More Designs

2 more costume designs for Much Ado, with plenty more to come.

Also I made a 'Facial Hair Powerpoint' for the Make-Up Designer....

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=31843A379A3CA19!118&authkey=!AIO3moZYp6_i5JY

Natural Shocks Presents: PEEP

Since June I have been working as Costume Supervisor on 3 shows for this year's Edinburgh Festival. Although, admittedly the timing could have been better, what with me really needing to focus on Much Ado About Nothing AND the fact that I started my summer job again at the beginning of July, I still felt that the experience gained from this project would benefit me hugely and that it was too good an opportunity to turn down, especially considering that the Designer had asked for me personally (from working together at ArtsEd). Not to mention that it's expenses paid.... which is about as paid as I'm going to get for now- so it's brilliant! One step further towards actual PAID costume work!! In saying that.... I have yet to be reimbursed by the company... so I won't start celebrating just yet.

Trying to juggle this job, my summer job, Much Ado About Nothing, learning to drive, and general life, has made the past month extremely difficult, culminating in me running myself into the ground, getting a horrible chest-infection preventing me from working OR moreover, traveling with the company to Edinburgh for the opening nights (an option they did offer me, which was amazing seeing as they would be covering my travel and accommodation)- really gutted I couldn't go with them, and I had to stop working with some of the tasks unfinished, which is never a nice feeling. But I guess these things happen and I couldn't have risked getting the company ill too.

The whole experience was great, really interesting. My main role was essentially to continue sourcing the costumes whilst the designer was away in Denmark. I'm not sure how much I can say on here, as it is yet to open, so I don't want to spoil anything, so I will update this post with photos etc once the show is underway.
Needless to say, with a production like this which is still in constant development, I had to be very flexible; you would spend all day sourcing, thinking you'd finally got a costume sorted, then you'd get back to the rehearsal space and in the time that you'd gone, the whole vision for the play had changed. Not to mention sizing issues and all of that. As always, most of my job was returning stuff I'd bought. I also did a little bit of sewing and a lot of research.

Given that 'PEEP' contains 3 plays, each along the theme of 'sex', both reading the scripts and attending the rehearsals were interesting processes. And I had to do some fairly questionable research into some interesting shops.
 I never thought how much of a problem it can be to get women's shoes in men's sizes- so that was an issue I'd never though of before....

There was a lot of that typical issue where you have to try and dress a character realistically, but it's a character who may not be very good a dressing themselves, so you want them to look realistic, but you don't want the costumes to look 'bad'... and trying to work round that issue- finding the balance between aesthetically tacky and actual tacky.... It was all tricky at times, but I got on well with the team especially the Designer who I think was relatively pleased with my work.

I was required to do a lot of the costume sourcing on Oxford Street.... during 3 of the hottest days of the year... just days before the Olympics, and that particular part of the job was not pleasant. But everything else, considering my job was mainly logistic rather than creative, was actually a really good experience. I feel like I've made good contacts and have learnt a lot from my work with this company. I just really hope they don't come away with a bad impression of me because I had to duck-out right at the end...  I did try my absolute hardest.... but when you start getting feverish in Primark (more so than normal), it's a sign to throw in the towel.
Here is are some links to some info about the shows, will post more when PEEP has opened:
http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/theatre/peep
http://wefund.com/project/peep-edinburgh-festival-2012/p44339/
http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/the-arts-diary-come-to-the-booths-for-a-cleaner-peep-1-2313040
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/255981-peep/

My Week working at the V&A Theatre and Performance Galleries

25th June- 29th June 2012
A month later, and being ill off work, I finally have the time to update my blog about (what I can remember of) my marvellous week working at the V&A.
I really had such a great time- I learnt so much, and was treated incredibly well by all the staff and visitors- it was like EVERYTHING I did was a massive personal favour to them. And such a creative atmosphere- I loved it.
My first reaction was what a large department it was. I was initially filled with confidence and comfort when I saw not only that there was such a large 'backstage' team to the theatre and Performance galleries but that it was almost entirely populated with women in their mid-twenties. 'Perhaps the V&A is not as hard to work in as I always thought' I naively pondered, feeling inspired by the fact that I was surrounded by interesting people getting paid to do interesting things, and they were all only a few years older than myself.
It was only as the week progressed that I realised about 4 members of the department were paid, and ALL the rest were interns.....
Dreams shattered.
I talked to the lovely girl who was 'in charge' of me (one of the few who was actually EMPLOYED there, and may I say so, did an amazing job at juggling what seemed like everything in the universe).
She revealed when I asked how she'd got such an amazing job so young, that it had only been the result of something like a year's unpaid internship. I just don't understand who can afford to do that.

