One of the first things we did was meet the first-year film students. We were told that film and costume interact a lot and that this would be a good introduction to “dressing”, which is an important part of our course.
So, armed with enthusiasm and very little knowledge, we talked to the film students about what they wanted to do. They had already worked on a script of sorts for their “film” and were enthusiastic, but rather tight-lipped about what exactly it was going to involve.
We had plenty of props and clothes available, and the young men from the film course decided to dress up in some of the Elizabethan costumes. Only then did they let us in on the secret: it was going to be a mock documentary, very much in the style of Philomena Cunk.
We helped them get dressed and then headed into the Box, where the staff had been warned that a large group of students would be arriving to film. Quite frankly, it was hilarious. The public were completely bemused, the film students were full of enthusiasm and happily strutting around in their costumes, while we costume students tried to keep an eye on the clothes and explain to the increasingly curious public what was happening.
As the new costume students were not entirely confident about improvising when faced with ridiculous questions, I volunteered to become the victim of the documentary. I was then stalked around one small section of the Box by one of the film students while the others filmed us.
When I eventually stormed out, several members of the public who had not been told what was happening were clearly concerned. They hurried over to check that I had not actually been harassed, which gave us the opportunity to reassure them that this was simply part of a student project.
Watching the raw footage back afterwards had us all in hysterics. The film students were delighted with what they had created and, judging by how reluctant they were to take the costumes off, had thoroughly enjoyed themselves too.
For me, it was a wonderfully chaotic introduction to working with another discipline. It was also a success, not necessarily because we produced anything particularly polished, but because everyone had fun, experimented, and got a taste of what can happen when film and costume are thrown together.
Cheryl Nelson Costumes 