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Amelie- A Whole New Oeuvre
17 Plays21 days ago
Bonjour ma cherie! Welcome to the new season of the show! We are embracing color and big design. What better way to kick it off than the movie that spawned a million twee alt girls? Amelie is a style role model who is deep in her vigilante era. And the world she lives in is a place of beauty. The harmony of costumes, sets, and props in this movie is absolutely stunning. A must watch.
And hopefully this episode is a must listen.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0211915/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_1_nm_7_in_0_q_amelie
Music: Cassette Deck by Basketcase
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm Melinda. I'm Ariel. This is Hot Set, the movie podcast about costume design.
Season Three Theme: Vibrant Colors in Film
00:00:22
Speaker
Hello and welcome. We are back. It is season three. Count them. One, two, three. We are here with a whole new concept, a whole new, don't even know, oeuvre, a whole new collection of films that we are going to be covering here in season three yeah Welcome, Ariel. How are you?
00:00:46
Speaker
Hello, reporting from a different town than you. So nice to see you again. The oeuvre. Just elevated. You have throw those big words sometimes. I'm like, yes, went to college.
00:01:00
Speaker
like And this is how I'm proving Higher education. Nailed it Yeah. oh This is just a it's a new chapter in a book of crazy.
00:01:12
Speaker
but I'm very excited for this season. I think I've said that for every single season and it's going to stay true. um yeah But this one especially after the end of last season, like ending on Fifth Element was rad.
00:01:24
Speaker
But before that were like some darker and like cinematically darker. just like plot wise, but like just yeah just shadows and black and part of the last season of Game of Thrones dark, you know, where you're like,
00:01:40
Speaker
like I can't see. Actually, are you wearing clothes?
The Art of Costume and Set Design
00:01:45
Speaker
I can't. All I see is like eyes in the It's just shadows. And so we are going in the opposite direction, basically jumping off that like pier of fifth element into this oeuvre. Yeah.
00:02:01
Speaker
Like we had a couple names for it, like a Technicolor Dreamcoat and Color Explosion season. I think that that one's pretty, pretty nice. Yeah, we never really picked one officially, did we? I think Color Explosion, that satisfies me because we're looking at a lot of things with very, very...
00:02:22
Speaker
saturated palettes or very deliberate palettes that like pull the world together so we're really looking at films that um where the costumes are really supporting the whole world they're not just like their own yeah track a little more front mean that's like such a rude way for me to describe it but it's their own little their own little thing just oh your little oh your cute little clothes oh how sweet but it's like you know Costumes serve so many different roles. Maybe you can hear Echo eating in the background. i don't know. If you can, you're welcome, little tiny crunchies.
00:03:00
Speaker
um and But like sometimes costumes are just kind of meant to not really be seen. They're just meant to exist. And that is a super successful design, right? That's amazing. How much they feature does not mean how successful they are. Those two things are not.
00:03:17
Speaker
And right in this season, we are specifically looking at ones that really, really stand out because the whole world is meant to stand
Challenges in Finding International Films
00:03:25
Speaker
out. The whole world is meant to be like a visual feast.
00:03:29
Speaker
Yeah. the The movable feast. Isn't that a description of Paris? that... description of paris is that Probably. Sure. I don't know. Some, some Victorian writer, I think called something a movable feast. And I thought maybe it was Paris.
00:03:45
Speaker
I don't know. Am I going to find out? No, no.
00:03:50
Speaker
But I also, think something that we should note for, for going forward Without you know tipping our whole hand and giving it all away. Is that we are also going to be kind of ah expanding out into um some international filmmakers and international films. And some some genres and some styles that we have not talked about yet on the show. So we're kind of like, we've been very American so far yeah in our film diet. so we're Very, very Western.
00:04:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So I feel like we're, we're, we're sort of like, slowly stepping out with this first movie, and then we're just gonna like dive in later. So, and yeah anybody has any recommendations, please, please.
00:04:40
Speaker
send
Influence of Video Rental Stores
00:04:41
Speaker
them to us because uh for so many reasons google is trash but one of them is that the search capabilities are garbage and so i know that i'll be transitioning probably to firefox but that's like a little bit of a of a process um but recently like searching for international cinema has been kind of a pain in the ass. Like I've been trying to find specifically looking for costumes, you know, like researching based on that and like colorful things, whatever, like whatever search terms I've used, all of the search results have been pointing to Western results, which is really stupid.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah. So a lot of the international things that that I've added to the list for this season are things that I've seen and they're a little bit older, but they are super influential in my tastes and but yeah are totally really wonderful examples of international design.
00:05:42
Speaker
And so I'm looking forward to Further expanding, like, this is so unbearable, and I'm so sorry. But when we used to have a million years ago, ah rental stores like video rental stores, it was so easy to go into like an area that was like foreign film or international film.
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, even just independent ah and just pick one up. And like, that's how I saw so much. And that's why
Featured Film: Amelie
00:06:07
Speaker
a lot of my international movies are kind of like, certain part of the 2000s. And before is because I physically just go in and just pick random directors, random films and just experience them.
00:06:21
Speaker
And now it's all um like really, it's see i like I don't know how the any of those like algorithms work, but it's like they pluck out like one thing and they're like, this is the thing. And it's like, maybe, yeah but maybe not. There's more to offer. yeah And I know that there are other streaming services that exist, but I don't know what they are. and i I won't know until I know.
00:06:46
Speaker
that probably offer a lot of a wider spectrum. So a little bit apologies in advance, but also I'm excited to talk about those things when we get to them because I'm excited to like look for more information.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's, you know, it's kind of nice to start with um stuff that is gonna be a little bit more recognizable. Like for for me, I know like my my film diet is is very American. I know that and it kind of always has been for me personally. So I think this will be...
00:07:19
Speaker
ah I always need people who have good taste, such as yourself, to, like, point me in the direction to, like, expand the movies. So I think it's a good thing to be, like, this is, you know, it's a curated list. This is the, like, Spotify, your daily mix of international films.
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:45
Speaker
So the movie that we've chosen to cover to open season three is the, I believe, 2001 French film Amelie, which I've, this movie, I think, made a big presence here in the US when it came out. Like it was the director. Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:05
Speaker
Jean-Pierre Jeannot, like this and a Very Long Engagement and Alien Resurrection and The City of Lost Children, but like delicatessen.
00:08:17
Speaker
There were quite a few things that Jean-Pierre Jeannot like – directed that were very, very in my circle, big, because was with people who wanted to get into movies, like into film.
00:08:29
Speaker
and um But like this director is one of those that has just like such a like a Wes Anderson when you think of somebody who has like a very tight style.
00:08:40
Speaker
And each thing that they make is different, but because as of their' their eye, there's so much attention to details and to Yeah. Cinematography, all of these things.
00:08:52
Speaker
And it's like almost different flavors, but yeah, it's like that that's what this guy is interested in. That's going to be present in all his films, but yeah, it was interesting because I think that I, so I saw this movie in the theater Yeah, I think growing up in like Northern California, there's like a certain prestige to like a knowing about cool, like independent or like foreign films. It was like, you had you just had to kind of know a little bit at least if you wanted to be taken seriously at all ah with a certain certain groups of people.