So although I felt bad for all the free-labour interns, they seemed to be enjoying themselves, as was I, and everyone I met was just so nice and friendly- and all the office talk was about theatre and performance, it was so nice being surrounded by people who were clearly passionate about the same things as you.



On my first day I got to look around the galleries and the exhibition in as much time as I wanted. The current exhibition was a condensed version of the work on display at the SBTD 'Transformation and Revelation' conference and exhibition in Cardiff. It was really nice to have a proper look at some of the works, and I immediately recognised some from before. This time round I especially enjoyed the works of Richard Hudson, and Paul Brown with Naomi Wilkinson's Set Design proving my favourite.
I also got a chance to go on the free daily tour of the Theatre and Performance galleries which was really interesting and I met a lovely old woman who invited me to her house in the New Forest.
I also did some work on a new top secret exhibition which will be one of the main V&A exhibits in 2013, which just happens to be exploring on of my favourite things ever to have existed ever in the world ever. But I can't tell you what. shhhhh....
So that was amazing, doing work on something I was already so passionate about, even if it is slightly frustrating that I can't tell anyone about it.

Other highlights of the week include:

• Doing some curation work on an exhibition of photos documenting the 1960s- I got to help decide which to include and which not to include, plus research in the V&A archives to see if we had any relevant supporting memorabilia.

• Helping-out a company doing an abridged production of Twelfth Night in the Performance Galleries, this involved making them a poster and finding them some leaves.

• Getting in all the exhibitions for free. Loved the Heatherwick Studios one- the rolling bridge and the seed cathedral were awe-inspiring. Was Majorly disappointed by  'Ball Gowns' I counted less than 5 dresses that weren't totally hideous. Was TOTALLY IN LOVE with the British Design one- and plan to go back asap. It was like the Post Modernism exhibition BUT BETTER.

• Getting to go up hundreds and hundreds of stairs to the roof where none of the public have access- getting a panoramic view of all of London (and further) on a beautiful sunny day. If only I'd had my camera!It was just magical, I felt so privileged to be allowed up there. Seeing a view only appreciated by few.

• Being sent to Christie's to blag a free catalogue of the Daphne Guinness Collection that was being sold that night in aid of the Isabella Blow Foundation. Not only did we manage to blag a free catalogue (which were otherwise I think £30) but we also got invited to peruse the items going up for auction which were displayed beautifully in a gallery to the back of the auction house. I couldn't believe my luck, it is so rarely that someone like me is allowed anywhere near somewhere like Christies LET ALONE being able to touch and inspect statement clothing from the likes of Alexander McQueen and Prada. Especially when i thought I'd be spending the day in the office. It was great.

Low-light of the week:
Casually trawling through the V&A archives to find some artwork to use for our Twelfth Night posters, I just happen to stumble-upon, by COMPLETE coincidence, photos from an old production of Twelfth Night.... set in India.... with a blue set..... and a washing line intersecting the stage...... I think this is something I'll have to get used to, but at the moment I am absolutely fuming that there seems to be absolutely no remote possibility of original thought ever in the world ever. First the RSC pinch my concept, closing on the SAME NIGHT that our version closes, THEN I discover that my set design is totally unoriginal and has been used before, not just for something random, but for Shakespeare- SET IN INDIA! argh!
It's so annoying because I specifically remember the organic progression of ideas and the train of thought that lead me to the seedlings of my set design. I remember the time, the place, why I suddenly decided to have a washing line... it was a real Isaac Newton moment haha. So it's not like I subconsciously saw any photos from this other production and thought: 'yeah that's what I'll do...' , it was instead, totally organic.
I can't find ANY photos on the internet of this production however, so it can't be that notable (although I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing for me....) and I wasn't allowed to publish the photos I found in the V&A archive.... so maybe I can just pretend it never existed.. I never saw the photos... I guess everything has always been done before. But maybe it can be my life goal to do something that hasn't been.....

BUT overall, it was a really fantastic week, and would happily return there any time. Wonderful staff, wonderful environment, interesting work.

