On Thu, 3 May 2007, Sharon Collier wrote: > If you film in Hampton Court Palace or an authentic mock up of it on a > sound stage, the costumes should be stylistically the same. If the > show is filmed with a more fantasy feel to the sets, I can accept more > leeway in the costumes. It jars less if the set and costumes match. > It often seems more a visceral reaction than a well thought out one. > More like a feeling that something isn't "right". Anyone else feel > this way?
Most definitely, and that states well what I was trying to get at when I said I give a lot more leeway to a stage production (which almost by definition is a representation rather than a replication of reality) than to a film, a medium that almost always cultivates an aura of realism. It occurs to me that the productions that get the most criticism on this list are historical drama, particularly those that purport to be realistic (say, "Elizabeth," which offered film-linked packets for school history programs as part of its marketing, as opposed to "Orlando," which was also set partly at the Elizabethan court but had a strong fantastical/satirical element). It may be that the criticism of such productions is what some people have interpreted as a bias against theatrical costumers. Not at all -- theatrical costume, like re-enactment costume, fantasy costume, museum reproduction, and any other type of costuming can be done well or poorly, and the needs change depending on the goals and limitations of the situation. I think most of us recognize that and try to judge each case on the nature of its medium. --Robin _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
