The Rings of Power: What Makes a Good Costume? (pt. 1 - lines)
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2024
- #ringsofpower #lotronprime #amazon
Hello, my name is Lana Marie and as a Lord of the Rings fan, I have some opinions about Amazon's The Rings of Power costume design. A lot of people have been complaining that Amazon’s costumes look pretty bad. I made a few videos critiquing the outfits, but I want to focus on some more objective reasons as to why the costumes may seem underwhelming.
In this video I focus specifically on the lines and geometry in a costume.
* TIMESTAMPS *
Intro: 00:00 - 00:41
What makes a good costume?: 00:41 - 03:46
Bring a character to life: 03:46 - 05:21
Harmony is key - Disa: 05:21 - 06:46
Gil Galad: 06:46 - 07:25
Tar Miriel: 07:25 - 08:24
Galadriel (Elves): 08:24 - 09:49
Ar Pharazon: 09:49 - 11:02
Outro: 11:02 - 11:30
Disa costume breakdown & re-design: • The Rings of Power - D...
Galadriel costume breakdown & re-design: • The Rings of Power - G...
Tar Miriel costume breakdown & re-design: • The Rings of Power - T...
The Rings of Power - All that Glitters is Not Gold: • The Rings of Power: Co...
Video clips used in this video:
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - trailers & teaser trailers
Warner Bros. Entertainment: The Fellowship Of The Ring, Middle Earth Costume Design
Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
#lotr #ringsofpower #tolkien #lordoftherings #hobbit - Zábava
While I can't answer every single comment, I do read them and I appreciate all of you guys' input! One more video coming next week before ROP, then (hopefully) weekly series reviews. Thanks for all the support!
you are criticizing dwarven clothing because they are not stylish. Yo wth, In my point of view 90percent of muricans dress as a acrap
@@Cortesevasive And your point is? The production of the series is being compared with what the collective fandom have as visual reference, thanks to decades of visual artists designing how all the races in Tolkien's world would look like. Adding the fact that they threw so much money into this, you would think they paid people to actually come up with creative and sensible designs.
Thank you for this video. I think I fell in love with it.
20 yrs ago I made LARP clothing but it faded with time. Now something has woken inside of my soul, and it's all because of you. I'll try to make time to make a new costume. I have many ideas that weren't made but the patenarion of the cloth was the best part. Nothing should look brand new but worne, well taken cared of and beloved.
Thank you again.
@@Cortesevasive I would assume that more than 90% of 'muricans are not a Dwarven princess from an ancient fantasy world.
My beef with the dwarven costumes is that they no longer trick the audience's eye into thinking their proportions and size aren't those of humans, and that at any moment a human is going to walk into frame and be way bigger than them. They just look... like fantasy chieftains?
Agreed, Peter Jacson managed to make John Rhys-Davies to look small and as bad Hobbit trilogy was Dwarfs on those were believable as different race.
@@isabellapierre5977 Yes, Fili, Kili and Thorin were too human like and some other desings were way too wacky for my taste. Balin, Gloin and Dain Ironfoot were best on my opinion.
Numenorians should be the same. They are supposed to be extremely tall. 6’4 average with many being far taller. Elendil was almost eight feet tall. They are a fantasy race
@@redrum3405 Exactly! Also they were so big and heavy no horse could carry them in a battle field. Yet here we are, having a cavalry charge led by discount Galadrrriel -_-
the hobbit had a similar problem I think. With a few of the dwarves, they really minimized the dwarvish proportions (big nose and ears, forehead) and it looked really weird to see them look small next to the elves in rivendell
Galadriel’s scrappy adventurer look really clashes with her culture as a Noldorin elf. For those who don’t know Noldorin elves are master craftsmen and we’re taught by Aule, the literal god of smithing, this includes Galadriel. The idea that they’d send off a commander with terrible gear or that Galadriel would allow it to reach such a state is an insult to Noldorin culture. Also she’s a leader, she should not look mundane. To me, it feels like they are trying to mirror Aragorn’s look in the Fellowship, without understanding why it worked
Aule was the god of Craft not just Smithing, and The only Elf he ever taught metal work to directly was Mahtan. And that was exclusively Copper, Brass and Broze work. Feanor managed to take this knowledge and combine it with ideas he basically too from observing Melkor, but he kept his knowledge secret. The rest of the Noldor didn't learn other smithing techniques until the days of Gondolin (because Telchar who had learned them from Aule, taught many Sindarin and Eol's son Maeglin passed his skills back to his cousins). And even then weapons and armor weren't something they were enamored by. By the time of the Rings of Power their skills in these matters had actually deteriorated, Even Celebrimbor was a master GEM-smith, and only a capable blacksmith until Anatar came and offered him new knowledge. The crafts the Noldor were masters of that they learned from Aule were things like sculpture and tapestry and woodwork, not weaponry
It's interesting how ROP doesn't seem to be able to settle on a style for the races. Aside from the hobbits, who're all dressed in rags and twigs, the others seem to be this weird mish-mash. Durin is wearing mostly geometrical shapes in his outfit at 5:29, but Disa is a clash of shapes and dressed in a sheet. Or how the Numenorean still at 7:29, they're all Roman-esque except Miriel and Elendil.
its by design. They want to show multiculti 21st century usa down our throats, so races , costumes, etc are a melting pot.
That's a great point and very true!
They aren't quite able to settle on the races themselves, maybe that's why.
You're right, they have no sense of style consistency. I guess that's why when all the cast of one "area" are together, they look like they came from entirely different places... instead of literally from the same house.
