Catherine Martin has worked with Baz Luhrmann for 30 years and the costume and production designer says that each project offers up its own unique set of challenges that make her feel like she’s doing her “doctorate in film studies all over again.”
Stepping into Deadline’s Red Sea Studio at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Martin said: “Every new project is challenging. I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Baz for 30 years and every time we start something new, it’s like doing my doctorate in film studies all over again because there will be something I don’t expect, or the perspective is really surprising.”
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The Oscar-winning Australian native has collaborated with Luhrmann on projects ranging from Romeo + Juliet to Moulin Rouge! to The Great Gatsby and, more recently, Elvis.
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“On Elvis, I stupidly thought, ‘Oh this will be really interesting’ because instead of a creative world, I’ll get to flex a technical muscle where you are basically recreating things,” said Martin. “But I completely underestimated just how challenging the process would be in terms of the scale of the film, in terms of the number of costumes – there were 9,000 background outfits – that’s like undies, shoes, everything.”
She went on to discuss how she and Luhrmann knew that Elvis had to center on the character and “not just be a Halloween costume of Elvis.”
She said: “You’ve got to find the essence of the person and it’s not about slavish reproduction, it’s about really connecting with the humanity of Elvis. And therefore, it wasn’t just a slavish reinterpretation of every single detail.”
Check out the video above.