CDG - The Costume Designer

Winter 2016

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Winter 2016 The Costume Designer 25 Excellence in Fantasy Film Sandy Powell Cinderella Of course, the obvious iconic costume to choose would be Cinderella's blue ball gown, but I would prefer to nominate Lady Tremaine's arrival outfit worn by Cate Blanchett in her entrance. This costume had to sum up everything about the character in one go. She had to look attractive and glamorous, yet intimidating with an air of mystery. There is nothing like an "entrance outfit" for dramatic impact, and the wide-brimmed hat, which conceals her face until the last minute, was designed to create that effect. ACDs: Charlotte Law, Oliver Garcia, Deborah Scott Oscar nominated Sammy Sheldon Differ Ex Machina The iconic costume of Ex Machina has to be Ava. The challenge was to make a unique costume that was seamlessly a combination of real fabric and VFX, giving director Alex Garland the ability to shoot more as real, particularly in close-up. She needed to have a mechanical edge, yet look totally feminine and stripped of her outer skin. The surface of the body needed to reflect a colour change, in the different lighting states in camera. After much experimentation with woven nets covered in poly- urethanes, mixed with metal and UV powders, we created a fabric with all the qualities we needed. The black rubber bands gave an impression of her body being made of component parts and served as markers for the VFX department to create her inner workings. Concept Artist: Karl Simon Gustafsson Kurt and Bart The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 The Mockingjay costume is arguably the most iconic costume in the two films. Just as iconic for us is the costume worn by Effie Trinket at the film's finale because it shows the arc of both her character and the story of the Capitol. Effie Trinket's costumes always displayed the excess of the Capitol and her own personal exuberance and flair. We wanted to show how much she and her world had changed: to create almost a "new look" for her. The silhouette is more mature, the colors are a bit more subdued, but we wanted that essential brightness of Effie to shine through and show hope for this new world. Our intent was to tell that story and to remain true to her glamorous iconography. ACDs: Alexandra Casey, Lisa Tomczeszyn ILL: Phillip Boutté Jr. Jenny Beavan Mad Max: Fury Road Immortan Joe was where I could really get inventive and create a new iconic baddie for the Mad Max films. He is the nearest thing to God for his war boys even though his body has practi- cally given out and he is kept alive by the devices he wears. Director George Miller wanted to incorporate an idea from Japanese anime into the Immortan Joe "look": the cara- pace protecting his rotting flesh and the breathing apparatus he wears. We put together a costume of practical elements in which such a character could survive in the desert. To then make this utilitarian outfit "badass," we added and adapted so he would be a threatening presence to his subjects and retain control. The maw mask was a perfect place to inject a bit of horror, and the badges seem the chosen symbols for all dicta- tors. ACD: Sarah Young ILL: Paul Jeacock Oscar nominated Michael Kaplan Star Wars: The Force Awakes I believe that for anything to take on an iconic label, time must pass. The word iconic is defined as: "widely recognized and well established; widely known and acknowledged." So perhaps it's too soon to say, but, of all the costumes created for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I think that Rey's may be headed in that direction. I tried to create a costume that was spare and integral to the character as she was written; everything on her body is there for a purpose, not for adornment. When you see Rey in her element, in her environment on Jakku, she looks like she belongs. I also wanted the costume to take on a note of her empowerment, which soon becomes evident. ACDs: Nigel Egerton, Vivienne Jones, Samantha Keeble Ex Machina/Universal Pictures, Cinderella/Walt Disney Pictures, Mad Max: Fury Road/Warner Bros. Pictures, Star Wars: The Force Awakens/Walt Disney Pictures, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2/Lionsgate Films

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