The thoughts of Katerina, our costume designer

As the costume designer on Clowning Around, I am really looking forward to starting working on the film

I can't wait to see the characters, on set, alive in their costumes in motion

I'm about to go on my summer holidays, but I am really impressed by the progress of the whole project, made possible by the hard work and effort that all the members of the team have put in so far.

Taking with me the photos of the two clowns in their costumes, my research, mood boards and thoughts, lying under the sun next to the beach, I close my eyes and dream..

Yellow and orange

Dark and blue

Treads and thrills

Polka dolts & stripes in a fight

A touch of whipped cream

A dress in a shape of a cake

An apron wrapped around

Small and big flowers in a dance

A yard full of children as a background

A pile of rubbish as a clown's hat

Tattoos and smells

A strong smell of alcohol indeeed!

But above all

One question

Who wins

In that world of c est la vie


to be continued...

Post shoot...

I really wanted to do this last night, but after a long and productive shoot at the very wonderful Tower Bridge Studios, I sat down in front of my computer and fell asleep. So here we are today instead. In a very short time we got an astounding amount covered, so thought you might want to have a quick peek at what we achieved. Here's my faves.

Kirsty working her magic...




Katerina fleeing the clowns



The crew watching as Azul shoots the soon-to-be-seen film trails...



Damien and Azul pow wow



Bill lets out his inner clown...



Matt under the spotlight

Final Costume Fitting – 30.06.2011

I write this sat on last tube Southbound on the Northern Line from Old Street to Morden after our final costume fitting.

After fitting the costumes for Bonzo, Mr. Fernelli and Jerry the Barman, the final piece of the puzzle was Mrs. Jenkins (aka actress Kiki Kendrick).

Throughout the process of trying to find funding the film, Kiki has sent constant encouragement to keep going and I have found myself receiving an email every other month for the past 2 years since she was cast asking how it has been going. However yesterday was the first time I had seen her face to face since that audition back in August 2009!

Kiki has also played a big part in how Mrs. Jenkins has been shaped as a character. Originally a bit of a one dimensional suburban housewife, the ideas Kiki brought to the audition got me thinking more of whilst still polite, saucy Stepford wives wannabe who is out to impress but can’t quite get it right, so Katerina had got three outfits which she felt showed this, one shoulder-less number which was red with flowers, a more soft pink dress with patterns and a final tight fitting red dress. Before the fitting I was more keen on a vibrant colour to really show the temptress beneath the polite facade, but seeing the dresses on Kiki it was evident that the lighter pink this fitted the character more, as Kiki instantly felt more at home in it. See the video below for her thoughts http://www.vimeo.com/25844936

But there are a number of things to contend with when selecting these outfits. I tend to focus on how they fit the individual character, what elements show me more about them and how individual colours or elements add to this. But when creating a film as visual as this, we need to remember the overall colour palette and how all the costumes complement each other for the overall story and nothing stands out that it shouldn’t be there. Another thing to think about is that these costumes are for the stills shoot, not the film. This is for still images that will sell the idea of the film and as such all costumes need to complement each other when shown together.

This last bit was the final hurdle. The chararacters will appear in a number of ways, 1. As individual postcards 2. Bonzo and Fernelli together and 3. As an ensemble cast. Both me and Katerina are happy with their individual appearance and colour, and also happy with how Fernelli and Bonzo come across with their differences of styles and looks. But it is this last option that is bugging us. When we crudely put all four next to each other in a mockup of the poster, it looked a bit muddled. We had to take into account the lack of makeup, lights and the roughness of the costume but we played around with the different outfits we had tried on everyone and ended up changing a few elements, things which may not show the characters as strongly when they appear with the background of the film but in a dark studio, where the colours complement each other. We changed the barman’s shirt to a more vibrant pattern, changed Fernellis bow to not be patterned and made Bonzo’s ruff not as much a vibrant yellow.

They are small details but made a big impact in where the eye of the viewer would be. Although a bit crude and rough, the poster we made to the left shows how they could look in a line-up and have sent this to the DOP and Production Designer to get their thoughts too.

As I have said before, seeing things this way is not something I feel instinctively so am going on Katerina's thoughts for a lot of it, but what I am trying to get across is each characters personality and reflect the conflict, emotions and tone in the film so we are trying hard to marry these two ideas together. There is a lot we can do with the other elements and also in post producton but we want to create a base that will be solid so we don’t have to add too much.

I am learning a lot about an element of film production (or marketing really) that I had never really thought about in this much depth and usually have a complete separate group of people with an objective idea away from the film to do, but am enjoying having to examine all ideas and how they come across and think in different ways about the characters and the colours.

