Costume Making for Film and TV for 15 - 17 year olds
- Level(s) of Study: Short course
- Course Fee:
£525
- Start Date(s): 28 July 2025
- Duration: Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm, one week
- Study Mode(s): Part-time
- Campus: City Campus
- Entry Requirements: More information
Introduction:
Course dates:
28 July - 1 August 2025, Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm
Explore the full journey of a costume: from script to screen.
This intensive one-week course offers a hands-on introduction to the costume department in film and television.
It’s ideal if you’re interested in finding out what it’s like to work behind the scenes on a TV or film project to bring characters to life.
It’s also useful if you are considering further studies and wish to start your portfolio with a unique and creative project.
Topics include historical pattern cutting, costume breakdown, bloodwork, script analysis, on-set tools and techniques and industry training pathways, to create an inspired garment tailored to a character.
-
You’ll be part of a design community in our creative studio culture; one that promotes discussion and collaboration, and encourages experimentation and the constant swapping of ideas. -
With a limited class size you'll have the one-to-one attention you need to ensure you leave with the skills to continue developing your portfolio. -
Benefit from learning with an experienced tutor who has established links to the profession and significant experience working in varied practices. -
On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance.
Doing your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award?
This course can count as your Gold DofE Residential Award and is an amazing opportunity to make new friends and memories. It will be fun and gently challenging, allowing you to follow your passion and discover talents you never knew you had.
DofE participants must book both the course and accommodation on campus for this to count towards your Gold Award.
You must also attend the social events that are planned on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and you must plan and attend your own social activities with other participants on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
What you’ll study
On this course you’ll design and create a character, producing a piece for a costume that could be used in a scene on screen.
You’ll create a costume for your character whether it’s for a sailor, a medieval knight or a gun slinging cowboy, considering the costume breakdown realism of the piece, giving it a history and aiding in the character development.
Working from an industry style brief, you’ll design a character to create your pieces for and provide them with a backstory.
Observing professional costume maker’s work, you'll learn about the process they go through in the development of a character, from initial sketches to a finished piece.
During the course you will:
- learn how to pattern cut and make a historical garment
- understand how to use different textile manipulations and styling techniques to bring a costume to life
- experience different techniques used to breakdown and age a costume
- understand bloodwork and have hands on experience creating an industry standard wound on a costume
- gain an understanding of how to create a costume from a sketch
- build your knowledge of what a costume department looks like in film and tv and all the job roles within
- add to your portfolio a complete with an aged historical piece, textile manipulations and bloodwork
- understand the avenues to follow to pursue a career in film and tv.
- consider how to create a believable costume or prop, whether based in reality or fantasy.
What will you gain?
By the end of the course, you will have created and aged a historically inspired garment tailored to a character, gained insight into costume workflows and received one-on-one guidance on your own design concept.
You’ll also leave with experience of working with various industry materials using a variety of different tools and techniques, with lots of images to add to your portfolio.
Social events
We appoint NTU Student Ambassadors who host social events on Monday and Wednesday evening to help you make friends across the whole of our summer school programme for 15 – 17 year olds, which are free to attend.
Here’s what you’ll cover each session:
- Session 1 – What’s it like on set?
- Session 2 – Putting together a garment.
- Session 3 & 4 – Costume breakdown and bloodwork
- Session 5- Design Development
Understand the different roles within the costume department, you’ll get started on your making project with character briefs and drafting a pattern.
Continuing pattern cutting and putting together your garment, you’ll learn textile manipulation techniques, and different sewing techniques used on a film set
You will need old clothing this day as it will get messy!
You will look at how your character's life affects their costume breakdown eg, do they work in the sun? Are they a sailor? We will then use dyes/ powders/sticks to breakdown your historical garment.
You will also study different industry techniques to create different wounds on a costume.eg, various gunshot, whipping, sword slash etc.
You will look at how you could develop your design idea into a fully realised costume.
Student Work
How you’re taught
This course will be delivered in person on Nottingham Trent University city campus.
96% of previous course attendees were satisfied with the course, received the attention they needed and would consider doing another short course at NTU.
Contact hours
You will receive 25 contact hours of quality tuition with an experienced tutor.
Careers and employability
The course is designed to give you a real experience of university life, make new friends who share similar interests and develop your portfolio so that ultimately, you can make an informed decision about your future.
On successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate of attendance, which will further enhance your CV.
Campus and facilities
You will be based in the School of Art and Design on the City Campus.
You'll find bright studio and workshop spaces to develop your ideas and create exciting work.
You’ll also have access to our library to use outside of your short course; whilst you can’t reserve or take away books, you are welcome to use them as a resource for research and referencing.
Entry requirements
Level: Open to all
Entry requirement: You should have an enthusiasm for costumes and special effects and an interest in developing your creative and technical skills.
You must be 15, 16 or 17 years old at the time of the course in order to attend.
Fees and funding
The fee for this course is £525.
Payment is due at the time of booking.
Secure your place with a deposit - If you're booking more than two months before the course starts, we can accept a £200 deposit to secure your place, and the balance is due one month before the course starts.
Your course fees cover the cost of studies and include great benefits such as the use of our modern library and free use of the IT equipment and software on the campus during your course.
Please bring with you to the first session:
- a sketchbook (size to suit you), notepad and pen
- a camera phone can be useful for recording processes, but not essential
- old clothing to wear on the breakdown and bloodwork days, as you will get messy
- optional: you can bring any sewing supplies or accessories to include you’d like to work with.
All other materials will be provided.
Read our booking terms and conditions.
Need accommodation?
Accommodation can be booked separately to the course; the rooms are only a few minutes’ walk from our studios and classrooms, and cost £259 per week, which is ideal if you're looking to be based in Nottingham's lively city centre and want an economical place to stay.
These are single rooms with a private bathroom in shared apartments in Nottingham Trent University’s city campus accommodation.
If you're aged 16 or 17 then you can stay unaccompanied with agreement from a parent/guardian (to support safeguarding, all guests aged 16 and 17 will be accommodated together in the same halls of residence and there is a dedicated Warden available).
If you're aged 15 then you can stay as long as you are accompanied by a parent/guardian (you must book two separate rooms and let us know so we can place you in rooms next to each other).
This option is particularly popular with students completing their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential Award.
Find out more and book your accommodation here.
Looking to turn your one-week course into a two-week experience?
If you can match this with any second course, you’ll receive a 10% refund on your course fees (email the short course team with your order number to claim the refund).
How to apply
You can book this course for the following dates via the NTU online store:
28 July - 1 August 2025, Monday to Friday 10 am - 4 pm
Browse all our summer courses for 15 – 17 year olds.
Any questions?
Contact the short course team:
Email: creativeshortcourses@ntu.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2813
