Battle for the Winds

Moulin Rouge

During the first year studying costume at university, we were fortunate to work on a short film based on the theme of Moulin Rouge and designed by Francis Tempest.

For a taster of this work, please see the link below.

http://vimeo.com/26622867

Evaluation for SDP

Evaluation of SDP

For Self Directed Project, I chose to participate in Costume Store, which also merged with Breathe. I began the project one or two weeks later than everyone else as I was required to finish the Battle for the Winds jacket to a high standard by binding all of the seams and lining where appropriate, which was fairly time consuming. Following this I went straight onto work experience for two weeks (one of which was during the Easter holidays. This meant that upon arriving back to the costume store I was not particularly fresh minded and also struggled as most people had moved on to other garments.  I was however quite enthused about making a shirt, just nervous at the same time as I wasn’t sure what level of independence was expected of me. I thought that I wasn’t supposed to ask any questions regarding technique and work it out completely by myself after the initial run through with Dexter. I then went on to make quite a lot of mistakes due to being stubborn in not asking questions, as for my previous project this was a large part of my feedback. I did learn a lot from making mistakes, but it meant that in places my shirt was not constructed to its best standard, despite un-picking and re-stitching quite frequently.

I felt a lot of pressure to get the shirt finished and sent off for Battle of the Winds, and therefore rushed the construction. Whereas costume store shirts were able to be continued working on throughout the project up until hand-in. This would not usually faze me at all, and I usually embrace challenges, however throughout the project I have felt quite disorientated with all of the different projects going on at once, in my case Battle for the Winds, Strawberry Hill, Battle for the Winds shirt, Breathe, POP and then the blouse. However by the time of starting the blouse I felt a lot better in myself as it was alongside my peers, I would actually be working on the same thing at the same time. I realise that within industry this wouldn’t be the case, but I merely was in need of some coherency.

I did enjoy the variation between the projects, and I feel that each provided me with new skills and it was an amazing opportunity to be able to work on both. However, I found it difficult to work on costume store for Monday and Wednesday. Then breathe Wednesday evening and Thursday and to return to costume store on the Friday, as both projects required completely different mind sets and it was hard to change between the two in so little time. As once you had got into the right frame of mind for one project it was then time for the other. It took a while to adjust between the two.

Despite the above difficulties, I have really enjoyed this project and I feel that I have learnt a lot from it. I feel that it has helped me to develop as a practitioner. I think that it has also been useful to work on a blog alongside this, especially as it was something I’d never done before. It helps to think about the work from a more professional perspective as it is in the public domain. This also opens up more opportunities in promoting our work, and could assist and be the basis for a portfolio.

Costume Store has taught me the importance of working within a professional and clean environment. As well as the effectiveness of discipline and self influenced quality control. I have also learnt new technical skills and construction methods. I found looking at existing garments and using my own initiative as to how it was constructed a particularly useful skill, as well as learning how to scale patterns (increase of decrease the size of a pattern by using the existing sizes and working out the difference).

Breathe allowed me to be more creative which was nice as i miss this element from design. It was a lot more about costume interpreting as well as experimentation with textile techniques. All of these elements combined made it possible to create something rather organic. It was good to have quite a lot of freedom with it as costume store is so restricting, but it was fairly difficult to match the high standard of stitching due to its structural nature. The fringing was particularly difficult to apply as it was so thick and needed to be applied to quite a heavy base. It was hard to get such a large quantity of fabric under the machine, and it did snap a couple of needles. This caused the lining to become quite bunched and tight, I therefore let out the armhole to ensure movement. I also had to consider wheelchair use with the fringed jacket. This meant that the fringing couldn’t be too long around the arm, or restricting on arm movement.

Overall, from both projects, I learnt the valuable skill of successful time management. This is very transferable and possibly the most important aspect of personal development.

SDP in progress... Breathe 2

For the Breathe project, I have been given two designs to interpret and construct. These consist of capes/ jackets over base costumes. The group within Breathe that the designs come from is the "Elders". These are, as the name suggests, characters that have been roaming the land for a long time, as well as the sea. They are wise and their costumes may carry relics from the past? Or things that have attached themselves to the characters/ started to grow on them eg. barnacles and seaweed.
I began by researching various textile techniques.

Images taken from the following sources:

Grey, M. (2003) Raising the surface with machine embroidery. London. Anova Books Company Ltd.

Hedley, G. (2000) Surfaces for stitch: plastics, films & fabric. London. Anova Books Company Ltd.

Holmes, V. (2006) Creative recycling in embroidery. London. Anova Books Company Ltd.

