This document discusses the costume design and choices in three British films - Kidulthood, Fish Tank, and This is England. For Kidulthood and Fish Tank, the document notes that casual, realistic clothing like caps, hoodies, and trousers were used to portray teenagers and increase realism. For This is England, a wider range of costumes were used, from casual to business wear, to appeal to more audiences and show the progression of fashion from the 1980s. The document discusses how these costume choices in the films could provide inspiration for the document author's own film project focusing on teenagers, while This is England may be less relevant due to its 1980s setting.

1. James O’Connell
media studies
Costume design
Kidulthood
This image is from the British film “Kidulthood” which shows three teenagers who are the main
characters. With the costumes that they are wearing the director would have wanted the characters
to wear this type of clothing to portray a message to the viewer. It will also show realism as many
teenagers in Britain wear these types of clothes which means they will relate to the characters in the
film more. Another reason is to make them look casual by wearing casual clothing and shows more
realism which is what the director would want the characters to portray. These clothes are mainly
shown to be worn by teenagers as they are fashion statements as wearing caps or hats when it is
snot sunny means they are wearing them to look better a statement, this could also be said about
the jackets and hoodies they could be used as a statement. The director may have also used hoodies
in his film as they are seen to be clothes that people use to cover their face which could mean the
director wanted to give out a representation of teenagers being up to no good.
These costume designs will help me in my production as they show a realistic social realism which
can help the film become easier to relate to my audience which will be teenagers (13-19). SO these
costumes will have an influence on my production by giving me ideas to go on.

2. James O’Connell
media studies
Fish tank
In the film “Fish Tank” the main character would have been used to show a message through the
costume they are wearing which the director would have used on purpose to show a message. In
this film the costume is very casual clothing that would be a typical representation of teenagers in
the media the casual clothing is the hoodie and trousers which are typical causal clothing. The main
character is a dancer so the clothes are more for her dancing which shows that the director has
thought about what she would wear throughout the film to fit with what she wants her to do in the
film.
The costumes used in this film may have an influence on some of the costumes I choose as casual
clothing is a costume I would use in my film to portray realism. So this film will also have some effect
on my film. Other characters in the film have also showed costumes that would help me have more
ideas on what clothes I will use so this film was very helpful in costume design that will be best for a
social realism.

3. James O’Connell
media studies
This is England
In the film “This is England” there is a much wider range of costumes used to the causal as used in
the films above to the smarter more business type clothing of suits and shirts. The director would
have used all of this wider range of clothing to try to appeal to a wider audience as there were
clothes that some people would wear and are more likely to relate to than others. However most of
the clothes seen in this film have developed more from the time the film is based in which was 1983
so relating the clothes used to times right now would be more difficult. Never the less the clothes
used in this film show a representation of younger people and middle aged people as all of the
characters were wearing similar clothes which meant the younger people would be trying to become
or be like the grownups which does not happen as much now a days and this portrayal would have
been skilfully used by the director to see how times have changed. So the clothes that are used in
this film would have been used to show the progression of time from the 1980s to the 2010s.
For my film I don’t think this film will have such an effect on what costumes I will use in my film
because this film is set in the 1980s which would mean I would have to change the film to be based
around this time where I want to use more modern day clothing to make the film have a better slice
of realism. But this film has given me some ideas.