I am just finishing up the Crazy For You Costume plot. I truly enjoy the research and planning stage that goes into designing and setting the costumes for a show. It consumes me and colors they way I look at everything. I love discovering the reasons and whys for the fashion of the time. I also enjoy developing a clothing story for each of the characters. When you do the costumes you are creating a closet of clothes for the characters to wear. While you never really see the whole wardrobe, you have to know that it looks like and some of the back ground surrounding it so you can create the actual clothing to be worn in the show. If the budget was unlimited and i had the time and skills required it would be so fun to now create it all. But since the budget is limited as in basically non existent, I also have to figure out how to direct the actors in creating or obtaining a costume(s) that fits together with their character and the show as a whole....it's a great challenge.
Back to the research process.........
Since You can only read the script so many times to discover costume clues, you have to go out on your own and do some research. The Internet has made this research so easy to do; you can find images and read about locations and circumstances of the time. I can do it form my home at all hours of the day and night....... Another research tool I have used this time are movies. I have watched most of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies** that are set in the 1930's. ( I am glad that I have a collection of their movies). I know that there are other movies that might have given me a gritter, more real picture of the time period but that was not the image I was searching for. I knew that the Astaire and Rogers movies would give me a glamorous and costumy look that is more called for in C4U...and they are a whole lot of fun to watch as well. It was interesting to really see the hair styles and clothing that was worn by the upper crust and the glamorous people of the time. I loved the cut of the dresses, how they moved, the use of hats and gloves. The Finger waved and pin curled hair was fantastic! ....this of course brought me memories of Grandpa & Granny B...but I digress.....The men were sharp dressed and elegant. I loved their hats as well.......boy we live in a casual world.
Following this movie research I then blended that style with a simplified the style that I found portrayed in several images I found on the Internet and I know have a better idea of how to dress each of the characters in C4U.
I used to think that my favorite time periods for clothing were the 1950's, 1920's 1900- 1915, 1860's, 1800-1820 and royal medieval....however I now have a greater appreciation and love for the 1930 - 1936 fashion.....it has a lot in common with the 1920's and the 1900's.
Most think of the 30's as the time of the great depression and dust bowl era in the USA...and it was, but there was also a chicness about it.....On TV the other day a designer was referring to the 30's as FDR Chic and that was in reference to the furniture..... Anyway it has been so fun to discover a great fashion time period.....and to envision and help create a minuscule look at fashion of the time in Crazy For You.
MCC
** Favorite A & R Movies - Roberta, Swing Time, Shall We Dance & The Gay Divorcee. I also watched The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle - loved it hated the ending but what can you do when it is based on real people? The Berkley's of Broadway. I plan on watching the rest of my collection but they will have to wait a bit until I have more time.
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31
Monday, July 27
Movie Monday
We have been catching up on our movies.
This past week we saw:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Julie & Julia
Every Little Step
Harry Potter is great for what it is... a sequel. No, it is not as good as the book, but no movie made from a book will ever be as good as the book. Your mind makes a "movie" while reading so your interpretation will not be the screenwriters and directors interpretation.....
I have heard complaints that they left out this and added to parts of the story. To Answer this complaint I think Hayden put it best...."The movie wasn't made for only those who read the books. In a movie you sometimes have to add exposition and other scenes to clear things up for those who have not nor will ever read the books. If you want a pure, untouched story then don't see any of the movies, You will just be disappointed." and this is from someone who has read all of the Harry Potter books 4 or more times each and he did enjoy the movie.
I really like Daniel Radcliff as an actor. He not only is grown up as Harry, his acting style has also matured. As an actor he should be around for sometime.
My favorite character in the Harry Potter series is Professor Snapp.......okay, probably because he is played by Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors. I love to watch him Alan Rickman work....he plays the bad ones so well, and lucky for me I actually got to see him perform live on stage in NYC. He was in Noel Cowards Private Lives....no one does snooty bored better.
Julie & Julia we went to an advance screening of this movie. Megan and I loved it, Gary said it was a very good movie....good enough that he went and purchased both books that the film was based on for us all to read.
Julie & Julia is a women's movie and I thinks it should be promoted as an 'Art House' movie not a mainstream major motion picture. ...it will be interesting to see how it does.
Overall I found the movie inspiring and empowering. I want to be passionate about something
This movie is based on a book by Julie Powell and the biography of Julia Childs. Nora Ephron wrote the screen play and directed it...she is a women's movie maker.
