MASK OF THE BOUNTY: A BATMAN FAN FILM thread (Costume builders needed!)

[JackShanahan23]

Hello, and welcome to the thread of the fan film BATMAN: MASK OF THE BOUNTY. Here is the synopsis:

" After investigating Arkham Asylum when the Joker is supposedly broken out of prison, Batman finds out that maybe he's not prepared for the upcoming mission: To face the most dangerous assassin money can buy. As he goes through with the mission and meets new people along the way, Batman must also face his inner demons that are the memories of a fallen ally."

There will be a kickstarter for this as soon as the final draft for the screenplay is finished! Please check it out when it comes out!

If you live in or near the Charlotte NC area and would like to make costumes for the shoot, please do say! There are lots of costumes to be made (IE: Batman, Robin, Black Mask, Deathstroke, and a surprising guest star superhero) So, if you have any interest, ask questions and comment and request things!

 

[13doctorwho]

Do you need any Batman props? I am alway willing to build Batman stuff!!

 

[JackShanahan23]

I would gladly accept the help, thank you!

I have a list of the props needed on a google doc (which is in a folder of all the stuff for the film lol) Do you have a gmail I can share the folder with?
13doctorwho

 

[JackShanahan23]

Would anyone happen to know any good liquid compounds for making a hard Batman cowl? Like the dark knight one, for example? (not latex cowl)

 

[Vox]

Would anyone happen to know any good liquid compounds for making a hard Batman cowl? Like the dark knight one, for example? (not latex cowl)

Smooth-On's Smooth-Cast 65D is a popular choice for rigid casts because it cures very quickly and is also flexibly rigid, meaning it is a hard shell but will still flex slightly making it easier to maneuver tight fitting costume pieces onto your body. I've heard good things about their ONYX brand too, which gives a great already-black cast, however it is definitely less flexible than the 65D.

The trick, however, with rigid cowls is that they have to be molded from the wearers face in order to fit right, otherwise you could end up with a shell that does not fit around someone's head, or has too much room, or has a gap between the cheekbones and the mask, etc. So you will first have to get a life-cast of your actor's head and use that as your base. Then you'll have to sculpt the cowl you want on the base (I recommend clay), then create a mold of the cowl. Finally, when you cast the cowl from that mold, it will be tailored to your actor's face and fit him like a glove.

If you knew all that, then I apologize for wasting your time. I just wanted to make sure you knew the involved process that you were getting into in getting a rigid cowl.

 

[13doctorwho]

I would make the mask out of fiberglass. Resin is commonly used, but for a Batman helmet for an actual film it isn't strong enough. If there are fight scenes with Batman wearing it the mask could break and injure someone (the wearer or the attacker). Even if you don't plan on hitting Batman in the helmet, unexpected things happen on a set filming fight scenes. Fiberglass is stronger and still used a lot in the movie industry. Fiberglass is also cheaper. I would recommend padding the inside of the mask for comfort and safety.

 

[JackShanahan23]

Smooth-On's Smooth-Cast 65D is a popular choice for rigid casts because it cures very quickly and is also flexibly rigid, meaning it is a hard shell but will still flex slightly making it easier to maneuver tight fitting costume pieces onto your body. I've heard good things about their ONYX brand too, which gives a great already-black cast, however it is definitely less flexible than the 65D.

The trick, however, with rigid cowls is that they have to be molded from the wearers face in order to fit right, otherwise you could end up with a shell that does not fit around someone's head, or has too much room, or has a gap between the cheekbones and the mask, etc. So you will first have to get a life-cast of your actor's head and use that as your base. Then you'll have to sculpt the cowl you want on the base (I recommend clay), then create a mold of the cowl. Finally, when you cast the cowl from that mold, it will be tailored to your actor's face and fit him like a glove.

If you knew all that, then I apologize for wasting your time. I just wanted to make sure you knew the involved process that you were getting into in getting a rigid cowl.

