Lab hours 4

This weeks lab hours I worked on creating ears for Mr and Mrs Beaver.  First I had to use the pattern sample to cut the ears.  The material that is used for the ear is the same fur material that was used for Mrs. Beavers dress binding around the neck and sleeve.  When sewing the ear we were debating whether to use a cardboard to stiffen the ears or not.  The fur material was fluffy and thick.  I used the sewing needle to stitch the edges of the ears without using the sewing machine.  As part of the ear on the base it needed to overlap so the ear could stand upright and also we can glue the hair clip to the ear.  Below is a picture of the pattern sample for the ear.

Just by looking at the material it had line patterns on it so just trying to cut out the ears I had to make sure that material had the same line pattern on both sides meaning if I was cutting it vertical both side had to be vertical and same goes if it was horizontal.  This was something I learnt while doing this project.  At first I thought it is  easy but the material made it difficult trying to decide which way should I cut the material. Using the pins to hold the materials together makes sewing and stitching easy.  Below is the picture of the ears after hand stitching the edges of the ears.

Costume Critique 3

1. Name the production and the costume designer.*

For my costume critique I choose the movie "Grease".  The designer for the costumes is Albert Wolsky.  He was born on the 24th of November 1930 in Paris, France.  He has worked both on stage and shows as well as for film and has received two Academy Awards.

2.What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color,texture, etc? 
I like their black outfit for both characters John Trevotor and Olivia Newton John. The black matches both of the characters and also scene in the movie that they did the dance.  The pattern of the outfit was dissent enough for the dance motions and the movie.  To compare all the costumes that were used or designed the Black outfit showed the inside of the female character that Olivia had in the movie.

3.Were there any costumes you didn't like? Why or why not.
The jacket for the pink ladies.  I did not like the pink color that they used for the jacket.  It was dull looking especially for popular ladies in school.  I thought they could have used a bright pink that would get most of the attention from the students on campus, even though they still get it while wearing the light pink. I also picture popular people in the movies to be wearing costumes that would draw attention and portray their character in the play.  

Lab hours 3

Today one of the characters for the play came in to try out her outfit. Abigail is one of the followers. She wanted to be a Raccoon.  I also worked on Mrs. Beaver's costumer, added left over brown fur from Mr. Beavers shirt material. I had to sew the brown fur around the sleeve and neckline.  There was check match on top of the dress that Mrs. Beaver was wearing that kept falling off from her shoulder.  I had to sew that portion up to making it more fitting so it don't fall.   For this sewing I used the needle to stitch it up and for the sleeves and neckline I used the sewing machine.  It was difficult to sew around the sleeve and neckline using the sewing machine because the material was thick and there were more than one layer of the binding around the neckline.  The sleeves were good flow.  The dress is still incomplete with the binding of the fur around the edges of the dress.  I had to start with those two parts because that was the first areas that we wanted to be adjusted but than it would look even beautiful if we continue to add it around the edges of the dress. Below is the picture of the dress.

 

Lab hours 2

For the project I worked on during this lab hours, I had to add fur to the Red Robin and the black witch.  I used the needle to sew the fur to the dresses.  It was challenging especially trying to sew the fur to the dress for the first one but as I got to the second dress I was able to adjust what I did wrong with the first dress and improve from it.  Below you will see the picture of the Red Robin and the black witch.  For the black witch dress the zipper at the back of the dress was broken so I had to remove it before I could sew the fur around the neckline.  The reason why I did this is because I thought it would be easy for whoever will be replacing the zipper for the dress.  I am enjoying learning how to do this basic sew skills.  I used the razor blade.  I also helped Ingrid to clean up the storage room for the costumes.

Costume Critique 2, Vasiti Cava

 Name of the production and the costume designer.
Mirror, mirror is the name of the production.  It is the modern version of Snow white.  The costume designer is Eiko Ishioka.

 What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color, texture etc.
I love all the costumes during the grand ball gown for Mirror mirror but the one that stand out the most is this red peacock dress for the witch.  The costume for the Evil Queen measures 5'8 to 6 in circumference, handmade from 25-35 yards of fabric with huge wire cages and corsets underneath.

The Queens costume have strong shoulders high necks and sliced layers of fabric around the neck to give the feeling of power, sharpness and danger.  This is why I feel was well done compared to the rest of the costume that were on display during the movie.  

Are they right for individual characters in personality, station in life, occupation?

