Costume Design Week 7

Week 7: Costume Design

• Costume Design Definition: The art of creating clothing and accessories for characters in theater, film, television, opera, dance, and other performances.
• Goal: Visually tell a story, conveying a character's personality, social status, and historical period, enhancing the production's aesthetic.
• Collaboration: Designers work closely with directors, set designers, and other creative team members to ensure costumes align with the production's vision.
• Character Establishment: Costumes provide basic character information (age, gender, occupation, social background) and reveal personality and circumstances within the play.
• Contextual Representation: Costumes convey the play's context, including time period and geographical setting, mirroring the fashion and style of the era.
• Style Support: Costumes support the overall production style (e.g. naturalistic, realistic costumes for a naturalistic play).
• Set Design Relation: Costume design is linked to set design, with realism, naturalism, and expressionism influencing costume choices.

Costume Design Key Figures

• Piero Tosi (1927-2001): Known for his work on Il Gattopardo and Morte a Venezia, and the 2014 Honorary Oscar.
• Danilo Donati: Awarded Oscars for Romeo and Juliet (1969) and Casanova (1977).
• Milena Canonero (1946-Present): Won Oscars for Barry Lyndon, Chariots of Fire, Marie Antoinette, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Week 7: Franco Zeffirelli (Biography)

• Biography: Born in Florence in 1923, raised by his aunt and influenced by Shakespearean theatre and art.
• Education: Attended Liceo Artistico, Convent of San Marco, Accademia di Belle Arti, and the Department of Architecture in Florence.
• Early Career: Began as a set and costume designer gaining recognition for dramatic designs and working with artists like Salvador Dalí and Luchino Visconti.
• Directorial Transition: Transitioed to directing, working on operas and theatre in Italy and internationally.
• Opera & Theatre Achievements: Acclaimed for richly-detailed productions of operas (e.g., La Traviata, Tosca). Frequently collaborated with Maria Callas. Revitalised Shakespeare plays in London's Old Vic.
• Film Achievements: Adapted The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet for the screen. Made the television film Jesus of Nazareth, and directed operatic films and Hollywood films including The Champ and Endless Love.
• Recognition: Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
• Legacy & Foundation: Established the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation and International Centre for the Performing Arts in Florence.

Week 8: The Language of Advertising

• Advertising Defined: Persuasive communication (to inform and influence).
• Integrated Campaigns: Employing various media (print, video, digital, outdoor).
• Information Advertising: Aims to educate consumers regarding a product (details, qualities, price, availability).
• Persuasive Advertising: Convinces consumers through various methods; more visual and appealing than information advertising.
• Projective Advertising: Aims to create engagement and evoke emotional responses; relying mainly on visual concepts.
• Branded Content: Focuses on the brand's identity, values, vision, history and lifestyle; often fuses advertising and entertainment; considered non-interruptive.
• Content Types: Advertorials, brand magazines, branded web services, branded films, fashion films, short movies, podcasts.

Week 8: Controversial Advertising & Brand Activism

• Controversial Advertising: Aims to shock or spark controversy to gain attention.
• Motivations: Raise audience awareness about issues for business or commercial gain.
• Controversial Elements: May include disgusting images, sexual references, profanity, cultural sensitivity, and social/political touchy issues.
• Brand Activism: Brands recognizing their power to influence attitudes beyond consumer choices; taking political/cultural stances.
• Purpose Marketing: Brand activism's practice, prioritizing diversity, progressive values, and transforming brands into institutions with social and cultural influence.

Week 9: Fashion Photography

• Fashion Photography Importance: Primarily visual media; emphasizing images over text; appealing mainly through sight.
• Evolution: Developed from commercial photography to artistic expression, reflecting changes in contemporary life and visual culture.
• Technological Advancements: Impacts of chemical processing, faster film, smaller cameras, artificial lights, color film, digital capture, post-production, and AI.
• Photography Types: Magazine advertising (product/brand focus) and editorial fashion spreads (idea/theme focus).
• Key Concepts: Increasing career opportunities, the role of London, New York, Milan, and Paris as fashion photography centres; the importance of traditional paper magazines.
• Photography Styles: Still life (packshots, lookbooks), fashion photography (location shoots with models), and experimentation with outdoor and studio settings.

Week 9: Fashion Photography Key Figures

• Baron Adolf De Meyer: Early Vogue photographer; changed fashion photography's perception.
• Louise Dahl-Wolfe: First female fashion photographer; focused on the idea of liberated women.
• Vivian Maier: Unofficial photographer; explored street photography.
• Irving Penn: Vogue photographer; created fashion aesthetics and a vogue still life cover.
• Richard Avedon: Collaborated with Diana Vreeland; redefined beauty standards, integrating psychological and physical elements.

Week 9: Fashion Photography Article Summary

• Hybrid Art: American photographers blending style and beauty in European fashion magazines, challenging traditional boundaries.
• Examples: Edward Steichen, Man Ray, and others who transcended the commercial aspect of fashion photography and created timeless beauty.

Week 10: Fashion Blogging and Influencing

• Blogging as a Trusted Source: Blogs often considered credible sources; high link generation for using company blogs.
• Characteristics: Blending entertainment, information, and promotion in a user-generated multimedia format; accessible and inexpensive for fashion brands to reach consumers.
• Democratization: Fashion blogging further lowered barriers to entry in the fashion world.
• Blogger Demographics: Primarily women, young (18-34), educated, and socially active on multiple platforms.
• Credibility Aspects: Bloggers needing awareness of factors associated with expertise and trust (cognitive, ethical and affective components).
• Persuasion Principles: Using principles of reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment/consistency, liking, and consensus to increase influence.
• Trust Models: Blanchard ABCD model of trust: Able, Believable, Connected, Dependable.
• Blog Types: Outfit/Style blogs (self-marketing), News blogs (insider information), Corporate blogs for promotion/product announcements and brand communication.

Explore the essentials of costume design in theater and film. This quiz covers the role of costumes in character establishment, contextual representation, and the collaboration between designers and other creative team members. Test your understanding of how costumes enhance storytelling and production aesthetics.