In grade eight, my mom took me backpacking to a place of my choosing. I chose Paris (because I’m francophone and wanted a chance to explore a fully French environment) and London, because Harry Potter. I was desperate to see The Cursed Child, which would be my first ever large scale production and my least favourite to date. On this trip my mother surprised me with a Harry Potter backstage studio tour and a full day workshop with a costume designer for the films. By this time I had been sewing for a number of years and I had also already proclaimed my dream of becoming a Disney Imagineer. This workshop was a great introduction to everything that goes into costume design for film. For example, before this workshop I hadn’t given much thought to the number of jackets that would be needed to film Harry in a battle scene, (Nine.) As scenes aren’t always filmed in sequence, Harry’s jacket would have to seem to be slowly becoming more damaged throughout the battle and so nine different jackets were created with increasing numbers of burns and holes. The costume designers also talked about budgets and constraints that impact their fabric choices. They shared how they opted for cheaper fabrics for most daily wear so they could splurge for a particularly dreamy fabric for Lord Voldemort's cloak. I was also impressed by the number of costumes that were designed and made but never worn because the direction had changed, or a scene had been cut. I was really young when we did this trip and I wish I remembered more about all the different things I saw. Sometimes I wish I had been older before I went on this trip but at the same time I know that it was this trip that introduced me to my love of theatre and design and so I am glad I went when I did. How sad would it have been to have only gone in grade 12 and never even know that I would love something that was so different from but still connected to the STEAM world I knew?
