Planning My Thriller - Costumes

Planning my thriller has caused me to think what are the general characteristics of some of the characters e.g. my antagonist is dark, mean, emotionless, and deadly. My protagonist is innocent, weak and scared. So how can I transfer these characteristics from the screen into the subconscious mind of my audience through costumes and props?

I have researched what costumes the characters should wear through looking up similar characters over the internet and other forms of media.

The antagonist is an easy choice for me, I have chosen for him to wear dark, smart yet serious clothes which will show off his attitude and demeanor. Similar characters are the classic bodyguard and assassin shown below:

These characters are often dressed in similar dark, serious clothes to my character, Items of clothing which I want my antagonist to wear are: a dark black coat, suit, black shoes and sunglasses.

The protagonist was a lot harder to figure out. I wanted him to seem very innocent and helpless. What I thought of doing was focussing on the protagonist acting as if he was an innocent civilian. I wanted to do this because I believed that if the audience where able to associate themselves with the character they could then realise this could happen to them and generally bring more tension into the film.

Here are some of he following type of casual items I would like my protagonist to wear to show he is a simple civilian:

 

 

As you can see very usual, normal, casual clothes that the actor can bring himself.

 

Before the filming of my thriller starts I will make sure all of the actors send me pictures or show me what they are planning to wear, if it does not fit with exactly I have shown here I will provide them with something that will.