Costume Designer Lucy Nails the Wardrobe on Western Film “Vengeance”
There’s something uniquely special about watching a period piece. They allow us to time travel to a different place and time in history and imagine what it might have been like had we been born in a different era. While they can be incredibly fun to watch, this is one film style that relies heavily on its production team to effectively transport us. From the film sets to the wardrobe, every detail needs to be accurate in order to truly give life to these environments from the distant past.
One of the most integral counterparts in creating a strong period piece is the costume design, and costume designer Lucy Song has proven herself to be a skilled pro at designing costumes that take us back in time. Song recently designed the costumes for the film “Vengeance,” which screened at the Golden State Film Festival last week at the TCL Chinese 6 Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Directed by Victor Picena (“Medicated Love,” “A Kiss in the Wind,” “Without A Man”), “Vengeance” is set in the wild west and revolves around two siblings (James and Estrella) struggling to deal with the death of their father who was murdered by a gang of outlaws known as The Gang of Five.
“[Lucy’s] artistic design skills were key in the development of the visual look I needed for the film,” says Picena. “She presented me these really interesting visual sketches of the characters’ costumes and was really good at requesting my feedback and incorporating that feedback into the costume revisions.”
Starring Jodi Ferguson (“Normal,” “Fairytale of New York”), Danny Pardo (“Palm Swings,” “El Chapo,” “Colony”) and multi-award winning actors Hollis Sherman-Pepe (“Valediction,” “NCIS,” “To Quiet My Mind”) and Emiliano Ruschel (“Maverick: Manhunt Brazil,” “Alesia: Ground Zero”), “Vengeance” follows James (Ruschel) and Estrella (Ferguson) as they go to great lengths to avenge their father’s death by joining the U.S. Marshall’s office.
“The director wanted a very specific unique look for these characters, he wanted the costumes to be authentic, but also to add in a sensual element for the female characters who owned and worked in the Saloon. It took some research and we experimented with various revisions to reach their unique look,” explains Song.
“The costume vibe I was attempting to create was that of the clothing worn in the mid to late 19th century American Wild West, 1860s to 1880s, while keeping a very slight modernized edge at times with specific costumes to stay within the films story and tone.”
When it comes to costume designing for film, the color palette used for the characters’ wardrobe is key to the visual essence and vibe of the film.
As the costume designer of “Vengeance,” Song paid close attention to the colors present in the sets where they would be filming and the director’s overall vision, as well as what was actually worn by people in the old west.
“I was inspired by colors found in the desert that fit into the film’s color pallet. There’s an undertone of that inspiration in my color choices. The colors and mood that inspired my costume choices were in the vein of browns, beiges, burnt umber, desert sand like colors and cream for the Marshals, Gang of Five outlaws and other town folks,” Song explains. “I used vivid and deep reds, off whites, greens and browns to offset the sensual saloon women. I also had a strong focus on the accessory details for the characters we used to bring the costume ensembles to life.”
One of the things that sets Song apart and makes her such a sought after costume designer is her impeccable attention to detail, and her passion for her work. In a relatively short amount of time Song was able to create many different costumes for the film’s characters, all of which helped bring them to life flawlessly on screen.
Song says, “I enjoyed working on this film so much that it’s difficult to look at any of the process as challenging. The challenges are what keeps it interesting in solving them and keep focused on moving the costume design process forward.”
Though Song’s love for costume design makes it easier for her to go with the flow on a film production, costume designing for a period piece, especially a western, brings a unique set of challenges. One such challenge is the fact that, in contrast to other productions, a western calls for many of the costumes to be covered in dust and dirt to really come across as authentic.
“Working on westerns is interesting. One challenge was not to keep certain characters’ costumes clean, but to ensure they were authentically dirty. I spent a lot of time in between filming scenes making sure the characters had enough dust, dirt and mud on their costumes in a realistic way,” explains Song. “You would be surprised at how many different shades of dirt, dust and mud can be created. It’s one of those costume design processes that not a lot of film viewers may think about or notice.”
While viewers might not notice fine details such as little less dust on an actor’s costume from one scene to the next, it is definitely something that Song pays close attention to as maintaining continuity is a key component of her job.
“Vengeance” director Victor Picena says, “Lucy’s artistic talents in costume design are evident in the film. She maintained a strong commitment to the film’s visual look. She rigorously pushed her artistic design skills to manifest the character’s costume attire, which enabled the actors to evolve into the characters that inhabit the world created in the film’s story.”
Song’s experience in fashion design, which extends to creating patterns and hand sewing, allowed her to create costumes for the characters that weren’t readily available in stores. A few of the key characters in the film that Song designed and constructed costumes for were Amanda played by Raquel Garrido (“The Cheater”) and Dana played by Laura Michl (“The Ploy”), along with constructing costumes for some of the other character’s in the film.
For Amanda’s costume Song chose colors, fabric and textures that represented the balance of innocence and sensuality that the character embodies.
Song says, “She is vulnerable, but strong enough to fight for her life. The off shoulder top combined with leather vest and long burgundy skirt struck the balance we were looking for with this character’s costume design. With the unique jewelry details bringing her costume to completion.”
Aside from designing the costumes in a way that helps the actors move more fully into their characters, it was imperative for Song to consider their individual scenes. For the character of Amanda there was a scene where she is kidnapped and dragged across the floor, a key component that Song factored into her design process.
Song admits, “One of the nicest compliments I was given from that film was when an actor told me that once he tried on the costume I designed for his character, that it made him feel like he was that character, as though it was the final missing piece he needed to transform into the character. In that moment I felt like I was where I finally belonged career wise. That maybe all this time I was meant to do this.”
Though she’s originally from Seoul, South Korea, Lucy Song has made impressive strides as a costume designer in the U.S. film industry over the last few years. Recently she’s become known for her work as the costume designer on Colin West’s (“The Immortal Jellyfish”) sci-fi drama “Pink Plastic Flamingos,” Fletcher Crossman’s (“Heavy Objects”) “Poison of Grapefruit,” Dahmenah Mingo’s comedy “Drunken Memories,” the series “Adversity” and more.
While she has become a powerful force as a leader in the wardrobe department on film productions, what drives Song to continue her work as a costume designer comes down to the people she works with.
She says, “What I enjoy most and keeps me passionate about the costume design on a production is the people you meet and work with. No production is about just one person or job, it’s a collaboration of several people and several jobs that all come together to tell a story in a film, TV or theatre production. You meet so many interesting people who all come together and form a family around a production, simply because they all love the art of storytelling.”
With a lengthy list of successful collaborations under her belt it’s not surprising that many of the directors Song has worked with on previous production have tapped her to be their costume designer on future projects. Up next for Song as a costume designer is Dahamenah Mingo’s (“Drunken Memories”) film “Letter from Daughters,” Victor Picena’s (“Vengeance”) “Girl Next Door” and Fletcher Crossman’s (“Poison of Grapefruit”) “Ruby Red.”
