Costume and Makeup

Using makeup and costume in a film are the key ingredients to set the scene of the film and without them the film would be insignificant. For example, it can show whether someone is wealthy or not, what type of person they are, their age etc, by doing this the audience can judge the person and this saves tedium by having to describe each and every character in depth, saving time.

For my chosen film The Green Mile the use of makeup and costume is essential and without it the film wouldn't be the incredibly powerful film that it is. The way the prison guards are dressed they formally professional and are juxtaposed to the rest of the people at the prison as they are all dressed in denim dungarees and a white top, this show the immediate division between the two groups of people. When the criminals are taken to the electric chair, from the minute they enter the room and when they are executed the amount of vital props used in those parts of the film really reflect the trauma which everyone has to go through, particularly the criminal. For example, the sponge used to put on the criminals head before they are executed, the sound when dipped into the water echoes the entire room that and the criminal trembaling is the only noise to be heard, then as they walk over to place it on their head the water trickles onto the hard wooden floor; the suspence and tension created in this process is imence. Although such simple but effective props create a horrofic atmosphere and adds to the sadness and personal experiences you go through with the criminals, without it, the film wouldn't make you empathise with them and I would look at the film in a totally different perspective.