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| mo_flixx |
 Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:12 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Melody wrote: Costume Design would be fun. I'll need some guidelines on how to judge this category, though. Originality? Flair? Best Use of Sequins? I'm clueless when it comes to what makes an outfit tick.
It would be great to have this category. Some guidelines would be what kind of costume works best for a particular character. I remember "The Autobio. of Miss Jane Pittman" which won an Emmy for Costume Design. I was told that most of the ideas came from Cicely Tyson herself. To me, the best designers are like actors and need to immerse themselves (method-like) in the role. Small touches that are right for the character are very special.
Color is important - how do the costumes work with the set or location? How do they work with the costumes of the other actors?
Do the costumes enhance the vision of the director, production designer, and cinematographer? They should.
Do the costumes allow for freedom of movement if it's a musical?
How closely do the costumes reflect the period? If not, why? It's OK to cheat...but it should be good cheating.
Do the costumes take the particular actor in mind...for example, is the designer willing to make the actor look bad if it's important to the story? On the other hand, is the designer willing to make the actor look good and camouflage figure flaws if that's what's required?
In my own experience, very lavish and fancy period clothes seem to always have an edge. A good example would be a film like "The Duchess." The Academy really goes for this kind of thing. On the other hand, "The Sting" won an Acad. Award for Newman's and Redford's duds "designed by Edith Head" (really created by the movie's male costumer at Universal!). |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 9:49 pm |
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Melody wrote: For Your Consideration:
My vote for new category goes to Editing, one of the hardest/most creative jobs in moviedom.
Film Editors are the unsung heroes of the film world. The ignorant hoi polloi of today's audiences have never actually tried to Edit a movie themselves and therefore have no idea of the thousands of synapses per second the Editor's brain is scanning, considering, discarding, choosing, rechoosing, redoing, special-effectsing....
Editors work in the dark. They can go months without seeing the sun or a home-cooked meal. They're pale, hopped up on bennies, nearly blind, extremely focused. Continuity errors send them into screaming fits, cursing the lowly script supervisor into blacklist hell.
Great Editing makes the handheld camera work in the Bourne movies exciting rather than nauseating. Documentaries owe their souls to Editors. As great as Scorsese is, he'd be lost without his Thelma.
Respect should be paid.
/editsoapbox
While I certainly agree with the sentiment about the way editors toil underappreciated, it's difficult to know how "good" most of them really are at their jobs without being in the editing room with them. We'd have too see not only the finished product, but also the options they had and the things they decided to reject for whatever reason.
You mentioned Thelma and Scorsese. When she recently won an Editing Oscar (I think it was the one she got for The Aviator, but I'm not sure), she noted in her acceptance speech that she shared the award with Marty because he is usually an uncredited editor on his movies. That was pretty cool of her, I thought. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:03 pm |
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Good costume design can cover a lot of things. Here's one example: I recently saw the Western Appaloosa and was impressed by the costumes. For one thing, they looked like clothes, not fancy dress. (Which was appropriate for this movie, while the exact opposite can be appropriate for other films.) There was a lot of period detail (the designer has obviously studied not only engravings of ladies' dresses advertised during the period, but also took details from period photographs for many of the characters). In particular, Viggo Mortensen looked like he had stepped right out of a vintage photograph. The men's shirts didn't look "modern." It was just an outstanding effort all round.
Other times, you want a fantasy feel, or a sense of fun. mo can probably give us more examples. |
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| Melody |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:16 pm |
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The same could be said for directing, Earl, or screenplay adaptation. How many of us have read the source material? We will never know if an actor rehearsed saying a certain line several different ways or not.
It's not necessary for me to have been in the Editing suite while Christopher Rouse was working on The Bourne Ultimatum. I don't need to know what his hundreds of thousands of choices were to know that what he chose worked. The proof is what's on screen.
Although to be fair, I think to fully appreciate the brilliance of any professional, it helps to have worked in that field. See my post above about Costume Design.
And Thelma ... well, Thelma is a Goddess. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:19 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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I remember the job interview I had to be a lowly costumer on "Bound for Glory." The designer was really picky -- his claim to fame was the TV's "Star Trek" (OK, we all have to start somewhere!).
He gave me a bunch of Sears catalogues from the '40's to look at and then I had to summarize the trends of the day. I guess I did a good job, because I got the job!
