Styling a movie requires much more than a knowledge of fashion trends. The appearance of the characters brings the story to life. An understanding of the language of clothing & grooming helps create believable characters & aids the actors in feeling authentic.
Image consulting involves understanding an individual’s needs, analysing their physical characteristics and studying their preferences before creating an attractive image, appropriate to their roles and goals and authentic to their personality.
I approach styling for films in much the same way. To be able to provide an actor with a look true to their character requires the following:
1. Discussions with the writer to understand the motivations of the character
2. Understanding the director’s vision for the character’s evolution in the film
3. Doing a physical characteristics and personality analysis of the actor and comparing it with those of the character to fill in the gaps
4. Getting the mood of the overall film in terms of color palette, lighting, locations to identify the correct colors and styles of clothes and accessories.
5. Coordinating grooming, make-up and hairstyles with the make-up team
In doing all this, as an image consultant I help to bring the director and actor’s vision of the character to life on the silver screen.
The journey of the film ‘Station’ was doubly exciting as I acted in it and helped to style it as well. The process came to fruition and the film was released on 28th March 2014. It was very exciting to see my name on the silver screen as actor & stylist for a critically acclaimed Bollywood film. A truly "WOW" moment :)