Thittichai, K. (2007) Hot textiles: inspiration and techniques with heat tools. London. Anova Books Company Ltd.

I have also experimented with free-style knotting and nautical knots.

Sourced from:

Owen, P. (2000) Knots: the identifier to over 50 knots in colour. London. Quintet Publishing.

once I had made some samples, I went on to make seaweed out of latex and scrap fabrics. these would be additional elements to bring in more varied textures.

The next step was to find cloak/ cape/ jacket bases for the fringing to be applied to. The fringing needed applying appropriate to the design.- where the design is of a woman, it will now be a man who is reliant on the use of a wheelchair. Therefore there are elements to consider during construction- especially with regards to the fringing as it mustn't get caught in the wheels etc.

The fringing needed applying one piece at a time as it is quite a challenge to sew. A heavy duty needle on an industrial machine is essential.

I have also added bits of net amongst the fringing to break it up a bit and I do not like how overpowering the fringing currently is.

I shall cut away any excessively bold coloured ribbons and trim down the lengths so that they are safe in conjunction with the wheelchair usage.
I think that the fringing would look better still if heatgunned in places to give more of a distressed look and to disguise the ribbons.
I will also add latex seaweed in places to add another textural dimension.

Time Plan

Week	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12th – 18th March	10 – 11am Year group meeting 1.30 – 4.30pm Costume Store demos	9.30-12.30 POP briefing	Independent study: working on CIC costume	Independent study: working on CIC costume & Strawberry Hill prep	CIC Hand-in (extension) Independent study: working on CIC costume & Strawberry Hill prep.	Strawberry Hill prep	Strawberry Hill prep & tech rehearsal at 5pm
19th – 25th March	2.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Dress rehearsal	2.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	12.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance Do learning agreement	9.30- 2pm CIC finishings  4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	9.30- 2pm CIC finishings 4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	11am- 12pm Strawberry Hill prep 12- 1pm dressing 1-3pm matinee 3- 5pm photographs 5- 6pm prep 6 – 7pm dressing 7pm performance	4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance
26th March – 1st April	9.30- 2.30 Strawberry Hill workbook 4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	9.30- 2.30 Strawberry Hill workbook 4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	9.30- 2.30 Strawberry Hill workbook 4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	9.30- 2.30 Strawberry Hill workbook 4.30- 6pm Strawberry Hill prep 6-7pm dressing 7pm Performance	Come back to Bournemouth & return costume store garments	Break	Break
2nd – 8th April	Easter holiday Draft corset (personal use)	Easter holiday Work on corset, blog and POP	Easter holiday Work on corset, blog and POP	Easter holiday Work on corset, blog and POP	Easter holiday Work on corset, blog and POP	Easter holiday	Easter holiday
9th – 15th April	Not scheduled: continue with any outstanding work	POP 10.30- 1.30 guest speakers: Natasha Player and Jon Crosse 1.30 – 4.30 tutorials: see individual time	9.30- 10.30 refocus meeting 10.30- 4.30 costume store demos	9.30 – 4.30 Breathe	Independent studio practice: work on Edwardian shirt for CIC	continue with any outstanding work	Break
16th – 22nd April	10 – 4.30 Costume store	POP 10.15 – 1.30 guest speakers: Alan Rogers and Michael Walling 1.30 – 4.30 tutorials: see individual time	Independent studio practice: continue costume store 5 – 8pm Breathe Club	9.30 – 4.30 Breathe	Independent study : continue costume store	continue with any outstanding work	Break
23rd – 29th April	10 – 4.30 costume store	POP 9.30 – 4.30 tutorials: see individual time	9.30 – 4.30 see times or blog tutorials Also studio practice	9.30- 4.30 Breathe	9.30 – 4.30 independent studio practice: continue costume store	continue with any outstanding work	Break
30th April – 6th May	POP 9.30 – 4.30 tutorials: see individual time	POP 1.30- 4.30 tutorials: see individual time	9.30 – 4.30 costume store 5- 8pm Breathe club	9.30 – 4.30 Breathe	9.30 – 4.30 independent studio practice: continue costume store	continue with any outstanding work	Break
7th – 13th May	Bank Holiday	9.30 – 4.30 independent studio practice	9.30- 4.30 costume store 5- 8pm Breathe club	9.30- 4.30 Breathe	9.30 - 4.30 independent studio practice: continue costume store	continue with any outstanding work	Break
14th – 20th May	10- 4.30 independent studio practice	11.30 – 12 hand-in POP 1.30- 4.30 independent studio practice	9.30- 4.30 independent studio practice 5- 8pm Breathe club	9.30- 11.30 independent studio practice 12.30 – 4.30 student presentations	9.30- 4.30 independent studio practice: finishing off SDP	Finishing off SDP	Finishing off SDP
21st – 27th May	11.30- 12 SDP hand-in

