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Audrey Hepburn’s on screen wardrobe

Collage of three photos of Audrey Hepburn wearing her infamous little black dress, one from the side, one portrait and one full length from the front.
Collage of three photos of Audrey Hepburn wearing her infamous little black dress, one from the side, one portrait and one full length from the front.

Images via vintagehandbook.wordpress.com, chicvintagebrides.com and davidlatta.org

Audrey Hepburn has long been a favourite actress of mine; my love of vintage film paired with my adoration of fashion and costume in film makes Hepburn, one of Hollywood’s most glamorous starlets an obvious icon.

Not only a pretty face Hepburn was a humanitarian and an appointed Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for were work with UNNICEF and posthumously awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitatian Award.

Hepburn is an inspiration for many reasons, but she is remembered by most as an icon of classic film, alongside greats such as Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. Her striking appearance meant that she was adored by designers and in her film career she wore some stunning costume.

Her most infamous piece is by far the original ‘little black dress’ she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s as Holly Golightly. The floor length Italian satin sheath gown was designed by Hubert de Givenchy who worked with Hepburn on several films. The dress is gathered at the waist and includes a cut out detail back, interestingly the dress was originally designed shorter but was considered to show too much leg and was the lower half was redesigned by costume designer Edith Head.

Although the dress is undeniably iconic and has been reproduced and reimagined a hundred times over, the accessories are arguably just as infamous. The dress was paired with extravagant jewellery, a glittering tiara and several heavy strings of pearls worn around the neck. Hepburn also wore a long pair of black gloves in which she held an oversized cigarette holder.

The ‘little black dress’ was sold at auction in 2006 for £467,200, several times its estimate. This was the highest price ever paid for a dress in film until Marilyn Monroe’s infamous Seven Year Itch ‘subway dress’ was sold for over $4 million.

I couldn’t discuss Hepburn Hepburn’s on screen wardrobe without mentioning her costume in Funny Face. Hepburn portrays ‘Jo’, a shy book shop clerk, whisked along by fashion editor Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) as an amateur model.

Again Hepburn gowns were custom designed by Givenchy, she is quoted as saying “His [Givenchy] are the only clothes in which I am myself”. Givenchy designed several exquisite gowns for the film but two of my favourites are the strapless red chiffon gown that Hepburn wears running down the steps of the Louvre and the beautiful 1950s wedding dress with a boat neckline and huge ballerina skirt. Hepburn wears the wedding dress in a lovely scene with Fred Astaire, where the pair sing He loves and she loves.

Audrey Hepburn strikes a dramatic jumping pose wearing an all black outfit

Image via www.lemonandlace.com

Arguably less impressive but probably more Hepburn’s style is the black outfit she wears as Jo, visiting French jazz bars. A simple black turtle neck paired with cropped black trousers have never looked so chic. They perfectly define Hepburn’s sleek gamine figure.

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Location, location, location

A house with a round door built into the side of a hill on the set of The Lord of the Rings

From the picturesque landscape of New Zealand that we affectionately know as ‘Middle Earth’ to the harsh environment in Iceland that forms the planet that is explored by the crew of Prometheus, find out how the perfect filming locations are chosen.

While special effects and computer generated images (CGI) can create worlds and landscapes that go beyond your imagination as seen in Avatar, directors often choose to film in location often in harsh environments.

A long table set with plates cutlery and glasses on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.

The Great Hall in Harry Potter was all filmed on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.

Sound stages such as Pinewood Studios offers filmmakers impressive backlots that allow for a variety of scenes to be filmed on either sound stages or in front of a green screen, they are often too artificial and lack the visual spectacle that the English landscape of a Hawaiian beach can offer.

Location Works is Europe’s largest locations company and have scouted the perfect location for hundreds of both film and TV productions including, Philomena, Jupiter Ascending and W.E.

But choosing the perfect location isn’t as simple as selecting a grand country house or an impressive mountain range in Italy.

So what is involved in being a location manager? According to Location Works, ‘Anything and everything that it takes to make a location shoot go smoothly. It’s a job that can require many talents and great patience. There’s no such thing as the “typical” job’.

A location manager takes the clients brief, whether it be a big-budget feature film or a modest photo shoot in London, they find the perfect location to suit all their needs. this means that the location has to work perfectly not just from a visual perspective but also logistically.

In some more harsh terrain the problem of safety and accessibility is something that needs to be thought about. After all, there is no point in finding the ‘perfect’ landscape if it is impossible to get a camera there to film any shots.

For example for the 2013 release, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, most of the filming was done in Atlanta, Georgia. The reason behind this was due to the tax breaks the state offers to film makers in that area and less with the natural landscape in the surrounding area.

Sam Claflin diving into the ocean while filming a scene with Jennifer Lawrence in Hawaii for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Filming the scenes for the ‘Arena’ in Hawaii, stars Jennifer Lawrence and Sam Claflin of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The film then moved to Hawaii, with a much smaller crew, due to budgetary reasons, to film on location instead of in Georgia where they were using mainly back lots and sets.

