Character/Costume

Our film has two female protagonists, so some of the inspiration we will draw on will be from that of the leads of "The Hunger Games" and "Alien". Both Katniss Everdeen and Ellen Ripley are influential and strong within their respective stories, which is exactly what we want our protagonists to be, as our film presents them with the rather challenging task of saving the world from looming technological collapse.

Girl A

For the girl who is from a parallel universe and is trying (and failing) to blend in with our society, it seemed logical to take inspiration from both the image and acting style of Evanna Lynch, who played Luna Lovegood in the "Harry Potter" films. We need to use fairly normal clothing whilst using lack of colour/pattern coordination and out-of-place accessories to highlight the fact that she doesn't entirely belong.

This outfit is, of course, a little much (the glasses, for one, are too linked to Luna to use), but this is the general feeling of strangeness we'd like to aim for. From what I can tell, this effect comes mostly from the contrast of the two predominant colours (blue and pink), as well as from the use of different clashing patterns together. This should be an easily achievable effect. However, I personally think more earthy colours would not only look better on camera, but also make more sense, since the girl is trying to appear as linked to all things earthen as possible. Increased use of colour should also make it easier for us to better highlight it in her scenes in post-production, as we'd originally planned.








This outfit is a lot closer to the style that we'd like to reproduce. Not only does the sweater suit the wintry setting of our film, but also it's more functional and the textures are nicer. The striped socks and slight patterning on the trousers are, again, the parts that truly highlight the character's individualistic personality, which is an important thing to remember for later; detail is all-important in costume.

This reference picture is probably my personal favourite out of the list, as not only is it the actress posing instead of the character (making the photo feel less staged), but also because the girl who we've chosen to play girl A wears predominantly clothes of this style, which actually suit the character rather well. Of course, we'll have to add some sort of accessories which create a more intense sense of strangeness, but overall I believe this style is a good template to follow.














Girl B

At first, we couldn't really think of a particular character influence for the girl living on the streets, and instead began compiling visual cues that, if we choose to deploy them, should assist the audience in understanding our intent for this character. It will probably be impossible to recreate the same level of wear and tear as professional studios do with their costume departments, but nevertheless we could possibly crumple them or do something similar to show the fact that the character is homeless.


One idea for sturdy clothing is, of course, khaki or army patterns of any kind. They would have to be layered under a good winter coat (probably waterproof), but an army jacket or trousers would give the character the right sort of edge and sense of toughness and ability to deal with the combat and other difficulties ahead.

The other obvious image that most people expect of those living on the street is the beanie-hoodie combination. Not only is it practical for the cold weather, but it also keeps the character more anonymous - just another faceless youth among the crowd of London. This is very conducive with the fact that this character ought to be unremarkable - despised, even - due to her undesirable social status, and yet she is the one chosen from all 7 billion humans to help save the entire planet.





After further deliberation, we of course realised that our perfect model for this character would be the boy from one of our colouring influences; "The Road".

Not only does he wear a multitude of layers, which give him the bulky, sturdy look we'd like to suggest of our character, but his clothes also show significant signs of dirt and wear, just as you'd expect of someone forced to live in the street. Similarly, he carries a backpack; something that would naturally be a necessity for a homeless person.  

To further the ideas presented above, I believe a combination of ripped jeans and a flannel underneath the hoodie and coat could also further the urban feel this character ought to emanate. Similarly, ripped jeans are fairly easy to come by, but will nevertheless help illustrate the fact that the girl has had to wear basically the same clothes for a fairly long time.













In short, our characters are very different; one will be dressed rather well, whereas the other will wear simple but comfortable clothes with signs of disuse. This should not only create a good contrast between the two, but also subvert certain class stereotypes, considering the fact that in most films it's the poor characters who follow the rich ones with some unexplained, ordinarily malicious intent, whereas in ours the richer-looking girl follows the homeless one.

DY