Costuming

Since costumes really show setting (time and place) of a scene (and the music nor language will tell the audience of setting, as the music is not particularly cultural and there is not much spoken language in the scene, basically just low ambiance) I must rely heavily on costume. 

The library required me to have all of the actors social distance and where masks for the whole shoot, so I needed to find a way to draw viewers' attention away from the masks, as it is not consistent with the setting and mood for the scene. To this end, I purchased 50 disposable face masks, 3-ply in tan, so it would meld better with skin tones and everyone's mask would be uniform. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08CMQSZR7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The guard's mask be a black balaclava, as is more within his character and what Russians actually wear:

For the Guard's Costume:

I wanted to have the guard where a costume similar to this (showing he is a high-ranking officer):

I used my boyfriend's thick, wool, green coat from Old Navy and did some sewing for the red and gold epaulettes (bought red felt from Michael's and used some leftover gold fabric from my dressmaking hobby). I used red all-purpose thread for an initial hem in both the top stitch and the bobbin thread on the red felt and then used gold all-purpose thread for the hem on the gold fabric. At first, I tried using a gold paint pen for the gold stripes, but it was not a good color and it wasn't even, so I switched to the gold fabric strips and only used the gold paint pen for the lapels. I also added smaller gold brass buttons of the lapels and sewed larger gold brass buttons over the original green plastic buttons for the torso. 

I also borrowed a bronze belt buckle from my boyfriend to slide onto the actor's belt. 

From far away it just looks like a bronze-colored belt buckle and the axe could be interpreted as a hammer from the hammer and sickle. 

For the hat, I used my family's ushanka hat, but since it didn't have any fake valor, I had to purchase an officer hat emblem pin from Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012WI9L2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I will attach this to the front of the black ushanka. 

When I was watching the Hunt for Red October, I saw this Russian naval officer with a similar ushanka to the one I will have my guard wear. 

The Russian naval officer with the ushanka in The Hunt for Red October had black gloves that he removed during a backward dolly shot moving down a hallway in the Russian submarine. I will want my KGB officers, Russian government authorities, and Soviet secret police to wear these same black gloves during the winter scenes of the movie (closer to the middle). I also love the white neck scarf. It looks like an ascot or puff tie. 

Since this prop is to be worn, I considered it part of the guard's costume. At the end of the opening scene, the guard will take out his walkie-talkie and call for reinforcements, as Novikof has out run him into the crowd. I found a pink walkie-talkie in my house, but, of course, pink would not do, so I painted it black with acrylic paint, being particularly sure not to get paint in the cracks that would render the object unusable. 

For Novikof's Costume:

My boyfriend happens to be a connoisseur of classic and vintage menswear, so I had him design Novikof's look based on his character and my suggestions. We had the actor, Garrett Shanley, come to American Thrift with us, and this is the costume we decided on:

We got brown slacks that were a bit lighter than the suit and waistcoat, but matched well. Garrett had his own patent leather dress shoes. We were cognizant of Novikof's (the character and the film) color scheme. 

I was also styling Novikof's costume off of what Eddie Redmayne wore in the Trial of the Chicago Seven:

https://www.danezon.com/product/the-trial-of-the-chicago-7-tom-hayden-blazer/

I found a link where you can buy the blazer type that Eddie Redmayne wore when he played Tom Hayden. 

I also borrowed my boyfriend's leather satchel. It was exactly what I pictured for the character to put his book into. The coloring matches Novikof's shoes and it's just the right size for Garrett's shoulder and waist. The belt buckles are bronze, which also match the other belt buckles in the scene. 

For Extra's Costumes:

I told the extras to wear clothing similar to this, as they are playing teenagers in Russia (and these are historical images of Russian teenagers in the 1980s):

(For more historical context, the reason that the images were mostly in black and white is that people couldn't afford the color as much. Most people [and the country itself] had a much lower standard of living than in the U.S.)

The clothing is starkly more casual than Novikof's creating more contrast between the main character and extras and further develop Novikof's characterization as different from others (reiterated in his motif, "Fooling Yourself by Styx").