First off, I'd like to say I saw your red hood build and I love it lol

So your saying I should use the smoothcast 65d because it's durable and somewhat flexible to fit well. How would you feel about smoothcast 65d as opposed to fiberglassing it? Because fiberglass is cheaper but what would work and look best in your opinion?

 

[JackShanahan23]

I would make the mask out of fiberglass. Resin is commonly used, but for a Batman helmet for an actual film it isn't strong enough. If there are fight scenes with Batman wearing it the mask could break and injure someone (the wearer or the attacker). Even if you don't plan on hitting Batman in the helmet, unexpected things happen on a set filming fight scenes. Fiberglass is stronger and still used a lot in the movie industry. Fiberglass is also cheaper. I would recommend padding the inside of the mask for comfort and safety.

Fiberglass is cheaper, which is good. and the padding on the inside would certaintly keep it stuck to the head lol
But what about something like smoothcast 65d? which do you think is the best material for the job?

 

[JackShanahan23]

Okay, so What I'm wondering is what material to make the Batman suit out of. I'm going for the grey and black look, but what fabric can I make it out of?

Also, Deathstroke. I'm thinking of a helmet like from Arkham Knight, which will probably be made out of the same material as the Batman cowl.

But I also like the "Son of Batman" look:

View attachment 411759
Thoughts? recommendations?

 

[Vox]

First off, I'd like to say I saw your red hood build and I love it lol

So your saying I should use the smoothcast 65d because it's durable and somewhat flexible to fit well. How would you feel about smoothcast 65d as opposed to fiberglassing it? Because fiberglass is cheaper but what would work and look best in your opinion?

I appreciate the compliment!

13doctorwho brings up a good point about function vs. form. Fiberglass is indeed more durable and cheaper than the resin, but can also be tougher to work with. If this is going to be your one helmet and will be involved in fight scenes, you may very well want something that can be hit (whether by purpose or by accident) and only need a paint touch up rather than breaking.

However, you could go with a third route, which is the same route most of Hollywood takes for this sort of thing: different costumes for different scenes. You could do a soft shell cowl (like urethane rubber) for the combat scenes, where the camera won't be holding steady on Batman's face, and have the rigid cowl for dialogue scenes. When painted, you can make one look damn close to the other, to the point where the differences on the soft cowl are nearly unnoticeable especially when the character wearing it is in constant motion for the combat scenes.

Okay, so What I'm wondering is what material to make the Batman suit out of. I'm going for the grey and black look, but what fabric can I make it out of?

Also, Deathstroke. I'm thinking of a helmet like from Arkham Knight, which will probably be made out of the same material as the Batman cowl.

But I also like the "Son of Batman" look:

View attachment 411759
Thoughts? recommendations?

Both of these questions can be answered more easily after you decide what type of look you are going for with both characters.

Is Batman going to look like he does in the Dark Knight trilogy, with visible armor? Is he going to have a full fabric suit over an undersuit of armor? Or are you just going to have a muscular actor fill out a skin-tight suit?

Same goes for Deathstroke: is he going to be armored and/or tactical like he was in Arkham Origins and the Arrow show (respectively), or more of a ninja like in Son of Batman? If the former, you probably want a helmet, but if he is more of a ninja, you may want to do a fabric face mask with a face shell underneath (to hold the shape).

A word of caution with the full masks/helmets: you may have to film a scene twice, once with the helmet/mask on and once without, and then dub the dialogue from the unmasked scene over the footage of the helmeted scene. Naturally, you want a little bit of muffled sound to make the character sound realistic, but full masks/helmets tend to muffle sound more than desired in terms of microphone pickup.

 

[JackShanahan23]

I appreciate the compliment!

13doctorwho brings up a good point about function vs. form. Fiberglass is indeed more durable and cheaper than the resin, but can also be tougher to work with. If this is going to be your one helmet and will be involved in fight scenes, you may very well want something that can be hit (whether by purpose or by accident) and only need a paint touch up rather than breaking.

