Make-Up and Costume

Make-up and costume and two of the most important things in a film, especially if you are making a film in a diffrent era or a film with specific costume e.g. you couldn't have a warlock in Lord of the Rings come into battle with converse on!! Make-up and Costume are important and a film needs to get it right, for an example of a film I thought got it right is the Shawnshank Redemption.

The film is set in the 1947, so the charcters can't be wearing moden clothes of today. The film starts in 1947 and ends in about 1972, so the costume changes quite drmatically. (Picture left)This is the first scene in the fim, it is set in a court room so the dress is smart and casual. There is not much make-up needed in this scence or most of the film.

The camera then has a tracking shot over the people in the crowed(Picture Right). We can see from this the styles of the time. The hat adds a real feeling of being in the time it was set, as the audience watching the film doesn't have to think about it. Also again in this scence we see more of the casual smart suits.

Then, as the camera first goes to the prison we can see that everyone is wearing the same clothes, denim jacket, plain blue trousers and shirts. In the time denim was a cheap item of clothing, so for the prisoners to be wearing it is rather fitting. Also, denim was seen only worn by poor people or farmers, so again fits in being shown as a lower class wear.

So far, I have mostly shown costume but here is a part I thought used effective make-up. In this scence a man had been so badly beaten up he can never walk again. The make-up in this scence shows how badly he has been hit by his head covered in red blothches. Also in the film, when someone is getting beat up, blood appears were cuts have sprung up. When a nam is taking punches they might get blood out of there mouth or in the corner.

After already talking about the prisoners clothing, I noticed the police officers also have a cod of conduct. Here, the director again has taken the costume from the time. The police officers are almost in suits with belts around the middle. This was a sign of authority that they were important.

Overall, make-up and cotume are very important in a film. As the audience you don't really have to think about to much what people are wearing. The only time the audience can notice when costume is not right is when a mistake is made. I remember me and my friend oncen watched this film where a knight came into the shot on a horse with trainers on, then when you notice this mistakes you realise how directors must have to get it right and if they don't it won't make sense.