Hauntings and Horror! - Silicon Web Costumers` Guild

Transcription

The Virtual Costumer
the costuming magazine of the
Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild
Hauntings and Horror!
The Virtual Costumer Volume 10, Issue 3
Copyright © 2012 Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild
-1ISSN 2153-9022
August 2012
Table of Contents
Silicon Web Costumers' Guild
President’s Message
From the Editor
Spotlight Reviews
Returning to Somewhere In Time
A supernatural event in an historic location
After-Halloween Special Effects Buyer's Guide
Upcoming
Calendar of Events
Ongoing Events
3
3
5
The Virtual Costumer (ISSN 2153-9022) is a publication of the Silicon Web
Costumers’ Guild (SiW), a non-profit, volunteer-run chapter of the International
Costumers' Guild (ICG).
7
Copyright © 2012 Silicon Web Costumers’ Guild. This work is
licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoncommercialNo Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Images, and
material related to novels, movies, exhibits, or otherwise owned by others, remain
the property of their respective copyright holders.
Haunt after-Halloween sales to find great special effects
Feature Articles
On Loan from the Haunted Mansion
A spirited tribute to its ghosty inhabitants
Gill-man: The Last Universal Studios Monster
43
44
11
16
A close encounter with the scariest one of them all
Van Helsing at the Vampire Ball
23
Recreating a scene from a modern horror classic.
How-Tos
Making Stilt Creature Legs
29
Creating an unusual pair of stilt legs
I, Zombie
33
A professional makeup artist shows you how
Virtual Soapbox
Theater, Bloody Theater!
39
Things to consider when applying theatrical or painted blood
Short Subjects
Voice of Sesame Street's “Count von Count” Dies
41
A veteran of over 40 years takes his final bow
Depression-Era Photos from Library of Congress
41
Candid photos showing depression-era costumes
Horror for the Holidays: Meet the Anti-Santa
41
A creature who is anything but jolly
19th Century Woven Coverlet Photos Online
42
Collection of historic Huguenot Street available online
Parting Shot
42
A photo that's too good not to use
About the Cover
The Haunted Mansion celebrated its 40th birthday at Walt Disney
World in September 2011 with a special event that included a
presentation by Disney imagineers Pete Carsillo, Eric Goodman, Jason
Grandt and Jason Surrell. They felt that the Haunted Mansion was truly
Walt's final project, and not Pirates of the Caribbean as is widely thought.
This image from a DISTherapy blog post shows a “ghost” organist
playing at the event on a Haunted Mansion themed set.
Debbie and Ric Bretschneider describe their award-winning
BayCon masquerade entry, On Loan from the Haunted Mansion starting
on page 11.
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August 2012
Silicon Web Costumers' Guild
Silicon Web Staff
President:
Kevin Roche
Vice-President:
Dana MacDermott
Treasurer:
Bruce MacDermott
Secretary:
Deb Salisbury
Web Site Editor:
Kathe Gust
Virtual Costumer Editor
Philip Gust
President’s
Message
Kevin Roche*
I am writing this just
before we start shipping our
trunks to Chicago for Chicon 7, the 2012
World Science Fiction Convention. I know
that Worldcon and the Worldcon
Masquerade are a major event for many of
our members, and I look forward to seeing
you there. This year, while I am on a number
of costume-related program items, I have no
role in the Masquerade other than to be an
enthusiastic audience member, and I look
forward to enjoying the magic (and a
perhaps helping to select a Dreamcatcher
Award winner with some of you). I know
our chapter will be well represented both
onstage and off, with members involved as
contestants, crew, and judges.
In past years those trunks might have
been filled with costumes for wear or
display, but this year they are transporting
ThinBot, the robotic bartender who serves
cocktails to guests at the Westercon 66
"Ordinary Room Party" Andy and I are
hosting Friday night at ChiCon. (If you
missed that bit of news, my husband Andy
and I are the co-chairs of next year's
Westercon, July 4 weekend in Sacramento).
Please stop by the 33rd floor on Friday if
you can; costumes are encouraged and
Secret Agents is the party theme. What to
wear, what to wear...
Halloween is not far off, and I know
lots of us have events, haunts and parties
we're already preparing for, but Fall out here
on the West Coast is full of costuming
opportunities. Even the Bay Area Gay
Rodeo is encouraging Wild West costumes
this year, in celebration of their 20th
anniversary! We have a new convention,
Con-Volution, in early November, and of
course there is LosCon Thanksgiving
weekend. I'm planning to be at all of those.
Where are you going this fall, and,
more to the point -- what are you planning to
wear? Send us some pix; maybe we can do a
spread in future issue of VC.
Yours in costuming.
From the Editor
Philip Gust*
Halloween is just
around the corner, so it's
time to turn our attention to
hauntings and horrors. This issue explores
many aspects of the supernatural, and the
opportunities they present for creative
costuming.
First up is a description of an event
based on the supernatural romance movie,
Somewhere in Time. Art Deco Society of
California former president Cherie Oliver
tells us about this annual early 20 th century
recreation event at the elegant Grand Hotel
on historic Mackinac Island, Michigan,
where the film was shot.
Kevin Roche with ThinBot, his robotic bartender.
Photo by Randy Byers on Facebook.
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Next, I describe how costumers can
take advantage of post-Halloween sales to
August 2012
stock up on hard-to-find costuming special
effects (cFX) items at bargain prices. Some
may even inspire a new costuming idea.
Debbie Bretschneider, together with
husband Ric, loves Disney's “Haunted
Mansion,” and created a masquerade entry
in tribute to the ride and the movie. How
they cut off son Justin's head, and made up
Debbie with the deathly pallor of a ghostly
bride is revealed in this entertaining article.
Noted movie and TV makeup and
special effects artist Ed Martinez is a big fan
of the Creature from the Black Lagoon
movies. In the first of two articles in this
issue, Ed relates the thrill of meeting and
spending time with Creature actor Ben
Chapman, and his quest to research and
recreate his own Creature costume. This
article includes many rare behind-the-scenes
photos from Ed's collection.
The late Kent Elofson has been
responsible for many memorable
masquerade presentations at major shows,
including Comic-Con and Costume-Con.
Danica Lisiewicz and Sa Winfield, who
portrayed two of Dracula's Brides in a
recreation of the ballroom scene from the
movie Van Helsing, pay tribute to Kent by
describing how they became involved, and
the many steps and the documentation
required to create this truly memorable
masquerade presentation.
In a change of pace, long-time
costumer Courtney Rale describes a
technique she refined for making stilts that
provide a “digigrade” stance and gate to
creature costumes. In this article, she
documents the steps (and mis-steps) she
went through to make the ones she entered
as part of a Costume-Con 30 masquerade
presentation. She also includes links to
YouTube videos to watch them in action.
Ed Martinez returns to provide a lesson
on zombies, one of Ed's professional
specialties. He not only provides costumers
with tips and professional secrets for
producing truly scary zombies, but also
provides step-by-step instructions for
creating zombie makeup using simple
techniques that any costumer can master
with a little practice. According to Ed, the
real secret isn't the makeup but the acting.
Finally, professional theatrical
costumer Gail Wolfenden-Steib provides a
fast-paced ride around the subject of using
blood in theatrical settings, including types
of applications, effects on fabrics, and issues
like care of garments, and taking the type of
wound into consideration.
Here is a quick preview of what is
upcoming in VC. The November 2012 issue
explores “Costuming and Technologies.”
From basic techniques and materials, to
useful devices, and even some truly wacky
inventions, this issue pays tribute to the
technologies that have made today's practice
of costuming possible. The theme for the
February 2013 issue will be “Spring
Cleaning,” covering a range of costumerelated topics including managing large
costuming projects, and organizing sewing
room workspaces. I'm pleased to announce
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that the theme of the May 2013 issue will be
Furry costuming. The Furry community
designs and creates spectacular costumes
that portray animal characters, both real and
imaginary, and brings their creations to life
by developing unique personalities for their
characters. Although they are sometimes
controversial, their costumes are always
entertaining. This issue introduces this
thriving costuming community and explores
the basics of Furry costuming, including
construction techniques and sources for
materials.
See the Upcoming Issues page of the
SiW website for details. Now is a great time
to start writing for VC, and share what you
know and love with your fellow costumers.
Happy Halloween from our haunt to yours. The Editor
and his Bride at the PEERS “Le Bal des Vampires.”
August 2012
Event Spotlight
Returning to
Somewhere in
Time
Cherie Oliver
An annual event at a historic hotel
gives costumers a chance to experience
romance and the ghosts of a bygone era.
Somewhere In Time is one of the most
touching and romantic movies ever made.
The theme is everlasting
love – love so strong that
nothing can keep the
lovers apart, not even
Time itself. A young man
(“Richard,” played by
Christopher Reeve at his
winningest) is haunted
by a photo of an actress
popular in 1912 (“Elise,”
played by Jane Seymour
at her loveliest). To find
his love, he learns to
travel back in time.
Released in 1980,
the film was panned by
the cynical critics as
corny and sentimental.
But its unabashed
romanticism appealed to
many, actually building
its audience over the years, and it is now a
cult classic.
The movie was filmed at the Grand
Hotel on Mackinac Island, a 19th-century
resort off the northern tip of the Michigan
mitten. A beautiful and stately setting, the
Grand is also like a character in the movie; it
is by immersing himself in its ambience, and
changing his clothes and everything else
around him, that the young man succeeds in
going back to 1912.
The costumes in this movie are far from
perfect. Richard’s one suit, although
nicely tailored, does not look 1900-1915.
As is often the case, the extras’ costumes
are better than the stars'. But the movie
still makes quite an impression visually.
If these elements were
indeed the key to time-travel, the
folks who go to the annual
Somewhere in Time Weekend at
the Grand Hotel would have
moved to the past long ago. As it
is, the event gives them the
chance for a long visit there.
Set for the Grand’s last
weekend of the season,
Somewhere in Time Weekend
draws people from all over the
world to come, dress up in 1912
style, watch the movie together,
and participate in other events
that highlight the romantic world
of the movie. The old hotel seems
to preen proudly, filled as she is
again with ladies in long gowns
and hats, and gentlemen in suits
and walking sticks. The clothing
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The historic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan
where the movie was made plays host to the annual
Somewhere In Time weekend.
ranges from period-perfect vintage, to pretty
good costumes, to off-the-rack ‘perioid’
repros. Everyone who attends is motivated
by its very nature to at least try to dress the
part. And, the event guests are numerous
enough to outnumber the usual shorts-andtee-shirt crowd. The overall effect is
charming.
Many of the people who come have a
story to tell about the role of the movie in
their lives. One couple we met had just
started dating when they saw Somewhere In
Time together. The experience made them
realize that they really wanted to be together
forever, determine to overcome the doubts
and obstacles, and decide to get married.
They were so thrilled to have found this
event, it was like a second honeymoon for
them. Another couple named their daughter
Elise; she has been coming every year since
she was born, and is now a beautiful young
woman ready to find her own true love.
August 2012
The event is sponsored by INSITE, the
International Network of Somewhere In
Time Enthusiasts, and
has been going for
over 20 years. It is a
good value, with many
events and two
excellent meals a day
included. Getting there
is not easy, but once
you are there, the hotel
and the island itself is
idyllic. It is easy to
imagine yourself in the
past when you are
surrounded by the
sight and sound of
horse-drawn carriages
everywhere – no cars
are allowed on the
island! There is
dancing – the Grand
has retained its
original ballroom and
there’s an orchestra
Reproduction of Elise's
every night – but when walking suit - made for event
we were there the
music was not of 1912 vintage.
I started creating my own vintage events,
and always remembered: avoid the penny in
the pocket! I would recommend this event to
almost everyone – except cynics.
In the movie, Richard is tragically
returned to the present by a 1979 penny in
his pocket. If they would only learn some
Ragtime, this event would be the perfect
time-traveler’s holiday.
Cherie Oliver has been collecting
vintage clothing and participating in
vintage costume events since 1984. A former
president of the Art Deco Society of
California and producer of the Heritage
Holiday event series at the Ahwahnee Hotel
in Yosemite, she continues to mount vintage
fashion shows and other events from her
new home in Grass Valley, CA.