Costume Fitting - 28.06.2011

So after working with Bill yesterday to look at BONZO's costume, today it was about JERRY THE BARMAN (Alex Walker) and MR FERNELLI (Matthew Jure). Again the costume fitting took place at Katerinas flat and unlike the day before, unfortunately our makeup artist Kirsty couldn't make it. This is just one of those things when you are working around peoples day jobs, so we just had to make sure we got all the info Kirsty needed so she can finalise her designs.

First up was Alex. The thinking behind the costume for JERRY was to show a chequered history and paint him as a bit of a coward and a rogue.

To bring this alive, we had a variety of Hawaiians style shirts that would show a tac

kiness about him, complemented with jeans and trainers. We went for the option of the faded blue to purple (option 2), baggy t-shirt and faded jeans as this seemed to work best, rather than something than made him look too stylish.

We also want a faded tattoo on his lower arm, which Kirsty (our make up artist) is working on and Alex himself has come up with the idea of a gold earring in one ear, which I really like as well as options on a few rings, that he will bring to the photo shoot.

I go slightly side tracked chatting to Alex before Matt turned up as we were discussing the effort and thought that is going into every element of the production. I think everyone involved is impressed with how we are approaching this, opposed to what can be a simpler approach to short film, in that we are covering so much detail to improve our skills for feature film-making, which is the next step for a lot of us. Its always good to hear that the work you are putting in is being recognized and respected by people.

As Matt arrived, Alex left and it is the first time I have spoken to Matt about the role since we

chatted about it originally. There was genuine surprise from him as I told him more about the IndieGoGo campaign, the website, the blogs and interactivity and the back stories we are creating as comic books that will serve to both help us build characters and as unique perks for our community.

We knew that the costume for MR. FERNELLI was going to be the most difficult. As I see him as both a clown and a magician, getting the right level of each part, whilst pitching him as the antagonist whilst not as an 'evil' character is a delicate balance. I don't want to make him unrealistic or pantomime as there is a very real story at the heart of the film and I don't want that to get lost so finding the right balance of colour for him is very tricky.

We tried various jackets and accessories but haven't quite cracked it yet. I like the look very much, the sharp fitting jacket, the bow tie, the waistcoat and the aggressive golden flower, it is just getting some colour onto his out

fit so he is not too cold or just magician from the neck down.

The makeup will obviously play a big part as he will have vibrant red hair and be a full white face clown but I would really like some small detail of colour on him, so Katerina is busy

thinking of how we can do this, whilst still complementing the overall costume palette and not spoiling what is already created.

After the costume fitting, Matt chatted to me about how he now felt about the role. Matt always has a lot to say and is great at articulating his ideas so I decided to film some so everyone else could see what ideas are forming and also what attracted him to the role in the first place, check it out here :-)

http://vimeo.com/25757641

Next is Kiki Kendrick on Thursday, where we also make all final decisions on the costume so Katerina has a week to get all the final things sorted. Although she is filming another short in that time, so will try not to pile too much on her...

Costume Fitting - 27.06.2011

As we gear ourselves up for the stills shoot next week, we have scheduled a number of costume fittings and makeup tests. For this, Katerina, Kirsty and Antonia need to see each actor to fit them for their outfit and try out a few options so all elements complement each other and then make final alterations in time for Thursday 7th and Kirsty needs to experiment with her designs so we know exactly what we want and there we are more prepared on the day. First up on Monday, was Bill Thomas who plays the lead character of BONZO in the film.

The ideas behind this costume have changed dramatically, partly through the list of visual examples Katerina supplied me with when we first started discussing ideas. Originally, we were going to have him dressed more traditionally in the sense he had big over-sized trousers and braces and a jacket that was too short for him. But when Katerina showed me an image of Pierrot clowns really liked the simplicity of it and the elegance and tradition it alluded too. It creates a nice conflict in him looking like he is in a big baby grow and yet a classiness and romanticism which I thought added a lot more to the character. You can see Bill's thoughts on the difference of the costume here http://vimeo.com/25768052

In order to fit the costume, Katerina had created a mock-up with Calico fabric, so what we were seeing wasn’t correct in terms of fabric and colour, but in fit and feel. It was a perfect fit and as Bill stood there, you could already see he was trying to fit the character. To accessorize the look, she added frills and a ruff. Whilst I like this addition, one part I was not sure on that she had suggested was the ruff as it looked a bit too camouflagey so we will now try something with polka dots or just a frill. Now Katerina knows this fits Bill, she can dye the fabric yellow and add the correct details (buttons, trim) once I have had a look at a few other options this Thursday when we do our final fitting.

For makeup, we really liked to se his face behind the makeup, so went with just very simply doing just eyes and mouth. The look for eyes was really good, but Katerina thought we should exaggerate slightly and I agree, so will make them a little bigger and more oval at the top.

