SEMESTER: WINTER 2000
INSTRUCTOR: Gwen Nagle
OFFICE: 1114 UTC
OFFICE HOURS: POSTED ON OFFICE DOOR
OFFICE PHONE: 387-32l5
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
A course in the design of theatrical costume and accessories expressed through color rendering and including an overview of the history of costume.
OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE:
In order to complete this course satisfactorily, the student should be able to:
I. For Costume Design::
1. Define, describe, give examples and theatrical application of all terms used in class
(design elements, design principles, etc.).
2. Recognize in any theatrical design the use of design techniques studied in class and state this recognition in verbal terms.
3. Describe the creative process.
4. Analyze a playscript from designer’s point of view.
5. Use design elements to design a costume which reflects characterization.
6. Conceive costumes for an entire production using procedures and techniques from class.
7. Lay out a well arranged costume plate.
8. Draw well-proportioned male and female figures.
9. Draw basic garment froms on the figures.
10. Understand and use costume designer’s procedures of lists.
II. For Costume History:
1. Verbally dress a fashionable man and woman in each costume period, stating garment
names of everything each wears and describing the shape (cut) and decoration of
garments and accessories. Terminology follows that in the text.
2. Date to correct costume period paintings, sculpture, and other primary sources by identifying costume details.
3. State what primary sources are available to a costume researcher from each time period in history, including key artists by name.
4. Name, title, and author of at least ten key costume history books and describe the content of each (periods covered, kinds of illustrations, quality of text, inclusion of patterns, etc.).
5. Distinguish a good costume book from a bad one.
6. Relate various modes of dress to the social, economic, psychological, religious, and aesthetic factors which produced them--both in our time and in historical periods.
History of Costume by Blanche Payne.
Sketch pad large enough for a l2" figure and margins (l4Xl7).
Pencils to draw with. (#2 or ebony).
Pink eraser.
l2" ruler.
Method to add color to sketches. WATER COLOR IS ONE METHOD (Pelikan or Windsor & Newton). COLOR for sketches must represent the true color you want. No pastel pink representing red, no grey representing black, etc.
Pelican Opaque water color sets: 12 pan set for $13.30/17.95
24 pan set for $23.25
Windsor Newton Designers Gouache set: $21.20
Water color paper (Strathmore 400 series, 12 sheets for $9.95)
Water color brush (size 7-10) $5-25
Collage supplies.
25%: 24 costume history quizzes and 3 figure drawings (count as one quiz). The two lowest scores will be dropped. Makeup quizzes will only happen for excused absences. Makeups will happen on Exam dates.
30%: 4 Exams on costume history.
l5%: Design Project #l.
l5%: Design Project #2.
15%: Design Project #3.
DESIGN PROJECTS not complete by due date will automatically receive the grade of E. Assignments completed to the specifications in this syllabus and presented on the due date will receive the grade of C or better. Late assignments will be accepted but will not be presented in class & will receive not higher than a C grade.
COMPUTER USE: The instructor will approve all computer use in the class room. There will be some computer assignments in class. NO EMAIL. NO WEB etc. when class is in session. Class is in session from 11AM to 1PM. If unapproved usage happens, it will be considered an absence (this means that quiz grades and assignment grades will be affected).
JAN. 11: Intro. Discuss Project #1 (Character Analysis/Collages/Visual presentation, neatness, unity). Discuss Project #3 (design concept/research books/costume lists).
13: (chap. 3) Greek. Quiz #1. Figure Drawing #1. Project #1 and #3 plays chosen. Repeat intro topics if needed (visual presentation, neatness, unity). Discuss Design Layout.
18: (chap. 4) Roman. Quiz #2. Character Analysis Due. Figure Drawing #2/Poser.
20: (chap. 5) Byzantine. Quiz #3. Discuss Verbal Project presentation. Discuss again design layout/visual presentation/neatness/unity. Figure Drawing #3/Poser or hand drawn.
25: (chap.6) Romanesque. Quiz #4. Collages due. Collage Critiques.
27: (chap. 7) Early Gothic/12th and 13th c. Quiz #5. 3 Figure Drawings due. Review layout of a costume sketch. Discuss Project #3 (Research book/design concept/costume lists)
FEB. 1: (chap. 8) Mid Gothic/14th c. Quiz #6. Design Elements Lecture. Discuss Exam. Discuss Project #2.
3: (chap. 9) Late Gothic/1400-1450. Quiz #7. REVIEW. Color Sketches Due. Critiques of Sketches.
