Notes for Songs

I posted some notes for the different songs in the Faun album the other day but hadn't done the last four yet, so here they are. 

CD Cover Book Template

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 :)

Chaptery Waptery Thingies

To help figure out the chapters for my Research Project I've made a tree diagram.  I've left some gaps in case I've forgotten some bits but it's looking pretty decent so far.

Contacting Costumy People :)

I still had to do some research into people I could contact about interviewing them so I finally sat down and searched the web.  I managed to make a decent list:

Ray Holman

Costume Design: Doctor Who Series 5, (Turn Left Episode Series 4), Torchwood, Sea of Souls, Born and Bred, Peak Practice, Sherlock

http://www.costume-designer.co.uk/

Contactable via website: http://www.costume-designer.co.uk/contact/

Sammy Sheldon

Costume Design: X-Men First Class, Kick-Ass (2), Green Zone, Hellboy 2, Stardust, Kinky Boots, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,Clacium Kid, Cantebury Tales (TV)

http://unitedagents.co.uk/sammy-sheldon

Contactable bia Agents:

Lynda Mamy	Associate: Madeleine Pudney mpudney@unitedagents.co.uk + 44 (0)20 3214 0896
Andrew Naylor	Assistant: Daniela Manunza dmanunza@unitedagents.co.uk + 44 (0) 203 214 0900 anaylor@unitedagents.co.uk +44 (0) 203 214 0899

Michael Kaplan

Costume Design: Flashdance, Blade Runner, Fight Club, Pearl Harbour, Mission Impossible, Se7en, I am Legend, Mr. And Mrs. Smith

http://www.stardustbrands.com/artists/michael-kaplan

Agency: info@stardustbrands.com

Costume Illustrators and Costumers to Contact:

Found via Google.com, search entry: “costume illustrator”

Robert Cron

Costumer: Green Lantern, Suckerpunch, Watchmen, Tron, The West Wing etc

Costume Design: The Hottie & the Nottie

Theatre Costume Design:Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,

http://www.costumesketch.com/

email: robert@costumesketch.com

mob: (818) 209-0534

More relevant as Costumer fro film.

Phillip Boutte Jr.

Costume Illustrator: Inception, Star Trek, Priest,

Advertising: American Apparel Spec

Music Tours: Madonna MDNA Tour 2012-13 Designed by Arianne Phillips; Chris Brown Carpe Diem Tour 2012 (Designed by Stacy Caballero)

http://phillipbouttejr.carbonmade.com/

Email: Uphilme@gmail.com

Location

1039 Justin Ave #210
Glendale, CA 91201

Phone 310 8649527

Jacqueline Wazir

Costume Illustrator: Desperate Housewives, Terminator III, The Persuit of Happiness, Spy Kids, The Hills Have Eyes II

Advertising: Swarovski, Nike

http://jlwazir.com/

wazirjacqueline@yahoo.com

Chrsitian Cordella

Costume Illustrator: The Mummy 3, G.I. Joe, Thor, The Vampire's Assisstant, The Last Air Bender, Iron Man 2, Twilight New-Moon, Priest, Captain America, Snow White and the Huntsman

http://www.christiancordella.com/

christiancordella@hotmail.com

Fabian Lacey

Costume Illustrator: Tron

Concept Illustrator: The Avengers, The Amazing Spiderman, Green Lantern

http://www.fabianlacey.com /

fabian.lacey@gmail.com

Jonay Bacallado – Has Worked on Costumes for CGI!!!

Concept/Costume Design: John Carter, Avatar, Rome (TV), Apocolypto

http://www.jonaybacallado.com/web/

jonaybacallado@me.com

Robin Richesson

Costume Illustration: Benjamin Button, Iron Man (Pepper Potts), Stuart Little, Unbreakable, The Polar Express, The Spiderwick Chronicles,

http://www.robinrichesson.com/

robinrichesson@mac.com

And then I wrote up some rough questions which will be adapted depending on the person I send them to:

Potential Questions:

-What brought you into this field of Costumes?

-What/ is your greatest artistic influence and/or in inspiration?

-What is the favourite part of your occupation?

-What has your favourite project been so far and why?

-What has your most challenging project been so far and why?

-How does working on a low budget film compare to working on a low budget flm?

-How does the genre of a film influence the costume design/illustration?

-What would you say are the most important skills for a costume designer/illustrator?

-As a Costume Illustrator, how much artistic freedom do you have? Do you have to follow strict instructions from the Costume Designer or is there room for interpretation and negotiation?

If applicable:

-What are the main differences between working for film and television?

-What are the main differences between working for film and advertising?

-What does working on a historical project compare to working on a non-hostorical project?

-Do you feel that costume design is threatened by the digital world? Would you like to be more involved in designing for digital costumes or not?

+ other questions on specific projects depending on responses to initial emails

  

I plan sending an introduction email first as I think it rude to immediately send the questions.  Also the questions need to be tailored to each artist so I'm not going to waste my time doing that first if only half reply for example.

I've sent to three so far, will soon get round to the others.

 

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.

Finished reading Costume 101, Interview Questions, New Research Questions

These are the notes I made on the rest of the Costume 101 book.  I have also written out here which questions I need to find more for.  Based on this I have kind of figured out what question I need to ask costume deisgners in the interviews.

Another thing I still have to do is sit down and analyse the costumes in films.  I have written out genres and then tried to fit films to the genres that could be interesting.  I think a couple will change and I still have to pick a couple.

New Questions that have popped up so far while doing research are:

1. What are the restrictions of designing for historical film?
         -What are the differences between designing for hostorical and completely new world (fantasy/sci-fi) films?
2. What inflence does a genre of a film have on the costume design?

I know the answer to the first question and I hope to learn more about the second from the interviews and film analysis.