The character of the Evil Queen costume was a good match.  Her costume had the characteristics of what her personality is like in the movie and especially the role of a Evil Queen.  As we all know that a Queen will always want power as part of her role, so in this movie the designer Eiko Ishika portrayed it on the costumer.  As audience it was comfortable to see that the Queen stood out in appearance and leadership.

Lab Journal, Vasiti Cava

Today (Tuesday) during class time I observe Sister Dooley take measurements for the characters for the play.  Sister Dooley told me that I will have to take measurements for the other characters as they come in during my lab hours.  I started helping her out with writing the figures for the characters measurements.I was amazed on how detailed were the measurements for their outfits.  Even though not all the parts were needed for their costume but it was good to know them .  I was able to learn something new about the waist, hip and the arm length measurements.  The picture below shows the measurements I took for one of the characters.










Apart from taking measurement I had to take the actresses up to the costume room to look up some outfits that would have some character features of their character.  Great learning experience trying to put a animal character features into normal dress outfits and visualizing how the character will look like in the costume.  I am having hard time trying to do this cross matching but its great fun. Another one is the costume fitting and adjustments, the use of pins to mark where the adjustment is needed.  I am enjoying the company and supervision of Ingrid and Sister Dooley.  This picture is one of our characters in the play.

Costume Critique, Vasiti Cava

1.      Name the production and the costume designer.

The production name is Cinderella 2015 film.  The costume designer is Sandy Powell the 3 time Oscar winning designer.  She was in charge of the costumes for the film. 

2.     2.        What costumes did you like best? What was done well? shape, color, texture, etc

I like Cinderella’s ball gown.  The ball gown design was inspiration from the Disney animated film in its colors and shape.  The shape of her gown made her look like she was floating when she had to run away from the ball when the clock stroke 12.  For the color of her gown it was a great matching for the evening event especially since she looked like she was floating in her gown the light blue represented the sea and the texture for the calm of the sea as a ship floats on it.  I believe that the collection of this shape, color and texture combination brought out the beauty of Cinderella’s character.  According to the report about how the costume for the ball gown is that it took 18 tailors and 500 hours to make each dress.  There were 9 versions of the Cinderella gown that was designed each with more than 270 yards of fabric to use.  Now it makes sense on why it looks like she was floating in the movie, it’s because of the amount of fabric used to create those layers for the gown.

3. Are the costumes right for the play? In period and style? For the theme of the play?

From watching the movie and researching about how the costume was created, yes the costume was right for the play, even though the designer wanted it to focus on the 1950 Cinderella costume outfit.  My observation and critique towards the costume it’s a combination of 1950 and today’s character moderation's.  The theme of the play portrays the character of the Cinderella in the costume she wore.  She has a personality that made her live in a fairy tale world.  

Costume Critique: Annie

Howdy THEA 141 students! You have survived the first week of the semester and now it is time to let your hair down and enjoy a good movie this weekend . . . while thinking about costumes, of course!  Watch that movie from a costuming perspective and complete your first Costume Critique. Oh Joy! I know you are super excited. 

But wait, what's a costuming perspective?!  Simple--pay attention to the costumes. Do they look good? Do they help you understand the character and tell the story? Are they cohesive from scene to scene and character to character?

Follow the guidelines on Canvas as you write your first critique. Below is a little example for you--this is your blog so this is the only Costume Critique I will post on it. 

Annie

Costume Designer: Renee Ehrlich Kalfus

I was dragged to the movie theater by my 11 year old daughter. She has been counting down the days to Laie Palms opening night of Annie.  I was a kid when the original came out.  I loved that movie, sang those songs, and was not one bit excited about a remake of it.  Why mess with perfection?

To say the least I went in to the movie feeling nitpicky.  I was ready to tear it to shreds and hate every minute of it.  It took about 15 minutes to melt my cold heart and for the fresh faces, updated themes, and modernized music to sweep me away from my 1983 nostalgia.  Yep, I fell in love with Annie, again.

Too cute? Annie in the beginning.

Finally, thrift store Annie

I'm not sure if it was because I was still in my critical phase or not but the beginning of the movie didn't feel quite right to me in costuming terms. The orphans--or rather foster kids--were dressed a bit too cute.  Their clothes looked fairly fresh and new; almost right off the rack. The pink was bright and it matched the shoes. The setting was in New York City and perhaps by my current Laie, Hawaii standards (where even the rich kids dress like ragamuffins) I was setting the bar too low for these kids.  But really, in the school scenes the foster kids were dressed just as nice as the others.  I think they should have looked a bit more faded, perhaps even mismatched. You should be able to see the difference between a foster kid and the others.

