This project involved redesigning costumes for the movie Hero (2002).
The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty is nearly universally regarded as cruel and inhumane. However, it can be difficult to determine whether his punishments were as harsh as they are made out to be, given the book burnings have created a dearth of contemporary accounts that the Han Dynasty jumped in to fill with scolding criticism. Hero challenges these traditional views of the Emperor by offering a justification of his actions- that he was enforcing laws that in the long term would benefit the people. In the film, three stories are presented with varying degrees of truth. I have created costume renderings for the Emperor and three assassins; Long Sky, Flying Snow, and Broken sword. Each character has been rendered as part of the story I believe represents them best. For the most part, the costume designs are based on clothing from the Qin Dynasty. However, I have altered the structure of some garments to incorporate elements from later periods to reflect the way in which the altered image of the Emperor has been passed down. Clothing from the Qin Dynasty was composed of a mix of different patterned fabrics. I have chosen to have an underlying textured base that is faded to represent the loss of information about the realities of the first empire.
Long Sky- Red Story
Long Sky’s costume is based on the straight robe that rose to popularity during the Qin and Han dynasties.The sash is tied with a knot with four loops. The Red Story is revealed to be a narrative created by Nameless to trick the Emperor into allowing him to approach. The four loops in the belt represent the four assassins in the conspiracy, the final one being Nameless. This symbol visually represents the inconsistencies or suspicious details in the story, allowing the Emperor’s doubt to appear more well-founded. Furthermore, the untied hair masks Sky’s face and gives the impression that he is hiding something. It additionally creates an image of chaos or disorder that runs parallel with the great amount of violence in the Red Story.
Flying Snow- Blue Story
Flying Snow’s death is a consequential element of the Blue Story and it illustrates the way in which the Emperor views the relationships between the assassins. She additionally plays a larger role in this narrative than in the other two plots. Though in ancient China blue was associated with wood, I have additionally adapted it to represent water because of the Lake scene that follows Snow’s sacrifice. To represent both elements, I have used different textures to give dimension to the fabric while also showing traces of a pattern. The teal panel in the center of the costume, reminiscent of armor from a later period and representative of her insistence to fight, has been treated as wood grain and the top half of the robe has a crossing waves pattern. Snow’s costume is also the most flowing of the four I have designed. Her hair is less loose than that of the Red Story, but two strands flow free, as would be typical for a woman to wear in that era.
Broken Sword- White Story
The robe Broken Sword wears is a spiral robe from the Warring States Period. By having him dress in the way he would have before the Qin dynasty began, the costume implies that he has not given up his cause by refusing to assassinate the Emperor. This design choice reflects the fact he still is considering the wellbeing of his state as being of the utmost importance, and views the only way to ensure this is by allowing the Emperor to rule. In this way, he is not betraying his people, and is only leaving a mission that would have ultimately harmed them. His hair is tied up and out of his face to represent that Broken Sword has no hidden motivations in this story.
Emperor- Black Story
In ancient China, the color black was associated with the major yin, intertwined with the Earth. This represents a conflict for the Emperor, who is bound to rule his kingdom but also seeks immortality in the greater universe. His obsession with the afterlife, shown through his sporadic behavior of inspecting his constellation-based palaces and sending people to find recipes for immortality in the mountains, is represented with various textiles in his costume. For example, dots on his sleeves represent constellations and the architecture of the cosmos, while the texture of the bottom of his robe is inspired by ancient Chinese landscape paintings.