Podcast – Costume Designer Gypsy Taylor
From the The Matrix to 1980s Australia, Gypsy Taylor discusses the art and craft of costuming and the design inspiration behind her most recent projects including Our Flag Means Death, The Way We Wore, and soon The Newsreader.
Gypsy Taylor on the set of The Way We Wore
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In this episode of the Screen News podcast, costume designer Gypsy Taylor shares her creative inspiration in shaping the looks behind flamboyant pirates of Our Flag Means Death, the fashion-focused sets of The Way We Wore, and other projects.
Whether designing back-alleys of Australian noir or magic-infused fashion of The Wheel of Time, Taylor’s design inspiration is a process of research and immersion - from museums and libraries to playlists and Pinterest. But it all starts with the script, ”the script is everything, the story is everything.”
“I'll quite often just sketch one character's evolution throughout the entire script for the season or the series, whatever it might be that I've got in front of me.”
“We stuck to that rule for the whole series in that if it didn't fit in a suitcase or it wasn't borrowed, she couldn't wear it.” - character concept art for Wellmania.
Collaboration with production design and hair and makeup continues the process, informing the details, and the final flourish comes from casting, the actor’s own interpretations of the character influencing the finished look - “you’re collaborating with teams of artisans, and at the end of the day, you’re creating the same thing [the story], in a different way.”
“On Our Flag [Means Death], it was very rock and roll, so I was listening to a lot of Iggy Pop and The Cramps and new romantic punk music stuff that I could get inspired.” - concept art of Blackbeard’s Crew for Our Flag Means Death.
Despite a fascination for film and familial passion for art, it was only after several years working in concept art and post-production, and a costume design workshop in London, that Taylor made the leap to working in the art department.
Assistant and illustrator roles on big budget Hollywood films followed, including two films in The Chronicles of Narnia series, working as a Disney Imagineer on Walt Disney’s Pandora – The World Of Avatar, and a time as costume illustrator alongside Catherine Martin. Her love for crafting immersive worlds on screen has led her to sets across the world, and now, based in both Los Angeles and Sydney, she’s passionate about bringing the knowledge of the global art industry back to Australia.
“For me to go over there and have that knowledge about how it works and, and the source of where it all comes from, makes it easier for me to come up with design concepts because […] now I can bring all that knowledge to my designs and bring it back home.”
“I picked six fabric patterns that you might see all over the world, like a tartan or a leopard or a stripe, very classic patterns. And that became the walls. And then whatever she was wearing was the pattern piece from the wall, which would have been the next evolution [of the costume design process].”- host set and costume design inspiration for The Way We Wore.
For the full episode, listen to the Screen Australia Podcast.
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AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:07] Aimée Lindorff Welcome to the Screen Australia podcast. I'm Aimée Lindorff with Screen Australia's online publication Screen News. I'd like to firstly acknowledge the various countries you're all listening in from, the unceded lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This podcast was produced in Meanjin on the lands of the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples, the traditional custodians and first storytellers of this region. Always was, always will be.
For this episode of the podcast we talk with award winning costume designer Gypsy Taylor, about the art and craft of costume and production design. Her work is featured in High Fantasy Worlds of season two of Our Flag Means Death, starring Reese Darby and Taika Waititi, and Amazon Studios The Wheel of Time, alongside Netflix's contemporary dramedy Wellmania. She was part of the awardwinning costume team of The Chronicles of Narnia, and has recently joined season three of The Newsreader. Throughout the episode, Gypsy shares her journey from Australia to Los Angeles via NIDA and Narnia, how research shapes her creative practice and the inspiration behind some of her recent projects, including ABC's The Way We Wore with frequent collaborator Celeste Barber, as well as advice for those looking at a career in the art department. Remember, you can subscribe to the podcast from places like iTunes where you can leave a rating and review. Any feedback can be sent to podcast at screenaustralia.gov.au. Also subscribe to Screen Australia's Industry News for the latest funding announcements, opportunities, videos and more. Now, here's costume and production designer Gypsy Taylor. Well, Gypsy, thank you so much for joining us on today's podcast.
[00:01:41] Gypsy Taylor Thank you for having me.
[00:01:43] Aimée Lindorff To start, if you could tell us a bit about your role in the industry and some of the projects you've worked on throughout your career.
