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Thursday, January 30, 2025
'Maria': See How Its Designers Blurred the 'Line Between Reality and Fantasy' With Angelina Jolie | Exclusive Photos
TheWrap: Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” is a lush fantasia that stars Angelina Jolie as opera singer Maria Callas. We see the iconic diva in grand theaters like La Scala and in her favored Paris cafes, but the main setting is her gloriously appointed apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower.
Before reading this article I didn’t know that Angelina Jolie could sing, so I found another article that described her vocal training and the mixing of her vocals with Callas’. As far as I am aware, I have never watched a production where this kind of vocal mixing was utilized, so this detail automatically grabbed my attention. As I continued reading I became immersed in the design of the set and the costumes through the pictures. I felt that the lighting in the renderings was well drawn and aided the realistic look. I also really loved that they included a picture of the rough ground plan. I feel that articles like this that depict ground plans and set and costume renderings from productions help to reinforce the design principles and drafting conventions that we’ve been learning in class, especially because they are accompanied by detailed explanations from the designers themselves.
I watched this movie earlier this year while on winter break, and I really thought that the production value was amazing. I love the aesthetics and just overall color, palette and angles that they took well filming and signing and they really look so magical here in this article when I’m looking at the concept art. During the opera scenes, when watching I paid attention to the backdrops. They were these gorgeous painted backdrops, and I wondered how many of them they had to paint and how big they were for the film. I find it interesting now to read that the reason they were backdrops was because they “couldn’t afford scenics,” I had thought it was just part of the opera aesthetic. But I found it very cool that Dyas started with painting these backdrops at a two and a half foot by one foot scale and then blew it up to an 8 foot print. This process was very cool. I also loved seeing his marked up pages of the script with his “annotating his scripts with extensive visual references and inspirations.” I thought that it was very cool to see and it definitely gives me an idea while working in the future.
I love how production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas and costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini are in such complete agreement on their design goals. Although the design elements of a piece are always meant to work in harmony and tell a single story, it happens often that one takes priority over the others or moves in a completely different direction. With Maria, however, it’s a treat to see how effectively they work in unison. Dyas and Parrini do a great job of moving Maria out of reality. The film, which follows the life of opera singer Maria Callas and her addiction to the sedative Mandrax, uses over-the-top sets, costumes, and lighting to convey how Maia often slipped out of reality and into her own fantasy world. They never go so far as to distract from the story itself, but they help blur the lines between realism and dreamlike illusion and convey Maria’s experience with Mandrax. My personal favorite is the design of her opera-inspired Parisian apartment, which shows Maria at her most vulnerable and intimate moments.
The work put into this movie is honestly so inspiring to me. And every movie, for that matter. I spent a lot of time staring at the drawings included in this article, which have so much detail. The costume renderings by Massimo Cantini Parini are so beautiful and it was really cool to hear his reasoning for each design. What really drew me into this article was hearing and seeing Guy H. Dyas’s process. Dyas’s watercolor renderings are beautiful. His mood boards and the way he creates his ideas is really inspirational and educational. Every time I hear about the role of a production designer, it draws me in more and more. It’s something so overlooked when watching a movie, but it’s so awesome and really highlights all of my interests, especially the challenge of the meaning for every scene and every detail in each scene. As time goes on, I’m really excited to learn more about this role.
4 comments:
Before reading this article I didn’t know that Angelina Jolie could sing, so I found another article that described her vocal training and the mixing of her vocals with Callas’. As far as I am aware, I have never watched a production where this kind of vocal mixing was utilized, so this detail automatically grabbed my attention. As I continued reading I became immersed in the design of the set and the costumes through the pictures. I felt that the lighting in the renderings was well drawn and aided the realistic look. I also really loved that they included a picture of the rough ground plan. I feel that articles like this that depict ground plans and set and costume renderings from productions help to reinforce the design principles and drafting conventions that we’ve been learning in class, especially because they are accompanied by detailed explanations from the designers themselves.
I watched this movie earlier this year while on winter break, and I really thought that the production value was amazing. I love the aesthetics and just overall color, palette and angles that they took well filming and signing and they really look so magical here in this article when I’m looking at the concept art. During the opera scenes, when watching I paid attention to the backdrops. They were these gorgeous painted backdrops, and I wondered how many of them they had to paint and how big they were for the film. I find it interesting now to read that the reason they were backdrops was because they “couldn’t afford scenics,” I had thought it was just part of the opera aesthetic. But I found it very cool that Dyas started with painting these backdrops at a two and a half foot by one foot scale and then blew it up to an 8 foot print. This process was very cool. I also loved seeing his marked up pages of the script with his “annotating his scripts with extensive visual references and inspirations.” I thought that it was very cool to see and it definitely gives me an idea while working in the future.
I love how production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas and costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini are in such complete agreement on their design goals. Although the design elements of a piece are always meant to work in harmony and tell a single story, it happens often that one takes priority over the others or moves in a completely different direction. With Maria, however, it’s a treat to see how effectively they work in unison. Dyas and Parrini do a great job of moving Maria out of reality. The film, which follows the life of opera singer Maria Callas and her addiction to the sedative Mandrax, uses over-the-top sets, costumes, and lighting to convey how Maia often slipped out of reality and into her own fantasy world. They never go so far as to distract from the story itself, but they help blur the lines between realism and dreamlike illusion and convey Maria’s experience with Mandrax. My personal favorite is the design of her opera-inspired Parisian apartment, which shows Maria at her most vulnerable and intimate moments.
The work put into this movie is honestly so inspiring to me. And every movie, for that matter. I spent a lot of time staring at the drawings included in this article, which have so much detail. The costume renderings by Massimo Cantini Parini are so beautiful and it was really cool to hear his reasoning for each design. What really drew me into this article was hearing and seeing Guy H. Dyas’s process. Dyas’s watercolor renderings are beautiful. His mood boards and the way he creates his ideas is really inspirational and educational. Every time I hear about the role of a production designer, it draws me in more and more. It’s something so overlooked when watching a movie, but it’s so awesome and really highlights all of my interests, especially the challenge of the meaning for every scene and every detail in each scene. As time goes on, I’m really excited to learn more about this role.
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