Research: Mise-En-Scene, Focus: Costumes
In class, we decided to focus on a specific component of Mise-en-scene and apply it to a certain movie to use as an example.
The focus that I decided to choose was Costume design. To show how big a role costume design plays, I chose to analyze the costumes in the movie West Side Story, 2021.
West side Story
Genre:Musical/Romance
Director: Steven Spielberg
Costume designer: Paul Tazewell
The costumes in this movie played a major role since they were representative of not only the time period, but of where the character is from.
Since this is a musical, the costumes had to be made with stretchy fabric, since the costumes need to be able to stretch and flow while dancing.
 |
| dress of Maria, dress had to be easy to dance with |
The costumes also had to showcase the time periods of the 50's, but since there are two groups the Jets usually European/American background, and the sharks, immigrants from Puerto Rico, the costumes had to set them apart.
 |
| For the sharks, it had to be considered that the come from "broken homes" and are struggling especially economically.Warmer yellow and gold, tropical prints. |
 |
| The jets wardrobe is "shabbier" with lots of denim and leather, focusing on the color hues blue and blacks. |
The designer had to do much research on the 1950's street style, specifically focusing on gangs and colored pictures to look at the different hues of the clothing
 |
| For Anita's dress during the America scene, he wanted to make the dress an extension of what she was doing. The meaning behind the yellow dress was to showcase the energy and joy of being in America. |
Video from America scene, showcasing the yellow dress and how it flows while Anita dances
From this research, I learned how costume adds meaning as well as dimension to the characters and the story line. I know have a better understanding for my final project on how I should choose the costumes and how it will relate to the message the film opening is trying to convey.