MTV News has an exclusive interview with costume designer Judianna Makovsky.
Costume designer Judianna Makovsky has been a member of Gary Ross' cinematic glam squad for years. That's why when "The Hunger Games" director was piecing together a pitch as to why he
should helm the dystopian drama, he made a late-night call to his
trusted colleague. The thrice-Oscar-nominated designer has collaborated
with Ross on a number of his films, including "Pleasantville" and
"Seabiscuit," and now the duo may be working on their highest-profile
project yet — one in which wild wigs, garish gowns and flame-licked
jumpsuits are just another day at the office.
In anticipation of the March 23 release of "The Hunger Games," MTV
News put in a call to Makovsky to talk about the Capitol's crazy couture
and how author Suzanne Collins' elaborate vision was brought to life —
albeit with a few alterations.
MTV: How much did you know about "The Hunger Games" before Gary Ross came calling?
Judianna Makovsky: I had not read them, I have to admit. I
hadn't even heard of them. But Gary Ross had called me, and his kids
loved them, and he said, "I really want to do this movie." I was on
another movie set in Shreveport, Louisiana. He said, "You have to go get
it," and I said, "It's 10 o'clock at night." He said, "You have to get
it first thing in the morning. You have to read it." I'm like, "OK." And
then I was sending him images every day so he could start thinking.
They were talking to several directors, and he really wanted to do it.
It was great to start that early with him — trying to find images that
were useful to him.
MTV: I have to imagine reading the series and Suzanne
Collins' vivid descriptions were an evocative experience for an artist
like you.
Makovsky: I have to say, I try to read everything like a
fan, but I also read it as a costume designer, and I go, "Oh my god. How
do you do that?" Also, I was lucky enough to have a meeting with
Suzanne, and a lot of things that are in the written word do not
translate well to film. Lucky for me, she understood that and knew that
and said, "Do what you need to do. If you think it's not going to
translate, I understand." And she was great about it.
MTV: Did you show her any of your drawings?
Makovsky: At that point, if was fairly early. We had very
few. We had already done mood boards for the districts and where we
wanted to go. And, yes, she was there for that and loved all of that. It
was great.
MTV: What were your initial discussions with Gary Ross like?
Makovsky: The initial discussions always start with
character. I would say on this movie, we started with the world that
they were going to live in. Philip Messina is the production designer.
I've worked with him before; we're a great team. Gary, Phil and I all
sat down and just talked about what this world was going to be, and how
do you have District 12 — how does that reflect in the Capitol? Because
it is all the same planet, it is all the same time period. So they have
to make sense together ... Before Gary got the job, we sent him all
these images of coal-mining towns and all these things. He picked up
some of them and just went, "This is it. This isn't a period movie, but I
want the feel of these photographs." So it was basically a discussion
about the world they lived in, and then we started talking about
individual characters.
MTV: As you started working on each character, how much input did the individual actors have?
Makovsky: There's no point in designing particular things
until you know who the actor is, whether I have a discussion with them
or not. Katniss, I worked very closely with Jen [Jennifer Lawrence]
because she was cast first. I had actually worked with Josh
[Hutcherson] before, so that made that easy. I had worked with Donald
Sutherland before. A lot of the actors were unavailable for fittings.
They were all over the world shooting things. I sent them images, then I
did sketches for them. Then we basically made it without them and they
showed up and put it on! I have to say, the age of the Internet is a
fabulous thing. You can scan things and send things and have these
discussions at three in the morning when they're in Budapest or
wherever.
MTV: Which outfit posed the biggest challenge to you?
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| Katniss in her interview dress with Caesar |
Makovsky: I think the interview dress. I think it was the
hardest because the description in the book was something every fan
loves but, honestly, in my opinion, and in all of our opinions, it
wasn't going to translate. Having this dress covered in flame-like
jewels, you know, it's no longer about Katniss. It's about the dress.
Also, the dress has a chance, a very big chance, of coming off as
cheesy.
MTV: I can see how it might verge into figure-skating-costume territory.
Makovsky: See, that's what I was worried about. It was
going to be a "Dancing With the Stars" dress. I said, "I think we
shouldn't go that way." First of all, all those jewels, it's going to be
so heavy it won't twirl. She won't be able to move or walk. People
don't realize that. I decided that it should really be about Katniss,
and I wanted a young, fresh, modern couture cut, that when you first see
her beautiful dress and she does her twirl, it does what it does. I
mean, the bottom does have Swarovski crystals on it. But I really wanted
it to be about Katniss. How beautifully she has transformed. It's not
the dress that transformed her. It's her. Her beauty comes through.
MTV: Fans were also really excited to see Katniss' sleek
Girl on Fire outfit. You have a bit of experience with jumpsuits from
working on "X-Men: The Last Stand." Did you hearken back to those
superheroes for inspiration?
Makovsky: I actually had the woman who made my "X-Men"
jumpsuits make these costumes for me. She's a genius at that kind of
fit. Everyone thinks it's leather — it's not leather. It's a novelty
stretch fabric with this embossed plastic on it. It's a very strange
fabric. There's also some stretch patent leather in there, but there's
no leather. I just wanted something that would have this incredible
silhouette and have the shine of coal. In the books, it's actually
described a little bit more bland to me. It sounds like leotards and
tights with high boots. It has a cape. There were all kinds of things
that had to change because of physical and practical things on a
chariot. The description in the book — Katniss and Peeta wear the same
thing. Katniss had this fabulous headdress, but you put the headdress on
Peeta and it looks pretty stupid. You can't always do the same for a
boy and a girl.
MTV: Even though Katniss is the one in the spotlight, everyone seems to be most excited about Effie Trinket's looks.
Makovsky: She's the essence of the Capitol. Working with
Elizabeth [Banks] — Oh my god! I had so much fun. I've worked with her
before. She actually called me before she was allowed to because her
deal wasn't done. She said, "I think we should start now. I'm coming
over." I had all these ideas that I had pulled out, fabric swatches and
whatever. She came over and looked at what would work for her. We tried
shapes on her, and they kept growing and growing and growing. It was
really funny. Just to give her a certain walk. Effie is very prim in a
funny way. So we wanted that primness to come through even though we
sort of wanted to lampoon high fashion a little bit. It's a little bit
silly but it is still pretty.
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| Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket |
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