Southwest Shakespeare Company's production of
Two Gentlemen of Verona
Concept images
The two pictures above have the "look"
of the knights - like in "Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail"
..
(and they happen to be the same as ones hanging on my living room wall, -
Edmund Blair-Leighton
is one of my favorite painters from the turn of the century, he did period
pieces as well as from his time, Victorian till early Edwardian)
The woman are fairly "period correct" for that era for a noble woman
or woman of wealth.
This Period is closer to the 12th century, as is the one below - range appears
to be from the late 1000's to the mid 1200's.
In the background of the first there are images of court people.
When talking to the the director during our first concept discussion, these
two paintings were what first came to mind.
This picture shows an "every day" man - and a young woman of promise - either from wealth or position of family, but not quite at the level of the woman above) When doing research I came across this picture also by Leighton and thought of Valentine, the "lover" wooing his lady or of Proteus the "uncontained" love struck youth. Common clothes for men during this time were short or split tunics and brais/pants often wrapped with leather laces like shown here. In the background is an older figure, of a father possibly - gown is longer and pants/leggings do not show or are not worn.
Below are some line drawings from a book - you can see the difference between 1000 and 1200, which is not much. The 1300-1500's is when the sleeves start to become more exaggerated and dagged much like some of the the designs used in the Southwest Shakepeare's production of "The Taming of the Shrew". As a matter of fact many clothing items became more exaggerated and dagged and more parti-colored. The second grouping has two pictures of woman with the very long false plaits, a popular fad of the time. That is about 1150ish time period.
Late 11th Century
Mid to late 12th Century
Some good historical movies set in this range of
years 900-1200's
(if memory serves me correctly)
In my research of a how I like lots of "eye
candy". I look at books with pictures of artwork and
artifacts from the time if a particular historical period is part of the concept.
I look for pictures or items that hold the "essence" or reflect
the concept of the show.
And I like to see what other designers have done -
one of my favorite things to do while designing a show is to watch movies
that inspire me and
keep me in the mode of the concept of the show ...
here are a few for this show I am watching, rewatched or planned to
watch.
Dragonheart
Dragon Slayer
Excalibur
First Knight
Hamlet (with Mel Gibson)
Lady Hawk
Robin and Marion
Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
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