I have always loved costumes.
Costumes absolutely make the character. An actor can be the best in the world,
but without the right costume they are only half of the character they are
portraying. The characters in Scream are no different. Some of the costumes in
the movie subtly tell us things about them, while others have created horror
icons that fit into the archetypes that stick in our subconscious. Recently I
had the distinct privilege and honor to sit down with Cynthia Bergstrom, the
lovely and talented costume designer on Scream (1996) and talk with her about
some of her work on the movie and beyond.
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| Cynthia Bergstrom, Costume Designer, Scream (1996) |
John Gritton: Tell us a
little about yourself and what you’ve been up to lately.
Cynthia Bergstrom: I live in Tiburon, CA which is just a few
miles north of San Francisco & the Golden Gate Bridge. And about 45 minutes away from where the
party/death scenes were filmed.
I left the world of
Film/TV & costume designing in 2013 to go to grad school. After graduating with a Master’s in Spiritual
Psychology…I just never looked back. I started a life coaching practice. I also
coached with a volunteer organization in men’s & women’s prisons. It’s some of the most rewarding work I’ve
ever done. I knew what to expect going
into the prisons because on several other projects, we shot in prisons…it
wasn’t frightening to me at all.
I moved to Northern
California in Oct. 2017. I am now head
of marketing and business development for an architectural firm in SF, Marin
& Sonoma Counties.
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| Teacher of the Year recipient 6 years running back there in the pink. Scream (1996) |
I think most people
know that I grew up in the town where Scream 1 was filmed, Santa Rosa, CA. In fact, my mother was an extra at the high
school. She played a teacher. You can catch her walking through the quad. She is wearing a pink suit and has big blonde
hair.
I’ve been hang-gliding,
sky diving, cliff diving and I’ve flown a plane. A small one.
I ride both Western & English.
I used to ski but right before Scream, I had a skiing accident that left
me with a broken knee & torn ACL. I
was on crutches for most of the production.
I skied for a few more years…then found Yoga.
I sing and I love
taking nature photos. I post them on
Instagram. The photos, not the songs.
JG: How did you become
involved in Scream?
CB: I had met Wes Craven and his team a few years before Scream discussing
another project. I stayed in touch with
one of the producers over the years, when Scream came along they called to
check on my availability and interest level.
At the time, I was living in Nashville, TN. I read the script but wasn’t really
interested. I had a full schedule, but
over several months we kept talking, the script was evolving and they had
chosen my hometown of Santa Rosa, CA as the filming location…how could I say
no?
JG: The looks of all of
the kids were distinctly different. Sidney had more muted tones, as compared to
Tatum. Billy and Stu had similar Earth tones, Randy’s bright and flashy
eccentric choices set him apart. Definitely the oddball. Can you talk about how
each character’s palettes were chosen?
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| Skeet Ulrich, Neve Campbell, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan and Jamie Kennedy. Scream (1996) |
CB: When I design costumes for film characters, I take in to account the
personality of the character, what is this character about? What is the back story? What is this character presenting to the world
and what is this character hiding from the world?
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| Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. Lovely, adorable, strong. Total badass. Scream (1996) |
Sidney was a
complicated young woman who was hiding a lot what she was feeling
internally. She wasn’t really saying
anything nor was she committed to anything except being the good girl and
adhering to an image of the teenage ‘Good Girl’ which made sense after the way
her mother was rumored to be a licentious woman. So, for Sidney, it was important for her
wardrobe to be subdued in a way that would not bring attention to herself or
her figure.
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| Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis. Brooding, handsome, creepy, sometimes says stupid things, still has the best lines. Scream (1996) |
I also wanted to the costumes to be as timeless as possible and not trendy or overtly of the time period…mid to late 90’s. That was easy to do with the guys. T-shirts and jeans are indeed timeless. Billy, Stu and Randy each had very distinct personalities and each had very distinctive home lives. Billy was the good-looking popular guy, very all American. I wanted to keep his palette more in line with Sid’s. I wanted them to have a symbiotic match via their clothing choices.
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| Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher. 261 Turner Ln. Nailed the crazy eyes, Matt! Scream (1996) |
Stu, I envisioned a
bit like a beatnik from the 60’s groovy era. He felt very down to earth and
confident, his character seemed to be very much in touch with who he is.