I saw the movie in 1982 (on TV, as
many did), and it changed my life. I decided
I wanted to look like that, to live in the past.
The next Somewhere in Time weekend
is from Friday Oct 26 to Sunday October 28,
2012. The cost is $985/couple and includes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Accommodations (package room only)
Full breakfast and five-course dinner daily
Thursday evening Welcome Reception
Friday evening reception
Saturday Grand Luncheon Buffet
Saturday evening reception
Special showing of Somewhere in Time
Thursday and Friday evenings
• Free golf green fees on The Jewel (cart fee
required, subject to course availability)
• Special discount on ferry boat tickets
• No tipping within Grand Hotel
Additional nights (Wed/Thu) available
at $159/per. This is the Grand Hotel’s 125th
anniversary – and the 100th anniversary of
Richard and Elise’s meeting. Visit the Grand
Hotel website for details and reservations.
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Couples are drawn to pose by the "Is It You?" Rock
Marker. Plaque shows the first meeting place of Richard
and Elise in the movie.
August 2012
Product Spotlight
After-Halloween
Special Effects
Buyer's Guide
Philip Gust*
If you already have costuming projects
in mind, and keep your eyes open, you may
find exactly what you're looking for, or even
something that you hadn't considered,
during Halloween. Several years ago, my
wife Kathe and I were planning on entering
After-Halloween sales are a great
place for costumers to stock up on “special
effects” items that are hard to find almost
any other time of the year, at bargain prices.
Stores like the Spirit Halloween store
chain that sprout up every Halloween, your
local costume shop, and even merchandizers
like Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH), stock
a wide variety of Halloween-oriented
supplies. Even in mid-August as I write this,
the first displays of decorations and
costumes have begun to appear. Thrift stores
are also getting into the act, with secondhand toys, costumes, and selections of
clothing that appeal to trick-or-treaters.
Halloween is a great time for
costumers to stock up on hard-to-find items.
Sure, there are cheesy costumes and bad
wigs that “real” costumers sniff at as they
pass by, but there are also some true gems
that deserve a second look. For me,
Halloween is the time that I stock up on
things that can be used to create costuming
special effects (cFX). Items that are
normally expensive and extremely hard to
find are plentiful and relatively inexpensive.
a masquerade as the sorcerer Yensid with
Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice,
and we need a broom for Mickey. I could
have built one, but while walking through a
Halloween store, I spotted the perfect
broom, made of hollow plastic, which
looked like like it could have come from the
Disney prop shop. It even lit up and had
thunder sound effects built in. The original
price was over $30, but it was marked down
to around $12 because this was the day after
Halloween and it was the only one left.
Needless to say, we grabbed it
immediately, and I used it to create an
animatronic broom that chased Micky off
stage at the end of the masquerade
presentation. Pure luck? Sure, but also
keeping a list of things I was looking for in
mind during the Halloween season.
While you might find something just
too good to pass up before Halloween, the
best time to shop is a few days before and
the morning after, when stores put their
merchandise on sale. You'll find items from
25% up to 75% off, making them an even
better bargain. Oddly enough, the highest
discounts seem to be on cFX items.
Kathe Gust as The Sorcerer's Apprentice with
animatronic broom. Photo by Richard Man.
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Because I do enough of it, I buy items
even if I don't have a project in mind. My
guideline is that if it grabs me, buy it. When
I use it in a costume, it will probably grab a
masquerade audience or people in the
August 2012
hallway who see me walk by, too. And if it
really grabs me and they have more than
one, I buy several. Things break, so having a
spare is handy, and I often find uses in other
costumes, too.
To illustrate, here is a little postHalloween buyer's guide of a few things that
I've found in stores and on-line at postHalloween sales in the last few years.
Pocket Plasma
In the last several years, plasma-type
devices suitable for use on costumes have
become widely available at reasonable
prices. One of the first was the wearable
Pocket Plasma, a clip-on disk with a battery
that produces similar effects to a plasma
ball, but on a flat surface instead of in a
globe. These devices have settings for a
constant glow, pulsed effects, and even one
that reacts to sounds.
The device is around three inches in
diameter and about an inch thick at the
electronics box attached to the back. The
glow effect is a little subtle, and best used
for hall costumes and in controlled lighting
conditions. Regular price: $15, found at an
after-Halloween sale for $6.50.
Thunder and Lightning FX Box
This is an effects box that includes
thunder effects and a flashing strobe light
that simulates lightning. It includes a strap
that can be used to wear the device around
the waist. A button on the front allows you
to manually trigger it, but there is also a
sensor that allows you to activate it with a
sharp sound, like clapping your hands. You
can dismantle the box and repurpose the
electronics into whatever enclosure suits the
costume. Buy several if you plan to do this.
The box is around four inches wide,
two inches high, and about an inch thick.
The thunder sound is quite loud, and the
strobe effect is strong, although not as strong
as a real strobe. Still, it could be used in a
more intimate masquerade setting or for a
hall costume in normal lighting and sound
conditions. Regular price: $24.99, found at
an OSH after-Halloween sale for $8.99.
Voice Disguiser
There are a number of voice disguisers
on the market throughout the year, but these
items are especially inexpensive during
Halloween. You'll find a various kinds of
voices listed, depending on which model
you find, including killer carnivore, evil
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wizard, warty witch, and space alien. Most
of these boxes include a microphone that
enables you to disguise the voice changer
itself somewhere on your costume, and run
the microphone cord up in to your mask or
helmet. The box also also includes a built-in
speaker.
Some of the boxes are easily modified,
such as adding a jack to unplug the mic cord
from the box to make putting your costume
on and taking it off easier. The electronics
can sometimes also be repurposed into
whatever enclosure suits the costume. Buy
several if you plan to do this.
August 2012
Boxes for this kind of product are
typically the size of a credit card and around
½ inches to ¾ inches thick. The output
volume is typically suitable for a hall
costume in a small convention hallway. The
unit pictured is made for the Spirt
Halloween stores. Regular price: $15, found
at an after-Halloween sale for $7.95.
intensity LEDs with a yellow cap that
diffuses the light and gives it a flame color.
Candles are useful accessories for ghostly
apparitions or pre-elecricity period outfits.
The light from these candles varies,
depending on the brand. They are certainly
good enough for hall costumes, or for
presentations with controlled lighting. Prices
vary considerably, depending on quality.
Price for this set: $19.98, found at a craft
store after-Halloween sale for $7.98
Halloween Strobe Light Set
This battery operated string of twelve
LED lights produces a strobing effect as
well as a thunder sound. All the lights flash
at the same time, and there is no option on
this Spirit Halloween store distributed set to
select other patterns, such as a chase effect.
You can either press the button to get a oneminute duration thunder and lightning show,
or turn it on and off using a switch on the
electronics box at one end of the wire that
connects the bulbs together. The individual
LED lights are built into reflector hoods that
enhance the brightness of the effect. The
enclosures can be embedded into a costume,
Sound/Light Laser Sword
be a little tricky because the wires are not
detachable from the enclosures.
The output volume is suitable for a hall
costume in a typical regional convention
hallway. The strobe effect is bright enough
for a masquerade with controlled lighting
conditions. Regular price:
$19.99, found at an afterHalloween sale for $9.99.
This keychain packs a wallop! It
includes a strong red LED light and the
sound effect of a ray-gun in a tiny package.
You press a small button on the handle of
the “laser sword” to activate the sound and
light effects, and release to stop them. The
light illuminates the hollow transparent rod
from the base, and the sound and light
warble to create a dangerous looking effect.
Candle Set
This battery operated set
of candles is meant to
simulate lit candles that can
be safely carried in places
where open flames are not
permitted. Sets are available
in many sizes, and provide
“realistic” flickering flame
effects. The light source for
recent models is highThe Virtual Costumer Volume 10, Issue 3
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August 2012
the heart beneath the shroud of a ghostly
bride, or a chase pattern that could be the
eye of a cyborg cyclops.
Since it is meant as a safety device, the
lights are very bright and the unit can easily
be seen from a masquerade stage as well as
in a convention hallway under daylight
conditions. Regular price: $5.95, found at an
OSH after-Halloween sale for $3.95.
Wizard Stick
You can use these swords to create
interesting lighting effects when concealed
in various parts of the costume, or in the
palm of your hand. I typically take these
units apart to conceal in props, such as a
prop blaster or even a thermal detonator
where I want both light and sound effects. I
normally buy a dozen or so when they're
available. Regular price: $4.95, found in a
variety store bargain bin after-Halloween
close-out for $2.98.
This is a functioning smoke machine
toy. It uses glycol fluid, like regular smoke
machines. The difference is that this one
runs on six size AA batteries rather than
house current, and you can hold it I your
hand. When you pull the trigger partially, a
blue LED lights up, and the heating element
begins to heat up. After a few seconds, a
stronger pull on the trigger pushes against a
medicine dropper, which forces the fluid
onto the heating element, causing it to
vaporize and be ejected out the top.
Super Bright LED Flasher
Once it gets going, it produces a lot of
smoke for its size, though not nearly as
much as a full-size smoke machine. With no
air currents, the smoke will slowly dissipate
over the course of 30 seconds to a minute.
This unit is suitable for hand-held use, or
embedded in a tank of a Steampunk hall
costume. CAUTION: Glycol may stain
clothing – take precautions. Regular price:
$24.95, found on sale at an after-Halloween
costume store sale for $10.99.
While not strictly a Halloween item,
Halloween stores do sell these for kids to
wear while trick-or-treating. The unit can
strap onto an arm, and the row of embedded
LEDs can flash in a variety of patterns,
including a slow pulse that could be used as
Philip Gust enjoys sci-fi and fantasy
costuming, and has particular interests in
props, special effects, and prosthetic
makeup. He also costumes in historical
periods, including Regency, Victorian, and
early 20th C.
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August 2012
Feature
On Loan from
the Haunted
Mansion
Debbie* and Rick
Bretschneider
Bretschneider family are big fans of The
Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, and
she was focused on creating a ghostly
costume, based on The Bride and The
Haunted Mansion movies.
The venerable “Haunted Mansion”
Disneyland ride and the movie inspired this
spirited tribute to its ghosty inhabitants.
If you’re not a big fan you may not
realize that the ghostly carriage that takes
you through the mansion actually progresses
upwards through the house, finally making it
to the attic before springing out the window
and down into the cemetery below. But that
attic is both the pinnacle of the house and
ride, the scariest room in the house. Loud
heartbeat sounds, lub-dub lub-dub, and then
What is it about a headless man that
makes us feel uncomfortable?
More than any spook, any apparition,
the animated corpse of a beheaded man or
woman does seem to evoke a queasiness in
us that is
unmatched. And
why? You’d think
that without a
head there would
be less to fear,
less to actually
anticipate, as it
blindly chases
you around. Of
course there is all
that walking
Gatepost sign of Disneyland
Haunted Mansion ride.
around bit.
In 2004 Debbie Bretschneider was
considering her costume entry for the Bay
Area Regional Science Fiction Convention
(BayCon) masquerade. All of the
The original Disneyland Bride with glowing heart.
you turn to the glowing ghost of the bride,
red heart pulsing in her chest, some tragedy
pinning her spirit to the mansion, scaring
thousands of visitors a day.
It seemed a natural, but somehow it
just wasn’t enough.
Justin and Debbie Bretschneider, "On Loan from the
Haunted Mansion."
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Copyright © 2010 Silicon Web Costumers' Guild
ISSN 2153-9022
This quickly turned into a family
project, as we decided that young Justin (age
May 2010
14) would take on the role of the headless
groom. Justin was young enough to think
this was fun, but old enough to cooperate
and contribute. Justin was 5’ 11” tall, and
only around 90 lbs, so he was a natural
hanger for costumes and special effects. Ric
was a capable maker, and a problem solver
Dress from Haunted Mansion movie on exhibit shows
layers and torn fabrics. Design by Mona May.
when we didn’t know how to do something.
Debbie had the fashion sense and skill at the
sewing machine. A formidable team.
