Birth of an actor

Chapter 157

"The most difficult thing about being a costume designer for The Lord of the Rings is that our workload is too large. Humans, dwarves, hobbits, elves, every culture has different costumes and shapes, and there is no literature. The information points out that when Tolkien wrote this novel, which era or country was more used in the background, this is almost a completely fictional world, so we should not only refer to many clothing materials in the European Middle Ages, but also give full play to the combination of imagination The design of the original work is completely different from the "Hercules" and other dramas I have done before, and it is also different from any period drama."

"It's the biggest challenge of my career," says costume designer Nikkila Dixon, a contract costume designer for Weta Studios, which has contracted all three "Lord of the Rings" movies. All makeup, styling, etc. for Qu.

Led by Nikkila Dixon, William, Lance and her visited the Hollywood studio of "The Lord of the Rings" crew. They said it was a studio, but it was not much different from a medium-sized studio. There is a special makeup area here. , clothing area, special effects makeup area and props area, there are dozens of people working here, some are sewing clothes, some are playing with armor and leather boots, except for some clothing that needs to be mass-produced After the design draft is released, it will be handed over to the clothing factory for production. The costumes and props of the main characters in the film are basically produced in this place. Everything will be produced in Los Angeles now. When the film is about to start shooting, it will be airlifted to New Zealand.

William and Lance appeared on the set of "Lord of the Rings" today, the main purpose is to try on makeup - Peter Jackson had notified William through Amon Goffman a few days ago, saying that there is already a role ready for him, It is a very brilliant character, not too many scenes but very important to the plot, the filming period may only take one to two months, it is completely tailored for William, but when William asked what kind of role it is, Peter Jackson refused to say more, but repeatedly emphasized that he even re-edited the script for this role, and then finalized the schedule with William, and made an appointment today to try on costumes and looks.

Lance also lives in Beverly now. His vacation is not over yet, and he has no plans to return to London for the time being. Although he keeps talking on the phone every day and keeps his laptop open, he still claims that he is enjoying a vacation in Southern California. After hearing about William's schedule two days ago, he proposed to come to the set together today to take a look at all aspects of the film's preparations. After all, he is also Willot's other big boss, isn't he?

When the three of them walked past several rows of hangers with the same clothes, just one big and one small, William's eyes stayed on them a few more times, and Nikkila Dixon immediately said: "Those are hobbits." Clothes for the human and dwarf actors, the bigger ones are for actors, the smaller ones are for stand-ins."

Although there are many dwarfs and hobbits in the movie, most of the actors signed by the crew are still of normal height, and the dwarves or hobbits played by actors of normal height will look like the last one in the finished movie. It is only half the size of a normal person. In addition to using special effects, near-large and far-small visual differences, the most convenient way is to use a dwarf stand-in.As far as William knows, Peter Jackson has already sent out the recruitment information for dwarf substitutes in the Screen Actors Guild of America, and these obviously miniaturized costumes should be prepared for those substitutes.

This reminded him of a possibility: "Is my costume also in here?"

"No, of course not." Nikkila Dixon looked at William with a surprised look. "You thought you were playing a hobbit or an elf? Didn't Peter tell you what to play?"

William shrugged: "He insisted on being a secret."

"Well, I think he just wants me to surprise you directly." Nikkila Dixon bit her lip to stop the snicker that was about to blurt out, and said with a more formal expression: "Come with me Will, your costumes are in the back room." Then she turned and continued to lead the way.

While walking, Lance raised his eyebrows at William: "It sounds like you are going to play some incredible role."

"I don't know. As long as it's not a half-orc."

"Half-orc? You? Don't be kidding. Playing a dwarf is a waste of money." Lance, who also read Tolkien's original works when he was a child, thought for a while: "It must be an elf."

William reviewed the characters and plots of the movie that he could still remember, and finally shook his head: "I have no idea at all. The important elf with few scenes can't be Eldron, the elf king of Rivendell. But not Liv Tyler's father, she's my age."