It’s true, no coherency at all! Costumes tell a story
Agreed, costumes are underwhelming and look cheap for such a big money production. Peter Jackson nailed it, the elves looked so elegant. Believable
Plus he had the elves all talk with a different kind of cadence, even Legolas when joking with Gimli NEVER drops to "good ol' boy" jesting as if he is a common person. The take on Galadriel in ROP has her acting like a human. I've thought that the recent trailer could have been improved if her crying over her brother was reduced to a single, drawn out, tear. Possibly it could have been focused on at the end of the trailer, signifying her decorum even while deeply emotional. She's portrayed so much more regally in LoTR whereas RoP's take on her just acts like a young woman lashing out at the world.
@@matthewmosier8439 they want her to seem like, even talked about how she is young and teeny full of piss and vinegar.
Becuase you know, lets just ignore how old she is - while making Elrons seem more mature, while being a couple of thousand yeara younger than Galadriel.
And leta have a middleaged man play Celebrimbor, who depending on which book you use is 200ish years old or younger than Galadrie- so in elven terms, about the same age...
Though Jackson certainly approved the designs, it is really Ngila Dickson who "nailed it"---and won the Oscar for her magnificent work. In many cases, she and her team had to make duplicates of the same costume in several different sizes, for all the scale work that needed to be done!
@@marijeangalloway1560 absolutely, Ngila Dickson is a genius and I'm glad to see her name in the comments! They even wove textile patterns at different sizes for the scale actors, just amazing artistry and dedication :]
@@isabellapierre5977 idk the costumes never looked like cosplay costumes in the hobbit, and they didn't print out fake Cain mail for the armor like they have done many times here on a shirt 😆😆
The ONE dress that we can clearly see ""Galadriel"" in, looks like something better suited for a woman of Rohan. It reminds me more of something Éowyn would wear, with the vest-like bodice.... Actually, that dress could have been Miriel's.
Yeah, but wrapping her up in a darker colored cloth to de-emphasize her breasts just makes her clothes look lumpier and less elegant.
Well, I don't think thats Galadriels dress. I think it's a Numenor dress. RoP Ep 2 spoiler: Galadriel was in a shipwreck and only had a white dress on. So she probably got clothes from someone in Numenor.
@@spenzur good point... she's not really supposed to be in Numenor
@@ohifonlyx33 I don't see why not?
I remember a bts interview from the Peter Jackson films where it was revealed that Viggo Mortensen would hike to each filming location in his costume to make it look more rugged and beaten. That’s how dedicated the cast and crew were in creating an authentic, cohesive cinematic experience that matched the world Tolkien created. It’s astounding how this show has a billion dollar budget and yet everything looks so cheap and generic.
@@isabellapierre5977 I've been watching it in Cinema back then 😅
Glad to see some of the young generation appreciating the core messages of Tolkien.
The PJ films had heart behind it, with professionals working in front and behind the camera determined to bring this story to life the best they could..what we got from Amazon, is a bunch "writers" and "actors" who are more interested bragging about their activism than being true to the source material.
Did you know when Vigo kicked that one helmet....
That money went to CGI
@@Kserijaro The Main Three were all walking wounded in that scene! 😂 Talk about dedication.
That blue dress of Galadriels is awful. It looks like the description of a dress on an OC character in a Modern Girl in Middle Earth fanfic from 2003 (“my dress was long with flowy sleeves and a corset top and my hair flowed freely down my back in ringlets” lol).
Maybe, because it IS a fanfic? I can't help looking at it this way. Way tooo far from the original world of Tolkien.
Is that predate the Protectors of the Plot Continuum fanfic series?
It's not even a good corset top. It's like a tube top she happened to pull over her dress. Beautiful horse, though. You don't see many cremellos.
This blue dress do not fit for overall Numenor style of dresses in this show. She should be outfitted in simpler version of Tar-Miriel dress that also resemble her elven Fortuny dress that she wears in scene with Elrond. If you used to were loose tunic style dresses you will feel uncomfortable and out of place in different style of dresses.
One thing about Disa's (or however you write her name) costume: Dwarves are meant to be great craftspeople, and often use geometric, angular motifs.
Why would you not, on a princesses outfit, be able to have those triangles be even, of the same size and arranged vaguely in line?
They look like a child cut and pasted them, not a dwarf with great skill and patience that has honed his craft for probably a century.
They cut gemstones for gods sake, they can bloody well make an applique of an equilateral triangle that is geometrically correct.
There is a fact that dwarves weren't afro-americans.
@@Kserijaro Um... the actress playing Disa is Afro-British and Iranian-British. Her heritage lies totally outside the US. Ironically, she'd have made a great person to play someone from Far Harad.
@@Kserijaro Nobody cares about that. The actress is perfect for a dwarf.
But they should have put her into a convincing costume!
@Ae Norist: You're so right!
I think they should have used medieval gold smithing works as inspiration to create believable broches and adornments for a dwarven princess. Using geometrical shapes and then filling them with gold filigree and geometrically cut gemstones. Cloisonne-like works would also be good.
Middle earth is a pre-industrial world, showing imperfections is a (hopefully) intentional way of showing that.
@@johannageisel5390 I care about that.
Its silly and counter-productive to ram politics into work of fiction.
I can bet my ass off there were probably better picks. But this one is "body positive" and "colored people"
You don't even comprehend how much these "progressive" agenda pushers are damaging the actual progress actual inclusion.
We are now hiring people based on skin color and race and not merit and skill.
This is how society fails.
You have some of the most substantial and useful critique of Rings of Power, that I've come across
Thanks for the wonderful compliment, glad you enjoyed the video!
Agreed. The horrible costumes were what stood out to me the most. I’m glad you’re expanding on why in educated detail.
