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Rings of Power Episode 4
28 Plays1 month ago
We're chatting about the latest episode of Rings of Power. There will be spoilers for the season so far! Join us for endless love on embroidery.
Show info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27580491/?ref_=ttep_eps_rec
Music: Cassette Deck by Basketcase
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm Melinda. I'm Ariel. This is Hot Set, the movie podcast about costume design.
00:00:22
Speaker
Welcome back. We are here to talk about Rings of Power season two, episode four. I can talk. I'm a professional at this. I've done it since a couple of years after I was born. Talking? Real, real good. Real good. Doing great. It's hot. It's hot. And whenever it gets the hotter, it gets the, the less well-functioning I become. I don't know about you. Yeah.
00:00:47
Speaker
It's kind of like a curve because when it gets cold again, I also like forget how to think too. So I have like a couple good months out of the year and the rest is pretty dicey. They're usually like spring and fall, like the high parts of the seasons. And then it it just descends into wrapped in a blanket or sweating my soul away, either one. And I don't yeah i don't want to be stuck in either. Okay.
00:01:12
Speaker
Rings of Power, we episode four. We're in it. um Real quick ah recap of the synopsis that you can find on IMDB. It's yet again, Chef Kiss. like I think this one is three sentences. The stranger finds what he's been searching for. Arandir and Isildur search for Theo. Galadriel and Elrond walk into a trap.
00:01:37
Speaker
but bla but
00:01:41
Speaker
It was interesting this episode. We never went to Khazad-dum. We didn't see any of our dwarf friends. Yeah, we just hung out with, and we also didn't go to Numenor. We just saw the Grey Havens, the desert, Tom Bombadil's house, the dark wizard's enclave. We're here. Tom has joined us. We were in a dark forest, the Southlands.
00:02:07
Speaker
and kind of like on the road road tripping with the elves and that was ah those are like the the spots we hit yeah which is good because we didn't get to see anything with nori and poppy and the stranger in episode three so i I was like looking forward to checking back in with them. So I'm glad that we did. I'm glad we got some time. Me too. and And then when we got in, I think the first thing I said when I saw the stranger was, damn, because that sunburn that sunburn makeup was pretty perfect. I had a sunburn very recently. And so I felt it simpatico deep in my soul. But man, sorry, that that giant was just like,
00:02:51
Speaker
Oh, burnt, burnt to a crisp and like Nori and Poppy also just so not in their element and you can really really tell like they stand out with their clothing because their their camouflage is like so meant for different climates that are greener. I loved in this episode that we got to meet basically the Harfoot like ancestor like their their homeland basically like with the stores.
00:03:20
Speaker
I, how did you feel about the stores when we met them? I was delighted to meet them. It was wonderful to see so many like delectable, deserty textures in all of their costumes. I was totally obsessed. The amount I put the word textures in my notes. Oh yeah. Yes. Every like dry grass jute thing you could possibly imagine just all together. Like the macrame.
00:03:53
Speaker
The weaving that was going on was so cool. Everybody had these amazing accessories that were like caplets or statement pieces of some kind. Yeah, lots of collars and Yeah. oh Oh, good. And I loved that like seeing their community, they were basically the warm tone version of the Harfoots we had seen. And they're perfectly like all these reds and oranges and tans and all these colors that are perfectly perfect to disappear into the desert. I just was like, I want to touch everything.
00:04:30
Speaker
I know that that's such a weird thing to say, but it's like, I just want to see all these costumes and touch them just to get some of those. Like, what, what did you make that out of? I want to see how heavy some of these things are. I would love to know what the process is of like gathering materials for the like Harfoot characters because it is so dependent on their climate and so much like natural things being incorporated and just sort of pulled in that I would love to just see giant piles of things that people were going through and pick stuff out.