The bride costume seemed straight-forward.
While at
Disneyland, two
of the dresses
were on display,
designed by Mona
May, from the
movie. Debbie got
to see up close the
layers of the
Haunted Mansion costume
dresses and the
designer Mona May (right).
torn and oldlooking fabric. She found a prom dress at
Salvation Army. It had a corset-effect front
and had three layers for the skirt. The top
two layers had quite a bit done to them so
that the transparent under slip would show.
We tried many things and layered them on
top of each other. We cut, frayed, burned,
spray painted with gold/bronze color, and
used squiggle paint, all to create the illusion
of the dress being old and tattered and
perhaps a bit ghostly. Debbie found a scarf
that was already a gross color and tore that
some more. She teased and back-combed
her long hair into a frenzied mess and added
a decrepit vintage hat with torn veiling in a
similar color to her hair.
Ironically, although it had been one of
the iconic bits from the ride, the glowing
heart was not to be. Although we tried many
different types of lighting under the dress to
re-create the beating heart effect, nothing
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Debbie's wedding dress detail, corset-effect front with
distressing, scarf, vintage hat, and theatrical makeup.
August 2012
turned out to have the right glow without
making the dress look strange – and there
simply wasn’t enough dedication to carve
out part of the bride’s chest to make it work
– so the glowing heart was abandoned.
And then there was the problem of
removing Justin’s head.
We’ve all experienced bad headless
characters. They fall into several categories
of failure. Torso is just unnaturally long.
Arms don’t move quite right for where the
shoulders should be. Shoulders that are
droopy off the real head, like a sagging tent.
And then there’s that easily spotted fabric
screen where the person inside can look out
through the chest that just never looks
“seamless”. We approached these problems
one at a time.
Like the dress, the groom’s costume
was “tortured” and it was there that we (with
some limitations) solved the problem of the
eye-slits. Vertical tears just under the collar
and down past the button placket were
As mentioned, we did have the
advantage of using a boy who was very
leggy. That evened out the visual discord
between torso and legs. Thrift shops
surrendered an extra-long coat that with
some simple tailoring would drape down
past the actual waist, looking slightly short
but not unnatural. Debbie sewed white shirt
cuffs to the sleeves of the suit, so they would
be long enough.
Early test with hat.
Shoulders were one of the most
involved parts of the costume, but straightforward in their attack. On a hot afternoon
Justin stripped off his shirt in the back yard
and Ric applied paper maché to the tops of
his shoulders, like form-fitting football
shoulder-pads. Once dry, it came off in one
piece, and additional paper maché was used
to close the area where his neck had been.
This was dented upwards slightly, to make a
bit of a skull-cap to rest on his head. There
was a little additional re-enforcing stapled in
as we went, but that was basically it.
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Close to final, needs more distressing and finishing
touches.
August 2012
opened slightly and afforded Justin some
limited view.
Unfortunately we discovered later that
to get the best “headless” effect Justin
actually had to arch backwards a little when
he stood, which left him looking up, and
likely to trip, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
There was some additional adjustment,
adding fabric where the neck was missing
(resisting the idea of making that bloody),
and more darts and tucks. But the groom
was basically complete.
BayCon’s masquerade suggests people
record their music and voice overs ahead of
time so the announcer just announces and
there isn’t a problem with the costumers
themselves having to be heard. We had
decided our spooks would be silent, no
soliloquies, just a short introductory speech
for the toastmaster. But we did want music.
Justin peeks out an eye hole in the shredded shirt.
In searching out a
soundtrack from the ride, Ric
happened upon the French
version of the Haunted Mansion
“Grim Grinning Ghosts” theme
by Disney composer Norman
“Buddy” Baker, and the whole
show shifted!
The title was changed to
“On Loan from the Haunted
Mansion” and the ghosts had
names: “Mademoiselle
Phantomé” and “Monsieur Mort.”
Two ghosts on loan to BayCon
from the Disneyland France
Haunted Mansion. The music
would be recognizable, yet
strange, again playing to an
unexpected turn for the audience.
During BayCon the previous
year, there were several panels on
how to present at a Masquerade.
Debbie attended all of them.
Because of that, we knew to keep
the presentation to 60-90 seconds. Justin and Debbie’s stately entrance to the "Grim Grinning Ghosts"
We knew we wanted to walk
theme during their BayCon 2004 masquerade performance.
slowly and not rush anything.
Debbie was using Justin’s hand like a rudder
Even with the eye hole, Justin could not see
handle, guiding the blind ghost in a slow
anything once we entered the masquerade
circle around the stage. A well-practiced
room. The convention changes how the
bow and curtsy would end the bit, with the
contest is set-up every year. This year we
two of them walking straight at the judges!
entered from the back of the audience, and
(We later learned that approaching the
had no stage –which was a very good thing!
judge’s table that way scared the judges!)
We tried to make it look like Justin was
a gentle ghost, guiding Debbie with his hand
outstretched in a courtly manner. In reality,
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August 2012
From there, all went very
well. We were especially
blessed having an MC who
“got” the whole thing and
vamped with the dialogue we
had given her. Nobody tripped,
nothing ripped, and the two
ghosts exited as elegantly as
they arrived.
Which is why it was so
emotional watching the judges
award almost every other
contestant and we still sat at
our table, sad not to have been
noticed, right up until the end,
nearing midnight. You see, the
two novice class ghosts were
awarded Best In Show, which
is typically awarded last. So it
was with tears mixed with
Justin and Debbie during their BayCon 2004 masquerade performance.
both unnecessary anguish and
unexpected joy that Debbie
Of course it wouldn’t be an good story
dashed up onto the stage to accept that
without a last minute change in the green
year’s honors.
room. Ric noticed that Debbie, once a
professional cosmetologist, was applying
Debbie Bretschneider enjoys creating
makeup sparingly, almost subtly. Ric had
clothing for fantasy, science fiction, and
been in several theatre productions in high
historical periods. She has been on both
school and college and had always done his
sides of a masquerade, as contestant and
own makeup. He explained that because of
judge, and finds both to be nerve-wracking.
distance and lighting stage makeup needed
Writing about costuming is a new hobby.
to be a bit more drastic, just a little over the
Ric Bretschneider is a technologist,
top, especially for a ghost. Deeper hollows
trouble maker, and problem solver whose
for Debbie’s eyes, cheeks, temples, and
interests outstretch his available time by a
shoulders were added and the effect was
significant magnitude. You can learn more
striking, and would be even in the low light
about his creative, rebellious, and social
of the BayCon ballroom.
sides by visiting his web site at ricbret.com.
-15-
Making Haunted Mansion
Movie Ghosts Glow
Filmmaker Rob Minkoff wanted his
ghosts to look distinctly different from
apparitions in countless films over the years,
and costume designer Mona May played a
crucial role in developing that look. One way
that helped make her ghost costumes unique
was their shimmering, iridescent quality.
To achieve
it, May painted
on reflective
glass beads, the
kind used in
freeway signs.
A light on the
camera at lens
level caused
reflections to
bounce back at
the lens. The
twinkling,
supernatural
glow of the
ghost costumes
was done totally
without hightech special
effects.
This "glass
wear” technique Haunted Mansion movie costume
was just one of on exhibit at a Disneyland event.
the ways that May's costume design skills
contributed to the distinctive look Minkoff
and his team desired.
August 2012
Feature
Gill-man: The
Last Universal
Studios
Monster
Ed Martinez
A professional makeup artist and longtime “Creature from the Black Lagoon” fan
talks about a memorable day with original
Creature actor Ben Chapman, and his quest
to recreate the iconic costume.
My love affair with the Creature from
the Black Lagoon started when I was pretty
young, maybe ten or twelve years old, when
I saw the film for the first time on television.
Back then, the local stations would run
horror and science fiction movies as
marathons. Sometimes they'd have special
horror shows with a host like Bob Wilkins of
"Creature Features."
Television stations would buy what
they called, "The Universal Monster
Package," which contained all the classic
Editors Note
The rare behind-the-scenes photos in
this article come from Ed's collection of
Creature memorabilia, and from those of
other collectors who have generously
shared their material with the community.
Universal horror movies like King Kong,
Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and
the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I
loved all those kinds of movies, and I
used to beg to stay up late, or I'd race
home after school for a 3.30 pm
movie. Every day for a week,
they'd run Godzilla films, or
some monster series.
I supposed I was
"warped" by my
experience of
falling in
love with
this stuff
so young,
but it
informed the
rest of my early
life. I fell in
love with comic
books, superheroes,
Star Trek, and Star
Wars. I also loved art,
drawing, and
dinosaurs. I
was
what you'd call today a "monster kid,"
having grown up on this kind of stuff, and
reading Famous Monsters of Filmland and
Fangoria Magazine.
Eventually, I decided that I wanted to
be a special effects artist and work in
movies, and that's
what I do today. I'm
now a professional
special effects artist
and have quite a
string of sci-fi and
horror films, and action
films that I've worked on
over the years. I also teach so I
can pass on my skills to the next
generation.
The Creature has always been
special to me. Part of the reason
why is the character of the
Creature, the fact that he's alone
in the jungle; you don't see a
mate or a family, or anything.
He's the last of his species, an
outcast. These people, who are
interlopers, come to his
jungle. They're invaders, who
try to drug him and
capture him, so he fights
back in the only way he
knows how.
Publicity still of Ben Chapman as the
Creature from the Black Lagoon.
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ISSN 2153-9022
May 2010
When I first watched the Creature
movies, I wasn't attuned to male-female
relationships, and didn't understand that he
was in love with the girl. Once I was older
and understood that kind of thing, I figured
it out. It's a classic example of the Beauty
and the Beast story line, where he might be
ugly but he has a heart and cares about this
girl. And although she's afraid of him, she
also has a soft spot for him, too, because she
feels sorry for him.
What happens to him is tragic: he loses
the girl, and ends up being killed – or at
least he's supposed to have been killed, but
then he does come back for two more films.
It's a story that's filled with pathos.
Rare color publicity still of the Creature with “Kay Lawrence.”
Millicent Patrick's
design of the Creature's
suit is just gorgeous, it's
perfect and flawless.
There is something
about it that is so iconic
that it just reads well on
film and the illusion is
complete. The way the
gills move, and the way
the eyes look, and the
way he walks toward
the camera and opens
his mouth is completely
believable, you just buy Artists in Universal Studios' makeup department working on the Creature costume.
it 100%. In fact, he
Sculptor Chris Mueller is at left, makeup department head Bud Westmore is at right.
came to be known
designs and the technology that they devised
as the “Gill-man” within the studios.
and the techniques they pioneered, there
It was such a complete illusion for
would be no Alien or Predator.
me at such an early age, that it really
After years of studying it, I've learned a
effected me, made me have dreams and
good deal about how the Creature costume
nightmares. I wanted to study it, learn
was made, and I always intended someday
about it, and figure out how it was
to complete one of my own. Now that I've
made. I made it my job to research it to
reached a level of technical ability, I finally
find out as much as I could about
can. Through research, photographs, and
making the film. I also began collecting
reading articles, and with the help of other
still photos, model kits, toys, comic
creature fanatics (like Johnny Gilbert, the
books, anything I could find. As a result,
“Arizona Gillman”), I discovered a lot of
I have quite a collection today of
information about how it was built, and have
Creature memorabilia.
begun to make my own. I haven't completed
It's just my favorite monster of all
that task yet, but I'm making a lot of
time, even over icons like King Kong,
progress, with the help of friends like Daniel
and Godzilla. H. R. Giger's Alien, and
Bravo, towards finishing a suit.
creatures like the Predator, owe a great
Of course, it's very time-consuming
debt of gratitude to the original Creature
and very expensive for just one person. The
from the Black Lagoon suit. Without the
original suit had an entire team of ten or so
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August 2012
people working full time, cost many
thousands of dollars, and had the full
resources of the Universal Studios makeup
department to create the costume. They had
to make more than one full suit, even for the
original design that was rejected. This is a
common practice so that there would be no
delay in filming if there was a tear or a piece
of the costume was damaged or failed. They
could just swap out a fin, or a head, the
entire torso, or whatever they needed
In Oct.2006, I had an amazing
experience. Ben Chapman, the man who
played the "land" Creature in the first film,
was going to be appearing in person at the
landmark Castro Theater in San Francisco,
along with Julie Adams who played the girl,
“Kay Lawrence,” in the movie. It was for a
Bay Area Film Events program to run the
Creature from the Black Lagoon in 3-D, and
have a special Q&A period. They also had
me, as though the Creature had walked off
the screen and was there in person.
