The Tragedy of "M"

             First Witch
 48   All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!

      Second Witch
 49   All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!

      Third Witch
 50   All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!

Restless and excited when Patrick was recast as MacBETH, I told him that we were going straight out to take photos, if only for inspiration. I ended up taking a series of shots – 45 of those shots were considered pretty darn good, and we landed on a few exceptional ones.

I created the poster above from one of those shots. Instead of proclaiming “MacBETH!” across the top, I opted for the more subtle “M” with the opening date in roman numerals. I was sure to put this in my LOOK BOOK that I shared with the Director and the Producer (see previous blog for info on my LOOK BOOK).

Another benefit from the photo shoot was that we could see his movement in the garments. Leather doublet and black kilt, with "accessories" like tartan scarf, etc. were restrictive in movement as he climbed up a steep hill and almost fell down the same hill. In the end, we both decided that we would like to take more photos indoors to represent the conditions under which the play will be performed, that is to say, we didn't want people to get the impression that this was an outdoor play.

"Glamis Hath Murdered Sleep!"

Before taking on the costuming for the Paper Wing Theatre's production of "MacBETH", I thought of the magnitude of the project. MacBETH is no small scale black box show. There are nearly 30 people playing MORE than 30 roles, which means that the true difficulty in this is the organization of the thing! Still, with my motto -- FEAR NOT! -- I jumped right in.

I grabbed a binder and began to prepare. First, the easy stuff: the rehearsal schedule and the preliminary cast of characters. Then, the list of critical questions: What's off limits? What resources? What's the budget? 

As much as possible, I have been recording info in a document I am calling Dseigners Forms.  This is in MS Excel and consists of many tabs with names CAST LIST, CAST SIZES, COSTUME CHART, COSTUME CHANGES, COSTUME BREAKDOWN. This list grew as I moved on to my next priority... the LOOK BOOK.

The LOOK BOOK was as much for me as it was for the Producer and Director. I started off with a thought - what are the elements of the period and the famous productions? What photos are available online? The major performances were all there including Orson Welles. The photos ranged from period to present day, and searching the web began to feel overwhelming.

My mom always tells me to break things down into baby-steps and that was just the advice I needed for this.  Finally, the natural pattern of the Scottish play emerged: Groupings -- MacBETH Traditional, MacBETH Modernistic, MacBETH Poster Ideas, MacBETH Set Ideas, MacBETH with the Three Weird Sisters, MacBeth with Lady MacBETH (blended), Lady MacBETH Traditional, Lady MacBETH Modernistic, and Lady MacBETH AVANT GARDE. This last section included such things as a "fur" coat made of looped video tape, a "fur" stole made from crocheted shredded white plastic bags, Punk Rock and Vampire designs, and the Unisex Fashions of the Rad Hourani Fashion House. 

This blended approach facilitated an organized brainstorming session with the Director and later with the Producer. It allowed me to hear and observe their impressions and expressions. I could see what excited them and where they wanted to pull back. To be honest, this method worked surprisingly well, and still serves as inspiration for me. 

I intentionally made the margins large so there would be room for notation, drawings, or doodles. The pages were carefully arranged so that the layout was balanced as opposed to looking "thrown together" or sparse, and since it was to be printed back-to-back, I made sure that each facing page complimented the other. Printed in full, lush color on 20 lb paper, the LOOK BOOK was 3-hole punched and placed in the binder.


By this time, I had collected a large number of photos and was about to start searching for Forms for Costume Designer Organization. I realized that this too would be a lot of information so before I proceeded any further, I set up an organizational system in my Costume Design folder. Here's a screen grab of it. 

From here, I was able to drag photos or docs to the appropriate folder, and am prepared in advance for files & images that I know are coming and will need a home. 

At this point, I had been working on this project for two (2) days, and this was when I started to work on this in my sleep. It recalls Lady MacBETH who re-enacts the murderous events in her famous "sleep walking" scene. OK. I didn't murder my ideas, nor did I sleep walk. Still, I was recreating my waking work in my sleep. Needless  to say, this has led to far less sleep - the trapping of deeds that MacBETH recognizes when he exclaims following his act Regicide, "Glamis hath murdered sleep!" Luckily for me, this gives me joy!

I will continue to elaborate on my  process in my next post...

Guerrilla VLOG - Udate on Horror Script... from Borders?

This is a video update I did awhile back. I posted it on myspace, and as I was heading here to post it, I heard the sad news that the 4 1/2 year old nephew of my friend died. Understandably, I was engrossed in that and forgot to come back here to post.

SO... here is the long overdue UPDATE on the Horror Script. I will be recording a new VLOG and posting it here soon.

Keep it Horror! Keep it Micro-budget! Keep it Indie!

THE GOTHIC GOURMET ON "WINGS OF LOVE" RADIO SHOW

Love, Light and The Gothic Gourmet?

You bet!

Listen as my ideas of "The Dark Romance of Dining" unfold ~
I'll be on during the first hour and you'll have an opportunity to call in.

"Wings of Love" Radio Show
Friday, February 8th 2008
2:00pm - 4:00pm Eastern Time
11:00am - 1:00pm Pacific Time

www.nowlive.com/allie

Host Allie Cheslick
Wings of Love
www.alliecheslick.com

http://www.myspace.com/wingsofloveshow

GOTHIC GOURMET UPDATE-01/05/2007

On August 8, 2006, The Gothic Gourmet was enjoying an evening out on the ice at the Logitech Ice Arena in San Jose, California. Goths on Ice - heh, sounds like a poor title for a Broadway Musical. Anyhow, I was out there throwing stones, sweeping, and more sweeping. My team was down one person and it was a nice change of pace to throw extra stones. In the last end, while sweeping a stone at the far left quadrant outside of the house, I hit a slick spot in the drop-off. There's no telling now how far I slid but it was far enough and long enough for me to through up my left arm to protect my head.

The impact was instant and the pain intense. My arm was stuck in its position next to my head so I grabbed it with my right hand and gave a yank! I stood to my feet, then sat back down on the ice as I realized there was not a little pain but an explosion of numbness overcoming me. There was no thought necessary. As I regained my resolve, I headed back into the game to finish the end. Why? you ask? If there was a time to sweep two more stones, it was while I was numb. That, and the fact that I'm insane for the Curling.

Turns out I tore my Rotator Cuff and received an Impaction Fracture to my left humerus. These injuries resulted in four months of intensive Physical Therapy and almost certainly an additional 6 to 12 months of work to regain my strength in that arm.

While I spent some three months time adjusting to my inability to do normal things such as laundry, dishes, showering, or clasping my bra, the remarkable reality was that I was able to Curl since curling does not require one to lift that arm. The Curling Gods were indeed with me.

A few days ago, it was confirmed that my Curling Rink (Team Coleman) will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Women's Club National Play-downs (play-offs) in Seattle, WA on January 20-21, 2007.

I am thrilled and honored to be on this team but I find myself marveling at the fact that I have come this far.

By the way, now I can lift my arm, swing it around, and reach. But lifting a 2 pound weight is still beyond me.

More soon...

B.