Getting Started on La Ronde

An initial telephone conversation with the director of La Ronde started the creative process for this production. Her concept for the production is to focus on the class system in Vienna at the time and really place the play visually into accurate period costume. Though, of course, my role as costume designer is to be directed, I am slightly disappointed as I was keen to really explore more conceptual ideas with this production. My intention for the week was to gather research for La Ronde in a similar mode to Tender and create visual concept boards for the initial meeting to be held on the 2nd May.

In the concept boards I have brought together some of the visual research which I have collated as an initial response to the script. Firstly focusing on Austrian/Hungarian artists of the time I have looked at artists such as Klimt, Moser and the Mucha. Analysing their styles I have observed the graphic look the art work has. I have scrutinized the unique qualities of Art Nouveau style illustrations. The thick outlines and solid flat bold colours are similar to modern graphic style drawings. In addition I observed the type style has a distinct form which I hope to recreate through CAD. Designers are often influence by artists to inspire the concept or feel of the design. In this instance I hope to use the Art Nouveau style to inform the both design process and rendering style while still being mindful of the caricature style designs I initially intended to create.

The concept boards were more formulaic than Tender. I used an Art Nouveau style border and regimented image placing to create a slick look. This I felt appropriate not only to clearly communicate visually my intentions but also sensing the type of person the director is it felt appropriate to make sure the work has clarity and read easily.

The results of this weeks’ studio work is yet to be tested in a director/ designer conference however I can reflect on the process and application of the work.

The process involved using a series of layer to place the images. Resizing the images and placing them in position was relatively simple. This form of image collating which is not overly time consuming seemed appropriate for it required function. I chose again to photograph the images rather than scanning them in. Last week the process was not that successful, however I am please to report that this attempt worked much more effectively. Firstly I took a little more consideration when taking the photograph. Secondarily the quantity of the images I took photo of were of a much better quality. The images which I took for the mood boards for Tender were mainly from magazines and this affected the quality of the photograph this week the images were from full colour art books. In conclusion this method has been successful in this context. The process of recording images is quick and then to transform them into a Photoshop image is quite simply achieved.

The digtial sketchbook pages which I have create are just the beginning of a visual discussion between the director and the costume designer.

Tender - Moodboards

This week has been a crazy week. As well as my full time job I have worked 24 hours on Tender. My progress has been good and I feel on schedule. I chose to focus on Tender as it was the play I know the most about. Having analysed the script and character the week before, I spent this week gathering images and creating montage digital sketchbook pages for each character. I have found in the past that a collection of visuals collated together on one sheet enables the first discussion with the director to be focused and direct. I collected images from magazines, catalogues and through personal observation sketches. This contemporary piece lends itself to this style of montage. The process of editing and arranging images on the page using exclusively Adobe Photoshop has been productive and the pace has been steady. I have chosen to style the pages with ripped edge effects to echo the plays ‘snip it’ of life scene structure this follows on from using ideas established at the meeting with the set designer. I started by creating a bank of scanned ripped pieces of paper which I used to place the images on. I have learnt a quick and effective technique to do this.

(Place the ripped layer below the image. Hovering over the centre point between the two layer in the layer pallet click ALT and a black circular icon with and arrow on it appears. The layer above is now places over the ripped layer and will only show the image with in the shape of the ripped paper below.)

This process has made presenting the images on a page a quick and affiant method. I have also created a basic template which I have used for each page rather than starting from a blank sheet. By just moving the basic images (text, ripped edges and background) around I was able to create a different look for each character.
The use of gray scaling an image has been effective as monochrome is a mayor feature of my concept.
Instead of scanning in ever image I decided to take digital photographs. This process was quick and by just plugging in the camera to the PC the images were instantly on my computer. The results were fair but for a great deal of images the quality was not good enough and I had to scan them in as well adding additional time to the process. Taking a photograph of a magazine page does not create the best quality picture and correcting this mistake added a great deal of time to my workload.