00:05:05
Speaker
and like to see the designs and how specific the designs are and to see some of the process of like weaving and macraméing these things. And I really hope that the show releases or compiles some sort of appendices the way that the movies did because it's so much world building that i I, I mean, obviously that's why we're here. That's why we're talking about stuff that we're like nerdy about. I just like want to be able to see the process so much because there's so many different cultures that these designers and the wardrobe crew are are working with just to see, you know, the designer get a chance to like talk about their process and for each of the people in the wardrobe team to maybe contribute or at least like show some footage of them actually physically working on stuff and gathering things like what that was like. Oh, I just 13 hours of appendices footage, please.
00:06:00
Speaker
Actually, endless. but Can I just get like a live stream in the work rooms? Like, can I get the like, ah um that coverage that they had at the Olympics where they had like a multi screen of like each sport happening live, I just want like a live camera stream of like all the different workshops.
00:06:17
Speaker
I feel like I kind of wouldn't even be mad if I was personally working in one of those workshops. If there was a live stream of me working, like constructing stuff, as long as I could have some headphones in and I wouldn't have to be like actually consciously performing for anybody, just headphones in and like focused on like zoned in on, on the projects that I'm assigned. I can, cause I can see why people would want to watch that. Not necessarily everybody in the world, but there are definitely people who are like, Oh, that's how you did it. That's great.
00:06:46
Speaker
Yeah, we'd learn so much like it would be amazing. I would be so down. Dear Rings of Power, please and thank you. XOXO us. This was the first time, well the second time actually that the color red was like super present but didn't necessarily have a Sauron connection. It didn't have a Sauron connection.
00:07:09
Speaker
in my head, I wasn't even trying to make one. Right. Because like with the dwarves, they're the ones who kind of like are in the middle ground where I can see a little bit of like an influence but also go red is a color of royalty so it doesn't necessarily have to have some further symbolism.
00:07:24
Speaker
And with with the stores, the reds and the oranges, the warm colors, it it is their camouflage. like I love that their their culture, their people, whether Harfoot's or stores, are people who disappear into the landscape. And so they use whatever's around them to influence what they're wearing. And I just i love like the hit i wish I could, I don't know, watch some scenes from this show on like a screen the size of like a movie theater screen because I would love to be able to see like the people in the background the same like with Numenor and some of the elves just to see how there's so much variety everywhere like there are these amazing headpieces and hats going on with the stores. I feel like I could talk about them for way too long.
00:08:10
Speaker
What else did we see? We saw the Tom Bombadil. We started off in the Grey Havens, but that's Galadriel and Elrond, and they were basically in the same, where they saw them at the end of the last episode. It's still beautiful and it's still stunning, but we have seen it before. Yada, yada, yada.
00:08:28
Speaker
It wasn't new. It wasn't new. It still was fun. And there were some scenes where I feel like we got to see some different features of that, but that's in a second. Because Tom Bombadil, I, seeing him, first of all, I love Rory Kinnear. I think that he's such an amazing actor. I recommend um Penny Dreadful, um the show Penny Dreadful. He plays basically Frankenstein's monster named Victor. And it's,
00:08:55
Speaker
That is one of the most amazing shows I've ever seen and there's one episode which I think is called a piece of grass or something like that that is one of the best episodes of television I've ever seen in my life and it's just basically Rory Kinnear and um Ava Green acting off of each other. And it is incredible. Like he's such a good actor. So when I saw that he was cast as Tom Bombadil, I was like, yay, a non-dark role for him. Thumbs up. Way to go, buddy. I didn't recognize him. i I honestly, I didn't know we were going to meet Tom Bombadil in the series. I don't know why it didn't occur to me at all that we were going to meet Tom Bombadil. And I don't know this actor
00:09:40
Speaker
um from anything specific, but his voice sounded so familiar to me that I'm going to have to look it up and see what is on his resume because so I'm like, I've heard his voice say something somewhere, so I'll have to look it up. Because I have not seen Penny Dredville. I don't know if he was a commercial, who knows? but um I know I have not seen Penny Dredville, so I know that I don't know him from that. Put that on the list.
