Just as a heads up, My classes are 90 minutes long and meet every other day so you will need to adjust accordingly. Also, I am not a costumer so this the best I have been able to come up with based on the one day long costume
unit I had in college.
Day 1: This year I started my
unit by discussing the difference between a costume and a regular outfit. We talked about the different considerations that a designer needs to keep in mind when building a costume (how long is the run of the show, will the actor over heat, is this going to be a
quick change, does the costume have to
hid under another costume,
etc) Then I show them a bonus feature from the Hunger Games 2: Catching Fire blu-ray which shows what goes into costuming and make-up on the Hollywood
level. After wards I assign them each a district and they design costumes for their 'tributes' to wear during the chariot ride sequence.
Day 2: I have them upload their designs to a Google presentation and then we go through and discuss how effective their choices were at conveying their tributes district.
Here are the Designs from this year. As you can see, some are much better than others, so the discussion that occurs while viewing the presentation is the important part here. This took the first half of class. After wards I had them brain storm a large list of fairy tales or fables. Stories that everyone in the class knew. Examples from this year: Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet, Shrek, Beauty and the Beast,
ETC. Once we have a list of around 20 or so I split the kids into four groups and they select their show. They then have to come up with a 'concept' for their piece (modern day, in a high school, 15th century germany, gotham city, the future, the pokemon
universe, gender swapped,
etc.) and design 5 costumes from the show to fit the concept. I need to approve their
concept paragraph and their five costumes before they can proceed.
Day 3: Students come to class with their concept paragraphs. Once their concept is approved, they are given class time to work on
The Official Assignment.
Day 4: Present projects. Students explain their concept to the class and I question the students decisions and open up for questions from the class. At this
point I will collect completed projects and grade them based on a
Simple Rubric, and I will
send incomplete, or hastily completed projects back with the students to Re-Do.
Let me know if I left anything out or if you have any suggestions.