Costuming Ender's Game: Christine Bieselin Clark

Christine Bieselin Clark, the costume designer for the Ender's Game movie, has already more than a little experience in outfitting characters in the worlds of science fiction. Apart from being the assistant costume designer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine (which was also directed by Gavin Hood), she was also involved in the costuming behind 300, Watchman and TRON: Legacy.

Watchmen (2009)

In an interview with Craigh Barboza back in August, Clark admits to perhaps being a bit of a "techno geek," mentioning that she enjoys costuming a sci-fi movie because of the technology used in the creative process. She also mentions having previously researched the source material behind the films she's working on in order to add small details to costumes fans would appreciate - something I think every Ender's Game fan will be excited to hear.

In the same interview, Clark admitted that the most demanding costumes she's ever had to develop were the ones from TRON: Legacy. She remarks:

We were working with technologies and materials that weren’t even fully developed in order to get the suits to illuminate. In a matter of months we had to perfect a technical system that would illuminate hundreds of costumes while maintaining mobility and function. Oh yes, and they had to look great too! That was very challenging, trying to keep the integrity of the design aesthetic while meeting the technical demands. I’m getting tired just thinking about it!

Sound like something we're familiar with? Here is a description of the launchy flash suits in Ender's Game:

It was the largest compartment that contained the prize. It looked like a spacesuit at first glance, complete with helmet and gloves. [...] It was thickly padded. It was also a little stiff.

TRON: Legacy (2010)

The Battle Room will be the perfect place for Digital Domain's visual effects team to show off a bit, and I don't expect the stars to be as simple as the "huge brown boxes" that are described in the book. It's therefore easy to imagine that the flash suits will also be a bit more... well, flashy, perhaps lighting up when frozen or having some sort of fluorescent quality in the dark. It will also be interesting to see how Clark interprets the "flamboyant" look of the suits of the individual armies: color-coded to be sure, but will each army have their own sort of badge? How different will what they wear during their free play be from what they have on in the Battle Room? Since I very much doubt there will be any "skinning" going on in the barracks, will there be standard Battle School pajamas?

Christine Bieselin Clark seems like the perfect choice for Ender's Game and I think it's safe to really look forward to seeing what she comes up with. Apart from Battle School uniforms, I'm also curious as to how she dresses the Wiggin family and Ender's schoolmates. What will we be wearing in the future? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm really hoping "sagging" will have died out by then.