Research: Mise En Scene - Costume, Hair and Makeup - Ms Begum

Research: Mise En Scene - Costume, Hair and Makeup - Ms Begum

What is Costume (Hair and Makeup)? Why it’s an important convention? How it helps with character representation and understanding.

Costume is the clothing or prop that a character would wear within an act. Hair and makeup is the style and colour of the hair and the make up applied on to the facial region. Costume is an important convention as it could help change the views on a person. The hair and make up is important, as one actor could play a variety of roles just by applying make up and changing their looks. 

Connotations, Stereotypes of Characters and Clothing Types

From looking at characters and what type of clothes they wear, I could understand the difference between a protagonist and an antagonist by the way they are dressed. For example it would be a typical stereotype for an antagonist to wear dark clothing and protagonist to wear bright clothing.

From the image above we could clearly see that this character from "Fast Five" is a protagonist, his costume is a white shirt and he is also wearing a religious piece of jewelry which suggests his honesty and faith in life. He seems to have no make up which suggest he is straight up and has nothing to hide and also his bald head suggests simple living. 

This character is also from the film "Fast Five", however his dark clothing and prop weapon he is holding in his hand may indicate to danger and negativity. He is also bald, however has a bit of facial hair which is typical to a boxer or other type of martial artist. 

Thriller opening analysis – Silence of the Lamb

The opening scene of "Furious 7" shows a guy in a dark suit and a stubble beard. Suits may suggest prestige and power, which isn't really a positive type of character as they usually tend to hurt others to achieve their own goals. 

Conclusion

From what I have learnt about Costumes, Hair and Makeup, I will make sure I use the correct type of costume for my antagonist and protagonist character as I don't want to create a confusion between them. I will also use makeup wisely, to create a character that isn't too exagerated.