"Oh my God it's a fantasy, anything can happen", people can wear random outfits without context and have random skin colours without context or logical explanation. That's where we're at, Tolkien's dead so anything goes 🤷 people defending such productions can't comprehend that a good made up story is a story you're ready to believe in.
Yeah, what a disappointment. I love LoTR but I'm not even watching this, it's clear that they don't care.
"Don't think too much about it. Just enjoy it as It is".
I'm getting sick of that attitude lately. I don't want to switch my brain off to be able to enjoy something.
@@nicolasferreiro4492 Propaganda is easier to push if people turn their brains off first.
If entertainment is designed to make people think about what they're consuming, they might realise some issues with what they're being shown.
@@catlover-fp5ig
It's not Lotr.
90% of content is made up because they don't have rights to Silmarillion. The have to appendiced (one chapter talks about this).
I hope you get it now, they tought they could make it up with tons of CGI.
@@fisebilillah4406 That's just sad. Poor Tolkien.
Very excited… thx. Can’t believe how so many of the outfits are just like sheets and blankets thrown on 😬
And drapes.
Billion dollars spent on...... Hmmm
I think costume department was inspired by Fortuny dresses and Greecian and Roman styles. It work good for elfs and Numenor but not for dwarven culture that should stand apart from Numenorians, elfs and common people.
I simply don't get how a show with these financial capacities managed to screw up a lot of the costumes and design choices. They have the resources to pay the best of the best! I wonder where all of the money they put into the production went? Certainly not into the costumes. I was really ticked about the elves looking so human, the only thing setting them apart being the ears. Looks wise, everyone is equally "modern attractive" if that makes sense. So you cant tell elves and men apart by the looks either.
The horizontal dark section of Galadriel's dress really does make her look shorter. I think another feature that gave the elves a taller appearance was how slender the outfits were. This links up a design concept from the late classical period of Greece in which sculpture moved away from the tree trunk chests to more lender figures to accentuate the height of the figure.
Edit: Also longer legs, which again the upper sections of elven garb tended to be shorter than the lower in LotR.
If I recall correctly, a lot of effort was put down in design for Jackson's movies, were the historical sources of the cultures Tolkien made (traceable due to the linguistic origin) was explored alongside were the culture Tolkien described found itself on a historical and development level in the books (on the rise, in decline etc.) to create a thorough design language. It seems these ideas were tossed aside for RoP, sadly, and that they didn't take the trouble of trying to design backwards from the massive groundwork laid down by Jackson and his crew either. There are some lazy references outside of clothes though, with a Numenorean city sharing a distinct design element with Minas Tirith, and the Argonath idea being replicated here and there. Neither of which strike me as good choices, but that is obviously subjective. A well developed and logical design and design language appear to be missing from the footage released so far, and while perhaps this is not all that important in itself it will put greater demands on all other aspects of the series to be really well made to offset what appears to be a lacking quality in this department.
Love the costume comparisons between the original movies and Amazon's ugly ones.
The explanation of how the rectangular elements are harmonius with each other because they present throughout, helped me understand an element of costume design I hadn't thought about before! And as for Disa I think with your help I finally understand what was so off about her look to me. The other points were well done too. I appreciated you showing examples from lotr to show good costume design telling the story of the character. I like how you explain things, I feel like I could show this to someone who didn't know anything about RoP and they'd understand it just fine
Looking forward to the next video :) I wonder about other people's thoughts on putting galadriel in blue? I'm not against characters wearing more than one color of course, but the blue seems wrong to me somehow. Maybe because it reminds me of Lúthien...I'm not sure. Maybe if her hair was more of the "deep gold" as described it wouldn't bother me as much. I really don't know, but for some reason I feel like green or yellow would be better for Galadriel, if we're going to do something other than gold/silver/white. Maybe I'm only being pedantic though lol
That was very enlightening. I don’t really know much about clothes, but I have avidly watched the bonus material on the Lord of the rings extended editions and the making of the costumes there. Your explanations make totally sense. Great work.
Loving the concept of this series, you should absolutely branch out into other shows aswell. This is one of the big gripes I had with The Witcher on Netflix. The clothing they used for the characters and extras was so out of place in most settings. Never seems to be talked about though
Loving this type of analysis. Theatre and movie costimography has been an artform of its own right. People working and directing the costumes should 100 % understand the story and the character's arc and personality. For the project like this, it was important to have people who genuinely love and understand the source matherial - and we got none of that in Rings of Power, it is obvious. The fact that the show runner doesn't know what the crest their main character wears represents, just means they are detached from the story altogether and are just slapping "something that looks appropriate" on the character, without thinking. This would maybe sufice should this series was a generic fantasy, but this is one of the most detailed and worked out fantasies ever writen - therefore, this show is done before it was played. Disa costume is appalingly bad, if there weren't for your videos, I wouldn't even have noticed that they made that horrific cut on a dress so they could add - some kind of garter to her tie? This kind of cheap erotics goes against everything the author and the story are about.
Lady, you make a great point..... When I shop for the DVD.. I always look at the costumes.. and the sets. I want not only the best Opera singers in my collection, I want beautiful costumes and sets. I want it to feel like the time and place the Opera was supposed to occur. I feel Opera is supposed to totally free of us from our mundane world. It is escapism at its very best.
(Tosca should be set in Napoleonic Italy, La Traviata, in mid 19th century France.) They did a Traviata in modern America and it ruined the immersion into a beautiful setting, entirely.
Relocating operas can be done successfully, but... it would take a lot of smarts, and in the end you are reinventing the wheel. And especially for Traviata, the setting does have to be beautiful, because the heroine has to be riding high to all appearances before her end.
