Re: Shirt & Trousers Materials and Colors

[ Reply ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Andrea from ip-37.sb.net on July 11, 1998 at 22:22:18:

In Reply to: Re: Shirt & Trousers Materials and Colors posted by Andrea on July 11, 1998 at 11:51:20:

: Greg-

: Sorry for the delay in getting back to your post, but I wanted to avoid relaying false info, so i tracked down my notes. I got this information from Lee Kepler, very likely the man "from california" mentioned in some posts who has provided fairly authentic indy items. Apparently he knew someone who worked or interned on the set of Raiders.

: Personally, I don't think I'll ever be %100 satisfied on confirming the material until Anthony Powell (costume designer on ToD & LC) tells me so. I also did a little research and found in the ToD Official Colletctor's Edition that, according to Powell, Ford needed "about 30 shirts" (p.21). He goes on to say that "there are also stunt men and doubles [stand ins] who have the same requirements" (p. 21).

: So, we're lookin at around 90 shirts here. Something suggests to me that Dometakis probably didn't tailor each one (or this could explain why he's sick of doing it!). They just couldn't use the old Raiders costumes since they were "virtually destroyed", according to Powell (p. 21).

: As for the color of the shirts, Kepler's friend mentioned about the box with shirts. From my experience working on sets [I'm a UCLA film student basking in much needed vacation], the color of clothes can change drastically under different lighting set-ups, particularly when gels (colored acetate placed over lights) are used for colored light. For continuity, there was probably someone in charge of keeping the costume colors consistent from shot to shot in scenes in order to have everything match as closely as possible for editing later. The reason for this is that every time that camera is moved, the entire lighting set up is changed (and setting the lights seems to take about %80 of the time while actual shooting takes about 5%.

: Even "slight" color temperature changes make a difference. For instance; you know how when you look at a piece of clothing in the department store it's a color you like--then take it outside into the sunlight and it's a different color? It's because the flourescent lighting in the department store emits a lot of green light--it can make browns look greener for instance. As you know, sunlight (white light) is a combonation of the entire spectrum.

: In filmdom, we still use gels even outside, so the assumption that picking a trouser color filmed in "sunlight", in the hopes of finding the "real" color, may not cut it. If you wanted to get real detailed, perhaps you could find production photos of the scene in question and see how they lit the set (look for gels on the lights).

: My suggestion is to consider how and why you've come about selecting which item from what film or photo--this would make an interesting poll as well (ok, next post up)--and base your color decisions on that.

: Kepler provided me with the following info which could or could not be the genuine article, though I think there is consensus on the shirt. The shirt is %100 Pima Cotton that ranged in color from a khaki to a washed out gray. The trousers are indeed NOT cotton--they are %100 Cavalry Twill Wool Whipcord.

: Hope this helps.

: Andrea


Here's some more info on the trousers. Redundant but useful
lingo for the trousers: Wide Leg, Slash Pockets, Double Forward
Pleats, metal button fly, hook clasps.

Cheers, Andrea
:



Follow Ups:


Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]