Also whilst completing my placement here I saw 2 productions- neither of which I knew anything about before going:

 CANTINA

The first was 'Cantina' part of the London Wonderground, which my friend from the Wimbledon Costume course took me along to. OH MY GOSH it was soo good. Normally, I'm not a big circus fan, but everything that company Cantina did, they did with a nod to the Bygone era. There was no spangle and loud abrasive noises and colours, everything was understated and overstated at the same time. Set magnificently in the Speigel tent (a venue I am not unfamiliar with), the vintage backdrop complimented the night perfectly, as you sat back and watched incredibly talented performers tight-rope-walk in stilettos, conduct death-defying acrobatics, and Charleston the night away to a live soundtrack of swing music.. all in 1940s costume. It was just like a dream. I will definitely try and go again before it leaves in October. It was so refreshing to see something without safety nets, or harnesses, or any modern day health and safety adherence.... everything was real, the danger was real, the dancing was real, and the humour was real.
It was just such a wonderful night.

The second I saw was 'Democracy' at the Old Vic, which I ducked into almost by accident as I tried to make the most of a spare evening in London. If you imagine how much Cantina was 'my sort of thing'.... Democracy was in fact the pole opposite.
I could tell it was quite a good production, but the fact of it was really that it just didn't appeal to me on any level. I'd like to say that it was worth the ticket price. I'd like to say that I now know a lot more about the East Germany/West Germany conflict. I'd like to say I wasn't remotely bored and instead cherished every moment of genius.
But alas, I found it dry, dull, and pretty unimaginatively staged.
Now that I am writing about it over a month later, I can remember very little, including the name... which I had to look up. Never a good sign.

Model Box... in progress.

A Selection of photos of my Set Model at its current stage:

 The wooden lid on the base of the fountain can be removed to reveal water.

Hand In Documents- Bibliography and Evaluation

Unit Evaluation

Bibliography

Sooo Much To Do About Nothing

Filling you in on the hectic events of the past 2 weeks....

10^th June – 21^st June

Greatest apologies,

Firstly for the lack of frequency of my posts, and secondly, for the huge delay in updating this particular post- trying to recap the whirlwind of chaos that was mid-June.

But here it is, back-dated.

Owing to my regretful, unwavering optimism, I have forever been playing catch-up with myself- with every single activity taking about 3 times longer than initially anticipated. So alas, alack, with my deadline lingering on the 22^nd June, I had very, very little sleep in the past 60 hours and am not even close to completing my designs thanks to the complicated nature of the model-box.

Hoping to finish the week with a grand sweep of finalising my costume designs for the principle characters- whose concepts were already designed and rock-solid, these plans were soon scuppered when the model-box decided to take as much time as humanly possible.

I made the decision to focus on finishing the set rather than furthering the costumes because I thought that I needed to make the most of my access to the Studio Theatre- which would be unavailable to me during the summer ‘holidays’ due to my relocation back to Brighton.

So sadly, the costume designs that I was itching to finish had to take a back-seat to the painstaking precision of positioning the poles of the mezzanine floor of the set.

To go back further, I will briefly recap some of the activities that have lead me to this point (my deadline).
Firstly, I completed the uniform designs for Claudio and Benedick:

 

One important day was when myself and a specially assembled team of logical and clever individuals (to help me with practical issues) tested out the washing-line idea for the first time in the Studio Theatre. Forever unsure of whether this idea would ever work with the sight-lines, with the lights, with EVERYTHING…. I was relieved to see that actually, using a pulley system already erected on the ceiling, the idea worked perfectly.

The pictures below show our experiments, but it is worth pointing out that this is not exactly HOW the pulley-system will be set up, in that the idea is that in reality there will be fishing wire attached to points on the washing lines and that is the bit that will pass through the pulleys, so as not to tangle and jam the washing.

I then primarily worked on my set model. I made the tree from grape stalks and the decking from lolly-sticks. All these sort of activities I thoroughly enjoyed. It was the precision of the mezzanine that was really wearing me down. I had such a time trying to get the poles in the right place, at the right angle. The first attempt, it took me about 3 hours to cut all the poles to the right length and plastic weld them all together JUST FOR THE WEST SIDE!! Then I realised that there was some sort of discrepancy along the way, because woe betide me- the West balcony didn’t even FIT in the model box…. By about 10cm!!!! So somehow there was a difference between the measurements in my tutor’s google sketchup model, the measurements of the model box that I had procured from a 1^st year, and my scaling ability….

The only way I could see to rectify this was by going-by what I considered to be the most reliable source- the sketchUp model. So I had to print out the birdseye-view of the ground-plan of the sketch-up model- showing the positions of the poles, rescaling it so that the perimeter matched that of the model box to the mm, and then take the positions of the poles from there. It’s just a good job I own a large printer. It was a truly arduous task that took about a whole day to complete.

