BUMP short film -- 2017

My first adventure with Sheepshed Entertainment feels like it was just a year or so ago... While feeling like another lifetime entirely!  Goodness!  We had a great crew, and made fantastic memories and a futuristic short film by the end of it. 

   

When we started out pre-pro, Skyping in from different states, I was helping the costume designer sew a few of the non-thriftable items, like the very specific shirt-dress look the women would all be wearing.  The director had found patterns that came close to what she wanted that would work great for the cookie-cutter world we were creating, but we sketched quick design specifics all the same.

The dresses I was making had to be completed as much as possible in a very short time, before flying out to AL for the production, when I'd only have small amounts in between prepping things for my Production Design position.  I got to work on the 2 dresses the main character would wear, and found a couple fabrics I really liked pretty easily.

Large buttons were a feature the director requested, so we tried out some sizes on this mockup, while the costume designer worked on dresses with slight variations.

 

I was barely able to get a pale grey dress (left, below) wearable in time for this scene; despite the simplicity of the design, the actress got in for her only fitting late in the evening, and I was simultaneously working on production design at the same time...  While the dress was supposed to hang freely, there were some definite fit adjustments that needed addressing later.  Especially after the buttonholing nightmare that was the only machine I had access to, ha ha.

The correct hang of the dress was fixed in short order, and she looked pretty adorable, particularly for living in a totalitarian, semi-dystopian world.

Part of the complication with the lead actress's 2 dresses was in the need to make room for a "baby belly" for different scenes.  The idea being that buying fabric is restricted, and hiding her changing shape under a normally loose garment is getting difficult.

Waiting to adjust the set in my Production Design capacity between time-passing scenes.  Whew, the costume and set did in fact look like they fit in the same world.

I ended up being half of the H&M department as well, since we went with crown braids for many characters.  The lead actress had particularly silky hair, so any breezy outdoor days required multiple touch-ups, when I could slip away from set dressing.

On our days with extras, I was able to help the costumer check last looks on set while she got others ready.  And complete many, many more braids when I wasn't up on set.

I ended up using that mockup dress as another for extras, and my own sister was wearing it for some shots.

I loved the way the colors came together on all the cast.  Muted, but interesting and varied, and highlighting the controlled feel of the world.

Many a morning was spent with the costumer rushing to get people ready while I got the set ready, then both of us converging to become H&M and get the actresses ready for set.  Ahhh, fun times!  I'd do this whole shoot again in a heartbeat.  One of the best I've been on.

You can find the BUMP trailer HERE ------->  BUMP trailer 

'Barn Burning' short film -- 2017

This was a fairly simple project for me on Wardrobe; just two actors, in roughly late 1800's garb, needing suspenders for the look, and the whole thing happens in the dark.

I met this charming young actor, Coleman, and his parents that evening, and we all hit it off quickly.  They are just the sweetest family.

When choosing clothing pieces for something so straightforward, I'd literally just thrifted the wardrobe for this film not long before, and had found a couple options for shirts and pants for both Coleman and for JC, the other actor playing his father.  (not pictured above)

The suspenders were an important element to the writer and the director, and thankfully, the easiest items to find.  I went for thickly textured fabrics as much as possible with the boy's costume, sticking with mostly natural colors and a second layer under the shirt, to make it feel more practical.  (...let's not talk about the fact that we had to go with a white, clearly modern t-shirt neckline underneath... Alabama doesn't seem to have any other options, and with such a quick project, I didn't have time to hand sew a shirt, ha ha.)

Other than adjusting the waistline of the pants, no other alterations were needed and everything fit him well.

I went for much more vivid colors for the father, as his coming into the film is the major turning point of the brief plot, so the colors he wears help him stand out in the dark as much as his arrival does.  And he ended up complimenting the barn very well unintentionally.

Both characters wear their sleeves rolled up; the son's pushed up like he shoved them there in a hurry, and the father's rolled/folded back, since he's been working elsewhere before appearing on screen.

(And since the pile of sticks up against the barn was the extent of my needed Set Dressing for this film, let's just say I complimented the father's wardrobe to the barn color on purpose, because I go above and beyond the call of duty...)

Really, this film was so straightforward to costume and looked great when completed.  The biggest factor was the cold weather.  Mainly for poor Coleman, who wasn't layered up like the rest of us.  (he also didn't get to wear glowstick necklaces like the rest of us, which was a real shame.) 

He was an absolute trooper, and his sweet mama and I "burritoed" him in layers and layers of blankets between every new setup and any shots we could.  It was a chilly project!  But his attitude and the end project were stellar.