[In hopes of documenting my thesis process, I will keep a log of my experience. These entries are by no means a comprehensive look into all I have to say on this topic but I hope these informal summaries and reflections will help me organize my thoughts and clarify what I am doing as I work towards my MFA in Costume Design. For those of you who will be joining me on my journey, please ask questions and I hope this will give you a peek into my creative process.]
As I
write this post and subsequent posts following I am officially DONE (!) with my
Master’s Thesis. Hooray!!! Hopefully my posts will now sound less like present painful
agony and more like past suffering and accomplishment!
Coming
up with the creative concept for HDM really had me digging deep into personal
reflections about why I chose the piece, what it means to me, and what I want
to convey through costuming this story. I
managed to break it down to a handful of topics below, all of which are also reasons
why I choose to explore most stories or concepts whenever I start a project.
Celebrations of Humanity
Lyra and Will and
the other characters are meant
to be human beings like us, and the story
is
about a universal human experience, namely growing up.
HDM is
all about the human experience. Pullman
presents the good, the bad, the grey areas in between, and the beauty and
natural wonder of human growth.
There
have been too many stories, especially in young adult fiction, where the main
character transforms into something “more than” human in order to overcome the
principle conflict. In my opinion, this
plot point doesn’t serve to inspire anyone to overcome obstacles especially in
a world where so much pressure is put upon trying to be more than who you
really are-to the point of suppressing your true self. It is then difficult to believe that you can
achieve similar things as the protagonist when they are no longer the human you
are. While it can be argued that this
transformation is metaphorical to the character realizing their true potential,
most of these stories tend to paint humans in a negative light, banal, and
apathetic. Why does anyone have to be super human to
achieve great things in this world? Throughout history, time and time again,
all human accomplishments have been by humans.
Not all of them are any more or less ‘special’ than anyone else; they
just took action and did what they felt was right. Maybe a single action by these people doesn’t
amount to much, but when these accumulated singular actions are viewed together
retrospectively, they can be exceptional and through the combination of
multiple individuals’ singular accomplishments, the result is extraordinary.
Lyra is
a normal girl, she’s feisty, wild, and just doing what she believes is right. She makes mistakes throughout her journey, but
she takes responsibility for them and works to right her wrongs. She can read the alethiometer but she can
also choose to disregard its messages. Nothing
about her is special in a way that the reader should also be, but the culmination
of her actions is what makes her such a compelling character. Through Lyra and HDM, Pullman demonstrates
the potential and caliber of human accomplishment.
" I write stories about what happens to real
people. And about what it’s like to be alive."
Coming of Age
I find
that coming of age stories are some of the best celebrations of humanity. Children and teenagers becoming conscious of
their life and of themselves in these stories serve as a guide, both good and
bad, throughout a time of numerous endings and beginnings. It’s the start of a new kind of magic in the
human experience that allows for the discovery of self, potential, and power
they hold through this awakening. It’s
the end of the grace of childhood and the slumber of ignorance. It’s one of the first major conscious
journeys through the Monomyth Archetype an individual has and it is fraught
with beauty and ugliness, joy and sorrow, lightness and darkness, in other
words, reality. The journey of learning
how to navigate all these contradictions is what makes us human.
Storytelling
Stories
are an integral part of the human experience. We live stories, we learn from
stories, we connect through stories, we thrive on stories. Storytelling is the reflection of the human
experience. We can tell stories of our
past, we fabricate stories from imagination.
If I’m not caught up in a story or two, the repetitions of daily life
feels bland and colorless.
Lyra is
a storyteller. She loves making up fantastical stories to entertain her friends
and peers. Lyra the liar they called
her. Her deceptions are what help her
through various obstacles in her journey, from evading Mrs. Coulter to helping
Iorek Byrnison regain his throne. Her
name, Lyra, from the Greek ‘lyre,’ is a small instrument related to the god
Apollo, and musician, Orpheus. Apollo is the god of light, truth, prophecy
and many others. As the patron god of
Delphi, and the Oracle, he serves as the direct link between the Olympian gods
and humans. As the reader of the alethiometer, Lyra plays a similar role in
relating prophecy and truth to everyone who asks. In the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus
loses his wife to the underworld. He
ventures there to bring her back by charming Cerberus and Hades with his lyre.
Though failing to save his wife, Orpheus becomes the first and possibly only
living human to venture to the underworld and return alive. This link to Lyra foreshadows her journey and
return from the underworld. Lyra’s
efforts at deception are met with hostility by the harpies when she tries to
tell them stories in exchange for passage to the ghosts. However, she catches their interest sharing
memories of her life in Oxford. The
Harpies, like the ghosts, want to know and remember what it is like to be alive,
not escape the realities of life.
 |
| Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French, 1796–1875 MFAH |
Pullman did
not write the story solely for children, his intent was to write a story many
people could read and comprehend. I’ve
always believed that children and young adult novels aren’t solely for the
target market; adults can learn a lot about themselves and others through these
stories. After all, most of them are written by adults and the best ones as
Pullman says, “should be ‘about how to grow up,’ not about how to remain
childish.”