If you relocated it to Hollywood, and had her being a star who is being kept by movie moguls, it could work. But you'd have to be very careful to show a glamour Hollywood, and not a Hollywood with everyone wearing T-shirts.
@@suburbanbanshee Like old Hollywood glamour from 30s with long draped evening gowns and daily elegant dresses ?
Seriously: thank you so much.
I´m not from a tailor background or something similar.
Yesterday I discussed the costumes (and armor) with friends, and told them that the only outfit I really liked, was Ar-Pharazons Roman/Byzantine Robes, because it seemed to fit the purpose and the cultural background and status.
I couldn´t lay my finger on it, why the other costumes bothered me so much.
Your words just hit the nail on it´s head.
Keep up the great work!
Every time I see the promo shot of Liv Tyler in Arwen's "Dying Dress" I just gasp. It's such a beautiful design with a ton of subtle details (like the fabric and the muted gold embroidery) and complement's Liv Tyler's stunning beauty so well. You can well believe that this is not only the most beautiful woman in Middle-Earth, but also a princess of great dignity and wisdom. The thing that made PJ's elves more elvish and less human, though, is not just costuming itself, but also the way the actors carried themselves: very straight postures, with slightly slowed-down movements, as if hurrying was beneath them, with slower speech and lower voices - all these details really sold their performance as beings on a more elevated levels than mortal humans, and all these elements were lacking in RoP (then again, in scenes where we have predominantly elven characters, this could seem a little bit... stiff and boring? There is this risk, haha)
Your commentary is great. I am looking forward to more. Thanks for focusing on the costuming. It is so important, especially in Fantasy.
Great analyses, makes me appreachiate the movies even more and inspires the imagination when reading the silmarillion again and again
If anybody needs a palate cleanser -- Muppet's Christmas Carol notoriously has some of the best historical costuming ever put on film, to the point that even the Muppets are wearing historical underwear and layers under what you can see on film. And it all happened on time and under budget.
I like that movie.
As someone who is a character concept art these kind of knowledge are so important and useful, thank you so much for this amazing video, lookinh forward to more future videos from you!!
Initially, I wasn't particularly hyped about watching rings of power, but I'm kinda hyped about discussing it regardless how the series goes. Very interesting video, it's so satisfying to be able to express why this series doesn't catch my interest
This channel has graced my feed a few times over the last few years, which I always thought was weird because I don't much care for costumes. You take something I don't think about but still feel is wrong or pleasing, and articulate beautifully why I feel that way.
I managed to watch 4 episodes before giving up. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't like it aside from finding it boring. But now, I'm having so much fun and learning so much about what goes into making a TV show from CZcamsrs such as yourself who know their stuff and the industry and the theory and the practicalities and can explain where and why and how it's poorly done. So thank you! You've turned a trainwreck into a teaching tool and made it interesting after all, for we can learn as much from poor execution as we can from excellence.
I’m really glad you are pointing out all those aspects! I couldn’t agree more with you! You will probably cover a lot of my personal criticism in further videos but I’ll just add a few.
Disas and Durins couple outfit is just horrible in so many ways. Just cladding them in the same fabric looks so blatant and cheap. The amount of gold within the fabric looks unnatural. No problem with embroidery, but this is simply too much to look credible for the characters and time period depicted. Too flashy. I’m not fond of the grey/gold combo, but I’ll accept it’s my taste and not valid criticism. Her jewellery just doesn’t seem sophisticated enough for dwarven craftsmanship and her rank as a princess. Her skirt is too long, highly impractical I’d imagine in a dark dwarven cave. Her boots look like they are made from Plastazote or some soft expanding foam (which they probably are trust me on that 😄) the material just doesn’t scream leather or metal. There shouldn’t really be any ambiguity. Durin has a rug on his shoulder? Like what is it? It doesn’t look like fur. Compare it to Jacques-Louis David’s painting of Napoleons coronation. It’s a couple outfit for two rulers but it looks rich, royal and matching character and situation.
Gil-galads costumes is waaaaay too much gold. It just looks like a halloween costume. It has zero contrast. These criss cross things serve no purpose and look to me like they have dwarven runes or something on them. They just add volume that isn’t needed. All the fabrics he wears look modern. There is a cloak he wears at some point that looks like it has some crackling effect. This is what you get in the halloween section of the fabric store! I believe that this design should be a throw back at Gil-Galads armour from the PJ movies but it’s not successful.
Elrond seems to always get a side drape cloak which just seems weird as non of the other elves do. I’m sure like every society there are trends and it makes no sense that he would go against them. Not really an exception though. If you look at numenor, things like sleeve shapes or lengths are all over the place. There is no recognisable pattern for collars either. You recognise a photo from the 80s because of the particularities in fashion and hairstyling. But all the costumes seem to be designed as a stand alone not as a individual within a larger society with nothing particular that ties them together aside from a colour pattern. That’s what you do for a theatre production not a film.
I have actually so much more to rant about 😭 I’ll leave it at that though
And the hair is awful! Whoever the orange Numenorian girl is has Hermione hair! It doesn't suit the outfit. She needed it braided and up or something.
They look like a couple who bought a "Roman and Barbarian" Halloween costume foe $179.99 form, who else, Amazon!
