Video Project Padlet (Scarlett Porter) by

Overall Production and roles

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 14:07:39 UTC

In this Video Project module, we have the incredible opportunity to work alongside a professional director to create a short film. This experience allowed us to dive deep into various roles, and I was fortunate to take on the responsibilities of costume designer and personal assistant. These are departments in film-making I've never tried before despite having an interest in fashion. I first got given the role of a performer instead of costume hower decided to swap as I wanted to experience something new and would like creative input on the film. PA is a role I've never done before, it isn't something I would particularly be interested in doing but I am keen to try new things.

Preparation for Production #1

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 14:42:29 UTC

First thing I did as costume designer was read the character profiles to understand them better. The profiles didn't include a lot of details about their personality but more of their relationships between the characters, From what I've gathered from the profiles and reading the script they seem like normal people so the costumes shouldn't be too extreme or high maintenence. The character Athena, the tarot card reader allows me to have more creative input as her clothing will be more styled and quirky due to her occupation and personality, I think her character allows us as costume designers to have more influence and freedom. I haven't been given any jobs as of yet for PA however I expect to be given them.

Patrick Mood Board

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:35:52 UTC

Patrick's scenes are majority based where he works which is a high-school, therefore I went for a casual yet formal everyday look that he would wear to work. The outfit would consist of a shirt, tie, jumper and smartish pants. We're have a low budget for the film so would like to make it as cheap as possible, therefore we have asked the actors if they have any of this at home to prevent spending money.

Costume research- pre production

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:54:28 UTC

To help visualise the characters and to help the rest of the wardrobe department understand my thought process I put together mood boards of each character from the research I conducted. I found it useful to search into pinterest what kind of vibe/ outfit I was looking for and I put them into collages to give an overall outlook. I also took into consideration the films themes and settings as the environment they're in makes a huge impact into what they're wearing. The settings took part local if not in the university itself therefore I took more notice of what people wore to places like the park, University, coffee shops etc. The mood boards definitely helped the actors and the other crew as we could then envision the actors as their characters.

Phoebe Mood Board

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:55:26 UTC

The idea was for Phoebe to have casual everyday clothes such as jeans, comfortable pants, plain top and a cardigan. For the beach scene we wanted Phoebe in a long skirt as the scene felt more heart felt and wanted something more feminine to fit in with the nice moment. I also took into consideration about the actors comfort, the script and environment allows the characters to have comfortable costumes as there aren't any extreme scenes.

Lisa Mood Board

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:55:51 UTC

For Lisa's outfit we also wanted to keep a relaxed casusal outfit to match Phoebe and to match her environment/ personality. Phoebe and Lisa's wardrobe correlate well with eachother which could potentially show their relationship as best friends. The colours and styling of clothes we have chosen for the characters don't clash and go with the story well. As for her cleaning uniform I am yet to find out if I can find one in the wardrobe department.

Phoebe Costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:56:06 UTC

This is how Phoebe's costumes turned out. The cleaners costume is from Amazon that I ordered for the film, it was simple cheap and fit the criteria. Phoebe's other outfits turned out well and matched the ideas I had for it. Natasha, the actor who plays Phoebe also borught the clothes she had from home to create the outfit we envisioned for her. As you can see she used the mood board for inspiration for her outfits but also used her own creative input and added colour to her wardrobe. I think it came out great and she really embodied the rold of Phoebe.

Patrick Costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:56:39 UTC

This is how Patrick's outfit turned out. We succeeded the casual/ formal look with a shirt, smart pants and a shoulder bag. I'm happy with how this look turned out, another success was that we didn't have to spend anything on his costume therefore kept within the budget.

Lisa Costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:57:20 UTC

The majority of Lisa's scenes she has her cleaners uniform on so there wasn't much to work with other than that however she embodied the character of Lisa well and I think costume went smoothly.

Athena/ Dr.Foreman

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:57:41 UTC

Athena's outfits went great and I was very happy with how they turned out, we had an issue with creating her costume as the student who was supposed to be making her outfit didn't so we had to last minute create an outfit with what we had, nevertheless it turend out absolutely great if not better than expected. El, the actor who played Athena, gathered this outfit from home after discussions of what she would wear and what worked etc. It was stressful to try and put together costumes last minute however they turned out as we visualised and matched the mood board perfectly. We dressed her in accessories to give a rustic, vintage vibe and I love how it turned out.

Dr. Forman's outfit we borrowed from Kim, a costume designer. Therefore we didn't need to spend any money on that or try to borrow from the wardrobe department.

Athena Mood Board

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 15:58:42 UTC

The character of Athena is a tarot card reader has a passion for mystical arts, she is a quirky character amongst the rest and has more edge to her as she has been into supernatural and spiritual for most of her life. After reading her character profile I loved her character and felt as if I related a lot more to her then the others. This gave me a lot more creative freedom for the costume as I had a lot more to work with, Athena has strong beliefs therefore I wanted a bold outfit that truly expresses her and her occupation. I wanted dark colours and bold patterns to show her dark spirtiual nature, I also wanted to give her a mysterious vibe as she is a tarot reader so there is an unpredictable feel about her. I also think Athena needs more accessories then the other characters to add depth to her outfit and make it more authentic.

Jason Mood Board

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 16:00:22 UTC

For Jason we want a casual yet mature look as he was an artechitect therefore an intelligent person. However we communicated with hair and makeup about Jason's character as they wanted him to start the film looking run-down and ill due to his death but as the film progresses and Pheobe comes to terms with his absence he will begin to look brighter and healthier to show he is now free of his suffering.

