DOGHOUSE (2009)

FEATURE FILM · Carnaby International · Costume Designer

DIRECTOR — Jake West

PRODUCER — Mike Loveday

TRAILER

THE DESIGN

For Doghouse, a horror-comedy starring Stephen Graham and Danny Dyer, the central costume challenge was creating 27 individually distinctive female zombies, known in the script as ‘Zombirds’. Each was conceived as an exaggerated, grotesque caricature of a recognisable female archetype, from the Bride and the Witch to the Hairdresser, Granny and Pigtails. Drawing on the graphic, fetish-influenced aesthetic of writer Dan Schaffer’s Dogwitch artwork, I developed a deliberately heightened visual language of extreme silhouettes, exaggerated styling and increasingly monstrous character transformations.

Each Zombird required six complete sets of bespoke costume, designed to accommodate extensive stunt work, blood effects, physical damage and progressive stages of infection. The second-stage transformations demanded particularly close collaboration with the prosthetics department, with spikes, claws, harnesses and other sculptural elements permanently integrated into specially constructed costumes. The designs had to work as complete physical systems, supporting the performers through lengthy prosthetic applications and demanding action sequences.

The production involved considerable technical experimentation, including specialised costumes for full-body fire stunts and multiple stages of breakdown and gore. Balancing theatrical character design with the practical demands of prosthetics, stunt performance and continuity, the aim was to create a collection of instantly recognisable, increasingly nightmarish characters that could withstand the physical intensity of the film.

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