Was It Worth It?: Costuming Narnia
How many of you remember King Miraz's coat in the movie Prince Caspian? Yeah, I didn't either. But let me tell you, it rocks. It's all hand-dyed velvet with hand-embossing, capped with special trim. I got to see it, and talk to the costume director of Prince Caspian about her work, during an event highlighting the release of the Prince Caspian DVD December 2.
Costume designer Isis Messenden traveled all over the world to find the right fabrics and trims to create the human costumes in the Narnian world. She rummaged through fabric stores in Madrid, poked through stands in Italy, and rifled through shops in London. She bought bolts of velvet, rolls of trim, baskets of buttons. While in Spain, she visited El Greco paintings and used their colors as inspiration for her color palette for the Telemarine people. She traveled to the island of Sardinia to gather ideas for their style.
First of all, I want her job. Or maybe just tag along while she does hers.
Mussenden's vision formed everything from the leather armor of the soldiers to the Narnian dresses Lucy and Susan wear. I got to touch those dresses and they were beautiful, silk with hand embroidery, lovely to look at and soft to the touch.
The layers of the artistry of the endeavor was amazing to me. Building on El Greco, finding the very best materials, hand embossing patterns onto the fabric. All to add richness to a film, but not to be noticed in itself.
Prince Caspian, with its $200 million price tag, is perceived by some as a box office failure, in part because the costs cut into the profits. Mussenden estimated her budget at $4 million. All that artistry costs money.
Yet there's something to be said for beauty and excellence. The next time you watch the DVD, stop to notice Miraz's coat. What do you think? Was it worth it?