The sublime costumes of the new fairytale adventure ‘Mirror Mirror’, ranging from the Queen’s outrageous golden and blood red gowns to Snow White’s pastel court gowns and her spare and sculptural battle gear, were created by the late Eiko Ishioka in what was to be her last film. The Oscar-winning costume designer worked with director Tarsem Singh on four films before her death in January of 2012.

“She was born outside the box,” says Singh of Ishioka. “Every director is always trying to get people to think differently. You never had to tell her that. Everything about her was unconventional, even her research and how she did it—and how much of it she did. She had two speeds: full speed and stop. When you have a person like that, you just never let them go. “

Ishioka, who earned an Oscar for the spectacular costumes in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula, was also a respected visual artist whose work is the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. “She was an incredible artist,” says Singh. “She didn’t just design pieces of clothing, she created works of art.”

Her elaborate and imaginative designs combine pageantry and personality, drawing on influences from the 16th to 19th centuries to create something entirely new. “Eiko was all about spectacle,” says Goldmann. “But, like Tom Foden and Brendan Galvin, everything she did was also about building character. She was a genius at the visual, but she was also an amazing help in building Snow White’s and the Prince’s characters. The actors had an arc not only emotionally, but also physically.”

Impressively, her sensational designs were not limited to the gowns and suits worn by the film’s stars. Ishioka also designed the over 300 costumes that are worn by the film’s extras. Almost all were handmade. Hammer says that all that effort is part of what makes the film so special. “The costumes really set the tone for the entire movie. Eiko did a wonderful job creating something that seems so operatic and over the top, yet at the same time completely believable.”

Executive producer Kevin Misher says the collaboration between Singh and Ishioka went beyond the aesthetic to the spiritual. “The work they did together speaks to that connection,” he says. “I think her work on this film is a testament to her artistry in general and to their relationship in particular. It is a lovely gift she leaves for us to remember how special she was.”

Makeup and hairstyles designed for the film by hair and make-up artist Felicity Bowring add to the hyperbolic opulence of the costumes. “Everything stems from Eiko’s designs,” says Bowring. “It was delicious to work with her vibrant colors. Imagine people wearing vivid red, yellow, orange, green, hot pink and silver all in the same scene.

For a costume ball, we created about ten face-painted animal masks for the guests instead of having the usual masks that go onto people’s faces. And the hair had to go with the proportions of the costumes. When a dress has a bustle that sits three feet out from the body, a wig has to offset that and be tall enough so that it too looks extraordinary.”

Image Courtesy of Mirror Mirror

The article Eiko Ishioka’s Final Work, ‘Mirror Mirror’ and Its Costumes appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Against the backdrop of this meticulously imagined world, a gleefully physical adventure unfolds as a sheltered princess of ‘Mirror Mirror’ learns to adapt to life outside the palace walls. From her woodland hosts, Snow White begins to learn to stand up for herself in stirring action sequences. As always, director Tarsem Singh was concerned with authenticity. “I wanted actual physical fighting with real weapons and real aggression,” says Singh. “But more than anything, I wanted the actors to actually take part in the adventurous parts of this film.”

The film’s stars underwent months of intensive training for grueling action scenes involving swordplay, acrobatics, high-speed horseback riding and more. “It was five days a week, almost six hours a day of sword fighting,” says Armie Hammer. “And I had the blisters and the calluses to prove it.

I learned how to do a back flip with a sword in my hand, and a front flip with a sword in my hand, and a side flip and a vortex flip—all things that I never knew how to do before. I was always excited to see what we were going to be doing next. My favorite thing was riding the horses right on the soundstage at a full gallop.”

Lily Collins adds, “There was a lot of fight training in this film. We did sword fighting and fencing and wrestling and acrobatics and then physical training. We worked out in the gym, we ran, we lifted weights. It was really intense.”

