Guillermo del Toro's latest movie, Frankenstein, may be a horror movie based around Mary Shelley's gothic novel, but the design is so luscious that rather than frightening the viewer it might just give them coffin envy. Everything about the movie, from the costumes, sets, locations, and props (the coffins!) is stunning, so much so it occasionally distracts the viewer from some of the ickier moments of surgery and death. Even the monster himself, played by Jacob Elordi, has been dubbed by The Guardian reviewer, "the nearest this iconic figure has come to being a bit of a hottie."
Frankenstein is currently playing in a select number of US theatres (find one near you here) and will be available to stream on Netflix on November 7th. If you are in London and want a close-up look at the sumptuous jewelry, costumes, and models, sign up for this free exhibition of costumes and set design from Frankenstein. The event runs until 9 November at The Old Selfridges Hotel at 400 Oxford Street, which is, itself, an interesting part of the iconic building. In an interview for the exhibition, Del Toro said, "I wanted the movie to test the limits of every craft in movie making," and designers Tamara Deverell, Kate Hawley, Mike Hill, and others did not let him down.
The event includes studies of the monster's make up and models for sets, with some actual props, and some interviews with the designers about their work on the film.
Tamara Deverell has worked with del Toro since Mimic in 1996, and worked closely with set decorator Shane Vieau and costume designer Kate Hawley to create the world of the 1850s.
In comments for the exhibition, costume designer Kate Hawley has said that in preparation for the movie she reread Shelley's classic and found it held, "a sense of loneliness and melancholy in the atmosphere, and all of it is evocative of nature and its disintegration." Starting with sketches, color palettes and mood boards, her challenge was to take the period which is normally associated with Dickens and can be whimsical, and make it sinister and gothic. She says, "We wanted colors. We wanted Mary Shelley's dreamlike quality, so I started introducing veils and using a more saturated tonal range of color. It is the modern Prometheus. Victorians were obsessed with color. Sometimes garish, even."
Hawley's color palette tends toward bright red and green, reflecting the woods and nature, which stand out more than the gray and muddy scenes in cities, and the reds mirror the blood and uniforms of soldiers from the Crimean War, a source for the bodies. There are also bold patterns in the fabrics used, suggesting cell structures and organic things under the microscope. Del Toro has said of Hawley that she, "understands operatic scale and the storytelling function of wardrobe. The most gifted designer I have met."
Reproduction jewelry from that time was loaned to the production by Tiffany & Co. from its archives, and great care was taken to build an authentic-looking ship for a large part of the action. Tamara Deverell did extensive research into Polar explorers of close to that period, including Ernest Shackleton, before recreating a life-size ship. Deverell also called in Jim HInes, a marine engineer from the UK with extensive experience restoring old ships, and over the course of five weeks he and his crew rigged the ship appropriately for the time period.
The Team
Production Designer: Tamara Deverell
Costume Designer: Kate Hawley
Visual Effects Supervisor: Dennis Berardi
Creature Design: Mike Hill
Character Prosthetics: Mike Hill Creations
Makeup Department Head: Jordan Samuel
Hair Department Head: Cliona Furey
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Director of Photography: Dan Laustsen, ASC, DFF
Music By: Alexandre Desplat