Written Work
Dune:Part Two Costume Analysis
A few weeks ago I watched Dune: Part Two in the cinema and was absolutely blown away by the level of creativity and detail in the costume design. Jacqueline Wests designs perfectly reflected each characters arc throughout the film and the subtle changes of fabrics, colour pallets and silhouette helped make these changes far more clear to me as a viewer.
Paul
When the film begins Paul and his mother Jessica are learning to live among the Freman in the desert. West dresses Paul in layers of thin, loose weaved, breathable fabrics in various shades of beige and brown similarly to the Freman themselves, in order to reflect that Paul is trying to learn more about and immerse himself in their culture. The rustic look and of the loose weave of the fabric of his cloak could also highlight that Paul is becoming more connected to nature and Freman culture by wearing more simplistic clothing that drastically contrasts the nobal costumes we see him wear in the first film.
Atreides
As the film progresses and Paul learns about his Harkonnen heritage the colour palette, fabrics and silhouettes of his costumes drastically change to emphasise the darkness he believes is inside of him and the pressure he feels to become a leader. West dresses Paul in an armored suit similar to the one worn by the Freman but in a darker shade of brown and with more plastic structured hardware. The new suit also has a more menacing and masculine silhouette with exaggerated shoulder and chest pieces highlighting Paul's change from wanting to join the Freman as they are to wanting to lead them militarily. Intrestingly, he still wears a cloak made of a loose weaved fabric identical to the previous one but in black to perhaps show that he still carries the lessons Chani and the Freman taught him but now has to use them for more sinister reasons or against the Fremen themselves.
Chani
Half way through the film, we first see Chani wearing this Powder Blue scarf made of a thinly weaved fabric tied around her head. The colour of the scarf drastically contrasts the more neutral colour palette of the rest of the costumes and even the scenery on Arakis which helps it stand out to the viewer. The scarf could be a symbol of her love for Paul as the colour blue symbolises sadness but also calmness highlighting that their relationship is Chani's source of peace and happiness but also has the potential to cause her a lot of pain as we eventually see.
Later on in the film, Paul publicly announces his intentions to marry Princess Irulan and Chani's scarf is no where to be seen. Clearly highlighting the end of their relationship to the audience. Chani's costume also becomes a lot more stripped back and neutral as she loses the thin shawls we see her wear near the start of the film that made her look more feminine. This makes her costume look very similar to that of all the other Freman highlighting that they are her priority and also what Paul sees her as after the end of their relationship.
Princess
Throughout most of the film, West dresses Princess Irulan in very modest dresses made of light,delicate and breathable fabrics. Irulan is part of the Bene Gesserit and is essentially a nun as well as being royal so the costumes walk the line between luxury and modesty to convey this. The gold coloured netting of her headdress is a perfect example of this as it covers her hair as well as highlighting her wealth to the audience. Irulans costumes also have a much lighter colour palette compared to other characters in the film. She is mostly dressed in white, gold and silver emphasising her purity and wealth.
Irulan
Towards the end of the film as tensions rise between the Freman and the Harkonens, Irulan is dressed in a chain mail headdress and high neck chain mail dress with diamond shape detailing. She also wears a silver satin bolero that is very well fitting. The contrast of the chain mail and satin perfectly highlights Irulans inner conflict at this moment in the film. The satin represents her wealth and royal background, the chain mail dress represents her toughness and desire to defend her throne and the headdress emphasises her Bene Gesserit faith. The fact that she is wearing all these pieces at the same time shows that she is trying to balance the responsibility of all three aspects of her personality.
As part of reading for pleasure and A-level theatre I have studied several plays,
Two that have stood out to me are Aristophanes' Lysistrata & Sophie Treadwell's Machinal, as they pose significant design challenges while allowing freedom of creativity and expressive costumes.
Below are examples of written analysis developed as part of the course that propose concepts and design ideas and then analyse and evaluate the successes of these elements in conveying the message of the performance to the audience and in relation to the play as a whole.
As a designer, outline how lighting could be developed to create visual impact for the audience in this extract.
(Extract episode 3 of Machinal (Sophie Treadwell) page 21-26)
If I were the lighting designer for Machinal for this extract (from Episode 3 Honeymoon) where Young Woman (YW) is on her honeymoon with Mr.J, I would use the lighting to create an atmosphere of suffocation and discomfort for YW in order to highlight to the audience the pressure YW feels to be intimate with her husband. As a lighting designer, I would stay true to the conventions of expressionism as I believe it is fundamental to the play. Expressionism deliberately moved away from the Naturalism of Stanislavski and so I will use high intensity, high angle, and sharply focused lanterns in order to emphasise to the audience how pressured and exposed YW feels.
As the lighting designer for this extract I would use lighting to emphasise to the audience that YW longs for a freer, less constricting life away from her restrictive marriage. On the line ‘The oceans beyond’ I would fade in a low intensity, warm, amber fresnel from the other side of the window of the set. This would create visual impact for the audience as the warm lighting visually emphasises that the world beyond YW’s hotel room and her marriage is far more appealing to YW and a free less structured life is all she really wants. I would use this to visually emphasise YW’s inner conflict (a key feature of expressionist theatre) between the free life she wants and the life she feels she has to follow. I would contrast this with Episode 9 A Machine where I would use a high intensity, stark white, cold, profile down light over YW. This would create a visual impact on the audience as it emphasises how vulnerable and scared YW is of life now she is trapped in this marriage and has seemingly lost her chance of freedom.
As the extract continues, I would use the lighting to emphasise to the audience how uncomfortable YW feels around her new husband as she doesn’t really love him. I would snap in a cold, stark white profile on YW on the line ‘You look like you’re scared.’ I would also sharpen the profile's focus as the line continues. This would create visual impact on the audience as the stark cold lighting emphasises YW’s vulnerability and her fear around being close with her new husband. I would use this to visually emphasise the plight of our protagonist YW (a key feature of expressionism) as she feels forced into living this structured un-free life. I would contrast this with Episode 5 Prohibited where I would use a low intensity, soft focus, warm, amber parcan to create a warm wash over the stage. This would create a visual impact on the audience as it shows that YW feels far more comfortable and relaxed at this point of the play as she is away from her husband and the restriction he represents gives her a taste of the free life that she wants.
Towards the end of the extract, when YW’s husband starts to become more physically pushy I would use my lighting design to emphasise to the audience how trapped YW feels in this marriage she doesn’t want. On the line ‘Like that?’ I would snap in a high intensity downlight profile with a red gel on YW. This would create visual impact on the audience by emphasising YW’s emotions (a key feature of expressionism) and the sheer terror and fear YW feels around her husband and the idea of accepting this structured and restrictive life he represents. I would contrast this with episode 6 Intimate where I would use low intensity, soft focus, warm amber fresnels over YW and Man. This would create visual impact for the audience as this contrast shows that YW feels more comfortable around Man (and the prospect of a free life) than she does around her husband and the constrictive life he offers her.
In conclusion, I would use high intensity, stark and abstract lighting to represent YW’s fear and terror at accepting a structured life with her husband contrasted with warm soft lighting that’s always just out of reach to represent the freedom that she can never quite claim. My lighting choices would emphasise YW’s plight and inner conflict (key features of expressionist theatre) as well as emphasising one of Sophie Treadwell's aims that a modern structured life is extremely damaging.