A key element of the icon in Men in Black is black suits. Parkes explains their origin as follows: “MIB agents are in a complicated position: they have to do heroic deeds, but they must remain secret to the public. Anonymity is essential, and he starts off from the weary black suits. They have to make agents somewhat invisible. What is fascinating about the black suit is that it can be overlooked immediately, but at the same time it is also worn by a cinema star, so it must look good. Actors must feel strong when they wear them. ”
Costume designer Penny Rose, who worked with Paul Smith, one of England’s best designers, has created an extraordinary look for these costumes. “When you think about Men in Black, you’re just thinking about some black suits. But Penny Rose did not stop here, “says Parkes. “She and Paul Smith created an English-style costume because the first film had costumes that belonged to a certain age and a particular geographical area: New York. We reinvented the costume “.
The actors were excited to wear this suit. “The costumes are really strong and provide stability and strength,” explains Tessa Thompson. “However, they are elegant – and suitable for a strong woman. They make you feel like they belong to that world. ”
Hemsworth says he appreciated that “each of the costumes has something special – a personal detail. My one has a special lining. ” Hemsworth also liked socks that did not respect the binding but were created by Smith. “And when you put on your glasses, the outfit is complete.”
Rose added High T agent, played by Liam Neeson, a special detail: vest. “He is the head of MIB London, so High T needs to have something that no one has,” she points out. “All the costumes are made of non-clothless cloth, made after stretch technology, very suitable for traveling.”
“Everyone looks great in a suit created by Paul Smith,” Rose continues – and Rafe Spall can only agree. But the costumes suit Spall not only as a style but also because he is sentimental about them. “Paul’s achievements have a special place in my heart because in my childhood Dad always bought Christmas clothes by Paul,” he says.
Rose also created other versions of costumes for other MIB employees in London. “They wear red reinforcements to fight aliens,” she explains. “For example, their jackets are made of gloves, and the belts of safety belts”.
The heroic wearing of the protagonists puts them in contrast with the costumes of the extraterrestrial assassins. Rose explains: “Twins are absolutely delightful and impossible to control because they have overwhelming energy. For their costumes, we have tried to give them a look of extraterrestrials coming to Earth/homeless people/street people. ”
Thanks to the science fiction elements of the film, it’s no surprise that the team turned to high-tech equipment. Although they also used the tools and equipment of previous episodes, the directors also opted for more daring solutions.
One of the MIB’s established tools was the pen-shaped Neuralyzer, which, by electronic pulses transmitted to the brain of the witnesses, induced a hypnotic state that erased their memory or implanted other memories. This helps the agency keep secret the issue of aliens coming to our planet.
Under the supervision of Wood and prosthetic creator Pierre Bohanna, who also worked on many episodes of Star Wars, Harry Potter and other James Bond films, the team took over and modernized the Neuralyzer. “It’s a very familiar object, so I did not change it too much,” explains Bohanna. “I just added more animation to the mechanism, I improved its opening system, but the overall design remained the same because it was covered from the first movie when it was used.”
Wood has also been the author of the design for some of the key vehicles of the film. While Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones were driving a Ford LTD Crown Victoria, Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson were fitted with a Jaguar SJ6 and a Lexus RC F. The Jaguar is no more or less than a wheel arsenal, hiding all kinds of high-tech weapons in his body. If you stretch your hand to the door handle you can snap a gun. Open the fuel cap and give yourself a bigger gun. Hidden between the windows there is a rake for more handguns. From the trunk, the agents can take out a Gatling gun with a huge cartridge shop. And the exhaust pipe is nothing more than a launch ramp for a rocket.
And another vehicle that can go up to the sky is the flying motorcycle. “This was extremely sympathetic,” says Wood. “For the Marrakech sequence, I wanted a strange vehicle possible. I added a huge exhaust pipe, where turbines fired. But the motorcycle had to be agile to sneak into the narrow streets of the city. We created about 30 projects, we chose one and then built 4 identical motorcycles.”
Gadgets, guns, creatures, and costumes are part of the so-loved details of the arsenal that people use in black. But behind them, you will find even more impressive things. Walter Parkes says: “Men in Black: International will lead you into a thrilling and mysterious world where you can not discover secrets unless you look very carefully. We hope that besides having fun, you will come out of the movie with the feeling that you look at the world around you with other eyes.”
photo source: denofgeek.com
