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USM Alumna Designs Costumes for Barry Jenkins91吃瓜网� Amazon Series 91吃瓜网楾he Underground Railroad91吃瓜网�

Wed, 06/02/2021 - 04:29pm | By: Ivonne Kawas

Presented with one of the biggest career challenges yet, University of 91吃瓜网 (USM) alumna Caroline Eselin-Schaefer, 91吃瓜网�97 and her team designed costumes for the Amazon91吃瓜网 series 91吃瓜网�,91吃瓜网� from Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead.

This 10 part-series chronicles the harrowing journey of enslaved Cora and her bid for freedom in antebellum South.

As the synopsis for Jenkins91吃瓜网� adaptation reads: 91吃瓜网淎fter escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Over the course of her journey, Cora is pursued by Ridgeway, a bounty hunter who is fixated on bringing her back to the plantation she escaped.91吃瓜网�

Going from collaborating with Jenkins on 91吃瓜网淚f Beale Street Could Talk91吃瓜网� and 91吃瓜网淢oonlight91吃瓜网� to this series was ambitious and could be perceived as a career highlight, even though Eselin struggles with finding the right words to describe her experience. Due to the weight of the subject matter of the latter, which shines the light on the brutal atrocities of slavery through magic realism and alternate history.

91吃瓜网淚t is hard to find the words, as describing this experience as 91吃瓜网渢hrilling91吃瓜网� or 91吃瓜网渁 dream91吃瓜网� feels unsuitable,91吃瓜网� says Eselin. 91吃瓜网淚t was a serious responsibility. The obligation of being as authentic as possible in each portrayal was a challenging undertaking 91吃瓜网� I91吃瓜网檇 say it has been one of the most challenging, educational, and valuable things I91吃瓜网檝e ever done in my career.91吃瓜网�

To be as grounded in reality as possible, the design process started with a long gestational period of research and prep that lasted 6 months. It included going to institutions devoted to the research and preservation of history like the New-York Historical Society, New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Whitney Plantation Museum, among others.

Eselin says the scope and size is what91吃瓜网 different than what they've done before, it was massive as it included: 110 principals, 80-85 stunt performers and around 3,000 background artists.

In approaching the design process, they built a world of its own for each episode, as Cora embarks on this journey from state to state; opening in a plantation in Georgia and making its way through North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Indiana.

91吃瓜网淓very episode is different. It91吃瓜网 a different period, even though we91吃瓜网檙e in the 1850s, we were traveling through Cora91吃瓜网 consciousness and examining years in American history,91吃瓜网� said Eselin. 91吃瓜网淎ll costume choices were focused on not only conveying her progression, and sometimes regression, and truth, but also taking care not to be showy and to avoid taking away from the story.91吃瓜网� 

A Tight-knit Community

Eselin grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans in an artistic family with a mother who was a painter and a jazz pianist father, who graduated from Southern Miss in 1958.

Following her father91吃瓜网 footsteps, Eselin attended his alma mater. Obsessed with clothing and design, she brings that passion with her to USM91吃瓜网 film program, which she refers to as a tight-knit community that allows her to form strong bonds and build meaningful relationships.

91吃瓜网淲e were all like family. As time has passed, we have remained close friends,91吃瓜网� said Eselin. 91吃瓜网淚 am grateful for having been a part of a program that was so hands-on and intimate. We were fully-immersed in everyone91吃瓜网 projects, so we were able to gain experience in different aspects of filmmaking 91吃瓜网� it equipped us with a diverse set of skills that made us better storytellers.91吃瓜网�

Nina Parikh, a fellow classmate, friend, colleague, and current director of the Mississippi Film Office, shares a memory of their first music video project together.

91吃瓜网淓selin and I overlapped in our years as film students. She put me in a sari to walk through a meadow of flowers for her music video project. She had a specific interest in making music videos at that time, with clothing and design as important elements in her work, so it91吃瓜网 no mistake that she has found success in costume design,91吃瓜网� said Parikh.

 

Breaking Barriers

During and after college, Parikh worked as a freelance film crew member for six years, and collaborated with Eselin in many jobs. Eventually, Parikh, who is also breaking barriers and excelling in the industry, landed as a state employee at the Mississippi Film Office.

91吃瓜网淥ne of my responsibilities in this role was to assist productions find experienced and/or emerging, enthusiastic crew members, while working in Mississippi,91吃瓜网� said Parikh. 91吃瓜网淚 always worked toward matching experience and interests with projects as much as possible.91吃瓜网�

As there were very few individuals with costume and wardrobe experience in the state, Eselin91吃瓜网 name was shared with projects frequently along with a handful of others.

91吃瓜网淧arikh significantly influenced my career, as she would give my name to other productions coming to Mississippi, mostly in Jackson,91吃瓜网� said Eselin. 91吃瓜网淭hanks to those amazing opportunities, I was able to experience breakthroughs and build upon my success as a costume designer,91吃瓜网� she added.

Some of the productions Eselin worked on as her career started to take off were: as a costume production assistant on 91吃瓜网淥 Brother, Where Art Thou?91吃瓜网� (Coen Brothers); for costume designer Mary Zophres; and as a costume designer on 91吃瓜网淭he Blues,91吃瓜网� a series produced by Martin Scorsese, specifically the episodes directed by Wim Wenders and Charles Burnett; and many others, big and small, to later working on a feature with Parikh, who produced the award-winning and acclaimed film 91吃瓜网淏allast.91吃瓜网� In 2008, both winning two awards at the Sundance Film Festival.

Looking back at the early days of her career, Eslin recalls that she didn91吃瓜网檛 realize she could be a costume designer.

91吃瓜网淓arly on, I actually didn91吃瓜网檛 realize I could be a costume designer, so I started by working as a camera loader, production assistant for commercials, and taking on audio-visual work. Until one day, someone gave me an assistant job in costume design, and then the next thing I knew I was called to work with background artists on a pilot directed by Forest Whitaker,91吃瓜网� said Eselin. 91吃瓜网淭he more I got into designing, the more I knew it was what I was passionate about.91吃瓜网�

Eselin91吃瓜网 most recent collaborations are 91吃瓜网淭roop Zero91吃瓜网� with directors Bert and Bertie for Amazon Studios and the three collaborations with Jenkins. Constantly exploring new worlds and cultures, if you wonder what she is up to now, she is currently working on the much-anticipated Latinx remake of 91吃瓜网淔ather of the Bride.91吃瓜网�

91吃瓜网淚 don91吃瓜网檛 know a person that is more focused and passionate toward their work. I know when Eselin is working on a project, as I won91吃瓜网檛 hear from her and she91吃瓜网檒l be hard to reach. I don91吃瓜网檛 take offense. You can watch any of the last three Jenkins projects and know she wasn91吃瓜网檛 snubbing her friends. She was focused. I fully expect her talents and skills to expand and bloom in new ways until she chooses to no longer do it, which may never be the case,91吃瓜网� said Parikh.

91吃瓜网淎s probably all film students do, we joked about some future time when our name would come at the end of, 91吃瓜网�91吃瓜网�and the Oscar goes to.91吃瓜网� Well, it91吃瓜网 no joke anymore, and I can91吃瓜网檛 wait to embrace her in celebration when that time finally arrives for her.91吃瓜网�

Find more information about the program at USM.