It was especially poignant because it
was one of his last public appearances. He
passed away in February 2008. It was a very
sad day when I learned of his passing, but
what a wonderful memory of spending this
special day with him. I'll cherish and
treasure that memory for the rest of my life.
Interviewer John Stanley with Julie Adams and Ben Chapman.
special dealer tables where Ben and Julie
would sign autographs and talk with fans.
I had never met Ben Chapman in
person before, nor Julie Adams, so I thought
that this was a great opportunity and made
sure that I got tickets. The screening was
held twice in one day. There was a matinee
early in the day, and then another in the
early evening. I decided that I'd go down
there and have a chance to meet Ben and
spend as much time as possible with him. I
brought some of my Creature body parts that
I was working on, and a resin Creature bust
that is a casting of the original land head that
Ben wore in the film, for Ben and Julie to
autograph.
He was elderly to the point where he
needed a little help with the stairs to where
he and Julie were signing autographs, and
onto the stage in the main auditorium for the
Q&A session. I made myself available to
assist Ben during the day whenever he
needed a little help. I sat with him the whole
day, shared a small lunch with him, and just
listened to all the stories he had to tell.
Of course Julie was there too. She was
so gracious and is still a beautiful woman.
However, my crush on the girl in the white
bathing suit is overshadowed by my real
Ben Chapman was a dream. He's my
hero, and here was an opportunity to meet
him in person, the man inside the suit, who
played the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
It was such a very emotional experience for
Julie Adams autographs Ed's resin Creature bust.
Ben Chapman autographs Ed's resin Creature bust.
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August 2012
passion, which is the
Creature, so I really spent
most of my time focusing
on Ben. He knew that
being the Creature was
one of the most important
things that ever happened
to him, and that it would
be the main thing he'd be
remembered for.
For example, they were
taking publicity shots in the
underwater cave set, with rocks
made from plaster of paris. He
was supposed to be carrying Julie
Adams' unconscious body. As he
walked forward, not being able to
see well out of the suit, he
accidentally
bumped her head
on a fake rock. She
He loved being the
got a little bit of a
Creature, and loved
cut, and they
telling stories, and
called the nurse.
explaining the mindset
Nothing serious,
and philosophy in the
but they really
head and the heart of the
played it up for
Creature, as though he
publicity purposes.
knew what the Creature
They stopped and
was thinking. He also told
Chris Mueller sculpting back and dorsal did a whole photo
about wearing the suit,
of the Creature. Mueller sculpted the
session where Ben
and other anecdotes.
original Creature maquette in clay
is standing there in
the full Creature
suit looking
concerned along with
other male actors, the
director and the
producer. Finally they
put a little Band-aid
on it, touched it up
with some makeup,
and just kept going.
Julie Adams gets patched up while concerned Creature looks on.
He also told me
about a discussion
with director Jack
Arnold about how he
should move and
-19-
walk. Arnold said that since the Creature is
from the water, Ben should kind of slide his
feet. The next thing Ben knows, they
inserted thin lead weights into the feet,
adding about ten pounds to them. It made it
very difficult to lift his feet up, so the
weights assisted him sliding along as he
walked.
Stunt actor Rico Browning's
Creature costume being fastened.
Dorsal fin hides zipper and
snaps .Note fingerless gloves on
unitard.
Ben lived in Hawaii for most
of his life and was also a talented
Hawaiian dancer. He actually got
his start playing bit parts in movies
set in the Hawaiian islands. Ben
died in Hawaii, and his family and
son continue to run his website
from there.
VC: Did Ben talk about what
it's like to put the Creature suit on?
Ed: Ben said that it was a
very form-fitting costume, which
meant that he could not lose or
gain any weight, or change his
body during the course of filming.
The suit was fashioned just for
him, and there were certain things
about the way the suit was put on
him as he got into it that helped to
make it snug in the waist area.
There was a corset built in, and
assistants laced him in tightly
around his mid-section before
snapping and zipping him in.
The suit was kind of a second
skin, made of a rubber material
called foam latex, which is like
sponge. The base of the suit was a
August 2012
Stunt actor Rico Browning in Florida lagoon used for underwater sequences. Led weights kept him submerged.
Stunt actor Rico Browning donning Creature head.
The head also zipped up the back.
thin green unitard over which they attached
the foam latex pieces. The unitard had
fingerless gloves sewn in that prevented the
sleeves from creeping up when he raised his
arms. Although it was very hot, the foam
latex breathed and was porous, so his sweat
would soak through the suit and absorb into
the foam latex.
This was similar for the man who
played the “under-water” Creature, Rico
Browning. When Rico went into the water,
although the suit absorbed the water like a
sponge, it was buoyant and floated on the
surface. This made it very difficult for him
to stay submerged, so a thin vest with lead
weights was made, which he wore under the
suit. It acted like a skin-diver's weight belt,
and he also had small led weights sewn into
his suit.
VC: What kind of paint was used to
color the suit?
Ed: At the time (1954) the kind of paint
system that was available would "bite" into
the surface to the rubber, bond with it, and
become part of the rubber. Today, the
equivalent of what they were using is a
-20-
Publicity still of Millicent Patrick touching up Creature
costume. Patrick designed the Creature on paper, and
the final look of the suit used in the film.
August 2012
rubber cement based paint. One of the paint
formulas that can be used to create paint
jobs on rubber masks and foam latex pieces
has rubber cement as one part of the paint
base, and then naphtha (naphthalene) as a
solvent.
You mix one part rubber cement and
three parts naphtha, making a very thin and
watery paint that you can spray through an
airbrush. Then you add universal color-tint
pigment, the same kind used by paint stores
to mix custom colors for latex house paint.
The solvent and rubber bonds with the
surface of the foam latex, becoming part of
the rubber, and cannot be rubbed off.
VC: In the movie, his mouth actually
opens and closes. How did they get his jaw
to articulate the mask?
That scene uses the land suit worn by
Ben Chapman. The mask was sculpted over
a plaster bust mold of Ben's head. It fit like
it was made for him, because it literally was.
The mask was a second skin, with no gap
Creature eyeball insert.
between the inside surface and him,
except for a slight separation
around the eyes. There were holes
for the eyes, and they made plastic
eyeball inserts that went into them.
There were several different
sizes and types, depending on the
scene. If it wasn't a close-up like
the one where he opens and closes
his mouth, the eyes would have
slightly larger holes so he could see
better. But for a close-up, they put
in plastic eye inserts that didn't
have any holes. It looked
completely convincing because you
couldn't see any part of the human
underneath except for his mouth.
His own mouth could open
and close the foam latex mouth
because it's so conforming and tight
around his own face, head and lips.
So when he opens his mouth wide,
you're seeing down into Ben's own Publicity still of Creature designer Millicent Patrick with molded mask.
mouth and throat. The illusion is
these balloons with air and deflate them over
very convincing: it seems like you're
and over again. At the same time, Ben was
looking inside the mouth of the Creature,
opening and closing his mouth, and it looked
down deep into the esophagus. You could
like a fish out of water, gulping for air, with
can even see the uvula inside his throat.
the gills flipping and flopping as he moved.
VC. That scene also showed his gills
It's very convincing, and it happens
moving at the same time.
very quickly. A few moments on screen is all
Ed: Somebody would hold a squeeze
you need to complete the illusion. With that
bulb from off-camera with a hose a few feet
and all the other things the Creature does in
out the back of his suit, and they have these
the film you're totally convinced that it's a
bladders like balloons inside, in-between
living, breathing creature.
Ben's skin and the surface of the rubber
mask. They could use the squeeze bulb fill
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August 2012
VC. If Ben Chapman were still with us
and he was asked, what one thing would he
want us to know about the Creature?
Ed: The main thing he liked to talk
about was not the technical aspects of the
film, because it was so long ago and he
didn't remember as much of those kind of
details. He talked with me most about the
emotions, the heart-felt outpouring he
receives from fans. For him, it just kept on
giving, as new generations saw the film and
reached out to him. Everybody loves the
Creture. Right up to his passing, he received
quite a bit of fan mail, and he was constantly
asked to appear at conventions, and
autograph shows, and to be interviewed.
The things that Ben Chapman really
liked about the Creature and his experience
being the Creature, is the legacy of all the
people it's touched, and the pathos of the
Creature's story. He's not just a monster
who's there to kill people and be a mindless,
evil force. The Creature has a heart, and a
soul, and a personality that comes through.
Ben was a very big man, a gentle giant.
It was a privilege to meet, and get to know
him. That's the legacy of the Creature for
him.
(On a side note, I was able to meet
Rico Browning, the man who played the
underwater, swimming Creature. He told me
about his experiences at the Monsterpalooza
convention where I met him. So, I have now
met both of the Creatures but that is a story
for another day.)
Ed Martinez and Ben Chapman discuss the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Ed Martinez has taught for many
years at the Academy of Cosmetic Arts in
Los Gatos, California, and has held many
seminars and workshops in addition to
teaching at the Academy of Art University
San Francisco. One of his early films was
the zombie classic “The Dead Pit.” He has
worked on award-winning music videos,
commercials, television shows, and feature
films. Projects include “Amityville: A New
Generation,” “Retardead,” “Animal
-22-
Planet's Hero Animals,” and the vampire
film “The Damned“ (see IMDb). He
specializes in instructing students on
wounds, burns, lacerations and other
casualty simulations in addition to old age
and prosthetic makeup. He also teaches a
special final class on fantasy looks, airbrush
body painting, and special effects. Visit him
on FaceBook or contact him by email at
edwardamartinez@sbcglobal.net.
August 2012
Feature
Van Helsing
at the
Vampire Ball
Danica Lisiewicz
and Sa Winfield
Every year they display costumes form the
years films, ones that they find worthy, and
that are nominated for the Oscar.
Kent and I would go together, then hit
“rag town” (the L.A. Fabric District) for our
shopping needs. That year, Van Helsing had
the "hero" spot at the gallery, and I said,
"Now that's a dress I want to have," pointing
to the Verona vampire bride.
Kent exclaimed, "Yes, you are the
green one, Dawn and Danica will be the
other brides, I will be Van Helsing. We are
going to need an Anna, as that dress is
gorgeous, and maybe David Rose would do
Dracula.”
Danica: We took the first of more trips
to FIDM to do research (“Um. Kent? My
costume has no pants.”) and sketching. You
aren’t allowed to photograph the costumes,
but you can sit and draw to your heart’s
content. You can also stand, stretch on
tiptoe, kneel on the floor, and contort your
A visit to a costume exhibit and a
chance meeting sparked the stunning
recreation of a scene from a modern horror
classic. Two members of the team talk about
the process, costumes, and presentation.
Danica Lisiewicz: My involvement
started with a “What am I going to WEAR?”
moment that, fortunately, was witnessed by
Kent Elofson. He later came to watch Dawn
and me dance, and during our break when I
went over to chat he said, ”I know what
you’re wearing to Labyrinth Ball this year.”
Kent had already cast Dawn Rose and me as
two of the brides. Kent said,”Yours is the
costume that shows the most leg.” He didn’t
mention the see through pants!
Sa Winfield: Mine began with a visit to
see the Lord of the Rings costumes in 2004
at the Fashion Institute for Design and
Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles.
L-R: Sa as Verona, Danica as Marishka, Dawn as Aleera, David as Dracula, Kent as Van Helsing, Mary Ann as Anna,
Nicole as Friar Carl. San Diego Comic-Con 2005. Photo by Hello Kenney from CosPlay.com
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May 2010
body as you attempt to document every
detail of the costume from all angles without
actually touching it or getting on the display.
