Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Scary Movie 6 with Costume Designer, Ariyela Wald-Cohain - The Costume House with Spencer Williams

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Scary Movie 6 with Costume Designer, Ariyela Wald-Cohain - The Costume House with Spencer Williams · The Art of Costume Podcast

0:13
I am so excited to be here today with my friend, costume designer
0:18
Ariella Wald Cohen. Hi, Ariella, so good to see you.
0:22
Great to see you, Spencer. It's been a minute we've I feel
0:25
like I've known you for so long, but I've never actually had you
0:27
on a podcast before. So I've been looking forward to
0:30
today and no better feeling to talk about than Scary Movie 6.
0:33
I mean, this is now decades in the making at.
0:36
This time. So yeah.
0:39
Before we get into it all, I mean, first I just have to know.
0:42
You've collaborated with director Michael Titus and
0:44
Marlon Wayne's many times in the past.
0:46
I have in my notes, 5th with Michael and 6th with Marlon.
0:50
Yeah, in the back of your mind, did you ever think one day,
0:54
after all these collaborations, that Scary Movie 6 might be a
0:58
possibility? I don't, I don't really think I
1:01
did till I heard that they were, you know, that they got the
1:04
franchise back and they were doing it.
1:05
But I mean, all their other projects have been super fun.
1:08
I just don't I don't like it wasn't something we spoke about
1:12
often. So I didn't really think about
1:14
it till till it came up, you know?
1:17
Uh huh. But once it's there, it must
1:19
have been like, well, heck yeah, you know?
1:21
Exactly. Exactly.
1:25
Well, clearly the collaboration between you, Michael and Marlon
1:28
just works super well. So why do you why do you think
1:32
it works so well? Now they've done all these
1:33
projects together. What is it between the between
1:36
the three of you and your collaboration that works so
1:39
well? Yeah, it's also, I'm just gonna
1:41
add to the mixer Rick Alvarez, who's the producer, and he's
1:45
part of that mix as well. I think that, you know, working
1:49
together, once you get a shorthand and you kind of know
1:52
what to expect from each other, it kind it takes away that
1:56
element. But also I feel with all the
1:59
other projects we did, you know, with comedy, you'd kind of need
2:02
to roll with the punches and really be ready for anything at
2:05
any time. Yeah.
2:07
And I think my flexibility and, you know, easy going most of the
2:11
time, you know, helps, helps with with the whole, you know,
2:15
the whole collaboration because there's a script and things
2:18
happen and then you prepare and then everything changes.
2:22
So I think that also between Marlon and myself, I feel that
2:26
I've got to know Marlon through the years and he's got such a
2:30
great sense of fashion that it helps, you know, it helps that I
2:34
already know, you know, his sizes and I know what he likes
2:38
and what he tends to not like. And, and we've, I think we've
2:43
gained some trust, you know, goes and goes and comes
2:46
sometimes, but most of the time he really trusts that I'm
2:49
bringing him stuff that he likes.
2:51
And, you know, and it's just, it feel, it felt really, it felt
2:55
coming together in this project because he also came, he got to
2:59
Atlanta very late. I mean, literally the night
3:01
before we started shooting. So I didn't have many fittings
3:05
with him. And you know, we have a
3:07
shorthand of communication. You know, I send him a text and
3:10
then I wait for, you know, an answer in like a word coming
3:13
back. But he's very busy.
3:15
But, but, but when you say we, you know, we communicate by
3:19
visual, by visual, you know, visual pictures and stuff.
3:22
And then we just bring stuff together.
3:24
And I kind of know. I know where he'll go.
3:27
I know what not to bring him and I know, I, I think I, I just got
3:31
to know him through the years. And I think that really does
3:34
help with because he's also not only thinking of his own
3:37
character, he's thinking of, you know, all the characters because
3:40
he's part of the writing team. So he kind of knows that I'll
3:44
take care of him personally so that he doesn't have to, you
3:47
know, keep worrying about that. But he can worry about the
3:49
comedy and the writing. Sure.
3:51
I mean, there's so many different pieces to a film like
3:54
Scary Movie. So he really trusts you to
3:57
really take the lead on some of these, you know, big character
4:00
decisions. Well, let's talk about scary
4:03
movies. So before we get into our core
4:05
casts and main characters, I kind of feel like we should
4:08
start with the cold open like any scary movie.
4:11
Tayana Taylor looked absolutely incredible.
4:15
She also brings 2 famous weapons to her fight, her abs and her
4:18
Golden Globe from 1 battle after another.
4:22
I love this like golden dress that she's wearing to the bar
4:26
and then outside into the alley. So before we get into all the
4:29
scary movie madness, I figured we could just start there and
4:32
tell me a little bit about how you were able to dress Tayana
4:35
Taylor. She looked incredible and she
4:37
really like got the film into such like a great momentum right
4:41
off the bat. So she was actually we, that
4:45
scene was supposed to be a little bit different and it
4:47
didn't work out. So we shot that scene in
4:51
reshoots actually, like we were done with the movie.
4:53
We came back to Atlanta this the beginning of this year.
4:56
We shot it. And when I when I heard that it
4:58
was Tiana Taylor, we were, we were spoofing, of course, the
5:00
Scream. I think it's Scream 5 when she
5:02
wears this yellow dress, it's kind of like a mesh, you know,
5:05
pale yellow dress. And it was really important that
5:08
we, the audience, knows exactly what scene, you know, we're
5:11
talking about and what we're spoofing.
