How to dress characters

[wolftoy]

Don't know if this has been addressed, but I'm just curious on dressing characters. Meaning if I want the character to look a certain way when he/she is first introduced. Or is that something the director/costume designer comes up with?
ex:
Frank walks into the bar. He removes his leather jacket to reveal a muscle shirt with a shark on it.

 

[Lord of Light]

I guess it depends on what you want to say about your character. Is the shark on the jacket significant to the plot, like a biker gang or something? If it is, then yeah I'd mention it. If not, I'd stick with simply muscle t-shirt. I find it best to not describe clothing unless it reveals something about the character like leather jacket (biker), football jersey (jock/athlete), wedding dress (bride), fatigues (soldier), etc.

 

[Unknown Screenwriter]

dressing your characters...

Don't know if this has been addressed, but I'm just curious on dressing characters. Meaning if I want the character to look a certain way when he/she is first introduced. Or is that something the director/costume designer comes up with?
ex:
Frank walks into the bar. He removes his leather jacket to reveal a muscle shirt with a shark on it.

I guess it depends on what you want to say about your character. Is the shark on the jacket significant to the plot, like a biker gang or something? If it is, then yeah I'd mention it. If not, I'd stick with simply muscle t-shirt. I find it best to not describe clothing unless it reveals something about the character like leather jacket (biker), football jersey (jock/athlete), wedding dress (bride), fatigues (soldier), etc.

All depends on your character and what you want a reader and hopefully, an eventual audience to THINK and FEEL when they see said character.

But Lord of Light is correct... Revealing something like you outlined above should be done for a reason and not simply for the character to be quirky.

The way a character dresses is one of the layers you'll peel back on your character to reveal SOMETHING about them. And of course, it doesn't have to be obvious and cliché... In your case above, you could go the obvious route if this is the cliché way that this kind of character would dress but seriously consider the character before going with the most obvious/cliché mode of dress.

What helps make characters interesting are their contradictions... In dress... In dialogue. In action. In theme.

Introductions of characters is one of those elements of screenwriting that a lot of newbies don't consider as much as they should... A strong intro of your main character(s) helps set that character up in our minds so sure, sometimes a strategy of doing this in a certain way is very helpful to the story.

filmy