The Entertainer

Short film Written & Directed by Jonathan Schey

Costume Designer - Patrick Jack Whelan (www.patrickjackdesigns.com)

Staring Toby Jones.

I got to design a really fun show July 2015 for E4 - it was a comedy Sketch show Pilot called "Top 5".

Each Ep would be topical and based on celebrity mishaps counting down the "Top 5". So for example - our pilot was based on "the Top 5 celebrity Splits". Covering Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin, Rpatz, Miley Cyrus, One Direction and a range of other famous faces.

I LOVE designing the costumes on comedy-based shows like this - especially Sketch shows. It’s fast past, with a high turn around. You need to find the funny in the characters your designing and exaggerate it. Allow the audience to quickly read who it is and immediately find the funny (well that’s the plan anyway). Its giving the actors something to work with, to help portray the person they are putting across.

I worked with the producers, Make Up Designer and director to establish where we were heading with the looks, and then it was down to me, the make-up designer, and obviously our amazing teams to create them.

As I said it was lots of fun and we worked we an amazing crew and cast including the amazing Beattie Edmondson daughter of the fab Jennifer Saunders.

Click here to watch the show

So for a recent Film I was working on, some of the costumes needed to be "Broken Down". By this I mean made to look worn/lived in, in this case to quite an extreme length.

The character had been through some form of mental breakdown and was living in a flat on her own.. where she had lost of sense of reality and self control.

Not washing, changing clothes, cleaning herself and basically living in her own excrement.

So to create this look I used a mixed medium of techniques.

There are some great products out there that you can buy...

like Dirty Down spray, which comes in a variety of colours and tones. Also waxes and rubs which are good for creating natural looking stains like sweat and dirt.

I peronsally like to use a mix of these products which more house hold items.

for example;

Ketch up-

Vasaline-

worcestershire sauce-

coffee- to rub on and to dtte entire garments.

spray paints are good when used carefully.

fabric dyes are great for making new items look old- running several items through a machine wash with a grey dye works wonders.

I just wanted to Share these tricks of the trade encase you ever need to "Break Down" a costume! Good Luck!