‘The Hunger Games’ Costume Designer Talks About Inspiration for the Film
MTV Style sat down to chat with ‘The Hunger Games’ costume designer Judianna Makovsky ahead of the Costume Designers Guild Awards. Makovsky is nominated for her work on the film and chatted about the research process, Effie Trinket’s style and “that” dress of Katniss’:
When you find out you’re doing the costumes for a project as epic as The Hunger Games, where do you even begin?
There are a lot of steps! Usually it starts with the script and discussing the director’s vision before you even get to the clothes. After you talk about the characters and the world that the director wants to create, then it’s time to start researching costumes.
What was the research process like?
It involves tear sheets, looking at different designers, and tons of research. The one thing that [director] Gary Ross didn’t want to do was create the generic futuristic world that’s been done a lot in movies, with stretchy clothing and asymmetrical dresses, you know? Instead, we wanted to root it more in the Americana mid-century look, with very retro influences. I looked at designers from the ’30s to the ’50s and tried to figure out a way for the costumes to have their own look, but also maintain the feeling of that era. It’s important that the audience can relate to the character, and it’s hard to do that when it’s in some sort of alien world.And then there’s Effie Trinket, who had a totally different style…
[Laughing] That’s for sure! We wanted to do something silly but also pretty for Effie. We actually didn’t have that big of a budget and wanted to do our own look without going to fashion designers and getting free clothing. We took a lot of influence from Elsa Schiaparelli because we love the silhouette of the early ’30s and late ’40s, with big puffy sleeves.And then finally, we HAVE to talk about Katniss’s fire dress!
That was in instance where I branched away from the book, because it was described as being covered in stones. I was worried that covering it in stones was too over the top— we really wanted to keep is so Katniss’s natural beauty could shine through, so that it wasn’t the dress that was making her pretty. Also, we had to assume there were people hadn’t read the book, so we didn’t want to give it away that it catches fire. So after looking at everything from old Ginger Rogers movies to Alexander McQueen, we decided to go with a very useful shade of red and have the movement of the dress really start at the bottom.
You can read the rest of the interview over at MTV Style.
“Also, we had to assume there were people hadn’t read the book, so we didn’t want to give it away that it catches fire.”
???
“The creature standing before me in the full-length mirror has come from
another world. Where skin shimmers and eyes flash and apparently they make
their clothes from jewels. Because my dress, oh, my dress is entirely covered in
reflective precious gems, red and yellow and white with bits of blue that accent
the tips of the flame design. The slightest movement gives the impression I am
engulfed in tongues of fire.” – Katniss. The Hunger Games
i just love all the costumes though the peace ceaper ones look a little like storm troopers!! lol!
The dress in the movie was a pure let down….
“I was worried that covering it in stones was too over the top— we really wanted to keep is so Katniss’s natural beauty could shine through, so that it wasn’t the dress that was making her pretty. ”
Thats odd seeings how thats how it is intended to be. Though Katniss has the skill level to win the Games, she does not have anything going for herself when it comes to getting over with the viewers. She relies on the others(Haymitch/Effie/Cinna/Peeta) to make her look good
The Capitol citizens’ clothes and the tribute interview clothes were disappointments. The other costumes looked fine. Caesar’s, I admit, looked good—but overall it looked like rainbow throw up. Weren’t the buildings supposed to look colorful and sleek? I have no complaints with the city’s design, however. I was really looking forward to Katniss’ dress, and the tribute parade costumes, but those were equally disappointing. I liked District 11′s, District 2′s, and District 1′s costumes—even District 3′s—but District 12′s was supposed to be the highlight of that year’s parade. Why just the back of their heads? The fire on every outfit (parade, Katniss’ dress) looked CGI. But the fireballs in the arena looked terrific.
I really liked the movie, don’t get me wrong. There’s just nothing wrong with pointing out its flaws, no matter how minor they may be.
i love the book to death read all 3 in under 48 hours! and one of the thing i love about the books was the detailed description of the clothes. but sadly in the film many disappointed me:(
some of the capitols closed looked to ‘showy’ (i know they are meant to be but in the book there is some believe ability in them). The dress that was the biggest disappointment however was katniss’s interview dress. don’t get me wrong i think it is beautiful and if i had not already read the books think it was perfect but i had read the books and the dress in the book isn’t over the top, somehow, but is elegant and covered in gems that shine and i think i was disappointed with how simple and i’m going to say how boring it was without the flames.
sorry i just need to get that out my system aha:)