Jennifer Hitzges Styles Alexi Tan's Lastest Film

Jennifer Hitzges just finished working on the film “Color Me Love” in Beijing with director Alexi Tan.  Jennifer not only worked on the costuming and styling, but helped Alexi to further develop the main characters’ personas.  Clothing and fashion were an integral aspect in the film as it takes place at a fashion magazine.

Below are a few questions Akiko asked Jennifer about her experience working on the film!

How did you start getting involved in this film?

I'd seriously written "work on a film" on my list of things to do.  I’d been working on more and more commercials and web spots and really enjoyed the process.  I started thinking it would be interesting to work on a film and be able to create a character that evolves.

Then, completely out of nowhere Alexi Tan, the director, called me.  We had worked on some gorgeous shoots together when we were both starting out and he was a fashion photographer.  He had moved several years ago to Beijing and started writing and directing films.  Then he started to tell me about his second film that happened to be set at a fashion magazine!   It could not have been more perfect.

What was your process for creating looks for the characters?

Alexi and I were very certain that we didn’t want the looks to feel overly costumey or exaggerated.  He wanted the cast to look very authentic.  For me it meant a blend of studied understatement and incorporation of trends that needed to vary depending on each individual character.

The lead character, Fey, was from the start a very regular girl who came into the fashion world not knowing what to expect.  Her look needed to feel real and somewhat every day, which was, oddly enough the most difficult.   We settled into a mix of denim and soft materials with a pale color palette.  I used repetition of some pieces to convey that clothing wasn’t really her priority; she would just grab what was nearby.  I think she has the same pair of scuffed in sneakers for the first half of the film.  She becomes a bit savvier as the film continues but is never totally transformed into an uber trendy girl, which is great because she remains true to herself.

The Editor-in-Chief character, played by Joan Chen, needed to feel very regal.  For her I used a pallet of deep, saturated, gem stone, colors, brocades with metallic finish and sophisticated prints.  This character also needed upscale accessories.  I pulled some great pieces from Extasia, and used some of the gemstone pieces from J.Crew in layers to give her accessories a feeling of estate jewels.

For Polly, who played the Fashion Editor, I wanted her look to be very trend driven.  She had bit of an excessive feel, for example, her looks mixed leather with velvets, and blazers and shorts with lace tights, and sequin with fur.  As we did the fitting as she really got some of the more daring looks.  She was a lot of fun for everyone to watch.

What were the challenges you faced while working on the film that you don’t usually encounter when working on editorial and advertising shoots?

The challenges of the film were mostly logistical.  The main difference is that the pieces needed to remain with the crew for the entire shoot and not just a quick 2 day still studio shoot.   We ended up doing fittings right during Chinese New Year and as the fall 2010 shows were finishing in Paris, so we couldn’t get as much help from some of the designers as far as loans.  Initially they were excited as China is growing so quickly in the mega designer area, but the holiday made it very tricky for several companies to loan.  Fortunately we did have amazing support from Hermes, Versace, Diesel, and Miu Miu.  I was also able to bring some gorgeous peices by New York designers such as Gryphon, Tucker, La Rok and Brian Crumley, among many others.

You went to Beijing for this project.   How was your stay there?

The people in Beijing were so amazing.  Alexi had a really good support team and I was so glad to see that.  It really made sense that he would be surrounded by dedicated people as his tremendous work ethic is visible in all of his images.  I left the shoot after the fitting and everything was taken care of by local wardrobe stylist Lucia and a crew of really organized associates.  I didn’t want to leave them and wanted them all to come back to New York with me.

What was the most enjoyable and rewarding thing throughout the experience working on this project?

The best part was seeing the pictures of the final looks as they all came together on the giant scene scheduling board.  It was like working on a fashion show times 50.  Each of the looks kept their characters integrity and had nice transition throughout the film.  As a group they totally complemented each other. 

I just cannot wait to see the film. I have gotten just a few stills and the light and mood are just amazing.  The characters looked so real.  I am so impressed by Alexi.  I really had an amazing rewarding experience working on my very first feature film.