I feel I have had a creative approach to my work this week and the computer assisted in this by opening up opportunities which may not have been possible without it. My approach as not been formulaic and I have been keen to see what the computer could do. Enjoying the happy accident I was able to stumble across the ripped paper effects has added to the stylish look which I intended. Creating mood board with clear communication, atmospheric style and a visual springboard for discussion was my aim. Not having a strict idea what the pages would look like has been part of the successes.

painterly/ atmospheric

Mary Barton is adapted from the classical novel by Elizabeth Gaskill. This production set in the1840’s is centred around working class characters in Manchester society. I have chosen to render the designs for this production in a painterly/ atmospheric style to reflect the moody, period feel of the piece. Designers with such artistry such as David Collis use a beautiful combination of tone and shadow to create mood evoking designs. International award winning costume designer, Ann Roth, also adopts a mood capturing approach. Though not as detailed as David Collis, Roth’s scribbled lines, and suggestive marks suggest a great sense of atmosphere. Though traditionally considered that this style of rendering could only be achieved by hand rendered methods more designers are creating effective results using the computers. Nic Ularu who uses a combination of computer and hand techniques points out ‘To preserve the “handmade” feeling of rendering, I normally print on paper with texture and thickness, such as watercolor or drawing paper’ (Ularu 1999). Other designers such as Betty Poindexter and Martin Morley also create their painterly style with the aid of computers. I hope by choosing this style of rendering I will be able to push my hand drawing and technical skills by combing both traditional and digital methods.

Characterful

La Ronde, set in turn-of-the-century Vienna is about the façade of seduction and sexual games played out by couples. The character lead production is full of stereotypes and pulls focus on the individual character’s agendas and personalities. With an emphasis on larger than life characters I intend to render this production with a characterful style. Hauixiang (2004 pg vii) states: ‘…the characters body language reflects the soul and spirit of the character, and an interesting gesture helps display the style of the costume’. Costume designers such as Lez Brotherson, Anne Curry and Nancy Surman have effectively used this expressive style of drawing for some time. Brotherson in particular is know to use one fundamental trademark body shape which he adapts. With the slight change of gestures and expressions he transforms these templates from female temptress to innocent boy. Common features of this caricature style of drawing are big faces with large than life expressions and animated poses with bold well defined lines. ‘Directors and actors find faces helpful in the depiction of character’ (Curry 2006). This style lends it self to La Ronde comic, outrageous themes and character lead script.

Photorealistic/ Collage

Tender by Abi Morgan is a play about snap shots of individual lives which interlink and cross paths throughout the story. ‘Photorealistic’ (Cole and Burke 2005) is a style of rendering which reflects life as clearly a possible and capturing a preview of the costume as near to what it will look like on stage. Designer’s such a Paul Brown have used this techniques for sometime to best communicate their vision. His detailed rendering demonstrates clarity and depth which enables him to retain visual control with no room for miss interpretation. ‘Everyone’s time is wasted if you don’t know what you’re doing or what you’re trying to create, a good design helps’ (Brown 2007). He retains artistic allure with gray scale faces which pull focus on the design of the clothes being worn.
Collage is not a new technique but has been enhanced with the introduction of computers. Quick image editing allows for multiple options to be tried out for individual character. When discussing her designs for Twelfth Night Claire Lyth (2002) comments: ‘By creating a body for each scene digitally it was possible to re-design the costumes as ideas progressed, without starting again each time. Other designer such as Becs Andrews and George Souglides also use digital collage as method to communicate their ideas clearly. Tender’s hard look at reality and the everyday lives in modern society lends itself well to this style of rendering.

Rendering styles

To add validity to my findings I want to approach each production using a different style of rendering. With this in mind I have identified three different styles which I will try as part of my studio practice. I have labelled these: Photorealistic/ Collage, Characterful, Painterly/ Atmospheric. To establish these styles I looked at current designers and took into consideration the key indicators established earlier in my researched, in particular, I considered what style of rendering would appropriately suit the different productions. To illustrate my choices I chose to create three digital sketchbook pages. This has enabled me to clearly visually communicate what I mean by the different styles. I will be looking into recreating these styles on the computer during the case study. The pages explain my choices in more depth.

Tender - First meeting with set designer:

Communication with the director so far has been via email with a short statement that the costumes should be very contemporary. The set designer Rebecca Pride has also had initial email contact with the director which has set a few basic ideas in place. The first meeting with the director is not for a few weeks. As Rebecca and myself have worked together before I knew from the start that we would work very closely on this project. The initial meeting was to establish some ideas and get the feel of what each other is thinking. The key discussion focused around making the contemporary look of the production. The play is about snap shots of incidences in the characters life and the way individual paths cross and life stories interlink. I explained my idea to render the costume designs in a Photorealitic style and how this could somehow reflect in the costumes. I want the costumes to have a monochrome colour scheme which seemed to be received well. Ideas generated by Rebecca through the discussion was to create a ripped visual effect on the furniture, and also look at some kind of ‘dot’ motif such as in the paintings of Lichenstein (a snap shot being a comic strip). The director has requested that all the scenes are set all times and the actors move from one area of the stage to the other. The ‘snap shot’ idea would support the director’s concept. The meeting was a valuable start to the design process and has set ideas flowing and established a solid working dialogue about the design of the production. At this stage no visuals were used as part of the discussion.

