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! **

FANCY EVENT ALERT: FIDM 17th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition

Published
by
KMB
on January 25, 2009
in NOTES
. Tags: , , , , .

Okay, so I snuck out of work to go to this one.  I told production I was “going on a run,” and I hightailed it to FIDM.  The traffic was backed up for two blocks around the building, due to the valet line, so I street-parked it.  What ever happened to parking underneath the building?  That was so much easier.  Anyhoo, the event was superb, and it was time well spent away from set.

The exhibition was on the ground floor, and as you walked in, there was kind of a “drive-in movie” theme happening.  The event was titled “Lights, Camera, Costumes,” so I’m not sure what all of the black-light paint and drive-in movie thing was about.  There were clips screening on the entry wall – a nice touch to see the costumes inside the exhibition in motion.

So, the following are my pictures of the costumes on display. I tried to take all of my pictures with NO flash, so that the colors would be truer.  That exhibit was so dimly lit, I thought maybe we were going to see premature babies whose retinas had not fully developed.  But no, just costumes!  In any case, I did my best to get good pictures, and here they are…

The Spirit.  Costume Designer:  Michael Dennison

Superhero Movie. Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey

The Dark Knight: Costume Designer: Lindy Hemming

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Costume Designer: Sanja Hays

Speed Racer. Costume Designer: Kym Barrett

Appaloosa. Costume Designer: David C. Robinson

The Reader.  Costume Designer: Ann Roth; Associate Costume Designer: Donna Maloney

YES, DONNA! IT IS CHARCOAL!!!

YES, DONNA! IT IS CHARCOAL!!!

Changeling. Costume Designer: Deborah Hopper

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Costume Designer: Michael O’Connor

The Duchess. Costume Designer: Michael O’Connor

The Fall. Costume Designer: Eiko Ishioka

The Love Guru. Costume Designer: Karen Patch

The Spiderwick Chronicles. Costume Designer: Joanna Johnston

Pretty cool, huh?  And it was SO NICE to see everyone last night.  I’m going to apologize right now if I inadvertently gave any of you my heinous cold.   Congratulations to everyone whose costumes were represented in the show – it was such a nice event!  I am so glad I played hooky for a few hours!!

FIDM 17th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Exhibition

Open to the public 1-28-09 through 3-29-09

10AM - 4PM Wednesday - Sunday

www.fidm.edu 213-624-1200 ext. 2224

- KMB

0 Responses to “FANCY EVENT ALERT: FIDM 17th Annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibition”

Feed for this Entry Trackback Address
  1. No Comments

Leave a Reply

You must login to post a comment.