Looking Back on Some of our Favorite Stories of 2013
When we launched The Credits a little more than a year ago, we aimed to shed a light on the many talented filmmakers who often don’t get much press for their work. While we’ve occasionally spoken to folks who need no introduction (John Waters, for example), most of the filmmakers we’ve focused on have a little less name recognition but a huge amount of talent. We interviewed a lot of people, so the below roundup is really just a taste—there were far too many people to mention in a single post.
Playing Dress Up with American Hustle Costume Designer Michael Wilkinson
He was the man who dressed Leonidas and his well-toned warriors in 300, made a graphic novel come to life in Watchmen and outfitted Krypton’s favorite son in Man of Steel. Sure, costume designer Michael Wilkinson had worked on smaller projects before—Garden State and American Splendor, to name a few—but he was still an unlikely choice to take on director David O.
Fashion Lessons From 10 Golden Globe Nominated Actors & Actresses
When we looked at the Golden Globes list of acting nominees, we were struck by how these characters would make really compelling fashion icons. Seriously. Aside from being a spectacular year for film, it's been a spectacular year for costume design. American Hustle alone is like a hair and wardrobe fever dream—you know you're enjoying everything about a film when you could mute it and still marvel at what's on display.
Star Wars: Episode VII’s Galaxy of Talent Behind J.J. Abrams
As useful as IMDBpro is, it’s recommendable to take the “projects in development” rubric with at least a grain or two of salt. Because really, how could one man have 28 projects in development, including the next Star Trek and Mission Impossible, while also working on a little film franchise called Star Wars?
If it were any one other than J.J. Abrams, you’d be right to assume that most of these would fall through,
Breaking Down Rom-Com Master Richard Curtis’s About Time
Richard Curtis wrote three of the most beloved romantic comedies of the mid 90s and early 2000s—in a remarkable string, he penned Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary (which he co-wrote with Helen Fielding and Andrew Davies). His directorial debut in 2003, Love Actually, which he also wrote, was an international success and helped create cross-pond love for fantastic actors like Bill Nighy, Chiwetel Ejiofor (now poised for an Oscar nomination for his starring role in 12 Years a Slave),
Janty Yates on Dressing Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender & the Cast of The Counselor
Academy Award winning costume designer Janty Yates is a fashion time traveler. In her last 12 films (eight of which were with director Ridley Scott), Yates has designed clothes (and armor, and flight suits, and period piece suits, and…) for characters in ancient Rome (Gladiator, which earned her an Oscar), World War II era Europe (Charlotte Gray), 12th century Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), 1970s New York (American Gangster),
The U.S. Premiere of 12 Years a Slave at the New York Film Festival
Screening in the United States for the first time, Steve McQueen’s powerful, heart rending 12 Years a Slave once again left a festival audience in silence and many viewers weeping in their seats. The story of Solomon Northup’s betrayal, his years of horror while a slave in Georgia, and his desperation to return home to his family in New York requires the viewer to face an unflinching portrayal of humanity at its worst trying to break a man taken at his best.
Building the Perfect Engine: The Filmmakers Behind Universal’s Rush
Ron Howard’s Rush hits theaters September 20, and early reviews are hailing it as one of the greatest racing movies of all time. Centered on the intense, often brutal rivalry between Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) during the 1976 Formula 1 season, Rush itself was built with the scrutiny and care of a great race car team. Once Peter Morgan's script made the rounds, an incredible team of filmmakers was assembled to create one of the year's most exciting films,
Comic-Con 2013: Meet Alan Villanueva, Costume Illustrator of Ender’s Game
Alan Villanueva is a costume illustrator who appeared on the Costume Designers Guild panel to talk about the changing world of costume in an era of HD and 3D. His first feature film was Oz the Great and Powerful, where he worked on Michelle Williams’ dress for the early black-and-white scenes, knowing that what she was wearing would have to translate into the color costumes she would wear in Oz.
The Wild, Expensive (and not Always Improbable) Technology of Iron Man
You’d have to be a billionaire to equip yourself like Tony Stark, but it’s not entirely impossible.
Tony Stark is back. After helping his fellow Avengers save the world against a Norse god and vicious aliens, he spent years working on his technology, because at heart, Stark is an engineer. Marvel president Kevin Feige told GeekyTyrant.com that Stark has a whopping 42 new suits of armor in Iron Man 3,
The Art of Armory: Chatting With Game of Thrones Costume Designer Michele Clapton
Emmy and BAFTA award winning costume designer Michele Clapton has perhaps one of the most demanding, and most fun, jobs in TV—she clothes the wild, epic world of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Clapton, who works in Belfast, Ireland, heads up a team of weavers, embroiderers and armorers as she creates the costumes, most of them from scratch (they have their own loom in which they weave the fabric) for a show unrivaled in its scope,
Meet Gary Jones, the Man Behind the Fantastical Fashion of Oz The Great and Powerful
The clothes make the man, as they say. And in Disney’s Oz The Great and Powerful, director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, The Evil Dead) and his team of designers found themselves with not just a man to make but a few fashionable witches, a carnival crew, some Munchkins and indeed a whole army of Winkie guards.
With Oscar® winner Robert Stromberg (Avatar,
From Anna Karenina to Selina Kyle, a Look at Film’s Best Dressed Characters
Don’t ask a costume designer if clothes make the man. They’ll tell you—and most of us wouldn’t disagree—that some of the greatest roles—think Annie Hall or Richard Gere’s American gigolo—have been defined as much by their clothes as their lines.
Personal style can also be a narrative device in its own right. Think of last 2011's hit film Drive. The trappings of Ryan Gosling’s nameless anti-hero—his perforated leather driving gloves,
A Conversation with Price Check Director Michael Walker on Casting Parker Posey, Supermarket Secrets, and Film School
Writer-director Michael Walker made his feature filmmaking debut with the 2000 thriller Chasing Sleep, starring Jeff Daniels, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win Best Film at the Festival of Fantastic Film in Sweden.
His latest film, Price Check, is a far cry from the thriller genre, but this comedy about a middle-class family and the eccentric boss who shakes up their world is just as titillating.
Meet A Maker (Halloween Edition): Legendary Makeup Artist Steve LaPorte
The Credits recently chatted with iconic makeup artist Steve LaPorte, who has worked on memorable films and television shows like Terminator 2, Lost, The X-Files and the upcoming picture, Oz: The Great and Powerful (and so many more.) But perhaps most impressively, LaPorte won an Oscar for his character-defining makeup work on Beetlejuice. In this intimate interview, Steve LaPorte discusses how he broke into the film makeup business after a short stint in clown school,
On Location: Western Costume
Founded in the movie biz’s earliest days, Western Costume is a one-stop shop for film, TV, commercial, digital media and theatre costumes. The 100-year old company got its start in downtown Los Angeles providing authentic cowboy and Indian wear for silent one-reel films (hence, the Western Costume name). Today, Western Costume’s 100,000-square-foot North Hollywood warehouse holds between three to five million pieces of clothing, accessories, and footwear. Topping it all off is an extensive research library–an invaluable resource for show designers and costumers.