8: EXAM #1.
10: (chap. 10) Renaissance/1460-1499. Quiz #8. Film on Color.
15: (chap. 11) Tudor. Quiz #9. Rough sketches due for Project #2. Critiqued in class.
17: (chap.12) Elizabethan. Quiz #10. Color lecture. Sketches critique cont. Review Costume List, Actor/Scene Chart, Design Concept for Project #3.
22: (chap.13) Cavalier. Quiz #11. Costume List, Actor/Scene Chart for Project #3 Due.
24: (chap.14) Restoration. Quiz #12. Design process/Design Concept discussed.
MARCH 7: EXAM #2.
9: (chap.15) Early Georgian. Quiz #13. Color Sketches due for Project #2.
14: (chap. 16) Late Georgian. Quiz #14. Design Approach due for Project #3.
16: (chap. 17) Empire & Romantic. Quiz #15. Preliminary check on research books for Project #3.
21: Work on Project #3.
23: EXAM #3.
28: (chap. 18) Crinoline. Quiz #16. Preliminary sketches due. Critique of sketches.
30: (chap. 18) Bustle & (chap 19) 1890’s. Quiz #17. Critique of sketches cont.
APRIL 4: (chap. 19) Edwardian/New Empire. Quiz #18. Critique of sketches cont.
6: (chap. 19) 1919-1929. Quiz #19. Critique of sketches cont.
11: (chap. 19) 1930-1945. Quiz #20. Project #3 Color Sketches due. Critique of sketches.
13: (chap. 19) 1946-1959. Quiz #21. Critiques cont.
THURSDAY APRIL 20, 10:15 AM-12:15 PM. EXAM #4.
The following describes the format for each design project in class. Format must be followed or your grade will be lowered.
If presentation doesn’t follow rules given (ie. plate size, figure size, labels, etc.) the project grade will be lowered one full step (ie: A to B).
DESIGN PROJECT #1--PLAY OF YOUR CHOICE--MODERN
30%: Due: Jan. 18: Character Analysis of THREE main characters in the play. TYPED. Outline form only as in handout. ONE outline per character.
35%: Due: Jan. 25: A Collage of dress for each of the above characters as they first appear in the play. ONE collage for EACH (means you will have 3 separate collages) made up of magazine/catalog pictures or black & white zeroxes of modern clothing. Outfit each from head to toe (include hair, shoes, jewelry, makeup, etc.). You may include several looks for each piece of clothing, hair etc., but each must be appropriate for the character. Arrange on a sheet of paper. Tape or rubber cement it on.
Grade: 1/3 for appropriate character costume. 1/3 for neatness and presentation. 1/3 for complete costume from head to toe.
35%: Due: Feb. 3: Color sketches for each of the above evolving out of the collages. Color will be read as is, pink is not red, grey is not black, etc. Color pencils usually look pastel and will be critiqued as pastel. Everything must be colored including skin and haiar. Again each should be on separate sheets of paper. 12" figures arranged as explained in class. (Also the Collages need to be turned in again with the color sketches, don’t throw them away or destroy)
Grade: 2/3 for appropriate costume and color. 1/3 for neatness and presentation.
DESIGN PROJECT #2--CLOWNS/DESIGN ELEMENTS
Design costumes for 5 circus clowns. Each design will represent one of the following:
LINE, SHAPE, COLOR, PATTERN, AND TEXTURE
Obviously you can not design using only just one element but try to make the element dominate that it represents. Try to develop and design clowns of great character (no whimpy boring clowns please). This will involve some research. Be bold with your rendering technique, explore some new style that is appropriate to the assignment.
Due: Feb. 15: Rough sketches.
Due: March 9: Color sketch for each clown. SEE note in previous project discussing color. 12" figure.
Grade: 1/3 for Imagination and Great Character. 1/3 for Presentation and Unity.1/3 for Element Dominating.
DESIGN PROJECT #3---TBA--(19TH-20THC.)
10%: Due: Feb. 22: Actor-scene chart (COMPLETE SHOW/ALL CHARACTERS). 10%: Due: Feb. 22: Costume list (COMPLETE SHOW/ALL CHARACTERS). Typed.
10%: Due: March 14: Design Approach. One or two typed pages. SEE HANDOUT.
