Costumes in Hyperspeed, part two

Even though I think the pictures are the funnest part of these articles, I’m going to put a little more text in this article. Being brief can be strenuous.

Alright, folks, step this way and watch out for loose pins. The first exhibit is the Messenger.

Messenger

Yes, that’s me. This costume was very easy. The only part we had to make was the vest. Brown suede front (isn’t it a gorgeous color?) with a matching cotton back, since suede isn’t the cheapest of materials. Eyelets and leather lacing. For you costume makers out there, beware of thin suede and eyelets. They pull out. By the end of filming we had three or four at least laying around.

Next up we have the Cone Wielders. These costumes are great.

Norion

Norion, wielder of Waffle Cone, has what we call a blue puffy shirt. The original version turned out a really strange shade of blue, so we remade it using a darker blue. The ribbony things at the neck are hand-made by myself, and the cape is brown suede. (Look familiar?)

Kalath

Kalath of Kiddy Cone’s outfit is a little less detailed. We were in a bit of a rush at the time. The vest and sleeves are all one piece. We punched in a couple eyelets and sewed ribbon on the sleeves. The addition of a wig aided in disguising the well-known actor who also plays Marelac. (Twenty-people casts are an unknown luxury.)

Alyah

Alyah (Sugar Cone) turned out wonderful. The dress is a red, oh, I guess you could call it tapestry fabric. It weighs a ton. The white at the neck helps break up the color a bit. We all think she ended up looking rather like an elf.

General Public

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is General Public. His costume was basically put together from scratch. Cardboard epaulets and hat, covered with hot-glued fabric. (Wonderful hot glue.) A red fleece blanket safety pinned on, an eye-patch, and great acting talent and you have a seriously funny character.

Lydia

Then Lydia. Ah, Lydia. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. We needed an older character Like, really older. The costume is actually Somindeo’s robe from the first movie. We added a cord belt, a hand-knitted scarf, and a wig. Believe it or not, that’s technically a “movie star” wig.

Good, but it could be better. Call out the big guns! Enter Liquid Latex. It’s wrinkle time! For those of you who are looking at using this, either have a strong stomach or keep your nose plugged. It’s got an eye-watering, distinctive smell all of its own. Putting it on is a hassle. I’m guessing it took us half an hour to get it on and the makeup on top, plus makeup on her hands. We filmed the one scene – I repeat: ONE scene that had her in it – then started removing the latex. I think the closet thing I can compare it to is trying to take the varnish off a table. (Not that I’ve had experience in that area.) The first few pulls came off in nice two or three inch square patches. The rest of it came off in pieces the size of Tic Tacs. Maybe a jelly bean if I got lucky. That stuff took twice as long to get off as it took to put it on.

I like to think that the results looked good, and when you couple that with the actress’ great voice for the part, you have an old lady, slightly hard of hearing, who enjoys tea. (Actually, it was hot chocolate. The supporting actors didn’t like tea.)

This entry was posted in Blog, Movies, Props and Costumes and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *