Details on Disney! A look into Creative Costuming

I've tried to keep friends and family in the loop while on Disney USA Adventures.

So far I've explained some conundrums & concerns, working backstage at a show and what your daily schedule would probably look like - but it's still hard to imagine how working for 'the big mouse' could really be without any kind of visual help.

My latest 'Details on Disney' video is a more visual explanation of costuming life. An example of how we get Mickey mouse and his friends ready for their busy days visiting guests in the parks and what we do before and after.

Creative costumers are always busy; we have pants to mend, rips and tears to sew, buttons to find, feathers to brush and fur to groom. We have to make sure everyone takes their baths and look their best for the guests.



Click here to go to the video!

And of course every park has it's own crew of costumers because every park has a different theme. Hollywood studios is all about the glamour and performance, therefore everyone must look stunning! Animal Kingdom is all about adventure so you wouldn't see Goofy or Mickey without their safari hats or backpacks for example.

It's not always just laundry and hygiene, sometimes Mickey and his friends are running late or transportation gets mixed up and we have to help get them to where they need to be. All in all costuming is a fantasmic and fast-paced job and someone has to do it!

As always PLEASE feel free to leave comments here or on my videos about anything else you would like me to answer during our 6 month stay in the program. As always I will be posting more blogs and videos during my stay in America, so please continue to visit :)

'Get in the Habit' of putting First things First, Habit #3

The third habit has to do with integrity & execution; the principle being that effectiveness requires the integrity to act on your priorities with discipline & willpower.

The paradigm to think of is not to put urgent things first but to put important things first instead. Your behaviour should be to focus on top priorities, eliminating the unimportant. Also to plan your routines and schedules daily and weekly. This results in increased organization and productivity. A more balances life with fewer crises and a peace of mind. You also earn a reputation of always following-through with your decisions and plans.

"Where you're headed is more important than how fast you're getting there."

The way to put first things first is to think of a compass and a clock. When balancing your life decisions.

The compass represents your effectiveness, relationships and important things - how you manage your time, and with what?

The clock represents your efficiency, scheduling and things you think are urgent - what you feel matters the most and should be used with the compass.

"I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier, they wouldn't have to go so fast." - Steven Wright

The most important aspect I've learned from this habit is how to prioritize. Stephen Covey developed a Time Matrix to help us categorize our daily tasks and emergencies to let us realize how important or unimportant they really are.

There are 4 quadrants of the time matrix that you can prioritize your decisions by... they are chosen by things that are urgent or non & important or not. These quadrants are: Necessity, Effectiveness, Deception & Waste/Excess.

You should try to live your life 'north of the line' taking care of quadrant 1 and 2 priorities first before tackling any from quadrant 3 or 4. Do first things first and the little things will fill in the rest.

Quadrant One are things that should be taken care of first and foremost. These are things like homework, studying for tests and immediate emergencies.

Quadrant Two are second-hand things that can be dealt with but after all your emergencies are taken care of. Things like planning and preparing events or projects, changing the oil in your car or taking the time to clarify your values such as we did in Habit #2.

Quadrant Three can be defined as other's priorities/expectations on you that still must be met. Things like minor assignments or helping to solves other's issues.

Quadrant Four is the final level of tasks that should always be completed last. These are things like surfing the web with no purpose (like on Facebook or Instagram,) watching TV or playing videogames.

Think about all of the things you've done recently; over the past week or so... What are the chronic quadrant Three activities in your personal or work life right now? What are the things you should be keeping in quadrant One or Two but have replaced with quadrant Four?

Please leave any comments with your thoughts, or if you have any tips on how to reduce quadrant Three and Four from taking over.

 

Up next: '...and it's sweet, sweet, Sweet Victory, yeah'... into Independence

"In every job that must be done there is an element of fun" - Mary Poppins

As you all know it is hard to journal my Disney World adventures since my job is backstage where all the magic and Tinkerbell pixie dust is. But I did want to share with you an idea of the working atmosphere at Fantasmic!

For those who don't know it is a night show; depending on the time of season it can run 1-3 times a night. But because it is a night show outdoors the weather isn't always kind to us.


