The Post

We were able to go and see the film by Stephen Spielberg, The Post today as part of our contextual studies.The film was actually very gripping and i was obsessed with how they used filming and angles to create dramatic, intense scenes. I was also interested in the costumes of the film especially an evening gown worn by Meryl Streep.

Session 3 COS

We had our final COS session today. it was a shorter session of 1.5 hours instead of the usual 3. I was surprised at how much I achieved in the lesson. It made me think about how sometimes the pressure of time allows you to accomplish much more than you would normally without the pressure of time.

National Theatre

We visited the National Theatre today and were lucky enough to have a backstage tour as well as see some of the beautiful costumes worn by actors at the theatre previously. When seeing the time and effort that goes into the costumes used at the theatre, it is clear why their costumes are so incredible. I was interested in the props room where we heard from *insert name of man who's name I've forgotten here* although the making of the garments was incredible, I find that I am often drawn to the extra parts of a costume for example the headwear or accessories of an outfit.
I'd potentially like to do a short millenary course at some stage as I feel this is something I would enjoy.

Costume Show

Kevin sent an email about the first yeas being able to go and see the costume show today. I was eager to see what the second and third year students had created. The first half of the show was the design students, some of the designs were absolutely incredible! I found that after seeing the show it further confirmed to me that I want to branch into design in second year. Although the interpretation costumes were absolutely incredible, i found that I was more inspired by the designers costumes.

Bustle

Today I had my second bustle session. I had got to a good point with the making process at home alone but was stuck on a few sections. I found that when I got into the session and just focused on the instructions they became much clearer. I need think I had worked on the bustle for too long at home and the instructions had became a blur. I aim to have the bustle complete by the next session.

Costume Designers

The lecture today was on costume designers. It was very interesting to see the different styles of each designer and how their work looks when it has been created after the design process. I was extremely interested in the designer Edith Head. I found her designs very beautiful and captivating. I liked how she illustrated smaller images of her designs next to her main drawing to show different movements of the design. I would like to take the idea forward to influence my future designs.

COS

Today we had our second cutting on the stand session where we draped an 18th century bodice and sleeve. The bodice had many more panels than previous sessions so was slightly more challenging but I think each session is becoming easier due to the techniques we learn from Kathleen to help us manipulate and move the fabric. It's also interesting to see how each era changes features of dress for example the neckline, type of sleeve etc.

Working Weekend

This weekend I have been working on some ideas for costumes for the sickly tale play. I have been working on sketchbook development and researching for my characters. So far I think the sketchbook is going okay, I feel I need to work harder with trying out different mediums and experimenting with textures etc. 

Sketchbook Development

Today we received our feedback for the last unit. I was graded mainly B's with a few A's which I was pleased with, but would ideally like to be getting mainly A's so that is something to aim towards for future units.

One of the comments in my feedback was to improve on my sketchbook and add more texture to it. I did feel at the time that my sketchbook was rushed and wasn't very visually pleasing.

Yesterday, thankfully, we had a lecture on sketchbooks and how to present them and how to make use of texture and life to make them stand out. This helped ALOT, as I haven't really ever worked on a sketchbook properly in the past. I was using my sketchbook just for sketches and not using much reference and texture and story telling. 

After seeing examples of others sketchbooks I have seen that sketchbooks can be so exciting to make compared to what I have been producing, so I will be starting my sketchbook tonight and will aim to add as much detail and story telling to the pages as possible. 

Tickly Tale

We had a lecture this morning on our next project with Kevin. We met Sally Davis who talked us through the script that we will be designing costumes for, Santa's Tickly Tale, a children's play. For the unit we
will need to design 5 characters, Santa, Mrs Claus, Cheeky Charlie, The Feathered Phantom and a Wizard. I am thoroughly looking forward to this project as designing is what I enjoy most.

I have been thinking on ideas for the characters and have looked up images of Santa in different cultures. Although many of the Santas resembled the traditional Santa, Russia's Santa stood out due to the beautiful costume worn which was all embroidered and so beautiful.

As for the feathered phantom I am going to have to reign it in a little as I enjoy designing dark characters as I think they are the most fun, however I will have to keep in mind that it is a children's play therefore can't be too scary.

Unit 3

Unit 3 has begun as of... now. We had our first lecture this morning where Kevin talked us through the assignments throughout unit 3. I am going to try to keep on top of my work this term to ensure that I am not in a mad panic last minute (like in unit 2).

I also had a session with Nikki today to start our bustles. Again, I am slightly out of my depth with the making of garments but this time I am going to try and get as much done at home as I can in-between sessions, then use the sessions for any parts of the process that I am unsure of to ask for guidance.