Obviously, golf is not the only thing that has changed over the past seven decades, so Redford put together an award-winning creative team to help him recreate the Savannah of the day. Collaborating with the director on "The Legend of Bagger Vance" were cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, production designer Stuart Craig, costume designer Judianna Makovsky, editor Hank Corwin, composer Rachel Portman and visual effects supervisor Richard Chuang.
As the story progresses from 1916 to 1931, Redford and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus experimented with different camera techniques, like super-8 and 16mm mixed with 3 5mm, slow motion and step framing. They also applied an evolving color palette to reflect visually the passage of time. The early years of 1916 are seen in a monochromatic tone that has the haze of memories. There is a brief glimpse of the '20s with its art deco, "anything goes" motif that then gives way to the muted, washed out colors of the Great Depression. The exception was on the golf course, where the primary color used was, naturally, green.
The color scheme was carried on in the work of production designer Stuart Craig and costume designer Judianna Makovsky. "We talked specifically about how the color and light of the landscape would be echoed in the color and silhouette of the clothes," Makovsky says. "The lines of the fashions of the day were very simple, very elegant, regardless of status, and we wanted to convey that."
In creating the wardrobe for the film, Makovsky had to design clothing that reflected the broad range of social and economic standings of the times. "In 1931 ," she illustrates, "people of Adele's class would still have the clothes they bought, probably in Paris, before they lost their money. She's not destitute. And since she's the hostess of the party, she would present herself quite beautifully."
Status also influenced the wardrobe for young Hardy Greaves. "Because his family has no money, his clothes are pretty old and tatty," Makovsky states. "We made about half his wardrobe, but a lot were actual clothes of the period."
"They were itchy and uncomfortable and, most of all, hot," Moncrief remembers. "We started the movie in September, and it was like 80-something degrees, and I was in these wool pants and a long-sleeved shirt and sweater. That was the worst part.
Makovsky designed the wardrobe for Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen from the numerous photographs of the two men taken over the course of their careers. "Jones had a very simple, classic American style, while Hagen was more flamboyant," she notes. "We tried to show that in the first round of golf where Walter Hagen plays in a suit, which is something he really did. He was known to have played in a tuxedo once, just to annoy his partner."
For the golf course gallery, Makovsky and her team had to recreate dozens of vintage outfits, complete with knickers, golf caps, sweaters and even socks.
Makovsky conceived Junuh's wardrobe to echo the character's state of mind. "We decided that his clothes should all be old; he would not have anything new. He no longer cares how he looks, so most of his clothes are from the early '20s. His golf clothes, in particular, are from 1916, because he hadn't played golf since he went to war. For the match, he just pulls out his old clothes and shoes from 15 years before."
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