TPA 4049
Costume Design I
Room: Yon Hall Room #3
Days and Times: Tuesday and Thursday 12:50 to 2:45
Instructor: Paul Favini (McCarty C #417)
392-2038 ext. 212
371-6774 (home)
Office Hours: As Posted on my door.
Web Site:
This syllabus and schedule can be found online at the following address- Professor Favini
Required Text: Costume Design, 2nd Edition, Barbara and Cletus Anderson, Harcourt Brace College Publishers, Orlando, FL, 1999.
Recommended Texts: The Costume Designer’s Handbook, 2nd Edition, Rosemary Ingham and Liz Covey, Heinemann Educational Books, Inc. Portsmouth, NH, 1992.
*A list of required supplies is attached separately.
Course Objectives:
Artistic and Technical concerns as they apply to Costume Design will be addressed through lectures, discussions and critiques. The course will focus on the first half of the design process: research, direction and rendering of ideas. Special concentration will focus on character analysis and their physical manifestations. In-class critiques will help the student to identify and utilize the characteristics of good design.
Class Goals:
- To understand the elements of good design
- To apply these elements to stage costuming
- To use this craft to create strong characterization and tell a story
- To develop a critical basis for judging costume design and to share that criticism effectively.
- To develop the skills that will clearly express thoughts and ideas to others
Requirements:
- Complete all reading, viewing and at-home projects prior to the assigned classes
- Complete and submit all projects by their scheduled due dates
- Successful completion of the mid-term exam.
- Attendance at all class meetings, providing effective and thoughtful ideas to the discussions
- Maintain a positive and creative attitude toward the task of rendering one’s ideas.
Due Dates:
Projects are due at the start of class time and will be critiqued during that session. Failure to have a project ready on time reduces the effectiveness of the class meeting and it will effect its grading. If you foresee a need for extra time on a project, bring it to my attention and a possible extension will be considered. As this class attempts to bring the student “up to speed” with the reality of deadlines, the need for extensions should be avoided. Students who do not gain approval for time extensions will have their projects graded as late and are subject to reduction of one letter grade for each session that it is late. If a project is more than two sessions late without approval it will be regarded as a failure. It is better to request permission to submit a weaker project on critique day and the chance to re-submit it than to have the project late.
Projects:
Save all process work. Hand in all rough sketches and “studies”. A “works consulted” page is a good thing to compile for each project. This will not be graded and is not required but is encouraged and will help in the critiquing of the finished project. A project without “process work” is considered incomplete and will be graded accordingly.
Grading:
Students are graded individually and
based upon the progress made from assignment to assignment. Each assignment is
as valuable as the other but progress and improvement is expected with each
one. For those students who have more experience than others in the class, it
is expected that you will make a personal effort to stretch yourself further
and in different areas than those that are comfortable. These projects will not
be realized in the workroom nor are they subject to budgetary concerns
so go ahead and dream.
Grading Procedure:
Project #1 15 pts.
Project #2 15 pts.
Project #3 15 pts.
Mid-Term Examination 10 pts.
Assignments (at-home projects, film reports and theatre reaction papers) 15 pts.
Class Participation 10 pts.
Final Project 20 pts.
100 pts.
Please refer to your student handbook for the University’s
honesty policy regarding cheating and the use of copyrighted materials.
Attendance:
If the student can foresee a need to miss a class, it should be brought to the instructor’s attention at the earliest possible date so that adjustments can be made to the schedule. An absence due to illness should be phoned in, also as early as possible, to my office or home. Do not skip class without notification. Please refer to the schedule attached to this syllabus. More than three absences will result in a reduction to your grade. One half of a letter grade per session will be deducted from your grade for each absence that exceeds the three allowed absences. I cannot teach you if you aren’t in class.
Class Demeanor:
Students are expected to take an active interest in the discussions of each topic. Contributing to class discussions is required. You are expected to be on time for each class meeting with all required supplies/submissions for that session. It is mandatory that all cell phones and beepers are turned off so that they will not disrupt class. If an emergency situation has arisen that involves a necessary phone call, this must be cleared with the professor at the start of each session. Otherwise, receiving a phone during class is inexcusable and the student will be asked to leave the session.
