William Chang Suk-ping was busy on a Beijing film set when he got a phone call from his octogenarian mother, who lives in Hong Kong. She'd read in the newspaper that his costume designs for 'The Grandmaster,' directed by Wong Kar-wai, were nominated for an Academy Award. She told him: 'You have to go!' Several friends also got in touch, urging him to attend the March 2 ceremony. 'Everyone is calling, trying to convince me to go because they all thought I won't go since they know I don't like attending awards,' Mr. Chang recently said, laughing. 'But of course I'm going to the Oscars. At least once, right?'
当张叔平(William Chang Suk-ping)接到他年迈的母亲从香港打来的电话时，他正忙着为一部电影布景。他的母亲在报纸上看到了他凭藉《一代宗师》(Grandmaster)获得奥斯卡金像奖(Academy Award)最佳服装设计提名的消息。她对张叔平说，你必须去！还有几位朋友也联系了他，力劝他出席3月2日举行的奥斯卡颁奖典礼。张叔平笑着说道，大家都给我打电话，想要说服我出席典礼，因为他们都觉得我不会去，他们知道我不喜欢出席颁奖典礼，不过，我肯定会去奥斯卡的，至少得去一次，对吗？
The Oscar nomination recognizes the 60-year-old Mr. Chang's meticulous interpretation of Chinese style from the early 1900s to the 1950s. The honor comes after almost four decades of filmmaking punctuated by dozens of international accolades--including a technical prize at Cannes for 'In the Mood for Love,' set in the 1960s Hong Kong of his childhood. Famously publicity-shy, the multitasking Mr. Chang has art-directed, designed costumes for, and edited all of Mr. Wong's feature films, and has worked with nearly every major Chinese director.
奥斯卡提名是对张叔平细致入微地刻画从二十世纪初到二十世纪五十年代中国风格的认可。在近四十年的电影制作生涯中，张叔平曾摘得数十项国际大奖，其中包括凭藉《花样年华》(In the Mood for Love)在戛纳电影节获得的技术大奖。张叔平多才多艺，常常身兼数职，王家卫导演的所有故事片都由他担任艺术指导、服装设计和剪辑。他和几乎所有中国大导演都有过合作。
Straight from dim sum in Hong Kong with his mother and brother, he spoke with the Journal about his careers in film and interior decoration, shopping on eBay for inspiration, and his pursuit of authenticity in Chinese design. Edited excerpts:
从香港的点心聊起，张叔平和本报记者谈到了他的电影和室内设计工作、在eBay购物寻找灵感以及他对中式设计真实性的追求。以下是访谈摘要：
Usually editing, production design and costume design are different jobs on a movie set, but you did all of these for 'The Grandmaster.' How did you juggle them?
问：通常，剪辑、造型设计和服装设计在电影制作中属于不同的工作，但你在《一代宗师》中却身兼三职，你是如何做到同时兼顾这些工作的？
They all concern the look of the film. Art direction is about the texture, the feeling, the lighting. Editing is creating the rhythm, the timing, a sense of flow. Mixed together, you can create a world. It makes people believe.
答：这些工作都与电影的视觉效果相关。艺术指导是关于质地、感觉和灯光。剪辑则是创造韵律、节奏和流动感。这些工作加在一起，就可以创造一个世界。它让人们相信。
What was your biggest challenge in making sets for 'The Grandmaster'?
问：你在《一代宗师》布景工作中遇到的最大挑战是什么？
The brothel is so elaborate. We found a similar house with gold carving in Guangdong [province in southern China]. We hired carving guys, did the gold leaf. The lighting fixtures we hand-made. Everything we created. We needed quantity so we could not just buy. Even spoons, bowls, silver chopsticks, wineglasses--all of this we had made.
答：妓院的布景相当复杂。我们在广东找到了一座类似的金楼。请了雕刻师傅来制作金箔。灯具是我们手工制作的。每一样东西都是我们创造的，我们要求的质量很高，因而不能一买了事。就连勺子、碗、银筷子、玻璃酒杯，所有这些都是我们自己做的。
The film spans the first half of the 20th century. What was your research for the costumes?
问：电影故事的时间背景跨越了二十世纪上半叶。你是如何研究服装的？
Mostly old pictures, documentaries, old films. I want to show something to be as authentic as possible. I'd never done the 1900s or 1920s. There are four kinds of silhouettes [in the film]. We had to do research very carefully so we wouldn't mix up the details. Most people will hardly notice, but the details differentiate the periods.
答：多数时候是通过研究老照片、纪录片和老电影。我希望展示尽可能真实的服饰。我们需要非常仔细地进行研究，这样才不至于把细节弄混。大多数人很难注意到这些细微差别，但就是这些细节把年代区分开来了。
What is your costume team like?
问：能谈谈你的服装团队吗？
I had 18 tailors, many who I trained a long time. Then I also had eight people to do embroidery, trimming, piping, beading. We designed the jewelry. We bought cheap jade, then had real jewelers use real gold because I wanted the color and the mounting. My team is mostly from China. It took one and a half years to produce the costumes for just the ladies in the brothel. We made, like, 120 cheongsams. For winter scenes, we had others hand-stitch the quilts, to do the fur lining. We bought vintage Western fur coats from eBay and remade them.
答：我有18位裁缝师，他们中的很多人经过了长期培训。我还有八个人负责刺绣、镶边和串珠这些工作。我们自己设计珠宝首饰。我的团队大多来自中国。单是制作妓院里的女子所穿的服装就耗费了一年半时间。我们大概缝制了120件旗袍。针对冬天的场景，我们还有其他人缝制棉被，制作毛皮衬里。我们在eBay上购买老旧的西式毛皮外套，然后重新改装。
Do you use eBay a lot?
