"We read the books," Temime says of herself and her wardrobe crew, "all the concepts of the characters are in the books. When we have a question that we cannot sort out about a character, we can call J.K. Rowling and ask her questions. So we do use the books a lot but sometimes we do need advice. We need to know if a character may be coming back and if they are, will their look be the same."
Rowling's seven-book series began with Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in 1997, and was followed four years later with the first film adaptation. Since that time, Harry and his schoolmates at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have gone through considerable changes. Each subsequent book and film has taken Harry, Ron and Hermione on another year of training and another, increasingly dark, adventure.
This summer Harry, again played by Daniel Radcliffe, returns to Hogwarts for what proves to be his most difficult year yet. The authorities are ignoring Harry and Professor Dumbledore's warnings of the evil Voldemort's return. Meanwhile, a new witch (played with nasty sweetness--or is that sweet nastiness--by Imelda Staunton) assumes control of Hogwarts, and Harry finds himself leading something of a rebellion. Plus theres Harry's eagerly anticipated first kiss.
Voldemort, played by Ralph Fiennes, returns for The Order of the Phoenix, and he's gaining power . Fiennes' Voldemort made his first appearance two years ago in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Voldemort is the favorite character of costume designer Jany Temime.
Ralph Fiennes gets new duds as the evil Voldemort in HP5 (WB)
I like designing for Voldemort, says Temime from her home in Provence, France. He was born for me two years ago, and I put him in those silky veils because I wanted to have this post-fetus look. Just in his silk veil, which could be a second skin, Now in the fifth film, its meant to be one year later, so how does he develop? How do I make a link with the preceding costume and show how he has been building some power? So his costume shows a little bit more personality and strength. He was very challenging and thats what I liked. And Ralph Fiennes is a wonderful actor, and its wonderful to design for him.
Temime, who has been designing the Harry Potter costumes since the third film, says that one of the challenges is that the audience for Harry Potter is quite broad, so you have to make sure that what you do will appeal to all levels of that public. But now its easier since the public on Potter is getting slightly older. There were things on earlier films that I thought were too sexy or too fierce or too wild, and Id think Oh my god my design shouldnt frighten kids of eight or nine. But then I realized that those kids like to be frightened.
But those kids also have strong opinions and have not been afraid to voice those opinions when something in the films does not meet with their expectations.
I was foolish enough to give some of them answers along with my email address, says Temime, Now I have a group that are emailing me directly and complaining about things like giving the Beauxbaton girls hats when no one else had any.
Pretty in pink? Not. Professor Umbridge in her office. (WB)
Temime has designed costumes for more realistic films such as Children of Men and Gangster No. 1. She says the special effects required for a fantasy film like Harry Potter provides unexpected challenges for designerslike try designing without blue and green in your color palette. Temime explains that because of the many visual effects required for the Potter films she's had to be very careful about using certain shades of blues and greens. Thats because visual effects today rely heavily on whats called blue screen or green screen. This involves shooting actors against either a bright blue or green background. Then in post-production the actors can essentially be cut out and everything that had been blue or green can then be replaced with visual effects. So an actor photographed on a broomstick against a blue screen canthanks to the wizardry of film effectsbe made to look as though hes flying over London.
Temime has had to design stunt costumes for those flying effects in Order of the Phoenix: All the costumes that you see in the beginning when they are flying above London, we had to make them all two yards longer so they could have the wind blowing the tail of the costumes. So we made a set of costumes for normal use and a set for flying, which would be in a lot lighter fabric and longer. So that creates a lot more work for us.
Lucius Malfoy (WB)
If youd like to see Temimes work up close, some of her costumes are on display at the Warner Brothers Museum in Burbank. You can see Professor Umbridge's pink outfit as well as props from her office. You might also find Malfoy's elegant black coat. But don't be surprised if costumes and props occasionally go off exhibit. The items are all on loan from the Potter films and if the crew needs something back--like Malfoy's coat that has traveled back and forth between the museum and film set more than once--the museum is obliged to promptly ship the item back. But have no fear, there are plenty of items for you to enjoy. The exhibit celebrates the Harry Potter films with costumes, props and behind the scenes information from all five installments of the vastly popular film series. If you want to see Temime's costumes in action, however, just go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when it opens in theaters on July 11.
The Warner Brothers Museum is part of the Warner VIP Tours that run Mondays through Fridays, 4 to 6pm. For information call 818-977-8687 or visit the Warner VIP Tour Website. The exhibit will remain up through the release of Harry Potter 7 . Tickets for the tour (which includes the museum) are $42.
You can visit the Official Harry Potter Website or the fun but unofficial MuggleNet fan site.