Case Study Framework

Undertaking a ‘live project’ as part of my research I feel is essential to aid me to explore and experiment with digital rendering. Mark making and hypothetical design drawings only extend my digital rendering ability but does not test the techniques with the same restraints, focus and time restrictions a ‘live’ situation would. Finding a placement which would fill my requirement, be happy to partaking in my research, fit into the timescale and my busy teaching schedule I knew would be a challenge. I initially wanted to design a production with an American drama school. Firstly the links I have with the schools are strong and the opportunity to push my skills and test cross Atlantic communication seemed full of potential. However a placement of this kind proved difficult to get. Either the schools were not able to offer design projects in a realistic timeframe for my other teaching commitments or they felt that they would need further consideration and time to plan such collaboration. When an offer to design the costumes for Arts Educational School in London became available it seemed the perfect proposal for my ‘live’ project. The Arts Educational School based in Chiswick is a drama school with a professional production department producing over 22 productions per year. Being in London would mean that I could easily be available for the production period and the timeframe fitted perfectly within the restraints of my teaching commitment at the Arts Institute. In addition another attractive aspect of the proposed project was that I would design costumes for 3 productions for the postgraduate acting course. Designing for 3 shows would allow for triangulation as three different approaches and styles could be applied and reflected upon.

Since identifying a ‘practical project with a theatre company’ in my proposal I have always thought of the activity as an exercise which would inform my overall research findings. To reflect the ‘normal’ production process I intend to approach the project as any costume designer would and use my professional experience to support me by being mindful not to over saturate the experience with a student approach. The good timing of the production also means that I will not be teaching throughout the whole project and the teaching would seize when the rehearsal period started. This would not only mean that I would be able to be in London more frequently but my full attention would be on the live project.

My next key consideration was to identify how I would approach the project from a research view point. I knew that the nature of the activity was practice based research. However it is essential to establish a methodology and research framework for the activity. In my proposal I planned to use an ethnographic model to capture the views and personal experiences of others. ‘Ethnography encompasses any study of a group of people for the purpose of describing their socio- cultural activities and patterns.’ (Burns 2000 pg 393). Considering this broad description and focusing on the practical project, I am able to start visualizing this methodology to support my intended outcomes. Ethnographical research allows for flexibility that a ‘natural setting’ (Burns 2000) can bring. With no pervious experience of working with the directors assigned to the projects I could experience a variety of reactions an d different relationships. Taking an ethnographic unbiased and flexible approach will allow me to record any eventuality.

I also identified that by inquiring through practice the ‘live’ project would form a case study to test the effectiveness of digital costume design within a specific setting. The description of a ‘case’ according to Gillham in his 2003 book ‘Case Study Research Methods’ is a unit of human activity embedded in the real world.’ He goes on to say ‘A case study is one which investigates the above to answer specific research questions’. Considering my overarching research aim to ‘investigate the potential of digital illustration to enrich, extend and support practice and experiment with new techniques to develop artistic and creative results when designing costume. My case study aim will be:To compare and analysis the design process and functionality of digital costume designs within a real situation by testing and trailing different digital rendering techniques reflecting on the outcome and gathering the reactions and views of stakeholders involved. (directors, actors, supervisors).
The real life situation of a production is essential to the inquiry as I feel that only then, I can truly reflect on how useful and effective digital rendering is to develop my own professional practice. I intend to use myself as participant observer as part of the case study and reflect on my design development in-action as well and reflect on-action the communication with other in the production team. Burns (2000 pg460) states: a case study is used to gain – in – depth understanding replete with meaning for the subject, focusing on process rather than outcome, on discovery rather than confirmation’.