00:09:25
Speaker
But I don't think I had seen any Wes Anderson movies at the point when this movie came out because... He had only made a couple.
Visual Style and Influences in Amelie
00:09:35
Speaker
So like, it was interesting to rewatch this movie and be like, wow, this is very reminiscent to me of that visual style.
00:09:44
Speaker
And like Wes Anderson at the time, Wes Anderson, his first couple of movies weren't as like tight as the later ones. And Wes Anderson... I believe a lot of his movies are very, very deeply influenced by Bollywood, um like the colors and all of that stuff. I think it's very, very influenced by that.
00:10:04
Speaker
And so Jean-Pierre Jeunot has this, like, I don't know any of his influences. research? Hell no. I just came with my eyes and an open heart. And so it's like,
00:10:17
Speaker
ah so um and so it's like I had seen a couple of his movies and I had around the time that this came out. um This is why I said it was unbearable, like going to the video store, my video stores, video droid and stuff.
00:10:32
Speaker
I knew the people who ran them because I was going so frequently. And I was also like renting movies from the library or borrowing movies from the library, like that kind of stuff. But I was always watching movies because I was very much like a homebody.
00:10:46
Speaker
yeah, I was watching a few French filmmakers at the time. And it felt like Jean-Pierre Junot just kind of like stood it out.
00:11:01
Speaker
um A lot of like all of them, every, every filmmaker has their own style for sure. But like Jean-Pierre Junot just had this, Like we were just talking about Julie Taymor being a sonographer and his works have that kind of a feel where every single thing is very, like, of course, when you're making a movie, when you're making a show, ah the stage play, anything, everything is deliberate. But like sometimes...
00:11:29
Speaker
the levels of deliberation differ, right? Like sometimes you don't care what kind of a can you're putting in a cabinet. You just want a can there. But here, all of this design is very, very tight.
00:11:42
Speaker
And it's like, there's no so randomness. There's no randomness. Like everything is just like truly your eyes can wander. And
Character and Narrative in Amelie
00:11:52
Speaker
it's true in every of one of his movies that I've ever seen that like the worlds are Very tightly built in that way.
00:12:00
Speaker
And this one, Homily just made such a splash because it was also a brighter movie. ah yeah And because of the the whimsy. There's like buckets of whimsy in this movie. Buckets of whimsy. And so what were we in high school in 2001? believe that we were both finishing eighth grade going into ninth grade. Yeah. So this was, we were like the perfect demographic because this movie yeah is totally like Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but it's not from the outside. It's from the inside of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. And she's not just
00:12:42
Speaker
An agent of a man's change. It's like she is a force of whimsy in the world. like I'm gonna whimsy you to death.
00:12:52
Speaker
You have no choice. Sometimes literally. Yeah.
00:12:58
Speaker
I know. I think that's that was what was so refreshing. I think to me, like rewatching this movie and being like, it is literally just about her. Like it's not, it's not someone else's ah conception of her. It is about her. And yeah yeah like, thank God, like, thank God.
00:13:18
Speaker
and we have a narrator. But the narrator serves not as like, I'm thinking about this woman from my past. It's the narrator who is narrating her story like she is a star of like a children's book or something. And so she and the narrator are like in cahoots.
00:13:34
Speaker
I kind of like love that because she breaks the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera multiple times and she's like, you get it. like I love that she's not a perfect character.
00:13:46
Speaker
yeah Even though i would have killed for her wardrobe at this time. my God. And a way to be able to pull off that haircut. my God. Wow. To pull that haircut is ah phenomenal. i actually have a friend who rocks a very similar haircut and is also French.
00:14:05
Speaker
That girl. This is ridiculous. And like for little while, her hair was lavender and I was like, you're killing me right now. Wow. Okay. Just taking it a little too far. And did I cut my hair around this time from length to very short? And then like, did I also pin it back and up in creative ways because I was influenced by this character and Audrey? Yes, I did. Yeah.
00:14:28
Speaker
i I wish that I had. i did not. I really wish that I had done that. mean, like, I don't know. What a wasted opportunity to do that at like 14. Like, wow. Honestly, if I could travel back, I would maybe not have cut my hair.
00:14:44
Speaker
Just, you know, hindsight being like, don't do it. Yeah, well. Oh, my God. But what a beautiful film. Like, it is amazing. Just just visualcious like visually. just And it it was just like, yeah, I felt like watching this movie again was like catching up with an old friend that I hadn't talked to in a long time. And it was sort of like, there are so many things in the movie that i had kind of forgotten about that were just kind of like all came, like rushing back, like watching it again. Like I truly forgot how much of this movie is set against the backdrop of of Princess Diana dying.
00:15:20
Speaker
Yeah. Did not remember that. That is so much like it is constant like thread in the background of this movie. Would you like to donate to the canonization of Lady D?
00:15:32
Speaker
Lady D? Lady D? like i but I also was watching this and and kind of learned for the first time how influential this movie has been on my work.
00:15:45
Speaker
Because, like, okay, so color theory, right? um One of my default complementary color ah pairings is red and green.
00:15:56
Speaker
Like, in my illustrations, in my my actual designs, it's always a default, and I have no idea why. but it's very satisfying but not like primary you know like christmas red and green will barf no it's the wide varieties of reds and greens and like pinks and like you know all those different things that cross over together and muted palettes and this movie has like a color filter on it that might be like a
00:16:27
Speaker
green like a filter. Greenish gold. Yeah. Yeah. Like all the greens, like green and gold or orange or something like, but all the greens
Costume Design Analysis
00:16:35
Speaker
are really, really, really popping, really popping. And then like, there's so much red and like peach and pink and coral and all these like yeah warm tones to balance out.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yeah. Oh my God. And so it's like that and the layers like kind of, um, A lot of places in the world are to Americans more formal in how they dress, right? Because right since the late 90s, early 2000s in the US and other places in Europe, like the UK and other places like leisure wear, like really went through the roof. but I think the US...
00:17:17
Speaker
takes like relaxed stuff really, really far, like t-shirts, yoga pants, pajamas. Yeah. Pajamas in public. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that in other places, those things exist for sure.
00:17:32
Speaker
But there's also a different level of people dressing up right yeah and so like I remember watching this and like seeing that this is taking place if they're talking about Lady Diana it's supposed to be like is it supposed be 96 97 yeah and so people are still dressing with like an older sensibility of like layering and like waists and like Having one. Cardigans. Yeah. Having a waist, having like, just like ah three multiple piece suits or like a vest, a sweater vest. Yeah. Wearing a tie casually.
00:18:12
Speaker
yeah And so it's like, that's kind of an older thing. Like, yes, you do see that, but you kind of just like reflexively think of it here as like business casual as opposed to, or like church clothes instead of like, that's just what I'm wearing out for the day.
00:18:25
Speaker
And so loved that. that Amelie walks that line and that Nino, you know Nino, Nino, cancanpois, also walks that line of being kind of like a little rumpled, but still follows the rules of having all of these layers.