Since we were doing a costume
recreation, we took notes and drew
everything from the jewelry, to span of the
wings, to the shoes. The staff thought we
were slightly touched in the head but didn’t
stop us from counting beads, sketching
details, and arguing over fabric.
Sa: We also brought along paint chips
and fabric swatches to match the colors of
everything.
At first we weren't planning on having
a “Carl,” heck we didn't really know we
would have more than Van Helsing and the
three vampire brides, but the cast grew from
four to seven, having the entire cast that
FIDM had assembled for their exhibit:
Most of the crew were not costumers,
and not really experienced at sewing for that
matter. Kent and I were the shop heads. Kent
has years of expertise in the area, and I knew
my way around a sewing machine and had
made a few costumes myself.
Gabriel Van Helsing: Kent Elofson
Anna Valarious: MaryAnn Cappa
Marishka: Danica Lisiewicz
Verona: Sa Winfield
Aleera: Dawn Rose
Dracula: David Rose
Carl: Nicole Roberts
Danica: Kent drafted the patterns for
all our costumes, sometimes by placing
muslin directly on the body and then
drawing on the muslin, but each person was
responsible for their own ornamentation.
Sa: Danica, Dawn, Nicole, David, and
I spent weekends having "stitch & bitches"
MaryAnn was basically drafted into our
Team sketches of vampire bride costumes from the FIDM exhibit, with screen-worn costumes. L-R:, Verona, Marishka, Aleera. Images from Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes.
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August 2012
service to finance and wear the “Anna” red
dress, I want to say that everyone worked on
that dress, it was a masterpiece, as were all
the costumes.
We learned how to make pleated silk
for the brides dresses, and painstakingly
beaded the gowns. Each one was different,
so there was a pretty big learning curve.
Everyone took direction very well, and a
good deal of fun was had while working out
collective butts off.
In the end the project required:
Thousands of beads
100 yards of white silk.
50 yards various gold ribbons
40 hours “stitchen & bitchen” (at least)
10 yards of various upholstery fabric.
12 sparkle balls
8 yards of red dupeoni silk.
8 yards Dracula grade black fabric
8 Vampire fangs
7 beading needles
5 tablespoons of dye
4 gold sharpies
2 cow hides
2.17 mins of music
1 Dutch mom slave
Danica: Shopping for the fabric and
beads was not simple. We made a few trips
downtown to the Fabric District and at least
one trip to Little India in Artesia in our quest
for fabric that matched. We already knew
that in order to create the Fortuny pleated
silk used in the brides’ outfits we
would have to order silk and then
dye it ourselves.
Sa: Kent knew of a
person who taught fabric
dyeing technics, and for
$35 a person, dye
included, we spent a
lovely afternoon at
the home of Bjo
Trimble learning
how do do gradient
dying, among
other things.
Danica:
Bjo taught us in
her backyard,
and we ended up
with beautiful
silk for our
costumes as
well as
some bonus veils
for dance, dyed
out of the scraps.
Although
we were ready for
the challenge of
recreating Fortuny
pleating, we were
convinced for quite a
while that the fabric for
Anna Valarious' screen-worn red ball dress.Coral dupioni
ballgown with boned bodice and trained skirt, featuring
trim of dimensional braid and embroidery, Image from
Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes.
-25-
my character, Marishka’s “golden bikini”
would be easily located and would not have
to be created. It was not. It was impossible
to find. There was much cursing, mostly
from me.
After traipsing through every small
store in the L.A. Fabric District and Little
India, we were able to locate fabric for the
infamous pants in a store we went to
originally in search of beads. In the end, we
had to create the fabric used in Marishka’s
wings and bodice. Kent drew the patterns on
my bodice from our reference sketches and I
used a gold paint pen to create the fabric
used in my wings.
August 2012
market and took apart. Marishka’s
beading and jewelry had an
abundance of “big ass gold beads,”
which were not in vogue when we
were making the costumes. Of
course, I see them all the time
downtown now.
I had never beaded before, but
learned pretty fast, mostly out of
necessity, and found that I
was able to bead rather
quickly. That was a huge
asset. Getting my beading
and my jewelry
completed fairly quickly
allowed me to help out a
tiny bit with some other
beading and, most
importantly, to work on
the bodice and skirt for
Anna’s red silk ball
dress.
Each one of the brides’ costumes had
its own unique beading, and each bride did
her own beading.
We had taken meticulous notes of the
size, quantity, and shape of the beads
needed, and as a group we became
intimately familiar with all the bead shops
downtown. Some of the beads had to be
located online; mine came from the bead
shops and a necklace that I found at the flea
also had to be hand sewn on the voluminous
skirt. I spent a lot of time with that red dress,
and the end result was fully worth all the
time we spent on it.
I found a pair of vintage leather wedge
shoes at the flea market, sprayed them gold,
and beaded them to match Marishka’s. I
reproduced the beads and the fringe on my
bodice and belt exactly as it appeared on the
Once Kent
discovered a hidden
talent for tedious hand
sewing, he utilized it.
We had some beige
beaded lace net that we then
colored red with a Sharpie. The
lace was cut into the proper
pattern and then it had to be
painstakingly sewn on the bodice
and the skirt. The edges of the net backing
were folded under and sewn with tiny
stitches onto the red silk so that it looked as
if the silk were beaded. The golden net ruffle
-26-
August 2012
original costume, even to the point of
counting rows of beads not just the order of
the beads in the fringe. I think I am
inordinately proud of the fact that there were
thirteen rows of fringe from the closure of
the bodice to the armpit on the original
bodice, and there are also thirteen rows on
my bodice.
through the world of dance. Dawn and
Danica met in a bellydance class, and Dawn
was also a Arthur Murray Ballroom dance
instructor. When Kent met Dawn and
Danica at a LOTR event, he said, "oh, you
have to meet my friend Sa, she too is a belly
dancer.” Dawn is a bang up choreographer,
and she put together a marvelous waltz that
got us all turning, and changing partners. it
not only was pretty, it was very fun.
Someone at one of the cons once
commented, ”Oh, I know you can get those
appliques from Joann’s.” I did not say
anything to that person at the time, but I
want to go on record now and say, ”NO, you
can NOT get these appliques at Joann’s.”
The vampire brides have wingsgorgeous, fluid, fabric wings. Lacking the
magic of a special effects department, we
created casings in the wings and placed
dowels inside so that we would create a type
of Loie Fuller effect when we danced. Veil
work is fun when belly dancing, but wing
work is more challenging. Wrangling the
wings when not dancing with them is also an
acquired skill.
Danica as Marishka showing bodice detail. Photo by
Richard Man.
Sa: This was all for the Masquerade at
San Diego's Comic-Con International in
2005. Entries are encouraged to do more
than simply walk out on stage and turn
around. We had up to two minutes to do a
presentation that
involved turning all the
way around, so the
judges could see all
angles of the costumes.
But more than that, a
little bit of theater can
really impress, and that
we did.
L-R: Sa as Verona, Danica as Marishka and Dawn Rose Aleera with their wings.
One of the reasons
the three brides even
knew each other was
-27-
Danica: As beautiful as the costumes
are, the presentation would not have been as
sensational as it was without Dawn’s
choreography. Kent had an idea of “telling a
story through dance,” which is what we did.
Dawn’s choreography allowed us to tell the
story in a visually interesting way, utilizing
the skills of the dancers and showcasing the
costumes we had worked so hard to create.
Sa: The theme of our presentation was
the rescue of Anna Valarious, who had been
put in a trance by Dracula and his brides.
The scene was a masked ball, where Carl
and Van Helsing break Anna out of her
trance, and battle the vampires, one by one,
with a series of popular vampire
vanquishing devices: holy water, a cross,
some spinning knives, and well, a light saber
(a little humor is also good).
The final blow was what we, the Van
Helsing crew called, the “Hamster Ball of
Doom.” I was a prop that Nicole made out
of a hamster ball from a pet store, and filled
with light up toys, aluminum foil balls, and
anything else she could find that was shiny.
August 2012
A good friend made an edit of music
from the film, with added explosions, and
other sounds effects. All in all it was a
dazzling presentation, and we received the
Judges Choice award that year
Danica: Everything on our costumes
was a labor of love, time, creativity, and
dedication to recreating the stunning
costumes originally designed and created by
Gabriella Pescucci for Van Helsing.
Danica Lisiewicz has been part of
award winning costume groups at ComicCon for the last eight years, starting with
her involvement in the infamous Van
Helsing Motion. She is still frightened of
patterns and believes that machine
embroidery is cheating.
Sa Winfield started costuming when
she was 13, when she first worked at the
Ren faire. She studied dance, many styles,
which required costuming skills, from Can
Can girl to exotic belly dancer. Sa built
every costume for the original Reduced
Shakespeare Company, all quick change
costumes. “Van Helsing” was her first
costume competition; two more Comic-Con
wins followed. She most recently got to
costume one of her fave musician, Todd
Rundgren, and his band, for his 2009 tour.
Mary Ann Cappa as Anna Valarious dances with Kent Elofson as Gabriel Van Helsing at the Vampire Ball. Photoshop
composite of two different photos by Atomic99 from CosPlay.com.
-28-
Watch the Comic-Con
2005 performance of Van
Helsing at the Vampire
Ball on YouTube. More
photos on CosPlay.com
August 2012
How-To
Making Stilt
Creature Legs
Courtney Rayle
Creatures don't
always walk on normal legs and feet. Here
are detailed instructions for creating an
unusual pair of stilt legs that will give your
costume an exotic look and gate.
I have always been interested in
costuming that differs from normal clothing
and alters the basic human form (or
perception thereof). Things like wings,
clawed hands, antlers, etc. fascinate me.
Fursuits in particular are amazing, since
most take the human form and turn it into
something else.
The best fursuits will usually go
beyond a simple fur jumpsuit and use
padding to alter the form of the person
Digigrade vs. plantigrade legs. Picture from Wikifur.
wearing it. One of the more common
modifications is to use padding to make the
legs of the wearer appear digitigraded
(spelled sometimes as digigraded, depending
on the source). Digitigraded legs do not
bend forward, as plantigraded (human) legs
do, but backwards so the animal is walking
on its digits only (as cats and dogs do).
I wanted to attempt to make a
digitigraded leg, but without using just
padding. For animals like birds
and insects, the leg is more
delicately tapered in
proportion to the body
of the animal. I
wanted to experiment
with how to make a
bird's leg appear
as much like a
bird as possible.
While padding
might work, it
would make the
leg appear too
bulky, and I was
hoping to imitate a
crane or stork leg as
closely as possible,
since my ultimate
goal was to make
digitigrade legs for a
mythical bird
costume.
-29ISSN 2153-9022
How to pad the human form for a digitigraded
appearance. Picture from: fursuit.livejournal.com.
In researching ways to make
digitigrade legs, I came across a tutorial by
Gryphern, an excellent costumer who has
many good video tutorials on her Youtube
account. Unlike some tutorials/designs I'd
seen, hers was easy to attempt, had clear
instructions, would not cost much, and
would allow me to discover what
worked and what didn't work without
wasting too much time. Her design
wouldn't give me the sleek look I
wanted, but it was a good starting point.
I also wanted to see how difficult it was to
walk in stilts that altered the angle of the
wearer's feet, since I'd found other
digitigrade stilt designs, but many of them
had warnings that the designs were for
professional stilt-walkers (which I am not).
Ray Harryhousen's Cyclops from 7th Voyage of Sinbad, is
a spectacular example of a creature with digitigrade legs.
August 2012
While the videos on her
Youtube account show enough
that some people would be able
to copy the design from that
alone, Gryphern was nice
enough to put her digitigrade
stilt instructions into book
format, which can either be
purchased in print form or
downloaded for free. It can be
found here (scroll down to
underneath "More from
Gryphern" for the free
downloadable version).
Once I made these two
corrections, on the preliminary
stilts, I was able to walk up my
garage steps and into my living
room, crossing tile and carpet,
with minimal effort.
Image from Gryphern's book on construction of digigrade stilt.
