Edexcel GCSE Drama: Designing Drama

SIX STEPS TO COSTUME DESIGN FOR THE SCRIPTED PERFORMANCE STEP 1 Working on your ownwith the script As soon as you know that you are designing a costume for an extract, start your independent work. This is likely to be at the same time as the performers begin rehearsals. You will need to look at the script through the eyes of a costume designer. This means thinking about genre, styles and contexts. Your teacher should be able to tell you what the stage configuration will be. 1 Read the whole play (or a detailed summary). As you go through, use a table like the one below to note details that could influence your costume choices. (An example has been suggested.) Play: Dracula by Bram Stoker/David Calcutt Genre: Horror Main characters Location/s Historical, social and cultural contexts Themes/ messages Style, moods and atmosphere • Dracula • Jonathan • Mina • Lucy • Van Helsing • Renfield. • Whitby • Dracula’s castle. • End of 19th century • Vampire stories. • Fear • Love • The supernatural. • Mainly naturalistic • Suspense • Horror. 2 Carefully read each extract. Highlight and mark brief annotations on: • locations – specific (such as the living room in a wealthy Victorian home) and more general (north-east coast of England, for example) • weather and time of year and time of day, as this will influence what a character would wear • the economic and social situations of characters • personality aspects that might affect characters' choice of clothing • a stated requirement for a special feature (pocket, bag, hat and so on) • any questions that crop up. See the example on the following page. 3 Make more detailed notes from your table. These should take the form of the page and line number or quotation from the script and then your note. For example: SIGNPOST Chapter 3 is designed to help you with every aspect of your practical costume work. DESIGN TIP Use a notebook or a secure folder. Loose bits of paper get lost or become disorganised! ASSESSMENT CHECK Your design work for Component 2 will demonstrate your ability to ‘Develop interpretations independently and collaboratively’ as you ‘respond and adapt your designs in response to rehearsal work.’ FOCUS • The process of costume design from page to stage. • How to interpret, analyse and evaluate as you experiment with different designs, select those that are most successful and realise your designs as a completed costume for each extract. p14: ‘Hansel got up, put on his coat… filled his empty pockets with as many pebbles as he could carry…’ Does he have nightwear, or is he in everyday clothes? Coat with big pockets could be a handed-down jacket from his father? Chapter 6 Component 2: Designing for the Performance from Text 184