00:18:45
Speaker
And so I love, like in my own work, man, you give me sweaters, I i lose control. all the buttons like i'm all over the place with that and like um trying to tie things together with ties and with shirts and different tones of like you know complementary colors all that stuff and i i think that part of that in my own work definitely comes from this because i was watching a lot of this and going like this is where my comfort colors come from even though most of my wardrobe is blues
00:19:20
Speaker
And yet this was like a really earthy earthy tones. like So earthy. it was it was really, really nice to watch. Yeah.
00:19:31
Speaker
And something that I started to like really be more aware of partway through the movie and then like was looking for it and it like reinforced my... feeling that I was correct about this is something some things that you will not see in this movie.
00:19:46
Speaker
Jeans, no jeans, T-shirts like ah like other than like an undershirt like a white. There's no graphic T-shirt, no colorful like not none of that. You're not seeing people wearing glasses.
00:19:58
Speaker
Yeah, you're not, there's no sneakers in this movie, no trainers, no tennis shoes. Everyone's in like a ah like a leather, hard sole shoe.
00:20:10
Speaker
Everyone's in like a real pant. Yeah. It feels like... 40s 50s very very very 70s even like it feels right before the divide of the 80s where everything is very deliberate and like again not like comfortable but not relaxed yeah Not yeah like super, super casual the way yeah things that things have moved into.
00:20:36
Speaker
And like that deliberation just like really elevates kind of like the, I mean, yes, it is European. So maybe it just like looks a little bit more. yeah People just dress differently in different parts of the world. But from our point of view, ah being in America, it was like this makes it more of like a like a fairy tale. fan Yeah, it is. It makes it little bit more of a fantasy because, yeah, everything is very tailored to that character and not in a...
00:21:05
Speaker
hey, we're showing you like a ah quirky kid who's wearing a bunch of t-shirts that have UFOs on them. No, we're showing you a quirky character who has polka dots with stripes or like a different card. You know, like it's just like a different way of communicating things about a character.
00:21:25
Speaker
Right. Like how many shades of red can you wear at once? Amelie's got like five. All of them. Just put all of them in there. And like how many different ways can you style this short, very specific haircut? So many ways. um So many. Just the number of bobby pins used in this film is like, wow. there I want to see that line on their budget, bobby pin usage. Also just like zoom in because like...
00:21:50
Speaker
Let me actually see those bobby pins. I know. and like the way i could probably talk for like 15 minutes about the way that her hair is like pinned up at various times, but it probably wouldn't be the most exciting thing for anyone else to listen to.
00:22:05
Speaker
But yeah, it was a thing. i I know that you're here for me. i don't think any I don't think it needs to be. We can hit stop recording and talk about that.
00:22:17
Speaker
oh Yeah, it's like everyone feels very comfortable in their clothes. Everyone feels comfortable. At home in their clothes. But there is just, yeah, that little bit of of heightening to what pieces are used that that does... Like, you would not mistake this for a movie that took place in America in the 1990s. Like, you just wouldn't.
00:22:45
Speaker
Yeah, the 90s were such a different moment. And like... yeah But you would... which I did compare this to the TV show, pushing daisies. Totally.
00:22:56
Speaker
Because that was very similar where it pulled from like, and that one has t-shirts that one has all that kind of stuff, but like, sure. The way that people exist in their environments and the way that they layer things, et cetera, et cetera. Just like the, the patterns, the textures, the deliberation is just so specific. that The design, the design is all over the place. Yeah.
00:23:16
Speaker
And in this one, it's just, it was like, maybe one of the first times I'd seen design so tight. And like, yeah, there's so many, i didn't like, keep this pay attention lens on in my eyes the whole movie, because otherwise I would have, I wouldn't have been able to like, watch it. I would have just like taking a box.
00:23:41
Speaker
But um a lot of the scenes, people are dressed like their environment. Their color palettes are like the environment that they're being filmed in.
00:23:51
Speaker
And um
Amelie's Cultural Impact
00:23:53
Speaker
like at the cafe, Georgette like really perfectly. With that environment, every single time you see her um yeah in Amelie's apartment, she like really fits there. Like when she's um when she drops something on the floor in her bathroom and she accidentally knocks out the tile and finds that little box, she is wearing like white and it works with the color palette of the room.
00:24:18
Speaker
yeah And it's just like... that happens kind of over and over and over again. and it's just like each little thing is this little vignette that all flows together.
00:24:30
Speaker
It's just beautiful. And like every environment is so meticulously thought out too. Like all of the props, like all of the um like furniture pieces, like the wallpapers, the art on the walls, like all the the like glasses and stuff in the cafe. Like everything is just beautiful.
00:24:52
Speaker
beautiful like it just looks wonderful I don't even know what else to say about it like it's just delightful to to witness I think part of the delightful part too is that this is like such a great example of using I always say them together but patterns and textures like in things because like you can This isn't true, but sometimes when I think of Wes Anderson, I think of flat colors that are like in a palette together, like sage green suits or mint green suits, you know, like solid, solid, solid. um
00:25:29
Speaker
But here you see shirts with sweaters, with skirts or trousers or suit jackets that scarves, ties, hats, glasses, even that all have something going on but they don't hurt your eyes. And part of that is the unification brought together by the filter, but also because from head to toe every character has things that are in the same part of like the color wheel that like works for each dominant color.
00:26:00
Speaker
And so it's nothing that clashes everything like stands together well like even in scenes where you think that something should clash it doesn't clash like in the sex shop that nino works at like his his boss i think she's his boss like the taller lady with like the the very the dark hair the high pony the the jacket that is pretty amazing like she doesn't stand out from her environment she like Stands out probably on the street, but she belongs with that, that place just the same way that he does just the same way that the dancer in the booth does like everything just like works for where these people are.
00:26:43
Speaker
And it's just like, you can, you can imagine that each of these people's wardrobes are totally different, but have so much going on. It's like, i would love to just flip through they're yeah their dressers and their rack and just be like, man, you just pulled so many things and it's not haphazard. It's all very deliberate.
00:27:05
Speaker
And I just like, there's something kind of comforting because it's not busy, but it's alive. And that's life Yeah, that's and that's hard to do to get everything so like harmonious. Like I wonder how what the process was like with like the production designer, the art department, the costume department. Like I, I would like to know if they did like really heavy like storyboarding of, you know, like how did they
00:27:37
Speaker
all bring everything together but to know that everything was all going to work and then be able to like yeah make tweaks as needed. Like i I would love to be like a fly on the wall in like those meetings and just like, i I mean, I wouldn't be able to understand anything because I don't speak French, but I would just love to know, like I'd love to be a French fly on the wall um and to know like how that works because, you know, like we've both been in production meetings for theater shows and seen, you know, and participated in those conversations from like our spot at the table, but it's different in a theater production where everything is on stage all together at one time and everybody's in the room together and can look at it.
00:28:27
Speaker
It's like different on a film because it's more like fragmented and like, you're not really necessarily going to have everybody on set when you're filming every scene so it's like if something isn't working like what is the process of like making a change and you know like I wonder about those things and I i don't know because I've never done a film so it's hard to say but I would love to know When we've worked on shows, when we're designing, we we talk about like palette for sure. And like yeah we'll invite like the scenic ah designer, lighting designer, director to come and take a look at like yeah what we've pulled.
