How a Costume Designer Creates an Iconic Look | Crew Spotlight

Crew Spotlight is a series dedicated to looking deeper into the aspects of film production that deserve more attention, the focus of this episode being costume design. Costumes help to teach us more about a character, to better establish a setting, and to tell the story; this video essay aims to expand on the role of a costume designer and how they do what they do.

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In Focus: Costume Design

Brooklyn: Clothing and Identity

Inside Game of Thrones: A Story in Cloth

Discussion with Costume Designer Deborah Landis

Adam Savage Visits the Hollywood Costume Exhibition

The Story of "The Matrix" Costume

[vicenteortegarubilar]

And the award for the best and prettiest thumbnail of all time is....this one.

[davidb]

"How A YouTuber Creates An Irresistibly-Clickable, Aesthetic Thumbnail"

[DepressedLaughter]

I wanted to scroll past but that thumbnail just pulled me in

[DSage]

There are brilliant people that work in films that don't seem to get enough credit.

[TheHanphoenix]

I remember an interview with the Actor who plays Theoden in The Lord Of The Ring.
The scene in the Two Tours when the character put his armor on. He said that inside they where horses engrave in the leather. Something that the viewer could never see. But he did.
That is telling of the quality of the work.

[Ashley-cegp]

I personally think a very underrated costume design is Freddy Krueger's in Nightmare on Elm St. The filmmakers made Freddy's look to be hard to look at, and not just in an "ew, gross" way, which they did somewhat implement with his facial makeup. His fedora casts a shadow over his face, and the red and green sweater wasn't just because Christmas. Red and green actually clash to the human eye, and is physically hard to look at when there's too much of it layered on top of each other.

[SharpDesign]

Is it weird that I thought of Edna Mode?

[sarahjohnson]

i work the costumes for my high schools theatre! i love to sew and did not INTEND to design costumes, just to help make them, but soon found the two went hand in hand.
its not the biggest gig in the world, but i can confirm that even at the most AMATEUR level, questions like "how well should this shirt be ironed?" are so so important.
what's fascinating is that few people notice these attentions to detail when they're done correctly, but LOTS can spot them when they're done incorrectly.

[kerricaine]

not to mention that costumes need to be practical to be worn too. sure you can build amazingly intricate suits of armor, but if your actor can't move in it. if you've ever tried to cosplay certain video game characters (final fantasy, monster hunter, i'm looking at you >.> ) then you know what i mean haha.

[basementdwellercosplay]

I want to go into costume design and my friend thought all you have to consider is size of the actor. Oh boy did I have to teach them

[Will-cbwb]

6:28 Adam Savage could be literally standing in pitch dark and you could still recognize him by his body language.

[danielaurista]

Edith Head I believe she is the inspiration for Edna mode.^^
"This is a hobo suit darlin "

[toetotipthatsabart]

This is why it is both easier, and harder in a few aspects, to work on a comic or animation.

When you are doing a character design, many elements that a costume designer works around would be left up to the character design. You don’t need to worry yourself with how a certain fabric would drape, because you’re the one drawing it. The character’s height, skin tone, hair color, eye color, body build is all in your hands, making it easier to convey a tone. You can exaggerate it as much as you want, because it’s not a human nor is it in a realistic setting.

But also, a character design in animation or comics comes under a lot more scrutiny. Especially in simple designs, you have to convey the same amount of information as a movie, but with less detail. That’s why good character design is so valued.

[linkfan]

The iconic leather costume from Edward Scissorhands was the first one I thought of and that was one of the first you showed. A great example of how the costume enhances the character and sort of tells a story of its own. Colleen Atwood IMO is the best costume designer around today. Good job with the video!

[bestofmovieanalysisandvide]

Love the video, can't wait for the rest of the series. Really like how instead of just focusing on obviously effective costumes such as those from sci fi films, you touched upon more subtle elements of design found in 'regular' clothes

[daniel_netzel]

Thank you so much for watching the first episode in my new series "Crew Spotlight"! I intend on covering many other aspects of production like cinematography, production design, sound design, etc. So I'd love to know all of your thoughts on this first episode and if you have any suggestions for future installments! And in case you missed it, be sure to check out my other new series called "Filmmakers in Focus"! It's a series dedicated to examining specific filmmakers that I love, and exploring how they found their way into movie making. The first episode covers one my favorite directors, David Fincher, and I would love it if you guys checked it out!

[lennoncorea]

Can you upload a high resolution image of the thumbnail? Looks like the perfect wallpaper!

[theatergeek]

I love the mention of the connection between psychology and costume...I've never thought about it like that before, but you really do have to know the character to get the tiniest costuming details perfect. This video is so cool!

[meganclare]

Well this just made me want a long ass documentary about this, any suggestions?

[missybarbour]

My mother who designs costumes for the theater would absolutely approve. Well done.