Ellie's costume represents her as a strong female character through soft grunge fashion at the beginning, then dresses in light colors like white, blue, and pink to show innocence as her illness progresses. Makeup uses natural looks with light foundation and blush, getting lighter skin and darker eye makeup as the illness worsens. Her prom dress is simple blue to represent innocence.
Sam dresses casually in jeans, tees, and sneakers normally, but wears a suit to the prom with a tie matching Ellie's dress, showing how far he'll go for her.
Dave wears darker clothes initially to show misery over losing Ellie, then lighter colors as he accepts her illness, with progressively darker eye makeup showing
2. Ellie
Costume
For our protagonist Ellie , we want her to dress in a specific style which will represent her to be
different to other girls of her time. To achieve this we will have her soft grunge fashion to
present her as a strong female character. However, this will only be present during the
beginning sequence. Ellie will then be dressed in light colours e.g. whites, soft blues and pinks
to show her innocence an purity as a character due to her illness and her commitment to Sam
as well as taking any opportunity that is available to have a happy life before her illness takes
over. We will also have shots in which Ellie is dressed in a robe to symbolise her illness. A head
scarf will be present during the later stage of her illness to show the progression of the
narrative and movement of time. These representations will be subtle but also recognisable in
contrast with audience theory. We have access to medical equipment therefore we will use
nasal cannula to connote cancer.
Make up
From the start we will use natural looking make up. This will include a simple foundation and
slight blushing of the cheeks . However to enhance facial features we intend on using
highlighter in some places to bring out certain places of the face. We will use brown/natural
coloured mascara with no intense eyeliner or eye shadows to represent her simplicity. As the
illness progresses, her skin tone will get slightly lighter, and her eye makeup will get darker (e.g.
bags around the eyes) to show that she’s ill but also tired from the situation that she is in.
Lighting can also enhance this by using white lights.
3. Ellie
Props
The Apple products will play a role in displaying her age and
inability to do more physical activates, but gives the
representation of the time period this is set in modern day and
the development of current technologies. Also , her prom dress
will add to the mise en scene of her being only sixteen and how
the illness is affecting her social life in particular which is seen as
the most important thing in teenage years. Ellie’s prom dress is a
simplistic pure blue colour to represent her innocence as a
character.
4. Sam
Costume
As Sam’s character is humble and down to earth we want him to also be
dressed in a casual manner. This will include jeans, t-shirts and canvas pumps
or converse trainers. This will also show how his end appearance in his suit is
such a jump from his usual down to earth self – continuing to show the lengths
at which he is willing to go for her , his tie will be in the same colour as Ellies
dress to show the link between both characters.
Make up
For Sam we may use a warm coloured foundation to emphasise how pale
Ellie’s skin is. We may choose to use some hair products or a water spray to
signify nervousness or a change in weather.
Props
Sam will have very little props assigned to his character. The only one we will
use is a rose at the end of the film when he presents it to Ellie. Throughout the
film we will show a wilting rose in Ellie’s bedroom to signify her deteriorating
self and Sam presenting her the rose shows the romance behind the gift
signifying his love for her.
5. Dave
Costume
During the beginning sequence Dave will be dressed in darker clothing to show his misery and
depressive mood due to the knowledge that he is going to loose his daughter. This shows
binary oppositions between Dave and Ellie’s character and how they compromise to show a
resolution in the film, Dave will be dressed in casual dress like jeans and jumpers to show his
lack of motivation . After the argument with Ellie, Dave will begin to wear lighter and uplifting
colours, his dress sense will start to smarten, especially during the prom scene and when he
finally goes out to enjoy himself.
Make up
For Dave we will use a progressively darker eye shadow and under eye tone. This will infer
stress. We may choose to use some hair products or a water spray to signify nervousness or a
change in weather. As the film progresses his skin tone will appear more warmer, this will
change subtly so there isn't an obvious jump between the controlling and then understanding
shots.
Props
Dave will be most associated with the medicines for Ellie as he is obsessed with her illness
improving when he does actually consciously know that her state isn’t going to improve.