Placing myself at the heart of the practical project and relying on my tactic knowledge of the theatre industry as well as pushing my creative skills I want to be flexible on how the research evolves. Considering this and by adopting a Naturalistic inquiry framework for my case study I can ‘anticipate circumstances but decisions as to how one will deal with them …[will] be left until the context of time, place and human interaction.’ (Erlandson pg 67) Naturalistic inquiry happens in a ‘real situation’ (Gray and Makin 2004) apposed to a forced scenario and works well within the ethnographic methodology ethos. Erlandson states in his 1993 book ‘Doing Naturalistic inquiry’: ‘Conventional research attempts to separate the inquirer from the object of inquiry’ he goes on to suggest that by being at the heart of the inquiry the researcher can get inside the context of the investigation and share the experience with the stakeholders also being studied. Using this to develop a framework for my case study I will become part of my study and the real situation becomes not only the theatre where the productions will go on but also my own studio. The practice based approach of a naturalistic researcher allows the methods to emerge as the researcher interacts with the context of the inquiry. However Erlandson suggest a guide (listed below) which can be planned in advance, I have used his guidelines to plan an initial strategy for my Case Study.

Case Study Framework using a Naturalistic Approach

Negotiating and developing the conditions of entry
I will be entering into this live project as a Costume Designer, first and foremost. I have discussed with the production manger that I am currently researching but have not gone into detail about my research. The director’s assume they are working with a costume designer and are interested in my input for that purpose. Once a relationship is established and trust gained I will discuss my research proposal and will negotiate according to the different director’s reactions how I will proceed. At all time for the purpose of the production team, the production’s are of foremost importance.

Planning for purposive sample selection
Considering the question the intended stakeholders which will be part of the sample to be interviewed will be:
The three directors
The wardrobe supervisor/ s
A selection of Postgraduate acting students (which will be identified once in the placement)

This will obviously be flexible and dependent of individual response.

The sample for which will be observed will echo the same list but I will included myself as part of that list.

Planning for Data Collection
Strategies for collecting data will be as follows:

Reflective Diary – Studio work
Observation notes - Production meeting
Transcripts – Production meetings (pending permission)
Interviews Transcripts (post production) - Suggested Sample Group
Observation Notes/ artefacts - Visual comparisons/ Rendering and Realisation/ Production Photographs

Planning for Data Analysis
Strategies for analysing data will be as follows:

To analysis and critically evaluate studio practice recorded through a reflective journal.
To analysis production meeting transcripts/ observational notes for reactions to costume design development and final rendering
To analysis interview transcripts for common threads and qualitative data
To analysis and critically evaluate design development, final digital renderings and realisation evidenced in production photographs


Planning for Quality in the Study

The quality of the study depends on it validity as Erlandson states: ‘ [The] final product must communicate to its audience that the study is worthy of this attention’ (pg 131)
Examples of Validity:
The production team for the MA season will be formed from an external (to Art Educational Schools) team of professionals. The team will consist of 3 directors, a production manager, a set designer, a costume designer, technical manager, 3 wardrobe supervisors and a carpenter. The budgets and timeframe of the production process is realistic and representative of any small scale production company.
Keen not to obscure the reactions of the stakeholders my position as costume designer within the team should distract from any research which I am undertaking and ensure my place with in the production team. I will not inform the production team of my research when starting the placement as a trusting relationship will need to be formed before my research is discussed. The intention of the approach is to insure that the situation, the meetings which will take place and the forming of relationships stay ‘normal’ within the professional environment.
I will be mindful to keep a research perspective and not get too engrossed in the design process resulting in becoming unfocused on my goal. This will be hard to address as theatre design can be so encompassing but will be done by continues reflection in my diary.
For this study the key aspect of its validity is the various forms of triangulation which will inform my findings. Analysing different perceptive and viewing the results from different angles is essential to gathering coherent unbiased results.

Examples of triangulation:

Working with 3 different directors, observing their reactions and recording post production views through interview
Gathering views from different roles with in the production team/ company (therefore audience for the designs) Director, Actor, Wardrobe supervisor
Experimenting with 3 different digital rendering approaches and techniques: Photorealistic, Caricature, Atmospheric/ Painterly and compare and reflect on the outcomes of using each method. (see separate entry for full explanation and visual references of this triangulation method).
Triangular self reflection as a teacher, a students and a costume designer


Planning for Dissemination of Findings
Visual report and evaluation

Developing a Logistical Plan for the Study
Intended plan of case study to feed into MA final submission

20th April - 3rd June. The pre-production period will run from the start of Studio practice. Participation and communication during this period will be intermittent. Emphasis will be on studio work and reflective journal.

4th June - 5th July
Rehearsal Period – Participation and communication during this period will be fulltime however studio work will be limited.

5th July - 21st July
Production period – Participation will be less involved and meetings will be very intermittent.

23rd - 3rd August –
Post Production – This time will be used to gather post production views through interviews.


Reviewing the tentative design
This framework will be regularly revisited and reviewed for developments