@@sariahd5083 oh yeah I agree with that. Everyone’s hair is awful. Galadriel is pure frizz, Numenor has every style at once, long hair short hair, braids no braids, pinned up, loose, crowns, hairpins, jewellery. There is no consistency or overarching style. It makes zero sense. Elves not even having long hair is some of the most upsetting aspect of it all. They look generic not what you expect of Tolkien. There is no visual differentiation. Hairstyles and embellishments are part of aesthetics which are part of culture. It just reflects badly on everyone, as something keeps feeling off. And let’s not start with the Hobbits sticking twigs in their hair that looks more tangled than a birds nest…
@@horsemumbler1 ahaha that is really spot on! It’s fascinating that there should have been a costume designer, assistant costume designers, fabric buyers, pattern makers, pattern cutters and a lot of seamstresses involved and nobody thought “look at how horrible our creation is". I remember in the lord of the rings movies, they talked about how they picked specific widths of weaving of fabric to accentuate the size difference between Gandalf and the Hobbits. Such a tiny detail, so much thought and Amazon just went for what was on offer during prime day…
@@bienenfluegel
Yeah, it really feels like their "costuming department" was a couple of interns and a fashion school dropout with an unlimited Amazon Prime card and the instruction: "Don't use anything that will be too expensive for the cosplayers."
Knowing the deapths that corperate America is capable of, I'd even say it's even odds that some of that is actually pretty close to the truth.
Very nice. I'm not a terribly visual person, so I just know what I don't like, without a lot of specifics. You are a font of knowledge as well as of observation, and it's a pleasure to learn from you.
I’ve really enjoyed these series of videos you’ve done! I knew the costumes for Rings of Power were completely wrong and your analysis helps explain exactly why they feel so off. Thanks for sharing these!
Very interesting video. When I did medieval reenactment I always maintained that if it didn't work as clothing it wasn't a good costume.
Good Craftmanship ... not lazy and cheap Craftmanship is what makes good costumes and sets. ex. Look at the Horse's amour, it's obvious made from cheap foam and they just primed it with one colour and called it a day, no weathering, no highlights, no washes, etc. And the most obvious, the printed scale armour on spandex shirts they're wearing. It looks like Rings of Power shared costume dept or raided the costume dept of amazon's other cheap looking show, Wheels of Time.
Even Wheel of Time have better costumes. Costume department think about the culture differences, small details that speak about place of birth of that characters. Function of garment is far better placed then in RoP. Actually I like costume in WoT.
Thank you for the new video 💙 YAY!!
Thank you for watching! Always appreciate it :)
This channel is so cool! I never thought so much…. Thought went into costume design!!
Interesting video! Good job
With Galadriel’s blue Numenor dress, it doesn’t look Elvish because it’s not Elvish. It’s human-made by the Numenorians. Remember how she was found in the ocean and was brought to Numenor?
If one of the costume design meetings was 'Can we make chest armour that looks neither masculine or from a fantasy series' then they knocked it out of the park. Great video 😊👍
This was so fascinating. Thank you.
Another very interesting video! I wonder why on earth Amazon spent so much money on CGI and so little on costumes?
This joke of a show doesn't deserve your voice of reason.
Of the many criticism I have watched and read in the past weeks, yours is the most accurate and brutal one, showing us that these people have done really a horrible job.
Thank you🙏
Learn something new about costumes, lines, shapes, colors, (why i like some and dont like others) but in a context that i familiar with (fantasy, movies). Tx and keep up the good work...
Great video! I'm a comic artist, so this is all really helpful info
Easy - what makes a good costume - Step 1 - No input from anyone who works for Amazon or Netflix
Thank you for another one of your videos. I appreciate the knowledge you bring to the subject. It's not something I know anything about, so it's interesting, particularly the contrasts (historical references, and comparisons with the Jackson films). Following your statement "A costume shouldn't look like a costume", (despite seeing lots of fashion reality shows with my wife) I would be one of those fellows who would sense something was amok with the clothing, but not able to articulate with any precision what was off. You explain really clearly. All of these errors from the Show Runners just indicates more wasted potential. It's sad.
It does seem like the costuming was very "We have an unlimited budget, time to fill it" rather than "creativity from scarcity"
Posted this on the entirely wrong video (whoops!) so here are my thoughts on Galadriel specifically! As much as I adore seeing women in armor with swords (for the ✨ _aesthetic_ ✨ you know), Galadriel has always been the last person I’d ever imagine that anyone would look upon and think, “Hmmmm, you know what this powerful female figure, whose power stems almost entirely from the fact that she is already incredibly imposing due to millennia of wisdom and magical prowess, needs? A full suit of armor!”
Because here’s the thing: you didn’t NEED to give Galadriel - of all people - a sword and armor to convey that she’s a force to reckon with. It’s just unnecessary! I would’ve loved much more to see Galadriel be portrayed as a classically feminine character and then people do NOT take her lightly even though she wields no weapons and wears no plate. Hell, if nothing else, emphasis on Galadriel’s diplomacy and magic could’ve gotten us a closer, on-screen look at the latent magic system in Middle Earth that way!
Well said! I'm currently making a video on this exact topic, completely agreed.
Awesome channel. It's rare to find a movie- costume-themed channel on CZcams 🌈
Checkout Bernadette Banner's channel if you haven't already, she sometimes does in-depth analysis of film costumes particularly as they relate to the real historical fashion. She's an incredibly good content creator. And she also designs and creates historical outfits herself which is even more impressive.
@@Luumus thanks for the hint I'll surely do!
excellent analyses, thank you
There is something weird going on with boobs. So much so that it almost feels like this was the reason behind these cape or sash or armour-like pieces around the upper bodies of many women's costumes. And sometimes even this does't help much (shot of Miriel on horseback). Why is it? In comparison gowns in LOTR had very smooth and clean lines without looking rigid. I only spotted some of Galadriel's dresses that looked like they had some sort of appropriate support and structure. Disa's costume seems to be another with some kind of breast support despite being hideous otherwise.
Excellent video
There is also armor.
No plate armor has ever been mentioned in Tolkien's work to my knowledge. But I understand why Jackson used it for the Gondorians - it distinguished them from the rest of the people as heirs of a greater civilization.
However, there is absolutely no way the Elves ever wore plate armor. Especially late Medieval type plate armor. They have never had need for it - they never had heavy cavalry.
They never had need for it? You know that they had to fight hords of Orks, Trolls Balrogs and Dragons in the First Age?
@@grimgrauman7650 The Dragons and Balrogs would view plate as a sort of mobile Dutch oven. Trolls would be able to smash plate. And Orcs have similar characteristics to Elves in battle. So why would Elves want to give up mobility for plate, when plate probably wouldn't suffice against longbow arrows, explosive weapons, etc.?
@@suburbanbanshee because you don't lose mobility when you are in Plate Armor. Also what do you want to say with: "orcs have similar characteristics to elves in battle" ? Let me tell you that humans have similar characteristics to humans in battle, and they still used plate armor if they were able to.
Great analysis
Very interesting and informative.
And very unexcited, many videos on the subject have, understandably, a very excited/disappointing undertone, which I can understand, but is also not always appropriate to the aim of the videos.
Oohh I would love an analysis about the "ceremonial" armor the supposed elves used to enter Valinor. That was terrible!!
I read about the harmony in dress in the book, The Lost Art of Dress by Linda Przybyszewski. It is something that the costume designers needed desperately. I am curious if it is because Amazon is cutting corners somewhere because it seems that the Wheel of Time costumes had that same kind of discordance that you were describing. Actually, it might be because it isn't assigned to any one person, but rather a boardroom. 😂
Secondly, on the subject of differentiation between races, I am watching a CDrama right now, Love Between a Fairy and a Demon, that I am loving the costume elements. The fairies are light fabrics and pastel ethereal tones, the demons have a lot of layers and textures with blacks, reds and golds to their costumes. I would be curious as to your take on it.
Wow, great video, very interesting 😊👍🏻🇨🇷
It's been jarring to see this Rings of Power choices in many areas of craftwork. Peter Jackson's films had flaws, but so elevated itself by the careful and caring details. The Shire's Hobbit Holes, the general look and aesthetics of the architecture (specific to each area we visit) and the clothing. Yes, clothing, not costumes. I think you explain that so well.
By contrast, and despite a grossly superior budget and over ten years of advances in all arts, it is a huge step backwards and as much as the story they are apparently attempting to tell, these poor design choices are somewhat insulting to the legacy of what we saw Peter Jackson and his team do for a caring screen adaption, including the Hobbit TBH.
The difference is one was made with love and also it was made without the promise of certain success. I'm sure whoever invested in the original trilogy believed it would be profitable but there must have always been doubt and so they put their hearts into it and tried their very best. Now with Amazon they pretty much look at this show as something that cannot fail, there is no love in this project.
9:09 I've just realised that this dress is based on one of Éowyn's dress - the white one with the brown corset she wears while in the encampment in RotK. I already had a feeling they were trying to channel Éowyn during that scene where Galadriel, for some inexplicable reason, had her hair down while adventuring.
One glaring error in costume was galadriel and her hanging off a cliff. Wearing warrior metal gloves from a knights templar... In the freezing snow....
I don't think Galadriel's blue dress is an elven dress. I think the will get it from someone human in the next episode. So it makes sense the dress is not elvish. I think the costumes are pretty good. Way better than most fantasy shows. But LOTR costumes are just perfect.
Very interesting! I dislike ROP but I think it offer excellent material for people know what not to do.
cool, I learned a lot :P ty
Thank you very much for your very competent explanations. It is really appalling to see how little effort was put into the costumes in that One-Billion-Dollar-Series.
One thing that I noticed from the beginning was that in the series ROP the patterns on the garments seem to be just printed on the fabric instead of being embroidered, as we have seen it in the original LOTR. Shame on you, Amazon!
And, of course the style that did not meet the world of Tolkien at all. Sometimes a strange mix. The star-shaped helmet of Miriel hit the absolute rock bottom....
They don't have rights to Silmarillion, only to lotr appendices, and one chapter talks about that plot.
So they made 90% up, and tought they could make it up with CGI.
Very interesting
Nice analysis. Do a video on LOTR movies costumes.
It strikes more when you realise the people who did the original LOTR films are still around in NZ. They are just not the type of people who would say yes to everything executives want them to do, so they probably got overlooked (you can see this in the bts of the films). Creative collaboration, care and detail makes for good costuming, not 'say yes to everything they say so I don't get fired'.
Godspeed 🌹
No nothing about costumes, but felt like everything in this production it seemed off, especially for a high budget show. Learned something, thx.
:) Gil-Galad's criss·crossing straps is a reference to GoT costumes, like Eddard Stark's costume
Crisscrossing straps are ultimately a reference to the High Priest in Jerusalem (and of course, to Jesus in the Book of Revelation). Shrug. Doesn't really fit Gil-Galad, but at least it's a look.
(There's dispute as to whether the high priest robe actually had a crisscrossing sash, but it is one of the standard depictions of the Bible's wording. So you do see it fairly often in Bible art.)
@@suburbanbanshee :) That might be that costume of Eddard Stark contains a reference to High Priest in Jerusalem (unlikely), back then makers of that show might have had someone, who actually knew something about Bible. This masterpiece? Highly-highly unlikely.
Just compare how many people remember how Eddard Stark looks like and how High Priest in Jerusalem looks like. It would be what? 1000 to 1?
Wait, they just painted gold onto the cloth of the dwarfs? It is clearly coming off, and they use that for promo pictures?
