Emmy Time

Awards season officially begins next Sunday with the 61st Emmy Awards and while this blog centers on the cinema, television is not without its design too. The Creative Emmys were awarded last night and Pushing Daisies -- a show that has been cancelled -- was awarded for Outstanding Art Direction (production design and set decoration for the layman). Others shows that were nominated are ones we watch religiously (that would be Mad Men for me) or catch every now and then :

Bones

Bones: Watch a beautiful forensic anthropologist and special agent banter back and forth as they solve crimes on Fox Television's highly popular show. The designs include everything from laboratories to ships and everything in between. While not always glamorous, it's alot harder to design a forensics lab than a living room.

Mad Men

Mad Men: The production team has done a masterful job with their sixties style interiors from the hallowed offices of the Sterling ad agency to the Draper's brown plaid kitchen in suburbia. The country club and party under the tent from the present season was period perfect.

Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies: Cancelled earlier this season, the colorful chintz and chotchke-filled comedy told the tale of a pie maker who could bring people back to the dead. The interiors were designed to give the feeling of a storybook illustration and perhaps the show will end up on cable.

Trueblood

Trueblood: Given the success of Twilight, I am not sure what is up with plasma sucking creatures, but HBO's story of vampires and romance is certainly another cult favorite. Brought to the small screen by Alan Ball from Six Feet Under, the design of a Louisiana plantation, vampire bars and of course, cemetaries caught the eyes of the nominating committee.

Heroes

Heroes: NBC's science fiction drama that depicts humans with supernatural capabilities has become a huge hit. Designs have to take special visual effects into account with locations and interiors all over the globe.

Emmy nominees:

Set Decorator Kimberly Wannop, Production Designer Michael Mayer and Art Director Gregory S. Richman for Bones

Set Decorator Ron Franco,Production Designer Ruth Ammon and Art Director Sandy Getzler for Heroes

Set Decorator Amy Wells, Production Designer Dan Bishop and Art Director Christopher L. Brown for Mad Men

Set Decorator Halina Siwolop, Production Designer Michael Wylie and Art Director Ken Creber for Pushing Daisies -- Winner

Set Decorator Rusty Lipscomb, Production Designer Suzuki Ingerslev and Art Director Cat Smith for Trueblood.

Congrats to all!

And a special congrats to my next door neighbor growing up -- Robert Blackman -- who won for best costumes for Pushing Daisies.

Photo Credits: Emmy Organization, HBO, AMC, ABC, Fox and NBC.

Fashion in Film

Depending on your location and interests, fall can mean football and tailgating, getting the kids back to school or looking forward to the new Broadway and film season. For many, it's an annual rite of passage fashion wise, ushering in a new season of designs and trends. (And for my postman, it means a back brace hauling in the September magazines -- it's rumored Vogue once weighed in at five pounds).

For fashionistas, the definitive fall event is the runway shows at New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park (Sept.10-17). So for the ninety percent of us that will not be attending, I advise catching the new season of Project Runway or check out my quirky film list at your local DVD store:

Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face

Based loosely on the life of famed photographer Richard Avedeon, the l957 musical Funny Face featured Audrey Hepburn as an accidental model/muse for photographer Fred Astaire set against a backdrop of Greenwich Village and haute couture Paris, costumes by Givenchy and Edith Head and of course, Gershwin tunes. Avedon was hired as a "special visual consultant" and is credited for the film's "Think Pink" fashion number as well as the opening title design. One of his favorite models Suzy Parker was said to be the inspiration for Hepburn's Jo and is seen in a cameo.

The Devil Wears Prada

Life often imitates art in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), a thinly veiled roman a' clef of Anna Wintour and exquisitely played by Meryl Streep. Set at the fictitious Runway Magazine and culminating at the couture shows in Paris, the film is a must for fashion junkies.

A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the September 2008 issue of Vogue magazine is the focus of the aptly named documentary The September Issue (2009). Legendary editor Anna Wintour is naturally at the center of the film (unlike Prada, she gave her blessing to this one) that is currently playing in New York and opens to selected cities September 11th. For more on the film, see the website.

