realized costume design
JULIUS CAESAR by William Shakespeare
A Post Modern take on William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. In collaboration with the Director and the Design Team we developed an aesthetic inspired by Military fashions (from a variety of eras/regions) and Tarot Cards. This allowed us to emphasize themes of fate, prediction and secrets while also connecting various characters with symbolism and visual elements. The renderings were created with Adobe Photoshop and Procreate as I manipulated existing assets and over painted them to alter details to match my design intentions. This method is also known as 'photo bashing' and allows for a hyperrealistic rendering. It can be used to incorporate photographs, illustrations, sculpture, and other research references into a completely new, original design.
OUR TOWN by Thornton Wilder
An authentic approach to Thornton Wilder's Our Town. The show was cancelled mid production process due to the COVID 19 pandemic. As a costume shop, we finished our drafted pieces so students could continue their learning as well as add to their portfolios. The final costumes and wigs were modeled by the costume students. In collaboration with the Director and the Design Team, we wanted to ensure that each actor within the piece would look cohesive and uniform as a township community. We achieved this through a limited color palate. We wanted the pieces to feel worn and washed, so pieces were dyed and gently distressed. As we crossed into Act Three, we wanted to represent the ghost characters as completely washed out and faded, so the color palate for that group shifted into cream, ecru and grey. The renderings were created with watercolor on 16" X 24" sized plates and then digitally enhanced with Procreate on the iPad Pro.
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE adapted by Melissa Leilani Larsen
A minimalist design of Melissa Leilani Larsen's Pride and Prejudice. Creekside Theatre Festival of Cedar Hills, Utah is a small community company with minimal resources. The challenge with this production was to create a cohesive, period appropriate design with a cast of 16 and a budget of $400. I was fortunate to have a rental agreement with Utah State University that allowed me to work within those parameters. Most of the pieces were pulled, but I rendered the design ahead of time in watercolor to help guide my pulling and ensure that my end result was supportive of character and story.
[Re:] FUSE by The Fusion Theatre Project
In the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, Theatre students all over the country sought alternative forms of theatre performance to continue their studies. We formed the Fusion Theatre Company before the pandemic and were determined to follow through with original, devised works, while keeping everyone safe with strict adherence to COVID guidelines. Our theatre piece became a filmed work, in which we used green screens to ensure that only one actor was unmasked in the room at a time. I functioned as the Costume Designer, the Animation Designer, and one of the Cinematographers. I even wrote 1 of the 9 short films, entitled Whispered. Each piece had between 1-3 actors in different roles and settings. We adapted styles and filters according to the themes we wanted to emphasize in each piece. Most of the costumes were sourced as a company effort. I as the Designer, generated research, references, and filled any gaps in the costumes with pieces from costume stock.
Below is a link to the full production.
TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare
A traditional design of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. The Director and Producer wanted to create an outdoor theatre experience similar to the Globe in London. I was again working with a small budget with a lot of actors and therefore relied on my connections with Utah State University to pull most of these looks. However, I did not want the design of the show to be dictated by what I found in storage. So I rendered the show in full color and print, in Procreate on the iPad pro and used that to guide my pulling, working hard to match my renderings as closely as possible. After the main pull, I cut and draped two of the tunics for Sir Andrew and Sir Toby as well as other craft projects. The end production matched my original renderings quite closely, making this project one of my favorites to work on.