[00:01:49] Gypsy Taylor Look, where do I begin? I've always had a fascination with the film industry. I really wanted to be a part of it in whatever creative way I could and my skill set lied in illustration and concept. And so I sort of began there in my career and worked my way up into costume design and production design and yeah, along the way I've just met incredible people and being open to all these fantastic opportunities. I've been a part of some wonderful big films in the beginning of my career, I was costume illustrator on The Chronicles of Narnia movies, and that sort of led into meeting all these wonderful people in the fantasy genre, and that's always been a love of mine. So from there, I've been a part of fantasy and genre projects ever since I worked on The Chronicles of Narnia, and that's led to things like becoming a Walt Disney Imagineer, working with James Cameron on an Avatar project, and I was able to work in Prague on The Wheel of Time. And then most recently, I was in New Zealand working on Our Flag Means Death. So it's taken me all around the world working on fantasy projects, which is just such a creative highlight you know, the creative journey that I get to be a part of.
[00:03:15] Aimée Lindorff Well that sounds very exciting and very cool. You mentioned you were a costume illustrator on Narnia, what's the difference between a costume illustrator and a costume designer?
[00:03:28] Gypsy Taylor So usually the costume designer is the head of the department, and then they have a team. And I had been freshly graduated from NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) and had been working with Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann on Australia, and the production designer on that Karen Murphy, went on to [The] Chronicles of Narnia and so the costume designer was looking for an illustrator to assist them to bring their ideas to life essentially, so I worked really closely with the costume designer on Narnia, and we sat together and came up with ideas and she would share mood boards and concepts, and I would sit there and illustrate her ideas, and then we would present them. And quite often, you know, once we got approval, those concept art and illustrations would then go to all the makers to bring that costume to life, whether it be knitting a little cardigan for Lucy or making a little pair of leather shoes, or a white witch coat made out of lots of white fox fur. So my drawings became a reality, and that was one of my very first jobs in the industry and so from there I got you know, a love of costume and a love of creativity and making everything from scratch and working with incredible artisans to bring costumes to life. So it was a very special introduction to the industry.
[00:04:53] Aimée Lindorff You were already working in film and TV, so what inspired you or what motivated you to go to NIDA to study costume specifically?
[00:05:03] Gypsy Taylor So I've always illustrated and drawn ever since I was very very little and have been quite a good drawer, and my whole family is incredibly artistic, every single one of us has drawing skills, but we're all such a tight knit artistic family, so I've always done that. I was working in London at a animation company called Passion Pictures in my early 20s and on weekends I went to Central Saint Martins to study fashion illustration, because I thought all this would be a pretty great thing to get into, fashion design and my love of costume and all that sort of stuff. And my teacher was this incredible theatre designer and he just opened up my mind, you know on weekends I look forward to it every weekend. And he pulled me aside at the end of the course and he's like, you know, what are you going to do with your life? Because these things you're making a wonderful and I said, well, I'm quite happy here in London, you know, working in the animation industry. And he's like, no, we need to go bigger and I went, okay, well where do I begin? And so that's when I decided to stop working full time and go back and study. So I'd been working for seven years before I went back and studied. And that was when all the doors opened to me within the film industry.
[00:06:29] Aimée Lindorff Can you talk us through some of the different roles in the art department and the different areas that you've worked in?
[00:06:35] Gypsy Taylor So at NIDA, the design course, you studied production design and costume design together so they're seen as one. And I'd always really looked up to Catherine Martin, who encompassed both of those roles and it was very much part of the study and every time I wanted to do a costume project, I was thrown sets and production design from my head of my course and I get a bit frustrated, I'll be like why can't I just be in costume? And he kept pushing my buttons and making me work on production design and set design because he knew that I would really enjoy it and I did. So from there, I've done a few little projects with production design, mostly sort of low budget horror films, which is one of my favourite genres, and I quite often think it's almost the same, I mean it's the same department in my mind because you're both talking about creating a world full of colour and texture and mood, and you're there to tell a story and bring that script to life, and whether it's in the form of their surroundings or their character, to me it's the same process, it's just there's a different language. So in production design, you know, you're talking construction and, MDF and paint and screws and, you know, welding and all these sort of construction ideas and concepts, and in the costume world, it's the same conversation but you're talking buttons and zips and dots and hems and fabric as opposed to paint. So to me, they sort of go hand in hand and I think I always fall back into costume because I love character so much and I love bringing characters to life, yeah, so I love doing both and I love creating a world both equally, so whatever opportunity comes my way I'm there with open arms.
[00:08:37] Aimée Lindorff That idea of costume and production design really telling the same story, you're there fleshing out the world.
[00:08:43] Gypsy Taylor Absolutely, yeah. And you're following, you know, a director's vision, you're collaborating with teams of artisans. And at the end of the day, you're creating the same thing just in a different way.
[00:08:58] Aimée Lindorff You mentioned earlier your process on Narnia, you came at the production already with hundreds of sketches ready in hand, not knowing who the actor was going to be and then once the actors were in place, developing the characters further, is that a typical process? Do you usually come at it with a whole bunch of ideas first, and then consult with the director, or consult with the director first, or consult with the actors? And then start developing the character? What's the process of crafting that vision?
[00:09:28] Gypsy Taylor So the process always begins with the script, the script is everything, the story is everything. And then from there, I'll read it, I'll process it, and then I'll put my ideas down on paper. And quite often I'm just, you know, sketching with a pencil and pen, or I'll take it into a bit of procreate and add some colour and then my first conversation would be with the director to say, you know, this is how I sort of see it and then you start a conversation about where they're coming from and you land on ideas because you've both, you know, come into this world and you're all consumed. But then, an actor will come into my fitting room and more often than not, they've also got fantastic ideas, or they're a very particular type of person and so my idea might pivot once I learn who the actor is. And we don't see the actors for a very long time, you know, they come on very far into pre-production so we've got to be moving ahead, no matter what. But I love that when, like, recently on Our Flag Means Death, Rhys Darby, I had a fantastic costume for him that told the story of where we were going, which was this cursed Spanish 18th century suit that he'd stolen off of a Spanish ship. And, yeah, I had this idea about it sort of being matadorish an 18th century and embellished. And he came into the room and he just embodied it, and he changed it and in a way that something else came from that, and then we took it down another route and added these, you know, really dramatic tales to it because that became something he was playing with. And so things, things evolve constantly and if you've got time to work all those ideas into it, I love that process of a constant evolution of a character on a costume.
[00:11:35] Aimée Lindorff You've worked across these really big fantasy titles, some of them based in history, like our Flag Mean Stuff, but then also worked on documentaries like The Way We War. You've got some really specific historical notes to hit there, what's your research process look like?
[00:11:54] Gypsy Taylor I mean, I'm a bit of a library nerd, so I'll always go to a library first and dig in. I love places like the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, they have this incredible resource of just history and actual pieces of clothing. I'll quite often go to museums and get inspiration and I always look to art and music. So I begin there and then I'll start sort of getting on the computer and diving into you know, some Google images to support that and maybe some Pinterest things. I don't rely on those too, because I feel like you get fed a lot of the same stuff all the time. So I like to broaden my visuals and then really it's just about sitting and drawing for me, like a sketch for me goes a long way. It's just my gut instinct and I'll just sit there and sort of doodle or it play the music that inspires, you know, where that piece is going. You know, for instance, again on Our Flag, it was very rock and roll so I was like listening to a lot of Iggy Pop and The Cramps and sort of new romantic punk music, stuff that I could get inspired.
[00:13:07] Aimée Lindorff The Way We Wore is a little bit different for you, production designing on a documentary, so how did that come about?
