CostumeMISE EN SCENE

Costume is incredibly important in films as it can immediately determine the genre and the style of a character, their motives, their personalities, and a wide range of information about them. Certain costumes seen in movies come as tropes, examples include: The antagonist in dark, torn and worn, cheap and covered clothing The protagonist in lighter clothing, often dirty from their attempts to escape the

antagonist, but still visibly lighter in colour – particularly in women The ‘damsel in distress’ whom may lose many items of clothing or is dressed in

revealing clothes, or very little/none at all, with some aspect of makeup The creepy child dressed in old fashioned clothing, usually nighty with young

girls, with their hair covering most of their face

Importance Of CostumeCostumes are very important in identifying the antagonist, but can also help in the identification of the protagonist and can evoke sympathy depending on the choices made in costume. Scars can give them aspects of struggle and connote victimisation, as can torn and muddied clothing. On the other hand, scars can give the antagonist a vicious appearance suggesting they have been in many fights and in trouble, and their dirtied, torn clothes can be seen as disturbing and a reflection of their negative qualities.

Many of the famous horror villains have distinctive appearances, for example:

Freddy Kruger is famous for wearing his green and red striped sweater and his burn scars on his face. The use of red in Freddy’s costume complies with horror conventions regarding the use of colour – red is used often because of its association with blood, danger, death and gore.

Similarly, Jason Voorhees is recognised for his hockey mask and disfigured face. Jason’s mask is a means of keeping his identity hidden and to evoke a fear factor from the audience whom will be unsettled by the mystery surrounding whom he is.

In both cases, the costumes resemble the character’s roles and follow the conventions of the horror genre.

Horror GenreDepending on the plot of a film, costume and makeup can changed hugely throughout the course of a film. In the horror genre, this is not usually the case as most antagonists have certain appearances, and protagonists are stereotypically in one dangerous situation/location which prevents much change other than the gradual progression from equilibrium to disturbance as stated in Todorov’s theory. Location has a great influence over costume and will do so in our own film trailer.

Female ProtagonistAs our protagonist, we aim to portray our female lead as innocent, likeable and someone that our audience will empathise with. To do so, we need to take advantage of the power of costume and use this to our benefit. In order to give her the appearance we want, we need to evoke the sense of victimisation and appeal to the audience for sympathy. To do so, we will dress her in light coloured clothing which symbolises her virtuous quality and connotes innocence, fragility and purity which should persuade the audience taking her side and rooting for her to essentially ‘win.’This conforms to the conventions of the horror genre which show that most female characters are portrayed as weaker and more vulnerable, this will be shown by her low cut clothes and arguably promiscuous appearance at the beginning of the trailer when she is on the date with her boyfriend. This will gradually change as the film continues and there will be a subtle progression from the ‘damsel in distress’ to the strong female lead whom is challenging conventions. In the scene at the coffee shop and when out on a walk, our female lead will be wearing warm but aesthetic clothing which will highlight the cold weather and the time of year. Later on when shown in her home she will be wearing more comfortable and lounge type clothing which reveals more of her body. As the haunting advances however, this will slowly fade away.

Male Antagonist As our antagonist we aim to portray our male lead as a villain, however, this is challenging due to the nature of the plot and the initial assumption that he is a good character. Nevertheless, we want to illustrate him as a devious, obsessive and disturbing character which the audience dislike and do not connect with. As his initial style needs to keep some sort of enigma code, avoiding giving away too much, he will be dressed in warm but dark tones such as browns and greys in order to allude to his corrupt qualities and motives. This conforms to the conventions of the horror genre as the antagonist is almost always shown to be wearing dark clothing as it imitates their dark personalities and connotes death and tragedy. This will be shown throughout the film but will become much more noticeable and darker once he has assumedly died. In the scene at the coffee shop, our male lead will be wearing warm clothing highlighting the cold weather and the time of year. When we next see him, his darker will have become slightly darker, when on a walk for example, his clothing will feature more blacks and dark tones. Later on when shown in the house he will be wearing clothing that conceals himself more, wearing even more dark clothes, mostly black. This will be the case throughout the haunting as it successful illustrates his satanic and dark style.