Today's costume design is so much different from that of the '50's and '60's when "period" films really didn't look period at all. Throw in a few flapper dresses and headbands over modern hairdos and voila - you have the 1920's. I remember how appalled I was with all of this until real period detail came into vogue much later. I'm trying to htink of when...
I remember discussing this with Theadora Van Runkle who was not very happy with Faye Dunaway's hair and makeup in "Bonnie and Clyde"...so true period looks came in later than 1968. Theadora wanted a more period look for Dunaway, but Dunaway wouldn't go for it. All one has to do is look at "The Thomas Crowne Affair" to see how enamoured Dunaway was with the '60's look - lots of eyeliner, false eyelashes, etc. The film is almost unwatchable today because Dunaway's makeup is such a distraction.
Thank God things have changed...a bit.
Maybe someone can add some other examples here. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:26 pm |
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Last edited by mo_flixx on Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:29 pm |
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| When I worked at a costume rental shop, we rented out a lot of flapper dresses. There were even a couple that were copied from actual '20's designs. They were beautiful, but didn't rent very well. The sorority girls were drawn to the cheesy sequined jobs in garish colors. We had a ton of elasticized sequined headbands with an ostrich feather. The girls used to ask me how to do their hair nad makeup (well, at least they were making an effort), and were quite shocked when I suggested that they rouge their knees. (I also had to explain rouge.) I always liked it when I got a customer who was actually interested in re-creating a period. I'd make a special effort with them. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:32 pm |
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| And then there are the "just fun" costumes. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert won an Oscar for that. The designer exaggerated things and used some unconventional materials (lots of plastic, as I recall). It was great. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:36 pm |
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mo_flixx wrote: Today's costume design is so much different from that of the '50's and '60's when "period" films really didn't look period at all.
That makes me think of Bonanza and a lot of '50's and '60's Westerns. The men's clothes in particular (tight jeans, etc.) looked like they came off the rack from the nearest "Western" store. Just the way people didn't actually look back then. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:19 pm |
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| Another consideration is whether a costume suits its character. Is it appropriate for the character's age, economic status, social class, etc.? Unless she's Eliza Doolittle, a scullery maid probably shouldn't dress like a duchess (unless you have a good reason for it --is she masquerading as a member of the nobility?) And sometimes clothing someone against type can express the whole point of the movie -- see Ms. Doolittle above. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:27 pm |
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Quote: Today's costume design is so much different from that of the '50's and '60's when "period" films really didn't look period at all. Throw in a few flapper dresses and headbands over modern hairdos and voila - you have the 1920's. I remember how appalled I was with all of this until real period detail came into vogue much later. I'm trying to htink of when...
You're so right, Mo. It has gotten much better but I can't remember exactly when either. However I do remember while watching Bonnie and Clyde, thinking to myself, I bet the real Bonnie didn't have teased hair or wear false eyelashes. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:35 pm |
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Nancy wrote: mo_flixx wrote: Today's costume design is so much different from that of the '50's and '60's when "period" films really didn't look period at all.
That makes me think of Bonanza and a lot of '50's and '60's Westerns. The men's clothes in particular (tight jeans, etc.) looked like they came off the rack from the nearest "Western" store. Just the way people didn't actually look back then.
And Hoppalong Cassidy, Tonto, etc. Very hokey clothing...I suppose it dated from the costumes from the westerns of the 1920's which featured some of the same kinds of looks.
On the other hand, I remember in the '80's and '90's, there were some amazing prairie Native American costumes which were very authentic with beading...must have cost a fortune to do _by hand_.
Another thing...I remember that there were some knitting ladies who did all of Barbra Streisand's sweaters for "The Way We Were." They continued to produce handmade woolen goods for other films. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:36 pm |
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Nancy wrote: And then there are the "just fun" costumes. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert won an Oscar for that. The designer exaggerated things and used some unconventional materials (lots of plastic, as I recall). It was great.
Remember her Oscar gown -- made completely out of American Express gold cards? |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:56 pm |
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mo_flixx wrote: Nancy wrote: And then there are the "just fun" costumes. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert won an Oscar for that. The designer exaggerated things and used some unconventional materials (lots of plastic, as I recall). It was great.
Remember her Oscar gown -- made completely out of American Express gold cards?
I loved that. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:58 pm |
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mo_flixx wrote: And Hoppalong Cassidy, Tonto, etc. Very hokey clothing...I suppose it dated from the costumes from the westerns of the 1920's which featured some of the same kinds of looks.
Though some of William S. Hart's silent Westerns have much more authentic costumes. |
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