Details matter. In the world of filmmaking, the smallest details have a crucial impact on an audience. Imagine watching a movie and noticing that the lead actor’s pants aren’t cuffed at the bottom, in the middle of a scene where their pants are rolled up at the beginning and end. This break in continuity interrupts the immersive storytelling of a film and brings the audience out of reverie. They start to think about how the scene must have been filmed in multiple takes, instead of staying focused on the message and the plot. A lack of continuity is disruptive, which is why there are entire teams of people on set whose job is to preserve visual stability for the audience.

Key costumer is one role dedicated to cataloguing detail. Little Rock local Alex Flanders has worked as a key costumer and assistant costume designer on nearly a dozen films made in Arkansas, including PBS’s “Mystery League” and the more recent “The Threesome” starring Zoey Deutch. Flanders’ boutique, Crying Weasel, prepared her to enter the costuming world by teaching her the transferable skills of steaming, styling, and mending. She makes use of her background knowledge to do shopping and fittings for character wardrobes. There has even been an opportunity for her to source clothing from her own boutique for the upcoming production “Hellfire,” set to release this year.

Flanders uses spreadsheets to log essential details like whether a shirt is rumpled, stained, or untucked, and makes sure that each article of clothing looks the same throughout key moments in a script. Flanders and her colleagues also keep track of the wardrobe by taking photos of the actors in their costumes before each scene. Comparing them side by side over the course of shooting a film ensures that there are no blips in visual cohesion that might distract an audience. “Whatever you see on screen, someone took a lot of time to put together to make sure it goes with the story,” said Flanders. Her work, and the work of other costumers, is a key part of what makes film so culturally impactful. The success of a project relies on people who can tend to even the smallest details.

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