How ‘Westworld’ Time Four Blends Western, 1920s and Sci-fi Genres Through Costumes

“Westworld” is arguably as opposed to any other modern Tv set show as it is come to be recognised for mixing otherwise contrasting genres seamlessly as a result of its narrative, production layout and costumes.

Period 4 of the popular sequence, which is airing on HBO, has taken this plotline up a notch with the introduction of the 1920s-themed Delos concept park and many storylines that choose put up to 50 several years in the upcoming.

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Seamlessly merging the 3 genres and tackling the various timeframes ended up equally a challenge and a joy for costume designer Debra Beebe, who is doing the job with the clearly show for the first time this period.

“We ended up going for precision in silhouettes and really concentrating on figures simply because it is a theme park somewhat than a film set in the 1920s, so we could have a tiny bit of perform with it,” Beebe said about the addition of the 1920s topic in period four.

When it arrived to the present-day scenes, Beebe was tasked with dressing the characters for two time frames: just one that was established 30 years into the foreseeable future and one more established 50 a long time into the long term. She required to be in a position to set that distinction amongst the two intervals as a result of costumes for audiences to realize the change in time.

John Johnson/HBO

“We needed to separate involving 30 yrs into the long term and 50 yrs into the future,” she stated. “That was a single detail that as the clearly show goes on, you understand as a result of the tale that you are even that substantially even further ahead in the upcoming, so we required to give the time intervals a unique look.”

She described that while both equally intervals experienced a sci-fi, futuristic vibe, the 30-12 months time period centered on coloration-blocked appears to be like, whilst the 50-year time interval was extra tonal, these types of as characters in all grey or all navy appears to be like. To give the two intervals an overall futuristic vibe, Beebe saved components sparse and appears all had a cleanse element to them.

“It has to glimpse like the people wear the costume and not the other way close to,” Beebe reported. “You really don’t want it to be so obvious that you pass up sight of what’s occurring in the scene. It all desires to get the job done with each other in harmony. All of these appears to be, mainly because for the most section they ended up all futuristic, you do want them to be diverse and to stand out to pull your audience into the upcoming so they can get dropped in that environment.”

Beebe was also tasked with recreating some of the show’s initial, iconic costumes from “Westworld” period 1. When people Maeve (performed by Thandiwe Newton) and Caleb (played by Aaron Paul) are in the 1920s-themed park, they are dropped into the gangster shootout storyline that was widespread in the first period, all with the similar figures who are now dressed in 1920s garments instead of their western-influenced costumes.

The new park also functions its have Dolores Abernathy and Wyatt characters (played by Evan Rachel Wooden), who wore a 1920s-inspired acquire on the character’s traditional, cornflower blue prairie gown.

“It was turning [the original costume design] on its facet and saying, ‘How would she glance if she was in the 1920s?’” Beebe explained. “It was to fit in that time period, but also carry across the color and the sweetness of the appear. [The costumes] are not heading to be immediate, but it is about making use of the primary Aged West glimpse as inspiration for the newer seem for the 1920s and just getting it from there.”

Amid the show’s lengthy character list, Beebe said she thinks Charlotte Hale (played by Tessa Thompson) has the most standout costumes in the period.

“She could glimpse pretty high-end fashion and she did not have a person kind of established fashion,” she claimed. “It was entertaining to enjoy with her diverse appears. I did not do her as company as she has been in the past. She wasn’t doing boardroom meetings and things like that. It was extra her evil imagination and participating in with the world she’s designed. It was just open with her.”

A single of the most taxing costumes to build this time was the cryogenic go well with worn by William (played by Ed Harris), which took Beebe about six weeks to build. The costume designer labored intently with Harris for the search, generating absolutely sure the overall body-con accommodate was snug for the actor, but even now mirrored the sci-fi and technological components required to suit in with the storyline.

Beebe also uncovered the season’s nod to prior “Westworld” seasons as a way that tied in all the contrasting genres and time periods, earning the storyline circulation seamlessly.

“The producers genuinely wanted to have callbacks to the very first period, that’s what we did on the prepare with Maeve and Caleb like we noticed in year 1,” she explained. “They had been just so good in the crafting to weave these elements of the past seasons into the demonstrate and use the costumes to aid recognize all of that and understand the story.”

Launch Gallery: Pics of the Costumes in ‘Westworld’ Period Four

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