"Will, Mr. Roderick, here we are." Nikkila Dixon stood in front of a closed door at the end of the corridor, and said in a tone like revealing a secret, and then she pushed gently with her hand , opened the door.

……

William was really shocked for a moment, for the costumes and props placed in the room, they are really very real and exquisite, although I have long heard that Peter Jackson requires excellence in every small prop needed for the movie, But no amount of hearsay is as shocking as seeing it with your own eyes.

There are ten movable mannequins (mannequins made according to the proportion of the human body) in the not-so-small room. Each mannequin is dressed in exquisite and gorgeous costumes, and golden wigs with slightly different colors and lengths. Handmade The knee-high boots are classified by color, and each pair is placed next to the matching clothing. On one booth are several long knives with difficult seal carvings and smooth patterns, on another booth are bows and arrows, and on another booth. Full of jewels, the tiara, brooch, and rings all have large stones, and given the size of the shank, they're clearly intended for a male character.

From the first glance at the interior of the room, William knew that he was playing an elf, and the next words of costume designer Nikkila Dixon confirmed his guess: "Compared to hobbits and For the costumes of the dwarves, the costumes of the elves are the most troublesome, because we need to use expensive fabrics and complicated craftsmanship to reflect the elegant and noble temperament of the elves, and we must not design the costumes too eye-catching, so as not to make people feel uncomfortable. The audience pays too much attention to the costumes and it is difficult to integrate into the plot. In all the costumes of the elves, you, Kate, Liv, and the costumes of the actor who will play Legolas Greenleaf, we have to brainstorm and discuss the design draft of each piece. Repeated review can only pass, especially you, Will, even Peter participated in every costume design of yours. He personally requested the embroidery patterns on the clothes, the seal carving patterns on the long knife, and personally selected your costumes. wig color."

William cast his eyes on the only mannequin in the room decorated with long knives. The plastic mannequin wearing a toga and long-sleeved gorgeous clothes clasped his hands in front of him, and the long knife was in his hand, although the plastic mannequin was lifeless. However, under the decoration of this costume and long knife, there is still a bit of aggressive momentum.

"Good eyesight, Will, this is your costume, it looks great, doesn't it? The fabric is Indian satin, and I washed and bleached and re-dyed them to give them a metallic look. With such brightness, embroidering bark and leaves with gold thread on it, which belong to the pattern of elves, will make them look so elegant and ethereal." Nikkila Dixon caressed her work carefully: "Peter Let us refer to the idea of ​​sunshine and spring when designing, so I thought of a scheme of holy white and moss green, embellished with dazzling gold, dazzling, holy and full of wisdom and power at the same time, think about it, when When you appear in front of the Lord of the Rings guards on your white horse Alpharos, how shiny you will look..."

"Glorfindel."

"Lord of the Golden Flower."

William and Lance said at the same time.As soon as the white horse Alpharos was mentioned, the two knew who the elf Nikkila Dixon was talking about was. The mount of Glorfindel, the lord of the Flower family and one of the most powerful elves in the Third Age of Middle-earth.

Glorfindel's name is "golden". Although the elves are Tolkien's favorite race, Tolkien does not like to describe the appearance of the elves too much, and he does not even explicitly describe them in the novel. Legolas Greenleaf's hair color, only briefly mentioned the elf prince's handsome face and fair and slender fingers, but for Glorfindel, Tolkien described each other's appearance several times. Glorfindel's blond hair and voice at Wendell's banquet, once through Frodo the Hobbit's description of Glorfindel exuding holy white light from the inside out, and Frodo being tortured by pain Just being touched by Glorfindel made it feel so much better.

"I will tell Peter how much you know about the original, he must be very happy, now there are too many actors who only read the script and not read the original." Nikkila Dixon said: "Now I will find some makeup artists to come over , let's try a full set? Although these costumes are all tailored according to your figure, there are still some details that need more accurate data to modify, such as the color of hair, there are dark gold gold sand gold copper gold light Gold and platinum—"

"This wig is similar to Lance's hair color." William said, pointing to the long wigs on a metallic silver-gray high-necked dress, they were all platinum in color, soft like the lightest gold yarn.

