Costumes
A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most whimsical plays, and therefore this production follows in its spirit. Designing costumes for A Midsummer Night's Dream allows for total creative license, as the play takes place within a fantasy world replete with fairies. The overall impact is captured well by an artist at Duke (image credit: http://sites.duke.edu/midsummer/files/2009/12/Study_for_The_Quarrel_of_Oberon_and_Titania.jpg):

This image is a study for what Oberon and Titania might look like. The fairy queen and king here seem innocent. Titania is rendered more angelic than fairy-like, which is why I only appreciate this image as an overall impression of the extent of the fairy world created on the stage. I prefer the fairy world to be peopled thickly like this image here, meaning that the cast of fairies should be as large as possible for the venue. This image also shows the changeling.

The main characters are not fairies, however, so it is…...

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Works Cited

Image Credits: All image credits taken from a Google search of A Midsummer Night's Dream Costumes.

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Costumes in Les Miserables (1998) Directed by Bille August
1998's Les Miserables' costumes were designed by Academy Award-winning costume designer Gabriella Pescucci. Pescucci had previously won for The Age of Innocence and been nominated for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1993). hile her work for Billie August's Les Mis would go unnominated for any major awards, the costumes are nonetheless on par with her previous work and reflect the authentic style and taste of early to mid-19th century France.

As Caterina Massuras reports for Vogue Italia, Pescucci's costumes are marked by "a cultured taste for invention, colors that are always perfect, and a pathological attention to every detail -- joined to an absolute ability to pick the right accessory." This high praise can be discerned in every choice of costume for the five main characters of August's Les Mis.

The five main characters or Javert, the relentless lawman out to jail Jean Valjean,…...

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Works Cited

"French Fashion History." Victoriana. Web. 22 Nov 2015.

Massuras, Caterina. "Gabriella Pescucci." Vogue Italia. Web. 22 Nov 2015.

Payne, Blanche. History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth

Century. NY: Harper and Row, 1965.

Othello Costumes
Designing costumes for Othello, in whatever form -- play, ballet or opera, presents a few problems from the outset. First, of course, is the necessity for the costume to enhance the feeling of paranoia of Othello, a Moor in a Caucasian society. Second, Iago needs to be malevolent without being evil personified; he is, perhaps, simply overly worldly and overly ambitious, as is his wife, Emily. And third, Desdemona has to be understandable in the context of her own time, and of ours. hile it may have been usual then for a woman to trust even when reason would tell her not to, it isn't so today.

A look at historical accuracy is necessary to see whether the costumes do their job properly in four very different productions of Othello/Otello: the San Francisco Ballet's production with music by Elliott Goldenthal; the English National Opera production conducted by Mark Elder; the…...

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Works Cited

Costume Design page, Opera Atelier Web site, accessed 14 April 2004 at  http://www.operaatelier.com/costume.htm 

Gladstone, Valerie. "The role of a lifetime. (dancer Desmond Richardson stars in Lar Lubovitch's 'Othello') Dance Magazine, 1 May 1997.

Grimball, Elizabeth B. Costuming a play: Inter-Theatre arts handbook. New York: The Century Co., 1952.

Lewis, Jean Battey. "Leaps and trips on PBS." The Washington Times, 18 June 2003.

In conclusion, costumes are used in two essential ways in the film. The first is that it reinforces the sense of normalcy and creates a background that juxtaposes and heightens the horror and drama of the film. The second use of costume in the way that Bates dresses as his mother is a complete transgression of normalcy and psychologically and socially diametrically opposed to the mundane costumes worn by the rest of the cast. This contrast is severe and serves not only to heighten the horror and shock aspects of the film but also functions to highlight and to provide insight into the twisted mind of Norman Bates.

Finally it is also interesting to note that the film was made in the 1960's, when the dress codes were more formalized and strictly related to particular social roles and norms. In this time the issue of cross-dressing and transvestitism was virtually unknown…...

