The Contribution of Costume to The Development of Character And Narrative In Film
Introduction
One mark of a ‘successful’ costume is that it should be almost invisible, focusing the attention of the audience on the character, unless it is the kind of film where the costume were designed to look extraordinary and to be noticed (Deirdre, 2014). Deborah N. L. (2012) say “costumes are woven seamlessly into the narrative and reach into the very soul of the character in a film, theatre or television, as the integration of the context of the story and the arc of the character is evolved by costume”. Therefore, observing the details of costume in a film, and how costume influences the character and narrative, is achieved by analyzing the character’s apparels in each period, and is an effective method to understanding the special history and developing your own designs in the future (Deborah, 2012).
Literature Review
Stella B. (2004: 35) highlight the main function of costume in films “serves the narrative for film”. “Film costuming serves two equal purposes: the first is to support the narrative by creating authentic characters (people); and the second is composition: to provide balance within the frame by using color, texture, and silhouette” (Deborah, 2012:8). “Each costume speaks a language all it own, communicating mood, personality, and setting, and propelling the action of the film” (Deborah, 2007:1207). “Actors think only about their character but I must see the entire story and the shape of the film” (Jenny B. 2010). Yvonne B. (2011: 29) says “Whether the film is contemporary or a period piece, as a designer I show the fashion of the time in which the film is set. Fashion is what people wear in any given time. The design reveals the social standing of the person I am dressing”. Costume design within film is based on specific generations, adopting specific styles and systems, designers combine knowledge and understanding of the characters of the actors and actresses in order to make garments for live performances on stage or in film (Deirdre, 2014).
Case Study
The costume in a film I investigated is called Farewell My Concubine. This film is a classic Chinese film directed by CHEN Kai-ge in 1993. The story is about Chinese history over the past half century and is a famous classic play from the Peking Opera providing the background. Initially I watched this film six times. The first and second time I was interested in the storyline, and the later viewings I observed every character and the details of the period. I observed every character’s apparel at different periods of time, I then researched the history in books, magazines and websites and finally watched the final time to confirm the authenticity of the costumes to understand the many emotions of the film in greater detail.
Watching the film, I knew the protagonists experienced turbulent Chinese politics at the time and its history: the end of Qing dynasty in 1910s, the 1920s warlord era,1937 Second Sino-Japanese War, the civil war in 1945, Communist China in 1949, and the devastating Cultural Revolution from 1996 to 1976. The finale of the film was the movement in the Cultural Revolution, where a special group of radical people — Red Guard at that time (Juanjuan, 2009). James Acheson: “[Director Bernardo] Bertolucci said, ‘ You cannot be unfaithful until you know the truth.’ And what he meant by that was that if you really throw yourself into the research, and you can get essence of the world that you are designing within, then you can start to design … to break the rules, to be unfaithful with confidence.”
As part of my research I interviewed three senior people and asked them questions about the Cultural Revolution, which has a special history in China. I showed them some pictures of the film and they told me their experiences at that time. There was a grandmother who joined the Red Guard and she told me about their iconic uniform and showed me her old pictures, I also read a book about Chinese fashion form Mao to now. It was recorded that Red Guard wore unofficial olive green army uniforms (devoid of epaulets and insignia), a brown leather belt and flat green cap as common accessories. Juanjuan W. (2009) said “A fully equipped member of the Red Guard would also have had a red armband, Mao’s little red book, a Mao button on the chest, a metal canteen, laced canvas shoes, and a green bag worn over the shoulder, sometimes embroidered with Mao’s quotation wei renmin fuwu (serve the people).” As a result, I combined my primary research and secondary research and obtained valuable and reliable information.
Case Analysis
I analysed the costumes according to the characters and narrative in the film. There were three main protagonists in the film, two male roles named Duan Xiaolou and Cheng Dieyi, who grew up in a Peking Opera acting troupe, and one female named Juxian, a courtesan who married with Duan Xiaolou. According to their diverse personalities and situations, their costumes set on distinctive features in personal. In the opera, Dieyi played the concubine role who a female role (called “dan”) was played by males, and Xiaolou played Hegemon-King of Western Chu who was a painted-face male lead (called “Jing”). As the literature mentioned before, costume designers combine knowledge and understanding of the characters of the actors and actresses in order to make garments for live performances on stage or in film (Deirdre, 2014). Because of the distinctive costumes of the opera, audiences can recognize the various roles they play. The costumes suggest the fate of the roles through the patterns and structures of the clothes; therefore, the costumes became integrated with the actors’ personality traits.
The costumes reflected the attitudes of the Chinese people in the film. At the end of Qing dynasty, the majority of the male population still braided their hair into a Manchu-style plait and retained the traditional Qing-style long gown. However, after Xinhai Revolution (1910s), the Zhongshan suit became a popular clothing among a small group of students, and gradually it was regarded as synonymous with the revolutionary spirt, new ideas and progress (Harriet, 2011:230). In the film, at the warlord era (1920s), there were still many people who wore the Han Chinese long gown and horse jacket ensemble, but cut down the braid. The courtesans wore silk Qipao dresses with accessories to display their special characteristics. Some individuals especially Chinese students and businessmen wore western suits as part of their daily life. In the Marco Polo Bridge incident eve (1937), the two main protagonists had their pictures taken wearing both the suit and the long gown in a photography shop. The female role (Juxian) wore qipao dress as usual, and qipao was retained as a form of ceremonial dress in the New China. According to literature review, Yvonne B. (2011: 29) says “Whether the film is contemporary or a period piece, as a designer I show the fashion of the time in which the film is set”. Therefore, the alternate ages of the film directed by people’s daily apparel changing, and as a result of the anaylsis I realised that fashion did not develop at all during the upheavals of the time.
The previous literature mentioned, “Fashion is what people wear in any given time. The design reveals the social standing of the person I am dressing” Yvonne B. (2011: 29). Hence, costumes can highlight the political forces at a particular point in time and reflect the current state of society. When new china was founded Chairman Mao demanded people wear plain and frugality clothes whatever male and female, fashion could not override the official and cultural limitations set on individualism in the early years of the post-Mao era(Juanjuan, 2009:17). In the film, many people of the troupe visited sick Dieyi, and all the people changed their daily apparel to lao san zhuang (three old styles) in lao san se (three old colours). The “three old colors” are the subdued blue, white, and gray that were born by most people and consequently earned the Chinese nicknames in the West like “blue ants” and “gray ants” (Juanjuan, 2009:03).
Limitation and Conclusion
Deborah N L. (2012:12) argues “I believe that much of the confusion surrounding our role as key collaborators can be addressed by educating filmmakers.” Costume designers knew that they were different immediately, and designers can deliberately change the period, as is done in many film productions (Deirdre, 2014). Although I did primary research and referenced academic books, my researches still have limitation. My topic has pertinence for the film and the results are not suitable every aspect. However, film costuming will endow the actors’ traits, shape characters and imply the development of narrative. A costume designer’s work needs to consider about the dialogue, the actor, the cinematography, the weather, the season, the time of day and the choreography of movement, which is inextricable from the theatrical context and collaborative interrelationships (Deborah N L, 2012).
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