Jason Costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 16:04:16 UTC

Jason's costume completley matched the mood board/inspiration we had for the character. We wanted him in casual clothing for the hospital scene as anyone would want comfortable clothes in that environment however we wanted him to be dressed smartly but still casual for when he appears as a ghost and on the beach so Phoebe still has a fond memory of him when he has passed. Through his clothing we wanted to represent the inteeligent man he was so we went with a shirt. We wanted a dark green colour for his jumper to express maturity and intelligence. We was very happy with how this turned out and he embodied the character of Jason perfectly.

Preparation for Production #2

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 21:32:42 UTC

For the cleaners and doctors uniforms I have booked an appointment at at wardrobe deparment in the New Adelphi building to see if they have a costume we can borrow for filming so we don't have to buy one. Today we also took the actors measurements and sizes in clothing incase we needed to buy any costume for them. I discussed my ideas with my other costume designers so we could share eachothers ideas and we all agreed on the same thing, therefore we can arrange the actors clothing straight away. At this point In time we can figure out already what we need to buy as the actors can go home and check, we made a list for them.

Wardrobe department

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 22:53:39 UTC

I made an appointment at the wardrobe department in New Adelphi to see if they had two cleaners outfits and a doctord uniform so we can save money for the production. They do have costumes in the actors sizing however we are still unsure on filming dates and they are shut over easter holidays so I will soon find out whether we can borrow them.

Update: They only open back the first day of our shooting so I have decided to order the cleaners costume to ensure we have costumes and not to risk it.

Receipt for costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-08 22:54:19 UTC

This is my receipt for the cleaners uniform, I took the responsibility in my job to order them because the wardrobe department only re-opened on the first day of the shoot. I didn't want to take the risk of not having them.

PA jobs

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-09 12:14:03 UTC

One of my responsibilities for PA is to provide food for the crew, so we made an allergen questionnaire to ensure that we could buy food that was suitable for everyone, and if not, they would be provided with something. Niamh, part of PA, went to Costco and bought bulk of snacks and drinks so the crew could pick at it throughout the shoots in case they got hungry. We decided on buying picky food as it's less high maintenance and there's more variety for people to choose.
While filming I was asked to retrieve the snacks from someone's car as they forgot it so I did, this was to save their time.
I was asked to get Aoife's, an actors, shirt as she left it in a different building.
I was asked to collect 4 batteries and a hard drive cable for the camera from the New Adelphi equipment store however when we went they said we had to book them out in advance, so we couldn't get them.
While we were filming in the Chapman building, we had issues with people walking past the camera, which was interrupting the shoot therefore, I was asked to divert people and tell them not to go down the corridor as it would interfere with the shoot.
Any time bags or equipment had to be moved because it was in the way of the shot, I would move it out of sight.
One of the crew on continuinty asked me to get them a can of fanta because they were busy, so I did.
Khieng asked for my assistance for a clock scene as we had to make the arms move by themself off the wall to get a close-up shot. We did this with tinfoil and a battery. I'm not sure on the science behind it, but I had to stand with two pieces of tinfoil that were wrapped to the back of the clock and hold them onto each end of a battery; this made the arms of the clock move. Every time they wanted the clock to start and stop I would have to control the tinfoil.

PA Reflection

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-09 12:43:44 UTC

This was my first experience of being a personal assistant on a set. In all honesty, I wouldn't choose to do this role again as it consisted of a lot of waiting around to be told to do things and the majority of days I wasn't needed. I felt as if my talents and creativity had gone to waste; however, I do stand by that I will try everything once and I am grateful that I got to work alongside a director and experience that role on set as it gave me experience and understanding of the role. Despite not being needed a lot of that time I know my role is still significant as I save time for others and do little jobs for people who need to be present while shooting.

Handling costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-09 12:50:27 UTC

The only costume that needed care and responsibility after filming hours was the cleaner's uniform after each shoot one of us on costume would take it home and bring it back for the shoot the next morning. It usually wouldn't be me as I commute to University, so it wouldn't make sense for me to take them home because I wasn't in every day. I learned that costume needs to be handled carefully and responsibly to ensure it is at the ready for the actors at every shoot; otherwise can cause unnecessary stress for the crew due to lack of organisation.

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-09 12:51:46 UTC

Me holding the clock for Khieng and Matthew.

Reflection on costume

sporter8_4 — 2025-05-09 13:19:49 UTC

I definitely preferred this role to PA as I felt I had more creative input and could express my vision clearly with examples and actors. I enjoyed the research process of this role as I got to read the character profiles and brainstorm ideas on who I imagined the characters to be. I felt like an important part of the filming crew, whereas PA I didn't feel as much part of the team. I would go for this role again and progress my understanding and research into it. It has opened my eyes to something I would possibly like to do in the future. I faced challenges in this role as I felt there was miscommunication at times with the rest of the crew, however, we asked the actors beforehand if they had the costume required and also sent them a list to clear things up. We also had a problem with Athena's costume very close to the filming date which I found stressful as we had an external fashion student offering to help for a project in her course but last minute she dropped out leaving us with no costume and had to find things from our own wadrobes, luckily it came together well and I was still happy with the outcome but I found it unprofessional and furstrating. It taught me a valuable lesson about the industry, that I can't let others down without a long period of notice, and to always stay professional, or people won't hire you again.