I also wonder how important the lighting or color grading is for how the cloth looks. Because something is really off if you compare how they look in the photos compared to the movie.
as someone who knows almost next to nothing about clothing, this was quite educational on how a good outfit/costume is designed.
it kinda makes sense now why i disliked the costume unconsciously but could never reall point out why except for the missuse of certain fabrics.
5:15 this hurts so much as a LoTR fan and a costume designer LOL
There seems to be a lack of understanding by the critics that the civilisations shown have significantly devolved between the second and third age (show vs. films). Of course they have to look different from the films and can't just be a rehash. As for the dwarves, the designers seem to have heavily borrowed from early, bronze and iron age Celtic art (vs. the later, sub-roman Celtic art that featured heavily in the films). Iron-age Celtic art is very odd (do a Google search) to modern eyes, not following many later conventions (notice the head dresses), and features a lot of highly non-practical designs. That makes them just unusual, not inauthentic.
Would say of all the costumes, only Gil Galad look alright. The Numenors, instead of looking like a rich and powerful nation, looks like they are left over costumes from the 90s Hercules and Xena series...and the worse is the dwarf princess' costume, same problem as the Numenors, supposed to be a princess of the most wealthiest dwarven kingdom and yet it looks like it got made in 2 minutes.
And Galadriel's armor wouldnt have the symbol of a house she couldn't stand in the books.
Poor materials and Galadriel's characterization aside, I think the general idea that the elven armor should look more knightly is correct. Lotr had amazing designs but I'm not sure what they were aiming for with the elven armor, especially the golden segmented armor seen in the battle of the last alliance. I always thought the elves looked more like high elves from warhammer (with less extravagant details).
Disa should have been a noblewoman or a priestess/religious leader in a southern human faction, such as Far-Harad. It would have served the story, the world building, the character and the actor far better than what we got.
My first feeling when I watched RoP was "its to much" and the elves felt more human like.
Isn't it interesting that a show that is essentially one big Amazon Prime commercial is full of people wearing costumes that look like the kind of cheap glitz you'd expect to see selling on Amazon?
very true, very sad
Costumes and hairstyles are a failure. The costumes look like cheap cosplay, not matching the scenery and those gold prints are found on every t-shirt today. I don't like it very much that every race has a golden element. Elves should have silver elements and crystal accessories because they adored the stars. Dwarves look better in heavier and dark metals. Gold could be found in the Numenor but also without exaggeration as it is shown here. Hairstyles are also a tragedy. Why do these Hobbits have some leaves on their heads. After all, the Hobbits took care of themselves. The actress who plays Galadriel has better hair at premieres than in the series and the actor who plays Elrond has the same hairstyle in the series and in reality. And this woman dwarf with a helmet, I can see it, that the dwarves would style their hair. A race that works underground. It sure sounds really real. Tragedy.
It's startling even for a layman like me how much a costume can pull you in or push you away. Something just feels right or it feels 'off'. The accuracy and functionality of armour is more my thing and to be frank some of the armour in the ROP is awful. Seems as if the lack of care and attention applies to the costumes as well.
I have a few complains.
I don't think the quality of the fabrics is low. It's just more shiny than the ones used in lotr movies. This works for a character like gil galad who is a High King. On the other hand, other elven characters like elrond or celebrimbor barely had any shiny or golden in their outfits. This gives us the idea that gil galad is above them, not just in his rank, but mentally. He feels superior to everyone around them. This is represented in his shiny clothes. Cause, like you said, not everything that glitters is gold.
Also, i think you are not considering the story porpuses in this costumes and you go directly into comparing them to lotr movies. In vane, cause this series is extremely different in its storty from the movies, wich is fine. Galadriel's outfit doesn't resembles the height on elves cause she got those clothes in numenor. Where elves are not welcome. Actually, i think that the vertical lines describe this perfectly. Cause while she used clothes with horizontal lines in lindon, her home, in numenor is the opposite. A symbolism that she is in foreign land. Just my perspective.
Then disa. Let's just say that those boots make sense when we see that, despite she is a princess, she can forge like any other dwarf. Other dwarves wear similar boots cause they're constantly walking on stone. Also, i think the triangules in her costume resemble the mountains. If you take a look into other dwarven women costumes, disa's outfit really differentiate from them a lot. Except in the scene where she sings alongside with other dwarven women who have costumes very similar to hers, except for the triangles or the gold decorations. Basically, disa's clothes represent, not only her status as a princess, but her task in khazad dum to sing to the mountain along with other female dwarves.
The only critism that i consider valid here is in miriel's clothes. Too much decorations, too much to see, and therefore is confusing. You're right about that. Also, that giant sun helmet doesn't help in battle where she basically targets herself wearing that thing xd. But fortunately, she didn't have to fight, yet. As for pharazon, his other costume wasn't that bad, considering it resembled the same rectangles in his "better" outfit that you analized. I actually really liked it cause those symbols he carries in his chest are the guilds in numenor. He has them all trapped in his chest. That is really interesting considering his greedy personality
8:29 galadriel is supposed to be an elve in Rings of Power...
Thank you, I thought the whole time that she was portrait as a human in this interpretation 😅
One of the criticisms I have with some costumes mainly from what I've seen from Gil-galad and some Numenoreans, are letters and words so blatantly printed or embroided on them; mainly the chest area. It bothers me because the concept of having tops with letters and words that obvious is too modern for the setting and it lack subtlety. For me it adds to the idea that some of the costumes were merely slapping together various cultural symbols without thought nor creativity.
do you go on larp´s? do you make your own costumes?
I've never been, unfortunately there isn't much opportunity to go to larps where I'm from. But I do make costumes, yes. You can find the making of some right here on my channel.
@@LanaMarie hehe yeah i just found your channel an hour ago or so... i think you would like it! maybe start your own larp community in your area?! you never know, maybe you find likeminded folk :) i will check out your costumes soon, maybe you will find a comment of me too :P wish you good fortune!
