So I feel a little more relaxed now I have a bit more information about all the academic side of things- although really, as I've thought from the out-set, this project for me is really more about personal development ready for leaving uni and for development of my portfolio- I really want it to be the very best that I can do, and if that means I have to sacrifice focus from the academic/'paperwork' side then so be it. However, I am also aware that the criteria that I am probably being marked-on for this unit, are a list of practices etc that would actually make my life easier if I fulfilled them, and therefore I should probably feel the NEED to keep a sort of production journal as I go anyway.
I then met with my costume supervisor to have a meeting about everything: any progress she had made with sourcing, planning out the rest of the week, and most importantly, riffling through the costume store at uni to see if we could source anything then and there. First we looked through he Arabian Nights costumes from a few years ago, which I have to admit, we thought would be more fruitful than they were. Unfortunately, the straw that broke the camel's back was the conflicting colour schemes- a lot of the costumes from Arabian Nights were centred around blues, pinks, greens and purples, whereas Much Ado is mainly oranges, yellows, and reds. I'm happy to compromise on A LOT of things, but the colour isn't really one of them. Another issue was that a lot of the costumes had a very 'fantasy' element about them- and were not really realistic enough to find a place in the immerisive world of Much Ado. Moreover the fabric choice was too shiny, and alas therefore inappropriate for this production. All of these things are such a pity because the costumes were so beatiful. It made me and Sarah quite whistful- for more makers, more time making, and a much larger budget. But- if we pull this off it will be even more impressive because we have been so limited in these areas. I say limited, but I'm of the strong belief: who needs 10 makers when we've got Anna and Lucy?
So in the end, we pulled out a select few items, and a couple of accessories, mainly for costumes for the 'messenger' or 'boy' or the band or something- i.e. nothing that matched any of the designs. We found a long red cloak that could be useful for the Sexton, but it seemed to be cut for a woman and it had big imaginative embroidered borders on the sleeves and openings which we would have to disguise.
We then had a look in the general costume store with a list of things we thought we might find:
-most things for both of Don Pedro's costumes
-military trousers
-Some of the stuff for the Watch
-Boots
-Maybe some of the hats/helmets.
We were quite disillusioned by how much (or little) we actually did find, until Helen showed us these:
We don't know where they came from or how they got there, all we know was that we certainly weren't expecting to find them ANYWHERE. We had these 'over-sized' jods down as a make for sure, but since stumbling across these, it seems too good an opportunity to watse.
However, this is where I have to be careful. I know what I'm like, and if I stumble across something that I'd already told myself I wouldn't find, I get so overwhelmed by excitement at finding something that basically matches, that I completely fail to see it in a true light- willfully ignoring any flaws due to a love of coincidence. So I had to have a long, hard look with Sarah and admit to myself, that although the CIRCUMSTANCES for finding the trousers may be perfect, the trousers themselves are not. Obviously we need to see them on the actor, which incidentally we can do this week as I'm mid-way in arranging some preliminary measuring times with the actors. However, on first look my main thoughts are:
-They large in the right places but also large in the wrong places too- very baggy lower-leg, may be difficult to get leg into boot, very baggy round the waist, and they almost have a 'drop-crotch'.
-This excess baggyness also leads to a problem with the way tha fabric falls, at the moment I have a bit of an issue about the fact that the thigh shapes don't stand rigid enough, and that actualy all the excess fabric causes a lot of folds and pleats in areas that shouldn't have them. I don't know how much we're allowed to adjust things from the store, but with a little tweaking (depending on how they fit the actor) they could be amazing.
We also put aside a walking cane for Don Pedro.
After the visit to the costume store, Sarah and I had a productive meeting where we scheduled the following week ahead, made some lists, and talked through some issues. One important thing that Sarah did ask about was the masks and whether we are still having extra 'dressed-up' clothes and accessories for the principle characters in the Masquerade Ball scene. As my updated script/costume breakdowns indicate below, have definitely cut that idea. Mainly because of time and budget, but also for the more logical reason that the masked ball scene actually happens very early on in the play, when supposedly the audience are still getting used to the characters... so if all the characters' faces are covered, what else is there other than the costume (and maybe voice) that can help the audience identify who is who. Therefore it's actually quite important for the costumes not to change at this point. However, this discussion did painfully highlight to me that I need to do SOMETHING to sort out the mask situation. I know there were plans to get model-making involved but I don't know whether that has gone ahead- another thing to talk to Doug about.
Our week-plan looks something like this:
TUESDAY: meeting with Emilie and Mandy to discuss roles of buyer vs supervisor. Visit Hire shop in Boscome- Hire-archy.
WEDNESDAY: Fitting with the actors.
THURSDAY: Deadline for finding and ordering the cropped military jackets.
FRIDAY: Trawl Winton and Boscome vintage and charity shops.
SATURDAY: Potentially visit costume lady in New Milton.
We also made a couple of rough shopping lists.
Things to look for at Boscombe Hire Shop:
- 3 x military trousers
- 2 x yellow & blue Garrison Caps
- 4 x beige squat pith helmets
- 1 x white tall pith helmet
- medals, sashes, and straps.
- Waistcoats
- Don Pedro's admiral-esque jacket
- Don Pedro's hat.
- Shoes/boots.
- Turban/ turban fabric for Claudio and Benedick's uniforms
- Leonato's little cream hat.
- Purple fabric swag for Leonato.
- Dhoti fabric/ readymade dhoti
- Pomp-pom shoes
- Yellow turban- Balthasar
- White dress tunic x 2 (to dye for Claudio and Benedick's uniforms)
- Sash/scarf for Benedick and Claudio's uniform.
- white/cream frock tunic (claudio- wedding)
- Red wedding turban
- Red fabric swag- Claudio
- Little cream skinny trousers- Claudio
- Wedding garlands x 2
- Hero's various jewllery
- 3 piece wedding sari
- 2x teal choli
- 2x extra long saris in brigh red and yellow- large print.
- purple sheer sari
- Orange choli
- Flower? Lotus hair piece?
- Cream turban
- Karma bracelets
- Red trousers/swags for Friar
- Antonio's little teal hat
- Long plain cream tunic (Antonio).
- Mirrored purple choli
- Beatrice jewellery
- Deep red silk harem pants
- Yellow patterned sheer fabric.
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