(29) Costume and Makeup Plan

How Is Costume and Makeup Effective?
Costumes and makeup, while often considered a minor storytelling element, are extremely important in bringing both the fictional world and the characters to life. They help construct the mise-en-scène which ultimately aids the audience's understanding of a film. They can allow the audience to identify the setting, i.e the culture or time period in which the short film is set. This saves expositional dialogue that explains the setting. Meanwhile, it helps to create a realistic landscape from which the audience can draw meaning from. For example, the costumes of characters help the viewer infer something about the characters themselves based on their styles and so on.

What Costumes and Makeup Will Be Used?
In my film, I shall be using costumes as motifs that help the audience understand the message of the film and enhance the storytelling aspect. One of the most prominent aspects of costume I shall focus on is the use of colour. Different colours carry different meanings, both culturally and in ways personal to my film. While this visual aspect is only subtle, it is one of the many ways I have used visual subtexts to enhance my narrative.

Costumes in General
As my short film is set among two conflicting tribes, I will need to design costumes that distinguish the clear cultural differences between the tribes. This will be done through colour.

White Cloaks
The costumes are hinted at through the name of this tribe; they primarily wear white. The reason for this is because of the cultural attitudes surrounding the colour white. Throughout history, the colour white has been associated with innocence, purity and goodness. As the film is often focalised through the eyes of the White Cloaks, as they are the oppressive party and marginalise the Riverfolk, this is how they see themselves. The reason I chose the colour white is that it alludes to Western culture, which revolves heavily around this false sense of superiority to other cultures, particularly cultures that are different to theirs or considered 'undeveloped'. This is particular of the United Kingdom, which the short film's narrative is based on.

So, at first glance, the colour white paints the White Cloaks as the civilised and good tribe. However, when analysing the colour white, it is often a colour considered to get easily dirty. I have incorporated this meaning into my film to show the corruption rife among the White Cloaks. The White Cloaks are corrupt, it's demonstrated through their hateful attitudes and the Town Crier. Furthermore, the colour white is commonly associated with coldness and barriers, which demonstrates their harsh nature.

Overall, at first glance, the use of white depicts the White Cloaks as the good tribe, however, when the viewer takes time to think about it, they would realise that the common connotations of white are subverted and the colour, in fact, represents false-purity, corruption and coldness. This is similar to real life and Western society. While the West is what is considered to be 'free', 'tolerant/accepting' and 'advanced', it is in fact not as accepting as they would like to think.

Riverfolk
The Riverfolk will predominantly wear the colour green. The reason for this is that green is often associated with nature, which is commonly associated with 'uncultivated', 'primitive' or 'undeveloped' cultures according to Western ideals. This notion ties with how the White Cloaks view the Riverfolk, as the film is heavily focalised through White Cloaks and marginalises the Riverfolk. The White Cloaks think the Riverfolk are primitive and often refer to them as 'savages'.

However, when analysing the colour green, it has strong connotations of harmony and peace. This reflects the Riverfolk's true nature, as they are discovered to be open, inviting and peaceful - a highly contrasting image to what the White Cloaks claim they are. This represents how, in real life, different cultures to the west are often seen as primitive and not recognised for the peaceful and harmonious cultures they truly are.

Green is the traditional colour of Islam because of its association with harmony. In the West, Muslims are one of the most subjugated groups. They are scapegoated and face extreme prejudice and discrimination because people are ignorant and intolerant of other cultures, despite Islam being one of the most peaceful religions. Because my film refers to the crisis in our culture at the moment, in which xenophobia is rife, particularly towards Muslims, I have used the colour green to link the Riverfolk to Islam and allude to the issues Muslims face within Western society without explicitly mentioning Islam.

Specific Character Costumes
Each major character will have their own individual outfit that will help represent their character and personality whilst also playing on the major themes of the film.

Egon
Egon's character represents youth, so I wanted him to dress in something that I thought heightened his naive and cherubic persona. This is the list of specific clothing Egon will likely be wearing:

• Beige/Tan Shirt - The reason I have selected a beige shirt for Egon is that beige is a very neutral colour, playing on the fact that Egon doesn't fit into any category. He is neither a Riverfolk Member or a White Cloak, he is neither good or bad and so on. I have chosen to dress him in a shirt because shirts are quite conservative and an old style. This heightens the romanticism but also makes the setting more ambiguous, which helps me disassociate the film from a particular culture/time period to make a more effective social comment and universalise my message. Moreover, the shirt is slightly too big for him. This makes him look younger and more clueless, reinforcing his role as a youth. 