00:10:07
Speaker
I was just thinking as we were watching Tom and just kind of staring obsessively at his costume, how just simple and very unassuming it was. Obviously everything in the show is made with such care, but it was just so simple compared to some of the other things that we have seen in the show. Yeah, and I feel like he is because we find out and I don't know very much about Tom Bombadil because as I've admitted in in other episodes, I did not read the full books. I did not read the Silmarillion. So some of these details are new to me, but we found out that Tom Bombadil was like one of the first.
00:10:47
Speaker
in Middle Earth. And he was definitely like one of the first Istar or like these like beings sent down that become wizards essentially. And so he is very old. And he basically just doesn't care about certain things because his attention is like focused outward, it seems like.
00:11:06
Speaker
There are so many robes and tunics and shirts and like long shirts in this series because of like the kind of medieval placement that we're in. The era of human history that we're in that I'm very interested in seeing how the designers and and the costume team, the wardrobe team use yolks to change enclosures the use of embroidery not be repetitive like they save it because like if you're if you're putting in that much effort you're going to put it where the camera is going to catch it which is around the face or around the hands like points of focus and so that could get pretty repetitive if you're constantly covering the same ground the same way embroidery has been applied
00:11:50
Speaker
really well for each character and in different ways for like different stations and different intentions of character. So like there's a little bit of embroidery on his, his yeah shirt. But it's, yeah it's kind of like under his beard and in that area. So it's like something that would have been done deliberately. Like I want to to do this for myself to make this thing or someone made it for him. I liked the closure, the center back leg lace up closure on his shirt.
00:12:16
Speaker
yeah And around his waist, you could see, I kind of liked to imagine that it was an elastic channel, but it was probably a cord on the inside that tied up with the lacing around his center back. But it was funny for a minute to be like,
00:12:30
Speaker
Is that elastic at the man's waist? Good for you. I didn't know. Could not be. Uh-oh. And so it's like, that's why I know it's probably not elastic. But i I did like that the technology exists to do that, to create a channel, put a cord in, and then you can tighten something so it fits. I hope nobody's like, oh, these costumes are crazy because they used elastic. No, they didn't. say no It's OK. I was just having a silly moment. When we were...
00:12:59
Speaker
Shifting from the Grey Havens to well basically from scene to scene to to different group to different group I just realized that I how much I love the shades of colors in this show they all feel like they are achievable through natural dye except for the elves because they're so heightened that they're like blue is there that it's like I don't know the indigo could.
00:13:20
Speaker
could make a deal. That intensity and the the saturation and intensity is is so magical that I can I can believe it. I'll just like let it go. No problem. But for for everybody else, that's more of Middle Earth and is more grounded to the earth. There's just like these reds and tans and I don't know. There's just like so many colors that just feel so like they live there and that they're crossing from one culture to another as if there's trade. And I really like that.
00:13:58
Speaker
It's just the wonderful. wonderful. So we saw our friends, the elf traveling party. I don't have all of the elves names and unfortunately, RIP, we do lose one or two. No, we lose one and the other one gets saved. But Galadriel is following Elrond on this journey to Eregion to check on calibur bo and they're sent by Gil-galad, the High King, because they're like, we haven't heard from Calabrin-bor and Galadriel's like, I'm pretty sure capital T capital B that bitch Sauron is over there. And we should, we should go check on him. And like, it's a whole fight between sisters. Elrond and Galadriel are just like, they both feel betrayed by the other. So it's very high tension between the two.
00:14:46
Speaker
and we see them traveling a lot at night and I, how did you feel about their they're traveling clothing? I really love, I was looking at the quality of the textile of their, I don't know if you would call it a coat because it did close down the front. It was reminding me of like stores that I've been in shopping for fabrics and um I did do a project a few years ago for another designer where I bought this metallic linen or a ghost costume that she had designed. The sheen and quality of their coats reminded me of that project in particular because it was it was a linen that had a gold thread woven into it to create this like iridescent effect and I felt like I was seeing very similar effects to
00:15:45
Speaker
their coats. Everybody's was a little bit different. So there was like different levels of, of things going on. But I was like, I wonder if that is what it is. Obviously, I'm sure it's not the same exact fabric. But I was like, I do wonder if that is what I am seeing. So that would be so cool. Funny.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, because that they were they were pretty magical. like They felt like the hunting clothing of a magical species, a magical people, because there was that sheen. And then it seemed like they all they all have a tree on the center front like that branches out without any leaves, I think. It's like the the trunk and the branches. yeah And it seems like it's, I want to say like quilted, like down because it seems yeah it looks quilt like dimensional, but not like super thick. And then Galadriel's, it felt like had, it was bumped up to another level. Like if there was a gold woven into the linen of the others, hers was separate because hers was entirely silver.
