Hinepukohurangi and the Heron

The Maori symbolism research really was very useful.  I discovered that they saw the White Heron as a symbol for darling or treasure, perfect for Hinepukohurangi.  The Koru was also relevant as a pendant worn often by women depicting the affection in a relationship.  Also there is the Ngutu Kaka which is a representation of the female element and symbolic of the child within. 

I started by very quickly and roughly sketching some white herons.  Kirsten my mother happened to tell me the differnece between a mace and morning star during doing so, hence the addition :D

 A rough sketch of skeleton to get the proportions right, I have a terrible habit of making heads too big and legs too short.  I started with the wings but didn't really feel that was a good focus point.  I then tried the elegant long twisting neck and head as the top and this I thought was quite pretty.  The shape also allowed me to add a Koru.  I tried adding the Ngutu Kaka as well together with the wings as the skirt but I wasn't so keen on this, a bit too busy and distracting from the top of the dress.

I decided to focus on the very wispy feather of the wings instead and this also gave the bottom more of a misty feeling.  Potentially, small glass beads could be included to add in the dew drop effect.

 

Maori Symbolism Research

After having become a bit stuck with the other costumes, particularly with ideas for the two sisters, I decided I wanted more of a Maori influence.  After all what was the point of doing a Maori Myth if I didn't look to their symbols and stories for ideas and inspiration.  I found a really good list of names of symbols with descriptions and definitions.  The only thing was that there were no pictures.  So I took my time searching he net for good examples of the symbols.  This was very enjoyable, interesting and inspiring.

Hinepukohurangi: Dew Drops

 I tried to make a start on the Hinepukohurangi costumes the other day but I couldn't really seem to grasp it.  The first ones were just badly drawn fantasy dresses.  I quite like the woven bosom part of the second dress but that was about it. 

I then took the sweeping shape of the last fern dress and only drew this onto the template and added dew droplets like thos left by mist, as Hinepukhurangi means Mist-Girl.  At first I thought I was quite happy with this but when coming back to it later I didn't really think it was particularly interesting.  Maybe it could work as a detail together with a different concept but I feel it's a bit boring on it's own.

Further Leather Experiments

After having discovered that I could emboss leather with lino plates I paid attention to these possibilities when sketching.  Then based on the Uenuku costume sketch I have done some further tests with lino and leather.

First I tries to make a Reptilian skin texture, which I am very happy with.  

 Here I added some black to add extra detail and make it look more realistic.

Another detail in my costume was the use of teeth.  I'm sure whether I will sculpt these and add them into the leather or just make them out of leather.  When I initially embossed this tooth into the leather, I left the leather in the water for far too long which not only made it harder to print but also it didn't emboss very well.

 It does look a lot better after having been painted though :)

Here's another comparison between painted and unpainted.

The story having a Maori background, I really wanted to include weaving so I decided to weave strips of leather to create panels for the costume.  I first of all made a panel with green and brown leather as drawn in my sketch.  It's certainly a quick and easy way of creating an effective panel.

While doing my research on costume design, I read that a good way of aging leather is to use sandpaper.  I had never done this before so I really wanted to give it a try.

First I sanded the edges of the individual strips and then once woven I rubs the paper lightly over the top to hit hit the natural wear-and-tear spots.

I am very happy with all of these experiments and they give me the confidence that I will be able to pull off a full-detailed embossed suit of leather armour :)

Colour and Animals

 Before I started resketching I first of all exaggerated the shapes of the initial sketch to see if I should do this for the costume as well.  It didn't have an interesting effect at all.  The problem is when you start to do this it also very quickly becomes like an anime costume as they take traditional clothing and exagerrate elements.  I prefer to keep a simpler shape like this and add lots of details to make the costume different.

 I drew the costume out from different angles to see whether it was actually buildable.  This is something mainly important to the construction department.  Other departments are generally happy with a front on design.  I decided to give him trousers because the costume had become very top heavy.

Next I changed a couple of bits of the costume.  I also wanted to have more New Zealand elements zo I changed the midrif belt into a lizard like the native Tuatara.  I stuck to general natural colours as he is a hunter and needs to be camouflaged.

I added some protectors to the sleeves.because I felt that looks more complete than baggy sleeves.

I then made a display sheet to show the origin of the different costume parts but also what some of the panels will be in reference to when I emboss them.

A Couple More

Did a couple more designs for the costume.  I abandoned the first one with the big swirly bits pretty quickly because I just didn't think it looked right.  I liked the bat wing though so I kept that part for the next sketch.  I quite like this last design.  I feel it has more balance than the previous ones and has a good combination of native New Zealand animals (bats, birds and lizards) and craft (weaving).  I'm going to sketch this last one out from the different view points (sides and back) to see if it works and what improvements are needed.  I would also like to start thinking about the illustrations that are going to be embossed into the leather soon.

I haven't actually put any pictures on yet of New Zealand Bats or Lizards so here they are.

Uenuku - First Sketches

I decided to just draw the front for now.  When I get a design that looks more interesting I will draw it from the other angles.  For my comment and thoughts see the picture.  These really are the first tries so yeah there are a lot of bad ideas in there :)

Costume Templates

I tried to start sketching for my costumes today but I couldn't quite get into it.  Instead I traced out some template characters so I can easily use those over and over again when trying out different ideas at the beginning stages.

Uenuku

 I selected a stocky template for Uenuku as he is a hunter and would probably be a broader man opposed to slight.

I also made a javelin throw template to see what a costume could look like in a more physical pose.  The Spear was probably the mostly used hunting weapon in Maori civilisation.

Hinepukohurangi

 

Hinewai

 

I used the same poses for the two sisters. I made Hinewai broader the slight Hinepukohurangi as she seems more mature and emotionally steady than her sister.

 Village Women (extras - I've written out that there will one Head of the Women and six extra in my Costume Crossplot)

 

This is just a basic start for the village women, I'll get a couple of extra poses when I've done the first sketches for the three main characters.

Where to start...?

I've was originally a bit stuck on where to start on my costume design project and not feeling particularly motivated.  But now I've got into the swing of things again and I'm really enjoying my projects.  I've started (skim) reading Costumes 101 and as mentioned before it's very useful.  I've decided to basically run through the proces a costume designer working the field goes through.

First of all I mapped out the scenes that are in the film.

Since I took this photo, I have added a scene in between 12 and 13: Hinepukohurangi arrives.

I decided to skip the chronological script breakdown as there is no real script for my project and I felt I didn't need to do this as it seemed very similar to the Costume Crossplot.

I then made a Costume Crossplot to make out which characters are in what scene, when the sets are used, Interior/Exterior, Day/Night and what happens in each each scene.

I then started what the is called the First Concept Presentation to show my general ideas for each character with examples of clothing, colours, concept references and swatches (material samples) for some.

You can click on the images to read my notes and thoughts on different character approaches.

 leather, wool and hessian swatched for Uenuku costume

I plan on making one real costume and I've decided on doing Uenuku.  He is the main character and I am very excited about my discovery of embossing into leather with lino cuts so I really want to tackle this one for real.

I haven't made one for the Gods as I think those characters would sooner be CGI characters which makes them more for the concept Design Department than the Costume Design department, but that still remains to be seen.  I want to get these characters done first and then based on time left and estimated time I'll need to make Uenuku's costume see whether I design the Gods as well.