Sex and the City the Movie

From the television series of the same name, Sex and the City (2007) is practically a fashion magazine itself, spawning fashion trends and product placements too numerous to mention. The sequel is currently filming in New York City and will hit theaters next May.

Designing Woman

Vicente Minnelli's (Liza's dad) 1957 film Designing Woman featured Lauren Bacall as a clothing designer who marries Gregory Peck in a whirlwind romance, only to discover later they have little in common. (Originally James Stewart and Grace Kelly were slated for the role but seems Grace had a wedding to plan with a prince...)

Roberta

A fashion house in Paris becomes the backdrop for Roberta (1935), a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical that also stars Lucille Ball and Irene Dunne. Jerome Kern's "I Won't Dance" and "You'd Be Lovely To Look At" became instant hits.

Garmento

The indie 2002 film Garmento offers a peak under the hemline of the fashion industry and often it's not pretty. Filmed on Seventh Avenue, Garmento takes a satirical look at the effects of corporate America and "the seamy side of fashion," filled with backstabbing, copycatting and of course, bitchiness!

Artists and Models Abroad

Parisian fashion is front and center once again for the 1938 film Artists and Models Abroad starring Jack Benny and Joan Bennett.

David Hemmings in Blow Up

Michelangelo Antonini's Blow Up (1966) captures the life of a London photographer in the sixties -- and of course complete with freewheeling sex, pot and mod clothing. It is said to be loosely based on photographer David Bailey (and ex-husband of Catherine Deneuve) who gave us all those great Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy covers of the sixties along with album covers of the Rolling Stones.

That is all for now...all this talk of fashion makes me want to shop....!

Photo Credits: Paramount Pictures, MGM, RKO, Warner Brothers, Universal, A&E Indie Pictures and Twentieth Century Fox.

Men in Film

Digital artist Phillip Scott Johnson created this incredible video of famous actors through the ages. The morphing effect is astounding to look at and the men are equally as good! Enjoy!

For more of Johnson's amazing work, check out his My Space page.

Chanel, Cinema Style

Before she was one of the most important forces in fashion, Jeanne Gabrielle Chanel a.k.a. Coco Chanel spent her youth in an orphanage where she learned how to be a seamstress.

Opening September 25th, the film Coco Before Chanel (Coco Avant Chanel) celebrates one of the most influential fashion designers of the 20th century, chronicling the young designer's formative years.

This is not her first time on the screen, large or small. The iconic designer has been heralded in the biopic Chanel Solitaire (1981), documentary Signe' Chanel (2005) and Oscar winning actress Shirley MacLaine donned her pearls and black beret to play the legendary designer in later life in the Lifetime movie Coco Chanel (2008). She was even portrayed by Katherine Hepburn in the 1969 Broadway musical Coco. And in real life, Chanel was a costume designer on the Jean Renoir film La regle du jeu (1939).

MacLaine channels Mlle Chanel

Directed by the stylish Anne Fontaine (The Girl From Monaco), the story weaves the rags-to-riches tale of Chanel, concentrating on her early years. Fontaine referenced the Charles-Roux book Chanel and her World: Friends, Fashion, and Fame and noted, "I had to think about whether it was possible to stick to the first period of her life --the training years, what had happened before Chanel, herself, understood her dazzling destiny."

Director Anne Fontaine

French actress Audrey Tatou embodies both the spirit and sophistication of Chanel as well as the look. You may also recognize her from Amelie and The Da Vinci Code. Keira Knightly was said to have been offered the coveted role and turned it down.

Audrey Tatou as Chanel

Maison Chanel opened their archives for the historical period piece which features everything from the young Coco's Aubazine uniform (which is said to have greatly influenced her style with its black skirts and white blouses) to her classic couture. The daunting task of designing the film's costumes was assigned to costume designer Catherine Letterier who explained, "The Chanel style is distinctive in its cut, the supple hang of its fabric and the perfect simplicity of its finish. The costumes of this film had to be up to the exacting standards of haute couture."





For more on the life of Coco, check out Mademiselle: Coco Chanel/Summer 62 by Karl Lagerfeld and Douglas Kirland and the definitive book (in my humble opinion!) Chanel: A Woman of Her Own (Axel Madsen, Holt, 1991) as well as scores of other tomes.

