Resources: Costumes, props and

settings
This document will cover the various costumes, props and settings featured in our
TV Advertisement for the soap opera FAMILY INC.
 Costume
Here are the all the characters and their costumes
 Introduction- revisit

Below we have given some information regarding elements that can be scene in all costuming for
our advertisement:

From the very beginning we wanted our actors to wear the clothing that they would usually wear for a
school day.

We chose to do this because when we discussed our actors after casting and we all agreed that the choice
of clothing by our actors fitted perfectly with the soap’s characters, style and time frame. We had decided
that our advert would be set on an ordinary working day in the afternoon when people would be coming
home from a work. So the teachers from our school that we used were dressed for work already, for
example we planned that our main character would be wearing a suit and so luckily, Mr Harris wore suits to
school anyway. But also we wanted the clothing to be formal to help make our actors look more upper-class
and business to reflect the families stature and link to the family business featured in the show.

Also we had to consider the autumn setting that we had chosen, so having our actors wear their autumn
clothing made perfect sense. In fact the autumn clothing was useful in reflecting the mood of our soap
advertisement as we wanted a sad, mellow and all round dark scene that hinted to idea of death. So the
cold weather clothing featured a lot of black which was perfect for conveying this mood. This was not the
case for every character as we used lighter colours on our main character so that he stood out and
symbolised his power or status above these other characters.

Finally, it was simply convenient for the group that the actors sorted their own clothes as it saved time and
effort that needed to be placed elsewhere. It could have proved difficult to get everything perfect without
borrowing or maybe buying items. But everyone wore almost exactly what we wanted, so we are pleased
with the outcome.
Main Character
Costume for Mr Harris: Grey suit with pale pink
shirt and tie.

The suit immediately makes this character of

important as he stands out from the rest.

We want this character to appear wealthy and

middle class as he is part of middle class. Also he
is a particularly wealthy character, so a suit helps
express this, especially as he is wearing it casually.
Also he is part of a family business and suit can
easily symbolise this.

All of the characters apart from our main character

wear black and dark and colours. This is because
we wanted to create the sense that this character is
different from the rest, the light colours make him
seem happier and more relaxed reflecting his easy
going character. But we have been sure to use a
pale pink so that it still looks dulled to keep with the
dark mood.
Teen 1 and 2
Costume:

-Lee Carter: Ripped blue jeans, t-shirt and

black hooded jumper and black hat

-Connor Horton: Black fleece, black t-shirt

and stonewash jeans
We simply wanted these characters to look
like typical teenagers and the clothing
reflects this as this typical clothing for a
teenager, items like these appear is the
usual choice in British soaps. The
incorporation of a hood makes Lee seem
criminal or aggressive, as the public have
often associate trouble with ‘hoodies’ as it
covers the face.
Also this clothing we chose is casual so
that they appear separate from the middle
class characters.
The kids

Costume for three Chelmer

valley students : School uniforms
Having the shirts un-tucked and tie
undone makes them look like a
typical British school child to make
these boys look young and childish.
Which is used for effect when the
boy pretends to shoot a weapon.
Although the costumes and
behaviour appear normal. For the
audience this has a darker
meaning.
Man leaving house

Costume for Tom Pullen: Black

skinny jeans, blue checked shirt and
checked black and grey jacket
This character is meant to be quite
young, as was originally friends with
Mr Harris but is not part of the
family. So he appears in modern
and fashionable clothing to reflect
his age and also business
connection to the family with the
formal style. Also the clothes remain
dark to reflect the mood and status
of this character.
Woman in house

Costume for Miss Russell: Miss

Russell: Black cardigan, low cut t-
shirt, trousers and necklace.
In keeping with the dark mood and
winter setting, also the all black
clothing is formal for middle class
buisness appearance as she is a
member of the family.
Women in Car
Costumes:

Kim Howard: Black blazer and purple

dress

Abby Kennedy: Black Jacket and t-shirt

Yet again a focus on black to reflect the
winter and mood but Kim’s purple dress
shows that she is not embroiled in the
Family issues.
Basically we wanted these two characters
to be look young, modern and formal as it
is a working day, unlike other characters
Abby’s clothing is formal but more casual
than the rest as she is middle class but
not part of the family.
The Props
Gun

Symbol of violence, aggression

and a shooting, hinting to a
murder.

The idea for the scene is that

whilst Harris walks through the
street, a boy would pretend to
shoot a handgun without Harris
noticing. The Gun appears to be
playful and harmless as it is
child playing, but for the
audience it symbolises a
possible murder.
The car
This car has no specific meaning,
the car is there to make the
advertisement more interesting to
watch as most people are walking
around.
Also we used the car as a device to
reveal and trigger panning as well as
working as a way of changing the
audiences focus start and end of the
advertisement.
But having a vehicle makes it more
like a normal street then as if it has
been staged. The car is also newly
bought and a modern model which is
in keeping with the middle class
family background.
The set
Street and House

Street

We originally set out to find a middle class setting

for our story, so we wanted something similar to
a small mansion to be the families home, so this
meant the road would also have to be of a higher
class. This was as close as we could get but it
was modern and well kept and newly built which
helped to generate the middle class look. Also
this street is directly outside the school so getting
to location was simple and quick. Finally we had
sections of the street places where there were no
houses, so that characters had places to stand

House

We had little choice with housing but on the

street we had a friends who's house was equally
modern to keep within the middle class theme.
Positioning was perfectly situated in the middle of
street so that we had enough walking room for
our main character before he reached the house.
Also the driveway gave us time to film Tom
leaving the house before the main character
arrived which led directly onto the road where our
main character would come from.