However, you could go with a third route, which is the same route most of Hollywood takes for this sort of thing: different costumes for different scenes. You could do a soft shell cowl (like urethane rubber) for the combat scenes, where the camera won't be holding steady on Batman's face, and have the rigid cowl for dialogue scenes. When painted, you can make one look damn close to the other, to the point where the differences on the soft cowl are nearly unnoticeable especially when the character wearing it is in constant motion for the combat scenes.



Both of these questions can be answered more easily after you decide what type of look you are going for with both characters.

Is Batman going to look like he does in the Dark Knight trilogy, with visible armor? Is he going to have a full fabric suit over an undersuit of armor? Or are you just going to have a muscular actor fill out a skin-tight suit?

Same goes for Deathstroke: is he going to be armored and/or tactical like he was in Arkham Origins and the Arrow show (respectively), or more of a ninja like in Son of Batman? If the former, you probably want a helmet, but if he is more of a ninja, you may want to do a fabric face mask with a face shell underneath (to hold the shape).

A word of caution with the full masks/helmets: you may have to film a scene twice, once with the helmet/mask on and once without, and then dub the dialogue from the unmasked scene over the footage of the helmeted scene. Naturally, you want a little bit of muffled sound to make the character sound realistic, but full masks/helmets tend to muffle sound more than desired in terms of microphone pickup.

Thanks for the advice I wrote down the key points and put them to good use.

I'm thinking Batman's outfit will be a full fabric suit over body armor. Contrary to many people, I like the Batfleck suit a lot lol

And with Deathstroke I'm going for a more tactical version. Like, US army tactical. He used to be a part of the military and I want to express that, but have some ninja-like elements to his costume (gauntlets, etc)
So, what I'm thinking for the mask then (taking your advice) is I can sculpt the mask myself, then cast it in fiberglass or smoothcast or whatever I may choose to use. I'm thinking I should mold it so it looking very similar to the Son of Batman look, but obviously not a fabric mask. Just has that look to it.

 

[Vox]

I am not sure what your budget is like for the piece or what kind of time/effort you want to put into building it, but @TheKingaSwing a.k.a. TigerStone FX makes a rigid 2-piece Deathstroke helmet that shares a similar appearance to the Son of Batman look. You can see pics on his Facebook page. You can always make your own, but in my experience, if there is an existing piece available from someone, it fits your needs, and you can afford it, the effort and time saved is usually worth it.

 

[TigerStoneFX]

Thanks for the shout out Vox !

Our version is the Arkham Origins helmet so I don't know if that fits your tactical look much but here are a couple of pics.

 

[JackShanahan23]

Thanks for the shout out @Vox !

Our version is the Arkham Origins helmet so I don't know if that fits your tactical look much but here are a couple of pics.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...6370996_2782807249945336910_n_zps739dddcc.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...037669_3625889549723012377_n1_zpse771bed6.jpg

I've seen that before and it's so cool! I love the mask, but I'm working on the mask right now to my own fashion. Thnaks though!

 

[TigerStoneFX]

No worries! I look forward to seeing what you come up with

 

[HyruleInfantry]

This may be a stupid question, so please forgive me. Will this fan film be on youtube or some other video website?

 

[drftfan]

I will just say it... You decide to run a kickstarter for a fan film based upon Batman I wouldn't be surprised if that gets shut down along with a c&d. Your best bet is to fund this yourself.

 

[Archer21]

I will just say it... You decide to run a kickstarter for a fan film based upon Batman I wouldn't be surprised if that gets shut down along with a c&d. Your best bet is to fund this yourself.

Ismahawk's Nightwing the series was funded by Kickstarter. I'm sure as long as they use disclaimers they should be fine.

 

[KJC]

Hi, I do not live in NC but I would like to help in some of the costumes if you are willing to have things shipped. I am trying to get commissions as I have lost my full time job. You said you are working on the Deathstroke. What costumes are not being made already?

 

[JackShanahan23]

No worries! It will be on Youtube

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I'm going to try kickstarter because I'd really not rather fund it myself xD but I will keep what you say in mind, thank you

- - - Updated - - -

Batman is not worked on quite yet! And there are PLENTY of costumes that need to get done. I would gladly accept your help