[00:13:15] Gypsy Taylor With something like The Way We Wore, which was really special, I love that show so much. Nel Minchin came to me with this idea about Australian fashion, and I've always been a huge fan of Australian fashion and the designers that inspired me, and it was a hard one because I've not done documentaries before and so I didn't see any archive footage and we didn't really have a narrative, all I knew that it was about Australian fashion. So I worked in reverse on that one, which was kind of an interesting process, the first thing I did was design a set in which all Australian designers could be interviewed and I had some limitations with that in that, the set had to fit in a suitcase and travel all around Australia and be mantled in whatever city that the documentary crew took it to. So we started in Sydney and I thought, you know, if it's about fashion designers the first thing that happens in the world of fashion design is you make a toile out of calico. So if you've got an idea about a dress, you might drape it, you might cut the pattern, and then you piece it together on a mannequin and you start your design process in calico. And so the concept for the way we were with the interview set was that it was a work in progress, so I've got all these like half built dresses on mannequins and then the calico that sort of came from the mannequins and went up into the roof and over the chairs and so they were in there like they were sitting in their design process, no matter who the designer was. And I think across the board, you know, from like Ken Done to Jenny Kee to Paul McCann, that's everybody's process so I thought that would be a familiar territory. So we began there and I was there for the Sydney part of the shoot, and then the team packed it up into suitcases and took it all around Australia, and they lit up beautifully every time and I think it looked fantastic. And then separate to that, we did the set for Celeste, so I always knew she was going to be the host and that she would be constantly talking about fashion and Nell and I discussed, you know, do we want to touch on certain eras? You know, for instance, there's a whole wonderful segment about 1960s bikinis and the teams on the beach, you know, monitoring the girls wearing bikinis. And we thought, oh, do we do a 60s bikini? And then we cut to, you know, an 80s party frock, like, what was the concept behind that? And in those early days. But I was designing it and building it, I didn't know the archive footage and we didn't really know the story we wanted to tell, so instead I picked six, kind of, fabric patterns that you might see all over the world, like a tartan or a leopard, or a stripe, like, very classic patterns and then that became the walls. And then whatever she was wearing was the pattern piece from the wall, which would have been the next evolution, which would have been the next step from calico into fabric, into a garment. So we cut of that was the little story I told with that. And I think it married beautifully with all the archive footage. I never knew really how it was going to go, but it came together beautifully, I think. And of course, you know, all along the way we want to be as fun and colourful as we could because we were telling such a joyous story and, you know, and Celeste just oozes fun and joy so well.
[00:16:56] Aimée Lindorff You've worked across documentary now you've worked across high fiction, high fantasy and you've also done contemporary as well. Is there a genre you prefer working in?
[00:17:07] Gypsy Taylor Yeah, absolutely. Like anything genre I adore, whether it be fantasy, sci-fi, I love sci-fi and I love horror films, I'm such a horror film nerd. So they're my favourite genres, and then you know, as a designer, it's always fantastic to do a period piece because mainly from that research, you know, that it's so fun and to recreate anything from a certain period so, you know, I've just recently gone from the 18th century, and now I'm doing 1989 Australia and both have their, you know, their highlights of deep diving into different patterns and different fabrics and, and just a whole plethora of costume design that is just so exciting to me, you know, 18th century buttons and 1989 buttons are actually very different and equally fabulous.
[00:18:11] Aimée Lindorff Does your process change between something contemporary or based in history, like 1980s Australia versus fantasy?
[00:18:21] Gypsy Taylor A little bit yeah, contemporary is always harder to sell, the idea and the concept because you're relying heavily on fashion and what's in the store, and then sometimes the film might be set in summer, but it might be winter in the stores and so it actually makes it really difficult to sell an idea and find those pieces and people don't often realise that contemporary is actually almost as hard as doing anything period, because you're just so reliant on high street store and high street fashion. And, you know, when I'm pitching an idea and I do a mood board, it'll be pictures from magazine shoots and so everyone's very beautiful in there and it's lit really beautifully and that's not often the story that you're trying to tell, you might be just try to find a picture of a mom and a dad and two kids. So it becomes really difficult to sell the idea, whereas a lot easier if it's otherworldly or of another period because you can look at real photography, your photos or art, but contemporary is a lot harder to sort of sell. I design a few commercials on the side and often have that problem of trying to sell that idea and convince directors, you know, what is not a fashion shoot and is just a regular everyday look. So it's a little bit harder, and I find it easier to sell a fantasy than I can a chino pant and a denim shirt.
[00:20:03] Aimée Lindorff Watching the way we wore, it was fascinating to me hearing the way designers talk about fashion and politics, what you wear takes a position. It makes a statement not just for you as an individual or as a character, but there's also a history behind that garment. There's a story to be told about why that garment is being worn by that character at that time, so how do you reflect the character and their journey through clothes?