00:16:45
Speaker
And then it also had, I feel like beating or some other treatment. It had some, yeah, there was some extra sparkle going on. Oh, the sparkle. that was I lost it for a second. Like baby me, who grew up in the houses of movies, like legend, like was just like the glitter of it all. Yes.
00:17:10
Speaker
it's like Growing up with like 80s fantasy where they just like leaf blower glitter like onto sets and stuff which is so horrendous for the environment. had to actually and you had Oh it it was insane and it's like I know that out there on the internet there is like a behind the scenes thing for the movie legend.
00:17:31
Speaker
where they do talk about how they had to build a forest in a parking lot and they covered it with glitter. And I was just like, uh, like snow was covered. Like everything was glitter in the fricking movie. And I was like, I'm having my moment. Yay. Cause they're, the elf party gets caught up by Barrow whites in this creepy place. They are called Barrow whites. So a specific W I G H T S oh and, um,
00:18:00
Speaker
I think they had ghost, skeleton, demon, pirate to describe what they looked like. It was like really amazing to see the the elves with their their' their reflective like magical coats. And each one had their their cape on was slightly different. like Their cape was a different length and just worn and secured slightly differently. But they reflected like they were stars in the darkness, which just felt like such a this is how different elves are from everything else here, is that they are from somewhere where they carry light everywhere they go into the darkness. yeah And that's like a theme from Galadriel later in in the Lord of the Rings. So it was just like such a beautiful moment. And then to see them facing off against these barrow whites who did feel piratey, and they felt like the pirates in Return of the King. Like, I don't know if that's because of the... the red and like just the shapes of everything that they were wearing but they felt very connected to those folk and I was just like yay another design of a people we haven't seen yet because the elves are like these people who died here died here like a thousand years ago so I don't think we've seen their culture.
00:19:13
Speaker
yet, but it was like, ooh, deep reds and golds and and creepy, creepy shiny eyes. Yeah, just lots of like hats. And that kind of just sparked in my mind, and I have no like answers, only questions, but it kind of sparked in my mind that kind of conversation that that I have with myself sometimes when I'm watching things where I wonder when you have characters that are Basically, computer-generated characters. where like What is the costume designer's role? in or if you yeah know like how How does that incorporate? because
00:19:55
Speaker
You know, when you're creating a character that's all computer generated image, their costume is also generated on that computer. That's a whole wing of the field is being a digital costume designer. And I don't know how any of that works because like when I was coming up through school for my degree, that was not something we really talked about.
00:20:16
Speaker
It was like traditional costume design where they taught you the traditional routine of like watercolors and collages, et cetera, which is like, everybody needs to know it, but it would have been nice to branch out a little and learn like digital costume design because it, even within the realm of costume design, unless you're like working in specific realms of costume, it's kind of something that you don't even really think about consciously because you're a hauling ass all the time. like working for theater or whatever, but it's not necessarily something that you're thinking about. You know, like you just kind of take it for granted the same way that other folks might until somebody mentioned something about it and you're like, oh yeah, that's right. That's a whole thing. And it's a shame that we take it for granted because it is such incredible work. Whoever rendered these costumes and whoever designed them, I'm i'm assuming it fell under the the umbrella of the costume designer for the show. They looked great. Like they looked.
00:21:12
Speaker
And like being at night, I think probably definitely helped, but they looked so cool and they looked like they belonged to a society that felt old. I don't know. It's such a weird thing to say.
00:21:27
Speaker
Cause like kind of in my, in my mind, they felt a little bit like kind of connected to like a grief orca dot orthodox like shape and also sort of to like a Coptic, like Egyptian kind of shape as well. Like there was kind of, it's like my, my brain subconsciously was doing like maybe over here, maybe over here, maybe over here. It was just a cool surprise and also creepy as hell. Yeah, very creepy.
00:21:54
Speaker
very creepy and very effective. We also are in the Southlands in this episode with Isildur and Erendir and Estrid, and they're all looking for Theo. They're still wearing the same things as they were in the last episode. Isildur has a cape in this one that I feel like he's acquired since joining up with Erendir. And it's just like lightweight, textured,
00:22:18
Speaker
little number that I kind of loved because it's like a summer cape. It's not a waffle fabric because that would be insane, but it just has a different texture. No, but it did look like it. Think about waffle. From one specific shot from behind, it had this upraised geometric kind of situation that felt different than what we've been seeing elsewhere. And I was just like, this is fun. I love it. It's just like, it's different. And unfortunately, our friends are just like, they spend this episode wet and just damp and muddy and distressed and uncomfortable, except for Theo. Theo has been captured by ants and he's being held in like an ant jail. He's thankfully a little tree jail. Yeah, he's like nice and dry and everybody else is just kind of miserable until they magically like,
00:23:10
Speaker
I don't know how they bathe and get the mud and everything off, but there is a point in the episode where they remove the mud and they're all dry. And I'm so happy for them because it seems like it's a wet time of year. And so by the time they reunite with Theo, they are solid again.
00:23:26
Speaker
But Porfio has had a rough go since the last episode when his his ah furs were like torn and everything. They're still torn. oh They haven't been repaired. He's ragged. But I feel like spiritually and like in his heart, he's doing a little bit better, which is nice. I don't know. He seems a little bit less angry.
00:23:47
Speaker
I think so. He's compatriots this episode so I felt very happy for him for that. I think them coming and like rescuing him is probably like a little bit of something that he needed to be like these people care about me and they're willing to like fight for me literally.
00:24:05
Speaker
And he's like i' taking the yeah yeah and he's like taken a responsibility now. Even as he's dressed right now, the whole show, he's been this growing young man, like boy into young manhood. And he's dressed like a shepherd's son. And so it's going to be interesting to see how he changes, because he doesn't carry any weapons, any weapons he's had. He's like hidden or you know come across.
00:24:31
Speaker
through need. So it's not like he's dressing like somebody who's intentionally. He's Yeah, he's not. And so it's going to be interesting to see how he evolves and also to see like if he gets any repair on his little costume or gets like a new layer. Just take care of yourself. Like Theo costume watch check-in every episode to be like, where's Theo at?
00:24:58
Speaker
I pause every episode and I'm like, well, it's still he's still in dire straits. So he hasn't had time or resources. But I'm like, I just hope that somebody's like, Hey, do you need to ex? Here you go. With that back together. I was very pleased to see a lady and covered in blossoms in this episode. I loved her.
00:25:21
Speaker
we got two Ents that we got to speak to and I did not look up their names because why on earth would I research something but it was wonderful to see Ents just kind of kicking ass and just being like you all suck because like when we've seen them in the movies there is a point where they're like do we crush you and it's like just kill everyone and I'm like yeah and it's like I don't yeah but and right now they're very much on the we'll just kill everybody path because everybody we've come across has been a massive problem for us with axes and fire and blood and they're just like I'm gonna stomp you like basically they get stopped from curb stomping a couple of the characters which is just crazy
00:26:02
Speaker
Yeah, so it's like a very different era and a very different time and like they are being presented with very different levels of of immediate violence and it was just like really cool to see them interacting with Arandir and like seeing this Elvish relationship with the trees and also how gutted he is when he admits that he had to cut down a tree.
