Main project: costume analysis

Costume is important in film- it subtly tells the audience a lot of information about a particular character and their status in the film. We have thought carefully about what our characters ought to be wearing in each scene to convey the messages we want the audience to get.

Matthew

Matthew is the protagonist of the film, so it is pivotally important that we give out the right message about him. Here is a scene-by-scene run through of the costumes we want him to wear:

Scene #1: Establishing shot of Matthew & his girlfriend
Matthew is wearing a black polo shirt, blue jeans and black socks. The use of blue jeans emphasise his position as a normal man, but the black items foreshadow the sinister events to come.

Scene #2: Matthew getting ready
In this scene, he is wearing a white shirt and black trousers. It is obvious he is getting ready to go to work, but he still manages to show his preference for darkness in choosing a black tie.

Scene #3: On the phone to Rachel in the park
Matthew is wearing the same clothes as above, but we can now see slightly scuffed black shoes in the frame, and peeking out from the top of his shoes we can see he is wearing odd socks. He wears a black coat, and breaks up the monochrome with a blue striped scarf. The purpose of the costume in this scene is to show that the charachter is not entirely dark, as has been demonstrated by his preference for black- the use of colour indicates that there is a different side to him.

Scene #4: Matthew at home, and discovery of Rachel's body
The character's idea of casual constitutes a dark coloured Back To The Future T-Shirt and the same blue jeans as in the first shot. The dark colour reinforces the previous themes, but the quirky logo on the shirt shows a lighter side to his personality.

Scene #5: Interview room
Matthew is wearing the same clothes he was wearing in the previous scene.

Overall, we want Matthew to be wearing lots of dark colours, because the audience are not sure until the end of the film whether or not he did kill his girlfriend, but we want to include a few little quirks and splashes of colour to give them hope that he could be innocent.

Rachel

Rachel is Matthew's girlfriend, and the unfortunate murder victim. She only appears briefly, so we have to show her innocence and vulnerability within her costumes. However, due to the ending of the film we concocted, we wanted there to be subtle signs of an edginess to the character.

Scene #1: Establishing shot of Rachel & Matthew
Rachel is wearing a red and white striped T-Shirt and leggings. This is quite a feminine outfit, and the colours represent both her innocence and the danger it has put her in. However, the stripes could also represent a convict- which, as we later find out, could have been Rachel as she is involved in illegal drugs.

Scene #2: On the phone to Matthew
Rachel is wearing a white Bruce Springsteen T-Shirt and jeans. She is wearing several brightly coloured bracelets. This colourful costume is a huge contrast to Matthew's dark clothes. She is wearing these clothes when she dies. The Bruce Springsteen T-shirt is a nod to her love for classic rock- this is intended to indicate something slightly 'heavy' about her.