00:29:09
Speaker
And like this is the palette I'm working with. And obviously, we'll have... Not obviously. It's so arrogant. Obviously. Yeah. But like in production meetings, we will have created color palettes. Yeah. Like block color palettes. And like, ah depending on the the place in the production that you're at, you'll have like your characters and maybe have assigned palettes to characters or to ensemble versus principal characters, etc. Yeah.
00:29:33
Speaker
yeah And then like, as you pull, you'll invite your other team members in so that they can have a reference and so that they're not like shining lights that blow out, you know, your stuff or that you're absolutely lights, et cetera.
00:29:48
Speaker
And that you're not like disappearing your characters into the scene. Like, um, right unless that's what you want. and Like, yeah, exactly. Yeah. So yeah. Like that's like a living thing. But yeah, like you're right. Like in a show, you do change scenes depending on the needs of the show. You can change the set.
00:30:06
Speaker
But overall... you have so many people present and they're all present like throughout and there's a flow there. Whereas yeah, everything is a little bit more disparate and it's like in film, you do like screen tests and you do like photograph, like costume tests and all that stuff.
00:30:27
Speaker
But without, without the final, you filter like that's the part for me that's like what a different level to think of stuff is that you are imagining all of this like as the director with a full filter blanketing everything that you're doing and so that that will change things and so it's like what are you aiming for and just like how much you have to understand color and film and because this wasn't digital i don't think this was probably and i Yeah. Yeah. I never thought about that, but yeah, I can't imagine it was digital. Right.
00:31:03
Speaker
Understanding that whole thing about like color theory and, you know, in design. Yeah. lights when react like And then like overlaying all of that with green is just like, how much of that is like, this will fix little things that stand out or is it like, no, no, no, we have to change it because it stands out too much. And yeah,
00:31:26
Speaker
Like, yeah, what does that look like when you're working on something that's so tightly, and don't know, being shifted, color shifted, like, overall? Yeah. Interesting.
00:31:37
Speaker
I remember um that it must have been not too long after i moved to New York, they adapted Amelie into a Broadway musical. Yeah.
00:31:50
Speaker
And I didn't see it, but I was constantly coming around corners in subway stations and being confronted with the poster for the Broadway production, just like constantly for like three months. It was nothing but Philippa Sue as Amelie.
00:32:08
Speaker
And it was sort of interesting to see how that was translated it onto stage just because, I mean, i like I said, I didn't see the show, but I saw a couple of her costume looks that were like on the poster. There were a couple variations and it was sort of interesting to see that they kind of took this like, oh I'm wearing, you know, five different shades of red and translated that directly into the costume design for the Broadway show. And I remember also seeing one of her looks where it was like everything that she was wearing was like shades of green.
00:32:44
Speaker
it was like it
Character Depth and Fashion Influence
00:32:45
Speaker
was It was interesting because it was more graphic and more bold than this movie. And that is definitely something that is a thing because when you're watching someone on stage, you could be sitting 20 feet or you could be sitting like 100 feet a away if you're like in the last row of the balcony of a Broadway show.
00:33:07
Speaker
And you have to think about what the visual experience is from every seat. Yeah. Yeah. And you have to be a little bit more broad sometimes than you can be on film where you can get like an intense close up where it's like all you're seeing is like collarbone and face. And like in film, you also have to do the same thing from that other point of view where you can't have, for example, like tiny, tiny, tiny ah check pattern because it it will do something where it like blends together like a mirage. Yeah.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah. And there's a name for it, but I can't remember what it is. And so it's like, you have to have that same kind of knowledge when you're putting stuff together for that. And I noticed that recently in case you didn't know I'm a nerd. So we're to talk about it for a hot second.
00:33:58
Speaker
I've been swimming through K-dramas recently. And like over the past couple shows that I've watched, there have been and like maybe like two specific shows, countless suits that did that um on screen where they did the wavy effect and it was just like, it's a handsome suit.
00:34:20
Speaker
That's why they chose it. They weren't necessarily thinking about what it's going to do on film. And it's like, you've got a filming schedule. You got to go. Like once you have the things chosen, you got to go unless it's like a really big problem.
00:34:34
Speaker
And so like with stage, we can get fussy and be like, but I want these little tiny, tiny patterns. But it's like, how is that going to translate for the person in the nosebleeds?
00:34:45
Speaker
Right. It's not going to translate. It will be a flat color and that's all they'll see. And it will probably be a gray. It'll be to their eyes like a heathered color. And so it is interesting thinking about like on stage, Amelie just being like these graphic looks, which makes me kind of like go to Matilda somehow. Yeah.
00:35:05
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, I can see that. Yeah. And it it feels like in a weird way, what a weird ah wire to walk because sometimes in my head, depending on how it's done, going super hard and graphic on that, especially if it's only for one character, kind of makes them childish.
00:35:26
Speaker
Yeah, to me. And so it's like, to be able to avoid that. It's like, ah good yeah to have because like Amelie is whimsical, but she's not childish. She's a grown adult who holds on to things from her childhood. She doesn't separate herself out from her childhood self. She just is Amelie. Yeah.
00:35:50
Speaker
But like she's not a little girl and she's not dressing like a little girl. And so like how interesting. But yeah, like anytime you go to theater and you're like, why is that like Paisley huge? It's to make sure that the person who's 200 feet away
00:36:11
Speaker
Yeah. And like, you know, sometimes you can have a little fun and you can like have your really tiny print, but you got to like balance it with something that people at the back are going to yeah see. So it's like, ah um I feel like think my yeah yeah you do. You really have to kind of like, and it's so important to like,
00:36:30
Speaker
I think there is a tendency when you're working on something like with your hands and you're like really close to it, like physically, like it's all up in your eyeball, but it's like, you got to step away and step like 30 feet back and be like, what do I see now? What do I see here?
00:36:46
Speaker
yeah and that's like, yeah, to To continue talking about stage, if you're designing for stage, and even if you're like a principal stitcher or fabricator for a certain character, the designer will ask you to do this with them during the run, like during the um dress rehearsals, basically, like when they actually are working through those things. And like, if you need more time, maybe you can slap it on them while they're like in a rehearsal or like during tech or something.
00:37:12
Speaker
But you'll be in the theater and all of the designers, if they're still curious and still trying to answer questions about their own work, you'll see them moving throughout the theater. They're never sitting in one spot. Every single night, they're trying out at least three different spots. yeah And like they'll never watch a number from the same spot. And during the number, they might move throughout the whole theater because they want to make sure that people aren't like just being lost or that their color palette, that they've decided for like an ensemble that there isn't like, if they were meant to have a spectrum, that the spectrum isn't concentrated in one place, that it is actually moving according to the choreography around and working and speaking together.
00:37:58
Speaker
And I can like only imagine translating that to a movie like this because I, I, that's not a thing you do in film. necessarily, right? Like, I don't know that as a costume designer that you're on set, like unless it's like an indie you know, you're like costuming out of the back of your car, like on something like this, I would think that you would be in a separate place and that you would have on set like wardrobe who are there to make sure that things aren't wonky. Yeah, that things are being executed correctly, but they're not changing the design on set unless it's like, you know, some catastrophic thing.
