How Is A Day In The Life Of A Set Costumer? - Making Of "Playa Del Sol"

One of my jobs as a freelance costumer I worked for last year, was a Swedish series production called “Palya del Sol”. With preparation days and shooting days I worked for round about 3 month. It was a great production, could earn again useful experiences, had worthwhile exercises to learn different ways of working. Because even if you've been in the job for a while, every production is different. Especially when you work with different nationalities. Our team consisted mostly of Swedish, Spanish and German people. Every country or nationality has a different way of running a production. I really enjoyed the multicultural flair and that everyone was open, tolerant and full of acceptance for each other.

After this 3 month of production, we still had a great team spirit, although if we had quite many, hard and long shooting days. Especially after that long term of shooting I can say I love my job even more. Some people didn’t get my obsession for this job, because they only see, long working hours, stressful days, no social life…and so on. That’s why I would like to share a closer look at what life is truly on set for me.

So read on If you like to know more about a day in the life of a set costumer!

While in small advertising productions or catalog photo shoots it’s just one person who run the whole costume department, in big series or movie productions they hire costume designers, who only create the costumes and usually don’t come to the set. Thats’s why they hire also set costumers to carry out the costume designer’s visions for each character and ensure the integrity of the costumes, with all accessories, to guarantee that everything is cared for responsibly.

Depending on how many actors and extras are planed for the production, they hire 1 or more set costumers. In this production our costume team consisted of the costume designer, me as the set costumer and an “intern” who was taking care to wash and iron the clothing. So we had a pretty small but nice and great team. I think we three, Sofi Gregersdotter as Costume Designer, Valentina Torres as the “intern” and me as Set Costumer rocked it and had a great time.

But let’s move on and see!

As a set costumer I had to keep track of all the costumes. Made sure that everything we need in the costume department get packed into the truck or van and unloaded safely without damaging or dirtying the costumes. As well I had to set up a convenient wardrobe room established with shelves, clothe racks, changing areas, irons, ironing boards, steamers, sewing machines and materials for quick repairs. Thanks to Seven Islands Film I could arranged a nice wardrobe room in the hotel where we shoot most of the series.

Generally I always keep an eye on that the costumes and accessories are distributed to the correct actors and during wearing I take care of every costume, whether the costumes are clean and correctly worn, such as any stain is visible or whether the sleeves have been properly folded up or whether the buttons need to be open or close. There are so many things to be aware of, that on set I always try to focus and to work quite concentrated in order for everything to be right. Including that the actors don’t eat, drink or smoke while wearing the costumes and, of course, not being seen in the costume off the set.

Even for the actors exist a guideline to check their own costumes after each use for dirt, tears and other problems, and they should know where to place the pieces when they need special attention. Because after every shooting day I ensure that every costume is clean and carefully stored at the right place. Every actor has its own clothes rack full of different outfits for the whole production. So at the end of the shooting day I always check on every actors’s clothe rack that the garments are back, clean and not broken.

To be honest, a few times I have been looking for an accessory in our wardrobe room after the shooting day, which was worn by an actor before. I panicked a little, because we didn’t find it but we gonna need it for the next day’s first scene early in the morning. Since it will be direct continuity, we had to find it. Luckily after a bit of searching, everything was rediscovered. You just need to stay calm and know where to look…;-)

As I always prepare the day before the whole “line up” (all costumes of actors and extras we need for the upcoming shooting day), I just need to be at the fitting room, when the actors started to change. During the changing time I verified again if all costumes are right regarding the continuity for this shooting day and if the actors worn the costumes correctly (jacket open or close, shorts or long trousers, tie or shirt open....etc.).

Besides, I have to pay a little attention together with one of the director’s assistants, that all actors are dressed in time for the shooting start. After we started with the first take I take pictures of the outfits in detail and also of the whole scenes. Because these photos are important and necessary to save in the continuity program in order to follow how they were wearing the sunglasses or bags, for example. Due to the continuity program we used, which called “Sync On Set”, we had the possibility to save the most important photos in each scene in the breakdown of the script. This program is so great, because it creates the breakdowns almost by itself of every script you load into the program. Further it is so easy and quick to handle. I love it!

Once if you are not sure about the continuity, there is fortunately the script super visor on set, which you can find mostly next to the director. This Lady or gentleman can help you in all questions about the continuity, because they record a kind of protocol or diary of every scene we shoot. It helps especially later when they edit the movie to avoid continuity errors.

Most important thing is to have a good relationship with the actors. Because as a set costumer you work very closely with them. So it's always good if the actor can trust you and when they start to feel comfortable with you. It's always helpful when you have good vibes on set and, of course, it’s always a good felling, when the actors started to trust and wanted to help you, like the main actor Morten (Hendrik), he preferably knotted his tie by himself. I think for him was it helpful, too, because knotting the tie was a kind of ritual to get into his role.

As a set costumer I also have to work closely with other departments. For example, the sound department. Because the microphones and the corresponding transmitter usually have to be adequately attached to the clothing or skin. Of course without it being visible. That's why I always gave Hector from the sound department a hand to attach the microphones.

In between the takes I always adjust the clothes. That’s why you will find me as often as possible while they shoot behind the monitor to check if everything is okay and when they don’t shoot I’ll be next to the actors to check if everything regarding costume is alright.

Then, of course, a big issue was often, due to the warm weather, which should be sometimes also shown in the story, the sweat on the clothes. So the more frequently or longer a scene is shooted, the more often you have to refresh or adjust the sweat. Because here on Gran Canaria it dries quite fast. Exist water-based products enriched with glycerine, which shouldn't dry so quickly. But I don't like to use it for clothing, because as soon as it dries it leaves stains, so I just use normal water from the spray bottle. With water I can regulate the intensity of the sweat on the clothes better and easier. Because You have to take care that the level of the sweat is the same or that the sweat even gets stronger, depending on the duration of the scene.

Of course, always important is to pay attention, and I always take that very seriously, that the actors never get cold. In the beginning everybody says, that they don’t gonna need jackets on set. But in the end everyone is happy when you can put something warm in between the takes. That's why I stand next to the actors, especially when we have a night shoot, with an arm full of warm jackets or blankets to keep every actor warm. It means that there is a constant jacket on-off situation between the takes. Often I needed our lovely “intern” Valentina for some help. Especially if we had a lot of extras. Which we had quite often.

Like on this night, when we shooted a bachelor party under the motto Hawaii. In this scene someone was thrown into the pool, which meant we had to put off and on this person's outfit from wet to dry several times. It was a lot of work that night, but since we had good vibes on set, I think because of the party, which was performed, it was a fun time despite all the work.

Last but not least, I would like to mention that it’s always an advantage to be next the director as often as possible just to hear what his directions are. Because it's always good to understand and be able to anticipate what's going on. So you should always keep an ear open, about what the director, cameraman and director assistant discuss.

Sorry for the messy article, but I tried to mention everything of what happened on set in a day of a set costumer. I hope it’s still readable and interesting for you to see what my tasks are and maybe now you understand why we are all growing to a little family. Can you imagine that working so closely in a team every day for 3 months gives me a feeling of emptiness when the shoot is done?

But after a few days of relaxing and coming down, you’ve already regenerated and you are quite happy that you finished this job. It's definitely nice having a good team. But it's also good to bring back some distance. At the latest when you miss all of them again, you can fortunately check out the “Making of” photos to remember what a good time we actually had. I hope we will see each other again soon!

Love,

Katy

PS: Thanks a lot to Daniell Bohnhof for the “Making Of” pics.

Text by Look2 Ocean