Description
This talk forms part of my newest research project into how interiors are used in cinema. This research project will culminate in a book that will be a companion piece to my first monograph, Undressing Cinema: Clothing and Identity in the Movies (1997). Costume was, when I was writing, all too frequently overlooked, and Undressing Cinema pioneered the study of costume and fashion in film. Nearly 30 years on, I am planning a parallel book about interiors and interior decoration in the movies (and television). Interiors are, like costume was in the 1990s, frequently marginalised elements of the cinematic image. My aim is to put interior design centre-frame in much the same way as, in my earlier book, I had put costume at the forefront of my analysis. I will examine how interiors (not merely production design) can generate - and not merely be a servant to - narrative meaning and character. Dressing Cinema will not be about production design per se, but about how production design choices can dictate meaning, not merely reflect meaning in a palimpsestic way. The talk will use different examples, notably Vincente Minnelli's 1956 melodrama The Cobweb, in which the whole narrative, I argue, hinges on the competing designs for a set of curtains.| Period | 26 Mar 2026 |
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| Event type | Seminar |
| Location | Hong Kong, ChinaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | Local |