The planning for the protagonist's outfit/ appearance has proved more difficult to visualize and find inspiration for. This is largely due to the lack of such characters in films. It has also proved problematic because we do not want to reveal the character entirely,in order to build up the tension, so minute details like grubby fingernails are perhaps something to be focused on rather than an overall look. Having said this, there are a few films I have looked at such as "Requiem for a Dream" (below), an intense and disturbing film about drug addiction. The character below looks scruffy and vacant, a look we want to use.
Similarly, in "Christiane F," a film about life on the streets of Berlin, this character is suffering from a drug addiction, and has turned to crime to fuel it.
It will not be explicitly demonstrated to the audience that the protagonist in our film is suffering from a drug addiction, although he will have the stereotypical look shown above, which illustrates his nature as a deeply disturbed individual.
A hat and gloves (preferably fingerless to show dirty hands)will have to be used, as well as a tattered coat and fairly plain, dark clothing. These clothes will be used to infer a number of things to the audience, such as the time of year (echoed in the setting), personality of the character and their lifestyle, as with any costume. I am stressing an importance on this particular character's appearance because it is an obvious way to establish their character and give the audience a clue to their past and their personality in a short amount of time, given that we only have two minutes to get the viewer interested. Having said this, we will have to do this subtly, with (as I have mentioned before) minute details being focused on as we do not want to have any full body shots because it would completely destroy the mysterious and suspenseful façade we want to create through camera shots of costume and character.
KATIE
For our thriller, we wanted the victim (who is female) to be dressed in a certain way that will infer innocence and youth to the audience, which in turn will enable them to make an easy connection to who is the protagonist and antagonist.
Although we want the costume to infer innocence and youth, we also want her appearance to seem as though she is grief stricken and on edge, deeply upset by her friend's horrific death. To do this, I have looked at some characters in films that have been affected by something that has caused them to appear tired and stressed.
The first film and character I have taken inspiration from, and in turn created an intertextual reference, is the 2014 horror thriller film 'the Babadook.' The subject matter of this film is largely irrelevant to my group's planning, however the sequence of events does cause the character I am focusing on, Amelia, to become nervous and exhausted, rather like what we want our character to be like. This can be achieved through the look as well as the acting, and both (I think) are equally important in this case.
(image below taken from thebabadook.com)
Amelia's facial expression in this particular still infers her being unhappy and worried, but when studying this for some time I have also gathered that she has bags under her eyes and her hair is slightly messy. This is something we could easily recreate.
The clothes she wears throughout the film are in subtle muted colours such as creams, greys, light blues and pale pinks. These plain and demure clothes are another aspect we are thinking of taking, as it creates a certain anonymity but at the same time shows the character as sweet and feminine, something we want to do. It adds to the character being a victim, and their fragile femininity and inferred innocence add to the audience perhaps feeling sympathy towards them more. We can manipulate this to add to the horror at the end of the thriller. The appearance of our female victim will help us to involve the audience and make them feel a certain way, the manipulation of this will work to our advantage and will help to affect the audience more.
The character of 'Hannah' from the TV series 'Remember Me' also presented this subtlety in her clothing, showing both youth and innocence through this.
I have planned a rough costume below, incorporating the muted colour palette and the plain, faded design as well as the main prop (the flowers).
We will have to experiment with make up and powders to get the pale, tired look or to enhance it further, mirroring the intertextual reference above.
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