Before I began construction on the
legs, I used YouTube to find other examples
of digitigraded stilts, as well as people who
had used Gryphern's design so I could see
other viewpoints and see if anyone had
design improvements. This was a few years
ago, and there was not much available aside
from how to achieve the digitigraded look
via padding, but I did find one video that
was extremely helpful (it has been erased
since, so I cannot provide a link). The
person in the video mentioned taking
inspiration from the movie "Underworld
Evolution" and how their stilts were made
(which I did not know about) and suggested
a few minor changes, one of which I did
incorporate into the design.
I will refer to the above picture (from
Gryphern's book) to illustrate where I
deviated from her design. I will note that
this picture is misleading, and the wearer of
these stilts would be constantly struggling to
stand up. The floor plate needs to extend far
back enough to catch the wearer's weight
(usually back far enough that a straight line
can be drawn between the back of the floor
plate and the wearer's arch/start of the heel).
Be careful, though, because too far back and
the stilts become impossible to walk in. My
advice is to buy extra wood (for mistakes)
and experiment by slowing cutting off more
and more from the back of the floor plate
until the stilts feel right.
To begin with, I used 2x4 wood
everywhere in the design because I had
some lying around. DO NOT DO THIS!
While that wood works well for the foot
plate and the triangular pieces that brace it, a
thinner piece is needed for the floor plate. I
fell over very quickly and multiple times
before I realized what needed changing.
Also, the picture is misleading in that
maximum stability was obtained by making
the floor plate a bit wider. It needs to extend
about half an inch from either side where the
triangles are attached.
-30-
Instead of using metal
tracks, I went to the hardware
store and found aluminum flat,
narrow pieces, which seemed
lightweight enough to work and
were stable enough when cut
shorter to provide support. The
corresponding steel was considerably
heavier, which was why I avoided it (I knew
the rest of the costume would be heavy, so I
was trying to cut weight out wherever
possible).
The major difference between
Gryphern's design and my stilts is at the
pivot point. Hers has the metal brace
pivoting on the foot plate. I wanted my point
of pivot to be at the ankle, so as to reduce
stress on my legs (my knees are a bit weak),
which was the suggestion made by the other
video. To do so, I used T-shaped steel
brackets at the hardware store, bolted those
to the foot plate, and then attached the metal
braces to the brackets in a moving pivot
point.
For the brace part that is just below the
knee (where the stilt straps to the leg), I used
some PVC pipe cut in half. This was
suggested in numerous videos, and it
worked fairly well. In Gryphern's tutorial,
someone stated they added a small brace just
August 2012
beneath the toe of the shoe, which I also did,
and this was immensely helpful.
The stilts without all the covering can
be seen in this YouTube video.
For a quick rundown of this first
working stilt, watch this YouTube video.
I then used paper to get approximate
shapes. The stilts could still move forward
and backwards without the paper ripping or
falling off. The paper became my pattern for
cutting out the yellow vinyl I covered the
stilts with (below).
Image from YouTube video shows walking in stilts.
Image from YouTube video of first working stilt.
When I covered them, I carved toes out
of foam, but without wooden supports
underneath and discovered they had a
tendency to fold underneath if I dragged my
feetl (which happens when you wear the
stilts). I then tried to paint the whole thing in
colored latex, which did not work. The stilts
became very heavy and the paint allowed
everything underneath to show through.
The following steps were just to
imitate a bird as much as possible. I first
covered the stilts with some spare fabric so
that the final covering would have
something to stick to (below).
So I had to rip off the foam and start
over. I modified the base again to allow for
the look I ultimately wanted, and made the
shoes fit a bit better (cutting them in some
places and duct taping others). This
improved stilt design was the one I used for
the stilts that everyone saw at Costume-Con
30.
-31-
August 2012
Due to time constraints, I used hot glue
to attach the vinyl, which I don't recommend
as it doesn't hold as well as I wanted it to
(above).
Overall, I was pleased with the results,
and I learned a great deal about walking in
stilts and the difficulties in incorporating
them into a costume. The Peacock Priestess
costume everyone saw at CC30 was not the
intended costume for the stilts, but I wanted
to show them off. Due to the vinyl and hot
glue, the stilts did not survive the trip home,
but I managed to save the underlying frame
and will incorporate that into a costume
(maybe one with hooves).
I am still planning on doing the
mythological bird costume in the future.
After having done this type of stilt, I am
considering going far
outside my comfort zone
and using stilts based on
the WETA leg design,
developed by Kim Graham
and Weta technicians. This
type of stilt is incredibly
close to what I want the
legs to look like, but also
more difficult to walk in
and work a costume
around. A company called
Area 51 makes them, but
my wallet is not large
enough to buy a pair at
present. I found
instructions for building a
set from scratch, so they
will show up in the future
in one of my costumes.
For those interested in the stilts made
by Area 51 (or if you want to see what
WETA legs in action are like), their website
is here (I recommend watching the video on
their home page, as the Alien costumes in it
are quite spectacular).
Courtney Rayle has been making
costumes for over a decade, but only
discovered her fellow costumers recently,
much to her delight. When not imagining
odd new costumes to attempt making, she
tutors sciences and math at the local
community college, and focuses on
completing her Masters in Chemical
Research.
-32-
August 2012
How-To
I, Zombie
Ed Martinez
A professional
movie, TV, and theater
makeup artist offers
practical advice on getting great results
creating a zombie character, with tools and
techniques that you can learn to do.
Many costumers want to create
zombies because zombies are really popular
right now. The problem is that most
costumers are not professional makeup or
prosthetics artists, but they still want to do a
good job with zombies and have a lot of fun.
I'd like to do is talk about what costumers
can do to get zombies right.
something outdoors in public, you're not as
concerned about getting blood on your
friend's carpet, so you can be more messy.
Some people who think about being a
zombie don't think it through very well, and
they concern themselves from the neck up.
They paint their face blue, throw a lot of
blood around, and think they’re done. You
can certainly do that, but as someone who
takes pride in what you do, you might want
to put a little more thought into it.
Ask yourself, were you doing a job or
an activity when you became a zombie?
Consider that you can be a particular type of
zombie, and get creative. You can be a
football player zombie, a mailman zombie, a
cheerleader or a zombie bride. Choose
something distinctive, interesting, not just
your average tee-shirt and jeans and normal
clothes zombie.
The people who look boring as
zombies are the ones who you don't even
notice in a crowd; they just blend into the
background. If you're going to be a really
great zombie, you want to be a bit "standoutish" to be a little more interesting. Go to
There are some simple, basic things
that anyone who wants to do good zombies
should know and understand. First of all,
when you create a character, this is going to
be you as a zombie. Approach it as a whole
character. It's not just you from the neck up.
As a costumer, you should also be
concerned with what you wear from the
neck down.
Think of where you're going to use
your creation. If it's a Halloween costume,
and you're going to people’s homes to have
dinner and sit on their furniture, that's
something to consider. If you're going to a
zombie crawl or a zombie walk, or
Boring zombies blend into the background, while great zombies stand out from the crowd. Photo at Thrill-the-World.
-33ISSN 2153-9022
August 2012
a thrift store, or look in your refuse costume
collection, in your old trunks for costumes
you don't use any more. Pick something that
can be destroyed. Be creative. For example,
start with an old suit, or an old prom dress.
At the thrift store, you can buy an old Santa
Clause costume for $5, or something career
related like nurse’s scrubs. Take that home,
and start working
on it well in
advance of the day
that you're going to
need it.
that you're going to be. You've distressed it
and put some holes in it, and now, you're
starting to think that you have a big hole
that's going to show your normal
human skin through it. What can you
do to make that look better? Here are
a couple of tricks to try.
First, you go to Spirit Halloween
stores, or one of the
theater supply stores, or
on-line and purchase a
small quantity of liquid
latex. Then you can make
patches of "zombie skin"
to place on the backsides of some of the
holes you've created in
the fabric. Either hotglue or stitch them in so
they're a part of the costume.
Start by
distressing it. There
are lots of ways to
distress fabric. For
example, take sand
paper, and files and
rasps, and rub the
fabric. An old
For example, you could
cheese grater works
create a spinal column that
well to rough up
sticks out through the hole in
fabric. Put it in the
your back, or a knee, or a
laundry several
piece of your shin or
times. Make it fade,
forearm that's visible
use bleach or tea
through the suit
stain it. You don’t
Zombie Santa finds himself fresh out of elves.
jacket. You
want it to look like Photo courtesy of UnReality Magazine.
could also glue
you just bought it yesterday and shredded it
those pieces onto your skin
up a little. Make it look worn and well-used,
with spirit gum or other
so the wear and tear has some quality and
skin-safe adhesive and the
character to it, and that it didn't just take ten
hole would float over the
minutes to do blood stains and shredding.
spot. Effectively, that would
Now you have your costume, your suit,
your Santa Clause costume, or whatever it is
The advantage of attaching them to the
costume by sewing them on or using hot
glue is that when you take it off, you can
just hang it on the rack, and you
don't have to go through the
process of gluing appliances on
yourself each time you wear it. You
just have to worry about your
hands and your face.
Another important thing, kind
of a taboo when creating zombies,
is ending the makeup at the wrist or
neck, because when you move, the
clothing shifts and you see this
horrible normal human flesh
peeking out beneath it, and it ruins
the illusion. Don't stop painting at
the edge of your wrists or neck: go
at least five or six inches beyond
where your clothing stops, so that if your
clothing shifts, you don't reveal a patch of
un-made-up skin.
The thought process
of coming up with a
character and its
backstory is important.
That way, if you're out in
public at a zombie walk
or at a party, and
someone starts up a
conversation with you
(even though zombies
aren't supposed to talk), you
can talk about a wound or a
become an appliance.
Unfinished patch of pre-made 'zombie skin' applied
to arm. Photo courtesy of MaaaaaaY on Flickr.
-34-
August 2012
severed arm and tell them how that
happened. Or maybe you can tell them why
you're a Santa Clause zombie. Be an actor,
come up with a character and a backstory,
and use that to inform the design of your
zombie makeup and clothing.
Now let’s talk about the makeup for the
face and hands. My advice for beginners is,
don’t make it too complex and difficult. To
do a really complex zombie means making
appliances and going through the whole
process of making body prosthetics by
molding a section of your body. I'm not
going to cover that here because it's way too
complex for our purposes. We’re covering
the basics for beginners.
If you wanted to have a wound or scar,
all of those things are available online or at a
Spirit Halloween-type store. They come in
varying degrees of quality, made out of
various materials and are priced accordingly.
One type is made out of "slip-cast" latex,
which is the same kind you find in liquid
form at a theatrical or Halloween supply
store. It's just painted into a mold, and when
it dries, it's powdered and removed, and
painted, and this creates an appliance.
You can learn to do simple ones
yourself with liquid latex, using cotton and
tissue painted on glass or something nonporous, like a plate. You can mix in things
like cornmeal or cracker crumbs, or cereal
like Rice Krispies or crushed up corn flakes,
and things like that to add texture.
Basically, you paint down layers of
liquid latex, then apply cotton or tissues, and
then more latex. Use q-tips or your fingers
to apply liquid latex because it will ruin a
brush. To one of the layers of wet latex you
can apply the cracker crumbs or crushed
cereals. Then you brush more latex over that
to seal it in. Use a blow drier to dry the
layers as you go. Then you peel your
appliance off by powdering with baby
powder underneath it as you lift it up.
Powder keeps it from sticking to itself.
You'll end up with a
flexible, bumpy,
rotted skin texture
that you can paint or
make up to use as
zombie skin.
As far as the making up the skin, to do
a very effective, good zombie I recommend
a few basic colors of water-based cake
makeup. I prefer the Kryolan brands, which
I get from a Kryolan theatrical makeup store
in San Francisco. In Los Angeles, there's
also Berman Industries and Naime’s. Ben
Nye and Mehron also make water based
makeups that work very well. You can also
buy from these suppliers a product called
rubber mask grease paint, which can be used
to paint appliances. Appliances can also be
painted with acrylic paint.
Some of the better commercial pieces
are made of foam latex and are unpainted.