Scene CostumeCoffee Shop Casual costume – white top with bright blue pattern, use of heart design to portray innocence and her ‘hope-less romantic’ personality.Field/Park She will shown to be wearing a bright coloured sweatshirt, the use of pink symbolises her feminine traits and arguably portrays her as

younger and perhaps more naïve. Graveyard In this scene her costume mirrors our antagonist slightly as it implies a sense of continuity and reinforces the enigma code of who is

the villain and who is the hero? It is also to portray the cold weather and pathetic fallacy (the cold being related to death and the supernatural)

Bedroom #1 (Phone/Laptop)

As this scene demonstrates the deterioration of our characters relationship she is shown to be wearing a dark jumper white a white pattern to symbolise the lack of colour and brightness/positivity in her life as seen in previous scenes (bright pink jumper)

Bedroom #2 (Lipstick)

In this scene our female protagonist appears slightly more mature as she applies the red lipstick which symbolises danger and death, she will shown to wear a bright blue top which correlates with the white and blue top seen in the coffee scene, the use of blue symbolises both coldness and sadness.

Bathroom In this scene our female protagonist is once again shown in light and multi-coloured pyjamas which denotes the supposedly comfortable setting and her innocence in comparison to the darkly dressed ‘ghost.’

Outside Kiss In order to further convey the theme of romance she will be seen in a black and white shirt with a heart pattern, also seen in the coffee scene, but this time with black hearts to symbolise the dark relationship between our characters.

Suicide (Pan) N/AScreaming (Corner of Room)

In this scene our character is once again shown in a comfortable costume, a grey hoodie to denote her youth as well as her sombre and grey emotional state – it is also seen previously in the kissing scene in which our antagonist is shown wearing it, essentially reminding the audience of his omnipresence in her life.

Forest Running In this scene our protagonist is seen in a mainly black top, with white designs to emulate the feeling of darkness closing in on her and to contemplate the dark setting (forest) and scene (being chased).

Stairway/Steps This scene is out of sequence in the trailer but would be seen after the lipstick scene and so the costume is the same - she will shown to wear a bright blue top which correlates with the white and blue top seen in the coffee scene, the use of blue symbolises both coldness and sadness.

Protagonist Costume Plan – Scene by Scene

Scene Costume

Coffee Shop Casual costume – black top to contrast with the white top worn by the female, symbolic of his sinister enigma and foreshadowing his later ‘death.’

Field/Park When showing the positive relationship between male and female, he is shown to be wearing a lighter coloured sweatshirt in order to display his previously less negative nature and to appear less menacing.

Graveyard In this scene he will shown wearing his ‘typical’ outfit which will be associated with his character after his ‘death’ – this entails an entirely black outfit including a hood which gives her a malevolent appearance as he is partly disguised.

Bedroom #1 (Phone/Laptop)

In this scene we briefly see the antagonist in a red/burgundy t shirt which denotes his anger and danger, symbolic of his role and personality.

Bedroom #2 (Lipstick)

N/A

Bathroom In this scene he will be shown briefly wearing his ‘typical’ outfit which will be associated with his character after his ‘death’ – this entails an entirely black outfit including a hood which gives her a malevolent appearance as he is partly disguised.

Outside Kiss The antagonist will be shown in casual costume, jeans and a grey hoodie which is later seen in the screaming scene in which the protagonist is now wearing it (irony) – the use of grey symbolises his personality and lack of colour in his life other than when she is wearing colour.

Suicide (Pan) In this scene our protagonist is in all dark and casual costume, the use of black being symbolic due to his ‘death’ and his sinister role as the menacing ‘ghost.’

Screaming (Corner of Room)

N/A

Forrest Running In this scene he will shown wearing his ‘typical’ outfit which will be associated with his character after his ‘death’ – this entails an entirely black outfit including a hood which gives her a malevolent appearance as he is partly disguised.

Stairway/Steps N/A

Antagonist Costume Plan – Scene by Scene