Theatre Productions:
A short, typewritten, reaction paper is to be submitted at the first class meeting following the closing performance of each of the four productions that will be presented by the Department of Theatre and Dance this semester. The paper should be no more than 1 to 1 ˝ pages of concise feedback regarding your reaction to the piece and especially the costuming.
Students with Disabilities:
Students requiring classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.
Counseling and Mental Health:
Please be aware that there are people on-campus to assist you if you feel that the pressures of a semester are too great for you to handle. Call any of the services listed below for assistance:
Student Mental Health (24 hours on call)
2nd Floor, Student Health Care Center
392-1171
University Counseling Center
P301 Peabody Hall
392-1575
Some questions:
- What is Costume Design?
- Who is a Costume Designer?
- When can we label someone’s design work as good design?
- On what occasion can Costume Design be bad?
- Why does every production require a Costume Designer?
By the end of the semester it is my hope that you will be able to answer each of these questions without looking in a notebook.
This syllabus and the accompanying schedule are subject to change at the Instructor’s discretion.
Spring 2002: Classes begin January 7, 2002
January 8 Introduction
January 10 Costume Design Defined, Steps to designing & steps to drawing
Read Chapter 1
January 15 Lecture and Discussion Chapter 1
January 17 Drawing and rendering, bring supplies Assignment #1
Read Chapter 2
January 22 Lecture and Discussion: Chapter 2
January 24 Present Assignment #1 Read Chapter 3
Assign Project #1: Character Analysis- A Streetcar Named Desire
January 29 Lecture and Discussion Chapter 3
January 31 Discuss Approach to Research Read Chapter 4
The Seagull Tech Week 1/28-1/30 Opens 1/31/2002
February 5 Drawing and Rendering, discuss Chapter 4
Work in class on A Streetcar Named Desire, bring supplies!
February 7 Discuss: The Seagull,
Assign Project #2: Research Project- The Heiress
URTA: Chicago 8-11
February 12 Submit Character Analysis Project
Discuss the results of Character Analysis Project
Lecture: Research Methods for designers Assignment #2
February 14 Rendering Workshop- Have Supplies with you. Read Chapter #5
The Wake of Jamey Foster Tech week 2/11-15 opens 2/16/2002
USITT: New Orleans Feb 13-17
February 19 Submit assignment #2
Lecture and Discussion: Chapter 5 and The Heiress
February 21 Work in class on Assignment #2 and Project #2
URTA: New York Feb. 22-25
February 26 Present and Submit Project #2 Assign Mid-Term
Submit Project #2: Research Project
February 28 Discuss The Wake of Jamey Foster
Submit Mid-Term
March 5 Spring Break
March 7 Spring Break
SETC: Mobile, Alabama March 6-10
March 12 Present progress reports to students based on:
2 assignments
2 projects
mid-term exam
classroom effort
Lecture: Costume Renderings and Their Presentation Read Chapter 8
March 14 Lecture and Discussion: from 2 Dimensional to 3 Dimensional
Assignment #3
March 19 Lecture and Discussion: Fabrics, Color, Texture and Weight
Assign Project #3: Fabric and Palette Selection
March 21 Lecture: The Human Form and Rendering Tricks
March 26 Rendering Workshop: Fabrics and Swatches, bring supplies
March 28 Lecture: Drama, Comedy, Farce, Musical
Man of LaMancha Tech Week 3/25-28 Opens 3/29/2002
April 2 Discuss Design for Dance
April 4 Discuss designing for films, video presentation
Present and Submit Assignment #3
April 9 Discuss Man of LaMancha, Guest Designers
Communicating with Directors and fellow Designers
Read play for Final Project
April 11 Submit Project #3: Fabric and Palette Selection Project
Assign Final Project
Dance 2002 Tech week 4/8-10 opens 4/11/2002
April 16 Lecture/Discussion: The Whole Process
Mapping out the final project, discuss play
April 18 Show rough for final project
Grad One Acts Part I Tech Week 4/16-17 opens 4/18/2002
April 23 Present preliminary final project
Last day of classes 4/25/2002
Grad One Acts Part II Tech 4/20 Opens 4/21/2002
BFA Dance Projects Tech 4/21-22 opens 4/23/2002
April 27 Exam week*
May 1 Exam week*
*Final Projects will be due as class presentation during the University of Florida scheduled exam date and time
May 4
Commencement