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References

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho - screenplay. Retrieved 1 September, 2006, at www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35339879http://www.paradiselost.org/psycho.html

Bell-Metereau, R. (1985). Hollywood Androgyny. New York: Columbia University Press. Retrieved September 3, 2006, from Questia database:   www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002320907http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=35339879 

Leff, L.J. (1999, August). Hitchcock and the Censors. World and I, 14, 108. Retrieved September 3, 2006, from Questia database:  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002320907 

Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller. Retrieved September 3, 2006, at  http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/051770112X

Essay Topic Examples
1.The Evolution of Costume Design in Film:
    This essay would explore the progression of costume design throughout the history of cinema, highlighting key milestones, influential designers, and landmark films that helped shape costume design into a critical aspect of film production. The role of technology and cultural shifts could be examined in relation to their impact on design aesthetics and functionality.

2.Costume Design as a Form of Storytelling:
    An exploration of how costume design contributes to narrative, character development, and world-building in visual media. Discuss how the careful selection of colors, fabrics, and styles can subtly convey a character's background, emotional state, and evolution throughout a story, using specific examples from well-known films, theater productions, or TV shows to illustrate key points.

3.The Role of Historical Accuracy in Costume Design:
    This essay would delve into the debate surrounding historical accuracy versus creative license in costume design. It would explore the balance between authenticity…...

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Primary Sources

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomen\'s Dresses and Their Construction C. 1660-1860. Macmillan, 1984.

Baugh, Christopher. Scene Design and Stage Lighting. Wadsworth, 2009.

Bigelow, Marybelle S. Fashion Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the History, Language, and Practice of Fashion. Rockport Publishers, 2013.

Mendes, Valerie, and Amy de la Haye. 20th Century Fashion. Thames & Hudson, 1999.

Landis, Deborah Nadoolman. Filmcraft: Costume Design. Focal Press, 2012.

Disguise, Costume, And Role Playing in Ben Jonson's Volpone
Ben Jonson's Volpone, first performed in London in 1605, was a highly successful play centering on the theme of greed. Volpone is particularly notable for Jonson's characters' use of disguise, costume and role playing both to advance the action of the story and to visually express Jonson's ethical beliefs to educate his audience. By writing in the satiric comedic style, the author offered a classic example of his own philosophy that the poet should fulfill a moral function in society. The delightful satire of Volpone clearly exhibits the traits common in all of Jonson's drama: the style and setting are simple and clean; the verse is fast-paced and full of life and humor; the writer's point-of-view is expressed without being either didactic or overly lyrical. In addition to the words the characters speak, the physical garb and personalities they don at will…...

Art, Costume, And Scenery of Major Feature Films of the 1980s
Kiss of the Spider oman. Hector Babenco, 1988.

Adapting The Kiss of the Spider oman to the cinema presented a unique challenge to filmmakers. The story is set in a jail cell, and largely takes the form of dialogue between two prisoners: Molina, a homosexual window dresser, and his cellmate, a fiery radical named Valentin. To pass the time, Molina tells his cellmate stories. The dank, dark cell where the two men wear relatively minimalistic clothing is a stark contrast with the beautiful, melodramatic films that Molina narrates. Occasionally, some brightness will intrude into the jail, such as when Molina cooks for Valentin or when he puts a scarf around his head. Molina may make an attempt at drag, but it is relatively minor given the tools at his disposal. "Hurt wears a kind of improvised drag, mostly involving shawls, a…...

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Works Cited

Canby, Vincent. "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown." The New York Times. 1988.

[May 3, 2010].

 http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE2D7123DF930A1575AC0A96E948260 

Ebert, Roger. "Wings of Desire." The Chicago-Sun Times. April 12, 1988. [May 3, 2010].

women's dress movement. The writer explores the movement and the progression of changes in women's dress through the years with the movement. The writer places an emphasis on the feminists of the era that created and continued the dress movement. There were five sources used to complete this paper.
For many years the 1960's have gotten all the credit for the women's movement in America. Many people believe that the movement began then and escalated until women were the equal partners that they are today. While many of the women's movements largest steps did indeed occur in the 1960's the actual movement began many years before that. The women's movement was alive and active in the 1800's and caused as many if not more changes for females than the more recent movement has caused. Today's women dress for success and comfort. The very fact that they can choose what to…...

