Final costume profiles

Costume design profiles:

I decided that before our presentation with Hayley to feedback our idea's, that I would put together a 'profile' for each of the characters, this would shoe the colour scheme for there costume and also images which we have taken the inspiration for them from. This would help her to see clearly the whole design and also what had led us towards this.

We decided that we would stick with the theme for all of the 6 mini musicals which is 'Born in the USA'. We decided that we wanted to give a more human element to each of the characters. We decided to look at different subcultures in New York city and base our characters loosely around, what they would stereotypically look like. These were Gangsters/pimps for the lion, Punk's for the Scarecrow, Steampunk's for the Tin man, and the upper class/high fashion for the Wiz. We decided that in the musical they are all trying to pretend to be something there not when they first meet Dorothy so these personas, really suit each of them.

The Lion was designed by me, we took idea's from each other and decided to go with a kind of pimp/gangster aesthetic. I wanted to keep the colour palette warm and use a lot of colours that can be found on lion's naturally, such as oranges and browns. The main thing about this costume is the different textures of the whole outfit. We like the idea of having some kind of facial hair, but we would need to look at how this could be made and applied in more detail, as obviously we are designing for young actors and they would not naturally be able to grow the hair. But we thought it would be a humorous element to complete the costume and give more character to the face. The coat would need to be sourced, alongside the fake hair that would be matted, backcombed and made larger like a Maine with parts made into dreads that can be embellished with beads and string. The legwarmers could either be sourced or made from a furry fabric. The medallion would also have to be made if we can't find one with a lion on it, this way we can get exactly what we want on it.

For the scarecrow we decided to keep it in keeping with what you would stereotypically think of when you say scarecrow but we decided to add a modern twist into it. The main inspiration for this was Punks. So we decided to first give him a straw Mohawk, which would have the ends spray painted with gold. He would then also have cuffs on his wrists and ankles which would be made from straw. The dungarees would be old and torn and be covered in handmade metallic patches which you can see the stitching that holds them in place. I also liked the idea of having little crows hiding in his costume. The colour palette for his costume was a lot wider and combines natural colours taken from the straw and grass. All of the clothing would need to be sourced and then distressed. The Mohawk and cuffs would then need to be made.

The Wiz's costume was a bit different as he is very different to the other characters. As we have in kept all of the other characters with the American theme, looking at different subcultures in American society. For the wiz, who is a lot more refined than the other characters we wanted to reflect this in his clothing, taking a kind of preppy look. I also liked the idea of trying to include his name of initials in as much of his clothing as possible, as this would be the kind of thing that would show how big his ego is. His actual clothing is a lot more high fashion, and we would like to experiment with different fabrics, that would hold the shape of the outfit better. The main colour theme for him is green. I also wanted him to have a green 'W' moustache, which I will experiment with later on.

The Tin man was inspired by a kind of Steam punk/bad boy sort of aesthetic. We wanted to experiment with colours other than just grey, and give him more of a rusty look. The inside of him will be made up of rusted metal cogs which will most likely be made from polystyrene and painted up to look like metal as they are lightweight and easy to shape. We then would need to source a leather jacket and either leather trousers, or jeans and give them a metallic finish. We also incorporated a baseball cap, worn backwards and Avatar sunglasses that just top of his look. For the actor himself, I think he would need some kind of metallic face paint just to blend it in a bit better and complete the look.

For the Shrek mini musical, it was important that they still resembled the characters from the film but that we twisted them slightly to make them more unique. For donkey, we decided that instead of a completely full body fur suit, which would be incredibly hot for the actor and quite expensive. We would go for a half human, half donkey kind of look. The whole body would be made from a kind of onesie or full body morph suit and then the legs, chest/shoulders and lower arms would be covered in fur, which gradually fades out. The costume would also include hooves for the hands and feet which would need to be made, and also a head piece with ears and a fringe. I really liked the idea of him having a fringe, as this sort of thing is often seen on donkeys, and Donkey in the film has a little tuft of hair in between his ears. I also really wanted an element of blue to his costume, just to make the colours visually more interesting, and this would also capture the light nicely on stage, giving a more interesting texture to his costume.

Shrek was the same as donkey and needed to be kept so that it was recognisable as that character. His trousers would need to be sourced, we really want them to be tweed but as this is normally expensive, something like tartan would also work. His top half would be made from a burlap sack or something with the same sort of texture, we liked the idea of having crossed stitching added for extra detail. His waistcoat would be made from different types and colour swatches of leather and sewn, visibly together. He would then also need a headpiece, as this is for his ears that stick out, the actors ears would need to be covered so the basis for this headpiece could be a balaclava. The colour palette for him is sticking closely with the original film version of Shrek, so that even if we have made some small changes to the overall look to his costume, it is still very recognisable as him.