.
…if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups,
then
you write it for children.
Madeleine L’Engle
The Importance of Play
The Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Play is
an integral part of childhood development.
There are numerous articles detailing the benefits of play. Children learn to solve problems, manage
emotions, lean social interactions, and over all learn to deal with the world
around them in a safe setting. While
play is crucial to child development, I don’t think it becomes any less
important the older you become. While
the definition and activities can change and vary, I still believe that play is
highly important to the well being of adults.
Play allows individual to not only safely express their purest sense of
self but to also take on various roles which allow for considerations into the
mental states and feelings of others.
While
HDM doesn’t deal thematically with the importance of play, Pullman provides a
very real and respectful perspective on children and their relationship with
themselves, each other, adults, and the world. It is through the accounts of Lyra’s life
playing with other children in Oxford that provide the reader with the best
sense of her nature. In addition,
Pullman stresses the importance of self honesty and responsibility. There are
also various instances where Lyra and Will go against their responsibilities
and self only to find their situation taking a turn for the worse. However, each time, they work to right these
mistakes and learn for the future.
Magic and Wonder
 |
| The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) |
I’ve found
that a lot of recent stories for children and young adults have been lacking in
magic. I don’t mean magic in the literal sense of witches and wizards,
especially with the current saturation of fantasy we have in this age
group. The magic I’m talking about is
that inspiring sense of awe and wonder that’s brought forth from characters and
worlds. It is how the storyteller brings
the audience into the world that they’ve developed in a way that captivates and
gives the imagination permission to play.
It’s how the characters interact with the world that invites the
audience to be a part of it and not just an observer. Metaphorically speaking,
there’s too much prose and not enough poetry.
The most
effective magic are worlds crafted so definitively and purposefully that the
audience sees and accepts everything as an integral part of the
storytelling. The pacing and time spent
on certain aspects of the world are also an important part in creating the
sense of wonder.
 |
| The Rise of the Guardians (2012) |
HDM is a
great story to practice achieving this sort of magic because there is so much
to work with. Pullman has crafted layers
of compelling worlds and characters that are already full of magic. His seamless
weaving of the familiar aspects of our world with symbolic fantastical elements
in Lyra’s world gives the reader a sense of the entirety of this universe. Through visual storytelling, this magic can be
further developed and a balance between both worlds can serve to inspire this
magic in the audience.
 |
| Spirited Away (2001) |
PS: Yes I'm aware of Pullman's opinion of C.S Lewis' Narnia stories. Nevertheless, the filmmakers did a fantastic job capturing the magic of the world in this scene
Relevance and Diversity
The relevance of this story in today’s political climate and globalization resonates more
strongly than ever. Especially about the
suppression of human nature and universal growth due to fear, control, and
power. In addition, the persecution and
oppression of children and people for the sake of religious political power and
the ability for the human mind to justify deceptions that only feed the ego are
things that we have been seeing over and over again in current media. With modern access to the internet and globalization, diversity and acceptance are so much more important for the growth of the world as a whole now than it has ever been. Ignorance is slowly becoming a choice rather than a circumstance. With this access to conscious consequences, where and who then will take responsible? I wanted a piece that would encourage
conversation and thought.
 | ||
| The Ancient of Days: William Blake 1794 (Origins of The Golden Compass) |
Pullman
introduces the concept of the Republic of Heaven. A concept that as conscious beings in this
world, we have a responsibility to use this power of consciousness to make the
world the best it can be. In its most
basic form, it’s about taking responsibility for ones actions and working
toward what feels right. Something I
believe we should practice more of.
"What I don’t like is
the notion that the world
is a cruel and imperfect copy of something
much
better somewhere else."
Lastly, I wanted to choose a play where I could fully explore a variety of
costumes from social class to gender, humans, non humans, animals, realistic
time periods, fantasy, cultures, and see how they fit into one cohesive
story line. In short, I wanted a piece
that would allow me to assess the extent of my learning and growth during my
time in grad school. I wanted to research cultures and costumes beyond that of Western Europe and modern America. I wanted the piece
to be an exploratory accumulation of my breadth as a designer. It was both a challenge and a test.
His Dark Materials is a story that has been with me for a long time. Every time I revisit it, I find something new to consider. The visual potential of this story along with the layers of meaning provide an amazing arsenal for creative collaboration. To be honest, I don't think there was any other story I could have done for my thesis that would leave me satisfied with my work and decision. Of course, improvement and redesigns are always going to be an option, but for what it is and has become in the time I've had to work on this, I think it's a pretty good culmination of my work so far. Stay tuned.
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