MA Costume Design and Making

This module will encourage the student to begin to analyse their costume practice as they reflect on their own prior knowledge and understanding of the craft and learn how to make their own practice into research.

They will investigate areas for potential practice research within costume realisation, propose ideas for initial subjects of inquiry, identify influential practitioners and explore areas of related research.

Students will consider their own background and experiences as they evaluate who they are as a costume practitioner and practice researcher. This will provide a potential basis for the creation of innovative and original work in their chosen field of costume, shaping the development of a framework within which to situate the Practice Dissertation Final Research project.

This module will also introduce students to the academic skills and associated terminology required to conduct a postgraduate research project.

This module will enable reflection on prior knowledge and identification of individual professional development needs by investigating, applying and improving on various standard costume industry methods.

A range of costume specific design/design interpretation, pattern cutting and construction techniques will be demonstrated, providing students with the opportunity to create a portfolio of samples and gain an understanding of their applications.

This module enables the student to investigate a broad range of pattern cutting and costume realisation methods through the delivery of a diverse masterclass programme exploring various costume disciplines.

Students will be provided with the opportunity for guided experimentation, enabling them to expand their costume realisation skills and apply unfamiliar construction methods as they develop as a researcher and practitioner.

Throughout the module, a comprehensive portfolio of patterns and samples will be developed that represents the students individual reaction to and understanding of the various areas of costume realisation. Following the masterclass programme, the student will develop an individual personal project where they can explore a chosen theme or specialism of costume creation in more depth.

Through a reflective analysis of the work undertaken, students will begin to evaluate the competences and capabilities required of a successful costume practitioner. They will evidence the intellectual and technical skills of the costumier, such as mathematics, problem solving and engineering, as well as considering how their experiential haptic knowledge is applied to the understanding of the development and translation of the two-dimensional costume design into the tangible three-dimensional costume.

The approach to the work for this module will demonstrate the application of the principles of practice research, i.e.- creating work which leads to new insights and advanced knowledge that can be applied to future professional development and costume projects.

The focus of this module will be on the development of professional practice and career planning. By participating in a series of industry led talks and workshops by practitioners from various genres of costume production, students will investigate a range of areas and roles within the costume industry.

Students will then apply the skills they have learned to producing costumes for a LIPA production in conjunction with students from other programmes. During this part of the module, students will collaborate closely with the production team and engage with a full rehearsal & production process. They will produce costumes which fulfill the aesthetic and practical considerations of the production, creating costumes that are fit for purpose and compliments the dramaturgical requirements of the chosen text. All practical work will be produced to industry standard.

This work will be supported by a reflective evaluation, including a critical analysis of the role of the costume practitioner, situating the students own practice within the broader scenographic context of the production. Students will also consider the contribution they make to the design development and final performance, with evidence of collaborative engagement in the production process.

Students will also use the experience of exploring the costume industry and working on the production to reflect on their own practice in terms of interests, strengths and skillset to establish potential routes for future employment, identifying any further professional development needs and beginning to explore progression routes into the costume industry.

The Practice Dissertation module is an opportunity for students to investigate an area of costume construction through the design and completion of a practice research project.

Reflecting on work completed in the Research Skills and Experimentation & Development modules, students will identify a gap in current industry practice or costume related research and will, in negotiation with their lecturer, develop an original proposal for their project. They will then design an appropriate practice research framework and methodology that will best enable the implementation of their chosen study and support their own professional development needs.

The final piece of work will demonstrate that the student has fully identified and examined specific issues or areas of the chosen topic, carried out and recorded practical costume realisation experiments and reflected on these processes. The findings will be supported by critically analysis of the relevant evidence and delivery of a cohesive and persuasive overall argument to reach a convincing and sophisticated conclusion.

The student will also be expected to establish and assert their own critical voice as a member of the costume design and making community, contextualising their work within their chosen field alongside that of other academic and industry practitioners, and making a positive contribution to the future development of costume realisation practices.