5:13
But when I heard it was Tiana Taylor, you know, Mike and I got
5:16
on a cool one where I was like, OK, it's Tiana Taylor.
5:18
I'm not putting her in that, you know, painful yellow dress.
5:21
It's just not happening. And originally, the script
5:25
called for some kind of reveal of the dress, like she was gonna
5:28
be wearing some kind of dress and then she would reveal her
5:31
ABS when she says my ABS have ABS.
5:34
And you know, I played around with some designs and stuff and
5:37
it just felt too busy. And too, it just felt like
5:40
trying too hard because sometimes when you've got a
5:42
joke, you know, you don't the reveal kind of ruin a joke if
5:45
the timing's not right and logistics.
5:49
So we, Mike and I just decided we're just going to have our abs
5:51
out from the beginning. And then knowing that I knew I
5:53
needed a dress with some kind of cut out or and she had just been
5:58
on the red carpets with like these amazing dresses.
6:01
So, you know, the bar was really high for me.
6:03
And we actually met her the first time when she flew into
6:07
LA. The day she flew in, we waited
6:09
for her from the airport for her first fitting when she was going
6:12
to get the during the week of the Oscars.
6:14
And our second and only fitting was when she flew back to
6:17
Atlanta that same day. We caught her when she landed in
6:19
Atlanta. So we didn't there was not a lot
6:22
of there was not a lot of time. And also, you know, we want, I
6:26
wanted to, I sent her Skechers to communicate, to make sure
6:29
she's seeing the dress before she arrives because I didn't
6:31
want wearing it. It was not a fitting.
6:33
It was one dress. So yeah.
6:37
So you know, I started the dress in LA and it was we, we bought,
6:41
I bought the fabric at ISW and I, we dyed it.
6:44
And then, you know, we started cutting it and we needed
6:47
multiple of them because there was a stunt devil who ended up
6:49
not actually being in, but we needed three of those dresses.
6:53
And I have to say there was not one piece of top stick on that
6:55
dress. So it held together.
6:57
And it was, you know, an engineer feat.
7:00
The seamstresses, both seamstresses here and then and
7:02
in Atlanta did an amazing job. I just wanted her to look almost
7:07
like a superhero. And I, you know, a lot of the
7:10
theme of of scary movie, a lot of these female characters are
7:14
very strong. And I didn't want her to be the
7:17
victim. I wanted her to be the, you
7:19
know, the, the person overcoming Ghostface, obviously.
7:23
So when that whole scene in the alleyway, you know, with all the
7:26
the thugs in the background, I kind of just saw her in this
7:29
very vibrant yellow dress just standing there like a badass,
7:33
you know? And I, it was so amazing to
7:35
watch her. She was a she was a pro because
7:37
it was really cold at night and she was really not covered in
7:40
much. So yeah, she was, she was not
7:43
happy. But but you know, she's she's
7:46
got this amazing body. I mean, you know, it's not, you
7:49
know, it's, it's not not a secret.
7:51
So getting to build her a dress like that was just amazing.
7:55
And it was so exciting on set. People were just, everybody was
7:58
really excited. And I needed it to, you know, I
8:00
wanted it to move and I wanted this scarf piece to mimic the
8:04
high neck from Scream 5. But I just wanted it to be its
8:08
own, its own thing. And I, you know, was very
8:10
excited with the outcome. Yeah, she felt like the sun in
8:14
the alleyway was just like, so vibrant, like the world was kind
8:17
of just revolving around her for a little bit.
8:19
It was. It was the perfect way to get
8:21
the film going. Well, I'm so excited to talk
8:24
about our two leading ladies, Cindy and Brenda, two of the
8:27
best comedy characters probably to ever exist.
8:30
I'm obsessed with both of them. It's been 20 years since the
8:34
audience has been familiar with Cindy and Brenda.
8:37
Probably a lot of people listening to the podcast
8:39
probably wasn't even around when I was watching Scary Movie One
8:43
and Two. And a lot has changed for these
8:45
two. Like a lot.
8:48
So it feels like they have both been hidden from society, but
8:51
kind of like in 2 completely different ways.
8:54
They both kind of went on two different paths inspired by some
8:58
equally iconic horror films. Tell me a little bit about their
9:02
evolutions in the and Brenda and the paths they took when we
9:06
begin Scary Movie 6. So, so really we're, you were
9:10
seeing them after, as you say, so many years that we, we don't
9:12
know what happened to them and we need to try and understand
9:15
immediately where they are in their lives.
9:18
You know, Brenda, obviously, you know, she's, she's trying to
9:22
stay young, she's trying to stay cute.
9:25
The whole idea with her once you know, I, I, I, before I read the
9:29
script, I was so excited. Then I read the script and, you
9:31
know, as you, as you're introduced to her, we get the
9:34
reference of the ma wig and the ma and I was like, whoa, OK,
9:39
like how does Brenda go from there to there?
9:42
So we wanted to make her, you know, you wanted to evoke the
9:47
idea of the ma and of course the wig was great.
9:48
Linda did a great job, but the clothing was, you know, it's
9:52
kind of like how, how does that fit with Brenda?
9:55
So we kind of Regina and I kind of joked that in the fitting
9:59
room that she, she probably just saves money and she just goes to
10:02
like the clearance rack at Ross. And you know, if there's
10:05
something with some color or like animal print, she takes it
10:09
and then, you know, then she takes something else and she
10:11
kind of just she thinks it goes together because it's fun, but
10:14
it really, really doesn't. And even the scene in the church
10:17
when she's wearing that, you know, that that there's like a
10:20
white dress with this really, you know, wretched belt that
10:23
she's has on. It's just she really tries to be
10:26
fashion forward and kind of cool and young, but she's really she
10:29
does. She's not like she doesn't
10:30
really get it. So I think the whole idea was to
10:33
try and I wanted to keep her cute, but it was also like, Ma.
10:38
So thank goodness Regina leans into the comedy and she was
10:41
totally gung ho. And I mean, in the in the party
10:44
scene with the animal print, we put, you know, she had animal
10:47
print on and she had the necklace and she had the
10:48
earrings and then she had animal print patch, you know, patch on
10:51
her pants and then some shoes that matched the animal print.
10:55
The idea was just to make it like a little over the top.
10:58
We had a few more Easter eggs with her, but there were few,
11:00
there were quite a few scenes that were cut.
11:02
So unfortunately, we didn't get to see them all.
11:04
Yeah. I mean, they also the tricky
11:05
thing with scary movies, you're not only creating characters
11:08
that people need to recognize, but also they need to be
11:11
plausible and understandable for today.
11:14
You're putting in all these other references of movies.
11:16
So, so your your storyline of the character needs to be, you
11:21
know, you need to carry that thread through.
11:23
So it's believable that this is the character, even though
11:26
they're popping in and out of all these different vignettes
11:29
where it's a normal movie, you know, you wouldn't have that
11:31
challenge. So it's really a big puzzle to
11:35
put together. And then with Anna, we, you
11:39
know, we, we Anna did have a few of her Easter eggs did show up
11:43
in the movie. And of course, she's like, she's
11:46
been preparing to like fight ghost face and she's become this
11:49
crazy, you know, this crazy badass, you know, really insane
11:55
when we find that she looks like Lori from Halloween and which
11:59
is. I didn't realize it until I
12:01
actually I saw the trailers a lot of times, but when I
12:04
actually saw it in the context of the film, I was like, my God,
12:06
she's Lori. That's yeah, that's so good.
12:10
So she needed to look like she's totally lost all her kind of
12:13
girliness and she's just in this motion of crazy.
12:18
And of course, you know, we had the references of the movies she
12:20
was spoofing, but then I brought back the turtleneck that she
12:23
had, you know, in a, in a elevated way.
12:26
Also the scene where she comes in and meets Brenda for the
12:28
first time, she's wearing AT shirt that the design was evoked
12:32
from the long sleeve shirt that she wore.
12:34
I think it's scary Movie 1, which had like a map, a Cambodia
12:37
map on it. And of course, cuz legally we
12:39
can't copy everything. So we had to change it a bit.
12:41
So I we designed this T-shirt that she wears under a jacket
12:45
and it's something I haven't got to speak about yet.
12:48
I felt like she was going through some kind of evolution.
12:51
You know, she started off all crazy and then by the end she's
12:54
like John Wick and she's all pulled together and she's ready
12:56
to fight. So I don't know if anybody
12:58
notices, but on the back of her jacket, there's a little,
13:01
there's a patch of a butterfly and she wears the jacket a few
13:04
times. You can't really see it because
13:05
her hair covers it. But every now and again, you get
13:07
a glimpse of the butterfly who kind of evolves.
13:10
And so I had that theme going with her.
13:12
And also, you know, we had the jacket similar to Sarah's jacket
13:17
because we're just trying to connect the two, you know, the
13:19
mom and daughter. But of course, you know there
13:21
are issues there as well. Yeah.
13:24
Some issues. I would say, and also so excited
13:29
to see the return of Shorty and Ray.
13:31
I did not think I was going to be missing Shorty as much as I
13:34
was until I actually saw him. He's so funny.
13:37
Kind of stole the show a little bit hilarious that tracksuit he
13:41
wears to school, which first of all, the fact that he's still in
13:44
school is just perfect, right but that tracksuit with the with
13:49
the weed symbol so good and Ray is just on his own journey on
13:54
this film right so. Ray had a lot of references.
13:56
Yeah, Ray. So, OK, let's talk about Shorty.
13:59
So yeah, Shorty definitely is. Shorty's still in school and
14:02
he's still the same, except he's come about a lot of money
14:05
because he's been, you know, he does this fans only or whatever
14:08
website he's working on. So he has just endless amounts
14:12
of money, hence all his designer outfits that he wears.
14:15
But the tracksuit was an idea that I had.
14:17
And I actually, as I mentioned, Moran came in like the night
14:20
before and I I'd send him some visuals and pictures, but I
14:23
wasn't sure that he'll go for the tracksuit because it, it was
14:26
really busy and you know, he doesn't tend to wear a lot of
14:29
patterns and stuff. So there was 450 custom inches
14:34
of weed that were unfortunately glued and stitched to the
14:38
tracksuit because I didn't want my people.
14:40
We didn't have time to do it if he was not going to wear it.
14:43
So we kind of did the jacket, but the pants we held back just
14:46
in case he wasn't into it. And so last minute I was on set
14:50
that day with him with a glue gun.
14:52
I mean, there's a picture of me standing with a glue gun and I
14:54
was running off to him because they were falling off.
14:56
And I was like, wow, this is a big budget.