So what Atlanta offered the filmmakers in a practical sense was something that while very useful, could not be matched by Hawaii’s golden beaches and lush jungles.

Whether it be a luxurious Spanish villa located in London for an independent movie or an active volcano, it is the job of the location manager to find that perfect location to be the perfect backdrop to the biggest cinematic moments.

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Events, offers and releases 14/4/14

Spider-Man in his costume about to webswing across the city.
The character Ivan Locke, played by Tom Hardy, driving his car.

Image via: http://oyster.ignimgs.com

This week brings some absolutely fantastic looking films to the table – why not treat yourselves and get to the cinema? First of all comes the sequel to the re-imagining of Spiderman. Of course, I’m talking about The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which swings into UK cinemas this Wednesday. ‘Nuff said.

Want something a little darker? Why not check out Locke? This moody thriller stars Tom Hardy, and looks like it could be good for something to do this Friday night. Want some more of the eerie stuff? Also this Friday comes Magic Magic, a psychological thriller that looks like it could give quite the fright.

And finally, an offer that really is too good to miss out on. Did you catch Andy telling you about the release of Noah in his Events, Offers and Releases post at the end of last month? Well, Showcase Cinemas are offering up the chance to win a trip to Iceland! Oh yes, lucky winners will be given a tour of the beautiful South Shore, and will take part in a whale watching experience!

All you have to do is answer the following – What does Noah build in the film? Choose from A – an Ark, B – a Jet Ski and C – a Bungalow. Send your answers to competitions@national-amusements.com by April 23rd to be in with a chance!

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This week in history: 12th April – 18th April

Audrey Hepburn in a black and white still from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

 

A black and white image of Barbara Streisand

Image via IMDB

Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Streisand tie for Best Actress Oscar. At the 41st annual academy awards in 1969 were televised live for the first time worldwide, Ingrid Bergman proclaimed “It’s a tie!” upon opening the envelope for Best Actress in a Leading Role. The award went to both Katharine Hepburn, for her turn as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, and Barbra Streisand, for her debut performance in Funny Girl.

New sound process for films was announced this week in 1926. Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of the American Telephone and Telegraph company (AT&T), and the Warner Brothers film studio officially introduce Vitaphone, a new process that will enable the addition of sound to film. Vitaphone debuted in August 1926 with the costume drama Don Juan, starring John Barrymore and featuring an orchestral score by the New York Philharmonic.

On April 12th 1914 the first movie ‘Palace’, (cinema) opened in New York City. Before 1914 movie makers would often showcase their creations behind storefronts, known as ‘nickelodeons’. This palace, known as ‘The Strand’ seated an impressive 3,000 people and featured a second storey viewing area. Another ‘first’ seen at The Strand was a two-storey rotunda where movie-goers would socialise before and after the presentation and during the intermission.

 

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Godzilla, a retrospective

Image shows the movie monster Godzilla fighting famous ape, King Kong
Image shows the movie monster Godzilla fighting famous ape, King Kong

Image via: nukethefridge.com

Godzilla has been a part of film for many years, terrorising cities and fighting Kaiju since 1954. The king of monsters is set to be a part of the big screen again with this years remake but, how did Godzilla actually come to be who he is today?

Godzilla (the English translation of Gojira) is the creation of Japenese film director, Ishiro Honda. Inspired by early clay animation dinosaur films such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla was created as a cross between an iguana and a dinosaur. Thankfully, there was no such dinosaur as Godzilla, that we know of.

The first film, Godzilla, started the introduction of the ‘big monster’ film franchise, something that films such as Cloverfield owe themselves to. This film introduced Japanese audiences to the threat of a monster created as a result of atomic testing. Godzilla stresses that atomic testing may result in Kaiju such as the monster itself, lets hope not.

The subsequent sequels delivered on the success of the first film introducing new monsters and threats such as Mothra, a ruddy great big moth of death. These sequels largely saw Godzilla as a hero of the world (Japan in particular) fighting off monsters that threatened humanity.

Typically, the later the franchise went, the weirder and more surreal the Godzilla movies became. The most recent iterations saw the introduction of Mechagodzilla, Godzilla’s mechanised counterpart.The concepts and ideas of these later films are still no match for the Western introduction in 1998.

Godzilla (1998) was directed by Rolan Ememrich, famous for is action packed disaster films. The remake was criticised by fans and critics alike describing the movie as being nothing buit action, with very little story. Godzilla won accolades such as Worst Picture, Worst Remake and Worst Director at the Golden Raspberry Awards that year. It looked like the films just didn’t translate well to Western audiences.

There is a new hope however, in the form of yet another remake. Next month sees the release of Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards of Monsters fame. Looking to cater for Japenese audiences, sticking to the original roots of the monster, the film looks set do very well at the box office. Do you think this is a new era for Godzilla? See for yourself with the trailer below.