Institute of Art Design + Technology Dún Laoghaire
Ireland’s campus for the Creative Industries

Eva Mahon 

Design for Stage + Screen

Eva Mahon is a 21-year-old Costume designer based in Dublin. She has always had an interest in clothing and the power of expression that it holds. As a recent Graduate of Costume Design (BA) in IADT, Eva has gained experience working on a variety of different projects building up her designing, technical and coordinating skills. With a particular passion for film and costume construction, Eva hopes to pursue opportunities in the industry that allow her to expand her skills in this area.

The Tragedy of Hamlet

For Eva’s degree piece, she decided to design 'The Tragedy of Hamlet'. It is designed to be a film adaptation relocated in 1850s Northern England. In this adaptation, Hamlet’s father is a very wealthy industrialist and the family lives in a Grand house. The motivation for using this setting was the pre-existing ties between pre-Raphaelite Art (the period’s dominant art movement) and Ophelia’s character. Ophelia’s character is a lot of what drew Eva to choose this narrative. Ophelia is a very layered and intriguing character who is often oversimplified and portrayed as weak. When designing her costume it was important to create a look that balanced contrasting aspects of her character. Ophelia has feminine and romantic features, she experiences moments of both fragility and resilience and is used and torn up by those around her until she is discarded. For the final piece, Ophelia wears an iridescent grey/blue skirt and bodice ensemble over a large crinoline.



The Closer you look, the Less you see - Dreams and Memory through the confusing lens of Andrei Tarkovsky.

This Thesis examines dream sequences in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Andrei Tarkovsky is a Russian filmmaker active from the 1960s through to the 1980s. A well-known signature of Tarkovsky’s filmmaking is his use of unconventional narrative structures and use of memory/dream sequences. The effectiveness of these techniques has allowed them to become known tropes of Art-House cinema. This inquiry examines how Tarkovsky creates his own unique cinematic language to depict narratives that are very personal to him. This piece focuses on a dream sequence from his films Ivan’s Childhood, Mirror and Nostalghia. Ivan’s Childhood is Tarkovskys first film, it’s dream sequences adopt more conventionalities than his later work. 'Mirror' is arguably Tarkovsky's most experimental film, the structure of the film is non-linear and the distinction between dream, reality and memory is unclear making the plot difficult to follow. 'Nostalghia' is Tarkovsky’s penultimate film, in this film he addresses the effects of being separated from one’s homeland which is reflected in the protagonist’s dream world. Tarkovsky’s writing is often incorporated into this piece, which provides an understanding of his artistic process and opinions. The conclusion is that Tarkovsky uses dream sequences to express the introspection and subjectiveness of the human experience. His philosophy on film enables him to create his own cinematic language breaking away from industry conventions.