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References

The Move Towards Rational Dress

 http://www.mpmbooks.com/amelia/RATIONAL.htm 

Reform Dressers

 http://www.fashion-era.com/rational_dress.htm

Midsummer's Night Dream
Acting:

ere the actors believable in their roles?

I did not find all of the actors particularly believable in their roles. I could not help noticing that several of the members of the cast forgot their lines or misspoke their lines, sometimes saying a line in the wrong place. Knowing the play well, this really threw me off and took me out of the moment of the performance. I felt there was a lot of timing issues with the performers at well where they would not hit their mark or missed their cue.

Identify the performers you considered most successful.

Of all the performers in the play, I felt that the actress playing the role of Hermia excelled in her role. She made the love and despondency and anger very palpable which was conveyed easily to the audience.

If there were performers you did not like, identify them and explain why you…...

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Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer's Night Dream.

Cocoon (Howard, 1985) is a 1985 Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre film directed by Ron Howard, who previously directed such films as Splash and Night Shift. Benefitting from the kindly type of aliens previously seen in E.T.: The Extraterrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cocoon used the advanced technologies of benevolent aliens to explore aging and the pros/cons of reversing that process. Aided by a veteran cast and superior editing/special effects, Cocoon became a hit film.
General Theme/Overview, Style, Plot and Character Development

The general theme is the exploration of aging and the pros/cons of reversing the process, using the style of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. The plot involves the extraordinary results of humans interacting with kindly, advanced aliens, and the dilemmas caused by those results. Thousands of years ago, aliens from Antarea lived on the island of Atlantis on Earth. The island sank and 20 Antareans stayed behind so other Antareans would have enough life…...

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Works Cited

Howard, R. (Director). (1985). Cocoon [Motion Picture].

Scene Four: Parker Adderson, Philospher

This scene will take place exactly as it does in the story. The stage will be divided into two parts. In center stage will be the tent with the Parker Adderson and the general. Adderson will be sitting across from the general at the table and will be questioned. The monologue will unfold with only this part of the stage being lit.

After the fight, Adderson will be escorted to stage left where there will be a doctor and campfire along with soldiers guarding Adderson. Adderson will be wrapped in a blanket and must be visibly trembling and shrunken in horror. The general and dead officer will still be in the tent, which will remain lit. The general will come around and order the execution. At this point, the tent and campfire will go black and the right stage will be lit with the fire squad in…...

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Works Cited

Bierce, Ambrose. "A Son of the Gods." By Ambrose Bierce. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Bierce, Ambrose. "Killed at Resaca." By Ambrose Bierce. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Bierce, Ambrose. "One Of The Missing." By Ambrose Bierce. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Bierce, Ambrose. "Parker Adderson, Philosopher." By Ambrose Bierce. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Descendants is a film that attempts to operate on several layers at once. While it may be said to be allegorical in one sense (taking place on what is popularly presumed to be an island "paradise," where falls are experienced and redemptions are sought), the film by Alexander Payne may also be said to be a simple story about a father and husband who learns (on his wife's deathbed) that he is actually a cuckold. What follows is a two-hour experiment in tolerance, as both the viewer and the characters in the narrative become aware of exactly where their threshold of pain stands. That threshold is then pushed to its limits, as Payne drives home one twist of the screw after another. In a way, the film is about the weakness of man -- Matt King's inability to love his wife, to be there for his children; Brian Speer's inability…...

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Reference List

Braun, L. (2011). Descendants aims for style. The Barrie Examiner. Retrieved from  http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3382582 

Ebert, R. (2011). The Descendants. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved from  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111116/REVIEWS/111119988 

Payne, A. (2011). The Descendants. Los Angeles: Fox Searchlight.

Philbrick, J. (2012). IAR Exclusive Interview: Editor Kevin Tent Talks 'The

Spade walking down to examine a murder makes use of shadows as well as high black-white contrast in order to convey drama and suspense. This is commonly referred to as the film noir lighting technique because it conveys a sense of mystery and danger. The lighting highlights the most extreme contours of the character's faces, but none of the moderating details such as texture or color. This makes the facial expressions look much more dramatic than they would under normal lighting.
The costumes are also very typical of the film noir genre. Spade is wearing a black wool overcoat and a fedora and his counterpart from the police station is wearing the same outfit. This is a style of dress associated with detectives, who sometimes had to conceal their identity and not stand out. The overcoat conceals much of the person's figure and could conceal weapons or other objects.

