Costume Design (Screencraft Series) [Paperback]

Deborah Nadoolman Landis (Author)

Book Description

Series: Screencraft Series | Publication Date: July 8, 2003

Dressing actors to suit character, place and period is more crucial to the filmmaking process than many realize. Costume Design provides compelling insight into this fascinating craft, featuring interviews with 14 world-class international costume designers, including the designers of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Batman, Shakespeare in Love, and many more.

*Vast cultural and artistic range of costume design brought together in one publication for the first time
*No other book uses so much visual content from the designers
*Contains interviews with some of the most celebrated costume designers in the world

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This large, full color book is a fascinating compliation of costume designers' sketches and photos of the finished products from both classic and contemporary movies whose costumes were so distinctive they became characters in their own right." - Express News

"looks at what actors wear on screen. Interviews with costume designers chronicle the creation of elaborate get-ups..." - Erin Hanafy, Associated Press

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated book on costume design is the seventh entry in the very successful Screencraft series.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (July 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240805909
• ISBN-13: 978-0240805900
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #481,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Film Costume Designers In Their Own Voices, July 17, 2003

By 

rubyink (Manhattan Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Costume Design (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

The most recent book in Focal Press' Screencraft series, this book is a revealing look at the job of a film costume designer, told from the point of view of the practitioners. The names, faces and stories behind the most famous costumes from cinema are represented. From period films to contemporary, from mainstream to art films, from stylized costumes to naturalistic, the designers interviewed reveal their design process and the purpose of costume design, as well as what it's like working with stars and directors. The Academy Award nominated (if not winning) designers interviewed include: Theodora Van Runkle ("Bonnie and Clyde"), Italian designer Piero Tosi ("The Leopard"), Jeffrey Kurland ("Erin Brokovich"), the books author Deborah Nadoolman ("Raiders of the Lost Ark"), Ann Roth ("The Hours"), Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka ("Bram Stoker's Dracula"), Anthony Powell ("Tess"), Albert Wolsky ("All That Jazz"), Sandy Powell ("The Crying Game"), Gabriella Pescucci ("The Age of Innocence"), Ruth Carter ("Malcolm X"), Milena Canonero ("A Clockwork Orange"), James Acheson ("Dangerous Liaisons"), and Bob Ringwood ("Batman"). A fascinating behind the scenes look at a craft typically invisible to the audience. All of the designers deserve this long overdue recognition, and this book celebrates their work with interviews, color photos, and costume illustrations. Perhaps a future second volume might include interviews with designers Colleen Atwood, Patricia Norris and the design team of Jenny Beavan and John Bright?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on movie costume available, July 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Costume Design (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

This book is ideal for anyone interested in fashion or costume, and the creative process that goes into the creation of design. Landis, a costume designer herself, interviews most of the best costume designers working in film today. So unlike other books on costume design, where you get one person's opinion on the craft--and that person is usually a critic or academic who doesn't really have experience working in the field--here you get straight information direct from the creative people themselves.

The pictures are fabulous, so I think this book has appeal for anybody interested in clothes, movies, or design. Obviously, it will be a necessity for anyone interested in costume design or interested in being a costume designer.

Although there is a section on Landis' work on such movies as Raiders of the Lost Ark and Coming to America, she has obviously expertly edited the interviews that make up the text of the book. It seems as if the reader is sitting in the living room of these famous costume designers, chatting casually about how they got started, what inspires them, and some of their most interesting professional experiences.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous, full-color, expertly written and designed, July 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Costume Design (Screencraft Series) (Paperback)

This book is invaluable for anyone interested in learning about costume design--from the designers themselves. Fourteen highly accomplished designers discuss their craft in highly engaging and informative interviews, conducted by the author, Deborah Nadoolman Landis, herself an Academy Award-nominated costume designer. This is the kind of stuff that is usually neglected in "Making Of" film books and Hollywood history tomes. The interviews are augmented by hundreds of color and black-and-white photographs and costume sketches, which in themselves are more than worth the price of the book. Highly recommended!