Production and Outcomes

Interpretation

Zeitgeist is ‘the spirit of the times’ and is the cultural, spiritual, ethical, intellectual and political ambience associated with an era. It is essentially the essence of a specific time and place. By comparing interpretations of something through time allows us to see the effect of the zeitgeist. Peter Pan, originally a play and then novel by J. M. Barrie, has been adapted many times, and in many forms, but the main one I want to look at is the 1953 Walt Disney animated film version in comparison with Barrie’s original novel Peter and Wendy, or now just generally known as Peter Pan, first published in 1911 and illustrated by F.D. Bedford. Disney translated it to a different medium, from stills to flat colour animation, along with the classic Disney look. Barrie doesn’t actually describe Peter in detail, leaving much of it to the imagination of the reader and the interpretation of anyone adapting the character. He does, however, describe him as “clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that flow from trees”, which is evident in Bedford’s illustrations. The Disney version however has Peter in a green tunic and tights, and a cap with a feather. This is probably as it made it much easier to animate, and I expect the feather in the cap is a nod to Peter’s original outfit. This character design could have been completely different though. The characters designs and story development were started in the early ‘40’s and included Nana going to Neverland, and a much darker ending, but World War 2 put production on hold. I’m assuming the ending was changed to a happier one as the film was released post-war, so naturally people would want to see more upbeat things. The novel itself is quite a bit darker throughout, compared to the Disney film. I think this itself shows the power or zeitgeist. If the war hadn’t happened, then the Walt Disney version could have been completely different, story-wise and design-wise.

Methodology

My design process often starts with a personal interest, which I suppose is needed otherwise what would interest you in a project. As an example I’m going to use my A level coursework. I chose to do a study into surreal fashion influenced by different cultures and time periods. I’m a big fan of Japanese culture, particular their pop culture, and so I started with this. I looked into Lolita fashion and various subgenres of this street fashion, most notably Gothic Lolita, Sweet Lolita, and Elegant Gothic Aristocrat, and realised that most genres were individually influenced by the zeitgeist of other eras or places, yet then adapted. I then moved on to looking at designers, and Vivienne Westwood in particular, using this as an opportunity to visit the Fashion Museum in Bath. I think visiting galleries, exhibitions, anywhere really, is important to the research process. It allows you to really get into research, rather than just using books all the time. From there I moved back into researching another area of Japanese pop culture, Cosplay. I looked at several cosplayers, focusing on a group called ‘Tuxedo Team’ from the Philippines. I then started the practical aspect of the project. I settled on creating a fusion between lolita fashio and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as lolita fashion has roots in the Victorian periods, which was when ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; was written. After numerous designs and sewing experimentation, I finally settled on a design and made the costume. As I’d never done textile work before I evaluated each stage, which lead to more efficiency as I progressed.