Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1352017
24 The Costume Designer Spring 2021 chological level. Although some of the colors that translate best to gray in a black-and-white film are very bold in real life, Summerville chose to avoid them. She didn't want to distract her director and cast from the work at hand. "To have too much color in a room becomes jarring and takes you out of it," she continues. They narrowed their palette, working largely in jewel tones, which they deepened or muted as needed. For example, Davies' coat when she exits MGM was powdery blue, which became a very light dove gray. Summerville notes, "With the faux mink silvery gray fur collar, it was very pleasant to the eye on set and also when looking in the monitor." Color also played a part in the fitting process. "An actor would comment, 'Oh, I really love this blue tie. It brings out my eyes,'" Summerville says, "and I would think, well, it's not going to be blue, but that's okay because it makes you feel that way! That goes back to why you don't put someone in an inappropriate color to just get the on-camera effect that you need. You've got to figure out how to serve both purposes." Summerville could use very little actual period cloth- ing due to its fragility. Additionally, there were nine or 10 other projects of a similar period in production at the same time. "So it was really difficult to collect enough, especially for background. We built 90% of the principals, and built or repurposed a lot of the background. We got to a point where we were doing so much repair work, it was just eas- ier to make pieces." For their extensive background scenes, they selected three or four silhouettes for basic pieces for both men and women, and then built them in period-appro- priate fabrics. Summerville found the experience incredibly gratifying. "I learned a lot—training my brain in a different way. It was such a great project! I just love the look of it. It really trans- ports you to that 1930s movie theater." Mark Bridges The Artist The Artist is a joyful homage to the silent era of Hollywood in the 1920s as it teeters on the brink of "the talkies." Costume designer Mark Bridges, who won a 2012 Oscar for the film, recalls the choices he made to illustrate the trajectories of his lead characters, Peppy (Bérénice Bejo) and George (Jean Dujardin). "I have a book about Adrian, the famous costume designer," relates Bridges. "Very early on, right at the beginning of 'talkies,' he avoided the middle grays as much as possible, and used black-and-white contrast because he realized that that would make the greatest impact on monochromatic film. So I used either middle ground or high contrast to tell the story. We first see George at a pre- miere in formal black and white. Then as he has his downfall, he goes into a middle gray suit, whereas Peppy, when she's unknown, is also in middle values. As her star ascends, there is more contrast in her outfits. Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo in The Artist Photo: Courtesy of Warner Brothers