00:26:23
Speaker
And like, he had to cut down one of the old trees. And it's just like, o on the opposite hand, we see towards the end of the episode, our our road trip and elves run into orcs. They run into a band of orcs and they don't know it, but they are right next to Adar, the father of the orcs. They can see the army, but they don't know that they are like, like bumping you up right against the guy. yeah And so um the orcs that we see have these amazing, like we've talked about before how their armor is like totally what they've mishmash together from their victims essentially. So they have like different eras of metal works and it's got different
00:27:08
Speaker
you know, distressing and it's been worn away, whatever. But in this one, we see them with bones, like a bone car the bur of collar. collar? So I was just like, oh my god. This is really cool and dark and like it has to be the collar of like,
00:27:27
Speaker
a horse or some other massive animal. yeah And then there's also like bone armor. So there are like shoulder blades and things that have been turned into like pauldrons. And it's just like pretty wild to see like yeah these different, like I think there was one with ribs like on their breastplate. yeah And it was just like, oh my God, you guys are the worst.
00:27:51
Speaker
like the wars because it's like you had to kill your victim and then clean them clean the bones and then somebody had to assemble them into a wearable object the horror of it and the camp of it it's like you're so gross and terrible but also can't be like like you like they have to be like they're pure villains like there's not and they're so like mixed messaging with the orcs Yeah, and they're also so arrogant because I think they've mostly spent, well, everybody they've come across, they've overcome, except now they've met Galadriel, who's just rage incarnate. And in this episode, I realized, I think we've forgotten that Galadriel has been portrayed as a general, like so far. Like the first season we saw her go through so much and just be sitting with her rage and we've seen her fight.
00:28:45
Speaker
And we haven't seen her fight yet in this season. We've seen her in the soft gowns and like with the other elves and she's been at a different place. So it's like, we forgot that she is vicious. She's like a rabid animal, like cornered, but like purposeful. And I wrote like at our own, no, because I had to look up what he says to her and he says,
00:29:11
Speaker
Because the last scene, there are the the road trip and elves turn away from Galadriel because she's like, Elrond, take the ring and like, protect it, take it back to Gilgalad or whatever. And um one of the elves says like she she sacrificed herself for us and Elrond and Elvish says, no, she gave away the ring and went to fight the orcs not to sacrifice herself, but to protect the ring. And it was like, oh, that's very. I was very aware. And then we turn and Adar is like, has basically knocked Galadriel off of this beautiful black horse. Like when we think she's about to escape them. And he says in Elvish to her, the star shines upon the hour of our meeting. In this season, I noticed the Elvish little elements of his costume. And so seeing him with one of the high elves, Galadriel is, brought it is pretty, more focused Yeah, I really brought it into some focus and it's just like, oh no, where's this gonna go? And that's where the episode ends. Yeah, we'll have to wait until next week to see if episode five. I'm so looking forward to it. And I'm so, I also want to find out if there's an answer to my question that I have in my notes to elf sweat, because they've been hauling A in these these outfits and they look fresh as a daisy. And like, I just want to see.
00:30:40
Speaker
Probably not. They might not even have the glands, but like they've been through so much and they're so fresh. And I can't wait to see how, how the distressing and the breaking down of folks' costumes continues. I cannot wait. And I did not mention that we also did see our gold masked assassins and the dark wizard in their enclaves. So we did got a little, we got a little little check-in with those guys. There's going to be some more, like there's hopefully we'll, we'll kind of get a little bit more information on them.
00:31:10
Speaker
coming up. But it was fun. it should Like halfway through the season. And like we got introduced to even more new new cultures, which was really cool. So lots of fun costumes that the wardrobe team got to construct and work on this season. Very awesome. So we'll be back with episode five. And in the meantime, we're slowly behind the scenes working on making our our little baby baby versions of Galadriel and Muriel.
00:31:38
Speaker
Maybe next week we can do like a little, have a little moment and chat about that. Yeah. Cause I think we'll have some process then, you know, real, real world stuff. Thanks for talking about this with me, Melinda. It's always fun to check in. I'm so glad we did. And yeah, we'll chat Lord of the Rings again next week. Our regular episode will come out on Tuesday. Thank you for listening. Bye.