Welcome to FrockTalk, the web’s only costume-based movie review site. The goal of Frocktalk is to shed light on the magnificent artistry of costume design in motion pictures. Reviews on this site are written by working costume designers in the entertainment industry – people who know, better than anyone, what it takes to make it all happen. The focus of FrockTalk is not to comment on the big flashy costume dramas, but to call attention to the seemingly ordinary costume design work in film that silently and persuasively moves the audience toward understanding the characters. Costume design for motion pictures is an art form that deserves more recognition than it usually gets. Fancy, pretty costumes do not always equal effective, appropriate costumes. The art of the costume is in letting the audience know who the character is, before the actor even has a chance to open his mouth. Read on, and enjoy. ** CAUTION: ALL REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS! **

Archive for the 'NOTES' Category

Dribs and Drabs and Stuff

Published by KMB on May 8, 2013 in NOTES. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

ted_logo1

Hey there, Frocktalkers!  Sorry it’s been such radio silence here.  My world has exploded in the past few weeks and I am scrambling to keep up with all of it.  There is some great news, though – I’ve been asked to do a TED talk – OMGsonervousIcan’tevenstandit!  I will be speaking at TEDx Pacific Palisades on June 29, 2013!  Yeah, exciting and crazy!  I will be talking about clothing and identity, and how we use the language of clothing in our work as costume designers.  Tickets available soon on the website – check it out HERE.

Also , tons of other cool things happening in the costume design world – on June 20, 2013 Costume Designer Sophie de Rakoff will be hosting a panel of costume designers for the Academy.  From the Hollywood Reporter:

Continue reading ‘Dribs and Drabs and Stuff’

Awardsapalooza 2013: The Daytime Emmy Nominations!

Published by KMB on May 1, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

emmy

Congratulations to the costume designers and their teams who were nominated this morning for Daytime Emmy awards!  They are as follows:

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN FOR A DRAMA SERIES

The Bold and the Beautiful           CBS

Danielle King, Costume Designer

Days of Our Lives    NBC

Jayne Marie Kehoe, Costumer Designer

General Hospital     ABC

Mary Iannelli, Costume Designer

The Young and the Restless          CBS

Jennifer Johns, Costume Designer

 

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN/STYLING

The Ellen DeGeneres Show           SYNDICATED

Jamie Salazar, Wardrobe Supervisor

Kellen Richards, Costume Designer

Ric Renae Hughes, Key Costumer

The Fresh Beat Band          Nickelodeon

Gene Barnhart, Costume Supervisor

Kiki Garwood, Costume Stylist, Key Costumer

Joyce Kim Lee, Costume Designer

Frank Alexander, Jessica Torok,

Kacy Treadway, Carly Mills, Erin Lenk, Costumers

R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour The Series       The HUB

Farnaz Khaki-Sadigh, Costume Designer

Sesame Street           PBS

Brian Hemesath, Jared Leese, Costume Designers/Live Actors

Jason Weber, Rollie Krewson, Constance Peterson,

Polly P. Smith, Michelle Hickey, Lara Maclean,

Anney Ozar, Heather Asch, Andrea Detwiler,

Loryn Brantz, Stanley Ulysses Jones, Elizabeth K. Hara,

Doug James, Colette Nickola, Jane F. Pien, Costume Designers/Muppets

Congratulations, everyone!!  Awards will be televised live on June 16th at 8PM EDT, 5PM PDT on HLN!

-KMB

HOLLYWOOD COSTUME Coming to Melbourne!

Published by KMB on April 10, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

hollywood-costume

Frocktalkers, remember that awesome HOLLYWOOD COSTUME exhibit that Deborah Nadoolman Landis put together at the V & A in London last October? Well, it’s on the move! The show will open at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne on April 24. This is a DO NOT MISS event, people. If you are in Australia or New Zealand (or anywhere else close-by), this exhibit merits a trip, for sure. It’s so exciting. More info HERE!  Enjoy, everyone!

- KMB

Sync On Set!

Published by KMB on April 5, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

BOOK ANTI

Hey Frocktalkers!  If you don’t know about Sync on Set yet, you really need to listen up.  It’s a cloud-based continuity system.  Use your computer, iPad, iPhone to track continuity, break down scripts, communicate with the department, share information, etc.  We used it on Insidious 2 and it was really great – we didn’t even need a set binder, kids – it was amazing.  They have an AUTOMATED SCRIPT BREAKDOWN (okay?!) and if that’s not enough for you, they offer free classes and tutorials.  Here’s more info!

Continue reading ‘Sync On Set!’

Costume Designers, Start your Engines!

Published by KMB on March 1, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

OMG, Frocktalkers!  Only a few more days left on this movie – I am so exhausted!!!  I wanted to share this opportunity with you – it sounds cool! Read on for details – looks like a fun time to me!!!