If its storming too bad then we Mickey and his friends cannot come out to perform, we wouldn't want Brier Bear to slip and fall on Pinocchio would we? (He's a little heavy of a bear...)
If there is lightning in the area then we also cannot perform the show, we have to think of the safety of not only our magical friends but of our guests in the audience and working at the concession stands too.
Plus then everyone gets wet and we have to use twice as many blow dryers and towels to get fur wet, feather dry, dresses dry-cleaned and shoes aired out.

So we have a silly little tradition at Fantasmic! that whenever a Storm Warning is called, we perform a 'turtle circumstance' in order to please Hercules and his other fellow demi-gods enough to either make the storm stop or make it so bad that the show will be cancelled due to safety concerns.

These circumstances are not literally.. but visually. It's a way to bring us all together as a family (and make fun of ourselves in the process.) It doesn't matter if your great or gruesome at drawing or sketching - you can be very artistic or draw stick figures. All that matters is if you draw in one way or another a turtle having an 'unfortunate circumstance' with a Disney villain.

The way it works is if you draw a circumstance and it works, your picture gets posted on the 'Wall of Turtle' and if it doesn't than we recycle the paper and try again another day (He may not be Disney but we don't want the Lorax coming and yelling at us for harming the environment after all.)

So because I cannot take backstage working pictures for your viewing pleasure, I decided to show you a recent turtle circumstance I drew last week. I ran out of villain ideas so unfortunately it's Chip and Dale who accidentally dropped their peanut stash on a poor turtle. Needless to say it didn't work and the turtle after having a long nap and some Advil got up and forgave Chip and Dale for the accident :)

Can you Position... your Brand now? (Part Two)

You've waited patiently now here it is! For those of you looking for a more detailed version of my tips on how to position your personal brand I've got it right here!

Representing your own brand (or even a position or brand of a company your employed with) is hard work. But it does pay off in the end! If you strategize you can make it fun instead of daunting and most things you never have to repeat or redo for a long time anyways - only keeping up to date.

So let's get started.. this blog will follow along with my Personal Branding video so I can explain the examples in more detail. And again if you're looking for tips on how to represent your company or job position brand then skip until the next post: There's nothing wrong with Tradition... when it come's to Media!

1 - DISCOVERING YOUR NICHE..

In reference to a niche market; which is a very targeted specific minority of consumers, products or services that you want to focus on.
For example, everyone uses mass Laundromats but how many of us specifically go to dry cleaners? Dry cleaners are in a niche market because they market to a specific kind of consumer (the kind that need their clothing handled with care and special attention.)

When looking for your niche you want to focus on the things that make you an individual (or individual company) in comparison to others or any competition.
This can be things like...
- Creative or Work skills (are you great at graphic design, or cinematography?)
- School Major/Minor
- Personality traits (are you crazy about copywriting and creativity?)
- current Job position
- Hobbies (if you love to plan events as a hobby why not turn it into a business?)

I am a very versatile and creative person so I wanted to showcase as many different skills as possible. I picked 8-10 words that describe the most important skills I feel I need to showcase to any consumers or potential employers.

You will always see these main skills in my resume, on my business cards, in my email and letter salutations and on my logos. Whatever niche you pick needs to embody who you are.

2 - CREATE YOUR VISUALS...

Unless you are already representing a company brand then you have to think of a logo that will represent your niche. Your logo should be a symbol that is easy to understand and remember, it should catch consumer's attention and if possible be humorous (it's always easier to remember a funny commercial you watched on TV right?)
If your opening an event planning business, maybe make a collage of party favours, if your a copywriter use a pencil with creative designs on the sides.

Not everyone needs a slogan or tagline, but it is a good way to remember your brand if the logo isn't catching as many eyes as you would hope. 'Keep it simple sweetie..' all you need is a few words, two sentences maximum that helps explain or describe your brand - or that helps consumers remember your brand or logo specifically.



The first and last thing I need any relationship (friendship, partnership, roommate...etc.) to know about me is the severity of my nut allergy. Then we can 'get down to business.' Because of this I wanted to incorporate it somehow into my brand logo because it is always going to be a part of me.

 

I received so much positive feedback about my logo that I decided to play up the brand even more. Everyone knows all deals and advertising comes with fine print, so I decided to play off that idea in a humorous way to make sure my brand was memorable.

Now that you've got your brand concept figured out it's time to start utilizing all that media we use in today's society!

 

Up next: There's nothing wrong with Tradition... when it come's to Media!