First ever Simplicity pattern

I know, I shouldn't be as excited... after all I never actually got any fabric. Have I been spoilt after having been able to roam through the "Nippori Textile Town" and after having spent half my spare time in the Yuzawaya at Kamata in recent years? ...Possibly, but most of all, I don't have my mother with me, who has always helped me at choosing something that works perfectly and doesn't even reach sky-high prices.
Indeed, I complain. And I know that is not the reason you, my dear reader, have dropped in, sitting by the China, ready for your Earl Grey.

Simplicity 2172

Anyway, the pattern I got is 2172, a neat little Steampunk design (Yup, my timid-self has a strong attachment to that which is Steampunk, she feels it is a good combination of the things she would love to be: a Victorian lady and a pirate xD). Amber said it would help me with learning techniques, as yes, this would be the first ever true costume/clothing that I would have ever made... so that's the main reason why it's so exciting... also because, before this I didn't live in a country where you could buy the Simplicity(, or McCalls) Costume patterns, only the contemporary designs. So, I must confess, seeing drawers upon drawers of patterns gave me quite an adrenalin rush.

As for creative matters... well, the most creative I have been is starting to work on Amber's bedroom wall, we started putting up masking tape in the shape if trees, then the wall will be painted with blue-ish gray and the tape taken off to reveal white tree shapes.


Update:
And for the short film I have done some more research, I just remembered who I've been associating the father with... Scrooge!!! Perfect, isn't it? The old gentleman in his nightgown, looking fragile against the Victorian setting, the materialistic monstrosity of the Industrial Age.
Me and Reni, the director, went to one of the Auld Reekie Ghost Tours on Thursday, and after that we had another chat about the short film. I cannot express how excited I am about this project, even though I will be already at home on my summer vacation when the shoot will be on.


Before I forget, I was able to find one of my favourite "costume diaries" that I was looking for a few months back: Dragonfly Designs by Alisa
New background from inspyretash-stock on deviantart.com

Now my timid-self shall run to bed, as she was planning to wake up early in the morning as her day is jam-packed with things to do. Well, it is the weekend so let's make a use of not having to go to work at 6 in the morning, shan't we?

The short film project...

I watched Atlantis: The Lost Empire yesterday with Linda, still my favourite movie (haven't watched it in 3 years).

Anyway...

I met with the director of the short film today, I am very excited about this project.

The place where the "Village" scenes will be shot look strangely uncharacteristic to this country which is why it is perfect for the project. When I told them about my ideas they agreed with them: the importance of development shown through clothing.

My idea of paralleling the father and son's colour scheme- the son fading as the father gains colour- seems to have been a thought for them too.

I must not forget to tell them that I also have experience being a script supervisor (so in charge of continuity, and the time code log- for Momo directed by Ben McKinstrie).

"Technically, continuity is the responsibility of the script supervisor and film director, who are together responsible for preserving continuity and preventing errors from take to take and shot to shot. The script supervisor, who sits next to the director during shooting, keeps the physical continuity of the edit in mind as shots are set up. He is the editor's watchman. If shots are taken out of sequence, as is often the case, he will be alert to make sure that beer glass is in the appropriate state. The editor utilizes the script supervisor's notes during post-production to log and keep track of the vast amounts of footage and takes that a director might shoot."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing#Emotional_versus_Physical_continuity

The "state" of "the beer glass" refers to the level of liquid it has in it, and the exact position on the table. In the short movie I helped out with the main character, Momo, drank "white wine" (apple juice diluted with water), it was my job to refill the wine glass after each take (when she poured herself) and clean the glass so it looked empty. I also had a chance to "dress" a room before lights came in, I had pictures of how messy it had to look. I learnt it is very important to take pictures of everything when you are in charge of continuity.

One thing I had not thought f was mentioned today: the Father might be someone from an earlier century, who knows how long he has been here...

Well, my timid-self shall get back to her sketchbook to make notes and such. More to come later!

P.S.: I know I should change my background/wallpaper, but I haven't been able to come up with a good one to change to just yet.

Atlantis... and the Minoans

I am quite obsessed with the legend of Atlantis for some reason, even when I was small I was taken by the story and believed in it completely.

I just watched the BBC documentary/drama "Atlantis: the end of a world, birth of a legend", which tells the story of the Minoans from the viewpoint of five characters. We are told at the end that it was the eruption of the volcano (by the island of, now, Santorini) that had inspired Plato to create the tale of Atlantis.

Here is a screenshot I took from the movie while watching it:

The Priestess in Crete

For most part our pre-conceived image of the Minoan society is usually based on the "Minoan Snake Goddess" statuette from the Island of Crete. And I think the Costume designer, Moira Meyer, has done a great job at using this image to shape all her costumes. 

Minoan Snake Goddess

I think the costumes in the movie are beautiful, and follow the historical evidence of clothing of the Minoans, but also leave space for the fantasy element of the rich tale and heritage of the land of Atlantis.

Exposed or not? Well, after all, it was shown on TV, thus the designer must consider the target audience... It must probably have been seen as something that will also inform younger audiences, so the breasts of the ladies were covered. It is quite possible that in this era male costumes were more revealing too, but one must always take in to count the ideals of contemporary society when designing.

Ladies in Blue

We see a lot of creamy yellow, and vivid blue (wink at the image above).

Earthy colours might represent their connection to Nature, while the vivid colours might represent their connection to their feminine-self.

Atlantis...

Well, whatever we call it, there was once a world so spiritually rich as Atlantis, where they used crystals for healing, for knowledge,... Atlantis was, and lives within the heart of those who believe.

Now my timid-self shall endeavour onto different shores.

More to come later!

The short movie project...

So, let us look at what characterises the costumes of horror movies... I must admit I am quite keen on horror movies, I really do enjoy them. However, I have stay away from them due too an over-active imagination. That, of course, does not mean I cannot help in the making of one. ;-)

For IB we once made a TOK presentation on horror movies, how they work, but most importantly why we enjoy watching them. (It has to do with the adrenalin levels rising, the "fight and flight response").
In this presentation I also slipped in a bit about the costuming: I found that the costumes can be broken down to two categories.
Historical- something filled with secrets, the unknown.
Contemporary- something you could wear, strengthening the idea that "It could happen to you".

Well, that's all for now, I should be getting gone soon, early morning tomorrow.
I will have a better look into horror movie costuming, and report here my findings.

More to come later!

Let's kick off with the introduction of a project...

How certain are things? How can we know that we start, what we plan, what we research for will actually happen? Well, it seems we can never know.

I met someone (specifics to come later) on the 2nd of May who had mentioned a project she was working on, and when I let her know that I am a costume student she suggested I join them on the project.
I am just going to read the screenplay at the moment, but before that I wanted to do some research on the author of the story the short film will be based upon.
The author is Peter Odry Mason (real name unkown), seems to be interested in Gothic imagery, mysticism and the occult, as mentioned in the first interview I found with him is on Gothic. hu. The imagery for the short stories in his novel is suggested to be inspired by nighttime cityscapes that he tends to explore, he might possibly use ideas from heavy metal works as well, as he says he had the first heavy metal news programme on TV.
Another article states that the questions he deals with are how one becomes a victim, and how one becomes a murderer.
He is titled to be a master at creating empathy in the reader, consequently the sense of great fear.]

On another note, have you seen the neat Martha Graham inspired animation on the Google homepage today? It's definitely worth a check! Look for The Story Behind the Graham Google Doodle.

Now my timid-self shall get onto reading the script (which was, in fact, written by the person who took me on into the project), more to come later.

"Here she comes..."

"Over where the sea turns to stars 
Over by the window underneath the silver moon" /Kai Altair/

And so it was, and so it is. It is time that I start this blog, to keep up with... the projects I set myself (or the ones set for me -.^)
For reference, I am using Myruso's stock image from deviantart for my background: Victorian Grunge II.


And as a celebratory element I would like to add a little something right away: