The juxtaposition of the residents of District 12 wearing their Sunday Best to The Reaping (another reference to the idyllic past as well as subconsciously aligning the District residents with the righteous and the Capitol residents with godless excess) and then Effie arriving in Capitol fashion seemed to also recall the (after the fact) impressions of pre-Revolutionary France. Effie is wearing a high, powdered wig with a white powdered face and a bubbly, privileged personality a la Marie Antoinette. It instantly implies a deep inequity and atmosphere of burgeoning resentment that will lead to uprising of the peasant class.
ive always appreciated the amount of details that went into making this franchise but i never really knew where and what it was from so thank you for making this video.
I hope you do a video on ballad of songbirds and snakes when the film comes out! I would love to hear your thoughts on it, since it takes place 64 years before Katniss’ story!
this was really cool. I'm so happy to finally really get some more design/aesthetic theory background on the Hunger Games universe, the films have been one of my biggest personal style/aesthetic influences ever since they came out! looking forward to watching part two next.
What an increible video! As a fan of the thg franchise my level of appreciation for this analysis is hugeeee! I’m genuinely obsessed with the simple but effective editing and how you explain everything so clearly. As someone who has no idea about design history it was really easy for me to understand everything and all the references you explained were so helpful!!
Please make more of these!! I'm an aspiring 3D artist and I want to integrate more aesthetics in a stylized 3D animation context and these help so much!
Absolutely fasciating. I was super intrigued by the art direction for this film and always tried to look for concept arts/the inspiration behind it. There wasn't enough Capitol in the movie for me to really understand it, but your video totally nails everything down to the last bit. I also always thought Effie's closet was completely random with no context to it, but to learn it was inspired 1-1 by a famous art designer as an intentional decision by the filmmakers as well as the different fashion styles presented through those outfits is amazing. It really adds a lot of depth to the franchise. Super informative, thanks!!
If you pay attention to the difference in appearance of social classes in movies like Hunger Games and The Fifth Element, you will right away see the crazy hairstyles, makeup and fashion that changes frequently. My theory: in a dystopian world where surveillance is everywhere and privacy is a privilege, only the elite can afford to change their real appearance in an effort to protect their actual appearance and avoid things like facial recognition.
I just stumbled across your videos and they're amazing. this is such an acute, accurate, well-researched analysis of the style and design in the movies. thank you so much!
The design of District 12 also looks like it’s referencing Appalachia in the United States. District 12 is about coal and looks like a small mining town somewhere in West Virginia. It also reflects the inequality and poverty of the area and how workers are exploited in dangerous conditions. The forests, hills, and general environment also look like it’s in that setting, along with the clothing styles, old photos, and folk music style.
Yes! The area I lived in doesn’t look that dissimilar to some parts of district 12. When I first saw the first movie I was really surprised to see that it looked like an authoritarian prison version of parts of my town
The books explicitly state that Katniss and District 12 resides in Appalachian the term Appalachia seems to by antiquated by the time Katniss is around but she still knows it’s the archaic term for District 12.