You'd paint it up yourself, and apply it to the
skin with glues, and then blend it in and put
fake blood on it and that sort of thing. You
can be as elaborate as you choose.
can have dried dark red stains all over your
clothes that won't come off on other things.
In addition, gelatin blood goes on wet but
when it’s dry it still looks like it's wet.
Gelatin is heated to melting and applied and
if used safely and carefully it can be applied
You can purchase your blood from
Spirit Halloween stores or specialty makeup
suppliers as mentioned above, but you can
also make the blood by looking online for
Then you can
one of the many formulas available.
glue it on your skin
Usually, they're using clear Karo syrup as
using skin safe
the base, plus food coloring. This is
adhesive like spirit
derivative of the Dick Smith formula that
gum, or glue it as a
he invented in the era of movies like The
patch behind the
Godfather and The Exorcist, and others.
holes in your
Ever since he invented the formula with
costume like we
Karo syrup, that's pretty much the
discussed earlier.
formula everyone uses. It is sticky and
It's a cheap, easy
messy, but there are less messy
to make, downInexpensive bare ribs prosthetics. Image
alternatives today.
and-dirty nomold appliance courtesy Buy Scary Halloween Costumes.
For example, you can use acrylic
that's just directly build up technique.
paint for the blood on your fabrics, so you
-35-
August 2012
it to your face or your fabric. When dry, it's
not wet to the touch and won't transfer onto
clothing. You can find gelatin blood online.
I've been doing zombie make up for a
really long time. My first feature film over
twenty years ago was a zombie film called
The Dead Pit. The kind of zombie makeup
we did then and are still doing today is
reminiscent of what we call the George
Romero style zombie. The skin is
distinctively different in color than flesh
tones. A lot of zombies today, in more recent
films like Twenty-Eight Days Later are
usually so fresh that they're still fairly
human looking, fairly flesh-toned. They're
not pale, and white, and grey, and blue like
the George Romero movies. The original
Night of the Living Dead, even though it was
in black-and-white, set the style and tone for
what my favorite zombies look like.
At the 2011 Maker Fair in San Mateo,
California, I did a special effects makeup
demo with the California Haunters Society
(CalHaunts). I'd like to talk a little bit about
what I did there to achieve that really dead,
rotting look on one person's face and body.
I usually use opaque, water-based
Kryolan cake makeup called AquaColor. I
usually use just a hand full of colors, like a
cake of white, a cake of black, a blue or a
grey, but choice of color just depends on
how fast I'm working. One of the things I do
is use a lot of sponges for applying the white
base, as well as for texturing, especially if
I'm moving fast.
I've done jobs where we literally had
over a hundred people to do with a small
team of five or six people in a few hours.
What I've learned to do is set up an
assembly line where the 5 or 6 artists each
has a make up station. The zombie actor
would move from one station to the next
getting various things done, appliances put
on, color applied to hands and arms, etc.
First, I base out the skin to look dead.
Using a standard white sponge, I moisten the
sponge, squeeze out a lot of the water, swirl
around the sponge on the white cake, and
start sponging on fairly quickly onto the
skin. The actors keep his or her eyes and
mouths closed, and I just blend it up into the
hairline so that there is no area of normal
human flesh showing. I get the make up all
the way down the neck, the back of the
neck, the ears, inside the ears, everything.
That way they look dead. You don't want it
to look solid "clown" white, but slightly
translucent so a little of their skin tone
shows through. At a certain point after you
die, all the blood leaves your face and
extremities and you look chalky-grey.
The next thing I do is take a ½ in wide
soft-bristle, squared-off brush, and dip that
into the water and then into the black or
blue-grey cake makeup, and do shadowing. I
do their eye sockets like a skull, and their
lips as if they are cracked and rotting. Often,
my assistant will have already based out the
arms and the hands, depending on how
much skin will be seen. We check all the
odd areas like the back of the neck and
behind the ears.
From Ed Martinez's first zombie movie, The Dead Pit.
-36-
August 2012
Then I'll go in with the black face
powder, which Kryolan also sells, with a
powder brush. I use it go over the ear holes
and the shadow areas of the ears, the eye
sockets, and the nasal-labia folds. (I tap the
brush after dipping it in powder to remove
excess, be careful a little goes a long way).
Sometimes I have them grimace or growl so
I can see where all the folds of their face are,
and I'll just hit some lines of accent or
shadow around those areas, as well as the
temples, and inside the nostrils.
charged with different colors and bounce
those around on the person to create
different patterns and textures.
When you’re done with all that, I
recommend sealing the make up with a
sealer – even hairspray will work for this
purpose. Give the whole face and head
several liberal coats. Let dry before adding
any blood.
For a really great touch, try fake teeth.
You can get great zombie teeth online from
a company called Dental Distortions. They
have movie quality teeth for a very
reasonable price. But, if you don’t want to
Now the person is paled-out white like
they're dead, the areas of the face have all
been shadowed in black. You could add a
little blood in the hairline or the corners of
the mouth, nostrils, or ears and stop there.
But if you want to be a little more elaborate,
you can add a whole bunch of interesting
textures with sponges.
I use all kinds of sponge textures, like
the kind you use to wash dishes, and cut
them up to make 1-in by 2-in squares with
rounded edges and big pores on it. I'll dip
those into thinned grey or blue-grey and hit
the white areas with the sponge to create all
these cool textures that look like rot. You
have to be judicious and do it in only a few
areas. Sea sponges, which you can buy at
craft stores are also great. I keep several
-37-
August 2012
go that route, a simple alternative is using
tooth enamels, which you can purchase from
Kryolan or any major theatrical supply
house. It's an alcohol-based liquid stain.
First you wipe the teeth with a tissue to dry
them, then brush on the tooth stain. It dries
very quickly. I like the color "tobacco stain,"
a kind of dirty-brown color. I sometimes use
a blow drier or fan the teeth to ensure they're
dry. The stain will come off easily you drink
or eat food so I tell the actor to avoid it.
After the tobacco color, I apply black
tooth stain to the edges with a jagged pattern
to make it look like the teeth have been
shattered or broken. When you see the
zombie growl, they look way better than if
their teeth are normal white color, and its far
easier than artificial teeth. The stain comes
right off when you brush your teeth.
One other hint is to add a couple of
drops of blue, red, and green food coloring
to mouthwash to create a blackish-purple
color, and rinse the mouth with the colored
wash and let the food coloring stain the
inside of the mouth, gums, and tongue. If
you do this before the tooth enamel, you
get this ugly blackish-purple stain inside
the mouth and the horrible, rotted teeth that
really completes the look.
them like Frankenstein. Do something of
your own. Think about how you got the
wound that killed you and play to that.
In the movie Shaun of the Dead, one
character is telling her friends how to make
a good convincing zombie to slip through a
bunch of real zombies. The girl told them to
be, "vacant, with just a hint of sadness." So
my final piece of advice is to stare off
vacantly with a touch of sadness – unless
you’re attacking! Because what is the most
important feature of any zombie? The mouth
and teeth; do not overlook this important
area. When you open your mouth to attack,
you want to look convincing!
something because their hair is all jagged
and stiff, and it's a simple, easy quick fix for
the hair problem. Of course, if you're a
fireman zombie, you wear a fire helmet or
other appropriate gear and don't have to
worry about your hair.
You finally have all the makeup and
your costume on and you've ready to step
out. Now you have to act the part, be in
character, and be a zombie. One thing
George Romero said to people
when he was teaching them to
As a final step, I use hair
play zombies in his movies is,
gel on their head, get it all
don't everybody act the same.
messed up and sticking out like
He didn't want to see fifty
bed-head, and sometimes add a
zombies all dragging one foot,
little blood dripping down onto
or all with their arms
their ear. It looks like they've
outstretched in front of
had their head smashed or
Use tooth enamels to create a rotting mouth.
-38-
Ed Martinez has taught for many
years at the Academy of Cosmetic Arts in
Los Gatos, California, and has held many
seminars and workshops in addition to
teaching at the Academy of Art University
San Francisco. One of his early films was
the zombie classic “The Dead Pit.” He has
worked on award-winning music videos,
commercials, television shows, and feature
films. Projects include “Amityville: A New
Generation,” “Retardead,” “Animal
Planet's Hero Animals,” and the vampire
film “The Damned“ (see IMDb). He
specializes in instructing students on
wounds, burns, lacerations and other
casualty simulations in addition to old age
and prosthetic makeup. He also teaches a
special final class on fantasy looks, airbrush
body painting, and special effects. Visit him
on FaceBook or contact him by email at
edwardamartinez@sbcglobal.net.
August 2012
Virtual Soapbox
Theater,
Bloody
Theater!
Gail WolfendenSteib*
If your theatrical costuming plans
include gaping wounds and buckets of
blood, this advice from a professional
theatrical costumer is for you!
Here are some things to consider when
applying theatrical blood (temporary) or
painted blood (permanent).
Fabric content of the garment
Man made vs. natural fibers effects
how liquids spread/seep. Natural fibers work
the best if a
good spread or
seepage is
desired. Man
made fibers
tend to hold
the blood in
one place.
Think of what
happens when
a paper towel
is placed on a
spill—this is akin to painted blood with a
low viscosity or theatrical blood on a natural
fiber.
Weave of fabric
Brocades and textured or napped fabric
have less of a seepage pattern. Wounds tend
to stay
localized.
Conversely,
an interesting
pattern may
result when
blood is
applied to a
textured
fabric. A plain
weave will show the blood spread better
than a fancy one.
Care and feeding of finished
garment
Is it a skin? If the garment is next to the
body it will need to be laundered during the
run of the show.
Painted blood
works well in this
sort of situation.
It is necessary to heat
set all applied
blood to prevent
it from
discharging into
the garment during
cleaning. Theatrical blood
releases best from man made fibers.
-39ISSN 2153-9022
Will multiple garments be needed? In
the case of long runs or an item that might
not survive multiple launderings it is
necessary to create multiple garments. If it is
not possible to heat set the painted blood or
the theatrical blood will not release during
the cleaning process then this is the best
alternative.
Will it ever be laundered? If an item
will never be laundered it is possible to omit
the heat setting of the paints. You do want to
launder any item treated with theatrical
blood as it is very sticky and will transfer to
other items easily while wet.
Length of run
Is this for a one shot wonder
performance or will it be used for a multiple
week
run? If it
is being used
for multiple
performances will it
need to be
laundered? Would
stage blood release
easily from the garment
being treated or will it permanently stain the
garment in an unacceptable manner? Will
theatrical blood get onto other actors’
costumes? Assess the action happening on
stage and address the situation, then select
the type of blood best suited.
August 2012
Lighting
Will the costume be seen in bright
daylight or moody shadows? This will affect
the color of
the blood
selected and
the
application.
Bright
daylight will
require more
realism (to a
degree if this
is the look
the painter is
trying to
achieve).
Dark shadows will hide more of the work
but might also require a heavier hand to be
seen.
•
How did the wound happen and
who/what inflicted
it? This is key in
creating a realistic
wound. A sharp
knife creates
different
damage than
an axe or
whip.
•
How fresh is the injury? Gloss medium
is used to create shiny wet
blood. This medium
cannot be heat set. It will
not retain the gloss effect
after heat setting.
It is not
suitable for an
item that
will be
laundered.
Anatomy of a Wound
Know your wound. Logic is important
for a realistic wound—research is the key
•
Where is it on the
body? How will this
affect the spread
of the blood?
What is
the
actor
required to do while
wounded? Think about
these questions when
researching the injury.
•
Matte blood--Is the wound venous or
arterial in nature? This will dictate color
to a degree.
Venous is
‘blue red’
due to
oxygen
depletion and
arterial is a ‘yellow red’ because it is rich
in oxygen. ‘Brown red’ is great for older
wounds that have begun to oxidize or
dry out.
-40-
•
Is it a mortal wound or just a ‘flesh
wound’? How
much blood is
seen is
important. A
hang nail is
not the gusher
one sees with a
slit throat.
Too little or
two much
blood can ruin
the effect.
Summary
Many factors effect the kind of blood
you use and how you apply it, including the
type and weave of the fabric, and the
durability required for the length of the run.
