Variety: “Godzilla vs. Kong” naturally focuses on the mighty battle between the monsters, but costume designer Ann Foley also had a story to tell with her work.
Foley brought unique touches to dressing the human actors: Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Kyle Chandler and Demián Bichir.
5 comments:
I was glad to find the article related to the costumes about the movie that is not necessarily for humans. I think it is very important to maintain the good balance between being realistic and having some extent of imagination, because if the films fail to do so (especially when the whole plot is about that particular creature, just like Godzilla vs. Kong), suddenly the whole scenes become funny even when they are not supposed to be. However, that does not mean we can pay less attention to the costumes for human characters. I think I enjoyed this article more than any costume-related ones that I have read so far; I liked how Foley managed to merge the costumes with broader meaning throughout the film instead of just trying to make them real or reflect characters’ personalities (which is important but tends to be so predictable) like how they use the color red in a specific ways.
I’m always looking forward to hearing how different designers go about their creative process. I am personally a huge fan of continuity and little details that help move the story forward as well as giving exposition on characters without saying a word. I found Foley’s process genuine and detailed, which is odd considering the movie in question is about Donkey King vs. Godzilla. This comes to show that more often than not, even the most mundane of projects need the backing of so many hard-working people to even begin to produce something presentable. I thought the mention of characters that were not human was interesting. I never thought of them as “costumed” characters until this article. Although the details of it were not discussed much, I will assume the type of “fur” and the color of it would affect lighting and the rest of the effects that make up the editing portion of the piece.
Another costumes article! I love reading these, I find them so interesting. This one is from an interview with Ann Foley, who designed the costumes for “Godzilla vs. Kong”. I thought the questions she answers in this article are fantastic and point to specific details in her work and her process. She talks about starting with the script, and building the character’s clothes from there. She finds ways to include easter eggs, like Maddie’s jacket being her mothers, which ties the story back to past movies. Or, she and the director decided to take all red off the set and only include it when people are connected to the Titans. Even if it means a hint of red when the reflection is right, Foley was so specific about this detail and the meaning it holds in the story. I thought this was a fascinating read, and highly recommend taking a look!
I always love learning the behind the scenes/behind the designs details from articles like this. I recently watched Godzilla vs. Kong, but I didn’t notice many of the details and motifs that Ann Foley put into her designs. The detail that I learned from this article that surprised me the most was the note on the use of red – I would never have made that connection but it truly shows the attention to detail with the design of these costumes. It makes me realize that sometimes I focus too much on the story and the visual and the visual effects. I usually begin to notice more fine details like these after subsequent viewings, but sometimes I simply don’t notice them at all – which is still another testament to the attention to detail paid in these designs. I also really appreciated the attention paid to cultural heritage with the fictional Iwi tribe. I feel that culture and cultural heritage, fictional or not, is often not taken into consideration or is a mere afterthought in many designs, but I appreciate that Foley took this into consideration.
I like to think I understand how much detail goes into design work, but it is so amazing to see truly how much thought and effort goes into films like this. It is always interesting and refreshing to hear how others go about finding meaning as well. I guess I don't really think about costume design in movies like Kong where so much of the action is centered around monsters and special effects. I really liked the note on the use of red. I wish they went a little more into depth about why they made that decision, but nonetheless, it is a cool addition. It must be interesting designing non human characters, and I would've loved a little more detail on that process, and what responsibilities lie with what designers.
Post a Comment