INTERVIEW: Meet Ellen Mirojnick - A Visionary Costumer and Designer with the Deadlines!
Interview with Ellen Mirojnick
“I have been a designer for a very long time, I am always curious, I never stay in the old days! And I don’t believe I'll ever stop using my imagination, my love of storytelling and my love for people.” - Ellen Mirojnick
Hey Hey!!
“So teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 … So often we can get so caught up in the past, that we miss the wisdom that we were given so that we can seize this day and prepare for tomorrow. The choices that we make during our brief stint here on earth are very important. May we continue to look to Jesus who was the perfect example of how to spend our days - truly loving others (not what they can do for us) and then finishing out what we have been placed to do here on earth (the unique way God has asked us to authentically serve and love other people - not just tolerate, but truly love them). May we all eventually come to an understanding of how short our days are so that we can all come to an understanding of how to live each day wisely.
For the most recent SC interview, I got to interview costume designer Ellen Mirojnick. She is very busy at the moment and so I am very grateful that she took the time to answer these questions for us. She was most recently the costume designer for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil - I just saw this film and the costumes were definitely the best performance - they brought each scene to life! Mirojnick also has a very diverse resume: ‘The Greatest Showman’, HBO’s ‘Behind the Candelbra’, ‘Basic Instinct’, ‘Cloverfield’, ‘Mulholland Falls’, ‘Speed’, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and many others! She is amazingly talented and the fact that she has had a steady career - over a span of three decades - says a lot! I learned a lot from her and hope that you do too!
Check out her interview along with photos of her work below:
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1. Although 'Maleficent: Mistress of Evil' is fantasy based - what real life inspiration/research helped you to create the looks for this film?
My inspirations came from doing the research of medieval through renaissance periods. I had to come up with a new fairy-tale period, one that would encompass designing 3 different worlds. I go to museums, look at photography, look at fashion. It’s a process and quite a process until I get a handle on what I want. I work with my illustrators to flesh ideas out.
2. I really enjoyed reading this Daps Magic article! In it, it is revealed that the wings for the Maleficent costume were done through visual effects and they posted your quote: “You hand it over to visual effects and you trust that they understand and they do their work with you ... It was great trust that we all were working as one to create this." Since film-making is a team sport - how important is trust in your role as a costume designer? And what other team-member characteristics should costume designers seek to cultivate if they want an established career similar to yours?
The first thing is to follow your intuition and try to understand the people you will be working with. Trust is essential. The most important part is collaboration and communication. The most important thing for a young designer to have is the ability to listen and communication skills. The project will always include a lot of people, not everyone will be on the same page, it is your job to understand where everyone is at. You can determine if you can resolve the differences and then bring everyone together.
3. What is the hardest part of being a costume designer?
Costume Design requires you to be everything to everyone. There are many egos to deal with but it is your job to establish a trust. You are a parent, a shrink, an artist, a collaborator and the designer with deadlines. It isn’t hard but it is a lot of different hats.
4. Do you have any helpful resources for up-and-coming costume designers to help them further their career along?
To further careers along you have to stay non-stop on top of everything that is being produced, who is doing which project? Learn how to do research, familiarize yourself with costume houses world-wide, fabric resources, illustrators, cutters, all craft people everything - hi and lo and trust putting one foot in front of another and leave no stone unturned!
5. Your costume design credits on IMDB begin in the late 70's (so dope!) From your experience, what is an overlooked element to having a sustainable costume design career in in film/tv and how has the industry changed since you first began?
Everything has changed. People change, the the structures have changed, the type of material has changed. It always does. I have been a designer for a very long time, I am always curious, I never stay in the old days! And I don’t believe I'll ever stop using my imagination, love of storytelling and people.
Love what she said about research! So much is constantly changing in this industry and we gotta stay on top of it!! I wanted to also include this interview that she did with The Costumers Designers Guild (SN: for those who do not know, guilds are important because they protect their members economic status, working conditions, etc. - here is one guide to Hollywood unions). Mirojnick is currently working on Shonda Rhimes ‘Bridgerton’ - being distributed by Netflix and starring Julie Andrews. The show is set to premiere in 2020 and as we can already tell from Ellen’s past work, the costumes are going to be amazing!!!
Wanted to end by sharing this Facebook group called NYC WOMEN FILMMAKERS! The group has many women filmmakers who are sometimes looking for costume designers for their film-shoots. Might be a great way to find gigs if you are costume designer who is currently seeking to expand! #SisterhoodCinema