What is the career in the field of costume designing?

What is set and costume designing?

All that glitters is gold – at least in films!

On the silver screen, things look smart, classy, and beautiful. Ever wondered what goes into making the fanciful backdrops and sets?

They are the handiwork of a set or production designer.

While set designing is an integral part of any visual production, costumes, too, play a key role. Remember the world fell in love with the Iron Man suit that first appeared in the 2008 film – with its stark red and yellow design and contours? The suit gave a visual appeal to the character and became a talking point.

Larger than life

Production designing includes set and costume designing for performance arts, such as films and plays. The designers collaborate with the filmmakers to create a set based on the time period and theme of the film. Sometimes this involves recreating a complex location, such as the inside of a spaceship or a deep dark forest. Costume designing too is more than just dressing actors. The designers have to ensure that the costume choices suit the storyline, era, and the location. The costumes must also enhance the aesthetic appeal of the scenes.

Behind the scenes

Production designers don’t just work on films and television series. They are also roped in for concerts, fashion shows, award functions, events etc. While there are a plethora of opportunities for designers in the entertainment field, other industries too employ the services of these trained professionals. Set designers also use their skills to work on projects for real estate developers, architects, and the government. They create models for the presentation of projects.

While you do not need a specific degree to work as a set and costume designer, a background in fine arts and fashion designing helps. In India, only a few institutes offer exclusive art direction courses. The rest include it in film production cinematography and fashion design. But universities abroad offer theatre design Courses.

What to study and where?

India

  • Film and Television Institute of India, Pune: Post Graduate Diploma in Art Direction and Production Design
  • Aditya College of Design Studies, Mumbai: One-year course in Set Design
  • Xaviers Institute of Communication, Mumbai: Diploma in Film and Video Production
  • Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. New Delhi: M.A. in Mass Communication (comprising Radio, Television, Film and Audio Visual Production)
  • Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu, CIT Campus, Chennai: Diploma in Direction and Screen Play Writing and Diploma in Cinematography
  • Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata: PG Diploma in Direction and Screenplay, Cinematography
  • School of Design and Visual Arts, Apeejay Stya University: Bachelor in Design with specialisation in Fashion Design, Interior Design and Graphic Design

Abroad

  • Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama: Three-year course in Theatre Design
  • University of the Arts, London: MA. in Performance Design

 

Picture Credit : Google

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