Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538245
MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 21 whale tooth pendants traditionally hung from cords of human hair, reserved exclusively for the Ali'i, the chieains of the tribes. Upon receiving final approval to transition to Hawai'i, we divided our team, leaving two-thirds of the Costume Department in Los Angeles to manage ongoing operations. Crew from each workroom, as well as our Principal Key Costumer, Tracy Jarvis, moved onto Hawai'i. Lizzie Tagg, our Key Made-to-Order Costumer, and Beryl Brachman oversaw the continuous dyeing of thousands of yards of Evolon and feathers. As well as managing the high volume of malo (Native Hawaiian loincloth) through our workroom and various union shops across the city. I can't say that we had a shooting schedule by the time we le for Hawai'i, instead we were told to keep making malo!!! We would end up having two units shooting simultaneously the entire show, and as malo also served as undergarments and we were always shooting far away from cleaning, all malo were made at minimum of sets of three. (While on the lava field, we designated two Costumers driving 45 minutes into town and washing malo for 12 hours a day at the local laundromat). Coordinator Danielle DeLuca and Assistant Coordinator Kyle Finlay handled the crucial logistics of outbound shipments to Hawai'i and keeping the bills paid back home. As substitute materials were approved, the Los Angeles team continued to purchase and dispatch everything to New Zealand, where costume construction commenced at the same time as our principal photography in Hawai'i. "Intense" barely scratches the surface of set life in Hawai'i. Creating a show authentically set in the 1700s meant leaving civilization— buildings, cities, and artificial lights—far behind. For instance, recreating a sunrise bale meant we were wrangling and dressing hundreds of warriors under the most remote, clearest starry skies I've ever witnessed. Our daily work environments included oceans, beaches, chest-high razor-sharp grasses, dense keawe forests, and the famously glass-sharp Kalapana lava fields. And it's worth noting, our cast was oen completely exposed, right down to their buns (literally). I should also mention that the volcano, Mauna Loa, erupted the morning of our first day of rehearsals at Kalapana. My crew and I were driving to set in the wee hours of the morning, as we could see the lava spewing up the mountain behind us, when I got the call that work was called off for the day. It continued to erupt the entire time we were out on the lava fields. So, while we were filming on a lava field, we could see a volcano erupting in the distance at night!! Native Hawaiians saw this Top: Lei niho palaoa, a sperm whale tooth pendant. Bottom: Brandon Finn in Chief of War on Apple TV+.