Fight coordinator Jean Frenette taught the actors the basics of combat, step by arduous step. “There’s a progression to it,” he says. “It’s like boot camp in the beginning. The process of repetition helps the actors build up their confidence and skill level over time. We want them to treat it seriously but we don’t want them to over-train and burn out. It’s a lot like preparing an athlete for a competition.”

Stunt coordinator Marc Desourdy adds, “Lily and Armie were fantastic. They’re so coordinated and so talented. They learn very quickly. Lily was very keen on doing all of her own stunts. We put her to work doing flips and acrobatics. And we did the same with Armie. When you see them close-up, sword fighting, it’s all them.”

In the end, the work paid off in action sequences that appear effortless, says Goldmann. “Watching them on film, it’s easy to forget all the work that went into it. Lily and Armie rehearsed and trained, and rehearsed and trained. They put in the time so that when we shot these sequences, they came out perfectly.”

One of Singh’s cunning innovations resulted in a series of action scenes that require complex preparation and physical daring. Since the Dwarfs had been thrown out of the village because of their size, he thought, they might likely become fixated on their height. Trying to compensate for their stature, Mirror Mirror’s little men commit their robberies on stilts. Desourdy tracked down a group of daredevil stilt walkers in Toulouse, France, to train the actors to fight on stilts.

“They were amazing,” he says. “They taught our guys to walk, run and jump with stilts. The stunts that are performed on the stilts are absolutely sensational and unlike anything you’ve seen before. The audience is in for a treat.”

Image Courtesy of Mirror Mirror

The article ‘Mirror Mirror’ Fairytale Sword Fighting Bootcamp appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The filmmakers behind the fairytale ‘Mirror Mirror’ mounted a major casting search for an actress who would embody Snow White’s innocence and determination, spending a month auditioning roughly 300 young women before discovering Lily Collins. “The second she came in everybody knew Lily was our Snow White,” says producer Kevin Misher.

“She was cast on April 1 and when her agent called her 24 hours after she had read, she thought it was an April Fool’s joke. It’s so hard to find a contemporary actress who embodies the grace of Audrey Hepburn and the class of Elizabeth Taylor and seems untouched by contemporary vices. Lily seemed to embody the classic goodness that the character of needed.”

Producer Bernie Goldmann concurs: “Snow White is loved by nature and loves nature. As outwardly beautiful as she is, she is driven inner beauty. Young girls today are so sophisticated that at 21 they seem like they’re 35. But Lily seems so young and innocent. She projects genuineness, not only on the screen, but in real life as well, and that’s really what we were looking for.”

This telling of the story updates the character, according to Collins. “And I love the idea that we’ve modernized Snow White. She starts out as the familiar fairy-tale princess that everyone grew up knowing, wide eyed and naïve. She’s been locked up in her tower, unaware of what’s going on outside, but she goes on to become a girl who fights for what she believes in. Once she embraces everything she is, Snow is able to open herself up to the world and grow into a young woman.”

Collins believes the character has universal appeal. “I think every young girl and adult woman has a little bit of Snow in her,” she says. “We tried to do that with humor. It’s a comedic adventure for the whole family.”

Snow White’s suitor, Prince Alcott, has also been taken out of the realm of stock fairy-tale character and transformed into a more contemporary hero. Played by Armie Hammer, the Prince is an essential figure in the conflict between Snow White, who asks him for help in regaining her throne, and her stepmother, who is plotting to marry the handsome young man by any means possible.

“There are very few actors who can comport themselves with a sense of dignity and royalty, as well as provide the fun that the movie requires,” says Misher. “Armie walks that line between gravitas and a lack of self-consciousness in a completely refreshing way. He’s somebody who I think men will embrace as a guy they can relate to and women will fall in love with. That really is the definition of a classic movie star.”

Hammer, who stands six-foot-five and is classically good-looking, was made for the role, says Goldmann. “If there was a Prince of America, it would be Armie. He’s a very handsome guy with a very stately quality, but in this movie we see a whole other side to him. He’s so accessible and charming and funny. Everybody on set felt like he was their best friend.”

Julia Roberts agrees Hammer was perfectly cast. “First, he is just a lovely young man,” she says. “But we had a lot of very long scenes together and he was very prepared, and really funny in this part. He brings a great humor and earnestness to it. You just want to see more and more of him.”

The chance to work with Roberts was a huge attraction to the role for Hammer. “She brings all of Julia to it, which is fantastic. It was so impressive to watch her work, because she is so in control of her instrument. Every movement, every gesture, was so precise. Audiences will see some of Julia that hasn’t really been shown before.”

Initially, Hammer admits to some skepticism about playing “Prince Charming.” “It sounded so saccharine,” he says. “But I discussed my hesitations with [director] Tarsem and he assured me that I would help create the character.

He said he wanted to make a movie about finding courage, finding love, and finding your place in this world, infused with great humor and great acting. His enthusiasm for the project was infectious. He brings an unceasing effervescence to set, always putting a thousand percent into everything. You can’t help but be pumped up when you’re on set with him.”

Hammer found a character who is searching for purpose in much the same way Snow White is. “The Prince has all these tools,” he says. “Like any good prince, he’s been trained to fight and trained to dance. He knows his history, sciences and mathematics. He understands the world—but only on paper. He doesn’t know how it really works, so he sets out seeking adventure and finds a ton of it. He finds more than he can actually handle at first.”

Image Courtesy of   Mirror Mirror

The article Lily Collins, Armie Hammer – The Fairest of ‘Mirror Mirror’ appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

As director Tarsem Singh and producer Bernie Goldmann refined the story of ‘Mirror Mirror’, a character that traditionally lurks in the background began to assert herself front and center as a villain with complex motivations. “In the time-honored version of the story, the Queen’s motivation is vanity,” says Singh. “In our film, it’s more about power. She wants to control the kingdom and her beauty is the means to that end.”

Crafty, vain and utterly amoral, the Queen could easily have become a stock villainess, but Singh had a more subtle idea, and made a casting choice that defied conventional wisdom. To play the epitome of evil, he wanted an actress who represents exactly the opposite to most moviegoers. “I saw the Queen as someone who is wicked, dark and malicious but also irresistibly charming,” says the director. “Julia Roberts is so intensely charismatic that she was able to do that fairly easily.”

Roberts puts her trademark magnetism to use as an unscrupulous enchantress with designs on a wealthy and handsome younger man and unbounded animosity toward her orphaned ward. “She was our first and only choice for this role,” says Goldmann. “Her laugh and smile have made her an icon. Here, those same attributes become an aspect of her evil side. It’s fun to see her image turned upside down.”

Playing against type, Roberts brings a new dimension to the role. “Having worked with Julia a number of times in the past, I knew that the transformation from America’s Sweetheart to evil Queen would require the accumulation of details big and small that only Julia could create,” says producer Kevin Misher.

“How big are the Queen’s wigs? What is the gait of her walk? What is the angle of her posture? What is the lilt of the ‘pretenshish’ accent the Queen affects when in public? What type of clothing would the Queen wear? There are a thousand specifics that Julia uses to reinvent one of the classic villainesses in literature for a contemporary audience. Collectively, they add up to a wonderful character the audience will love…and love to hate!”

Already familiar with Singh’s work, Roberts was instantly intrigued. “His movies are so visual and original and interesting,” she says. “I always wondered, how does that work? His fearlessness brought an incredible sense of integrity to the film, which allowed all of the actors to fully realize these characters. The Grimm story is a few pages long and the Disney film, which has nothing to do with our movie, allows for only limited interpretations of the characters. Tarsem tells the story on a far larger level.”

Roberts says the multidimensional aspect of her character was another incentive to take on the role. “There’s a dual personality component that was really intriguing,” the Oscar-winning actress explains. “We see the Queen as she appears in everyday life and then, of course, as the reflection of the Queen in the mirror. The Mirror Queen is calmer and more collected. She possesses the power and confidence that the Queen herself struggles to maintain.”