We then came across a small problem – Bills beard. Bill has another project lined up and dependant on when they will be shooting may have to keep it. If he has to keep it for the stills we will work around it, although fingers crossed the shoot won’t be for a week after our photos so he can grow again as he will appear in the film without a beard and would be good to see this in the photos. Kirsty and Bill both discuss the look of the makeup and its issues here http://vimeo.com/25762525

It is fantastic to see the ideas take a physical form and the effort everyone is putting in to promote the film so this can be something that really makes its mark.

Next up is Mr. Fernelli (Matthew Jure) and Jerry the Barman (Alex Walker) tomorrow!

Costume and Makeup meeting...

I had arranged to meet with costume designer Katerina Dipla and our new make up designer Kirsty Phillips in Cafe Des Amis in Covent Garden today, but my usual habit of picking cafe's that are not open again prevailed and we ended up going to the Machiaveli Cafe on Long Acre, just down the road. This is the third time this has happened to me in a row, I really should pick places I definitely know will be open!

The purpose of the meeting was to marry up our thoughts about costume and the overall colour pallette with Kirsty's ideas for makeup, with a view to the stills shoot in early July. I had sent Kirsty some images as a guide and she had (despite her two day jobs) brought some ideas with her so that we could pin it down and start buying items for the costume fittings and makeup tests, which will be done across three days next week.

We went through each character individually, and came up with the ideas that Bonzo should not be a full whiteface clown as he should come across as a bit more simplistic and child like with curved outline just around the eyes and mouth and also so we could see more of his humanity without being totally covered in makeup. As a contrast, Mr. Fernelli will be completely whiteface with angular makeup with more vibrancy in the colour, in union with his more magician like appearance and to highlight the difference. Another thing we are cementing is that for the stills shoot (rather than the film) Bonzo needs to be more 'at his best' and be presented as a worthy adversary to Mr. Fernelli, rather than appearing more ragged and unkempt, as he will do in the short. After discussing this for an hour or so, we all felt we were going the same way and it is now up to Katerina and Kirsty to source all the items required. We have a textiles factory and makeup distributor who are hopefully supplying us with some free stuff, so hopefully we can limit the budget somewhat!

It will be great to start with items being purchased this week and the ideas becoming a reality. It was also pretty cool to get Kirsty on board as well, as she is someone who always turns up enthusiastic and full of ideas and an awareness of the parameters of how we are working.

As we continue to build our team, it was cool to hear a comment from Katerina, who said the reason she is so enthused about the project is not just because she gets to make outfits for clowns but that every single one of the people involved are not only very talented but also productive, enthusiastic and forthright with their opinions to get the best result for the film. I always like to be at the centre of this kind of team, we don't have to be the best of friends, but there has to a respect and willingness to get it all done the best we can, so its nice to hear!

After the meeting, Katerina showed me a few items she had in mind in some shops on Charing Cross Road, including a stunning orange number which I took a photo of, but will save for showing until we have the costume fitting with Kiki next week!

Decisions, decisions...

Taking on a project this size (in that we are doing the campaign as well as the film) is starting to test my decision making skills to the maximum. I have always been a fan of exhausting a few avenues (unless I have an instinctive feel for something) and being open to being proved wrong, so I and others can provide options and not feel stifled creatively, especially in short film where they are usually working to experiment, rather than for the pay check.

However, being across so many different areas, not taking firm decisions is not going to be helping anyone. We have been discussing the costume for the photo shoot for the past few weeks and so many ideas have been put forward, to be honest I have gotten a bit lost and there came a point talking to Katerina this evening that I couldn't see the wood through the trees and was confusing her and myself! The ideas became muddled and unclear as we were trying to incorporate so much of what we had discussed that we were now using so many styles and colours that the overall affect was becoming messy.

However, one thing I am getting rather good at is not panicking and taking a moment to pause and think "right, how do we solve this" without becoming frustrated. In this case, I took a moment to go back to the very basic idea and I drew, rather slowly, how I saw the two main clowns appearing and tried to disregard anything else (see above). I wrote down in bullet point form the main things and directions I liked and the colours I instinctively saw, and that seemed to help both me and Katerina to see just the things we needed to accomplish and focus on that. I tend to overcomplicate things and so have to remind myself...if in doubt, keep things simple!

After today, I think our costume designs are now in the advanced stage and we are ready to start sourcing material from the textiles place Leilani found. I will be confirming our studio shoot date with Tower Bridge Studios (http://www.towerbridgestudios.com/) who have kindly lent us their studio space and then arranging meetings with costume and makeup so we can start trying stuff on our actors! Also in the mix is setting up a bank account for the film, meeting a clown who will act as consultant for the film and getting the website further down the line.

I have to admit I am feeling a little swamped at the moment, but am reminding myself to keep myself and my responses to things simple, succinct and to the point in order to get things done :-)