Attention all Costume Designers, the Competition is on!

The Original Farmers Market, Metropolitan Fashion Week , Planet Dailies Mixology 101 and The Hollywood Museum invite(s) you to (enter to) compete for the best costume design inspired by the Farmer’s Market Clock Tower

The Winner and runner-up costumes will be displayed at The Hollywood Museum, in the Historic Max Factor Building also at the Exterior Display Window at the Original Farmers Market Entrance

Original Farmers Market Clock Tower Costume Challenge Casting Call Details

WHEN: Thursday, March 7, 2013
TIME: 5:30pm -7:30pm

WHERE: Planet Dailies at The Original Farmers Market
6333 W 3rd St #020 (Upstairs, above Dylan’s Candy Bar and Sur La Table)
Los Angeles. CA 900036

Continue reading ‘Costume Designers, Start your Engines!’

Awardsapalooza: The Oscars!

Published by KMB on February 25, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Congrats to Jacqueline Durran and her crew for the big win for Anna Karenina!  Did you watch the awards?  What a show.  That Shirley Bassey – that was so cool.  If you’d like to relive the night, check out the play-by-play I posted on Twitter @frocktalk.  Have a great week, everyone!

- KMB

Awardsapalooza 2013: the CDG Awards!

Published by KMB on February 20, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I need to use toothpicks to hold my eyes open today.  Last night was the big shindig at the Beverly Hilton – the 15th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards!  It was a lovely event, but man kinda brutal with an early-morning call time today across town!  Pumping lots of fluids here.  Without further ado, here are the results:

Television: Period/Fantasy – CAROLINE McCALL, DOWNTON ABBEY

Television: Movie/Miniseries – LOU EYRICH, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM, SEASON 2

Television: Contemporary – MOLLY MAGINNIS, SMASH

Commercial: JUDIANNA MAKOVSKY, Captain Morgan Black

Film: Fantasy – EIKO ISHIOKA, MIRROR, MIRROR

Film: Period – JACQUELINE DURRAN, ANNA KARENINA

Film: Contemporary – JANY TEMIME, SKYFALL

Distinguished Service Award:  David Le Vey

Distinguished Collaborator Award:  Lorne Michaels

Lacoste Spotlight Award: Anne Hathaway

Career Achievement in Television: Eduardo Castro

Career Achievement in Film: Judianna Makovsky

Congratulations to all, especially to the party planners – it was a great time.  The food was delicious, and the company was grand.  A big huge shout out to JOEL McHALE, our MC for the night – he was hilarious, irreverent, and completely awesome.  Just what the doctor ordered – I hope we can have him back every year.  Thanks to everyone for putting on such a great show, and many congratulations to all the nominees, winners and their crew!!

- KMB

Awardsapalooza: The BAFTA Winner 2013!

Published by KMB on February 10, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Congratulations to Jacqueline Durran and her team for their BAFTA win for best costumes for the gorgeous ANNA KARENINA! Party time, everyone!  You can check out the costumes from Anna Karenina and other magnificent films at FIDM – the exhibit runs now through April 27.  Congrats!

- KMB

FIDM Art of Motion Picture Costume Design 2013

Published by KMB on February 10, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
Ravenna's "Beetle" costume from Snow White and the Huntsman - designed by Colleen Atwood

Ravenna's "Beetle" costume from Snow White and the Huntsman - designed by Colleen Atwood

Well, Frocktalkers, the big annual FIDM Art of Motion Picture Costume Design event was tonight! I’ve taken a bunch of pictures for those of you out-of-towners who can’t see it in person. However, if you ARE in town, you should really see it for yourself. It’s pretty awesome. It runs until the 27th April! Here’s the gallery:

Set #1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40787728@N05/

Set #2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40904510@N04/

Set #3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40966110@N08/

- KMB

Cool New Thing Alert: Sync OnSet

Published by KMB on January 22, 2013 in NOTES. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .
The team at Sync OnSet!

The team at Sync OnSet!

Hey Frocktalkers, there is a great new program that you need to know about for script breakdown and continuity – it’s called Sync OnSet – www.synconset.com, and it’s free right now for a 30-day trial. It’s multi-platform, so you can use it with your iphone, ipad, and computer, and everybody can share the same information simultaneously. It even features an AUTO script breakdown – saving you hours of tedious data entry. Of course, you might want to check for errors, but hey, anything that can save you time is a Godsend! You can try the upload for yourself by going to www.synconset.com and registering – it’s pretty fabulous. You don’t even need a set book anymore – everything you need is in the palm of your hand.  We are using it on this film and it has been amazing.  This technology is going to revolutionize the way we do business!!! THANK YOU, Sync OnSet!!!

- KMB