Costume analysis - MES

The aim for our elderly character is to make them appear to be quite innocent; primarily with the representation of what they're wearing. Stereo typically, the idea of an elderly character in a film seems quite unusual; however that is the main idea with having an abnormal character appearance that would make the film more effective and original. The specific colouring of the characters clothing is basic yet co-ordinates and stands out with the background and setting that she is in.

The white netted scar is prominent against the women's black clothing and the netting is effective in covering her face, partially hiding her identity. Stereo-typically, this is a piece of clothing that an elderly women would be shown to wear... therefore making the character more realistic and natural rather than being dressed in something that would not be expected by the audience.

The all black outfit may just be noticed as being her own nightwear and therefore does not need to have any meaning to it. However the colour black has many negative connotations such as death, mystery and power. This is conventional of a horror and is often something that we expect to appear to make us have negative opinions towards the character. The white colour of the scarf, however, represents innocence and purity... both immediate stereotypes that we would think of when seeing an elderly women.

The clothing of the characters is most effective in creating a representation in film, as it essentially suggests a lot about the character (wealth and status) rather than just stereotyping against them because of there age or gender. When portraying a character, it is vital that there outfits fit them well and gives off the connotations that we intend them to (being innocence and vulnerability of both the young girl and women). The costumes that we have chosen create the kind of innocent and vulnerable look and therefore makes the audience believe that this is what they are like. This will be effective as it follows further through the film as it would essentially become more of a surprise and unexpected turn if the characters were to change the way the audience would've expected them to act.

For the young girl, the aim again is to make her look innocent and vulnerable... in a way that you would expect a child to be at night and in the situation that she finds herself in. To be able to create this representation, we chose the stereotypical clothing that you would assume a child to be wearing at night - pyjamas. In the trailer, we have a close up shot of the girls feet as she steps out of the bed and this shot specifically shows her as she steps into her bunny, childish sleepers. This again creates a realistic situation of which she would do normally when she gets out of bed; though making all of this seem like a normal situation with the way she is dressed and the location (being in her bedroom), it will eventually become more of a shock when the situation becomes bad with the intention to frighten the audience.