I loved the Julia story setting - Paris 1949...it was fabo!, but then again it is Paris..... I loved Julie's and Julia's "need" to do/accomplish something. I loved the parallels that were drawn between two women were so different, yet the same.
I would recommend this movie to anyone for no other reason than to see Meryl Streep be Julia Childs. Meryl Streep is such a great actress, she internalizes her characters and gives them a depth and more than what was written in the script. Yes, they do her hair, make-up & clothing in the Julia Childs style. Yes, she has a great accent, but you can tell she not only studied how to sound like Julia, but how to move like her and any physical quirks that were Julia....she became Julia. After we saw it I said, "I know she doesn't really look like Julia Childs, but Meryl's portrayal is now what I think Julia was like. ---If you saw Frost/Nixon or The Queen you know what I am talking about. Frank Langella didn't really look like Nixon, nor did Helen Mirren look like the real Queen Elizabeth. They did their best with the costumes and make-up, but wow, oh wow, make-up and costumes are just a shell, these three get to the heart of who theses people were/are and let us in too. Streep, Langella & Mirren are such talented gifted, studious actors that their portrayal of these famous folks was a spot on true performance.---Go see Meryl, you won't be disappointed....and Stanley Tucci (another fine actor) as Julia's husband Paul is worth it as well.
Every Little Step
---Yes, this is an Art film...I/we-hubby and I, enjoy Art films for the depth of story, quality of film making and when it is not a documentary type piece the acting is usually at its best.--
Every Little Step is a documentary following the casting of the revival of A Chorus Line.
The film makers follow several actors through the audition process, 16 months from first audition to opening night; as well as give us an inside look at the casting process from the casting directors, director and choreographer. But the real gems in this film are the actual tape recordings between Michael Bennett and his friends from whom the Chorus Line stories came from; original footage of the 1975 A Chorus Line, and Bennett and his partner Bob Avian who is the revivals director, and others discussing the making of the 1975 A Chorus Line.
They made the film to almost mirror some of the themes of the musical....your heart breaks for those who don't make it and you cheer for the "Cassie's" of the group to make it through. We knew how it was eventually cast, but loved watching the process anyway. Actually it was great to see the final audition and see how and why some of the choices were made.
Hearing the opinions from the choreographer, director, etc.... was also fun.
This movie should be mandatory for any one who thinks that they might like to do this for real...auditions and auditioning is cruel.
If you are a musical theatre geek like we all are, or if you love A Chorus Line then this one is for you. We laughed and some of us cried....for lots of reasons. Beware that they use the F -word a few times, talk about the T and A song and their is some suggestive talk.
We will try to see more this week...since screenings are now a bummer to attend and some just plain don't appeal to me, I am behind.
MCC
This past week we saw:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Julie & Julia
Every Little Step
Harry Potter is great for what it is... a sequel. No, it is not as good as the book, but no movie made from a book will ever be as good as the book. Your mind makes a "movie" while reading so your interpretation will not be the screenwriters and directors interpretation.....
I have heard complaints that they left out this and added to parts of the story. To Answer this complaint I think Hayden put it best...."The movie wasn't made for only those who read the books. In a movie you sometimes have to add exposition and other scenes to clear things up for those who have not nor will ever read the books. If you want a pure, untouched story then don't see any of the movies, You will just be disappointed." and this is from someone who has read all of the Harry Potter books 4 or more times each and he did enjoy the movie.
I really like Daniel Radcliff as an actor. He not only is grown up as Harry, his acting style has also matured. As an actor he should be around for sometime.
My favorite character in the Harry Potter series is Professor Snapp.......okay, probably because he is played by Alan Rickman, one of my favorite actors. I love to watch him Alan Rickman work....he plays the bad ones so well, and lucky for me I actually got to see him perform live on stage in NYC. He was in Noel Cowards Private Lives....no one does snooty bored better.
Julie & Julia we went to an advance screening of this movie. Megan and I loved it, Gary said it was a very good movie....good enough that he went and purchased both books that the film was based on for us all to read.
Julie & Julia is a women's movie and I thinks it should be promoted as an 'Art House' movie not a mainstream major motion picture. ...it will be interesting to see how it does.
