Below the Line: David Fincher’s Mank focuses on screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz as he puts the final touches on the script for Citizen Kane. The action, set in 1930s Hollywood, features luminaries from Irving Thalberg, William Randolph Hearts, and, of course, Orson Welles. Mank’s plot, however, it focuses on Gary Oldman as the principal character and on a magnetic performance by Amanda Seyfried as screen legend Marion Davies.
2 comments:
Designing for a black and white film, especially now that designers are all used to working in color, is probably a very unique challenge. Like how Summerville mentioned, texture, values, and other elements of art need to be paid special attention because color palettes can't act as a crutch. I can't help but roll my eyes at the concept of another movie about Hollywood, though. There seems to be one every year that ends up sweeping awards based on pure pandering, and from what I hear, the majority of them don't deserve the hype, so usually I end up passing on them. The fact that the movie is also in black and white worries me. Some movies like The Wizard of Oz use black and white as an artistic tool, but lately there's been a trend of indie films and period pieces that are in black and white for the sake of it, and it, again, just feels like awards-bait. That being said, I love the aesthetics of old Hollywood and I love Amanda Seyfried, so I hope this movie is better than I expect.
I really enjoyed this article. I like that is ‘‘twas formatted in a interview instead of the interpretation of t]what the costume designer talks about. I was surprised that she limited her color use and actual look at the costumes in a museum collection they have just as much a had after as the black and white film does tried to find shades that would match black and white on camera. I think about the old Hollywood movies and how even though Edith head was designing for black and white film she still used color, and when you see the costumes in a museum collection they still have just as much character as they did in the film. I have seen multiple images from. The film and they all seem very dark. I’m not sure if that’s how the film is or if the stills from the film seem to be edited. It must be hard to design when you cannot explore the total range of shades- Evan Riley
Post a Comment