Over all I’d say my main contribution to the project was the creation of the scooba helmets, which were incredibly time consuming. First I bought a pack of balloons and some newspapers into uni with me. There I blew up a balloon as large as I could (which turned out to be very hard and there was a lot of popping) , I then mixed water with pva glue, and dunked slips of newspaper into it in order to create papier-mâché . Myself and various other costume designers then spent 2 sessions covering the blown up balloons in papier-mâché to create the shape of the helmets. The plan was then to pop the balloons once the structure was strong enough, but inevitably the balloon popped on its own, so from then on they were very delicate.
The next stage was to add the details of the helmets such as the circular holes to look out of on each side. This was done by cutting holes through the now hardened papier-mâché frame and fitting in cardboard rings. More papier-mâché was then added to keep it all in place.
In the last couple sessions the helmets were painted bronze, and placed on peoples heads to ensure they were wearable for the video and didn’t need any adjustments. We added golden pins round the circles to imitate metal screws, and also added shoulder pieces so the helmets wouldn’t move around when the actors did. Once that was done the helmets were more or less completed.
Some additional things I made for the project include one of the saucepans which was used as a pretend helmet in the reality set. Originally I wanted this to be a colander, so I glue gunned pieces of cardboard to create the basic shape, and then poked holes in it. However this made it very weak, so I had the idea to cover it in silver tape. This meant it didn’t have to be painted and it was also strong enough that it could be held by the handle.
Another element I brought to the performance was the making of weapons. Originally I created a cardboard dagger to be used in the reality set, and a ‘real’ dagger in the pirate fight scene. However other members of the costume and set designing teams created far better weapons for the pirate scene, including swords and a harpune gun. Because of this my real looking dagger (made by painting a kids Halloween toy) was instead used in the reality scene for the murderous end.
Then there was the ‘real’ looking gun I made, however that ended up being used in the performance.
Be First to Comment