Yahoo! News: To create the Oscar-nominated costumes for "The Artist," designer Mark Bridges had to think in both color and black and white. "Things that you wouldn't notice in color suddenly showed up when it became black and white," he said. "A simple beaded flapper dress suddenly became maternity wear." The costumes from "The Artist", a black-and-white silent film, can be seen in all their brilliant colors at the FIDM Museum & Galleries 20th annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit, which is on view until April 28 at the downtown Los Angeles campus. Admission is free.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Costumes from 'The Artist,' 20 other films on view
Yahoo! News: To create the Oscar-nominated costumes for "The Artist," designer Mark Bridges had to think in both color and black and white. "Things that you wouldn't notice in color suddenly showed up when it became black and white," he said. "A simple beaded flapper dress suddenly became maternity wear." The costumes from "The Artist", a black-and-white silent film, can be seen in all their brilliant colors at the FIDM Museum & Galleries 20th annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit, which is on view until April 28 at the downtown Los Angeles campus. Admission is free.
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I love readings articles like this. Film costuming is something that inspires me to no end. Reading about fabric choices for camera rather than for stage is extremely relevant to any costumer. one thing that struck a chord with me was the mentioning that, because films are generally made of a series of cut images, if your fabric doesn't read what you want it to within a few seconds, you might as well have not used it at all. When I visited LA a few years back, there was a display of Harry Potter costumes that I viewed. Those costumes still remain in my mind today because I was able to view them in such detail. Keep articles like this coming!
This is cool because it never even entered my mind that these costumes/this world was filmed in full color while I was watching this movie. But it makes sense what the designer said, that you want to create a realistic world not only for the audience, but for the actors, so that they can draw from that world and give a more realistic and informed performance. I'm really glad to have this point brought to my attention because it is something that completely had slipped my attention. There's so much hidden intricacy and thought that makes this particular industry so exciting. It must be such a different challenge to design for a black and white production. It would require such a high level of awareness. I'm glad that this work is being showcased in this exhibit so that the designer's work does not go unappreciated/undervalued.
This is a really interesting article because it talk about the fact that the costume designer has a lot of different concerns and things to deal with filming for a black and white picture. As the article notes, the designer may think this color will come out looking one way on the black and white film, but when you actually see it in action, it may read as something completely different. The fact that they were also trying to help build the world for the actors is really intriguing, and as an audience member, is not something we think about often. I think in films, you do have to be very precise with what you try to say with the clothing of the character's due to quick cuts, and other constraints. It's different world that the costumer has to deal with, and it's great to see the various ways in which they are able to cope with the constraints that they have in a film.
Reilly and AJ really put this in context of why it is so fascinating. Black and white film poses a problem to designers today, and in the past, because we have to get away from a world of color while still choosing appropriate color palettes. Color still is a prominent factor when filming in black in white, but it also pushes those other factors such as the cut of clothing out even further, just to make sure a flapper girl doesn't look like a pregnant woman. A costumer helps create the world and characters, and even though there is an absence of color it is interesting to hear that the designer still creates the world and characters because color matters to the actors.
This is a really interesting challenge, and one that I assume very few costume designers will have to face. I am inspired by the designer's integrity and desire to commit to his art as fully as possible.
I think the experimentation process in particular would be incredibly fun and interesting. I imagine him taking pictures of different fabric styles, patterns, and color combinations, comparing those to a black and white version of the photos, and taking notes on what patterns pop out too much or become dizzying in black and white, and what color combinations work and which don't, etc.
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