Learning Agreement

NAME:                                  Amy Thackeray     

COURSE:                             BA (Hons) Costume with Performance Design        

UNIT TITLE:                         Self Directed Project                    

REF. NO./LEVEL:                CSS518

WEIGHTING:                        2.0      

DURATION:                         9 Weeks       

HOURS OF STUDY:            300 Hours    

Unit Leader:                        Adele Keeley/Graham Cottenden

Your Blog address:  http://amylouthackeray.blogspot.co.uk/

DESCRIPTION:

I have decided to direct my studies towards the costume store as I thought it would be the most beneficial way to improve my construction techniques and to get a better perception of the professional workroom environment. I feel that it is important to have an element of discipline and regiment when in the industry and I aim to improve mine.

            For the project, I shall be constructing an Edwardian shirt for the Battle for the Winds production as well as either a waistcoat or breeches and a blouse for the costume store. I shall be working from existing National Theatre patterns, which I feel will be good experience and will set me in good stead for entering the industry. The Breathe project also runs alongside the costume store work, and I am equally excited about this as it covers the creative side of construction that isn’t necessarily involved within the technical skill based unit. I think it will be amazing to work in a team and within a different group of people, both socially and creatively.

            I have also been working on a placement since 19^th November 2011, where a group of four of us have been in control of the entire costume department of a production called “The Sign of the Strawberry”. It is situated at Strawberry Hill house in Twickenham. This has been an amazing experience and I will include it as part of SDP because it runs from the 18^th – 29^th March. We have designed, made and sourced the costumes ourselves, as well as being responsible for props, hair and makeup. Other roles have included running, dressing, producing a script breakdown and keeping a running wardrobe for any alterations.

            For my assessment I will produce, alongside the costume store garments; elements of Breathe costumes, a supportive blog, a workbook for “The Sign of the Strawberry” and a 1000 word analytical evaluation of the work placement. Despite being on work placement for two weeks, I would still like to produce the entire range of garments where possible, as I feel it would be very beneficial, as well as challenging towards my time management skills.

Aims:

A1       To provide opportunities for self-initiated, autonomous learning

            and develop the ability to plan time and work independently

A2       To provide opportunity to study the contextual development of costume and performance design

A3       To further develop the creative, intellectual and practical applications of research and contextualisation within a self initiated environment

A4       To propose, develop and evaluate professional aspirations through professional development planning

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this unit you will be able to:

LO1     Identify and define the context for the development of your own work towards professional aspirations

LO2     Demonstrate an understanding of the development of Costume with performance design

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LO3     Have developed the creative, intellectual and practical applications of research and contextualisation

LO4    Consolidate and demonstrate professional aspirations and planning                     

Assessment Requirements:

Supervisor / Makers

HAND IN:

A body of construction work to include 2 garments for the costume store (patterns will be provided) and a body of costume interpretation work for Breathe  plus a 1000 word essay reflecting my experience while on placement, together with personal reflection of the development of your project in your blog.  100%

     …..under pinned by personal development planning (in your blog journal) and a final written evaluation (750 words) evidenced in your Blog             100%

Each assessment requirement must be passed at a minimum grade of 40% to successfully complete the unit

Assessment Criteria (specific criteria related to the learning outcomes and linked to the statement of generic assessment criteria matrix):           

           

1. Evidence of knowledge of contextual and theoretical issues – The level to which you have considered the context of your project and evidenced that to your body of work (LO1, LO2)

2. Evidence of understanding through synthesis and development – The application and extend to which research has informed decision-making and project development together with the appropriate management of time (LO2, LO3, LO4)

3. Evidence of evaluation and reflection – The extent to which you have reflected on the progress of your project and used it to inform personal development planning (LO4)

4. Evidence of realisation through the communication of ideas - The presentation of your work and the level to which specialist knowledge has been applied, communicated and evidenced (LO3, LO4)

Reference Material

This will vary according to the needs of the individual project.  You will define Reference Material through personal investigation and consultation with staff and list it in your Learning Agreement.

Davis, R. I. Men's 17th & 18th century costume, cut & fashion - patterns for men's costume

Chenoune, Farid. A history of men's fashion

Hunnisett, Jean .Period costume for stage & screen - patterns for women's dress 1800-1909

London Museum. Men's costume 1750-1800

Waugh, Norah. The cut of mens clothes 1600 – 1900

STUDENT:      Amy Thackeray         DATE:      21/03/2012

TUTOR…………………………………………..DATE………………..