While Randy was
obviously intelligent but a bit goofy and not really taken that seriously. He had a big personality and liked
attention. Hence, the brighter colors.
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| Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks. He was working. Thank you. Scream (1996) |
As for Tatum, she was
bold and daring. Her character was that
of a free spirit and willing to take chances…she was the antithesis of
Sidney. She was hiding nothing and put
it all out there for everyone to see.
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| Rose McGowan as Tatum. Rocking the midriff! Scream (1996) |
JG: How much of
themselves did each actor bring to their character’s wardrobes?
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| Rose McGowan as Tatum Riley. Scream (1996) |
CB: Rose McGowan brought a lot to her wardrobe. She and I went shopping together for some of
her pieces. She had a lot of input. I had originally seen her character as less
funky and eclectic, it was Rose that brought the funk to her costumes. She was great fun to work with. She knew what she was bringing to the
character and she played Tatum so well.
I wouldn’t say any of
them brought themselves into their wardrobe…except for maybe Skeet, who played
Billy.
JG: Them green Hushpuppy
shoes, tho! I love them! So wanted a pair!
CB: I know! Hush Puppies were very popular at the time. They were huge and ok, not so timeless. But totally geeky and perfect for Randy.
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| Green Hushpuppies. Need these so bad! |
JG: The killer’s boots in
Scream 1 have been searched for and debated and scrutinized for years. Some
speculate that Billy wore the boots around the fountain, others stick to the
bathroom boots for reference, please tell us, what boots are they?
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| Left: Boots in the bathroom. Who do they belong to!? Prankster? Stu? Principal Himbry?! Right: Lightened screencap of Sidney's attack boots. Scream (1996) |
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| Billy's fountain boots. |
CB: If my memory serves me correctly…the boots Billy wore to school and
around the fountain were similar but not the same as the killer’s boots. We talked about the boots a lot in
pre-production and all the subtle nuances that might or might not give away the
killer’s identity. I’m pretty sure they
were not the same boots. I have been
asked a lot over the years as to the make of the killer’s boots and where they
came from and to be perfectly honest…I don’t recall. Best guess is that the came from Sears. They might have been work boots from
Sears. As for Billy’s…I really don’t
remember. But if I were to guess, I
would say that they also came from Sears and were just slightly different from
the killer’s. Didn’t Stu have those
boots on too?
JG: Lots of lime green.
Randy, Gale, Tatum. These are the “outsiders” to their respective groups.
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| Left: Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers. She should be in New York. Right: Tatum Riley, NOT the beer wench. Scream (1996) |
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| Randy tells us the rules... So we can break them. ;) "Freshjive" was a Streetwear company from 1989 to 2009. |
CB: Perhaps, but they were also bright, bold…”look at me”, “I want to be
seen” characters.
Gale’s suit was more
chartreuse than lime. Randy was
definitely in a lot of green and lime at that.
Tatum was more on the yellow-ish scale.
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| "The Scream" by Edvard Munch, 1893 |
CB: I based a lot of the pallet on Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream. It is rich with colors of orange, red, golds,
yellows and yes…lime green.
JG: How much guidance
towards the killer was considered? Were the different Red Herring’s clothes done
in any intentional way?
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| Look at Sheriff Burke's boots! Is he the killer?! Is Dewey wearing the same boots? Is Dewey the killer!?! Are these police issue boots?! Is Background Cop #3 the killer!?! Who else has these boots!?! Scream (1996) |
CB: There was so much consideration given to not revealing the identity or even the gender of the killer. Red Herring clothes…you’d have to tell me what you see as Red Herring clothes. ;)
JG: In dressing Billy and
Stu you’re juggling giving enough of the killer away, while not giving away too
much. A tough position when the script literally tells the audience who the
killer is when Randy lays it all out in the video store; Dad’s a red herring
(Billy and Stu’s plan was to frame Sidney’s father) the killer is Billy.
Brilliant writing by Kevin. How did you navigate the balance between making it
believable that Billy and Stu are the killers for those that know, while making
it subtle enough as to not make it obvious?
CB: To be perfectly honest, this was never the intention. Costuming Billy & Stu was all about
creating the illusion, the image of likeable, non-threatening teenage
boys. The choices for their wardrobe
were to make them believable and relatable.