14:58
What happened here? This shows you right.
15:02
But yeah, so that tracksuit was really fun and was also like the
15:05
first time we get introduced to Shorty again.
15:08
So I kind of wanted the, you know, he was, he's not always,
15:11
but he wore a lot of track suits back then and he had his big,
15:14
you know, necklaces. So I really wanted people to
15:17
connect exactly who he is. But just in 2026.
15:20
And the rest of his outfits are they will custom the T-shirts,
15:24
will, you know, design for him and even his tracks, his Jean,
15:29
his like Jean pants and Jean jacket for the party.
15:32
There were two different designer pieces and we, we ended
15:35
up, you know, spray painting them to match and putting a
15:38
patch on the back. So every piece that he wore was
15:41
really, you know, like worked on and designed and kept in mind.
15:45
You know, he, he was very, as I said, he really is, is very
15:48
conscious about fashion and what's in today and you know,
15:51
the, the, the bell bottoms and the very heavy bottom and, and
15:55
of course his shoes, which are priceless.
15:58
He's, you know, Rick Owens and all his very, very budget, not
16:03
friendly shoes. Who?
16:05
Would have known that Shorty would be so couture of all
16:07
these. Yeah, I mean, he's like
16:09
definitely got some time on his mind handy, right?
16:12
And then Ray. Ray was challenging because Ray
16:15
does have a lot of spoofs. And Ray, as much as we wanted to
16:19
keep him, it was really hard for me to find the middle tone
16:23
between him and the church with that very specific look, which
16:26
was from based on a movie on YouTube.
16:28
And then but it was sinners. But OK, but he has to wear that
16:32
silver jacket with a purple shirt.
16:33
And how does it even fit Ray? And then, you know, we see Ray
16:37
as Ray, but then Ray's then he's running, you know, with the get
16:40
out kind of scene and there's all these references and I just
16:43
needed to keep. So it's it's, you know, it's
16:46
undeniably Ray. And we understand that the, the
16:49
DNA of the character is still there even though he pops into
16:52
all these other vignettes. So I think the, the bandana on
16:57
his head really helps because it carried through on his look.
17:00
So it really did, it really did help.
17:03
And then, you know, I mean, even the cowboy thing at the end, he
17:07
and the fitting, you know, Sean was really excited, but then he
17:10
put on the boots and, you know, the, the, the vest and he's
17:13
like, oh, do I need to wear this the whole scene?
17:15
Because it's a lot. And I just want my Timberlands
17:18
back. So, so miraculously in the
17:21
middle of the scene, you know, Ray does change out of his his
17:25
costume. And thank goodness, because the
17:28
scene at the end where they walk away and they're all burnt in
17:31
the back, that was practical. Like we did that that like
17:34
special effects just cleaned off the belt because there were only
17:38
belts on the back, but all the clothes were fully attacked in
17:41
the front and totally cut off in the back.
17:43
And. Thank goodness Ray changed.
17:46
Yeah, that was not special effects.
17:48
That was us. And I've never done that before.
17:51
Yeah. When it was it was Yeah, that
17:54
was also. That was also a reshoot because
17:57
we redid the whole movie was different.
17:59
And so when the reshoot, we did that and Mike said to me, I just
18:02
need all the clothes to be gone in the back.
18:04
And I said, OK, technically how's that possible?
18:07
And he said, I'm not sure. So I tried it and I send him
18:10
pictures and I cut out like, you know, the butt cheeks and, you
18:13
know, like some pieces. And he's like, no, no, we need
18:16
more skin, less clothes, less no clothes, no clothes.
18:19
So anyway, so we figured it out. We, we did, you know, use some
18:22
top stick in the front and literally all their clothes.
18:25
They all had belts and the belts really held up everything.
18:30
Yeah, it was, it was a, it was a feat.
18:31
And I think the, you know, the, the, the body double s, We, we
18:36
didn't say they were body double s, but, you know, they were,
18:39
they were, they came in and they weren't really sure what was
18:42
going on, like what they were hired for.
18:44
So it was an interesting fitting.
18:49
Like if you look in the mirror, you're totally closed.
18:51
You're totally fine. Just don't turn around.
18:53
Yeah. You could take pictures from the
18:54
front if you. Want exactly so yeah, so.
18:57
But everybody was very excited to be, you know, you know, like,
18:59
so backside and, you know, more of his backside.
19:03
So yeah, it was really fun. And my crew when you know, like,
19:07
yeah, they did a great job. So that was fun.
19:10
Wow, I didn't even think about that, but that's so I'm so glad
19:13
he brought that up. Well, OK, let's talk about
19:17
Ghostface now. I've I've interviewed a few
19:19
screen designers. Actually, I think it was screen
19:21
5:00 and 6:00. I've interviewed the designers
19:23
on this podcast and I know that that costume dough to the
19:27
audience, it might look simple on screen, just a black robe and
19:30
the mask, but it's really not, I've seemed to found because
19:33
finding the perfect fabric and the movement really seems like
19:36
to be a pain. And so I was wondering what your
19:39
experience was working now with Ghostface, because now you have
19:42
the added layer of now also having to make it fit in the
19:45
world of Scary Movie as well. So you have a few more extra
19:48
challenges on top of trying to make Ghostface work.
19:51
And you know what? Dark scenes in an alleyway where
19:54
he's wearing all black. It seems like quite the
19:56
challenge. Yeah, so we did.
