The Clever Use of Costume

[Beleriel]

Well, Ive just seen the ROTK pictures on the official website and I dont know about you, but it struck ME just how SMALL Frodo looks.

On consideration, its the clever use of costume isnt it? All the way through both films we see Frodo either in jacket AND waistcoat or in just his waistcoar which fills him out. But as soon as he is in Shelob's lair, there he is in just his shirt.

How clever, I never would have thought it, but it really works doesnt it? Well it does for me. He looks so small and vulnerable (aaahhh! :rolleyes: }

Clever use of costumes to gain the desired effect.

I wonder, has anyone noticed any other clever use of costume?

And what do you think of THIS tactic I am talking about?

[Lessa]

I think everybodies costumes are so cleverly done. They tell you exactly the kind of person a character is without having to labour the point with words. The incredible detail that has gone into each costume, that doesn't even show up on screen, gives an incredible depth to everything. Also a sense of history and environment to the whole texture of the films.

Lessa

[Winyaél Greenleaf]

One very good example is Aragorn's weather-worn outfit. It shows how weather-beaten he gets as a ranger on the move all the time, and yet it sort of has some regal quality about it... :thumbs:

Hmm... and what about Legolas' outfit at Lothlorien in FotR? would that be considered clever use of costume too? :huh:

sidenote: Bel, I deleted the second post (the one which you said you hit the quote button instead of the edit button) Was that what you wanted? Anyway, just PM me if you need me to help you edit your post or something ;)

[Kenzie]

yhea if you look at the the area where Aragorns sleeve of one of his shirts ( its the grey one he's wearing here (http://www.warofthering.net/photos/fotraragorn/imagepages/image32.shtml) ) meets the rest of the shirt you can see how it could be detached (say if it was a really warm day) they put a lot of though behinde the details of their costumes and you could see that if he really was traveling in the wilds of middle earth how convientent that would be. (they explain it on EE DVD)

[Hobbit]

I think most costumes are done really clever. The hobbitclothes are, like Bel said really well done.

I also think Boromir's costume is really good for it looks likr thr clothing of a travaler but there is also some mail to show he's a warrior and the clothes look..... expencive and enough to show he was oof high blood.

[Catz]

there are lots of those details in the costuming......colour is used a lot as a differentiator of different people.........look at Frodos coat.........that colour is not used in any other costume, and it sets him apart, just as the fabric does........the hobbits all wear rustic country colours, autumn golds, earthy browns, sky blues
the elves wear either strong jewel tones, rich and intense for the Rivendell Elves, who are still in contact with the world around them, and paler more muted tones, more ethreal shades, for the Lorien Elves who seem almost to have already passed from the world, and who dont have so much contact with the world around them.
Saruman the White is another example, whose costume isnt in fact white, tho you dont really realise this until you see Gandalf the white, who with the help of a little CG, really IS white
and the dwarves, who wear muted, tho strong colours........its funny to actually really LOOK at the dwarves clothing.........its a lot more colourful than it at first seems
:catz:

[A! Elbereth]

That's true with Frodo... he is supposed to look thin, and I actually think the brown makes him look thinner. Darker colors tend to make you look that way. The things he carries are smaller than everyone else's too, and that gives an in-between-the-lines look at how Sam wouldn't want Frodo to carry much. His small pack makes him look smaller than the others as well

You can also notice how Merry's yellow waistcoat makes him have more of a 'hobbit-belly'... and Sam has a lot of cargo. lol

[Winyaél Greenleaf]

Well, as I've mentioned in another thread, the costume designers purposely picked velvet material for Frodo's hobbit costume to give it sort of a 'gentlemanly' touch. Cuz after all, he's a Baggins, and he's rich. As for the other hobbits, they wear coarser and not so luxurious materials.

[A! Elbereth]

You can also see that his waist coat is some form of velvet too, and Merry's is embroidered. I don't know if I remember if Pippin was shown at all. :huh:

[Hobbit]

I just noticed a funny similarity: at those pics from lordoftherings.net there are some pics from Aragorn in his kingly garb, but those clothes are almost the same as Boromir's clothes. The same colors, the same material etc.
It's really cool for it kinda indicates that Aragorn "takes" Boromir's place (for Boromir was meant to rule Gondor before Aragorn's linage was known) at Gondor and that he fulfills Boromir's last wish.

[Saruman]

Gimli's costume would be a good example. The square shapes used on his costume make him look more short and stocky. It is especially apparent when you see him against Legolas, who has much more of a smooth, flowing pattern on his costume. It accentuates how different the two races are, and yet they become such good friends.

[Hobbit]

I agree totally on that Saruman. Legolas'clothes make his look more graceful and light and quick, but he doesn't look very strong.
Gimli doesn't look graceful, light or quick in his heavy, bosy and geometric, armour but it does represent the stubborness and the physicalstrenght of the dwarves.
I also like the fact that the Harad wore masks. It gave them a more evil and rough look as if they aren't really human, but also alot like evil creatures. It takes away a bit of the humanespect as if they are killingmachines, while the Gondorians and he Rohirrim don't hide the fact that they're human and they show emotion.

