Tutorial with Sebastiane - Society/Asylum Staff Styling

I decided to use my tutorial time with Sebastiane to discuss my styling development for the asylum staff/society. I showed him my initial styling choice of the haunting ghost-like figures and my description in my proposal as follows: 
'The suffocating effects of society will be represented as ghost-like figures, haunting She’s existence. These phantoms will mirror the constraining, forceful actions of the doctors/nurses in She’s distressing asylum illusion. Their identities will be hidden, with all their emotion and uniqueness concealed; they are mere clones of each other. The eerie silhouettes of the collated demons of her past and present, keep her incarcerated within the walls of conformity, guarding any hope of escape. The figures will be drained of colour, reflecting their ignorance and closed mindedness to change; they only see life in black and white.' My initial inspiration images are shown below. 

(COPE and ARNOLD, n.d.)

(COPE and ARNOLD, n.d.)

(COPE and ARNOLD, n.d.)

I was originally going to use two models to represent society; however the figures only appear individually, apart from the planned flash back scene of two phantoms capturing She which, after speaking to Harrison (filmmaker), we have decided to make more ambiguous and so only need one model. I am also planning on making the styling myself so only having to make one would be more time efficient. 

I explained I wanted to include some styling inspiration from asylum staff, with their authoritative uniform, and incorporate that with the phantom figures to create a haunting character. I showed him the images below of victorian asylum staff, with their pristine laboratory coats and smart uniform. We discussed the idea of fashion being used for establishment, for example a police's uniform or a business suit, and so wanted to give the asylum staff an oppressive identity. 

(Bradford, 2017).

(Dana, 2013).

We discussed the possible use of a collar to represent education and authority as this would translate to the viewer that the haunting figures are in charge. We discussed incorporating the red cross into the styling as it represents health care and protection, giving the impression the haunting figure that She dreads may actually be trying to help her; however the red cross can also be interpreted as Saint George's cross which may narrow the target audience to only English citizens. We also discussed the use of the nurse's extravagant headdress as it could be pulled over the face to hide her identity, but still show her authority. The image above of all the doctors stood in a corridor makes them look like clones of each other. They are all wearing the same thing, with no individuality, as if they are mass produced robots. This mirrors society's danger of morphing into each other, with their close mindedness to change or uniqueness. I want to portray the same uniform look in the society/asylum staff figure in my fashion film to emphasise that challenging societal norms is what makes people individuals. 

(VOGUE, 2017)

The red cross on the woman's nurse uniform leant me to Gareth Pugh AW15 collection, with the red cross painted on the models' faces. However Sebastiane said Gareth Pugh's collection had distracting connotations, straying from the asylum theme, leaning to more provocative, theatrical visuals hinting at death. I wanted to add a sense of authority to the ghost-like styling; however we agreed that Pugh collection did not represent that, but instead represented individuality and rebellion, which is not how I want to portray society in my film. Sebastiane suggested I looked at how ghosts are presented in film for possibly film inspiration but also styling suggestions, for example Doctor Who. 

Sebastiane suggested revealing the character's identity very slowly to create suspense and build tension between the film and the viewer. By building up the character's recognition will create some ambiguous filming shots, complementing the avant-garde style of film.

I will look into the suggested research to come up with a unique design that incorporates the haunting phantom figures with the authoritative uniform of the asylum staff.



References:
COPE, N., ARNOLD, D., n.d. VEDAS [viewed 14th February 2017]. Available from: http://www.cope-arnold.com/vedas.html

BRADFORD, 2017. British Nursing [viewed 14th February 2017]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/307230005814810774/

DANA, 2013. The NERVE of Her! (A Medical Update) [viewed 14th February 2017]. Available from: https://shewalkssoftly.com/2013/01/13/the-nerve-of-her-a-medical-update/

VOGUE, 2017. Fall 2015 Ready-To-Wear Gareth Pugh [viewed 14th February 2017]. Available from: http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2015-ready-to-wear/gareth-pugh/slideshow/collection#1