19:59
We did do research of what they've they had done.
20:01
And at some point I realized, I guess I don't know what version,
20:05
but they did use some glitter and stuff in order for to poke
20:09
out tonight. And Mike and I really wanted to
20:12
elevate the cinematic feel of the movie end of Ghostface.
20:15
And at the beginning we went really, really almost all the
20:18
way to, you know, like. Like really aged and textured
20:23
and you know, like like just really all the way to fantasy.
20:27
But then we're like, wait, but it really needs to look like a
20:30
robe that's cheap and he throws on.
20:32
So, so we kind of found a middle and I found this amazing fabric
20:36
in Atlanta that had a little bit of a a shine to it.
20:39
It almost looked like leather, but it was, I mean, it was, it
20:41
was that stretch in it. And I also wanted the weight
20:44
because I didn't want, I didn't want it to look like the ones
20:47
from Amazon that you that little jagged on the bottom.
20:49
And even though theoretically, yes, that makes sense, but we
20:53
were like in the cinematic world where we get to create our own
20:56
world. So I was like, let's just go for
20:57
it. So yeah.
20:58
Let's play a little bit. Yeah, and I, it's funny because
21:01
I'm getting so many fans that are obsessed with the robe and
21:05
the, you know, the, I call them the phalanges on the arm.
21:08
I don't even know what the technical term is, but it took
21:12
us, it took us a good like 2 1/2 weeks to find the fabric.
21:15
And then we needed at originally we needed, you know, 3 ropes, 4
21:19
ropes, 6 ropes. We ended up making 28 custom
21:22
ropes. And then there were scenes that
21:24
were cut out, but there was another 25 ropes of, of like
21:27
dummies and stuff which got cut out unfortunately.
21:30
But those were just like Demi ones that were cheap and we put
21:32
them on the floor. But we had 28 ropes including
21:35
all that, you know, Shaq's robe and, and Martin's robe and
21:39
Shawn's robe. And I mean, spoiler alert, but
21:42
there were, there were a lot of custom ropes and each rope took
21:44
about 8 hours to make. And, and there's a lot of
21:48
fabric. I think we ended up over 200
21:50
yards of fabric we needed. And so we also had like fabric A
21:54
and fabric B because we ran out of the fabric in Atlanta and
21:57
they couldn't get us more. So because they kept just adding
21:59
like every time we got a new script, there was another
22:01
Ghostface in it. So it wasn't, you know, just
22:04
like containable that we could just put our efforts and then we
22:07
had to age them and match them all.
22:09
So these phalanges, it took a moment for us to, again, looking
22:13
at all the screen references and other ghost face references out
22:16
there, we decided we're just going to do what looks good to
22:18
us and what feels good. My most important thing was that
22:22
it moves. So when they do all the stunts
22:24
and the jumping and stuff, I just wanted the fabric to really
22:27
move and have some weight to it. And then also it was funny
22:31
because our our stand guy, Noah came into the fitting room and
22:34
he was, you know, doing the stuff with a knife and
22:36
everything. And suddenly one of the
22:38
phalanges that hit him in the face and because it was heavy,
22:41
it really hit him like, so I was like, OK, we need to shorten the
22:44
phalanges. So we did.
22:46
And then our, my age, Adiah Scott did a really nice job on
22:49
aging the phalanges and the edges of the thing of the arms.
22:53
And, and then the big, you know, the big problem was that because
22:58
the mask was in the mask, we had to, the mask was redesigned.
23:02
I was not in charge of that. I just stopped with sizing.
23:05
Make sure that the, the hood fit the mask nicely and it wouldn't
23:08
come off because the hood was pretty heavy.
23:10
So we needed to, you know, attach a snap here so that the
23:14
hood wouldn't fall off every time he moved.
23:16
And we had snaps on the gloves so that, you know, when he picks
23:19
his arms up the thing. So there's a lot of technical
23:21
stuff to keep the ropes. And then there was a robe that
23:25
he needed to put his hand in to pull out a knife.
23:27
Every robe was custom made and had its own issues that it
23:30
needed to be dealt with. So yeah, the ropes were a lot of
23:33
work. Yeah, wow.
23:35
Well, two things. I mean, one, I hope we get like
23:38
a Blu-ray or something with all these deleted scenes because
23:40
sounds like there's a lot of good stuff.
23:41
Oh yeah, there was. One day it was yeah.
23:44
Second, I would love to see Shaq's robe.
23:46
That must have been like the robe of all robes.
23:48
It was, yeah. It's funny because we couldn't
23:51
we couldn't find gloves for him and my seems just sat for like 2
23:55
days because the gloves came and they sent him out, they sent us
23:59
his sizes and the size did not fit like it was still too small.
24:03
So she sat and she like Frankenstein 2 like gloves
24:06
together and she sat for hours doing this.
24:09
And then he came and I went into his trailer and I asked him to
24:12
put on the gloves and he was so excited that you know the custom
24:14
made gloves that fit him and he put them on and everybody was so
24:17
excited. Then as he pulled them off, they
24:19
came apart. So.
24:21
And this was like half an hour before we got into camera, so
24:24
thank goodness we had some backup something.
24:26
And. But yeah, his robe.
24:28
The funny thing is that, yeah, his sizes were big, but the joke
24:31
was that he's on his knees and he gets up.
24:33
So I don't even know if you ended up forget.