00:38:38
Speaker
I say. Right, right. And hopefully, right. well
Creative Influence and Fashion Trends
00:38:42
Speaker
And hopefully if that happens, like your, your lead onset person is someone that you trust and understands what, you know, like hired and have made decisions with you yeah during the process. And that's why they're there. Like, yeah, but, but it's not like you, the designer are like, okay, now we're going to set and I'm going to stand at like 12 different angles and Make sure that you fit with the scenic design. Like, no, that wouldn't have happened a long time before. So yeah, I'm also curious if they, why can I never remember this word?
00:39:12
Speaker
ah They draw the little... Storyboard? Storyboarding. Thumbnail? Thumbnail? Girl, I have a degree in illustration and I can't. I know you do. I don't. I can never remember.
00:39:25
Speaker
I'm so sorry to every single storyboard artist, but that word for something is just always right outside of my reach. Oh my god. The only time that I've ever come close to like creating my own theater piece or like writing it, um which is i mean it was like literally like a class project. this is not like This was not real. this was like We're having fun in class. But the only way that I could communicate what I wanted was to just make a storyboard. like I didn't write any words on a piece of paper. i literally just made a storyboard. I was like, I'm
00:40:03
Speaker
I cannot communicate what I want to see and what I want it to be like without making you a little comic book of what this is supposed to be. It's the only way.
00:40:14
Speaker
My horrible little thumbnails. like It's incredible. Thumbnails, are they can go so far. They can go so far. um i was just thinking like about how influential this movie was 2001, especially for folks like our age.
00:40:30
Speaker
A lot of people... might know zoe deschanel now a time ago zoe deschanel before a new girl or maybe like at the beginning of new girl but basically like right before she was like an indie darling and then she crossed over onto network and she was she like part of mod cloth or don't remember but like her character she wore a lot of stuff from mod cloth And for anybody who I don't I don't even know if it still exists, but like I definitely bought stuff off of ModCloth.
00:41:03
Speaker
And ModCloth was a company that was like, you know, you could buy clothes on the Internet that were like retro vibes without being pinup. And it was very, very for those who wanted to dress like Amelie.
00:41:18
Speaker
Where you had a thousand percent. Yeah. they use thousand percent I haven't been on ModCloth in many years, but like I'm pretty sure that it was like the clothes were like arranged by like what decade inspired them at one point. Yes, and they were arranged by color. When I got married, I linked dresses on ModCloth because like it was choose-your-own-adventure for my bridesmaids. I was like, you know your bodies. You know what you like to wear. And I'm also not going to make you pay like hundreds of dollars for some shitty dress you're never going to wear again.
00:41:50
Speaker
And so I was just like, for reference, for example, on ModCloth, if you look up navy dresses or dresses in this color, here's what comes up. pick Pick your poison. And they were like 45 bucks.
00:42:03
Speaker
So essentially, yes, fast fashion, but it felt this was like before... I think some of us truly understood the evils of fast fashion because we were yeah younger and like people just weren't talking about it the way that they are now. And it was like just ignorance. Right. And so it was this and H&M and Urban Outfitters, like at the same time, all of them were so were dipping their toes into like giving you outfits that were,
00:42:34
Speaker
feeling vin retro yeah retro yeah without like yeah it was sort of like 50s vibes not necessarily 50s accuracy but not actually vintage yeah and it was the time that like thrift shops and vintage stores were just like skyrocketing in prices it was like right at that threshold change And so, like, i was just thinking about, like, yeah, this movie influenced so many people I know in how they dressed for at least a few years.
00:43:05
Speaker
Because they were I, too, want to have, like, length dress. The chunkiest Oxfords. Yeah. Chunky Oxfords with cute little socks and a little dress that has a waist and isn't stretch and isn't, like, ribbed, but is, like, a woven dress.
00:43:22
Speaker
It's like a midi length. It's not like overtly revealing, but it's very cute. And yeah, yeah there's just something like there's there's something about Amelie. I mean, like Audrey, how's her last name pronounced? to Tato? Tato?
00:43:39
Speaker
Like, I mean, she's insanely beautiful. She's a beautiful woman. But God, I'm going to say the most insufferable words ever. There's like an approachability, a girl next door authenticity.
00:43:53
Speaker
what it is, right? With her manic pixie dream girl is that she's manic pixie dream girl because she's just chaos in a cute outfit. Like she's chaos, but put together.
00:44:04
Speaker
And then like at the same time, yeah, she, I mean, she is the girl next door because in the film, like we're seeing how involved she is with her community around her. Literally her neighbors.
00:44:14
Speaker
With her neighbors. Like she's all up in their business. Like she's breaking into houses, taking yeah little revenges, like even as a kid. And that's also just like exemplary of city living and like apartment living and just like, you know, different things.
Amelie's Journey in Love and Self-Discovery
00:44:32
Speaker
a different culture than like suburbia but like just knowing the people around her and not trying to pretend that she isn't who she is but that she is quiet a lot of the time and like even though she is this like massive creature in this world because we're seeing it from her point of view and it's her story She's not a caricature.
00:44:56
Speaker
Like yeah she's wearing approachable clothes and like she's very well put together, but with her own style, like that haircut is very specific, but it's not like a Mohawk where it's like counterculture.
00:45:11
Speaker
It's very, just personal style. and And so like, and she's able to like pin it up in a way that makes it look like a little updo from the, from the sixties. Like, you know, it's just like, she walks the of being of being appropriate for every situation but also being herself she's not wearing little ballet flats she's wearing like yeah the hard yeah like almost like doc martini looking shoes and man i just this is like this movie is just a ah comfort like security blanket i think like watching it yeah it is and it's like
00:45:54
Speaker
Everything that – because she, you know, yeah, she has her little kind of like vigilante phase, like where she's getting revenge on like the mean produce guy and then like – Way go. Just the sense of – it's It's fascinating because, yeah, like there's, you know, like there's this thread that the um the glass man kind of accurately pinpoints her as being someone who's kind of too scared to like be vulnerable personally.
00:46:25
Speaker
but she has no problem like getting like getting involved in other people's business. Oh, no, she's not. She's not a doormat. She's just kind of yeah afraid to step out of her fairy tale.
00:46:37
Speaker
Yeah. to like the real deliberations. Cause like being by yourself and having a fantasy about loving someone or, you know, taking a gnome from your dad, trying to like heal your dad's trauma and sadness by like taking his gnome on trips because you like a flight attendant to encourage him to leave.
00:47:04
Speaker
Like it's just, she, she's not, you know, not living it's just that she's not making the decisions to invite anybody else in and yeah so yeah so she's comfortable going out but yeah she's comfortable going out but not asking anybody to come in and yeah speaking of that like okay at the end it's not the last scene but it's like when she and she's like too scared to open the door to nino and can come walk
00:47:35
Speaker
like a thousand times my new echolalia trigger but Nino comes and knocks on the door and he figured out she's the one who's been like leading him on this merry goose chase um goose chase wild today wild goose chase yeah merry merry adventure yeah thank you yeah i just said it and was hold up but uh he figures out that she's the one because she's been like hiding but kind of in plain sight little messages and he asks yeah and he finds his own breadcrumbs and like knocks on her door and when is it like right before that happens when she's like
00:48:20
Speaker
cooking and she's sad because she's just fantasizing and then she's sad because she's like taking it in that she might not be able to take that step to make it real yeah but i love cinematically that she is there in this like adorable little dress the little green ah cardigan And then you're seeing everything from her, like she's front and center.