The camera…...

For instance, renowned designer Barbara Matera explained that when Glenn Close first tried on the Norma Desmond costume described above, she "winced under its weight" (New York's Top Costume Shop Reveals Its Secrets 1996:3). The costume's designer, Anthony Powell, instructed Close to turn around and face the mirror, and "upon seeing the stunning result her whole attitude changed" (4). Other anecdotal accounts on the design process from Matera included: "e love shows that have underwear scenes" (referring to bustles, corsets, and pantaloons), and "bird costumes can be very taxing"; these comments provide some insight into the creative challenges that face costume designers and makers today.
Each character that appears in a production must be individually assessed, and gradually each movement of each character and each costume must then be integrated into a cohesive whole that presents the imagery desired. "At any rate," Cole et al. say, "slowly, harmoniously, must the…...

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Works Cited

Awards & Prizes. (May 2002). American Theatre, 19(5):9.

Barbour, David. (2001). You'll know who. Entertainment Design, 11:27.

Barnes, Denise. (May 28, 1998). Columnist Will Tell Times Readers Where Bargains Are. The Washington Times, 10.

Brennan, Sandra. (2004). The New York Times Movie Guide: Biographies. Available:  http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=79275&mod=bio .

The script eliminates one of Ophelia's major monologues, when she details to Polonius how Hamlet came to her, after seeing the ghost, when she first fears he is mad. Instead, the movie script shows this seen as action, in the real time of the play. Yet the silent reactions of Ophelia speak volumes, even though Hamlet is the most active character in the room.
hat do you feel was the peak point, dramatically, of the play? hy?

In contrast to Carter's believable restraint during the 'mad scene' Gibson's most emotionally truthful scene is the apocalyptically emotional 'closet scene' with Glenn Close as Gertrude. Hamlet's anger at his mother's perceived betrayal is conveyed through intense physicality. This is Hamlet's most irrationally violent scene in the play, on paper, and the explosive anger that is consistently shown in Gibson's performance seems most appropriate in this scene.

Evaluate how well the costume designer met each…...

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Work Cited

Hamlet. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. 1990.

Igniting Student Engagement through Enthusiasm and Exuberance

Engaging students is paramount in fostering a dynamic and impactful learning environment. As educators, we possess the power to ignite their curiosity, cultivate their eagerness to learn, and empower them to actively participate in the educational journey. One potent strategy to achieve this is by exuding enthusiasm, excitement, and an unbridled passion for the subject matter at hand.

The Power of Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is an infectious energy that permeates the classroom and captivates students. When teachers demonstrate a genuine love for their subject, their excitement becomes contagious, inspiring students to embrace the content with newfound enthusiasm.....

The Allure of Contemporary Dance: A Journey into Expression and Emotion

Among the myriad dance styles that grace the stage, contemporary dance holds a special place in my heart. It is a realm where artistry and innovation converge, pushing the boundaries of movement and captivating audiences with its raw emotion and evocative storytelling.

Contemporary dance originated as a rebellion against the rigid structures of classical ballet, embracing a freedom of expression that allowed dancers to explore their own unique interpretations and narratives. This style emphasizes fluidity, improvisation, and a deep connection to the inner self.

What draws me to contemporary dance is its....

Òjà Òrísà: A Cultural Tapestry of Yoruba Traditions at the Village Market Festival

In the heart of Yoruba villages, the annual market festival, known as Òjà Òrísà, is a vibrant celebration that weaves together ancient customs, sacred rituals, and lively festivities. This time-honored tradition is a testament to the enduring spirit and rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.

Spirituality and Rituals

At the core of Òjà Òrísà lies the deep reverence for the Òrísà, the divine beings who oversee every aspect of life. Each vendor's stall becomes a miniature shrine, adorned with offerings and prayers.

Ìbòjì: Devotees offer sacrifices of kola nuts....