24:35
I didn't. I forget if we actually saw it.
24:37
The joke was that it was really short on him.
24:40
So like, so it wasn't really as long as Shaq is, but it was
24:44
definitely his size. And yeah, it was just really fun
24:47
to get to work with him, and his body double on that was really
24:51
great. Right, that's so much fun.
24:54
I gotta go back and watch that scene again now.
24:57
Well, the film also introduced a new generation of characters
25:00
such as Sarah, Jack and Tuesday. Obviously, there's a lot of
25:05
inspiration there from other films and shows.
25:08
So I was just going to ask you, how do you balance that line of
25:11
establishing that visual language that, you know, you
25:14
want the audience to be familiar with while also making it feel,
25:17
you know, heightened in this comedic world?
25:19
And also you want to put your own Ariella touch on it too.
25:22
It's still, you're the costume designer.
25:24
You don't want to feel incomplete, you know, Wednesday
25:27
to Tuesday Direct Line. So how do you approach that?
25:32
So, so originally I did, you know, I had like maybe 200
25:35
boards of references on my, you know, near the office because
25:38
there were just so many references from, from different
25:40
movies and different scenes. And then within the movie, they
25:44
at the originally, they wanted every scene to specifically
25:47
match exactly. Like if, if he's coming into a
25:50
house now, then Jack needs to wear the blue shirt that he wore
25:53
into the house. And then, you know, it was very,
25:55
it was very methodical. So in order for the audience to
25:58
connect and, you know, understand, but at some point I,
26:02
we kind of, you know, I, I showed them every time I showed
26:05
them a fitting or mics or something, he always chose what
26:08
was exactly in that movie. So I got that.
26:11
OK, we really need the silhouette and the colors.
26:13
But then, you know, with Sarah, we the clothes just seem to be
26:17
very unaccessorized or just very basic.
26:21
And I mean, obviously it was designed like that because it
26:24
needed to be like that. But because this is comedy and
26:26
we wanted to hide in the cinematic feel, you know, Sarah,
26:29
we added some fun belts and different, I cut the jacket
26:34
differently. So it just felt a little bit
26:36
more contemporary. And I think that and with
26:39
Tuesday, of course, there was this, there was this pool
26:41
between Wednesday and the reference.
26:44
And, you know, every time we went a little bit too far, then
26:46
they pulled back and I had earned a lot of stripes at the
26:49
beginning. And no, that's too Wednesday.
26:51
So it was just, you know, it was like this dance of trying to
26:54
find the middle of, of what everybody was happy with.
26:57
And I think for those 3 characters, it really was the
27:01
most back and forth like that because because they were so
27:05
like hooked on the references. I think we really did with the
27:09
actions and the fittings, we really did find a middle ground
27:12
of still evoking the look of the characters that they're like
27:16
spoofing, but also becoming their own characters.
27:20
There was a really amazing scene that was pulled out, which was
27:23
hilarious. And I'm not sure everybody is
27:26
going to get to see it, but I'll be redressed.
27:28
The three characters in other clothes.
27:30
And it was just, I mean, they had the best fun ever.
27:34
But. But yeah.
27:35
But most of their clothes, you know, were just.
27:37
And then we got to do the sinners thing where, you know,
27:39
we put them in old timey clothes, which was really fun.
27:42
And even that, you know, it was very important to Mike that the
27:44
colors were exactly the same as the movie because they just
27:47
wanted people to, you know, understand it within a second of
27:50
what's going on. So I think we did find our own
27:53
characters within that. And it was really important that
27:56
even though the clothes were somewhat basic, we wanted to
28:00
connect to a new generation, you know, that are going to see the
28:02
movie now and feel like it's part of them.
28:05
And they, you know, these are fashions or clothes that they
28:08
feel that they would want to wear or, you know, connect to.
28:12
So I think that I think we we managed to find a good middle
28:15
ground. Right.
28:17
And the thing I've been wanting to ask you too is I mean,
28:20
there's so many appearances by different iconic characters of
28:24
horror in this film. I mean it's it's a lot.
28:26
And I love that subway scene because I even really starts to
28:29
show just like the death of this film.
28:31
And when we're talking about Hart the clown, Candy man, Megan
28:35
Long legs, and I have to mention my favorite, which was I hope
28:38
everyone stayed for the credits, but it's actually Bros Fratu
28:41
featuring Count Bro Lock, which goes back to nose Fratu.
28:46
Can you talk about, I don't even know where to start with this,
28:50
so many different characters, like how how do you approach
28:53
this? And I read a little bit about
28:54
this 30% rule that you've been talking about and how you're
28:57
able to approach these characters.
28:59
I'm making them feel obviously familiar, but they have to be
29:03
different, right? So how do you approach this?
29:06
I only know where to start if it there's just.
29:08
It seems like such a challenge. I think that legally the biggest
29:13
challenge was the subway scene because first of all, cuz it was
29:17
scripted and a lot of the other stuff was just happened to come
29:20
along. Yeah, but the scripted thing.
29:22
So from the beginning we knew we had all these visuals and Mike
29:25
and Rick kind of gave me, they said we want, you know, we want
29:28
this character, this character, but come up with, you know, like
29:31
12 to 15 characters that you feel like you can do.
29:35
You know, again, it's all the time and money.
29:38
So we, so I gave them a list and then we had to submit visuals to
29:42
legal of what I was thinking of doing.
29:45
And then they approved that. And then once they approved
29:47
that, we had to stop buying and making.
29:50
And then we had to get the people in and fit them and send
29:52
the pictures back again to legal to clear it.
29:55
And then they started with their notes.
29:57
They're like, oh, like Hellraiser had too many spikes.
30:00
You need to take down the Mohawk because it still looks too close
30:03
to. So this 30%.
30:04
I mean, I don't even know how these lawyers do.
30:07
Like I'm not sure how they measure the 30%.
30:10
But after lots of back and forth and lots of repainting and doing
30:13
masks again and, you know, dying clothes and just changing things
30:18
up, we got we got to, we got approval.
30:21
So that was, you know, that was a big one.
30:23
And then the Nosferatu, that was a huge, it was a huge build.
30:28
That jacket was it just like we couldn't find anything in
30:31
Atlanta that remotely looked like that.
30:33
And so I ended up buying something on some weird website
30:37
and it came and then we built it on some other jacket.
30:41
And I mean, it looked beautiful at the end and it was great.
30:44
It was heavy. It was two really big jackets
30:47
that Ryan was wearing. And then things like Keenan with
30:52
Michael Jackson, that again was that again was in the reshoots.
30:56
The reshoots were very busy. I was three weeks of five days
31:00
of shoots. That was just insane.
31:02
And we didn't know he didn't sign.
31:05
They didn't know that it was going to be him until, you know,
31:08
like I think it was like less than 48 hours before.
31:10
So we knew we were doing the Michael Jackson, but we weren't
31:12
sure who's going to be wearing it.
31:14
And we also needed a stunt double.
31:15
So it's not like a jacket you can just, you know, like buy off
31:19
the wreck or just rent in And it's what size.
31:22
So we ended up buying, I bought maybe 6 jackets, blue Blazers
31:26
and I bought a bunch of blue sparkly fabric.
31:29
And the day of Lassie just and myself was sitting and we're
31:32
stitching the panels onto the jacket and putting the gold
31:35
thing on because as we knew it was Keenan, we knew the size of
31:38
the sun double and then we could, you know, make it happen.
31:40
So it was all kind of like preparing, preparing and having
31:43
every option available and then just sitting and sewing it, just
31:46
making it happen. And so it was a really, really
31:48
fast turn around. But yet we got to meet with all
31:51
these amazing, you know, actors and, and, and design all these
31:55
amazing costumes, which really like when you look at the scope
31:59
of things and you know, close to 1000 costumes in the movie with
32:02
all the changes and all the characters and background.
32:06
I mean, even the background, the in the party, I don't know if
32:09
you notice there's like these two amazing dolls there.
32:12
Nobody's asked me about them, but it's my agent Scott made
32:16
those like he, he does this as a thing.
32:18
And he showed me a picture one day and I said to him, Oh my
32:21
God, can we use your, your dolls?
32:23
And like every, every outfit that was in the background, like
32:26
none of the background came with Halloween costumes on.
32:30
Everything was pre decided and pre made and pre cleared in
32:34
order to keep that. And that went on for like, I
32:36
don't know, a week and 1/2 that party that, you know, every day
32:38
we shot, we had to redress them and then people didn't show up.
32:41
So we had to redress somebody else in that costume.
32:44
But it was just a, it was a big quantity of very specific
32:48
different things. And I think, I think it came
32:51
together, it looks pretty effortlessly, but there was a
32:53
lot of work. My my team really, really worked
32:56
hard. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a lot, a
32:58
lot of costumes that it was very expensive and that you're so
33:02
right about the Halloween party scene too.
33:04
I remember watching that in the theaters and be like, wow, this
33:06
is like a whole Halloween party. Like usually when I do this
33:09
podcast, I spend half the podcast talking about Halloween.
33:11
And that was, you know, on top of all rated subway scene and
33:14
all these films. So, so many costumes.
33:18
Before I wrap up, I want to go back to one more storyline we
33:21
mentioned earlier in Cindy's butterfly journey.
33:23
You kind of mentioned it earlier, but Cindy gives us this
33:26
one last costume as we're going to this final climactic battle.
33:30
She kind of gives like a John Wick vibe, and I just wanted to
33:34
kind of revisit that final costume.
33:37
I thought it was hilarious as suddenly she appeared and I was
33:40
just like, oh wow. Like that is Sydney.
33:42
She looks incredible. Was I get?
33:46
Was it like a John Wick action hero vibe we were trying to get?
33:50
Yeah, so in the script it says she shows up in a John Wick
33:54
outfit. So, you know, it was really
33:56
important for me that we kind of see her journey.
33:58
So you know, the scene before that she's wearing like she's
34:01
wearing military pants and I could grey Henley that's more
34:05
fitted than everything else that she'd be wearing.
34:07
And she was out of her, you know, her big Timberland boots
34:10
that she worked. So the idea was that she like
34:12
slowly, slowly gets to this military clean shake John Wick
34:15
look. And then, you know, we we did a
34:17
fitting with her and she's so tiny.
34:19
So even the tiniest like, you know, and we needed multiple
34:22
because obviously there were stunned people and shit
34:25
happened. So and then my concern was, you
34:27
know, that the black with ghost faces, there's going to be so
34:30
much black in the scene, like it's, it's all this stuff
34:33
happening. So it was just about finding the
34:35
right, the fabric with the right Sheen.