• Suspenders - The suspenders create a quaint look, heightening the romanticism. Furthermore, their appearance is similar to that of British countryside fashion, particularly period outfits. This reference to Great Britain is important because it is what I am making a social comment about.

• Dark Jeans - In contrast to the period style clothing used before, the jeans add a modern touch to the outfit. This helps disassociate the film with any particular time period, which is important in order to universalise the message so it doesn't stick to one particular culture/time period. The darker colour is used so they don't stand out as too vibrant colours won't match the rest of the outfit. 

• Dark Overcoat - The overcoat is one of the most important aspects of Egon's costume. This is because it represents ignorance/narrow-mindedness/intolerance. For example, Egon is wearing his coat at the beginning when he is ignorant of everything. He's still wearing it when he is coaxed into believing the Riverfolk are savages. However, when he meets the Riverfolk, the audience witnesses the tribe removing the coat as a sign of hospitality. This reflects how he has been opened and has realised the true nature of the Riverfolk. However, after Bleedingheart's death, Egon becomes overwhelmed with emotion and is consumed by anger. This prompts him to replace his coat and then kill the Preacher. By putting his coat on at this moment, it shows how he is consumed by his own hate and intolerance and has become what he was before and what he was fighting against. 

• Brown Walking Boots - The boots finish the look off and coordinate it. Furthermore, the neutral colouring reinforces the notion that Egon does not conform to the binary opposition that is used throughout the film - he is an individual: a neutral character. 

Bleedingheart

Bleedingheart is a member of the White Cloaks, so is required to wear white. However, I wanted to accentuate her femininity through her costume, as this is used to both individualise her as well as subvert the common 'old man=wise' trope. 

• White Dress - Bleedingheart's white dress is key in the exploration of themes, one of them being leadership. As the Preacher's counterpart, she is dressed in white, just like any other White Cloak. This contrasts the Preacher's outfit, who isn't wearing white, despite being a White Cloak himself. I chose this to intentionally portray Bleedingheart as one-with-the-people, no different to anyone else, making her a better leader figure than anyone else in the story. Furthermore, the use of white is used to create sacrificial imagery during her death scene, which has highly religious connotations. This is because Bleedingheart, in all of her simplicity, is some form of saviour of the people. She sacrifices herself for them. The simplicity of her outfit represents her simple values, too. Moreover, the white dress alludes to Greek mythology, in which gods and goddesses were often depicted in white. This relates to Bleedingheart's link with the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Bleedingheart is portrayed as some ethereal being and the white dress reinforces this idea. 

• Barefeet - Bleedingheart is the only character to not wear shoes. This reinforces her simple values. Furthermore, Greek gods and goddesses are depicted barefoot, which further links the character to the goddess Athena. Similarly, in many cultures, bare feet symbolise humility and often has religious connotations. This heightens Bleedingheart as a saviour-type character. 

The Preacher

The Preacher's costume will be used to accentuate his superiority complex and superficial beliefs.

• Black Trench Coat - Dark colours have long been associated with antagonism, so it is only reasonable to place the main antagonist in dark colours. As stated before, coats represent narrow-mindedness and intolerance, given their closed-off style, so I will dress the Preacher in a coat to reflect his overall intolerant nature as a person. Furthermore, the reason he isn't wearing white, despite being a White Cloak, is to distance himself and, therefore, elevate him above the rest of the White Cloaks. This shows how out-of-touch he is with his own people and plays on the idea that he doesn't have them as his main priority but instead prioritises himself. 

• Dark Trousers - The trousers won't stand out and therefore won't distract the viewers. Furthermore, dark colours are associated with antagonism and he is an evil character, the colours are fitting. 

Makeup

In my film, makeup will be minimalistic and very neutral. This is because flamboyant makeup will, firstly, distract the viewer. Furthermore, it will also make it seem modern which counteracts the setting I have created in which it is not pinpointed to a particular moment in time.