Quotes by Colleen Atwood

• Knowing who the actors were as you were designing them helped, with Catherine's beauty and Renee's frailty, they directed me visually just by who they were.
• The reward is that you can actually create a world separate from reality with a story, actors, music, and camera design. When it works it can entertain, move people and teach us all.
• The designs were based on quite a lot of research of what a movie musical is, filtered through the eyes of today. If we'd gone strictly with the '20s, the movement would have been impaired.
• The costumes had to serve the choreography.
• Some of the kimonos took as long as four to five months to make, with all the layers that go into it.
• Sleepy Hollow had a lot of action in it, even though it was a fairy-tale movie.
• On Planet of the Apes, I had a very knowledgeable team who knew good materials, but I had one main source person who worked online and on the street continually looking for the proper materials.
• Costumes are the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth-it really does establish who they are.
• In Chicago, I walked in knowing what the dancers were going to need.
• If you want someone to feel warm, you dress them in a warm color and put a warm light on them and you get the picture. Sometimes, all that needs pushing a little bit to help tell the story.
• I've always loved movies, art and clothes.
• I'd seen the current stage production and the 1975 production of Chicago. I liked them both very much, but I didn't use them necessarily as inspiration.
• I had to work out that it was something that could move, without having everybody in spray painted leotards.
• Each simian had a much different body suit, so besides trying to define class across species, there was a definite attempt to dress each group in different styles.
• As a designer, you have to solve a lot of problems. Even though people are wearing clothes that are supposed to look beautiful, they'll have to do all kinds of things.
• Planet of the Apes was a gigantic challenge, making the clothes work so people could do stunts and action in the clothes. I really learned a lot about that in that movie.
• In real life, a lot of people at that level will have their kimonos made especially for them.