00:48:49
Speaker
And then there's in the corner from behind her, as if Nino is coming into her apartment and sneaking in and like running his fingers on the beaded curtain. the curtain And then you look down and it's a cat. from know But like the filming of that was just like so lovely because is,
00:49:10
Speaker
Obviously we've never seen him in her space, her costume. Yeah. She fits in her home. Like her color palette is kind of the same that we've been seeing in the world. Right. it's a lot of greens and like.
00:49:23
Speaker
So we're a lot of red. There's also a lot of other colors, but it's very Amelie's space. And you know, is in there sneaking in, in this little fantasy and he doesn't stand out. He fits in. Yeah. Even though he's not wearing necessarily her colors, they work together.
00:49:40
Speaker
yeah So it's like visually, beautiful this is the time that you get to see him in her world. Every other time she's pursuing him in his world or in the outside.
00:49:51
Speaker
And so like, cause she's going to his workplace or whatever. yeah She's in the white house and yeah and like she's outside but near his workplace or in a in the train station. yeah But she's always kind of coming to places that he already is.
00:50:08
Speaker
And so like seeing him in her place and his little his little world meshes with hers, I was like, this is so great. It's also
Design Choices and Character Details
00:50:16
Speaker
like such a great you know framed thing to do. But just even the way they dress themselves, they work together in their little world. they never never ah One thing of about I was, was really aware, it's not, it's not actually a costume piece, but I was very aware that like almost every scene up until then that you see Nino, he's holding plastic shopping bag.
00:50:43
Speaker
And it's very jarring to me because, i mean, that this movie takes place in like the modern world and we have modern technology, but there's something about that plastic shopping bag that like, that is not anywhere in this movie except in his hand.
00:51:01
Speaker
yeah And also like, I have no idea what's in it. It's a different shopping bag. I think almost every time I i don't know what's in there. It doesn't really matter, but he's there's like, Something in it small, but it's just like a weird kind of modern thing that I was like, this is a very deliberate choice that I don't really understand. Because like it could have been he could have had at the time these were super popular, super popular now if you are a cyclist, ah a bike messenger, but messenger bags.
00:51:30
Speaker
Right. were a big deal in like the late nineties and like really kicked off around the time that this movie came out. Like, yeah and he also rides, you know, this little like motorized bicycle.
00:51:43
Speaker
It's not even a Vespa. I don't think. Cause he has to pedal. Yeah. So it's like this, you know, mechanized bike. And so he could logistically wear cross strap bag or, know,
00:51:58
Speaker
Like if you wanted to put him in a backpack, you could, but why? But a cross bag would be easy, but we don't even have that. Yeah. It's the plastic shopping bag.
00:52:09
Speaker
And so it's like, I, it's, it's funny. Cause like, I've always noticed it, but not really noticed it. And it's like, I can't, think of what's in there. And I'm not sure why, but it, it is such a deliberate thing because it could have easily been a costume prop that he's just like constantly wearing like a crossbody bag or something like that. But he's not, he's always carrying around this kind of cumbersome bag. Like why?
00:52:35
Speaker
I just you need to, it's not a briefcase, which would also yeah kind of annoying to carry if it doesn't have a strap to be fully honest. True. But like. Wouldn't want to do it. It like speaks to kind of like his rumpledness.
00:52:48
Speaker
Cause he yeah also like, maybe it's something that he just, it's convenient for him to grab instead of planning for like something that matches his outfit. i don't know, but yeah, it's a very good point because it really is so very like,
00:53:05
Speaker
it it like a target bag like if you were here just somebody carrying around a target bag all the time Right. And like, maybe I don't, I don't know, like, whatever one he has, like, it usually has writing on it. Maybe if I could read French, I would know a little bit, like, maybe there is some information in the writing on the bag that would like, make it make a little more sense. I don't really know. Like, it would be kind of interesting if it was like from his job at the sex shop, but I don't know you would have that.
00:53:35
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know if they, like, I don't know if in Paris it's the same, but like, you know, usually those are kind of unmarked because you don't want to be too obvious about what that bag is from. Discreet.
00:53:48
Speaker
You want to be discreet. Yeah. Would he carrying around his like, the photo book? Well, when he drops it, it's in, like, a saddlebag from his bike, like a vintage looking, like, little...
00:54:02
Speaker
side like but attached to the bike not to him right so i don't really know and like maybe if he collects any photos they go in but like photos are small they're usually ripped so they would i would think they just go in your pocket i have no idea but and great yeah it was lovely Curious.
00:54:21
Speaker
um I also was like a little bit more keyed in this watch to looking around the ah costume and the apartment for the glass man and how like he's wearing like body padding and like that big quilted jacket. And like, i know she mentions like, or the maybe the narrator that everything in the apartment is like wrapped in like foam or something soft because he's got, but it was really making me think of,
00:54:48
Speaker
There's a character, um i think played by Emily Mortimer in 30 Rock, who is British, and she's constantly telling people, I have avian bone syndrome. I have hollow bones. i have brittle bones. You would crush me. And it just like I kept hearing...
00:55:06
Speaker
her voice um with his scenes and it was like i actually don't know is that like a real um obviously it's 30 rock it's a joke but i was like is that a real thing to have this like really delicate bones that people could like get injured very easily There are just a quick a goog.
00:55:30
Speaker
yeah please I guess that there are multiple things, but there's a genetic bone disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta, which is brittle bone disease.
00:55:41
Speaker
So okay you can be born born with like basically yeah like brittle bones that will break. And yeah. So it's like this little man, yeah actually reminded me of my grandma.
00:55:58
Speaker
Oh, my girl was very tiny and very bird boned because she was born like right before the great depression. And oh like, You know, just eating disorders in addition to like rations most of her formative years, etc.
00:56:14
Speaker
But um she would dress kind of like the glass band, except it was those like ripstop sweatsuits that every time she moved.
00:56:28
Speaker
And like she would wear like three of those on top of like sweatsuits that are like cotton. And like... She'd always have a big hat. She had a tiny little head.
00:56:39
Speaker
And she'd have this big ass, like, not a beret, but like a soft cap that would always fall over her eyes. And so his like big winter hat just like kept killing me. I was like, yeah you're she also kept her house so cold that she was like, I'm freezing. And it's like... yeah quite you know can You could even open a window and it would like warm up in here.
00:57:02
Speaker
But like she, she had epizema too. So she was like literally attached the house. She had like an oxygen tank in the middle of the house and then a really long tube so that she could walk through and everything.
00:57:13
Speaker
But she just, everything took it out of her. It's not funny, but it is funny. Everything took it out of her. So whenever she sat anywhere, it was like the most like royal And deliberate. And like, I just him painting.
