Costume Designing For CGI Films & JOHN CARTER with Mayes Rubeo

The Mexican-born costume designer has worked with Hollywood's biggest directors like Mel Gibson (Apocalypto), James Cameron (Avatar), Oliver Stone (Born 4th of July), John Sayles,  and recently with Andrew Stanton in adapting the costumes of Edgar Rice Burroughs' comic book novel for the big screen.  Fernando Esquivel sat down with Mayes C. Rubeo who explains most of the costumes in JOHN CARTER were not directly adapted from the graphic novel because they wouldn't translate cinematically.  She also reveals costumes for CGI characters are not created using animation but actual costumes are designed with real material and later digitized for the animated characters. 

JOHN CARTER is in movie theatres March 9, 2012.

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More about Mayes C. Rubeo:

Mexican-born, MAYES C. RUBEO (Costume Designer) is one of the most diverse and creative talents working in costume design today.

The daughter of Silvio Castillero, a photojournalist, and Esperanza Botello, a homemaker and mother of 12, Rubeo had a unique upbringing but one that gave her a solid grounding to realize her ambitions in life.

Having completed her studies in costume design at the Los Angeles Trade Tech, earning an Associate Arts Degree from UCLA, she later studied History of Art at the Institute Statale d’Arte in Italy. In the early days of her career Rubeo credits Enrico Sabbatini as her primary mentor. She also worked as an assistant costume designer and costume supervisor for designers such as Shay Cunliffe, Erica Phillips and Ellen Mirojnick.  

Although Rubeo boasts collaborations with mainstream directors, such as Oliver Stone (“Born on the 4th of July”) and Paul Verhoven (“Total Recall”), it was working with independent filmmakers John Sayles and Maggie Renzi (“Men With Guns,” “Sunshine State” and “Casa De Los Babys”) that really inspired Mayes as she learned invaluable lessons in the art of making quality movies on a shoestring budget.

In 2002, Rubeo garnered a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination for the TV movie “Fidel,” starring Gael Garcia Bernal. The film covered fashion decades from the ’30s to the ’90s, exhibiting costuming styles from soldiers at war to high-society galas and Mambo dancing in Havana nightclubs.

Most recently, she has worked on features with major directors Mel Gibson (“Apocalypto”), James Cameron (“Avatar,” for which she was recently nominated for another CDG Award) and James Wong (“Dragonball”).

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