2.3.2: Character

Character is a term that will come up a lot. We use it to describe how a screenwriter invents believable characters that inhabit a narrative structure. And we use it to describe how an actor inhabits that character in their performance. But we can also examine how the physical design of a character, through costume, make-up, and hairstyle, not only contributes to the mise-en-scène but also helps fully realize the work of both screenwriters and actors.

Typically, when we think of “character design,” we might immediately think of fantastic creatures dreamed up in a special effects studio. They might be animated through CGI, fabricated from latex, and worn by an actor. And all of that is a reasonable way to think about the concept of character design. But in some ways, that is just a much more extreme version of how I would like to frame the work of costume designers and hair and make-up professionals.

Just as a screenwriter must create – or design – a character on the page and an actor must create – or design – their approach to inhabiting that character, the wardrobe, hair, and make-up departments must also design how that character is going to look on screen. This design element is, of course, more obvious the less familiar the world of the character might be. The clothing, hair, and make-up of characters inhabiting worlds in a distant time period or even more distant galaxy will inevitably draw our attention. (Though even there, the intention is to add to the mise-en-scène without distracting us from the story.) But even when the context is closer to home, a story set in our time, in our culture, maybe even our own hometown, every element of the clothes, the hair, and the make-up is carefully chosen, sometimes made from scratch, to fit that context and those particular characters. In other words, each character’s look is carefully designed to support the overall mise-en-scène and help tell the story.

Take costume design, for example. We often think of “costume” as another word for disguise or playing a character. But the last thing a filmmaker wants is for the audience to think of their characters as actors in disguise or playing dress-up. They want us to see the characters. Period. The wardrobe should fit the time, place, and, most importantly, the character. Once that is established, the designer can layer in more subtle hints about the larger context, the underlying theme, by adding a touch of color that serves as a visual motif or introducing some alteration in the wardrobe that dramatizes some narrative shift:

What is important to note is that costume design in film is not about fashion or what looks “good” on an actor. It’s about what looks right on a character, what fits the setting, and the film's overall look.

These same principles can be applied to hair and make-up. As with costume design, it’s easy to think of the more extreme examples of hair and make-up design, especially when the setting calls for something historic, other-worldly, or… horrifying. The special effects make-up for the gory bits of your favorite horror films can sometimes take center stage. But these elements are often not meant to draw our attention at all. To achieve that, perhaps ironically, hair and make-up require even more attention from their respective designers. This is due in part to the technical requirements of filming. Bright lights can reveal every distracting blemish or poorly applied foundation, and as camera and image technology improves, the techniques required to hide the fact that actors are even wearing make-up must be continually refined. But it is also because hair and make-up are incredibly personal and intimately connected to the character:

And while all of this is tremendously important for the audience, it is even more important for the actor playing the character. We’ll discuss the various ways an actor approaches their performance in detail in another chapter, but for now, it’s important to note how much actors rely upon the design of their character through costume, hair, and make-up. Putting on the wardrobe, seeing themselves in another era, a different hairstyle, looking older or younger, helps the actor literally and metaphorically step into the life of someone else and do so believably enough that we no longer see the actor, only the character in the story.