Overall I found the movie inspiring and empowering. I want to be passionate about something
This movie is based on a book by Julie Powell and the biography of Julia Childs. Nora Ephron wrote the screen play and directed it...she is a women's movie maker.
I loved the Julia story setting - Paris 1949...it was fabo!, but then again it is Paris..... I loved Julie's and Julia's "need" to do/accomplish something. I loved the parallels that were drawn between two women were so different, yet the same.
I would recommend this movie to anyone for no other reason than to see Meryl Streep be Julia Childs. Meryl Streep is such a great actress, she internalizes her characters and gives them a depth and more than what was written in the script. Yes, they do her hair, make-up & clothing in the Julia Childs style. Yes, she has a great accent, but you can tell she not only studied how to sound like Julia, but how to move like her and any physical quirks that were Julia....she became Julia. After we saw it I said, "I know she doesn't really look like Julia Childs, but Meryl's portrayal is now what I think Julia was like. ---If you saw Frost/Nixon or The Queen you know what I am talking about. Frank Langella didn't really look like Nixon, nor did Helen Mirren look like the real Queen Elizabeth. They did their best with the costumes and make-up, but wow, oh wow, make-up and costumes are just a shell, these three get to the heart of who theses people were/are and let us in too. Streep, Langella & Mirren are such talented gifted, studious actors that their portrayal of these famous folks was a spot on true performance.---Go see Meryl, you won't be disappointed....and Stanley Tucci (another fine actor) as Julia's husband Paul is worth it as well.
Every Little Step
---Yes, this is an Art film...I/we-hubby and I, enjoy Art films for the depth of story, quality of film making and when it is not a documentary type piece the acting is usually at its best.--
Every Little Step is a documentary following the casting of the revival of A Chorus Line.
The film makers follow several actors through the audition process, 16 months from first audition to opening night; as well as give us an inside look at the casting process from the casting directors, director and choreographer. But the real gems in this film are the actual tape recordings between Michael Bennett and his friends from whom the Chorus Line stories came from; original footage of the 1975 A Chorus Line, and Bennett and his partner Bob Avian who is the revivals director, and others discussing the making of the 1975 A Chorus Line.
They made the film to almost mirror some of the themes of the musical....your heart breaks for those who don't make it and you cheer for the "Cassie's" of the group to make it through. We knew how it was eventually cast, but loved watching the process anyway. Actually it was great to see the final audition and see how and why some of the choices were made.
Hearing the opinions from the choreographer, director, etc.... was also fun.
This movie should be mandatory for any one who thinks that they might like to do this for real...auditions and auditioning is cruel.
If you are a musical theatre geek like we all are, or if you love A Chorus Line then this one is for you. We laughed and some of us cried....for lots of reasons. Beware that they use the F -word a few times, talk about the T and A song and their is some suggestive talk.
We will try to see more this week...since screenings are now a bummer to attend and some just plain don't appeal to me, I am behind.
MCC
Monday, April 27
What are your Priorities?
Ahh ....Monday a new week...and almost a new month!
We saw two movies this weekend...State of Play and 17 Again. Both were enjoyable. I liked the idea of going back to a pivotal point in your life and given the opportunity to do it all over again...would you do it the same way even with the knowledge you now have?
We attended a fabulous fireside last night. Bronco and Holly Mendenhall were the speakers. Bronco is the head coach for the BYU football team. Hayden thinks he is pretty great , and after listening to him speak I would have to agree. He is a rule keeper, he holds not only himself but his team accountable and he has his priorities in order. His wife Holly isn't shabby either.
Here is my take on the high points of the meeting:
This was a Young Single Adult fireside so of course it was geared around the twenty somethings....The first thing brought up about the Mendenhalls was the fact hat they didn't get married until they were 30 and 31 years old....not for lack of chance but because they didn't want to settle. The marriage thing is always top of mind for the YSA leaders, that is their charge...to get them married.
Holly spoke about what gifts she would like her children to have. The one she talked best about to me was ... A testimony of their own. She talked about how many YSA don't have a testimony of their own or goals or have made decisions on their own. You need to do it for yourself. She asked in regard to a testimony, do you have a testimony of Jesus Christ? Do you understand the plan of salvation? Do you know why you are here?
Don't get caught up in life's distractions, get caught up gaining a testimony for yourself. There is no Testimony with out a few test.
