Costumes refer to anything an actor wears on stage (shorts, pants, shirts, dresses, hats, socks, and underwear).

Ex. Japanese Kabuki costuming

• royal, rich
• bright colors: economic status
• ancient times
• beauty standards at the time

Factors of Costume Design:

-Age

-Gender (an indicator of what style of cloth people wear)

-Social status (social status, economic status)

-Occupation (where the character fits in the society; what job the person does)

-Geographic Location (give us clues about the culture)

-Occasion/Activity (the activity determines what style characters may be wearing)

-Time of day (shows different scenes at different times of day; ex. pajamas at night)

-Season/Weather

-Historical Period (what historical period is the character in?)

-Psychological Factors/Personality/Emotion (influence what to wear)

Flipgrid Video Link

In this design, I experimented with sidelight and the changes of color (color gel). Because the props were like autumn and vintage, I wanted the atmosphere to be warm and relaxed, so I tried to use warm colors such as orange and brown. I flashed the light from the top right angle and made it fade out to flash the light from the left angle to create different shadows and give a variety. For the color, I covered the flashlight with a long transparent plastic (colored with orange -> dark orange -> brown -> light grey) and moved the flashlight to different colors.

(I wanted to make people imagine walking on an autumn street while listening to music; however, it turned out to be a little scary because the color was too dark for it to be a light mood and the fading of the light made it a bit creepy.)

I used to think that only the color of the lighting changed the mood of the stage; however, now I know that the angle, color, pattern, and direction of light matter, and it may change people’s emotions. Specifically, I learned that the atmosphere could change from direction and angles because the direction of light may change how the character or a prop on stage looks or is presented on stage. For example, in a stage, if the light shines from the front (front light), then the character’s front part of the body (+movement) is emphasized; yet, if it is a top light, it emphasizes the top part of the facial expression of the character, which gives a different part for people to focus on, making other impressions/moods.

Lighting design- the concept that a designer creates to provide light on stage to support the mood or atmosphere of the play

Light plot- the map that shows where all of your lighting instruments are placed on stage and where they will be lighting

Lighting grid- Up above the stage, it is the system of bars and electric that power the lights

Lighting board- The control panel that power the light; when they turn on and off when and what intensity

Cyclorama- The large white ‘sheet’ at the back of the stage that can be lit or projected on

Backlight- Lighting from the back

Sidelight- Lighting from the side

Top light- Lighting from above

Front light- Lighting from the front

Foot light- Lighting that is placed on the floor in the front

Spotlight- A single source of light focused on a single subject

Fill light- Light sources that add lighting in and around the set/scenery/stage – they ‘fill in’

Wash- A large group of lighting that can ‘wash’ the stage in light that you can bring up at once together

Lighting angle- The angle of the lighting instrument in relation to the subject; usually 45%

Gobo (or pattern)- A pattern (in olden days it was a circle of metal) that blocks light to give you a shape onstage

Gel (or color gel)- The color that you want the instrument to throw onstage (or light onstage)