For my Self Directed Project I decided to participate in the Moving Tides carnival project. This project required us to design and make a prototype for a carnival costume which we would take into a school in Weymouth and make 20 costumes, working alongside the children. I found the prospect of this project exciting as it was different to anything I had taken on before.
I decided to base my costumes on the theme ‘Mythological Sea Creatures’. I chose this theme as I originally found it very inspiring and had a number of ideas in my head to start working on.
I began my research by looking at websites and images in books to get ideas on shapes and colours so I could start designing. I found through my research that my theme was very broad and I would have to narrow it down in some way. I did this by looking at just four of the creatures I researched.
From this I started sketching and getting my ideas down in my sketchbook. I enjoyed creating my sketchbook as it was the first chance I have had to work in this way. After getting all my initial designs down and discussing it in tutorials I decided to base my designs on the Kraken. I had to take into consideration that it would be small children wearing my costumes so I could not make anything to extravagant or heavy. I toned down my initial designs into a costume I believe to be suitable for children of that age.
To construct my costumes I had to do a lot of experimentation in the workshop to get the correct shape for the heads of my Krakens. Initially I found the prospect of going into the workshop a little daunting as I had never had a reason to work in there properly. Luckily they were all really helpful and pointed me in the right direction to get my heads constructed. They suggested that I build the heads in two halves as it would be the only way to get the shape I wanted into the vac-form machine. I had to built the initial head shape in clay which I really enjoyed as I had not worked with clay for some years. It was great to get my hands dirty and begin making a costume in a way I had not considered before on this course. From this I had to make a plastic mould of it in the vac-form machine and fill it with plaster to get an end product that would with stand being formed 20 times. Even though being in the workshop was a long process and I had a number of things that went wrong I felt it was a valuable experience and learning curve and I now feel that if I needed to use the workshop in the future I could go in there and work with little to no guidance.
As part of this project I have to go into a primary school and work alongside a teacher and a group of year 5 students to produce the costumes. To prepare for this I had to write four lesson plans, one for each workshop I will be leading. I found this task very difficult as I needed to consider the time I had in the schools and the amount of work that needed to be done in each. I also needed to include all the materials and equipment I would need for each particular session. After having a few sessions in the school when writing this I have found that sticking to the lesson plans is quite difficult. I do not know if this is because I was too ambitious with my planning or if it is because I am working with a different class on each week so a lot of the time is taken up explaining the project and what we will be doing that day.
Overall I have found this project very exhilarating and also a great challenge. I think this project has been good for me as it has elements of both designing and making. It also has the fundamentals of supervising as I have met with a number of professionals, presented ideas, had to complete a budget sheet and source all the materials needed for the costumes. If I could change anything about my costumes I would change the design as I just do not feel inspired by it anymore and so many things have gone wrong when trying to construct it I think I have just lost enthusiasm and feel if I had gone for a simpler design I would not have had the problems I have had to deal with. I would also re-do my sketchbook as I know I could have made it more visually pleasing. However generally I am pleased with the outcome of this project and feel I have learnt a number of new skills which will benefit me in the future.
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