It’s about bringing forth authenticity, so that the character comes to
life in a real and believable way.
JG: Let’s talk about
Ghostface. In the script the killer is described as wearing a “Ghost Mask”
which says little, and even less about the rest of the costume. What were the
early design ideas and challenges for Ghostface’s costume?
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| Ghostface is in your window, Casey! Scream (1996) |
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| Casper mask, 1950s-1960's. Creepy! Casper the Friendly Ghost (1939) |
CB: We went through a lot of masks.
I think at one time we even looked at a Casper mask, but that may or may
not be 100% accurate. It was a long time ago.
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| Original Ghostface Costume Sketch by Cynthia Bergstrom (1995) |
JG: We’ve heard stories
about the costume being white for a while into production. What were some of
the reasons to turn it black? One would think that as with regular white
clothing it would get dirty and bloody, causing a continuity nightmare.
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| White clad "Ghost" character from the 2019 film "Haunt." Seeing a lot of inspiration from our beloved Ghostface here... |
CB: While I always saw the Ghostface costume as black, Wes originally
wanted it to be white. This was
surprising to many of us. He wanted the costume to look like a cheap costume
shop costume made out of white ripstop fabric.
During the early
phases of pre-production, I had my team create several protypes. We put a man in the costume and had him hide
behind some bushes and act menacing. We
took pictures from every angle…Wes then realized that white wouldn’t work. I think his initial thought was to not make
Ghostface look menacing, but it just didn’t work. Yet, Wes was convinced still that the costume
should be white…until one day while on a location scout our DP saw the black
fabric with silver lurex thread in a fabric store. It was a thrilling day! The hunt for the perfect fabric was over and
we got our black robed Ghostface.
JG: The fabric for
Ghostface was unique in that it sparkled. What was the decision behind the
sparkly fabric? What type of fabric was it? It seems to have been some sort of
knit with lurex thread. Did the fabric create any challenges in construction or
on set?
CB: It was a knit with a bit of stretch.
The decision was simply that the light would catch the lurex thread and
make it shine. There were no challenges as I recall on set or in construction
of the garments. We performed several
camera tests to make sure it would work.
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| Look at that fabric glisten! It's these subtle touches that separate the onscreen Ghostface from what you see hanging in Halloween shops. Scream (1996) |
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| Britex Fabrics on Post St. in San Francisco. In business for more than 60 years. |
CB: It was found in a small fabric store while scouting locations. I think there was only one bolt left and
perhaps even less than a full bolt…so we ordered several bolts of it. It may have been ordered from Britex Fabrics
in San Francisco, CA. We were already on
location in Northern California, the costume was made by a tailor and his team
who had offices in SF.
Britex offers a Customized Swatch Service where they will
search out a fabric that fits your needs. As anyone who has ever searched for
fabric knows, stock comes and goes. Unfortunately, Britex no longer carries
that wonderful Sparkle Black Fabric we are all searching for. These were the
fabrics they found. John C. Gritton (2020)
JG: We know that there
were challenges with the mask for a good portion of pre-production. How much
did the mask affect the overall design of the costume? What elements changed
when the mask was finally chosen? The robe used with the KNB mask seems to be
different than the robe eventually used for the Funworld mask, specifically the
hood. What was the reasoning behind that?
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| The hood used with the KNB mask is smaller and tighter to the head. Scream (1996) |
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| Whereas the hood used with the Funworld Fantastic Faces mask is larger and more billowy. Scream (1996) |
CB: There weren’t really any issues with the mask and the robe. What did happen with the Fun World mask was that it showed the shape of the wearer’s head. Even with the hood of the robe. Again, we did not want to give away the shape, size, gender or identity of the killer(s). We also need to ensure that the hood would stay put while doing stunts. We ended up creating a cardboard stiff buckram brim type device that inserted into the fabric of the hood. From there we attached straps to keep the hood in place. We also created shoulder padding, so as to not give away the shape of the wearer…being it a man or a woman.
JG: What were some of the
overall inspirations behind the look of Ghostface? How much was designed for
functionality? (Attached gloves, etc.) How much was done for disguising the
killer’s identity?