[Kenzie]

if you compare legolas's atire to the others his clothes are not as loose as say aragorns or boromirs ... and like you said it give him that, gracefull light and quick look

[Saruman]

It also has various symbols that could be associated with leaves and trees.

[Ludibunda]

I totally hope the costume designer for the films is reading all this. As I was listening to the commentary for design I heard a lot of "There was a tom of embroidery done that probably wasn't noticed, etc. She'd be thrilled to know her team's work is so well-appreciated by WotR members! Now - I must run and take another look at the new RotK pics - bye!

[Kenzie]

yhea ... but there was a lot of embroidery ... imagine being on the team and having no one really notice! :o

[Hobbit]

Yes I agree. The same goes for the disigners of the decors for instance. What a blow must it have been if nobody noticed the beauty of Rivendell.... the same goes for the costume disigners.
But if the costumes of Legolas and Gimli would have almost been the same verytbody would have noticed and critisized the costume disigning, so come to think of it.... it's kinda like a good sign no message came to the disign team.....

[Kenzie]

i thought it was neat how like each race had a different kind of pattern ... like the dwarfs were more boxy patterns and the elves more flowing desighns

[Tar-Vanimelde]

I think the most impressive costums were those for the Nazgul. The flowing fabric looked perfect as they galloped along, and together with their sceams they became truly frightening. I think I read somewhere that each black rider outfit had 50 yards of fabric in it as well as embroidery to make it hang right and ripple in the wind. Even if we can't see that, the effect is there.

[Beleriel]

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*




Oh I love these new costumes we've seen on Merry and Pippin in the ROTK pictures.

The detail on the leather on Merry's costume is fabulous. Horses running along the belt across his cest..... fabulous tooling all over the arm bands he's wearing... I love it!

And when you look at Pippins costume... its fabulous with the silver tree and stars on the black. Even his gloves are wonderful! I am MOST impressed with them!

[Lessa]

They sound just as I imagined them from the text. You know I am finding it very hard to wait to see all this detail for myself up on the screen.

Lessa

[Elbereth]

I personally lile the difference between the elves of Rivendell and the elves of Lorien. Rivendell elves have much more fitted, brighter clothes which are more like the clothes of men but the Lorien elves have floatier clothes so they look quite spirit like. I think it shows the difference between them really well especially if you think of Lorien fading and the fact that more travellers etc will visit Rivendell and may have an impact on the clothes worn there.

And I can't wait to see the ROTK hobbit costumes!

[Bonos-Girl]

me niether.

and i loved the difference in costume between different areas as well.....it showed the elves really well i thought...

[Tar-Vanimelde]

I also can't wait to see the new movie The Last Samuri (sp?) Because the costume designer is the one from LotR and I think we all agree she does awesome work!

[Bonos-Girl]

wow! i didn't know that...i might have to go see it!! lol

[Winyaél Greenleaf]

The Last Samurai? I've heard of it. Been wanting to watch it too. Do you have the website of the costume designer? I'm sure everyone would like to see more of her works! :thumbs:

[Estell]

:aragorn:
Aragorn's costume is brilliantly done. Someone pointed out the detachable sleeves on his tunic. For traveling, I guess, in case it gets hot.

Note also ... when relaxing, he's dressed differently. I think he's wearing a different shirt than usual in Lorien ... it looked almost like silk, finer than his usual shirt and tunic. It was worn open at the neck so you could really see Arwen's necklace. Maybe the elves gave him something.

In Rohan, he's wearing a buttoned red shirt. Normally he's wearing all these layers, but when smoking by the fire he's in his shirtsleeves.

In his vision of Arwen, you may notice he's not wearing his boots.

You also see that, though he's in rugged, threadbare, mudstained clothing, it has these details, like it's a better grade of clothing than it seems. It seems that he once commonly wore ... or perhaps has been given ... much finer things than he requires for travel and hobbit-finding.

[Winyaél Greenleaf]

Yep, as I've said before, Aragorn's ranger outfit is my fave. he's got to have a better grade of clothing cos' after all, he is someone of a very respectable status, and I've always felt that his outfit has a rugged yet royal feel about it.

[Tar-Vanimelde]

Definitly. He always seems noble, even in his scruffy-wilderness clothes. He is also much less flashy than Boromir, a very nice insight into the characters in my opinion.

[Hobbit]

Yes, the difference between the outfit of Boromir and Aragorn is as big as the difference between a (son of a) steward and a ranger.
Besides Aragorn was discribed to look "foul" at first (he looks foul but he feel fair) and his clothes make him live up to that discription.
Yet if you look more closely it does have (as Win puts it so well) a royal feeling over it.