Costume and Accessories

I had another tutorial with my tutor and discussed that I needed to consider every element of the costume for example, the shoes and other accessories other than just the coat. I also need to think about how these things would be constructed and what they would be constructed out of as for the majority of their travels Eurasian Nomads are in the middle of nowhere, so animal skins would be used greatly. I have to keep in mind that my costume still has to represent Red Riding Hood. 

 After looking at existing examples of traditional Mongolian boots I found a pattern which looks fairly straightforward so it shouldn't take too long to construct something like this. These would originally be made from leather most likely. A lot of hand sewing as there would be no access to sewing machines due to no electricity.

I decided to modernize here and instead of going with traditional bows and arrows I went with the idea of my character reusing old world war elements as there was a huge excess of military surplus that was sold cheap all around the world especially in Europe. Russian weaponry was particularly popular as it was cheap to produce. cheap to buy and incredibly reliable. 

I will most likely adapt this design a bit to make the prop more of my own instead of just copying the rifle exactly.

Thinking about giving my character some kind of knife for simple everyday use and a machete is a very common and cheap tool. Again I will probably design my own adaption of it.

Just a simple bag so Red can carry the presents to her Grandmother.

Tutorial Time

Today I had a tutorial with my tutor to discuss my ideas for my project and see what his opinions were etc. We discussed how I would need to consider certain details with my idea such as what kind of modern elements would be available to my character in the environment she lives in. I need to look into the geographical surroundings to determine the terrain she's traveling through, the animals she could encounter on her journeys, or mythical creatures perhaps?

Eurasian Nomads

Staying with the background of Russia I searched for traditional Russian clothing as the story of Red Riding Hood has always been set in traditional times. Upon my search I came across Eurasian Nomads which is a generic title for groups of people inhabiting the wild areas of Central Asia, Mongolia and Russia. They domesticated the horse, developed chariots, cavalry and horseback archery.

                                    

Moving on from historical images of Eurasian Nomads, I found some modern images (as shown above and below) of some Nomad women and it was quite clear that they still lived a very traditional lifestyle which was reflected in their handmade, colourful, fur trimmed and patterned jackets. I really like how these people keep alot of their traditional elements but also use some modern things like instead of bows and arrows they use guns etc but still make their own bright clothing whilst living in the middle of nowhere.

                                 

Colours, Countries and Nuclear Fallout

I read the original tale of Red Riding Hood written by Charles Perrault, a French author, as well as reading the Grimm Brother's version from Germany. I thought to myself about the significance of how the country would affect the picture portrayed in the story, for example how clothes and scenery would possibly differ for each country. The colour red traditionally shown in Little Red's costume has connotations of the Russian Soviet flag.

Following the post apocalyptic theme I have been considering, the thought of Russia progresses to accounts of the Chernobyl disaster

"In the early hours of 26 April 1986, one of four nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl power station exploded.
Moscow was slow to admit what had happened, even after increased radiation was detected in other countries. The lack of information led to exaggerated claims of the number killed by the blast in the immediate area.
Contamination is still a problem, however, and disputes continue about how many will eventually die as a result of the world's worst nuclear accident." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456957/html/nn1page1.stm)

After the horrific accident and mass evacuation, the wildlife soon started to inhabit the abandoned city. The massive doses of radiation led to genetic mutations such as giant wolves and cattle with extra limbs.

Mad Max

I recently watched a film called Mad Max Fury Road. The synopsis:

'Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) leads the despot's five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a loner and former captive. Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the Wasteland.'

(http://cinema.cornell.edu/Fall2015/mad_max_fury_road.html) 

I was blown away by the sudden appearance of a strong female lead character who wasn't objectified or sexualised in any way for the male gaze but instead was viewed as another human being. She was dressed purely for practicality and purpose and this is something I definitely want to include in my adaptation.

'Adaption'

For my next project which entitled 'Adaptation', I have chosen to focus on costume with some props for a gritty realist/fantastical film to expand and demonstrate a wider variety of skills that can be used in the future.  Initially I have decided to base my project on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, partly because my dissertation also relates to this specific story so any existing in depth knowledge I have should come in useful and give me a better understanding and a slight head start in this project. The tale of Red riding
Hood has been 'adapted' throughout the ages being told by millions of people to convey a very real message to young girls of the danger that talking to strangers presents.