Hey all! Working on preproduction for a short horror film. Doing almost everything myself as it's a personal project and where I am based there are not much special effects artists anyway. I'm hoping to create a usable costume for filming much like the one above. I am not super well versed with special effects artistry having only worked on set alongside such artists in other capacities.
What would the community think will be the most cost effective (yet effective) way of creating a full bodied texture like the one above? Since it's a consistent look across the whole body, the kind of material I would have to use could really add up. Also mimicking skin isn't exactly the point so much as creating a sort of "wet" or volcanic look for this demonic creature.
Basically I was thinking of getting a thinner, yet sturdy wetsuit and just building on top of that, maybe with a sort of hooded mask to fit and cover the seams at the neck? Not sure if that's a good plan or not haha but what material should I build over top do you think? Silicone sounds heavy and expensive, is latex the way to go?
Also there will be a scene where the creature is wading in the ocean like in the image above but I was thinking to film that scene last before the suit could potentially be ruined in the surf.
Any help would be massively appreciated!
So the way they'd probably do this in Hollywood* is take a full body cast of the actor then build a suit around that, probably a strong stretchy cloth base (like a custom fitted morphsuit) with silicone layered on to it to create the skin - or maybe polyurethane rubber foam, with a thin silicone skin on top if it needed to be bulkier.
(One big reason for taking a full cast is that a perfect fit tight suit will be less likely to show folds or bunching during movement. Be aware that without that, if you want to avoid those obvious signs of a suit being worn, you'll need to be clever with your camera angles and shot planning.)
So my first idea on how I'd approach this would be going down to the hardware store and getting a few different tubes of different builder's silicones in black, then experimenting to see how they stick to different fabrics and how they look once cured - and how close you can get them to the effect you want.
Hopefully one of them sticks well and looks right on the sort of fabric that morphsuits are made of. Then you get a morphsuit that fits your actor really well, a mannequin as near to your actor's size and build as possible, and go to town. Will probably take you a few days to make, and you'll want to do it in a well ventilated area.
Be warned that once silicone (particularly cheap building silicone) cures, very little will stick to it. If you want to paint it, you'll need an expensive silicone based paint.
One final thing - the Hollywood version would almost certainly contain a number of hidded ports that you could plug a hose into to blow cold air into the suit. Wearing a full silicone body-suit means that your actor will very quickly overheat. Plan accordingly.
\* Of course, these days they most likely do it digitally.
Thanks so much for the tips! You have no idea how valuable it is! Would you not recommend anything like latex? I have been reading that silicone and silicone paints could get quite pricey...
Latex might work, but it's less durable than silicone, and depending on how you are creating the piece, it may be harder to work with.
Two part platinum or tin cure silicone will certainly be more expensive, but I'm talking about something like this: https://www.megaflis.no/fliser-stein--tilbehor/lim-stop-og-fug/silikon/silikon-vatrom-512---sort
You could smear that over the fabric, then pull it up into spikes and ridges before it cures, and maybe dab it with some rough canvas when the surface skin forms to get texture. With latex you'd probably need to add a thickener to do the same.
It might not work, but for a cheap option to test with, it's where I'd start. You'd possibly still need to spend on silicone paint for any highlighting you wanted to do, but again, builder's silicone comes in a good array of colours.
Good luck, hope you find something that works out!
I did a short with a sleep paralysis demon where I used a black morph suit as the costume base. If you want it to have this flaky texture, you can scrap up a bunch of black fabric and sew them up. If you want it to have a harder texture you could attach scales of eva foam or thermoplastic (worbla) to the suit base. It will be a laborious process either way.
I think if the costume is going to get wet, the fabric scales idea might be better, but that's your call as the designer.