CB: The gloves were created to disguise the killer, they were attached to
make sure they stayed on during the fight scenes. And the inspiration was from the look of The
Grim Reaper as I discuss above…from here it was all about making the costume
functional. The gloves weren’t really
gloves but mittens with elastic at the wrist to keep them in place. The inspiration for that was from a baby’s onesie. It just made sense to me.
JG: Scream ended up being
a huge hit that revitalized an entire dying genre and spawned several
knockoffs. The character of Ghostface has been cemented as a horror icon next
to Michael, Jason and Freddy. Part of that longevity is the timeless nature of
the costume. Was there an awareness that this character would become an icon
and did that create any type of pressure on you having such a big part of his
overall look?
CB: To be direct, no. Not at
all. Timelessness was important yes, but
it really wasn’t what I was thinking about when I designed Ghostface’s
costume. It was really more intuitive
than anything else. It was a vision and
my job as a costume designer is to bring forth…my vision but primarily the
vision of the director and writer. Was I
thrilled that the white costume idea got thrown out…yes!
When I design, I
design with the project in mind, what is right for the script, the character,
the overall production. It’s an
intuitive and investigative process.
Trusting that intuition and vision is key. If I designed with the idea that I was
creating an icon…it would not have reached the iconic status that it has. It just wouldn’t, the entire process is
organic. That’s the beauty of it for me
as a designer…there’s a sense of confidence that goes along with that
philosophy…it’s art. It’s the creative
process. I’m thrilled that we can still
talk about it 24 years later. I remember
going to a Halloween party in Los Angeles a year after Scream came out. At the party were several Ghostface
costumes. I mean, what a rush! I love it.
It’s so much fun.
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| Trick or Treat! Funworld (1997) |
JG: What were some of the best parts about working on Scream and creating Ghostface’s look? The worst parts?
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| Downtown Santa Rosa, CA, Population: 177,586 (2018.) Beautiful, picturesque, forever Woodsboro. |
CB: The entire production was so much fun to be a part of, we laughed a
lot. We were on location in Northern California in Sonoma County. For me, it was especially meaningful as I
grew up in Sonoma County. We shot in my
home town. It was exciting to be making
a movie where I grew up. It was great to
be in the wine country, it’s so beautiful.
Which what eventually led me back here some 20+ years later. I worked separate
hours from the crew, I remember my crew telling me how hard it was to deal with
all the blood. There was a lot of blood
and there were a lot of night shoots. That
was hard on the crew. But overall, we had such a good time and we knew at one
point that we were making something incredible.
We could see it in the dailies.
Magic was happening. It’s was
thrilling.
As far as creating
Ghostface…it was fun. I loved every
moment of it. There were technical things that had to be figured out, lots of
details to be worked out. It was a
collaborative process, every day I was inspired by Wes and his creative genius.
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| Wes Craven and Drew Barrymore on the set of Scream (1996.) |
JG: Are there any secrets
about working on the movie, and specifically about Ghostface’s costume that you
would care to reveal?
CB: Yes, there are lots of secrets that I can’t share. No, seriously…I can’t think of any. J
JG: Is it true that the
cast burned their wardrobe after wrap? If so, How Dare They!?! ;)
CB: Yeah, I don’t think that happened.
We always keep wardrobe from every show in the different stages of
clean, dirty, bloody, etc. in case of reshoots.
JG: Finally, you were
involved in working with and creating a style two of the biggest feminist
horror icons of an entire generation of fans, Buffy Summers and Sidney
Prescott. How did you manage to so incredibly capture the essence of these
characters? They always remained strong and confident in the face of danger,
while always maintaining their femininity and vulnerability. How were you able
to so successfully dress these two amazing characters in a way that kept them
strong, both physically and mentally, without using the old tropes that would
have stripped them of their femininity?
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| Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. Two warriors, icons, role models, heroes. Scream (1996), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) |
CB: That’s a huge compliment. Thank you. I’m touched. I suppose the simple answer is that just because a woman is strong, confident and can kick ass…doesn’t mean she has to hide her most powerful strengths. That of her femininity and vulnerability. These two qualities are Super Powers.
Thank you so much, Cynthia! These
insights into the thoughts, ideas and creative choices have shed light on the
finer aspects of costume designing and what brought Kevin’s words and Wes’
vision to brilliant light. We are so appreciative of the work you did on the
film, and taking the time to have this conversation with us.
