The costume vault

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first of the planned spin-off/prequel series of the Harry Potter Saga and the screenwriting debut of J.K.Rowling, the mind behind the Harry Potter  books. This new installment is an ambitious attempt, both in scale and in narrative, as it tries to tell both a brand new story with brand new characters and also be linked to the original saga through the character of Grindelwald. The problem is that this juggling act forces the movie to fit in together two stories that have little to do with each other. On the one hand, there's Grindenwald and the Obscurial's story and on the other, the bizarre adventures of Newt Scamander as he tries to fetch back his creatures. Separately, these two stories, could have made for two entertaining movies, but the problem is that, together, they just don't mix  very well. On top of that, the radical changes in tone throughout the movie only manage to drag the final product further down. ...

One of then first rules of costume design is that it has to feel integrated within the aesthetic choices of the movie. It has to work with the cinematography and the set design. This gets harder when you're working with a director who has a very particular and personal (and weird) vision and look. A director like, let's say, Tim Burton. Burton has a very particular style and every single element in the frame needs to work towards achieving that style. Perhaps that's why he tends to collaborate repeatedly with specific professionals. Like Colleen Atwood. Atwood is a heavyweight of costume design in and on itself; having worked in over 50 movies throughout her career. She's been nominated for an Academy Award eleven times, winning three times (2002's Chicago , 2005's Memoirs of a geisha and 2010's Alice in Wonderland ). She's also worked in movies like; Wyatt Earp (1994), Little Women (1994), Public Enemies (2009) and the recent Into the Wo...