Costume Ideas - Dilys Latham

Costume Ideas for Lead Male Character

When considering our lead character's costume, it is important that we carefully choose items which will not only portray his characteristics externally as a fashion designer and creative individual but also a style which effectively portrays his individuality and difference to the modern society norm. 

It is important for the narrative of the film to have fluency and for our short this means making it clear to the audience why our character uses his drawings for escape. From the very beginning of the film our lead character if portrayed as an outcast and underdog, he is very talented but his gifts are being shunned by his unaccepting and fearful family who believe he is strange and abnormal. Using his costume we can show his unique style which his family condone as weird thus causing him to want to escape. 

 

Representation:

The main character in our short film has a middle class social background and for our film to be successful it is important for us to clearly portray this from the beginning as it is because of his strict traditional middle class parents that he feels outcasted as they don't accept him. The clothes which he wears need to clearly show his individuality and unique qualities

His ethnicity as a white British male is significant as it is a fairly traditional middle class ethnicity for someone in the South England and so highlights his strict upbringing and also his unique style and defiance against his parents.

 

This floral shirt has a slight feminine quality to it, which his family perceive as abnormal for a teenage boy and thus isolate and bully him because of his style as they do not understand him which gives him reason to want to escape.

Genre:

As the genre of our short is social realism it is crucial for our audience to clearly understand why it is of the genre and we can effectively portray the genre through our characters presentation as his choice of clothing shows his individuality which is why his parents resent him.

Audience:

As our expectant audience for the short is 15+ age group and aimed at male and females so we must make sure that it is clear what our characters predicament is so the audience empathises with him and also perhaps to some extent relateable as many feel outcasted and need for escape for many different reasons.

 This tweed waistcoat and bow tie combination again suggest a unique and modern style.

Finally this floral shirt and pink tie suggest a rather stereotypical portrayal of a homosexual but clearly clarify the audiences growing suspicions of the families concerns with the son.