There was a point right in the middle of the show though where I noticed a distinct difference in how Annie was being dressed--finally she had the faded thrift store look I had been watching for earlier. Why the change there? It was weird.  Anyways, these now more foster-friendly dud were still cute and stylish enough but now more appropriate for the characters and suddenly distinctly different from other kids. I wish it had been like this the whole way through.

This thrift store look is especially important in contrast to the new duds she gets when dressed by her new foster dad, Mr. Will Stacks: the iconic red dress.  I LOVED the red dress. I was happy that they kept it red and they made it look so classic (but totally different from the original in form) and refined, yet still little-girly. The scallops were a nice touch. I liked the peek-a-boo-pink lining at the scallops, the drape and shine of the fabric, and that it was a modest length. I was bothered in a close up shot of the straps. They didn't fit her shoulders right and needed a little taper but probably most people didn't notice that.

I could go on and on about the costumes in this show but I think I will conclude by briefly touching on the costumes of two other characters. One that I hated and one that I loved.

I hated Ms Hannigan's (Cameron Diaz) costuming and hair and makeup. I thought she looked too neatly made up--not raunchy enough. Her clothes looked too new. Her make-up looked like she was fresh from the make-up counter at Macy's and her hair was too . . . I don't know the word . . . just not right. It looked like she had let the girls do her braids (very nice braids I must add) but she was supposed to hate the girls. It just didn't fit. She didn't look poor and desperate she just acted that way.

I loved everything worn by Grace (Rose Byrne).  In fact I want her whole wardrobe. After the show I sketched a few of them and am hoping to make the pieces for myself. She looked so refined and smooth and feminine and powerful.  I wanted to be her. Especially in the scene with this blue dress. Click on the picture and look at the dress up close. It is just so darn cute and would look fabulous on me--don't you think?

Ok, so when all is said and done the movie exceeded my expectations on most accounts. I walked away feeling good about it, singing a few songs and inspired to do some sewing.

Me and my beautiful little family.

Bula vinaka all my name is Vasiti Cava. I am from the beautiful island of Fiji in the South Pacific.  As you can see from the picture I am a mother of four, two boys and two girls ages ranging from 4 years-7 months old. I am majoring in Elementary Education and this year will be my last year.  I am the youngest of seven siblings.  We are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.  I served a mission back in Fiji Suva Mission from 2007-2008.

My hobbies are listening to music especially reggae, traveling and watching movies.  Since I love watching movies I have come to use this as a tool of spending time with my children but most of the time I just love to play with them.  I count myself blessed to have this great calling as a mother to my children.  It plays a big role in my major(Elementary Education).  It is a challenge and blessing to be wearing 3 hats like a student, mother and working, through these challenges I have come to appreciate what the world has to offer me in those areas.

In this class I hope to develop a skill that I wished I had learnt well from my mother.  I wanted to take this class so that I can develop a skill that will be a source of wealth in income for my family.  I know that it has a lot to offer me, the knowledge and skills to display in my future elementary classroom.

Introducing:Sister Dooley!

Hello THEA 141 students, and welcome to our Behind the Scenes blog! Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the Blogger platform by writing an introduction about yourself with a picture. Be sure to include the label "intro" and a personalized tag just you will use, like your name.

Always double check your work before publishing. Check that your spelling, punctuation, grammar are correct and of course make sure your content is appropriate for fellow students, teachers, future employers, grandma's.

Mother, Learner, Surfer. Introducing Sis. Dooley!
I can't believe I am the mother of 4 children ages 11-18! Time has flown by so much faster than I ever imagined it could. My oldest son just left for his mission and my baby is in 6th grade-- her last year of elementary school-- at Laie Elementary. Growing up, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, "A mother". I have thoroughly enjoyed this lifelong career.

I love learning. I am always trying new things and my favorite thing to read is non-fiction. Yep! I know I'm weird. Some of the things I have taught myself to do over the years include: baking perfect chocolate chip cookies and home-made bread; maintaining roses, grape vines, and now tropical flora; remodeling houses and refinishing wood floors; budgeting and pinching pennies. My newest venture is learning how to tune a piano.

I love gardening and sewing and surfing. Surfing is a new skill I learned just a few years ago. It took me 2 months of dedicated strength training and practice to ride my first wave unassisted. I try to get out at least three times a week with my husband, kids, friends, or even by myself. I am currently teaching myself how to cross-step and walk on my board.

I am looking forward to working on Mary Poppins and the Importance of Being Ernest this semester. I think it will be a fun and challenging venture.