PBS NewsHour: When it comes to movies, we tend to focus on actors and directors. But many other factors help determine whether a film resonates with audiences. In commercial and critical blockbuster “Black Panther,” for example, superhero suits recall actual African heritage. Jeffrey Brown talks to Ruth Carter, the movie’s Oscar-nominated costume designer, about finding inspiration and serving as an example.
6 comments:
Hearing Ruth Carter speak in the beginning of the year was truly an absolute privilege. Her process was undoubtedly a very particular, creative, and thoughtful one that took a long time. I missed the start of her lecture because of class, so I had no idea she designed 1,500 costumes for Black Panther - that’s incredible! I aspire to have this wide of a creative capacity, and this kind of drive to persist as a designer. The way she worked so closely with her team and with the actors is also so inspiring. She pulled together a wonderfully cohesive community for the country of Wakanda with her costuming in this film. I think her designs very much hit the marks of fantasy, realism, and modern day cultural representation that she was going for. Her techniques and methods for creating costumes are also representative of this. Carter’s use of innovative tech-based strategies, like 3D printing, to create the Black Panther costumes is so awesome. I wish her the best at the Oscars!!
It’s incredible to think about how Ruth Carter took time to come to CMU to share her absolutely stunning design process. She spoke about the details of the film industry, but what struck me as most amazing was the details of her research and multiple design iterations. Carter had multiple powerpoint slides displaying the robust timeline she created of the fictional history of Wakanda, and which true African nations she took inspiration from. I find great value in this research process, because while it utilizes factual evidence from true peoples, it doesn’t attempt to recreate or copy any other group. This successfully achieves her goal of making Wakanda appear as a true place that could exist and be visited. When it comes to the garb of the superhero, I appreciate the fact that it integrates key elements from Mali, Namibia, and more African nations, while maintaining the sleek, powerful aesthetic. I believe Carter is so deserving of the Oscar nomination, and hope she will win because of her incredible and progressive work with storytelling through costumes.
I feel very lucky to have heard Ruth Carter speak in the Chosky in the beginning of this year when she came in and talked about her process and let us gain insight on how she creates what she does, and in particular, how she managed to create the skin and world of Black Panther . What I was most impressed by during that talk was how much she knows about the creation, the fittings, and the detailing of every last costume in the movie, and this movie definitely had a lot of costumes with a lot of different imagery. After reading this article, I understand just how important costume designers like Ruth Carter are to our industry, not only is she phenomenal at creating costumes that not only look good, but the fabric, the jewelry, and the colors she chooses brings in a whole new layer of story and passion to it.
We had the honor of hearing Ruth Carter speak at the beginning of this year, it was the first “guest lecture” I attended as a freshman, and its now one of my favorite things about the school. Unfortunately, I had to miss the first part of her presentation because I had class, but this article filled in a lot of those gaps. Like Sammy, I had not idea she had designed 1,500 costumes for the film. She showed us many iterations of one costume, but it never struck me what that could actually add up to on top of the number of actors and extras that had to be dressed.
Something I really respect about Ruth Carter is the thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and purpose behind each aesthetic decision she makes. She spoke a lot about how she wanted the costumes to look good, of course, but also to work practically for the characters and exist cohesively in the world she helped to create. I think that sort of big picture perspective is very important as a designer.
We at CMU Drama had the incredible opportunity to hear Ruth Carter speak about her design process and experiences, including the journey of creating the costumes for Black Panther. It was unbelievable to see how many iterations so many of the costumes went through, and how many details went into each and every look. It is absolutely no small feat, and it’s wonderful to see a woman of color achieving such success in her field. It was interesting to read that Carter defines a costume designer as someone who tells stories through wearable art. Considering each and every garment, accessory, headpiece, etc. as a component of a larger work of art must naturally contribute to a clearer and more harmonious vision and final product. Though it seems obvious, I never thought of costumes in this way and am now even more fascinated by the industry than I was before.
I love Ruth Carter so much. When she came to CMU I was so happy that we got the opportunity to hear her speak because she is doing amazing things in this industry and her designs are somewhat revolutionary. She really dug deep into all African heritages and tried to represent the cultures in as correct a way as possible - pulling inspiration but not copying while still keeping the meaning behind it. I am amazed at how she works and the amount of effort she puts in every day. I hope that one day I can be like her because she is honestly one of the most inspirational people I have seen. This article was kind of confusing to read though, it took a little while for me to realize how to read it. I think that this interview was a good one but it was pretty similar to Ruth Carter's talk here at CMU.
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