问：你经常使用eBay吗？
Yes. I have an assistant who just does eBay searching. Sometimes just small things like handkerchiefs. The things are from all around the world. Also hats, shoes, handbags. Even if I cannot use them, I need the shape and the look I can reproduce.
答：是的。我有一位助手，他的工作就是在eBay上搜索东西。有时候只是像手帕这样的小玩意。还有帽子、鞋和手袋，这些东西来自世界各地。即便我用不上它们，我也可以根据它们的形状和样子进行再制作。
Do you have an archive?
问：你会把设计过程中的点点滴滴存档吗？
I don't like to keep things. I do a rough sketch, give it to my tailor and he throws it away after. What's done is done. I don't reuse things for different films.
答：我不喜欢保存东西。我会画一个大致的略图，交给我的裁缝师，他用完后就扔掉了。过去的就让它过去吧。我不喜欢在不同的影片中重复使用同一种东西。
Are costumes still fun for you?
问：你仍能在电影服装中找到乐趣吗？
Yes. I would like to do a film in the Song dynasty--very subtle, very minimal. Or the opposite in the Tang dynasty, so elaborate, so garish. I have not done these before.
答：是的。我希望参与制作一部故事背景设定在宋朝的影片，非常细腻，非常简约。或反过来设定在唐朝的影片，非常精致，非常华美。这些都是我以前从未做过的。
What are your other creative interests?
问：你还对哪些需要创意的工作感兴趣吗？
Everything I want to do is in art direction--I can be a graphic designer, an interior designer, a fashion designer--it's all in film. I also work on commercials. I do interiors, which is like set design. I used to paint.
答：我想做的一切事情都可以通过艺术指导实现，在影片制作过程中，我可以做平面设计师、室内设计师、服装设计师。我还参与广告制作。我做室内设计，就像布景设计一样。我过去画过画。
What art do you like now?
问：你现在喜欢哪种艺术？
When I work in China, I go to museums and galleries. I collect some paintings by Chinese artists. I like Zhang Enli. I like more-abstract painting. For Chinese, abstract painting is not so popular, but I like things that need more imagination. I also like sculpture. I have two small ones by Antony Gormley. I love the big ones, but they are too expensive. Sculpture has construction. When I'm doing clothes, I am interested in structure. Cheongsams in the 1920s and 1930s had no darts, but had shape from the way the tailor ironed, twisted and cut the fabric. I told my tailor: 'You have to do it like this.'
答：我在中国工作时，会去博物馆和画廊。我会收藏中国艺术家的一些画作。我喜欢张恩利。我喜欢偏抽象的画。对中国人来说，抽象派的画不是很受欢迎，但我喜欢需要更多想象力的东西。我还喜欢雕塑。我收藏有葛姆雷(Antony Gormley)的两座小型雕塑。我喜欢大型雕塑，但太贵了。雕塑蕴含着结构。我做衣服时对结构感兴趣。上世纪20年代和30年代的旗袍是没有皱褶的，但裁缝熨烫、扭转和裁剪布料的方式赋予了其形状。我告诉我的裁缝：你必须也这样做。
When you started as a film student in Canada, what was your dream?
问：你最初是在加拿大学电影专业，当时你的梦想是什么？
I wanted to become a director, of course. When I came back to Hong Kong, I did fashion design for two years--the garment industry in Hong Kong was very big then. Then in the early 1980s I did art direction. One day, Wong Kar-wai, who was a scriptwriter, asked me to do the art of his first film and he asked me to cut the film. It worked well for us. Then we did it again. I thought, Why not? Why should I suffer to become a director? A lot of people are asking me to direct, but I turned them down. I'm happy.
答：我当然想成为一名导演。我回到香港后，做了两年的服装设计，当时香港的服装业规模非常庞大。上世纪80年代初，我从事过艺术指导。有一天，当时做编剧的王家卫请我为他的第一部影片做艺术指导和剪辑。我们合作很愉快。然后又进行过合作。我当时想，为什么不呢？我为什么要受苦做导演呢？现在有很多人请我做导演，但我拒绝了他们。我现在很开心。
How do you pick your projects?
问：你如何挑项目？
I don't pick. If I have time, I accept every project. Low-budget films, big-budget films. And I'm always doing interiors for private residences at the same time. For that the clients pick us.
答：我不挑。如果有时间，我会接受每一个项目。无论是小成本影片还是大制作影片。我同时还一直为私人寓所进行室内设计。在这方面，是客户挑我们。
Are you expensive as an interior designer?
问：你做室内设计要价高吗？
Not really. We charge the same as everyone. Doing interiors is like exercise. When not making a film, I work with real people, making real things that people can use in daily life.
答：不是很高。我们和别人的收费标准一样。做室内设计就如同体育锻炼一样。当不参与电影制作时，我会和真实的人一起制作人们可以在日常生活中使用的真实东西。
How do you know what visuals will create the best impact?
问：你如何知道什么样的视觉效果会带来最强烈的视觉冲击？
When I encounter it, I immediately know. In 'The Grandmaster' it is the use of black. It was very risky. We used hundreds of black fabrics. Different textures, glossy, less glossy, matte, very matte. Black with blue in it, black with brown, black with red. Velvet creates a very deep black. One day my assistant said: 'Everyone is wearing black! Is it OK?' I said: 'Don't worry. I'm very sure.'
答：我一碰到时立刻就会知道。在《一代宗师》中，这一点体现在黑色的运用上。这样做风险非常高。我们使用了数百种黑色布料。各种质地的、亮光的、光泽度不高的、哑光的、高哑光的。黑中带蓝的、黑中带棕的、黑中带红的。天鹅绒可以产生一种非常深厚的黑色。有一天我的助手说：每个人都穿黑色！这样好吗？我说：别担心，我非常肯定。