La Bricoleuse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
labricoleuse) wrote2011-04-12 02:07 pm
labricoleuse) wrote2011-04-12 02:07 pm
Entry tags:
Tarnation! or, the end.
When last we left our poor Duke, he was hanging tarred and feathered with smoke-delivery hoses buried in silicone blobs on his back. (Part one of the process available here.)
But how to deliver that smoke?
I did a lot of research into smoke delivery systems--pocket foggers, model railroad smokestack mechanisms, etc. Ultimately, we decided to go with a product called the Wizard Stick, marketed as a "science"-related children's toy, which generates smoke from a solution of glycerin and propylene glycol (ingredients in FDA-approved soaps and perfumes). We first did an allergy test with our actor, Scott Ripley, to make sure he had no adverse reaction to the smoke the Wizard Stick creates. Then we rigged the costume in a fashion similar to an arterial-spray blood-pack rig...
Smoke-rig parts! Wizard Stick and smoke fluid, and a medical feeding bag for the smoke charge.
The hoses come out through the sideseam pockets of the trousers,
which have been opened to allow access. Then they connect to...
...the pre-loaded bags of smoke!
The smoke bags then hide down in the sleeves of the shirt...
...to which they connect with large snaps.
(It would not do for one to fall out mid-scene.)
As the actor plays the scene, his movements force the smoke up through the hoses,
emerging as tendrils from his shoulder area.
Tar had to be applied to the rest of the costume as well:
the torn shirt and some lovely houndstooth trousers made by tailor Kyle Schellinger
The final step: spraying some redness into the suit around the "burns" where the tar is applied.
YUCK!
left: Jason Edward Cook as Huck Finn
right: Scott Ripley as Duke
And that concludes the process for creating this highly unusual specialty costume effect. Ultimately, the smoke aspect was cut from the show--in an earlier graveyard scene a fogger is used, which did not dissipate quickly enough for the tar-smoke to be as effective as it might otherwise have been.
Though it is unfortunate not to see it "in action" in the show, i'm not disappointed in that fact--that's part of the business! Sometimes you create something which doesn't make it through the tech and preview process to opening night, and i tell my students that if you measure your success in this industry in the amount of stage-time your work receives, you are using the wrong yardstick!
But how to deliver that smoke?
I did a lot of research into smoke delivery systems--pocket foggers, model railroad smokestack mechanisms, etc. Ultimately, we decided to go with a product called the Wizard Stick, marketed as a "science"-related children's toy, which generates smoke from a solution of glycerin and propylene glycol (ingredients in FDA-approved soaps and perfumes). We first did an allergy test with our actor, Scott Ripley, to make sure he had no adverse reaction to the smoke the Wizard Stick creates. Then we rigged the costume in a fashion similar to an arterial-spray blood-pack rig...
Smoke-rig parts! Wizard Stick and smoke fluid, and a medical feeding bag for the smoke charge.
The hoses come out through the sideseam pockets of the trousers,
which have been opened to allow access. Then they connect to...
...the pre-loaded bags of smoke!
The smoke bags then hide down in the sleeves of the shirt...
...to which they connect with large snaps.
(It would not do for one to fall out mid-scene.)
As the actor plays the scene, his movements force the smoke up through the hoses,
emerging as tendrils from his shoulder area.
Tar had to be applied to the rest of the costume as well:
the torn shirt and some lovely houndstooth trousers made by tailor Kyle Schellinger
The final step: spraying some redness into the suit around the "burns" where the tar is applied.
YUCK!
left: Jason Edward Cook as Huck Finn
right: Scott Ripley as Duke
And that concludes the process for creating this highly unusual specialty costume effect. Ultimately, the smoke aspect was cut from the show--in an earlier graveyard scene a fogger is used, which did not dissipate quickly enough for the tar-smoke to be as effective as it might otherwise have been.
Though it is unfortunate not to see it "in action" in the show, i'm not disappointed in that fact--that's part of the business! Sometimes you create something which doesn't make it through the tech and preview process to opening night, and i tell my students that if you measure your success in this industry in the amount of stage-time your work receives, you are using the wrong yardstick!
Looking forward to have my say
(Anonymous) 2011-04-14 02:47 am (UTC)(link)