Navigating Collaborative Challenges in Costume Design

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 89 - ELLEN MIROJNICK - COSTUME DESIGNER

Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick (OPPENHEIMER, WALL STREET, FATAL ATTRACTION) joins us on this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast. A born and bred New Yorker, Ellen jumped right into costume design on a low-budget feature in New Orleans where she quickly (and easily) took to the role as the department head. She later spent two films working and studying under famed costume designer Sandy Powell before being recruited by director Adrian Lyne to work on FATAL ATTRACTION (one of many films in which she would work with actor Michael Douglass). During our discussion of OPPENHEIMER, Ellen shares the notes she received from director Christopher Nolan that informed her approach to the design of the film's costumes and reflects on the challenge posed by needing to design costumes that could be shot in black-and-white in one setup and in colour in the next. Ellen also reflects on the challenge of designing the film's costumes to seamlessly reflect changes in time without losing the characters across numerous decades of story. Towards the end, we discuss the importance of creating costumes that are not only right for the period, but right for the actors who need to wear them.

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This episode is sponsored by Godox