00:57:28
Speaker
that painting like over and over and over again, but then getting up and just being like, Oh, it's so cold. Like I could just imagine him being like, Oh, it's so cold. Like a little grumpy about all these different things. And I'm like, you're just my grandmother.
00:57:42
Speaker
but like Everybody just has all these wonderful details about their character and how their character functions. And there's definitely stuff from this movie that is not costume related, but still goes with me every day.
00:57:57
Speaker
Amelie putting her hand in that giant barrel of beans was like ASMR before I knew what ASMR was. And I was like, ooh, that does seem great. That seems fantastic.
00:58:13
Speaker
I was also like, I was really obsessed with, um with Georgette when, um when Amelie's like planted that seed in her head, her and the the regular who guy whose name I can't think of that, you know, she's like, the yeah, my God. i was Like I was so, yeah, I, yeah.
00:58:34
Speaker
I was like, Oh, this is not cute and quirky on his part. That man is creepy and he has problems. ah horribleable But when, When Georgette is, you know, taken with the idea that he might like her, she wears this outfit that's all turquoise.
00:58:54
Speaker
And it was so different than everything else that we've seen in the movie up until that point. That it was like, oh my god, like it was so deliberately different.
00:59:07
Speaker
turquoise and I was like nowhere else do we have that color but then I was looking and I was like wow it really brings out the fact that her eyes are that same color it's incredible which i didn't notice like I didn't we've seen her multiple times before then but you don't think about it and then wow Yeah, because like, so much of what she's wearing, truly, she fits with the cafe, and like the counter space that she's in. And that's a time when she stands out like she's herself. She's not all
Acknowledging Costume Design Contributions
00:59:40
Speaker
of these ailments or this like character that she's...
00:59:44
Speaker
designed for her like maybe she's a different character which is like yeah stands out instead of one that just fits in and is trying to stand out by her actions like even by her own clothing she's like no i'm yeah i'm out i'm pretty yeah and just like her eyes like really popped and we have not mentioned her name yet but the costume designer yes thank you yes madeline fontaine yeah um who also did a very long engagement which is another jean-pierre jeanot ah did Jackie in 2016 has done a lot of things and most of them are French.
01:00:22
Speaker
And so I have not seen most. um But i I just know her work to be freaking fantastic and right up my alley. Yeah.
01:00:34
Speaker
Yeah, beautiful. I know. I think like it was interesting that she did Jackie. That's like kind of the only like one that I recognize as being like an American movie. Although actually, I don't know technically if it would be because I think the director of that movie is also French perhaps.
01:00:51
Speaker
Mm hmm. or has a French name. um But I definitely seen Jackie. Like I haven't seen very many of the things that she has done, but I remember thinking that that movie was beautiful and an interesting project to have to translate these very real, very recognizable people and this huge historical event into a drama. And like, um,
01:01:19
Speaker
yeah translating all of those looks onto like natalie portman who obviously doesn't really 100 look like jackie kennedy but it's interesting yeah yeah look like jackie jackie is very she had a very unique face yeah she really did so yeah yeah and natalie portman is a very recognizable person yeah like she's like a movie star and To be a character, like a character actor, like a for something like that is pretty wild. Because yeah, she's just, that is Natalie Portman.
01:01:56
Speaker
Miss Padme Amidala. Literally. The black swan. like The girl from Garden State with the helmet. like my God. Talk about frigging Manny Pacey Dreamgirls. I know it.
01:02:10
Speaker
I know it. um Yes, thank you. I kept being like, oh we got to mention the designer. Oh, we got to mention it. But it looked like she's worked with... Jean-Paul Genot a few times. like it They must yeah have a good working relationship.
01:02:24
Speaker
I mean, I think so. I feel like her style just like translates super, super well. Because like there are costume designers who are very heavy into the world of fashion. And there are ones that are like acknowledge the world of like high fashion haute couture like all of that stuff like it's a part of the education it's a part of the world but it's not necessarily their their driving force and it feels like she she could be a little bit more on the fashion side she also designed for um a film yves saint laurent in 2014 so like about fashion
01:03:01
Speaker
yeah talking about fashion like that and jackie it seems like one of her strong suits is working with like fashion clothing and not just these goofy little characters yeah goofy or fantasy you know yeah yeah but more like driven by like I don't even know say it, but like, yeah, history or like the real world. Yeah, yeah. Real world tastes. And so like, I think that this also shows kind of like a fantastical side because she's working with normal clothes, but the way that they're being applied to the characters makes it almost a little bit fantastical when it's all put together, not even separately. Like you just look at each character in this and you're like, you're just a person that I could bump into on the street.
01:03:53
Speaker
um But like when they're all put together, she just seems to have this really great way of like heightening. Yeah. So that it works in like a world that feels slightly apart because like ah very long engagement was on our list for a hot second. I don't think we need to do it.
01:04:09
Speaker
But that one is World War one I think. Right. And so like 19, even maybe late teens, early 20s. Yeah. yeah I think it's the end of the war. And um that's a different era. And so it's very very historical clothing.
01:04:26
Speaker
And yet there's something in there where it feels like a little bit apart from reality. And so she's, she's just got a very deft hand at that, I think, which is like such a skill. I mean, so many custom designers are so, so skilled because it's like, yeah, in something like it could be like a fifth element or it could be like something that takes place during world war one, when people don't necessarily have a lot of money to be spending on, you know,
01:04:56
Speaker
for your clothes and if middle class or lower yeah you you aren't gonna have that anyway but to still be able to to make the world feel yeah a step apart without it being like and she has wings like there's just something there that is like so subtle and um so i i really enjoyed her work and absolutely i'll probably watch some more of her stuff yeah Yeah, I feel like I know I'm like, every time we do an episode, I'm like, wow, another incredibly talented designer whose work I need to now learn everything about how many. Oh, there's dozens. Okay, I've got really got it cut out for me. Like, oh, my God.
01:05:41
Speaker
And like ah on IMDB for the costume and wardrobe department, there's only four um other costumers listed. an assistant costumer, a trainee costumer, and then two assistant assistants. There's an assistant costumer and an assistant costume designer, which also, I don't know if we've talked about this, but like...
01:06:02
Speaker
Job titles are so specific and it makes me think of Dwight in the office every single time. Assistant manager, assistant to the manager. different those jobs are.
01:06:13
Speaker
Because right here is it. And this is something that I've definitely experienced before is assistant designer or assistant to the designer. Because like yes if you are an assistant costume designer, you are absolutely ah like a right hand get it that designer it.
01:06:31
Speaker
The distinction being that you give your opinion on the design. And if you are an assistant costumer, you might not be able to have that same latitude. That's not an expectation from you.
01:06:45
Speaker
You are there to help with more paperwork, more fittings, more photos, like that kind of stuff. Continuity, executed.
01:06:56
Speaker
Right. ah Right. One of my favorites like in the theater world is the difference between being the assistant costume designer and the associate costume designer.
01:07:09
Speaker
And the difference there. That's not one I've across. Oh, my God. I i don't think that it doesn't get used as a title that much like here. um i really only encountered dealing with that when I was younger. working with people that were more in like the Broadway sphere.
