James O’Connell media studies

Costume design

Kidulthood

This image is from the British film “Kidulthood” which shows three teenagers who are the main characters. With the costumes that they are wearing the director would have wanted the characters to wear this type of clothing to portray a message to the viewer. It will also show realism as many teenagers in Britain wear these types of clothes which means they will relate to the characters in the film more. Another reason is to make them look casual by wearing casual clothing and shows more realism which is what the director would want the characters to portray. These clothes are mainly shown to be worn by teenagers as they are fashion statements as wearing caps or hats when it is snot sunny means they are wearing them to look better a statement, this could also be said about the jackets and hoodies they could be used as a statement. The director may have also used hoodies in his film as they are seen to be clothes that people use to cover their face which could mean the director wanted to give out a representation of teenagers being up to no good.

These costume designs will help me in my production as they show a realistic social realism which can help the film become easier to relate to my audience which will be teenagers (13-19). SO these costumes will have an influence on my production by giving me ideas to go on.

James O’Connell media studies

Fish tank

In the film “Fish Tank” the main character would have been used to show a message through the costume they are wearing which the director would have used on purpose to show a message. In this film the costume is very casual clothing that would be a typical representation of teenagers in the media the casual clothing is the hoodie and trousers which are typical causal clothing. The main character is a dancer so the clothes are more for her dancing which shows that the director has thought about what she would wear throughout the film to fit with what she wants her to do in the film.

The costumes used in this film may have an influence on some of the costumes I choose as casual clothing is a costume I would use in my film to portray realism. So this film will also have some effect on my film. Other characters in the film have also showed costumes that would help me have more ideas on what clothes I will use so this film was very helpful in costume design that will be best for a social realism.

James O’Connell media studies

This is England

In the film “This is England” there is a much wider range of costumes used to the causal as used in the films above to the smarter more business type clothing of suits and shirts. The director would have used all of this wider range of clothing to try to appeal to a wider audience as there were clothes that some people would wear and are more likely to relate to than others. However most of the clothes seen in this film have developed more from the time the film is based in which was 1983 so relating the clothes used to times right now would be more difficult. Never the less the clothes used in this film show a representation of younger people and middle aged people as all of the characters were wearing similar clothes which meant the younger people would be trying to become or be like the grownups which does not happen as much now a days and this portrayal would have been skilfully used by the director to see how times have changed. So the clothes that are used in this film would have been used to show the progression of time from the 1980s to the 2010s.

For my film I don’t think this film will have such an effect on what costumes I will use in my film because this film is set in the 1980s which would mean I would have to change the film to be based around this time where I want to use more modern day clothing to make the film have a better slice of realism. But this film has given me some ideas.