34:36
And then we actually custom made her her tie because she's so
34:41
tiny and we need, I wanted everything to proportionally
34:44
feel right for Anna. So it felt, you know, very slick
34:47
and very intentional. Yeah.
34:50
And we gave her these really high boots, which she I don't
34:53
know, she she she was a pro in them.
34:55
And yeah, I mean, in the fitting when she put that on, she like
34:58
her just her demeanor tape. She's like, yeah, you know, she
35:01
was just so excited. And I think when she walked on
35:04
set, everybody was like just used to seeing this big crazy
35:07
hair and everything. And then, you know, the hair and
35:09
everything was slick and clean. And she really felt like a bad
35:13
accident. Like it was really like just
35:15
changed her demeanor and I think it was a, you know, she, she
35:18
made it come to life. It was really fun.
35:21
Yeah, it's so good. And I love this idea that Cindy
35:23
just like, kind of had this in their arsenal, almost like it's
35:25
one of her tools or weapons. I mean, it is scary movie,
35:29
right? I mean, the scary movie wardrobe
35:32
is just a magical wardrobe. You open it up and there's all,
35:35
every dream that Marlon or Rick have had is just sitting there.
35:39
So suspension. Yeah, we've talked about so many
35:46
different costumes, like you said, the Halloween party, the
35:49
subway scene to John Wick and Sinners and all these different
35:53
places we've been and new generations and older
35:56
generations. I would just love to hear a
35:59
little bit more about your crew as well and the people that kind
36:02
of helped you bring this all together 'cause you know, none
36:04
of this is possible without them as well.
36:06
So tell me a little bit about the people that helped you bring
36:08
this all together. 100% Well, I had my assistant Amber was
36:14
really great. She was from Atlanta and she we
36:17
actually we interviewed all our crew, which apparently doesn't
36:21
is not something people do anymore.
36:22
But I had not been in Atlanta for a couple of years and people
36:27
and there were a lot of people available.
36:28
So we're very lucky that way because we got to interview
36:32
people and people came to the interview and they said I
36:33
haven't had an interview in 20 years.
36:35
Like I'm nervous. And I was like, well, I get to
36:38
pick whoever I want. So of course I want to interview
36:41
you and feel the energy. So I really got lucky.
36:44
My seems just Jenna was amazing and she, you know, she went
36:48
through the whole with the Ghostface robes, like just kept
36:51
knocking, you know, kept like redesigning and redesigning and
36:54
I think we redesigned the hood maybe 7 times.
36:57
Every morning she'd come to her thing and I think she was scared
36:59
to come to work because every morning she'd come.
37:01
Then I would stay at night and look at it and write notes and
37:04
she would come and there was like another note on the table
37:05
and she's probably like, Oh my God, can we stop changing this
37:08
rope? So she actually also one day she
37:11
like she showed into her finger and I felt so bad, but she was
37:15
amazing. And then the rest of her crew
37:17
was just a major diet. Scott did a really good job
37:20
with, you know, with all the masks on the subway and he he
37:23
was a really good builder. I had an amazing shopper who was
37:27
just high end. She got me.
37:30
We communicated so well. It was such a pleasure to work
37:33
with her, with Joe and she really helped her with the
37:36
elevated looks for for Marlin, for Shorty, which, you know,
37:40
it's not always easy when you're, I mean, Atlanta has
37:43
great fashion, but it's not LA. So it's nothing not not
37:45
everything's accessible in all the sizes and the turn around we
37:48
needed. And my, my, my set crew and my
37:52
office crew were just amazing. And Ricky, who I mean,
37:57
everybody, Jordan, I don't want to send him.
37:58
So I'm going to forget. But they were just so they were
38:02
just so excited to be on the movie and to work.
38:05
And really, I think we had a lot of fun.
38:07
And, you know, we still text all the time and I, you know, I
38:11
really hope I get to work with them again.
38:13
But they really brought their their maximum efforts and all
38:17
the talents and all. It was kind of a crazy show
38:20
between, you know, the stunts and the, the, the quantity of
38:24
costumes and the, and the, the nonstop, endless last minute
38:28
changes, which really I think that's mostly in comedy happens.
38:32
And I'm kind of used to it, but not everybody's used to it
38:35
doesn't mean that used to it gets easier, but it just you,
38:37
you know, how to just take it and keep going.
38:39
So my, my, my Atlanta crew was amazing.
38:43
And yeah, it was. It was a really, really fun
38:47
experience All in all. I mean, you could tell you all
38:49
had such a good time and it felt very cohesive from beginning to
38:52
end. Costume designer Ariela Wild
38:55
Cohen, thank you so much for joining me.
38:57
This has been so much fun. Thanks Spencer.
38:59
I love and. I love being able to talk to
39:01
you. Thanks and I love what you do
39:03
and how you elevate and bring our behind the scenes to the
39:07
forefront and you do it with such poise and professionalism.
39:10
I appreciate it. Thank you.
39:12
It means a lot. Well, thank you for joining us,
39:14
and I hope you'll come back when you have another one, another
39:17
film. Please please please.
39:18
Very excited. The Costume House with Spencer
39:21
Williams is a production of The Art of Costume.
39:24
This episode was hosted, produced and edited by Spencer
39:26
Williams. To discover more conversations
39:29
with the designer shaping film, television and theater, visit
39:32
theartofcostume.com or follow us on social media at The Art of
39:36
Costume. And don't forget to connect with
39:38
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39:40
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