01:07:27
Speaker
And the difference between the assistant and the associate is if the designer is not there, the associate has authority to make decisions about the design.
01:07:41
Speaker
So it's like in education, faculty and adjunct. Right. It's like, are you it's like i am the the designer in absentia. Like if the designer is not in the room, I have been given the like authority to make a decision about like changing something or finding something or tweaking something that an assistant does not have the authority to speak on that matter. The politics...
01:08:11
Speaker
are The bureaucracy of the politics are so it's totally Game of Thrones and like bloodthirsty, but also the way that you said in absentia. If I were an associate costume designer, i would be so unbearable because I'd be like, in absentia. i i am like I am like Prince John, you know, like King Richard is fighting the Crusades and I am wearing the crown and I am in the throne and I am making the decisions.
01:08:43
Speaker
Grandmother's me in absentia. Yeah.
01:08:47
Speaker
I just remember like working on a show where I was the assistant and um it was like another designer who was like a similar age to me, but you know, obviously I'm the assistant. I'm i'm there to support her.
01:09:00
Speaker
ah But in a meeting, she like changed my title on the fly to be the associate because she was like, I trust this person to make a decision. And I was like, Oh yes, I've been promoted. there pay difference? Yeah.
01:09:14
Speaker
and is there a pay difference No, there's not. there was course there's not. It's full. Yeah. On a Broadway show, yes, there is a pay difference. This was not that. This was a very small production. So it was mostly just like, I feel like personally elevated in the mind of this designer that they think could make decision. You're no longer
Cultural Reflections and Future Discussions
01:09:36
Speaker
walking through the building. You're gliding. Yeah.
01:09:40
Speaker
Yeah. So if ever you're looking at IMDB at the costume and wardrobe department, just know that even though you're in the trenches together, your roles are different. And it's not like we're teaching you how to be in wardrobe. Cause again, I've never actually worked in film. I've just been a visitor on sets, but like,
01:09:59
Speaker
You've got different roles. We've definitely like talked about it for a hot second, but like in theater, in a shop, you know everybody is supposed to have their little mini department. like Stitcher.
01:10:13
Speaker
Cutter. hand. There's all these goofy little... very medieval titles that we still use. Which I kind of enjoy that they're like i do so old school. Like I love that. yeah But it does, it's supposed to make things simple, but sometimes it does not make things simple. It's pretty wild.
01:10:31
Speaker
But like when ah it's like a, functioning, maybe not even healthy, but a functioning workplace. You're there, you do the job that is your job title.
01:10:44
Speaker
But sometimes the fancier the job title gets, the more the lines blur. And so it's like, you might have, I'm not saying that this is happening on this film, but that you might have someone whose title is the designer and they're just...
01:10:59
Speaker
saying yes, no, yes, no, to designs that other folks have put together right based on like a sentence, you know, that designer might have like thrown out or that designer sat down with a costume illustrator and did not illustrate anything about design themselves. Somebody else did. And then that is being communicated to other people who are making it real. Like it's it's yeah a very wide spectrum of function.
01:11:29
Speaker
Not everybody has their hands on everything. No. And would like pointing out that there's only four people listed as working on this movie and like knowing that it was definitely like a lower budget. It does make me wonder if maybe...
01:11:44
Speaker
Madeline Fontaine was on set. Maybe she was there. it could have been that kind of, you know, maybe that, that in my head. I love that because it makes it, I don't know, just more hands on which I kind of enjoy um because this film feels you intimate because it's like yeah is that the right word like because it feels like the world is literally being colored through Amelie's eyes and so it feels like everything is being touched by this character so like being able to have that kind of hands-on thing would be kind of cool don't but it's a fun watch I recommend love it yeah please everyone watch it if you haven't um give it a whirl it is hard to find a whirl
01:12:33
Speaker
Take it for a ride. Join us. Oh, and your little electronic motorbike. See
Preview of Upcoming Film Discussion
01:12:40
Speaker
how it influenced ah the early 2000s and um every old girl. Oh, my God.
01:12:47
Speaker
but just Every single one. we We all had a moment of flirtation. seemed like I can dress like a French girl too. can pull out thick baby bangs. I can do it.
01:12:59
Speaker
I'm just going to cut them right now. man the bangs. The bangs being a moment for like so many people. It's just crazy. It's like...
01:13:15
Speaker
I'm 17. have a pair of scissors. I'm going to do something. yeah Yeah. My frontal lobe isn't fully developed and I'm just going to start hacking away at this hair. Yep. We're going to see how this pans out. Not well. Not well.
01:13:29
Speaker
um Okay. I am so excited about this season. do you mind if I intro the next? Yeah, please. Please do it. So we built this season on, ah like we talked about at the beginning, the premise of like color and like explosions of color.
01:13:43
Speaker
I do want to preface the next movie with this was on film in the early nineties. So the color does not translate to our brains the same way that like digital will translate now.
01:13:57
Speaker
But the design in this movie is so specific and it's also kind of meant to be like a darker movie. So the color is very deliberate. So it does stand out. um This is an Aiko Ishioka. Like I could just like swim in an ocean of Aiko Ishioka and talk about that forever. So get ready.
01:14:18
Speaker
um But this is Bram Stoker's Dracula. And we are also going to cover another Aiko Ishioka, another two Aiko Ishioka designs this season. But yeah um this is like,
01:14:30
Speaker
earlier than the other two. yeah And it's very true important, I think, to to knowing her work. But also, like, this, I think, is one of those movies that really, like, kick-started a lot of, like, pushed, launched a thousand ships of, like, costume yeah freaks who are... you know ah cos players who are historical costumers and people who wanted to work in costume design, because this is just like, it's something else.
01:14:59
Speaker
And it's so good. So Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, which
01:15:06
Speaker
I think about all the time the fact that Keanu Reeves supposed to have an accent. And how I like say one of the phrases that he says in my head at least a thousand times a day.
01:15:19
Speaker
what phrase is that? It's, well, tis the man himself. What? like ah crazy So I've seen a couple of the costumes IRL from this movie, and I'll probably mention that next time. So I'm just yeah sp getting that in there to to keep people interested, get the get the intrigue going.
01:15:45
Speaker
Yeah. So I just, I don't know. When this comes out to our dear listeners, if you would like to watch Bram Stoker's Dracula and then come along with us on the ride for the next episode, please do.
01:15:57
Speaker
because Please. Yeah. i I cannot wait. And I cannot wait to talk about are dearly departed designer, Aiko Ishioka. Because she is. What a genius. An absolute legend of, oh my God.
01:16:11
Speaker
I can't wait. All right. Thanks for listening to this episode. We're happy to be back. Oh my God. Yay, season three. Here we go. ah ah Yeah, i'm i I'm really glad that like this is how we're starting. I think these are really good like ways to kind of get people on our level of where we're going. you know like Ease people into what we're up to.
01:16:41
Speaker
and they're formative for us. like oh yes we're These were very formative movies. Yeah. Dive on him. Okay. We will see you all next week. my God.
01:16:54
Speaker
Bye.