Grp 45: Julius Caesar Presentation Mikala Martin, Lucille Byers, and Rebecca Hutchinson

1. Julius Caesar
Designed by Lucille Byers, Rebecca Hutchinson, and Mikala Martin
(Group 45)

2. Costume Designer
Lucille Byers

3. Costume Design in
Historical Context
• Costumes are used to establish a
time period and historical context of
a play.
• In Julius Caesar, the actors wear
togas or working attire and sandals
to reflect the attire of Romans in 44
BC.
• The use of these costumes
establishes the setting in the
Roman Empire in the first century
BC.

4. Costumes Show
Economic/Social Status
• High class Romans in Julius Caesar, such as the senators, wear
more luxurious cloths and styles to distinguish themselves from
the working class.
• Typical citizens in the streets wear plain, neutral colors to
distinguish themselves as apart from the slaves but not as high as
the senators.
• The slaves of Rome wear short plain togas to distinguish
themselves as part of a working class.

5. Costume design
establishes style
• Our costume design for Julius Caesar establishes a
realistic style as we attempt to recreate a typical
Roman scene through the incorporation of both the
set and the costumes.

6. Costumes to Show
Separation
• In battle scenes, costumes can be used to show
loyalty to opposing armies.
• In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, we must separate
the side of Cassius and Brutus from that of Octavius
and Antony.

7. Costumes reflect action
• Costumes can be used to reflect the action of a play.
• In Act III scene 1, the change in costume from a white toga to a
bloodied toga after the conspirators stab Caesar in the Senate.
• Additionally, the use of Caesar’s bloody toga at his funeral by Antony
moves the people in the play to action as they are inspired to avenge
Caesar.

8. Costume Design as A
Symbol
• We decided to associate the color red with the
sense of something looming and use it as a symbol
for fate throughout Julius Caesar.
• Red, as the color of blood and fire, was therefore
associated with all of the omens in the play, starting
with the soothsayer in Act 1.

9. Functional Design of
Costumes
• Costumes are deigned to be
functional to the actors wearing
them and enable them to do what
they need to do on stage.
• The design of the short togas for
the working class background
characters both distinguishes them
by their social class in the play and
enables them to move easily when
they help with set or prop changes
or must move quickly off the stage
during changes in scenes.

10. Use of Makeup and
Hairstyles
• Makeup is used on stage to
make sure the actors are not
washed out by the lights used
and can be seen well.
• Hairstyles also contribute to
the overall tone and
experience of the play as men
have their hair kept short,
while the women of the play
have elaborate hairstyles,
custom of this time in the
Roman Empire.

11. Costume Accessories
• The costume accessories, such as pins
on the togas of the senators or crests on
the armor of the actors in the final scene
were each specifically chosen to
represent the time period of this play.
• The pins used for the togas of the
senators and Caesar himself
incorporated an eagle, or “aquila” in
Latin.
• Small accents to costumes such as this
one add a greater detail to the play.
• A golden wreath is also used to
designate Julius Caesar as royalty.

12. Light Designer
Mikala Martin

13. Objective of a Light
Designer
• A light designer has an important role within the creation of a
play.
• Lighting is used to achieve visibility, mood, and composition.
• Lighting is also used to control the focus of the spectators.
• This is can be very important when working with specific set
designs.
• Lighting can enhance the understanding of the play and give
aesthetic pleasure to the viewers.

14. A Rule of Lighting
• The visibility and ambience lighting creates must
relate to the total theatrical design, like costumes
and scenery.
• For example: In the play, Julius Caesar, as a light
designer I would create shadows in the streets when
the conspirators are in the scene. It creates a mood of
intensity and would be inherent to the scenery.

15. Set’s Role in Lighting
• The set design of the play largely determines what lighting will
be used throughout the acts.
• A large amount of the play is set in the streets of Rome. For
these scenes I would create a sense of natural lighting from
above to make a more realistic appearance to the audience.
• For the dramatic scenes, like the death of Caesar,
I would illuminate a broad section of the stage
with a red floodlight.
• While this is unrealistic, it is necessary in
providing a mood of betrayal and death.

16. Why Lighting is Important in Setting
a Mood
• Important components: contrast and
color.
• Contrast consists of things like creating
shadows not only on the ground but on
the actor themselves.
• Color is important because a harsh red
effects the audience differently than a
soft lavender.
• Shadows on the actors them-selves
imply a more intense mood than
revealing their entire face. In the play, I
would put a dark shadow on the
conspirators because they represent
betrayal.

17. Direct Lighting on an Actor
• In a important part of the play, like when Calpurnia is
warning Caesar that something bad is going to
happen, I would dim the lights surrounding them to
focus the audience’s attention on the actors.

18. Collaboration
• A light designer, set designer, costume
designer, and director must all meet
and discuss details of the play in order
to create a unified look and feel for the
audience.
• For a play like Julius Caesar, the
director must let each designer know
what the focus of each scene is in
order for those designers to help
them achieve their goal.
• All parts wouldn’t be complete without
the rest.

19. Shapes and Forms
• Lighting is important when revealing 3D and 2D
objects on the set.
• It also establishes time and place.
• For example: In the play I would make torches and
candles an important light source because of
the setting of the
play.

20. Set Designer
Rebecca Hutchinson

21. Set Design
• In the set designers’ job, they are responsible for
environment, mood, style, and concept.
• Using Julius Caesar as our example, we will show of
each element using props and the set.

22. Environment
• The environment helps the
actors and audience to
understand how the
characters feel.
• In Julius Caesar, all
elements of the play affect
the environment such as
mood, period, and
language.
• The environment will be
mostly in the day time, in
the spring so the play’s
environment will juxtapose
the mood with the good
feeling of spring versus the
serious mood.

23. Mood
• The mood helps create a
feeling for the audience
with the placement of
props.
• During the murder scene,
props could be placed
disorganized by actors
chaotically placing them.
• Props would include fake
blood, daggers, scrolls,
and chairs.

24. Realistic/Non-Realistic
• Set designers have to
decide which take they
want to portray.
• In our play, I have decided
to have a more traditional
set.
• Traditional sets include
realistic props to allow the
audience to submerse
themselves into the play.

25. Period
• The period in Julius Caesar
takes place in 44 B.C.
• To display the period, I
would use columns, cobble
roads, and Julius Caesar’s
statue.
• Showing the period to the
audience wouldn’t need a
lot of props because of the
traditional nature of the
take on the play.

26. Coordination
• Coordination is required for a
successful play.
• A great way to coordinate is to
use a central image/theme.
• In Julius Caesar, the designers
have decided to use a color red
to help tie in everything.

27. Central Image
• The idea of the whole play
is to focus the traitors in
red.
• Red is a color that evokes
strong emotion so using
red to show who is un-loyal
helps the audience
understand.

28. How to maintain actual set
• During the production,
props can get damaged or
lost.
• The best way to maintain is
to have what goes where
after the use of each prop.
• Example: If there is a
dagger used, put it off
stage in a basket.

29. Work Cited
Wilson, Edwin. “The Designers.” The Theatre
Experience. 12th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
224-95. Print.