And for more on the film, check out the official website.



Photo Credits: Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics, Lifetime

Designing for the Backlot

If you are in Los Angeles this month, be sure and check out the Art Directors Guild screening of the film The Chase (1966) at the Aero Theatre in Los Angeles. Directed by Robert Penn, the film stars Marlon Brando, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and filmed on the backlot of Columbia Pictures. The film was designed by Academy Award winning art director Richard Day whose forty year career gave us films such as Dodsworth (1936), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront (1954).

Notes ADG President Tom Walsh, filming on the proverbial Hollywood backlot "was a most unique and central solution; one that facilitated the creation of thousands of motion picture and television shows of all periods and genres, to be filmed on an industrial scale 365 days a year."

A panel discussion featuring production designers Albert Brenner (The Sunshine Boys, 2010), William J. Creber (Planet of the Apes) on the creation, evolution and use of backlots in Hollywood films will follow the screening.

Sunday August 30th, 5:30 PM

Aero Theatre

1328 Montana Avenue

Santa Monica, CA

The screening is free to all members of the ADG and a guest

Make your reservations by email to

marjo@artdirectors.org.

For Non-members

General Admission $10, American Cinematheque

members: $7. Students/Seniors with valid ID: $8. These tickets are available for purchase at

Fandango or by visiting the Aero Theatre box office.

For more information about the American Cinematheque and the Aero Theatre go to

www.americancinematheque.com

or call 323-461-2020.

Cuisine in the Cinema Part Two- Julie & Julia

From director to best boy and everything in between, there are alot of cooks in the kitchen (no pun intended!) when it comes to making a film. Another popular role is that of food stylist, a job extremely important on a film where cooking is the major activity. Such is the case of Julie & Julia.

The film's food stylist (and founding food editor for Martha Stewart) and cookbook author Susan Spungen worked with actresses Meryl Streep and Amy Adams on how to properly work in the kitchen as well as preparing some of Julia Child's complicated dishes for the film.

You can read more of this in my cover story on Meryl Streep/Julie & Julia for

American Airlines Celebrated Living magazine. Be sure to check out the website's companion article on movie recipes which feature some of Spungen's adaptations as well as dishes from Border Grill chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken and Thomas Keller of French Laundry.

As Julia would say, Bon Appetit!

Streep and Tucci on set as Mr. and Mrs. Childs

Amy Adams as blogtress Julie Powell with her idol Julia Childs

Photo Credits: Sony Pictures

Cuisine in the Cinema Part One

Since the debut of the ultimate foodie film Julie & Julia hit the theaters over the weekend (part two will feature a separate story), I thought I would mention my top ten favorite gastronomic movie moments:

1. The Big Night (1996): One of the best films on Italian cooking that introduced audiences to Timpano, a layered meat and pasta dish. The film centers around two brothers (Julie & Julia's Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub) struggling to keep their Italian restaurant afloat as they refuse to cater to the "tomato sauce crowd."

2. Tortilla Soup (2001): A quaint story of a Mexican chef (Hector Elizondo) who loses his taste after his wife dies and literally rediscovers the art of love through the art of cooking. The film's menus were designed by Border Grill chefs Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken.

3. Under the Tuscan Sun: Wonderful scenes of the preparation of fresh Italian fare by Diane Lane as the Frances Mayes character.

4. Chocolat (2000): Juliette Binoche plays a young mother who literally transforms a small repressed French village with her florentines, nougats and other chocolate delights. Somehow the Snickers bar in my purse couldn't hold a candle after seeing this film.

5. Babette's Feast: A 19th century housekeeper in Denmark prepares a French gourmet meal in the hit 1987 film. The film was based on the novel written by Karen Blixen who brought us the classic Out of Africa.

6. Like Water for Chocolate (1992): Based on Maria Esquival's best seller cookbook/love story, the film tells the story of a young woman who expresses her passion through her exotic dishes such as quail with rose petals and cream fritters.

7. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994): Director Ang Lee’s story of a widowed Japanese chef who loses his taste and zest for life finds joy through cooking. Sound familiar? It was remade as `Tortilla Soup. Amazingly, the film showcased over one hundred dishes.

8. Ratatouille (2007): This animated film actually combines the unthinkable --a welcomed rat in a French kitchen who assists a fledgling chef. French Laundry chef Thomas Keller was the chief advisor on the film and trained animators how to grill, saute and flambe. The film was so adorable that it made me rethink my lifelong phobia of rodents....well almost.

9. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009): The children's story made into an upcoming film where the forces of nature literally create food. Its raining meatballs and hamburgers!

10. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991): Based on Fannie Flagg's best selling novel turned film, the story centered around the activities at the Whistle Stop Cafe and helped placed fried green tomatoes on the culinary map (north of the Mason Dixon line that is).

And of course there are other memorable foodie moments in film. Tom Jones, Godfather Three and 9 1/2 Weeks gave us food as foreplay and Goodfellas taught us a razor blade is useful for chopping garlic in prison. What's Cooking? and Soul Food reminded us that family and angst always occur during Sunday dinner while Sideways taught us that wine helps with a mid-life crisis. And who can forget the food fight in Animal House?

Other honorable mentions: No Reservations, Tampopo, Vatel, Age of Innocence, Diner, The Cook, the Thief, HIs Wife, and Her Lover and My Dinner With Andre.

And perhaps one of the most lasting images over time was this one with James Cagney and a grapefruit in Warner Brothers gangster classic Public Enemy (1931)...

Photo Credits: Rysher Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn, Pixar/Walt Disney, Miramax, Ballantine Books, Warner Brothers, Universal.

Mad Men Style

Maybe it's the constant reference points of my childhood where the Bonanza theme song meant Sunday night, a tv dinner was an exotic treat and people actually dressed up to board a plane. Or the Kodak snapshot of Manhattan and Madison Avenue in the sixties, a time where chauvanism (not that I am a proponent but fascinating to watch) and highballs at the office ran supreme and the Surgeon General was clueless on the hazards of smoking. Or the fabulous vintage clothes I would like to have in my closet and the impossibly sexy Jon Hamm as the show's protagonist Don Draper. Whatever it is, I am mad for Mad Men.

The women: A contrast of styles and figures

Thankfully Mad Men begins its third season on AMC Sunday, August l6th and if you have been living in a cave, I urge you to rent season one and two. Besides the backstabbing, office politics, sexual inuendo, sexism from the hallowed halls of Sterling Cooper and a great view of the creative process circa de sixties, Mad Men has some of the greatest fashions on television, past or present.

Costume designer Janie Bryant conducted extensive research for the show's wardrobe which plays an integral part of setting the mood as well as establishing the characters. Ad and ladies man Don Draper with his Brylcreemed hair, five o'clock shadow, charcoal tailored suits and two-inch skinny ties is classic Madison Avenue executive. It is said that Michael Kors was so influenced by the styles that he based his 2008 menswear collection on the show.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper

January Jones as Betty "Birdie" Draper

As the beleaguered wife of Don Draper, Betty is the show's central fashionista. Bryant dressed her with very tailored period appropriate touches of Jackie Kennedy and an obvious nod to Grace Kelly. Her clothes range from suburban cashmere to taffeta ballgowns and everything in between.

Bryant was influenced by Marilyn Monroe with this pink silk taffeta halter number -- shades of Marilyn in Some Like it Hot.

3/4 Gloves were another popular accessory....even for daytime

Joan (Christina Hendricks) , the office bombshell, is an interesting symbol of the times with her zaftig figure and form fitting clothes. Reminiscent of a red-haired Marilyn Monroe, Joan's character as a full size figure would clearly be considered a heavy-set "before" image in a Weight Watchers ad today. Bryant dresses her "as a character who works everything she has."

Feather hats....


Brightly colored satin swingcoats....

and the hat and trenchcoat in menswear are remnants of an era gone by.

From the opening credits and alarming images (think North by Northwest meets Vertigo), you will be hooked. And if you're still not convinced, Mad Men received 16 Emmy nominations including one for Outstanding Drama. Enough said.

Photo Credits: AMC

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