But at its heart, the film remains a coming-of-age story of a young woman who faces many challenges. As Roberts puts it, “The Queen is just the conflict. Lily Collins is impressive as Snow White. She looks exactly like you want Snow White to look. I was completely enchanted by her, because she’s a very young girl and already a pro. She was such a good sport because my character was so awful and vicious to her and she was always very sweet to me.”

Collins, who has already made an impression on film audiences with her work in ‘The Blind Side’ and ‘Abducted’ watched with awe as Roberts transformed herself. “Julia has that smile that everyone loves so much, but here she uses it in such a sinister, creepy way. Snow, being young and innocent, doesn’t realize the true evil nature of the Queen. At the beginning, she very much has the upper hand, but at the very end Snow uses her own words against her. It was very, very bizarre being mean to Julia Roberts.”

Image Courtesy of   Mirror Mirror

The article Julia Roberts, American Sweetheart Turns Evil Queen in ‘Mirror Mirror’ appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

For his reinterpretation of the iconic Dwarfs for the tale of ‘Mirror Mirror’, director Tarsem Singh found seven extraordinary actors. “We were incredibly lucky in casting this film and these actors are no exception,” he notes. “The level of energy and creativity they’ve brought to this story has been phenomenal.”

Rather than rely on the familiar band of animated figures for inspiration, the filmmakers allowed each of the actors to define an original character. “We hired the actors first and then developed the characters around their personalities,” explains Goldmann. “The actors all participated in a workshop process that helped define the characters. Each of them needed to contribute something special in terms of helping Snow White to grow into the woman she must become.”

With that in mind, the characters of Butcher, Grimm, Half-Pint, Napoleon, Wolf, Chuckles, and Grub (Martin Klebba, Danny Woodburn, Mark Povinelli, Jordan Prentice, Sebastian Saraceno, Ronald Lee Clark and Joe Gnoffo respectively) began to take shape. As Klebba explains, “I’m called Butcher because I was the main butcher in town. Half-Pint owned the local pub. Grimm was a teacher. Each of them comes from a different part of their former society. Their only connection is that they’ve all been cast out because of their height.”

Clark adds, “After being banished from the Kingdom, the seven of us become a family. We quarrel all the time but we’re able to keep things together because we know how much we need each other.” Alone in the world, Snow White has to depend on the seven men to teach her how to make her way. As she gets acquainted with her unlikely mentors, the audience learns about their unique attributes.

“We each train her to do something different—how to fight with a sword, how to wrestle, how to fight dirty and how to think on her feet. Most importantly, we teach her to believe in herself,” says Woodburn. Lily Collins worked closely with them all, developing a camaraderie not unlike the onscreen one between Snow and the Dwarfs.

She says, “Martin, Danny, Mark, Sebastian, Jordan, Ronald and Joe are phenomenal. They’ve created these memorable characters that fit so perfectly into a group despite being so different from one another.”

Rounding out a distinguished cast are Oscar-nominee Mare Winningham as Baker Margaret, Snow’s confidante at the palace, Oscar-nominee Michael Lerner as the Baron, whose clumsy romantic overtures send the Queen into paroxysms of rage, SAG Award-winner Sean Bean as the King, Snow’s benevolent but ill-fated father, and up-and-coming young British actor Robert Emms as Charles Renbock, the Prince’s faithful valet and reluctant traveling companion.

Singh was overjoyed with the efforts of the supporting actors that help populate the fantasy world he created, explaining, “You always want great actors in your film. The hope is to make a movie that stands the test of time and a fabulous supporting cast is what makes that possible.”

The quality of the cast is a testament to Singh’s talent and imagination, according to Julia Roberts. “Everyone contributed an incredible interpretation of their characters,” she says. “I think it’s because all of us were eager to be here for Tarsem and be part of the magical place he invented.”

Image Courtesy of Mirror Mirror

The article The Seven Dwarfs Re-invented for ‘Mirror Mirror’ appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.