Deborah L. Scott never missed “The Wizard of Oz'' when it came on once a year on her family's black and white television. Once they acquired a color television, Scott’s mind was blown by what could be done with films when she saw the film in all its glory. As an adult, she saw the film in theaters, and couldn't believe the detail on each of the costumes and makeup.

Scott went from a child watching costume-driven films on a box television to making costumes for films destined for the big screen, such as “Avatar," “Avatar: The Way of Water,"  “Titanic,"  “The Patriot" and “Back to the Future.”

Scott sat down for a Master Class moderated by professor Richard Holland in Dodge's Digital Media Arts Center (DMAC) on March 9 to discuss her life and career with Dodge College Of Film and Media Arts students. She stayed over an hour to answer every single question from students about the inspiration behind the costumes she’s designed, how to be a successful designer or collaborator of a designer and how she has overcome adversity as a woman in film. 

“(Being a costume designer) takes a third luck, a third talent and a third hard work… or mostly hard work,” Scott said. “Sometimes it's just luck, but you got to follow through. I have never quit anything in my life, even though there have been days where I've been like, 'Ugh.'"

A lot of dedication was put into the costumes she designed for “Avatar: The Way of Water,”  which involved lengthy research into real indigenous cultures, specifically those who lived on islands near water. This research inspired the costumes she designed for the mythical Na’vi clans of Pandora as she realized that Indigenous people used materials from their environment to make their decorative clothing. 

“I started in reality — if you're on an ocean, the sea grass is quite different from the kind of grass that grows in forests,” Scott said. “The two clans in this movie are very different. So where you would use a pine cone, you might use a shell. But then you had to work outside the box and  say, this shell is Pandoran. The digital artists would say, ‘What kind of flower is that? Is that a flower or leaf?’ And I'm like, ‘Both.’ It doesn't have to be so defined. You could say it's a Pandora flower.”

During the making of the first “Avatar” film in 2009, Scott and director James Cameron learned it was imperative to actually make the costumes rather than just drawing them so they could see how the material reacted to different movements and elements. This process became especially important in “Avatar: The Way of Water” which included many underwater scenes. 

Scott and Cameron had some experience working with costumes in water during the “Titanic” in which several “silhouette garments” and cheap shoes had to be made due to the salt and chlorinated waters they shot in not treating the costumes well. 

“The saving grace was the life jacket,” Scott said. “You didn't have to worry too much about all the details that you were missing.”

When working with directors, Scott said the best thing a designer can do is listen to what their director's vision is and try to make them talk about it as much as possible. After allowing them to express their vision, a designer must gain the director’s trust so they can be left alone to design. 

“No one likes to be babysat,” Scott said. “So that's a matter of having a person trust you that you're going to be okay.”

Not only does Scott have to manage her own work, but she also manages large teams. Her largest staff was on “Avatar,” in which 45 to 50 people worked with her to bring the many costumes to life. 

The biggest job a costume designer has is answering a lot of questions. Her team is constantly asking her questions to ensure the utmost accuracy in designing costumes that align with her and the director's vision. 

“You're trying to keep everybody on the same page, working for the same goals, using the same language in the art,” Scott said. “It's really communicating with people constantly, all day long.”

Although she has worked on big films like "Avatar" and "Titanic," she said she is no more proud of them than she is of the smaller films she's worked on such as “Never Cry Wolf” — the first “real film” she designed costumes for. 

“I think that anything can be the best thing you've ever done,” Scott said. “I've done the complicated movies and I’m proud that they just got done. But I'm very proud of some of the smaller things I've done just because they seem right. They just hit the mark.”

Although it may be just as hard for designers like Scott with a family at home to establish a work-life balance, which she said requires “a lot of sacrifice,” the industry has come a long way in regards to the way women are treated in the workplace. When it became obvious Scott was pregnant with her first child, she was asked to go home with no backup job to run to. 

Now, she proudly has pregnant women working for her and even has her daughter, who is her assistant, and grandson in her office.

Although she brings her family to work, she doesn't let her work influence her personal style. She makes a distinction between herself being a costume designer and not fashion designer, so she does not make her own clothing. 

“I love going shopping and picking and looking,” Scott said. “(Fashion) is such a whole different kind of world to invest in. It's really quite special. I think for me, it's mostly picking and doing something instinctual. I don't usually keep things in my closet too long. I like to keep it moving and keep it comfortable.”

As Scott pointed out that she’s more suited to costume designing than fashion designing, she also brought up the fact that not every person will be a costume designer and there are a plethora of jobs students can pursue. 

“There's so many jobs," Scott said. "What's wonderful for students is, everybody's not going to be a designer. So maybe there's a better job that you're more well suited to, maybe in combination with your own personal life."

Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Master Classes are available to all Chapman students and alumni. Seats are available either on a first-come, first-served basis or by lottery system depending on the Master Class. Dates, times, upcoming guests and additional information can be found in the lobby of Marion Knott Studios or on the Dodge College Instagram account.