When one thinks about costumes in a film certain things pop into mind. Some have mistaken fashion to be costume design but the truth of the matter is these two forms of design need each other to enable the creation of the perfect outfits for your film. Costume design is an art that needs a lot of creativity and background knowledge about certain aspects in film. When designing costumes for a film, one needs to put into consideration:
- The type of fabric to use for each character depends on the social class, time period and at times genre of the film.
- The range of colour scales to choose from to stay within the production-design concept and colour scheme for the film.
- The time period or historic timeline for which the film is set upon.
- The Socioeconomic background of the character determines the fabric of choice.
- The character’s personality being portrayed in the film may determine either prints and patterns on fabrics or a monochrome choice.
- Costumes are made to fit the character and role in the film, it is also made to fit the environment it is used in
- The practicality and functionality of the costume for the character.
- The budget within which to work and how it affects which designs and fabrics are finally picked.
- The genre of the film and how it affects the colours and fabric type to convey a certain mood, emotion or story.
Costumes are meant to tell the story and character development throughout a film on its own. That is why it is very important to pick the correct costumes per scene and maintain continuity. Costumes play a great role in filmmaking and are just as important as other departments in production design and film in general.