[00:20:35] Gypsy Taylor Ooh, that's a good question. Again, it comes to the script, so I'll look at the script as a whole and I'll quite often just sketch one character's evolution throughout the entire script or the season or the series, whatever it might be that I've got in front of me. I guess I'll use my current project, The Newsreader, as an example of that where we've got a character who's had an emotional journey and it's sort of like ups and downs, and you wouldn't be able to tell that story. One of the things I quite often revert to is sort of a colour palette, that's like an easy version of of expressing to an audience how someone might be feeling like if they're in a good place, they're wearing fantastic clothes, they're sharp, they're done up, they have bright colours, perhaps. And if they're down and out, you know, things might get baggier or the colours are desaturated, or you can get a feeling across through shape and colour, so that's kind of where I start with the emotional journey. On Our Flag Means Death, we start with our pirates under a bridge and they've been living in the same house for three months, and so they're filthy and wet and worn, so we really got stuck into the breakdown, I had this incredible breakdown department who, you know, sanded everything back and gave, like, salt rim stains and and bird poo and just anything that would make you feel like they've lived in it for three months. But then we had a rule that whenever, whatever they got a new piece of clothing, it was probably because they killed a pirate and stole it. So however they got that new piece of clothing was their evolution. You know, we didn't really set it up that they were then. You know, all of a sudden there's this new piece of clothing that's appeared. It was that they either made it or they stole it. I like to have like a really deep story behind the choices and when something like Our Flag, the fans love it and they notice all that detail, which is fantastic. And then other times it's really subtle and someone might not notice that I've that I've made those choices and Wellmania the character was really good fun. So the concept was, you know, she'd been she was an Australian living in New York and she's come home for the weekend. So the idea was that everything she had with her, she just shoved into a suitcase. And then she had to be here for six months. So you just see a whole lot of the same thing get used over and over again. And then she starts borrowing clothes for my mom and her best friend and even her brother, and sort of mixing it together with strange skirts and throwing on somebody else's belt. And, and we stuck to that rule, for the whole series in that, you know, if it didn't fit in a suitcase or it wasn't borrowed, she couldn't, couldn't wear it. And that's why we had her, like changing on the plane into her party dress, like it might be in her carry on luggage or you know, and she was always a bit of a hot mess and clashing, clashing colours and patterns. And yeah, she was a really good fun character to play with. I like to have that background behind each character to show an evolution. The same would go for set design as well, you know, if their their apartment is low lit and the walls are darker or there's not as many like soft furnishings around, you get a feeling of, you know, that, that they might be sad or going through some hard time so you can express it through colour and texture and lighting.
[00:24:22] Aimée Lindorff You've worked on big scale studio projects, indie films, TV shows, documentary. How do you find those productions differ from each other and what do you enjoy about each of them?
[00:24:33] Gypsy Taylor To be honest, they don't differ at all apart from scale. It's the same communication, it's the same process, you're doing the same work. If you're on a small team working on a small production, you're much more hands on across the board, just doing and making and making it come to life and making it happen in a reality and then you still have to do the same thing with seventy people, but you just delegate a whole lot more and you have to communicate a whole lot more. So I actually quite love doing both. Like, again, comparing it to what I'm doing now, I just, at the height of Our Flag Means Death, my workshop was seventy strong and that was dyers, leather makers, background dressers, you know, art finishes, coordinators, pattern cutters, all these amazing people and we still had the same goal and we still communicate the same. Now I'm in a department of seven and we're doing the same thing, we're still dying, we're still cutting, we're still fabric manipulating and and doing the same ideas. So really it's at the end of the day it's kind of the same, it's just about communication and getting your hands dirty.
[00:26:01] Aimée Lindorff You've mentioned working with directors, you've mentioned working with production design, how do you then incorporate hair and makeup into the process?
[00:26:11] Gypsy Taylor Oh gosh, I always loved the hair and makeup department when they come on board. Sometimes I'm on a little bit earlier than they are, so in my concept drawings I'll start coming up with ideas, but for instance, like on our flag, Nancy Hannah, who's incredible and her team was so fantastic, she had done the last two, sorry, the last season of our flag. And so I came in already knowing her work and wanted to collaborate with her, knowing what she'd already set up. And then we had all these new characters, and so that was something that we could do together, and we'd sort of bounce back and forth ideas and work with what I'd been working on, you know, what they're wearing and then she'd be like, oh, what if, you know, Captain Zheng had these long pigtails? And I was like, yes and then what if I, you know, part of the the leather and her belt is like little leather in her hair and and again, at the end of the day, you're creating the same character in the same world, you know, and all of our colours reflected what the production designer Robinson had done in her ship. Like her sales were red and and there was these beautiful textures all over the ship that I wanted to incorporate into the costume, which then incorporated into, you know, the hair and makeup department. So it's a huge collaboration effort, and we just get excited by each other's process and pitching ideas and making it come together and sharing things as well, like on the Wheel of Time we had all these jewels and crowns that we were using in their costumes, and so we'd share the same jewels and with the hair and makeup department, and they did cool things like braid in all these rings and jewels into the hair that then match the costume. So, yeah, it's a it's a beautiful collaboration to create the same character like head to toe.
