Art of Beowulf” by Mark Cotta Vaz & Steve Starkey; Chronicle Books LLC; 2007; ISBN: 978-1-84739-163-6

Found Via: Personal Book Collection

Possibilities for Interviews:

Ray Holman, (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sea of Souls) directly contactable.

Has worked for TV, Film and Theatre so can give a good comparative opinion. Holman uses a lot of traditional styles with historical influences which I am also personally interested in.

Sammy Sheldon, (Hellboy II, Kick-Ass, Canterbury Tales, Stardust, V for Vendetta, Kinky Boots, Hitchhiker's Guide) contactable via an agent.

Has mainly worked on film costumes but also on TV. Sheldon uses a lot of modern imaginative styles and often combines this with traditional costume which gives her designs an interesting edge.

I still need to search for a few more people to contact. It is rather difficult to find contact details for costume designers but I just need to spend a bit of extra time on it.