Lighting also plays a factor for the blood to
read well from the audience. You also need
to take the type of wound, how it is inflicted,
its freshness, and the severity of the wound
into account. By paying attention to these
basic elements, you can create realistic
wounds and blood effects for your next
production.
Gail Wolfenden-Steib is an awardwinning theatrical costume designer based
in Phoenix, Arizona.
August 2012
Short Subjects
Voice of Sesame Street's
“Count von Count” Dies
Depression-Era Photos
from Library of Congress
A veteran of over 40 years with the show
takes his final bow.
Includes many candid photos showing
depression-era costumes.
Jerry Nelson, who voiced Sesame
Street characters including “Count von
Count” during
over 40 years
with the show,
has passed away
at age 78.
The Library of Congress recently
announced its new collection of about
45,000 Great Depression-era photograph
scans in the Farm Security Administration
(FSA) collection The call number code for
this collection is USF33.
Nelson, who
was a musician as
well as an actor,
joined Sesame
Street in 1969,
early in the
show's run He
began playing major characters including
the Count and others such as Mr.
Snuffleupagus and Sherlock Hemlock. He
also took part in many Muppet projects with
Jim Henson, including the 1971 Tales from
Muppetland: The Frog Prince to the 1980's
Fraggle Rock, to The Muppet Movie.
The non-profit Sesame Street
Workshop organization honored him on their
website by saying, “He will forever be in
our hearts and remembered for the artistry in
his puppetry, his music, and the laughter he
brought to children worldwide.”
Once there, you can add other search
terms. Adding
the keyword
"contest" to
the search
winnows the
list down to
142 pictures
from all kinds
of contests
including
Farmers at mechanical corncorn-shucking, husking contest, Hardin County,
barrel rolling, Iowa (fsa.8a12739)
top spinning, pie eating, goat roping, and
burro loading.
The result list includes a very small
thumbnail, which is more than made up for
by the thorough titles of the pictures and
information about the date of the photograph
and the photographer.
-41ISSN 2153-9022
Click on a listing and you'll get
additional details including rights
information (this collection is pretty much
freely available), call number, subject, and
any notes. You can also download the
picture in larger formats — anything from
smallish JPGs to TIFs over 10MB in size.
Many of the shots are candid and it’s
easy to see the photographers had a true
warmth for the subjects.
Horror for the Holidays:
Meet the Anti-Santa
A story on National Public Radio in the U.S.
tells of a creature who is anything but jolly.
According to a story on “Weekend
Edition Saturday, a program of U.S. based
National Public Radio, some parts of the
world mark the dark side of the holidays
with a creature who is the opposite to the
image of a jolly Santa Clause.
The Krampus is a character from
European Alpine
folklore, common
in Austria and
Switzerland. The
creature stands on
two hooves and
has horns
growing out of its
skull. A very long
tongue hangs out
August 2012
of its mouth, and it carries a basket to haul
away naughty children.
Although some parts of Austria
celebrate Krampus day on the 6th, the 5th of
December is traditionally the day that devillike Krampus roam the streets punishing
those for their bad doings throughout the
year. They are often accompanied by St.
Nicholas and can be found in parades in the
evening.
According to the story, the Kramups
has now arrived in
the U.S., as people
like Janet Finegar of
Philadelphia organize
Krampuslauf (a
procession of people
dressed as Krampus,
walking through the
streets with
Photo by Peter
Crimmins/WHYY.
noisemakers) and
create their own Krampus costumes of dried
rib bones.
Last year, Joseph Ragan also organized
one in Portland, Ore., as a reaction to the
way Christmas dominates the winter season.
"Of all the 10,000 holidays that can be
celebrated, we just have this one particular
version of this one particular holiday really
shoved down our throats for months at a
time — in the most saccharine form."
The Krampus may also be a novel
alternative to the costumes normally seen at
sci-fi/fantasy conventions. What's next –
Manga-Krampus? Steam-Krampus? The
possibilities are endless – and frightening.
19th Century Woven
Coverlets Photos Online
Photos from the collection of the historic
Huguenot Street available online.
This marvelous collection explores the
world of historic
coverlets through
photographs and
related documents that
tell their stories. The
collection was made
possible as part of a
collaboration between the Dorsky Museum
in New York and Historic Huguenot Street.
The materials here are divided into five
areas, including Historical Background,
Installation Photographs, Types of
Coverlets, and Carpet Weaving.
Parting Shot
A photo that's too good not to use.
Sometimes, a story has a great leftover
photo that deserves to be used, but there’s no
room or it’s slightly off-topic and doesn’t fit
in. The article “Gill-man: The Last
Universal Studios Monster” is a case in
point.
When we see publicity photos of the
Creature and the girl together, she's either
acting terrified or passed out from fear. Here
is a rare publicity photo from Ed Martinez's
collection of Ben Chapman in his Creature
costume and Julie Adams sharing a quiet
moment on the set between takes.
The "Historical Background" area is a
great place to start. It includes five
documents that tell about the history of
these unique woven bed coverings and the
techniques used to create them. Visitors also
shouldn't miss the "Types of Coverlets" area,
where they can learn about the various
patterns and techniques used to create
geometric, figured, and float work patterns.
Finally, the "Historical Documents" area
includes inventories of coverlets held by
prominent persons in the Hudson Valley area
during the early 19th century.
Visit the “Binary Visions: 19th-Century
Woven Coverlets from the Collection of
Historic Huguenot Street” website to view
the collection.
-42-
August 2012
Upcoming Events
Calendar of Events
Zombie-O-Rama IV
August 30, 2012
322 S. Market Street
San Jose, California USA
http://www.zombieorama.com/crawlinfo/
Zombie-O-Rama returns to downtown San Jose.
Bring a canned food item for donation to Second
Harvest Food Bank, walk through the town then view
a showing of the feature film Shaun of the Dead.
Worldcon: Chicon 7
August 30-September 3, 2012
Hyatt Regency
Chicago, Illinois USA
http://www.chicon.org/
The catwalk style Masquerade is rivaled only by the
Hugo Award Ceremony. This year's event honors the
men and women of the Mercury 7 Program who
helped put the first Americans in orbit
CopperCon 32
Phoenix, Arizona USA
http://www.casfs.org/cucon/
This regional sci-fi/fantasy convention features
vampires, werewolves and daemons. A costume
parade on Saturday night features prizes, and
includes a Gothic Masked Ball.
Dragon*Con
Atlanta, Georgia USA
http://dragoncon.org/
Multi-media popular culture convention on sci-fi,
fantasy, gaming, and comics. Features costuming
track, and a plethora of costuming contests.
Archon 36
October 12-14, 2012
Doubletree Collinsville
St. Louis, Missouri USA
http://www.archonstl.org/36/
This sci-fi and fantasy convention returns to
Collinsville with a full costume masquerade and
costume related panels.
SteamCon IV
October 26-28, 2012
Hyatt Regency Bellevue
Bellevue Washington USA
http://www.steamcon.org/
A Victorian Monsters themed event is a nod to tthe
huge number of classic monsters from the Victorian
era, features costume events and a costume parade.
AlbaCon
October 18-21, 2012
Best Western Sovereign Hotel
Albany New York USA
http://www.albacon.org/
Weekend gathering of fans and creators of Fiction or
Fantasy. Includes hall costuming and a fantasy dance
and masquerade.
Convolution
November 2-4, 2012
Hyatt Regebct San Francisco Airport
Burlingame, California USA
http://www.con-volution.com
A three-day science fiction, fantasy, and media
convention, Includes hall costuming and a costumed
fantasy dance.
FaerieCon
November 9-11, 2012
Baltimore Marriott Hunt Valley Inn
-43ISSN 2153-9022
Baltimore Maryland USA
http://www.faeriecon.com/
Celebrating the Magical Life, features the Good
Faeries & Bad Faeries Masquerade Ball with a
costume competition, hall costuming, and many
faerie related costuming panels.
Anime USA
November 9-11, 2012
Washington Marriott Wardman Park
Washington D.C. USA
http://www.animeusa.org/
Started by fans in 2004, this convention promotes
Japanese arts and popular culture. Includes a
Masquerade/cosplay competition, hall cosplay, and a
hall cosplay contest
Philcon 2012
November 9-11, 2012
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Cherry Hill, New Jersey USA
http://2011.philcon.org/
Hosted by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society,
features author Cory Dockorow and artist Boris
Vallejo, sci-fi costume panels, and a costume
masquerade.
Great Dickens Christmas Faire
November 23 – December 23, 2012
Cow Palace Exhibition Hall
San Francisco, California USA
http://www.dickensfair.com/
Living history re-creation of Christmas in Dickens’
1860’s London. See web site for costuming
opportunities. Runs 4 weekends.
Further Confusion 2013
January 17-21 2013
San Jose Convention Center,
August 2012
San Jose Marriott, and San Jose Hilton
San Jose, California USA
http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2013
Further Confusion is one of the world's largest
anthropomorphic (or "furry") conventions. It features
eminent guests, educational panels, and world-class
costuming, including a masquerade.
Arisia 2013
January 18-21 2013
Westin Waterfront Boston Hotel
Boston, Massachusetts USA
http://2013.arisia.org/
Ongoing Events
Bay Area English Regency Society
(BAERS)
Various San Francisco Bay Area locations
Numerous dance parties – see their schedule
http://www.baers.org/
Early 19th c. English Regency with dances from
English Country tradition. Second-Friday dance
parties, and fancy-dress balls throughout the year.
Period dress admired but not required.
Gaskell Occasional Dance Society
New England’s largest and most diverse sci- fi and
fantasy convention. Many costuming events
including a Masquerade.
Scottish Rite Tempe
Oakland, California USA
http://www.gaskellball.com/
Gallifrey One 2013
Victorian Ballroom dances with live music, and a
fancy Victorian dress ball. Semi-formal clothing
required. Period formal dress of the 19 th- 21st century
admired but not required.
February 15-17, 2013
Marriott Los Angeles Airport
Los Angeles, California USA
http://www.gallifreyone.com/
All things Dr. Who are at this annual convention that
hosts stars from the series, along with many
costuming events including hall costuming and a
costume masquerade.
BeyondCon 2013
February 23-24, 2013
Inn at Gig Harbor
Gig Harbor, Washington USA
http://www.brcg.org/events/beyondcon/
Sponsored by the Beyond Reality Costumers Guild,
BeyondCon is a costuming relaxacon event where
you can learn new costuming techniques, share
techniques you have developed, and hang out for the
weekend with other insane people costumers.
Greater Bay Area Costumers’ Guild
(GBACG)
Various San Francisco Bay locations
Many themed events – see their schedule
http://www.gbacg.org/
For recreational costumers in the SF Bay Area.
Activities include workshops, costume salons, a
costuming academy and many costumed events.
Members embellish garments with machine and hand
appliqué, patchwork, fabric painting and dyeing,
stenciling and stamping, machine and hand
embroidery, beading, and more.
Period Events and Entertainment
Society (PEERS)
Masonic Lodge of San Mateo,
San Mateo, California USA
Ongoing monthly period dance events
http://www.peers.org/
Sponsors events, classes, and living history
performances. Activities include historic dance,
drama, music, literature and costume. Period dress
admired but not required
Tech Shop
120 Independence Drive
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Ongoing classes monthly
http://www.techshop.ws/
Classes on the shop’s computerized embroidery,
industrial, and conventional sewing machines, and
serger. Also molding, vaccuforming, cutting, and
machining classes.
National Civil War Association
(NCWA)
Various Northern California locations
Many re-enactment and educational events – see their
schedule http://www.ncwa.org/
The NCWA presents living history for the public in
many forms, including military and civilian
encampments, battles, and lectures.
Peninsula Wearable Arts Guild
(PenWAG)
Campbell Community Center
Campbell, California USA
Second Saturday of each month
http://www.penwag.org/
-44-
Editors Note
Send calendar or ongoing costume-related
events to vc@siwcostumers.org. Include event
name, location, dates, URL, and brief description
highlighting costume-related activities.
August 2012

Hauntings and Horror! - Silicon Web Costumers` Guild

Transcription

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