[00:28:03] Aimée Lindorff Is there anything that the industry misunderstands about costuming or the costuming process?
[00:28:10] Gypsy Taylor I think quite often, one of the things that happens in my career is that production design and costume design and hair and makeup design, we all head up a very equally important department, but sometimes the respect for costume is not there as much as it is in production design. And I can see that because I've done both and that just always surprises me so much and I never know why we get like a little bit less time or and a little less help or support. I'm trying to think of the right wording, but for me, you know, when you see anything on camera at the end of the day in the final edit, more often than not it's the actor and it's a close up or a mid shot, and what they're wearing in their hair and makeup is so important. And I think it's equally important, to production design. But we often get, sort of seen as like in the costume department in particular, because I can speak to that, you know, that it's just fashion or it's a little bit fickle, you know just girls dressing up, I'd love to change that narrative and make everyone realise that they are that equally as important because at the end of the day you're all telling a story, it's all in camera, it's all on screen. You know, what the DP captures, what the lighting department captures is all around, you know, a performance in a world and a story. Yeah. It's just sometimes I find it a shame that that the costume department gets seen as sort of, you know "oh you can just buy that in a shop" and you go, really? No, I can't. "Ah you just like that because you like dresses" no, that's not why I do it. Yeah so that's one thing that I would love across the board is probably a little bit more respect for what the costume department and hair and makeup department bring to the production.
[00:30:21] Aimée Lindorff So your role in costuming takes you all around the world, you worked on Australian productions, you've worked on Hollywood productions in Australia, but also worked overseas on international productions and split your time between Sydney and L.A. How do you navigate working? Not by coastal, but by continent?
[00:30:43] Gypsy Taylor That's a good question, I love working in both countries. L.A., for me really feels that sort of pop culture genre, the hunger that I'm always looking for. And it's a bit of a wild, crazy town, and I feel like you can really meet some pretty wonderful characters and collaborate and create some mad things. The opportunities that I've had living in L.A. Have been just beyond my wildest dreams, I got to work with Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange and Demi Moore on a lot of film, and it was one of my very first jobs when moving to L.A. And I just thought these opportunities don't come by in Australia. To meet that kind of like real Hollywood stardom, so I quite love but things like that just happen on a dime in that town, and it's because it's a town that's built like that. But then saying that, I think Australia has created some of the world's most fantastic genre films, like all the Mad Max films. You know, anything George Miller does is just magic and things like Priscilla, Queen of The Desert. We've just got such a unique take on genre films and so I'm always a little bit torn between cities because, you know, I'm always full. My career, I'm always trying to do something culturally in January and I feel like I kind of need both towns to to fill that need.
[00:32:23] Aimée Lindorff At what time did you go, "Actually, I need to go to L.A. I need to look overseas?"
[00:32:31] Gypsy Taylor t was a long time actually because I kept going from big studio film to studio film and working at Fox Studios a lot, and I was working up in Warner Brothers in the Gold Coast and these, you know, these heads of departments would come over from the states and work with all the incredible talent that we have here and in New Zealand as well and I just thought how cool would it be to be like at the source of where that starting, like where they're having those very initial meetings about the projects and who's involved, and so it was sort of always my dream to be a part of that really early process of the concept and the ideas. And then they say, and we're going to shoot it at home in Australia, and I'll be like, great, I can be in my family and friends. So that's sort of why I love doing doing both.
[00:33:27] Aimée Lindorff Was it necessary do you feel, to become head of department to go overseas?