Then when I went back to the studio theatre to measure the stairs etc, it was plainly obvious to me that somehow the model still wasn’t as precise as it should have been. If I had had ANY more time (and patience) I would have attempted to rectify this, understanding that accuracy within the modelbox is of utmost importance, however, as it stood, I was already past the time that I thought I would have the whole model completed by, and I really didn’t have time to redo all my hard work. I really did try my absolute hardest throughout the process to be incredibly accurate, but clearly somewhere along the line I used incorrect data.

It’s just a little heart-breaking to know how much extra time it cost me to be extra extra precise yet the model, as a result, is not even accurate. But oh well… you live and learn.

This being my first major set-back, the rest of the construction of the box tended to follow suit, meaning that despite many sleep deprived nights, I only finished it to a satisfactory standard just hours before my hand-in. It was nothing short of a nightmare.

As a result I was incredibly disappointed with myself for having failed to complete what I saw as an appropriate amount of costume designs, especially as I had finalised the concept for nearly all of the principle chaarcters in my head. Therefore, I spent my final hour trying my absolute hardest to represent my ideas roughly for each costume. This is pictured below.

It’s very scrappy and the colours are a bit off, but I am so glad that I did it.

Coming back to it now, after a long break- I am so glad that I crystallized these ideas in a semi-realised state so that I could easily pick-up where I left off.

Now I am back in Brighton and desperately need to start the ball rolling again in terms of getting the designs back on track.

However, if there is one thing I have learnt from this project it’s that taking long breaks (even if it is to do 2 beneficial work placements) can only hinder your progress…. As it takes so much longer to get back into the swing of the project. The key is to stay focussed- it saves you time in the long run. This project is becoming a real juggling test for me- but time will only tell how I balance working at the V&A performance department, finishing my costume designs, finishing my set model, beginning to source fabric and props, working as a costume supervisor for 3 shows at the Edinburgh Festival, learning to drive, and trying to hold-down my summer job at the theatre in Brighton. Plus it would be nice to fit-in a holiday somewhere down the line- I have been working so so hard this year and I don’t want to burn-out just in time for getting the show ready.

But Hey Nonny-nonny. Sigh No more.

 

Long post. But with some pictures....

Since the last post I have:
-Been trying to work out the uniform-status lancers issue.
-Met with the director.
-Met with my tutor.
-Had 2 sessions of experimenting with draping (Saris and Dhotis)

MEETING WITH THE DIRECTOR
I was so relieved that the director was happy with my design-work so far. I talked to him about some of the issues that I'd been thinking about (whether Beatrice needed bedwear, Claudio's quick changes, the colour of artificial facial hair, and moreover- Indian dress is so steeped in tradition and meaning, how far is too far in terms of cultural and historical accuracy? Can I take artistic license?) etc. etc.
He agreed with me in that as we are setting it in a technically fictional context of 'Messina' in India (which doesn't seem to exist) then artistic license can be taken. He suggested putting a bit in the programme about it- how it is set in the British Raj just after the 1st World War, but that it sits in no specific region/context and therefore artistic license has been taken. etc. I'm not sure if this is over-egging it a bit, or whether we can just leave the audience to make-up their own mind as to whether they think it's historically accurate- I think it's a context that very few people know a lot about, and seeing as it's taken ME extensive research to find a lot of the specifics out, how likely is it that this includes knowledge that lots of the audience will already have built-in to them?
The director had a few concerns about the washing line idea in that he thought perhaps when the washing is in the rafters, it might inhibit the lighting, as a few of the rigs are off use anyway due to the mezzanine floor. I need to talk to the lighting designer about this- but I'm sure there must be a way around it. If not, the director suggested an alternative of having a washing line that can be pulled across the stage- but I don't think that will have quite the same appeal as one that is raised and dropped, plus it would potentially take up valuable acting time. I am a little worried about the running time as I think we are doing the script in its entirety- but then again, it's not my problem, it's a great play, why cut it?
The audience that are standing for a full 3 hours on the mezzanine floor may disagree....
The meeting with the director was so so useful as always, and I always feel incredibly lucky to be working with someone who is so happy to let me explore my creative vision without putting up barriers every step of the way. Every meeting is so positive and I get a lot out of it.
We talked about plenty of other things: the musical numbers, the dances, the costume designs, and everything ran very smoothly. We have decided that I should set up a facebook group for the actors and the Much Ado team so that it is easy to get notices out.