35%: Due: April 11: Research. A notebook(formal black or a neutral color) of visuals which must be 50% primary sources. Divide the notebook up into sections (period fashion looks should be within 3 years of date chosen) which include:
a. male fashion of the period
b. female fashion of the period
c. individual character (chose six characters)
d. bibliography (INCLUDE WEB ADDRESSES AND A MINIMUM OF 5 SOURCE BOOKS)
Be sure to include all accessories, hats, shoes, socks, canes, etc. and hair and makeup under a. and b.
Be sure to identify each visual on where it came from. One method of doing this is to number your bibliography and put numbers by the picture.
The bibliography should include author, title, publisher, date of publication, ISBN, and the call number if a library book.
If visuals are mounted on paper (which presents well) they must not be on lined paper.
35%: Due: April 11: Color sketch for the above six chosen characters as they first appear or as they appear together in a scene. 12" figures arranged as explained in class. COLOR SKETCHES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED IF PRELIMINARY SKETCHES AREN’T SHOWN IN CLASS.
HISTORY BIBLIOGRAPHY--Standard Works Everyone Should Know
Barton, Lucy. Historic Costume for the Stage
W* Boucher, Francois. 20,000 Years of Fashion.
W* Contini, Mila. Fashion.
Cunnington, C.W. and Phillis:
English Women’s Clothing in the 19th c.
Handbook of English Medieval Costume.
Handbook of English Costume in the 16th c.
Handbook of English Costume in the 17th c.
Handbook of English Costume in the 18th c.
Handbook of English Costume in the 19th c.
Handbook of English Costume in the 20th c.
W* Davenport, Millia. The Book of Costume
W* Payne, Blanche. History of Costume.
* Russell, Doug. Costume History and Style.
PRIMARILY PATTERN BOOKS:
W* Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion. 3 Volumes.
Edson, Doris and Lucy Barton: Period Patterns
W* Waugh, Norah. Corsets and Crinolines
The Cut of Men’s Clothes
The Cut of Women’s Clothes
OTHER BOOKS:
* Batterberry, Michael and Ariane: Mirror, Mirror.
W* Boehn, Max Von. Modes and Manners. 4 Volumes.
W* Bradfield, Nancy. Costume in Detail.
* Cable, Mary Ann. American Manners and Morals.
* Cooper, Wendy. Hair.
* Cunnington, C.W. The Art of English Costumes.
* Evans, Joan. Dress in Medieval France.
* Gibson, Charles The Gibson Girl in America.
* Holland, Vyvyan. Hand-Coloured Fashion Plates, 1770-1899.
Hope, Thomas. Costume of the Ancients. (Costume of the Greeks and Romans).
W* Kelly, Francis M. Shakespearean Costume for Stage and Screen.
W Kohler, Carl (Karl) A History of Costume.
W* Kybalova, Ludmilla The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Fashion.
W* Laver, James Clothes.
Concise History of Costume and Fashion.
Costume of the Western World: Fashions of the Renaissance.
W* McClellan, Elisabeth. Historic Dress in America 16077-1870.
* Piton, Camillle. Le Costume Civil en France du XIII auXIX Siecle.
W* Warwick, Edward, Henry C. Pitz, and Alex Wyckoff: Early American Dress
Wilson, Lillian. The Clothing of the Ancient Romans.
The Roman Toga.
* Indicates books with photographic reproductions of primary sources.
W Indicates books found in Waldo Library.
I. EXTERNAL INFORMATION
A. Environmental
1. Geography/Local
2. Date/year/season/time of day
3. Economic (deals with money, include where it comes from)
4. Social (deals with status in society--ie. middle class in our society)
5. Religion (doesn’t always pertain to anaylsis)
B. Personal
1. Age
2. Decorum (conformity to social conventions--different from attitude)
3. Personal taste. (relate this to clothing, hair, etc.--make decisions if script does not)
4. Activity (what are they dressed for on stage--what activity--ie. party, shopping, bed)
5. Physical description (make decisions if script does not)
6. Adjectives (sum up 1-5 in one word adjectives)
II. INTERNAL INFORMATION
A. Desire/s
B. Will (strong/weak)
C. Moral Stance (attitude to social conventions--different from conformity)
D. Nervosity (deals with beat--fast/slow, loud/soft, regular/irregular)
E. Attitude towards the externals around them
F. Adjectives (sum up A-E with one word adjectives)
CONTACT:Gwendolyn Nagle: gwendolyn.nagle@wmich.edu
URL: http://unix.cc.wmich.edu/~gnagle/THEA331.html
Date last revised: March 26, 2189