Costume, make-up and prop planning!Holly Emmerson

Overview

My trailer/film will involve a teenage protagonist and an anonymous antagonist so therefore my costume, make-up and prop choice will have to reflect this.

Traditionally for Horror films, capes, masks, weapons etc. are used which I am planning to use for my own trailer but so that I can adhere to my sub-genre of Psychological Horror as well as course restrictions.

Protagonist

I will have the protagonist who is seen as a typical and normal individual doing normal activities so therefore my costume choice will have to reflect that. Therefore, casual clothing such a jeans and a hoodie or an outfit similar may be used. This is a realistic costume option to choose as my protagonist will most likely be a female teenager around seventeen years old. For this costume choice, my actor for my protagonist will probably already own and wear this time of outfit. Also, as the location I will most likely be using for my filming is grass-based and due to the deteriorating weather, it may be a good idea to dress my protagonist in wellington boots as it would be realistic for the audience to see that the character who uses this place regularly would have the common sense to wear the correct footwear.For make-up, I will require little to no make-up use for the protagonist as she will have to be seen as completely sane and for a young women who lives in a rural area and is just doing a menial activity like walking the dog or walking home etc., then having no make-up on would be a sensible idea. Props-wise, I may be able to include a dog that my actor owns. This would fit in well with my storyline idea as she would need a reason (i.e. walking the said dog) for being in the location I will be using in my trailer.

Antagonist

For my trailer, I am going to include an unknown antagonist so the mysterious is still maintained and is still in-keeping with the Horror part of the genre I am aiming for. For their costume, to relate to the genre, I will most likely use a darker colour scheme of greys and black colours throughout as these are stereotypically related to the genre I am using. Also, it will contrast well with the costume use I will probably use for my protagonist character. Therefore a full-length cape or something that would completely cover any and all identity of the actor playing this antagonist. That it why I will also have to use other forms of hiding identity such as masks.Therefore, it may be ideal for me to use a prop of a face mask so that the antagonist's identity is kept anonymous. However, as most Horror masks look slightly comical, I will have to look into other types of masks. As my genre is Psychological Horror, I think that by using plain masks as seen, it creates a more chilling vibe because they are basic and completely anonymous. I may change my mind and choose to use a plain black coloured face mask instead as black is traditionally stereotyped to be used in Horror films. By using a mask like this, I can therefore use it again as the main iconic image for my film magazine cover as well as my film poster. To obtain masks like these, I will have to look into art shops, costume shops or buy from sites online like eBay where I will be able to get one for a cheaper amount.To coincide with the use of a mask, to hide even more, I might use shadowing around the eye holes of the mask to hide all skin tone beneath it. However, as the narrative of my film involves the lead character losing her mind, having the same actor (with the same skin tone, same eye colour etc.) wearing the masks which may make the audience think about it more and create a more surreal effect.