Black Panther was an amazing movie and let me tell you, the production design and costume designs are amazing! I do not think that people give enough credit to them! Luckily, I was given the chance to interview two amazing ladies and let me tell you, they are amazing!! We interviewed Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter and Production Designer Hannah Beachler!
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
First of all, who are these ladies? Let me tell you more!
Meet Production Designer Hannah Beachler!
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
She designed Beyoncé’s stunning visual concept album “Lemonade,” for which she won the 2017 Art Director’s Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for Awards or Special Events and earned a 2016 Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Nonfiction Event or Award Special.
Meet Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter!
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
She has garnered two Academy Award® nominations for “Best Costume Design,” for Spike Lee’s “Malcom X” (1993) and Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” (1998), as well as an Emmy® nomination in 2016 for the reboot of “Roots.”
Carter has worked in the industry for over three decades and has been credited with over 40 films and counting. Carter and Lee have worked on over ten films together beginning with “School Daze” and including “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X” and “Old Boy.”
Being able to hear in the minds of these ladies was just amazing! Let me share with you my favorite questions and answers below!
They were both excited to work together on this set! As with every film comes research!
Photo Credit : Disney Hannah Beachler at Treur River South Africa
Hannah: "So, I did reach into Nigeria, Lagos. Did a lot of research in Nairobi and the bigger cities around -- and Kenya and in South Africa, Joburg, Cape Town just for some of the architecture. And I looked at lotta older architecture. So, that’s really where my process started really big. Where are we? And then it was like what is the typography of the land? Next step is where does each tribe live on that land and why? And what is each tribe’s history. So then I go down and dot through each tribes’ history, and like this is why they live here. There is a story and a reason behind every single thing you see on that screen coming from me and coming from Ruth."
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
They had a vision board of designs with masks from different tribes and more on it too! To get ideas for the designs they also had shoppers!
Ruth: "I had one that was in Africa, in South Africa. I had one in Nigeria. I had a shopper in South Korea"
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
If you notice when you watch the movie, there are these blankets! I will give you a backstory on them!
Ruth: "Lesotho Village they’re one of the last to be colonized, and so they have held on to their traditions. And one of their traditions is this blanket that was given to them from England. So, you know, it is a kind of a part of the beginnings of their colonization. But there’s this beautiful blanket that the King of Lesotho embraced for his village and was like in the 1800s. So, this blanket represents the Queen. They have these different designs that they do, and they’re magnificent. They’re beautiful.And the Border Tribe they use these blankets, based on Ryan Coogler’s trip to South Africa and to the Lesotho Village where he stayed -- and he fell in love with these blankets. So, he was like, Ruth, you have to get these Lesotho blankets. I was like okay. I’m gonna get ‘em. So, my South Africa shopper went to the company that made them and we got them in in all colors, you know. And then we had to get them all cleared, because they all mean different things."
They had 300 blankets and they camera tested and they could not be used and had to be shaved down! They worked hard and over Christmas even stayed late many nights! They ended up burning them to get it to work too! Talk about dedication!
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
About the king's costume:
Ruth: "The king is royal. The king is the king. We decided that, you know, the panther suit, well, the new suit was going to be a newer technology, more streamline, more beautiful, less for us than the Civil War one was. And so, that translates into his everyday wardrobe. I tried to pick things that I felt that would be body conscious. You see he wears a lotta more knits and sweaters -- so that you see his arms."
Hannah Beachler on Throne Room Set during Prep
What is their favorite set?
They love Sherry's LAB!
Hannah: "She’s the smartest person on earth, man or woman. And so we had to reflect that. But we also wanted to reflect in the big graffiti piece that you see in the centerpiece. We brought in gentleman, Brandon Sadler, who has done a lot of murals for the Afropunk Festival. He’s out of Atlanta"
Ruth E. Carter on set
Photo credit Natasha C. Nicholes / HousefulOfNicholes.com
I loved hearing the minds of these ladies and what went into the movie! Black Panther is out in theaters now! GO SEE IT !
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--Bre