Tribune News Network
Doha
Four-time Academy Award nominee for Best Achievement in Costume Design Qumra Master Jacqueline West described her creative process to emerging filmmakers at Qumra 2023, underlining the importance of studying the characters in-depth, engaging in extensive research and reading every possible material.
"Once you learn all about the film, the characters, you dress them to reveal the onion skins, the multiple layers and get the actors to the crux of the character,” she said, adding that "costume design is 50 percent design and 50 percent psychology.”
Nominated for the Academy Award for Quills (2000), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Revenant (2015) and Dune: Part One (2021), West said she first seeks the approval of her design concepts from the director and only then approaches the actors. There has been little resistance from any directors or actors to her creative approach, which is akin to "being a special shopper for the characters.”
With an outstanding ouvre of works, including The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), State of Play (2009), The Tree of Life (2011) and Seventh Son (2014), among others, West owned her own clothing store and was a sought-after fashion designer in Berkeley, California. That, in turn, was inspired by her mother, also a designer.
"I had a mannequin in my room that I dressed instead of dolls,” laughed West, "and I always loved that.”
Though she was strong in science, she changed her major to Art History at college, which in hindsight brings that exceptional attention to detail in West’s designs for films. Her knowledge of art history was also a reason director Philip Kaufman asked her to design the costumes for Henry & June (1990) starring Fred Ward and Uma Thurman.
She said she used a lot of artbooks and looked at paintings, "and I was reading, reading and reading” – a process that West continues to this day for her projects. Kaufman’s advise to West, which is relevant for any aspiring costume designer, is that "when you have an idea for a costume, just make it!”
For independent spirited film that she earlier worked on as well as big budget studio movies, West has the same creative approach.
"You must know your characters and dress them inside out. Every character has these onion skins and you have to know these layers,” said West, who also leaves behind "one talisman for every character that brings out his or her inner richness that tells a story in a quick read. You must also consider the comfort of actors – as they have to do stunts and action. Drawing is conceptual, real clothes have to be alive.”
Known to be a stickler for designing under budget, West does not have a permanent team, although she admits that her daughter, who also joined her in Doha, "has been my secret weapon on many films.”
West is now looking forward to her work with Martin Scorsese for his upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon.