Oscar-winning British costume designer Alexandra Byrne, who has worked on creating sumptuous outfits in period dramas and superhero films such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Phantom of The Opera, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Thor and Avengers, has single-handedly created culturally relevant pieces.
Her capes in fantasy adventures such as the Asgardian costumes for Thor and her billowing gowns for royalty are a testament to her knowing her craft of using fabrics and blending it with style.
Byrne won an Oscar in 2008 for director Shekhar Kapur’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age. When asked about her most challenging project, she told Gulf News tabloid! that working with Kapur was a career-changing moment.
“In terms of how he described the characters and described the story. He works in a non-naturalistic [manner] and he talks about the emotions of the moment,” said Byrne.
Her most recent costume design project was to create outfits for the actors in Murder On The Orient Express.
The London-based costume designer also gave us peak into the workings of her mind during the session, ‘A Masterclass on Costume Design’, at the ongoing Dubai International Film Festival on Saturday.
While it’s impossible to fully understand her brilliance and ingenuity behind the fantastical, yet functional costumes she creates, here’s our top five takeaways that we gleaned from our interview and the interactive session…
Never underestimate the power of research:
“I am always researching, till the point of shooting. The more research you do, the freer you are to make costumes. Remember, you work on instincts that are embedded on the background work you do. Once you start working on a film, there’s a lot of different decisions you need to make and you need to balance different criteria. So if you have the background research and have that confidence in knowing that particular world, then you are free to make those decisions instinctively based on the story telling requirements without feeling unsure.”
Costume designing in film is a creative collaboration:
“I don’t walk into a room and say here is the costume like a moment of revelation. It’s a collaborative process of storytelling. Making a film is a huge melting pot of all the departments coming together. Everybody involved in the film will have good intentions. Sometimes, it all works and sometimes it doesn’t add up to what you were hoping to be. It’s a collaboration.”
Never let the clothes hijack the film:
“Our job is to help tell a story. I have seen films where the actors are swamped by a costume. You are almost making them look like they are not doing a good job, because the clothes are overwhelming them… In theatre designing, they felt passionately that the purpose of costume was to tell a story, not distract the viewers from it. Sometimes in the story, there may be a need for that one ‘big costume moment’, but that’s it.”
A good cape is about the drape:
“I have got a name for doing capes [Her Cloak of Levitation from Doctor Strange is a pop-culture icon now]. The interesting thing about capes is that they have to be designed through prototypes. Capes are all about the drape and the fabric. So an illustrator can draw a cape, but that’s not how a cape is going to hang. It’s developed as per how the cape is going to behave as per the fabric.”
Be prepared to take the plunge and surround yourself with a good team:
“I didn’t know much about comics, but I took the plunge with Thor because I had worked with Kenneth Branagh before [director of Thor and they had previously worked together on his state directorial debut Life Of Napoleon]. We were embarking on this learning curve together. And Kevin Feige [Marvel Studios chief] is an expert on comic books. He brings an immense knowledge to the table. Together, we achieved what we neither could achieve individually. I felt I was in incredibly safe hands. I had a huge input on the clothes and style, but they took care of the fanboy side of it since they knew the comic world inside out.”
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QUOTE UNQUOTE:
“I love it. Some of them are so clever and inventive with their take on these incredible costumes.” Alexandra Byrne on her reaction to cosplayers replicating her costumes.