[00:33:34] Gypsy Taylor did a little bit. I felt like I wasn't getting that opportunity here in Australia, but then it could have just taken a turn and because I have been working my way up in the industry, it was probably going to happen at some point. And I think, I just wanted a new burst of energy in life and it seemed exciting to go to L.A. and I knew a few people in the industry over there that were having a really good, successful time. And I thought, look it would just be great to get over there and find out about their resources and how it all works, and sort of like the backbone of where it all begins. Things like on the big studio films here we were getting, we were renting a whole lot of costumes from like Western costume and United and Universal and Fox and so these boxes would come over and land and I'd be like, where is all this coming from? And so I wanted to like, go to the source and get my hands in Western costume and delve into their amazing collection, because the resources in the States are just incredible and they really help the Australian film industry. When you're talking about huge productions like that, you know, we don't have those resources, we've got a small amount but you do have to like, when you're doing a huge production like that in building armies or building whatever you might be building, you know, a thousand background actors, you do have to go elsewhere. And, you know, we often end up at like angels in London and, in Madrid there's a fantastic shoemaker so you quite often have to, like, find other things and bring them into Australia. So for me to like go over there and have that knowledge about how it works and the source of where it all comes from, makes it easier for me to come up with design concepts because I can be like, oh, yeah, there's that great place, you know, in Santee Alley that does that specific fur that is fake, but looks real or, you know, now I can I can bring all that knowledge to my designs and bring it back home.
[00:35:44] Aimée Lindorff Now do you have any advice for anyone who wants to get into the art department, specifically looking at costuming?
[00:35:51] Gypsy Taylor Oh look, I love it. I teach at night quite a bit and I've taught at afters in my time as well and I love seeing the enthusiasm of of fresh blood wanting to get into the industry. For me, I guess I always just come back to the way that I did it, I was just so passionate to work in this industry that I was more than willing to sort of do anything. So I would call, I would call, call people, I would write letters, and I'd be like, I want to be a part of your next project, please think of me and I'll come and make cups of tea or sweep floors or whatever youneed me to do. So I did a bit of work experience I remember, I did work experience on The Matrix, and I was in the props department, and I was just sweeping floors in the workshop and making cups of tea and then they, you know, with one day they were like, oh, can we just start sending all these, all these Hugo Weaving hands of all these Hugo Weaving mannequins? So I started doing that. Then we were dressing the Hugo weavings, and then we were all on set with 200 Hugo weavings. So something like that in my two weeks of work experience with them was so exciting to me. So I love, I'm a big fan of of internships, attachments, work experience and just getting in there and getting your hands dirty. And I also love, I always wanted to know about like, every aspect of the industry so straight out of school I worked for an editing company and I was just the receptionist, but I got to know all about avid and divisions and the process of editing and what that involved. And I just, you know, I soaked that up, you know, and now I can speak that language to fellow editors that I work with. Yeah, I'm a big fan of sort of just getting in there and helping out in whatever way you can and just get to know people, show them your skill set and yeah, get in there and do it and work your way up.
[00:37:59] Aimée Lindorff Is it important to have those drawing skills or sewing skills or that craftsmanship before working on set, or is that something that you can pick up?
[00:38:11] Gypsy Taylor t's a bit of both, you know, someone can come in without the skill set and you know, be painting a set and then having done it for three weeks, they start to get better and better and they learn their technique. So I'm okay with that and I love when people have a hobby that they're obsessed with. Like, they might love knitting and then we'll get them on board in the fabric department, and they've got a love of that technique or they love using, you know, Maya and ZBrush and they're in the computer gaming world. There was a film called Gods of Egypt I worked on, and we needed to build 3D crowns and 3D jewellery, and we were really big into using 3D because it was a new form of art and I remember working with a bunch of ZBrush and Maya artists that came in and never worked on a film before, and so together we sort of like worked it out and found our groove. So you don't necessarily have to come with the exact skills, but it's great to come with the passion of a technique or something that you love doing, whether it's making, dyeing, painting, you know, welding, whatever it might be, I love getting in there and and learning hands on basically is what I'm trying to say.
[00:39:31] Aimée Lindorff Thank you so much for joining us, Gypsy. It was such a pleasure.
[00:39:35] Gypsy Taylor You are so welcome. Thank you for asking me to be a part of the Screen Australia podcast. It's really exciting and cool, I'm very chuffed.
[00:39:45] Aimée Lindorff That was Gypsy Taylor. You can see Gypsy's work in season three of The Newsreader on ABC TV and ABC iview later in 2024. And The Way We Wore, available now on ABC iview. Our Flag Means Death is streaming now on Binge, and head to Disney+ to watch The Chronicles of Narnia series. You can subscribe to the podcast via places like Spotify and iTunes and feedback can be sent to [email protected]. Don't forget you can receive the latest funding announcements, opportunities, videos and more by subscribing to the fortnightly Screen Australia Industry News. Thanks for listening.
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