"It's true! It's offensive to say that if Mr. Roderick is an actor, he is definitely the most suitable to play the elf!" Nikkila Dixon desperately suppressed his excitement, not daring to say too much, but This didn't delay her madly adding in her mind: "Natural blonde hair full of luster, clear and deep blue eyes, elegant and noble gestures, why does such a person have to be named Roderick?"What a waste of God-given looks!No, or in other words, only such a family background coupled with such an appearance will make women believe that fairy tales may also be true. It is not a prince like Rainier III, nor a prince like the Prince of Wales, but a prince who seems to be alive and well. Running out of a Disney movie... just don't know where his Cinderella will appear, or if the prince is going to marry Snow White sooner or later. "

"Lance?" William raised his wig and looked at his friend.

Lance finally understood what the sense of crisis that had existed since just now was foretelling. He shook his head firmly at William's expectant look: "No."

"Lance? Please."

"No!"

"Ah." A heavy, lost sigh: "We were always together when we were kids. At those Halloween themed parties, I'm Captain Kirk, you're Spock, I'm Superman, you're Batman, and I'm Han Suo." Luo, you are Luke Skywalker, I am Tom and you are Jack..."

"I didn't even know that the little girl side of your character has swelled to this point. You love to dress up your friends." Lance said sarcastically, perhaps with a little compromise in his voice.

"You agree?"

"No makeup, just a wig and a change of clothes."

"Don't put on such a reluctant look, my friend, just make up for the last Halloween party, you know, I made a great sacrifice to dress up as a Smurf, and you, we It was a good deal, but you refused to let those touch those blue dyes in the end!"

……

The way Lance turned around from the fitting table directly constituted William's initial impression of the elf prince-and also led to his dissatisfaction with any actor he met later.

It is not clear that the costumes full of ancient European medieval style enhanced Lance's noble temperament, but the platinum-blond long hair and the gemstone crown on his forehead gave him a halo of light. In short, when William looked When Lance dressed up as an elf, he directly thought of the warm sunshine in spring melting all the ice and snow in an instant, and growing and blooming the most beautiful rose in the Garden of Eden on it.It is really a wonderful thing that William feels unfamiliar with such a big change just by changing his attire.

"It's a pity that Mr. Roderick is not an actor...he doesn't even need to wear contact lenses!" Nikkila Dixon couldn't help but sigh again after a long absence: "Of course you don't need it, Will, Contact lenses will actually damage the look of your eyes."

"Otherwise, we won't need to find the most suitable actor to play the elf prince." William murmured and added, "Peter had better not ask my opinion when he chooses an actor, otherwise I doubt that no matter which actor he chooses, I won't be satisfied." William still remembers the appearance of Orlando Bloom's elven prince, who is indeed very handsome, but Lance is the one who truly interprets what it means to be an angel in the world.

"That's because you haven't seen yourself in the mirror, Will." Nikkila Dixon laughed and said, "Stay in this position, you better give me a smile, I have to find a camera Come on down, when Peter gets back from New Zealand he's absolutely going to be sad to miss this, Will, you're like Glorfindel resurrected from the book!"

Nikkila Dixon took the camera like a gust of wind, and William smoothed out a wrinkle in the cape, and looked up to see Lance's mind wandering for a moment.By the way, when William and Nikkila Dixon talked just now, Lance didn't respond to their conversation at all, which should not be the case.

"You're distracted, Lance, why?"

Lance walked over directly, put his hands on William's shoulders, and turned him to the mirror behind him.

"..." William was stunned for three seconds, but he didn't touch the mirror with his fingers. He thought that was too stupid, and it might not be so stupid to ask Lance directly: "Is this me?"

Lance smiled, looked at William, and was about to speak.

"Hello boys, look at me."

William and Lance turned, and the flashes went on at the same time.

'Jesus Christ God. ’ Nikkila Dixon held her breath until the impact of the image began to wear off in her head, thinking: ‘What would be the impact of publishing this picture? '

— people will go crazy.Not long after, public opinion verified this for itself.