![]() "The one thing I underestimated on this movie - I kind of shut my eyes and didn't realize - was just what a machine it was going to be," she reflects, "in terms of the number of sets we were chomping through and the number of costumes. And she did it on "French hours," forgoing breaks so that Tom Hanks (as Colonel Tom Parker) wasn't "hanging around in a claustrophobic rubber all-over bodysuit for endless hours where we weren't actually shooting." Which is to say nothing of the budgeting, casting, and scheduling that fell on her plate as a producer. All the while, she maintained a presence on the set itself, alongside her fellow production designer Karen Murphy and set decorator Beverley Dunn. "The mornings are all about setting the tone for the day and making sure that all the different elements of design and production are working together." Martin captained the wardrobe department to dress the cast and background actors, sometimes hundreds of them at a time, before spending the afternoon in fittings for the next day's looks. On top of it all, she handled the producorial duties that come with making a movie, albeit made all the more difficult amid the time of COVID.Ī typical day for Martin, in so much as there was a typical day, began "anytime from 4 in the morning till 7 in the morning," depending on what costumes were on set that day. Martin designed some 90 sets with exacting detail, which were then built from scratch in Australia, including two full blocks of Memphis' iconic Beale Street and multiple stories of Graceland. On Elvis, that looked like designing more than 90 costumes alone for Austin Butler to wear as Elvis, while collaborating with Prada and Miu Miu to wardrobe Priscilla (played on-screen by Olivia DeJonge). "Baz will tell me what he wants - he may have tear sheets, pictures, research material, whatever - and it's my job to take ephemeral ideas that don't exist in reality and make them a reality." "I see myself as being a visual translator," she explains. Martin is one of the key artists responsible for helping to bring those dreams, no matter how oversized, to life. Within their partnership, Luhrmann is the visionary auteur who dreams up a musical biopic of maximalist proportions. "And, to me, that became incredibly interesting." But as he described to her the life and times of Presley, Martin began to see it as something of an American opera: Love, tragedy, and death in the so-called Golden Age of America. "It was something we used to discuss a lot, because I kind of didn't understand Elvis's position in American history," Martin admits. Still, Martin didn't initially understand Luhrmann's interest in the King of Rock and Roll. "I do it as a matter of course - because that's my role - but to actually be recognized for it, it's just really meaningful." "It's extremely meaningful, because to be recognized for being one of the initial team, one of the people on the ground who actually helps to birth Baz's babies, is kind of extraordinary," Martin tells A.frame. (She received nominations for her production design on 1996's Romeo + Juliet and for her costume design on 2008's Australia.) With Elvis, Martin has earned an additional three Oscars nominations, for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and, for the first time, Best Picture. ![]() Martin won two Oscars for 2001's Moulin Rouge! and another two for 2013's The Great Gatsby, both times for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. She designed the costumes and sets for his directorial debut, 1992's Strictly Ballroom, and has been his chief collaborator on every film since, in the process becoming the most awarded Aussie in Oscar history. A costume and production designer by trade, Martin met Luhrmann in the late '80s, while both were enrolled at Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art. "Look, Baz has been interested in the story of Elvis since I met him," laughs Catherine Martin.Ī.frame asked Martin if she remembers when her creative partner and husband, filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, first expressed interest in making a movie about Elvis Presley.
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