Bronco talked about becoming the head coach at BYU. He said we/he knows he wasn't the first or even the second pick. He talked about his interview with Elder Eyring for the job. The first and only question he remembers being asked in the interview was "Is the Church of Jesus Christ true?" He said he then bore his testimony. That moment helped him understand that this was not just a coaching job, but an opportunity to represent the Church and share his testimony.
He talked about why BYU is "Returning to Glory?" ( Title of an ESPN article when he took over the coaching position). We strive to meet the universities mission '..quest for perfection and eternal life.' He talked about the priorities he has as a coach and for the players; Faith, Family, Knowledge, Friends , Football. He said because this is his way there have been a lot of guys who choose not to play with BYU. He explained; When asked what Faith has to do with football he responds with "everything" You have to have a faith in God and faith in your abilities.
Family- Eternal families. You have to be worthy to have an eternal family. Knowledge- it is the only thing we take with us into the eternities. Friends- The #1 influencer of young people. Good friends are you only chance. Who you surround yourself with is so important. You have the power to influence others. Then we play Football.
He concluded by telling us that we all are representatives of the Church. That we should always seek to have the Spirit with us. He referred to the cell phone commercial..."Are you there...what about now?" What if that is how we lived our lives, always checking in to see if our communication with our Heavenly Father was still strong? We should never put ourselves in situations where our signal to Heavenly Father is weak.
Trust the Lord, be of service to each other, keep the commandments, try the word of God...go to you meetings to learn and act, have Faith in our Savior.
It was a great fireside...it ended too soon, but I was glad I was there.
The most exciting thing to me was the fact that Hayden knew Bronco's priority line up before he even told us. Bronco is a great example and I am so glad that Hayden looks up to him as one.
Action is what life is all about....do something!
MCC
We saw two movies this weekend...State of Play and 17 Again. Both were enjoyable. I liked the idea of going back to a pivotal point in your life and given the opportunity to do it all over again...would you do it the same way even with the knowledge you now have?
We attended a fabulous fireside last night. Bronco and Holly Mendenhall were the speakers. Bronco is the head coach for the BYU football team. Hayden thinks he is pretty great , and after listening to him speak I would have to agree. He is a rule keeper, he holds not only himself but his team accountable and he has his priorities in order. His wife Holly isn't shabby either.
Here is my take on the high points of the meeting:
This was a Young Single Adult fireside so of course it was geared around the twenty somethings....The first thing brought up about the Mendenhalls was the fact hat they didn't get married until they were 30 and 31 years old....not for lack of chance but because they didn't want to settle. The marriage thing is always top of mind for the YSA leaders, that is their charge...to get them married.
Holly spoke about what gifts she would like her children to have. The one she talked best about to me was ... A testimony of their own. She talked about how many YSA don't have a testimony of their own or goals or have made decisions on their own. You need to do it for yourself. She asked in regard to a testimony, do you have a testimony of Jesus Christ? Do you understand the plan of salvation? Do you know why you are here?
Don't get caught up in life's distractions, get caught up gaining a testimony for yourself. There is no Testimony with out a few test.
Bronco talked about becoming the head coach at BYU. He said we/he knows he wasn't the first or even the second pick. He talked about his interview with Elder Eyring for the job. The first and only question he remembers being asked in the interview was "Is the Church of Jesus Christ true?" He said he then bore his testimony. That moment helped him understand that this was not just a coaching job, but an opportunity to represent the Church and share his testimony.
He talked about why BYU is "Returning to Glory?" ( Title of an ESPN article when he took over the coaching position). We strive to meet the universities mission '..quest for perfection and eternal life.' He talked about the priorities he has as a coach and for the players; Faith, Family, Knowledge, Friends , Football. He said because this is his way there have been a lot of guys who choose not to play with BYU. He explained; When asked what Faith has to do with football he responds with "everything" You have to have a faith in God and faith in your abilities.
Family- Eternal families. You have to be worthy to have an eternal family. Knowledge- it is the only thing we take with us into the eternities. Friends- The #1 influencer of young people. Good friends are you only chance. Who you surround yourself with is so important. You have the power to influence others. Then we play Football.
He concluded by telling us that we all are representatives of the Church. That we should always seek to have the Spirit with us. He referred to the cell phone commercial..."Are you there...what about now?" What if that is how we lived our lives, always checking in to see if our communication with our Heavenly Father was still strong? We should never put ourselves in situations where our signal to Heavenly Father is weak.