MEETING WITH MY TUTOR
Here we discussed some of the issues the director had brought up and tried to find technical solutions to resolve them. We discussed the dimensions of the seating blocks, how to source a tree, the lighting, the fabric, painting the theatre blue and if there's enough time to paint it back to black afterwards.
We decided to meet up again next week and have a play with some rope and some sheets and some clothes pegs to see if we could plot-out where the pulleys etc would have to go and how long the fabric should be etc.

Here are some pictures of the mezzanine floor now that it's up:

It does feel a lot more courtyard-y and a lot less cagey than I thought it would, so I'm happy.

EXPERIMENTING WITH DRAPING
As part of costume development for my principle characters, before I progress on to any finalised designs I felt it was important to try out some different draping styles for some of the garments, namely Dhoti (Leonato's trousers), Sari (For Hero), and Odhna/Sari (For Beatrice). 
I have a lot of styles to chose from, but exploring how easy they are to drape or how manageable it would be to make into a fixed stitched garment is important in my decision as as well as how the garment looks.
Here are some images from our 2 draping sessions:  

 UNIFORM DEVELOPMENT
It really is getting to the point now where I need to start finalising my designs, but the change in my decision in uniforms is causing me endless grief.
I made the decision that Benedick and Claudio's lancer's uniforms should probably be the same given that they are of similar rank in the same regiment. But now that I've got that sorted I have to reassess the Don Brothers.
Here are my basic initial designs for them that I did a while ago:

With these initial designs I gave them caps rather than hats firstly as a status symbol but also as they were less cumbersome and therefore they could keep them on throughout. Don Pedro was given what I deemed a 'higher status' smarter uniform whereas Don John was given a beige lower-ranking uniform that made him stand-out from the bright colours of the rest of the characters.
But then during my lancers research I found this picture:

 Which made me think that maybe my designs for the Don Brothers were wrong, and not coherent with the new 'lancer' status I have installed upon their regiment.
However, this design had a plethora of its own problems. It seemed perfect for Don  Pedro but then he would look lower status than Don John. And then what do I dress Don John in? He won't even look part of the same regiment now that all the other men are in yellows and blues! Also the hat with this uniform looks very severe for such a  friendly character and will potentially limit facial-exposure of the actor and might be quite hard to act and move about in. So it was suggested that maybe he carries it in, which would be fine but then he would be hatless for the rest of the play. But in my old design I'm also worried he looks a bit naval- which is all kinds of wrong. There were so so many issues that I really had no idea what was going on. It's like a chain reaction, change one thing about one of the costumes and every other costume related to it has to change as a result.
My costume adviser (not an official title, but a much deserved one) Lucy Anderson, said that as much as she liked the new picture I'd found, to her it looked more Victorian than my previous designs. Of course she was right. After revisiting the date I found that the illustration was from 1890- not the First World War.
So I decided to go back to the history books. For once, being historically accurate might actually make my job easier.
The problem has always been that there is not enough specific information about the Indian Army on the internet- or at least not stuff that's easily accessible. I just found myself revisiting the same old sites over and over. I discovered that although that illustration was from 1890, the Skinners Horse Lancers (whose costumes I am basing my regiment on) uniforms didn't actually change a lot until the 1920s when they merged with another unit. And I found two very similar illustrations from 1901 and 1910. So I was back to square one!
It looked Victorian but could have been correct for my era. But this raises the question again... is it about being historically accurate OR is it better to help the audience get a sense of the historical era in which the play is set by building on knowledge they might already have? That is, would I be digging myself a hole by not making the Dons uniforms quintessentially 'British WW1'? Would the audience even KNOW that it was set just after the First World War if my British Army costumes were as obscure as the Generals' and Lieutennants' costumes of the British Indian Cavalry?
Finally I found the answers to MOST of my questions when I checked the small-print at the bottom of one of the web-pages I was using which directed me to the book from which they had taken their illustrations : 'Skinner's Horse' by Christopher Rothero.
And what do you know? It's free to download as a PDF.
Wonderful.
The layout was a little confusing, so I've made myself my own little book of the uniforms that I found appropriate for the play.
The most frustrating thing being....
This is the highest ranking uniform I can find...

doesn't it look remarkably like my very first initial design that I did without ANY research into the Indian cavalry at all?!
So that's Don Pedro sorted (plus some jodhpurs).... but Don John will remain to be a 'canker in a hedge'.