For me Arwen dresses look like from pre raphaelites painting of The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse
It reminds me of the animated version of Belwolf
I just noticed, thanks to the close ups, that there are runes on Gil-Galads costume! Why?? Why on earth would he want runes on his chest? Cirth was for inscribing something on rough surfaces like wood and stone. And if I remember correctly, by the time of the Second Age Tengwar was used by almost all elves except elves of Eregion. Gil-galad was the High King of Noldor and his domain was Lindon. And even if we allow for Cirth to exist as primary script for Lindon all throughout the Second Age, there is no reason you would need 2 poorly embroidered (I think I see the threads in the runes) strips of fabric with Cirth across your chest.
And embroidery on them is really bad. I cross stich and embroider (not real goldwork though) and I would not allow myself to give someone such an awful embroidery... They could've at least used good embroidering machine, that can use good golden threads. Moreover the threads that were used are just god awful. Even DMC Diamant Metals which I won't ever touch (don't like them, won't like them) look better in machine embroidery. Why won't they use Rheingold or Runold? Those 2 brands considered one of the best for machine goldwork. And that's fake goldwork. Real goldwork looks much more spectacular.
There is also a problem with the absence of heraldic decice of the House of Finwe on the clothes or colours from it. In LotR trilogy you can see Gil-galad in the cuirass in the colours of heraldic decice.
The fabrics they use are also quite questionable to say the least. A lot of the fabrics look like polyester and not the good one. Tar-miriel's and Disa's dresses are made from the same fabric with the same draping just different colours. That leads me to believe that it's not draping at all but the structure of the fabric they bought. it's as if they thought "nobody will notice that it's the same fabric" and went with it. Elrond's costume uses the same distinct fabric on his shoulders ( 1:13 ). I've also seen it on the orcs. Disa is a dwarf, Tar-Miriel is a human, Elrond is an elf. I doubt they will have the same fabrics available to them. Plus almost all royal families used the brightest colours available to show their nobility. Not gray and beige.
You also need to be a bit mad to wear what Arondir wears when you want to use a bow. You better not wear jewelry while you're shooting, and he has fluffy sleeves and some kind of wooden cuirass (to show off his "elfiness" I suppose). Does he want to get the sleeves stuck in the string? Or for the string to catch on his cuirass? I've seen traumas caused by inappropriate clothing for shooting. Bruises being the lightest one.
And why the clothes for harfoots are so bad? Why do people in RoP production team think that nomadic tribes are dirty and do not know how to properly fix their clothes? We have quite a lot of nomadic tribes even nowadays and they are always clean, in properly fixed clothes and will never wear such a disgrace. Do the creators even know that holes if left alone will only become bigger?
The artistic choices of the costumes department bewilder me.
Sorry for the rant :)
I realy like the comparsion to LotR, makes it way easier to see.
I havent watched The Hobbit Series in ages, so iam interested how the Costumes there compare to RoP or Lotr.
But great Video, looking forward to part2.
I remember when the Hobbit series was released, especially the first one, there was a lot of comparing going on and a lot of critique of how the costumes in the Hobbit movies looked terrible in comparison, especially Galadriel. I can't remember exactly where I read it, but someone really analysed Galadriel's new costumes and found them very cheap-looking, not layered and with a certain depth to them like in LotR.
@@gwenivercall So i assume Jackson used a complete new crew for that then.
Warner uploaded the costume making of here on CZcams (perfect timing) and there was a women in it who pretty much made all the costumes for the trilogy.
Realy a shame, but sadly pretty fitting for the Hobbit overall.
But it makes sense, it wasnt only the CGI for me which made me not getting sucked into the world like in Lotr.
Ngella Dickson got an Oscar for the costumes in LoTR...
Enough said!
to me, the actors don't become their characters in their costumes. they totally look like a bunch of people off the street who were told to put on some costumes and stand there in their own interpretation of what they think Middle Earth inhabitants would do, while they had their pictures taken. they don't look comfortable in the costumes, as if they're something they would actually wear. they look like they're in costumes and as actors, that's not good. as the audience, it takes you out of the whole experience.
They look like mid level fantasy costumes thay come in S/M/L and zero tailoring for the individual, that just came out of the rental booth at the local Renaissance Fair
They look like everyone made their own costumes for a ren faire the dwarves liked Doritos so threw some triangles in some gold paint and glued it to some fabric and called it a day. They used the Dorito Dust on everything to make it look like Mount Doom scenes. The “elves” got those cheap elf ears and some gum Arabic and some cheap costume off wish and called it a day. The Worgs look like someone dress their pug dog in some faux fur and used a snap chat filter to film it.
Disa's looks SO bad. And not just because it's a chiton with a thigh slit--but because it's a sloppy, asymmetrical, disheveled bag.
The costumes remind me of the original star trek, a low budget production. If there is an uncanny valley of costumes, then these costumes would be in there.
Original Star Trek worked hard to make their budget go a long way. And the costumer was oversexed, but his costume designs definitely looked good on people and on the still-newish color TVs. (Even if his costuming credo for women was "it should look like it might fall off.")
Unfortunately, on today's 4K tvs, the remastered episodes don't look sumptuous and vibrant like they used to. Costumes and makeup were tailored precisely to the visual limitations of 1960's television receivers and screens. So today, you have to put more imagination into it. Sigh.
I expected Gil Galad to be dress in blue and silver.
I was so disappointed with the costumes. The female costumes were”show a leg, show an arm”, and all of them look similar. If you don’t tell me this is a dwarf,this is a numenorian and this a human I would never guess.