Costume Design is an essential element of filmmaking as it adds to a project’s authenticity
and contributes greatly towards the audience's immersion into the world a film or series
is presenting.
This seems like a particularly daunting task for certain science fiction and fantasy productions
and with Frank Herbert’s universe of Dune there is added complexity.
The setting is in mankind’s distant future where humans have advanced to populate other
worlds and yet society has regressed in many ways as a feudalistic Empire reigns over a
populace who have banned all thinking machines and computer technology.
With a unique blend of futuristic sci-fi and ancient historical elements this setting certainly
can be a challenge to depict accurately.
Costume Designers Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan accepted this challenge and in this
video I’d like to discuss their recent comments to Variety as they discussed their approach
for Deni Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune.
The Veteran Costume Designers West and Morgan who are both fans of Frank Herbert’s Dune
began by methodically breaking down the three main worlds of Arrakis, Caladan, and Giedi
Prime as Morgan states these were three kinds of diametrically opposed places in their climate,
and then the people that inhabited them, which meant three armies, three different things
they had to do.
When asked what their starting point was for the costumes West said quote: “It was the
book.
It has everything: mysticism, ecology, politics, religion, philosophy, history, evolution,
poetry, so complex, and so multilayered.
I started with conversations with Denis [Villeneuve, the director], who really had such an idea
about the film by the time I came on.
He didn’t want to make a film about space ships, you know, with a look of what you see
in so many sci-fi movies and video games, but he wanted to make a futuristic medieval
movie.”
-- Jacqueline West
A futuristic medieval movie is an apt description.
Villneuve has demonstrated repeatedly his knowledge of the source material as the author
Frank Herbert wanted the focus of his saga to be on human society rather than its technology
and how the social and political institutions could have evolved or devolved over time.
His approach makes the story that much more relatable to our modern day and it's clear
Villneuve wanted to accurately portray this aspect of the story with the costumes themselves
in his conversations with the designers.
Regarding how the worlds each with their specific and wildly different environments influenced
the costumes, Morgan said quote: “Caladan is this very rich, lush, wet place and the
colors influenced the colors we used and the richness of the fabric we used.
[On the desert planet Arrakis] it affects how you would dress much, like it affects
how people dress in the Sahara or in Jordan; we’re in layers and wraps [for] their heads
to not only serve as a protection from the weather and from the heat, they’re also
a tool??.
It keeps your head cool, but it’s also something you can take off, and it becomes a rope, a
backpack, you know, it’s 25 yards of fabric.
So that lent itself to form following function and, and we started that way.”
The change in the character's dress will no doubt serve to emphasize even further the
drastic adjustment the members of House Atreides have to make as they adapt to their new environment.
I appreciate their attention to detail when it comes to the practicality of the garments
necessary on Arrakis.
West elaborated further on the research she did in preparation in a separate interview
with Variety.
Looking at such films as Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia and Fahrenheit 451 as well as referencing
Greek and Roman mythology.
A reference that is particularly accurate for the Atreides family line which is descended
from the ancient Greeks of Earth.
West also stated quote: “The color of Caladan was green, and I used the Romanovs as inspiration
for their uniforms.
The Harkonnens were Goths, they were very dark and evil.
I used black leather for a lot of [them].
For the Bene Gesserits, I used black, very lush fabrics, beadings veils, lots of cut
velvet and silks.”
-- Jacqueline West
The grand scope of this film reveals the enormous undertaking of designing costumes for such
a large cast.
Morgan revealed that a wonderful army of artisans worldwide helped to create the specialty costumes
that bordered on a thousand individual creations.
The Fremen Stillsuit is without a doubt the most important costume to get right in this
adaptation as its complex design is integral to the survival of the people of Arrakis.
In the novel the stillsuit is described as a micro-sandwich - a high-efficiency filter
and heat-exchange system."
"The skin-contact layer is porous.
Perspiration passes through it, having cooled the body . . . near-normal evaporation process.
The next two layers . . . " include heat exchange filaments and salt precipitators.
Salt is reclaimed."
"Motions of the body, especially breathing," "and some osmotic action provide the pumping
force."
"Reclaimed water circulates to catch pockets which is drawn from a tube in the clip at
the neck."
Jacqueline West said the stillsuit was the first thing she worked on after doing general
research.
She also worked with concept artist Keith Christensen who has worked on Black Panther
and The Batman.
Villlneuve approved a concept which was taken to Jose Fernandez at Ironhead Studios to build
the prototype.
Each stillsuit had to be cut on a mold of the actors bodies to stay true to the source
material’s description as the movement of the body is what activates the stillsuit and
its distilling capabilities.
The design team made sure to put tubing, gauges and regulators in the stillsuits to create
that micro sandwich.
West said quote: “When we shot in Jordan in the desert, it worked like Under Armour,”
“because of the way we ran all the tubing through all the layers of the micro-sandwich,”
it looks like the suit might actually be pumping water.
But they also had to make sure the costume was flexible.
Each suit took more than two weeks to fabricate in the Budapest workroom.
“It was really a group effort of a fabulous team,” says West.
“Frank Herbert said that only 15 milliliters of water escaped a day from a person wearing
a stillsuit, so we had to make it believable that it would do that.”
-- Jacqueline West
The dedication to accuracy in regards to this particular aspect of the novel is admirable
and much appreciated by fans who are hoping to see the images they imagined when they
read the book come to life on screen.
The color palette for each world is distinct and for the world of Arrakis it was important
for the design team to know the specific colors found in the filming location of Jordan and
so West asked the head of locations Peter Bardsley to bring her back rocks and vials
of sand from Jordan which consisted of coral, rose, peach and beige colors.
One aspect that I enjoy from the new Fremen outfit is the incorporation of the flowing
gauze, which makes the silhouette of the Fremen look just like I imagined when I read the
book.
West had previously done a gauze line when she worked as a fashion designer for Barney’s
and remembered how you could still see people’s bodies, their shapes and their movement.
And it occurred to her that gauze shifts like the sand does so these were dyed in a variety
of sand colors.
The subtle variations in color from the location itself incorporated into the costumes further
highlights how the Fremen have adapted to life on Arrakis.
The attention to detail and dedication to accuracy was also helped by the fact that
Deni Villneuve was a strong collaborator in the development process.
Morgan said that the director would frequently pop into the costume shop to see what was
happening saying quote : “We were fortunate enough to be literally across the street in
Budapest at the studio.
And he could just walk over,” Morgan says.
“He could see the fabric and see the texture.”
Costume design has proven to be an essential element for viewers to fully be immersed in
the world of Frank Herbert’s creation.
Many feel the costumes for David Lynch’s 1984 version of Dune was one of the film’s
best features.
And in regards to the sci-fi channel miniseries adaptation while it can be said the story
itself was more faithful to the source material the costume design was sadly lacking especially
in regards to the famous stillsuits.
It’s clear that a larger budget and an intimate knowledge of the source material is necessary
in order to accurately depict the peoples and institutions of this strange and unique
universe.
And given what we know about this aspect of the project, it seems that the production
team has done an excellent job in giving the necessary attention in order to faithfully
adapt the look of Frank Herbert’s unique characters.
But I’m curious to know what you think about Dune’s costume design and their development
process.
Is there a particular costume that you find especially interesting?
How do you think the costumes compare to previous adaptations?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.