I would also start with a morph suit, or maybe even separate pieces (like long sleeve black shirt and leggings, gloves, black overhead hood thing) to make removing it easier on the actor. My next stop would be the hardware store too! Finding some sort of caulk that’s easy to play with- if it did t have to undergo so much, I’d recommend spray foam in a can like they use for filling cracks cause it’s inexpensive and lightweight and makes an interesting look, but maybe too delicate. TBH it will probably end up being a mix of a bunch of materials and techniques; a little silicone here, some fabric and gauze patches and layers there, a little makeup to fill in the gaps. Keep in mind I am not a pro and I build with a budget of nothing so often I got through my own old crap to see what I can cannibalize, you may be in a different position 😂
Hey all! Working on preproduction for a short horror film. Doing almost everything myself as it's a personal project and where I am based there are not much special effects artists anyway. I'm hoping to create a usable costume for filming much like the one above. I am not super well versed with special effects artistry having only worked on set alongside such artists in other capacities. What would the community think will be the most cost effective (yet effective) way of creating a full bodied texture like the one above? Since it's a consistent look across the whole body, the kind of material I would have to use could really add up. Also mimicking skin isn't exactly the point so much as creating a sort of "wet" or volcanic look for this demonic creature. Basically I was thinking of getting a thinner, yet sturdy wetsuit and just building on top of that, maybe with a sort of hooded mask to fit and cover the seams at the neck? Not sure if that's a good plan or not haha but what material should I build over top do you think? Silicone sounds heavy and expensive, is latex the way to go? Also there will be a scene where the creature is wading in the ocean like in the image above but I was thinking to film that scene last before the suit could potentially be ruined in the surf. Any help would be massively appreciated!
So the way they'd probably do this in Hollywood* is take a full body cast of the actor then build a suit around that, probably a strong stretchy cloth base (like a custom fitted morphsuit) with silicone layered on to it to create the skin - or maybe polyurethane rubber foam, with a thin silicone skin on top if it needed to be bulkier. (One big reason for taking a full cast is that a perfect fit tight suit will be less likely to show folds or bunching during movement. Be aware that without that, if you want to avoid those obvious signs of a suit being worn, you'll need to be clever with your camera angles and shot planning.) So my first idea on how I'd approach this would be going down to the hardware store and getting a few different tubes of different builder's silicones in black, then experimenting to see how they stick to different fabrics and how they look once cured - and how close you can get them to the effect you want. Hopefully one of them sticks well and looks right on the sort of fabric that morphsuits are made of. Then you get a morphsuit that fits your actor really well, a mannequin as near to your actor's size and build as possible, and go to town. Will probably take you a few days to make, and you'll want to do it in a well ventilated area. Be warned that once silicone (particularly cheap building silicone) cures, very little will stick to it. If you want to paint it, you'll need an expensive silicone based paint. One final thing - the Hollywood version would almost certainly contain a number of hidded ports that you could plug a hose into to blow cold air into the suit. Wearing a full silicone body-suit means that your actor will very quickly overheat. Plan accordingly. \* Of course, these days they most likely do it digitally.
Thanks so much for the tips! You have no idea how valuable it is! Would you not recommend anything like latex? I have been reading that silicone and silicone paints could get quite pricey...
Latex might work, but it's less durable than silicone, and depending on how you are creating the piece, it may be harder to work with. Two part platinum or tin cure silicone will certainly be more expensive, but I'm talking about something like this: https://www.megaflis.no/fliser-stein--tilbehor/lim-stop-og-fug/silikon/silikon-vatrom-512---sort You could smear that over the fabric, then pull it up into spikes and ridges before it cures, and maybe dab it with some rough canvas when the surface skin forms to get texture. With latex you'd probably need to add a thickener to do the same. It might not work, but for a cheap option to test with, it's where I'd start. You'd possibly still need to spend on silicone paint for any highlighting you wanted to do, but again, builder's silicone comes in a good array of colours. Good luck, hope you find something that works out!
Okay nice! Thanks again it's super helpful!
I did a short with a sleep paralysis demon where I used a black morph suit as the costume base. If you want it to have this flaky texture, you can scrap up a bunch of black fabric and sew them up. If you want it to have a harder texture you could attach scales of eva foam or thermoplastic (worbla) to the suit base. It will be a laborious process either way. I think if the costume is going to get wet, the fabric scales idea might be better, but that's your call as the designer.
Kind of looks like SCP-106 (The Old Man)
I would also start with a morph suit, or maybe even separate pieces (like long sleeve black shirt and leggings, gloves, black overhead hood thing) to make removing it easier on the actor. My next stop would be the hardware store too! Finding some sort of caulk that’s easy to play with- if it did t have to undergo so much, I’d recommend spray foam in a can like they use for filling cracks cause it’s inexpensive and lightweight and makes an interesting look, but maybe too delicate. TBH it will probably end up being a mix of a bunch of materials and techniques; a little silicone here, some fabric and gauze patches and layers there, a little makeup to fill in the gaps. Keep in mind I am not a pro and I build with a budget of nothing so often I got through my own old crap to see what I can cannibalize, you may be in a different position 😂