Shawn fit a pair of red trousers on, the loose linen fabric drifting over his legs. The Costume Department was responsible for the design, fitting, hire, purchase, manufacture, continuity and care of all costume items on the set. The costumes in the back room ranged from contemporary urban fashion to period ball gowns, and even wetsuits.

But this wasn't just any try out. It was a try out for the movie Kid Knight, which was going to have a guaranteed sequel. Shawn looked around and saw all manner of  jewellery, footwear, corsetry, hosiery, and even wigs hung up in the corner of the room. Mom always said that costumes were integral in defining the overall 'look' of a film. Shawn knew from working on sets that a good costume provided the audience with information about the period, culture and society the actors inhabit and, on a more subtle level, the underlying themes of the film itself. At least that's the kind of thing that he heard many directors say.

As Shawn sat in a chair in front of a mirror, various costume personnel ensured that different medieval costumes were available for the kids during this try out. During these try outs, the kids had been encouraged to pick anything that they liked. Shawn got the growing sense that whatever he picked for a costume, would be part of the overall evaluation.

Shawn still genuinely liked this part of acting; he loved dressing up in costumes, the more outlandish the better. He always found a good costume and makeup made it easier to pretend to be someone else entirely, to just disappear into a role. However, this was the first time he'd ever got to pick out one for himself.

This was a big audition, so he couldn't just pick things out willy nilly. He had to come up with a plan, and to be sure he was making the right choices. He looked around at the assembled clothes and tried to think logically. Even though they were leaving it up to the auditionees, the final costumes probably weren't going to be up to them. So this had to be a test, to see what the kids would do when given a responsibility.

Shawn decided to go formal, picking out not necessarily the clothes that stood out, but ones that seemed fancy and period appropriate. It would be a somewhat risky choice - a lead role required you to seem relatable and formal clothes were the opposite of that. But in a way, that was the idea. If he could come off as friendly and sympathetic in even the stiffest of period garb, they'd know he could do a good job regardless of what outfits or scenes they put him in.