Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546058
MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 43 War had a lot of collaboration with the property department. "For example, the property master on that show was really, really good, and he did a lot of those types of shows. Early in prep, we went to his shop and had a whole meeting with him. He had a ton of gear to go through for all the groups and for the designer to look at. There's always a bit of a gray area between the property and Costume Departments but oen even more so with the uniforms. Sometimes you divvy it up. 'Okay, you have these really great helmets, and you've got 50 of them. But, maybe we want to make a helmet cover to tie it to the uniform. So, we ended up doing that. The Costume Designer had an amazing design for a flak vest so we made that, but it needed to be all the "Gak" from props. These are just a couple examples." Logos and patch designs are a huge component of the work the production designer and art department are requested for when the Costume Departments need expedited patches or prints made for uniforms. Butler explains, "You take a police station, let's just say, Las Vegas, you can't use anything real from them, they are "We always meet with the property department really early on. We try to set up a meeting, so you don't have two people going off in two different directions. Everyone has to get together and come up with a plan right away." —STEVEN BUTLER very particular about it. I would get the real patch, and then I give it to the art department, and they will come up with a design, and then that design needs to be submied to clearance, and then it gets approved, and then we make it. Sometimes the designer will want to get involved and do some stuff, but it's typically the art department that handles that kind of thing. It gets into a whole different thing when you're making it up, or you're doing something fictitious. But, as far as an existing place, a lot of times, no, you can't use the real ones, they need to be recreated. It's largely an art department decision, a lot of times those patches will also go into signage. You might see that same patch on the side of a vehicle, or you might see it up on the wall in a police department or something like that, so the production designer usually wants to sign off on that." The intricacies of working in the world of military uniforms can be somewhat overwhelming to outsiders but a common thread of the conversations amongst Costumers who go into the costume houses to pull or day play on military and cop shows is that the Costumers who specialize in uniforms and military costumes possess a wealth of knowledge and will do everything in their power to make sure that the uniforms for your production are correct. Both Gerber and Butler could easily spend hours telling you information about the details and history of US military branch uniforms and rank pins and how they are worn throughout the last century and still be interested in doing more research for the information they don't know off the top of their heads. It is easy to understand why shows rely on them, whether as a full-time Costumer on the show or as someone researching and pulling and shipping their costumes. Aside from learning from our knowledgeable Uniform Costumers, Local 705 members have the opportunity to expand their knowledge in contemporary military uniforms by learning from the series of Military Uniforms videos (presented by the 705 Education Commiee) that feature guest speakers from the US military's Entertainment Liaison Office, featuring branches of US Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard.