Suttirat Anne Larlarb

[sunshinedna]

Today, I emailed 'Sunshine's' wonderful costume designer, Suttirat Larlarb, to tell her about this forum (and how Chero used the colours from her sock chart for the top buttons!)... I asked her if she would be willing to answer questions from you guys about working on 'Sunshine's' costumes and spacesuit, working with the actors and, even, costume design in general. She's finishing up on a film in about two weeks and after that will be delighted to answer anything you ask.

So, in the meantime, if you have any questions for Suttirat, please post them in this thread...

For those of you who mightn't know who Suttirat is, you can read about her here and she can be seen in the Spacesuit video...

[chero]

I really want to be speechless right now, but I have a question!!! ;D

How did you come up with the different colors for each character? Were you given anything in advance to choose them, etc....?

Alright, so this is more than one question, but I can't help it!

[brittany]

Which character/actor was the easiest to plan for? Who was the hardest or most complicated?

[dino]

ok here's a couple....

How much research was there into the technology of the spacesuits, did it have to work in theory or just look cool?

Can you describe the design process, who had the final say on costumes, how many versions, how long does it take etc?

Did you have any problems during filming that you had to fix there & then?

thanks,
Dino

[sunshinedna]

Excellent so far! Keep them coming...

[Amanda]

Was it difficult working with colors and tones of the costumes when dealing with the different lighting effects from the "sun"?

[thisisliz]

I've got one. What was your absolute favorite piece of clothing or equipment that you designed?

--Liz

[sunshinedna]

Any more questions for Suttirat?

Sunshine was her first costume design role in a film. She's previously (and currently) worked as an Art Director.

From IMDB
Art Director - filmography

1. The Savages (2007)
2. The Namesake (2006)
3. The Skeleton Key (2005)
4. Alfie (2004)
5. Garfield (2004)
... aka Garfield: The Movie (USA: promotional title)
6. Back to Even (1998) (as Anne Larlarb)
... aka The Debt (USA: DVD title)
7. Shelf Life (1991)

Art Department - filmography

1. Men in Black II (2002) (assistant art director: New York) (as Suttirat Larlarb)
... aka MIB 2 (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka MIIB (USA: promotional abbreviation)
2. K-PAX (2001) (art director: New York) (as Suttirat Larlarb)
... aka K-PAX - Alles ist möglich (Germany)
3. Serendipity (2001) (art director: re-shoots)
4. Enigma (2001) (assistant art director) (as Suttirat Larlarb)
... aka Enigma - Das Geheimnis (Germany)
5. The Beach (2000/I) (art department assistant)

[ronski]

How does working as an Art Director compare with doing Costume Design? Which do you prefer & why?

[sunshinedna]

Here are Suttirat's answers. I will put these up on the main site later today...



How did you come up with the different colors for each character? Were you given anything in advance to choose them, etc....?- Chero

Suttirat : I’m not sure if you are referring to the different colors of the ‘sock chart’ or for their characters’ costumes – if it is the latter, when you see the film you’ll see there is quite a tight color palette for the crew as a crew on the whole, not really specific colors assigned to individual characters’ costumes. The costumes are a mix of ‘standard issue’ mission uniforms and personal clothing items (personal to the character, not the actor!).

The colors of characters’ personal clothing items are partially defined by who the character is and what he/she does, but mostly defined by the overall palette of the crew uniforms, which in turn were determined by the palette of the set – how they would work together with the ships’ interior.

I also did research into actual International Space Station mission uniforms, to get an idea of just how much color was a factor in defining each mission – both for uniforms and for personal clothing. And of course, the director’s own color preference had something to do with what we actually chose in the end – we did numerous color tests on the fabric for the uniforms.

After finding the right fabric for the uniforms, we dyed sample swatches in various tones of a few ‘winning’ colors, and shot camera tests to see what worked best with the colors of the set, in appropriate lighting. Once we narrowed it down to Danny’s 2 favorite tones, we had 2 sample pairs of uniform trousers dyed so that we could test them on bodies head to toe w/ skin tone, lighting, set colors.

We mostly thought about what color would one be most comfortable watching over the 2 hours or so of the film – because they’re more or less wearing their uniforms (w/ personal touches ) throughout the film, you have to be comfortable visually with them and not distracted or offended by the colors – which can very easily happen with a louder palette.

Which character/actor was the easiest to plan for? Who was the hardest or most complicated? -- Brittany

Suttirat : Because the overall idea was a ‘standard–issue’ mission uniform, there was a certain level of uncomplicated-ness. However, there wants to be a degree of character personality coming through, but not in a distracting or cartoony way.

Each crew member might exhibit a particular personal character trait that could come through in pieces of their clothing that could be personal, like shirts, accessories (minimal, though – they are on a mission 24/7 after all!) or shoes.
Or not, which the case was made for by several of the actors – who were interested in character coming through to the degree of how serious they thought their character would take their commitment to the mission: ie., some thought that their individuality should not be visually displayed because their character would have been so committed to the mission and in turn would not have chosen to be anything other than ‘by the book’. My early conversations with each actor about their characters was integral to what you’ll see on screen, and each actor was wonderfully and equally concerned about their character’s personal touches to their uniforms.

I will say, though, it is a VERY COMPLICATED thing to make Michelle Yeoh and Rose Byrne look less glamorous then they do everyday – and that definitely is something that was purposely thought of in their costumes. Both of them are beautiful and their beauty exudes no matter what they wear. We have to believe they are on the mission for their expertise, which of course comes from their great capabilities as actors – but visually can be helped by costumes being a reflection of their characters, not merely a styled version of the actors.

How much research was there into the technology of the spacesuits, did it have to work in theory or just look cool?-- Dino

Suttirat : Dino, this is the kind of question I love - There is always, always, always the concern on a film, particularly a Sci-fi film, and especially a Danny Boyle film, for things to ‘look cool’. So of course that is a factor – but how to marry that within the logic of the film is the great challenge.

I did extensive research into spacesuits, spacesuit technology, the evolution of spacesuits. I studied actual spacesuits and their component parts from the Smithsonian’s collection. I wanted to understand as much as I could – why do real space suits look the way they do? Their look is VERY MUCH defined by their function. The evolution of how they look has been very much determined by how to tackle the problems of movement within such a protective shell. In real life, a spacesuit is essentially a wearable vehicle; something that protects the astronaut from the extreme conditions of space and allows their bodies to function within those conditions to do whatever job is required of them. In our film, the spacesuits are designed to fulfill the tasks at hand. There is very definitely a logic to why they look the way they do, which as you may know from the premise of the film, is to protect the wearer from the sun. There are all kinds of details inside and outside the suits which are specifically there to deal with what we imagine might be the particular problems of being on this kind of mission.

Can you describe the design process, who had the final say on costumes, how many versions, how long does it take etc?-- Dino

Did you have any problems during filming that you had to fix there & then?-- Dino

Suttirat : I’ll answer both these questions here. The length of the design process is really governed by how much time you have before you actually shoot the character in a particular costume.

In theory, during the prep phase you have initial conversations w/ the director about the characters, and following coming up with the ideas in sketches/ with reference materials as well, you’d discuss w/ the production designer and dp about their ideas for color, lighting, etc., how the clothes interact w/ the set & special lighting requirements ( of which there was a lot in this film ) and you’d have all your questions answered about what is required of the costume ( for instance, action sequences – determine movement requirements, kind of fabrics for durability, number of repeats to be made, or bought if they were bought items) , the fabrics chosen, the colors decided upon with camera tests if need be, the various stage of costume fittings w/ the actors to determine what changes & alterations if any need to be made, and then re-fit them again and show all of this to be ultimately ‘approved’ by the director – all of this would be done before shooting begins, or at the latest, a few days to spare before the costume was actually required on set. However, in practice, anything and everything can go wrong up until the actual moment you shoot: examples: the stunt people required a version that actually ended up ripping during rehearsals, or even a shot leaving less of the ‘hero’ costumes for the real actors - or now you need to establish a rip in the costume for later scenes; or, during the rehearsal process just minutes before a scene is to be shot or even DURING a scene being shot there is an action that is added which was not planned for and suddenly there’s a need to add or change a costume piece which in turn affects continuity.

