How do you dress a Penguin?It's a question that's been answered many times, by Tim Burton and DC artists and others.But in his newest iteration, costume designer Helen Huang was tasked with giving the character and expansive cast of The Penguin their looks, and you might be surprised at some of her inspirations—and how this version of Oz Cobb is dressed as more of a working-class hero, rather than the tuxedoed supervillain we're used to. But these unique takes on characters, both familiar and new, lend HBO's new spin-off series air of gravitas not often afforded to comic book adaptations. Huang's specific goal was timelessness—the looks are familiar, but not trendy, keeping all the characters grounded while not pinning them to a specific decade. It's a delicate dance expertly navigated by Huang, a two-time Emmy winner. Huang was kind enough to speak with No Film School about her work on the series, how she showed each character's growth through costume, and how up-and-coming costume designers should educate themselves. - YouTube www.youtube.com Editor's note: The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.No Film School: I spoke with your production designer, Kalina Ivanov. She told me that you all were thinking about Scarface and French Connection, New York in the '80s. From your perspective as a costume designer, what did that look like in your process?Helen Huang: They did make a lot of references to French Connection and Scarface. Klute was in there. For me, when they talk about these...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 19 September