Don't Feed The Animals (Production)

4th January 2013:

 In today's lesson we were told that we were going to be designing and creating the set for the year 13s performance of 'Don't Feed The Animals'. We read through the first few pages of the script and got an idea of where the play is set and what the characters are. The play is about a struggling circus and starts off with one of the clowns dying. We learnt that there are 3 different types of clown- Auguste, Harlequin and Hobo and there are also several other characters like Robin Hood, Tinkerbell and Maid Marion. Me, Emily and Beth decided that we would choose to work on costume. Here are the groups opening ideas for Costume, Set and Make up:

17th January 2013:

 In today's lesson we split into groups to focus on different aspects of the production side of Don't Feed the Animals'. Me, Emily and Beth are working on costume and had to research different types of clowns. For example, I researched the Auguste Clown. The Auguste Clown doesn't generally have a set 'costume' but they always wear something over the top and oversized/baggy. They all have very similar make up, however.

Here is my costume design for the Auguste Clown:

24th January 2013: 
Today we presented our research on DFTA to the class. I am focusing on costume so this week I showed my design for an Auguste Clown and also my research.

Here's a little bit of background information on the Auguste Clown:
 - Least intelligent of all clowns but also the most popular.
 - There isn't a 'rule' when it comes to Auguste Clown's costumes but the colours have to contrast, exaggerate  and are generally primary colours.
 - Not clear when it was first founded.
 - 1869 'Legend' when a clown forgot something from backstage; ran on stage and fell over; the crowd shouted 'Auguste' ('Idiot' in German).
 - Albert Fratellini and Lov Jacobs had a big impact on the development of the Auguste Clown over the early 20th Century.

 After our presentations, we put together a list of what we had done, what we need to do next and how we will achieve it.

What I have done so far:
 - designed an Auguste Clown Costume for DFTA.
 - researched the Auguste Clown.
 -

What I will do next:
 - Design more costumes for Auguste Clown.
 - Design other Character's Costumes- Robin Hood AND a 'Chav'.
 - Research Robin Hood AND St Trinians.

How I will achieve this:
 - Research: internet, script, books.

Research on Robin Hood and his outfit:
 It's often questioned whether Robin Hood is fact or fiction:

 My Design for Don't Feed the Animals:

31st January 2013:
 In today's lesson me, Beth and Emily got on with making our first costume- The Harlequin Clown. Beth had researched the Harlequin Clown in detail and knew that they have diamonds over their jumpsuits and they tend to be dressed in black and white. We painted onto a coloron material jumpsuit and here was the result:

The rest of the class got on with their own areas of the production: Make Up and Set.

Here is the Harlequin Clown's Collar which I made by folding pieces of coloron material together:

7th February:

 In today's lesson I painted the collar for the harlequin clown with black paint as we felt it would look better if it was black and white instead of just white. After I'd finished painting the collar (which took a while) I carried on painting the actual harlequin costume- we hadn't finished both sides last week.

14th February:

 In today's lesson me and Lindsey put together the Hobo's clown costume. We went to the costume cupboard to find a blazer to 'destroy'! Hobo Clown's are known for having different patches on the blazer. We found lots of different coloured materials in the costume cupboard like an old skirt, bed sheets, duvet covers and trousers. We cut out patches from these items and glued them onto the blazer using fabric glue. We painted lines off of the patches once they were on the blazer to make it look as if they had been sewn on. After we finished with the blazer we moved onto the trousers. We found an old pair of trousers in the costume cupboard which we started to make look dirty with white and grey paint and we also started sewing patches onto the trousers.