CSMacLaren
Sr Member
This was a particularly challenging concept for me, as the needs of costumers differ from those of us who come from the prop accuracy side of the hobby. We die-hard Vader nuts try to analyze the color and tone of the original paint, yet we don't really replicate the ambient conditions of the filming set for the paint to play off of. I've argued with 501st members on the definition of screen accuracy before I realized they wanted a more "slam-dunk" look that worked both indoors and outdoors. This exceeded my comfort zone, being a longtime RPFer and The Prop Den member. But there was indeed a legitimate need.
Bookface and I thus agreed on a darker tone, and this was the result of that discussion:
Again, for ROTJ fans, please recall that the set had a lot of black (off camera, and the floor). You have overhead lighting that causes the armor to reflect more brightly, and the mask was picking up a lot of black from everywhere. Add on top of it the overall darker exposure and the Special Edition giving everything a weird high contrast treatment (to where skin tones didn't look right), you have your perception of a near-black Vader which, fundamentally, I argue is incorrect. But I'll concede to a darker Vader for costuming needs!