And absolutely everything is made 1000x more complicated even more by blood!
Somehow, though, it always all works out in the end. But I am pretty certain that it never is ‘smooth sailing’. It keeps you on your toes, and you learn to not be precious about anything.

What was your absolute favorite piece of clothing or equipment that you designed?-- thisisliz

Suttirat : There is something we called the ‘pressure vest’ - which is meant to be something you put on in conjunction with the space suit. It is based on a similar idea in reality, which is what high-altitude pilots and astronauts have to wear in order to protect them from the extreme lack of pressure in extremely high altitudes or in the vacuum of space. I love how it turned out visually. I also love the helmets of the space suit, but that’s all I’ll say for now.

How does working as an Art Director compare with doing Costume Design? Which do you prefer & why?--ronski

Suttirat : Well, that’s a particularly important question to me. I have always wanted to be a costume designer from the time I was a kid, and while I was in training, discovered set design as well – so I had this idea that I wanted to do both.
In theatre, it is much more possible – which is where I started my work. But in film, it’s very difficult, as they are in practice such separate entities even though visually in a film they should very definitely be of the same world.

Art direction is very definitely about the world in which the action all takes place – costume design is about characters within that world. In both costume design and art direction I like to think that I design for characters while figuring in how they fit ( or don’t ) in the world which is being designed for a film or a play. I find that personally I have much more of a connection to the script and the process if I’m thinking about the characters, and their clothes, or how the moldings and doors and wall texture may relate to a character than if I am thinking about moldings ,door heights and wall texture for the sake of moldings, door heights and wall textures. I have much more opportunity to think in this way if I am designing costumes, for obvious reasons. Art direction doesn’t always afford you the opportunity to think that directly about characters on that kind of level, (set decoration does that) though it does require you to think about and figure out the overarching visual world of the film, which in the right circumstances can be very rewarding.

Sunshine fans have taken a real shine to 'The Official Sock Chart'. Can you explain why you needed it and where you got the idea from? --me

Suttirat : Gia, we needed the sock chart so that every time we did the laundry ( everyday!) we could easily match up matching pairs of socks by just glancing at the color thread that was sewn on – and subsequently know who’s socks they were when we separated and assigned them back to their dressing rooms!

Michael Mooney & Nici Young were responsible for introducing the official sock chart to me, and now I will always have one on every film.

Also, I’m sure you know about the sock vortex. I personally have lost many, many halves of favorite pairs of socks of mine to the sock vortex, which has an entry portal in every dryer I’ve ever used. Then the socks mysteriously re-appear days, months, even years later. The sock chart colors helped us re-pair the socks that would more than occasionally be lost to, and return from the sock vortex.

[chero]

I wonder what the "personal touches" are on the characters' costumes. I'm sure it would have been a spoiler if she answered it, but the concept sounds extremely interesting.

[brittany]

This is love. I am amazed about how much effort is put into the creation of these characters. I've never thought about the whole laundry process. Very cool and very smart.

[Amanda]

admin said:

I wonder what the "personal touches" are on the characters' costumes. I'm sure it would have been a spoiler if she answered it, but the concept sounds extremely interesting.

If I had to guess, I'd think we were talking about things like Cassie's necklace.

This is so interesting, by the way. I guess I never realized exactly what sort of processes it took to determine costumes and things for a film. Everything involving this seems so complex. I'm so excited!

[chero]

I remember seeing Cassie's necklace, but I wonder what the other characters have...

[dino]

Very interesting replies thanks!