Lunaman
Sr Member
As many know, the small Studio Museum on the Warner Brothers lot has great displays of authentic 'hero' costumes and props, with rotating displays on the lower level and a very elaborate Harry Potter collection on the second level. There are no photos allowed in the museum, but you can get right up and inspect the stitches of the costumes, usually without any glass or barriers in the way, so long as you do not touch or harm the pieces. It's a very nice environment for examining the results of the techniques used by various artisans on large motion picture and television productions.
*NOTE* I did not wish to violate Warner Brother's policy and thus did not take any photos of the props or costumes during my visit. I cannot and will not take detail photos of the costumes at any point. I was a guest at the studio for work purposes and had a valid pass to browse the collection, and I honored their understandable ban on photos, checking my bag in their provided lockers until I was finished with my museum visit. Any pictures in this post are either from events like Comic Con where picture taking was allowed, images from trailers and promotional pictures, or do not involve the costumes in question at all.*
Currently, the Studio Museum has a very thorough Man of Steel collection on display in the lower level (along with Dark Knight and Great Gatsby stuff and costumes from various other works). Given that the Kryptonian suits have been such a popular project with some frustrating elements still unanswered lately, I though it would be worthwhile to carefully examine the suits up close with no glass barrier and see if I could gain any new insights.
Stray observations about the details of the Zod, Faora, and Kal-El/Superman suits, before the wild speculation.
*NOTE* I did not wish to violate Warner Brother's policy and thus did not take any photos of the props or costumes during my visit. I cannot and will not take detail photos of the costumes at any point. I was a guest at the studio for work purposes and had a valid pass to browse the collection, and I honored their understandable ban on photos, checking my bag in their provided lockers until I was finished with my museum visit. Any pictures in this post are either from events like Comic Con where picture taking was allowed, images from trailers and promotional pictures, or do not involve the costumes in question at all.*
Currently, the Studio Museum has a very thorough Man of Steel collection on display in the lower level (along with Dark Knight and Great Gatsby stuff and costumes from various other works). Given that the Kryptonian suits have been such a popular project with some frustrating elements still unanswered lately, I though it would be worthwhile to carefully examine the suits up close with no glass barrier and see if I could gain any new insights.
Stray observations about the details of the Zod, Faora, and Kal-El/Superman suits, before the wild speculation.
- Faora's armor is aided in its harnessing by some strategically-placed low-profile straps at the elbows and armpits that were screen-printed to have the same chainmail pattern as the bodysuit, thereby camouflaging their presence.
- The raised bodysuit details (cuffs, belt buckle, etc) seem to have been cast with an iridescent or metallic powder on the surface, reflecting a bit more light than a raw colored cast would. The gold stripes and buckle on Supes' suit have a heavier gold topcoat of paint applied.
- The screen-printed chainmail pattern is fairly glossy on the Superman suit, but matte on the Zod and Faora suits. On the Supes suit the chainmail pattern is dark blue on the blue areas, and dark grey/almost black on the red boots.
- The chest emblems are one thin layer, and in some places less than that. The border is not at all a large step down in thickness and does not appear to have been cast separately, that is, not in the way that talented artisans like Pannaus props have been casting them in layers. Here's the real kicker, though: The background layer of the emblem, the gold negative space around the 'S'? It does not exist as a part of the flexible appliance. The ground level is completely open and empty, and what we see there is actually the fabric body suit showing through the holes in the emblem's design. I had to triple check this because I didn't believe it at first, but the gold areas of the emblem are the fabric bodysuit itself, airbrushed to a golden color with weathering instead of blue. On Zod's bodysuit there is no color change, just the exact same fabric visible within the confines of the emblem and outside its borders. Crazy. That's how they got it to look so low-profile.
- Most of us have heard the reports by now that the bodysuits were composed of three layers: the screen-printed raised chainmail pattern, the 4-way stretch spandex itself, and an allegedly metallic muscle layer beneath. I can't be the only one who was a little mystified by the idea of the silvered muscle layer being visible through the spandex and chainmail and felt confused by this explanation at first. But I'm here to confirm emphatically that this is the case and likely the secret to the look of these suits on camera.
I noticed the effect on Zod's suit first, as it had more directed lighting that caught the shine. What I noticed up close was that the 4-way stretch fabric was much thinner in weight than I had assumed, and was actually quite translucent. Think more along the lines of pantyhose than UnderArmor, if that makes sense. The raised chainmail gave it dimension, but the fabric itself was thin and permeable to light. The metallic tone of the muscle suit was plainly visible. The suit even had veins and scars that showed through the veil.
There was no color contouring on the suits, essentially, any area where the muscle suit was convex allowed it to shine through onto the surface, whereas any concave area cast a shadow against the fabric which made it appear darker and more opaque. The suits created their own color contouring that shifted according to the light and the position of the observer.
Here are some example photos from Nick Daring's Comic con thread:
I went to the fabric store afterwards and found a fabric that displays the same characteristics. It's called Glissnet, a nylon and Spandex blend that has the right thinness and translucency, with great 4-way stretch and surprising strength. I stretched it over a reflective belt buckle to demonstrate the layered effect. A fabric similar to this must have been screen printed with the rubberized chainmail pattern for the film suits.
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