Costume and make-up
Costume is what the actor wears on stage. Make-up is what is put on the face and body to change how they look.
What costume tells us
- Who: a crown shows a king, a straw hat a farmer, a white coat a scientist.
- When and where: old-style clothes suggest the past or a certain place.
- Feeling and change: bright colours can show joy, dark ones sadness. A character can change costume to show change in life.
What make-up does
- Adds age with lines or a grey beard.
- Shows mood, such as heavy dark eyebrows for a fierce person.
- Creates special looks, such as a pale face for a ghost.
- Stage lights are bright and wash out faces, so stage make-up is stronger than daily make-up so far-away viewers can see it.
Sound effects
Sound effects are noises added to a scene to suggest something that is not on stage: thunder, a door, footsteps, a car, a bell.
Why use them
- They tell us the place (birds = garden, traffic = street).
- They tell us events (a knock means someone has come).
- They build tension (footsteps getting louder).
How they are made
They can be recorded sounds, live sounds made backstage (for example shaking a metal sheet for thunder), or made with a computer. Timing is everything: the sound must come exactly with the action.
A sound designer plans all the sounds and the volume so that speech can still be heard.
Incidental music
Incidental music is music played under or between scenes to support the mood. The characters do not hear it. It is for the audience.
How music changes the mood
- Slow tempo and low notes: sadness, calm or danger approaching.
- Fast tempo and high notes: excitement, joy or fear.
- Loud or soft: shows how strong the feeling is.
- Silence: can be the strongest choice of all.
The same scene with different music feels completely different. A director and a music maker plan where music begins and ends, and how loud it is.
Key formulas and definitions
- Costume = what the actor wears; shows rank, work, age and time
- Make-up = changes the face to show age, mood or a special look
- Sound effect = a noise that suggests an unseen place or event
- Incidental music = music under the action to set the mood
- Slow, low music = sad or calm; fast, high music = thrilling or scary
- Sound designer = plans all sounds for a show
Worked examples
1. A scene shows a farmer. Name two costume pieces you would pick and what they tell us.
A straw hat and a simple green coat. They tell us his work is farming and that he is a simple, outdoor person.
2. A character is 80 years old but is played by a 14-year-old. How can make-up help?
Draw lines on the face, add a grey beard or white hair. From far away the audience then believes the age.
3. How can you show a storm outside a room when the stage has no window?
Play thunder as a sound effect and flicker the light a little. The audience believes there is a storm outside.
4. Which music would you choose for a sad goodbye scene, and why?
Slow music with low notes and soft volume, because slow, low sounds feel sad and gentle.
Common mistakes
- Choosing very busy costumes that hide the actor or hurt the movement.
- Using tiny, daily make-up that disappears under stage lights.
- Letting music or sound effects drown out the actors’ words.
- Playing a sound effect late. It must match the action exactly.