Clothes make films

When the audience in the cinema watches the sailors in their fight for survival between the Germans and the Allies, the actors' clothing will not stand out for most people. It will simply be appropriate in the truest sense of the word. Blending into the overall picture. Many people can only imagine how much meticulous detail work, craftsmanship and research goes into creating a coherent Costume Design. For "War Sailor", the costume department and costume designer Stefanie Bieker started researching and preparing several months before filming began: "Original work clothes for the machinists, technicians, officers and sailors were rarely kept, and people had different figures than they do today," says Stefanie Bieker. The task for "War Sailor" was to revive the design of the 1940s by using original materials and cuts - and to make the clothing functional for all weather conditions and requirements at the same time.

For inspiration, research trips to the later film locations are helpful for Bieker. Not only to take a close look at the clothing on location, but also the entire landscape, its colours and characteristics. "For War Sailor, I collected research material in museums and family albums, such as photos and illustrations and original knitting patterns from the regions, and I was very much guided by the special colourfulness of Norway's nature, especially in the changing daylight," says Stefanie Bieker. Most of the shirts and trousers for the sailors were dyed in special shades of grey and blue, while the overalls and work overalls for the engineers were dyed in brown and earth tones. The material "German leather", which was often used for work clothing in the past, was ideal for this, with its velvety yet firm surface. Specialists, such as Hamburg textile artists Constanze Schuster and Stefan Heinrichs, were needed to give the newly made costumes the planned colourfulness and all the necessary signs of wear and thus breathe life into them.

"Up to five different versions of one item of clothing were produced to tell the story of the long periods at sea through the costumes. The clothes get dirtier over the course of the film, salt crusts form, sun, rain and wind bleach the material and the figures lose weight due to the stresses and strains of the long journey. To simulate this process, many costumes were made in different sizes," says Stefanie Bieker. A lot of work, in which she is supported by a team of costume tailors and costume masters.

How detailed their work will be in the end depends very much on the camera work. Discussions with Director and Script Writer Gunnar Vikene took place long before filming began. "After I found out from Gunnar that Sturla Brandth Grøvlen would be doing the camera work, I knew that every detail would be told in the film. Sturla works a lot with handheld cameras and therefore gets very close to the actors, so that details such as buttons, shoes, collars and surfaces become very visible. This detailed work can only be achieved with a wonderful team and the hand-in-hand enthusiasm of everyone involved. And above all, this requires time for in-depth research and joint preparation and good collaboration with Directors, camera, production design and Hair & Make Up."

Even though the film, which was co-produced by Mer Film and the two German production companies Rohfilm Factory (Berlin) and Letterbox (Hamburg), had several shooting days in Hamburg and Lübeck, shooting began in Malta before the Norway part. Stefanie Bieker and her team set up their costume workshops here two weeks before the start of filming so that they could carry out costume fittings in between filming preparations and make-up rehearsals, using the costumes that had previously been made in Hamburg and Berlin. The fittings were supposed to have taken place earlier, but coronavirus and Norway's travel restrictions thwarted the team's plans.

It all sounds pretty exciting - but how do you actually become a costume designer? "There are many self-taught designers. I found my way through working in the theatre, I'm a trained theatre tailor," says Stefanie Bieker. After completing her training, she went on to train as a costume designer at the HAW in Hamburg. "There are degree courses in Germany specialising in film costume design in Berlin and Hamburg. There is a great shortage of young talent in the technical film professions, and unfortunately there are no special training and further education programmes in Germany for the specialists we are looking for." And the topic of sustainability is also playing an increasingly important role in her profession: "There's now a big shift in thinking. We are working more and more with Green Consultants. Where do our materials come from, what can we use and what can be returned to the cycle at the end? These are all questions that we ask ourselves before starting a production," says the costume designer.

Bieker herself has been sustainable in her private life for a long time, buying a lot of second-hand clothes or tailoring her own clothes as patchwork. The passion she shows in her work is therefore also reflected in her private clothing style. You will certainly be able to admire both at the German premiere of War Sailor on 2 October at Filmfest Hamburg.