Trust the Lord, be of service to each other, keep the commandments, try the word of God...go to you meetings to learn and act, have Faith in our Savior.
It was a great fireside...it ended too soon, but I was glad I was there.
The most exciting thing to me was the fact that Hayden knew Bronco's priority line up before he even told us. Bronco is a great example and I am so glad that Hayden looks up to him as one.
Action is what life is all about....do something!
MCC
Tuesday, February 10
Old/Best Movies--Citizen Kane
We have been watching a lot of old movies lately...I mean black and white classics (a few color pics).....with Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Kathrine Hepburn, etc.....Casablanca, It Happened One Night, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Bringing Up Baby, etc.... Last night we--Gary, Marcie & Hayden, watched 'Citizen Kane' and the 1995 Documentary about the making of the movie. Both were fascinating. I don't think that I had ever really watch this film.....I have seen numerous clips and know the story, but I had never sat down with the intent purpose of watching this movie.
Citizen Kane was written by, produced,directed and stared Orson Wells....he was 24 years old...unbelievable...in a good way. The Documentary won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 1995 and is defiantly worth watching...it helps you figure out why it is a great film.
Citizen Kane has been voted the number one greatest movie of all time by the American Film Institute. This honor was given to the film in 1997, when they first compiled their list and again in 2007 when the list was updated. I was really interested in "why" this movie would be selected as the greatest.... According the AFI 100 Greatest Movies list the films are selected by its members based on historical significance, critical recognition and awards, popularity at the box-office, syndication and video sales/rental.
The story of this movie is loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hurst...and some say it is partially autobiographical about Orson Wells himself. It was not a popular success when it was released due to Hurst's all out war to stop the film from being released. Critical recognition didn't come to this film until much later, and as for awards; it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won 1 for screen writing....given to Wells and Herman Mankiewicz - a Hollywood insider. At the 1941 Academy Awards the Film was 'Booed' several times during the awards ceremony.
The Historical significance of this film is why it is one of the best...Wells used techniques in cinematography which had never been tried in movie making. The Camera angels and focus of the scenes is amazing even by today's standards. His use of sound was very unique to motion pictures as well, this was probably because he was a radio man and understood the impact and importance of the spoken word. The story itself has much historical significance as it tells the tale of an American icon. But I think that the events, and people surrounding the making of the film is what gives it, its greatness....lets just say that both Wells and Hurst made more of this film than it probably was worth. I am not knocking Wells genius...he was a creative, inventive, thinking film maker, and actor....the scene when he rips up his second wives bedroom when she leaves him, is full of real emotion and power. Wells was also a creative live theater director prior to his arrival in Hollywood so his genius in film making to me is a given, too bad he was so malined during and after the making of this film that he would never have opportunity to become an even better film maker....I think Wells had it in him to do even more but he was never allowed the free rein and opportunity he had with Citizen Kane.
After watching this movie Hayden and I discussed the themes and why it would be considered 'The Greatest.' It is a story of power, control and loneliness. Money can't by love, and you can't run other peoples lives were the themes that we thought were at the heart of this movie. As for an artistic film...it is beautiful, and interestingly shot, especially considering the limited resources available to film makers in 1940....no CGI like we are so accustomed to today.
Is this movie 'The Greatest'? Possibly... story so, so, cinematography and editing, some of the best.....however there are many movies that I like just as much if not more.....but then I am not a ligit, trained film critic or student.....as if the critics really are ligit.
After our viewing, Hayden and I decided that we wanted to know what other films mad the AFI list...after looking the list over we discovered that Hayden had seen 6 of the top 10 movies, Gary and I had seen 8 of the 10 and not all of the same 8...but between all of us we have seen all the top 10 greatest....The Top 10, and even the top 100, doesn't list some of mine and Hayden's most favorites....but hey, it is still a good list and one that we will work on seeing.....
As for what have we seen on the whole 100 list; Gary has seen 82 of the films, Hayden 27, and I have seen 70...unfortunately I couldn't tell you much about this 70, they weren't that impactfull....or my mind is getting feeble.
Hayden has declared that the next 'old' movie he wants to watch is Lawrence of Arabia....good choice. I remember first seeing an liking this movie when I was a teenager...he will probably like it too....after all he is now a fan of the classics.
MCC
To see the AFI 100 Greatest List go to
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