Help needed sourcing SFF costume elements

[Phyrebrat]

Hi,

One of my classes have a show coming up in May and I have been choreographing a piece loosely based on the Star Wars arc and fused with gaming and other movie influences.

At one point the students will need some kind of costume pieces that suggest cyborgs, or perhaps even some strange creature. I have a small budget, and there are 9 boys in the dance group. Can anyone recommend anything inexpensive? A half-mask perhaps? Arm or shin pieces?

Thanks for your help

pH

 

[jastius]

wrap tin foil around sports protective equipment ( ie, shin guards, elbow and knee pads, shoulder guards) and around bicycle helmets with cardboard tin foiled to make face plates... you could just tin foil cardboard if you can't get the equipment, but if you are at a school, there may be some you can borrow. the other things that come to mind are duct tape for edging and stripes, and aluminum pop drink cans of the coke variety can be cut open into designs for various costume elements by household scissors. you must tape or hot glue the sharp edges though. cans of spray paint, black white or silver or gold are a cheap way to add color also, onto cardboard. you can cut open gallon bleach containers for big white plastic boot feet.
as for creatures... i would suggest paper mache or getting those cheap plastic table cloths or giant bin liners and putting a coat hanger framework inside... i hope that helps some... i work with the theater here in the village and that is how we manage some effects.

 

[bluenimbus]

i agree, go DIY and use yards of tinfoil, there are a host of sites out there with helpful DIY tutorials you should check out.

 

[jastius]

another thought, ( now my brain is up and running)... If it is star wars then you'd need the light sabers? For something dramatic, get glow sticks and blue light glowing paint and then outline the costumes with the glow paint...( I'd use a stencil ). then get clear drink plastic bottles and stick two or three together length-wise interlacing them and hot glueing them. put glow rod inside and lines of glow paint up the sides. - do it yourself light saber. then you can have a very dramatic glow in the dark dance number under one black light.
Chewbacca? teddi will have to be sacrificed for art ( get fuzzy stuffy at second hand shop, empty filling, wash fur, slice open for furry jacket on being.) other options are: fur coat, bathroom rug, mops top and spray paint. the fill from an old pillow spread out and tacked on a backing and then sprayed can look like a furry alien. puppets on sticks ( cut outs) can represent some of the characters. Bin liners can be used for cloaks and dresses. Cardboard cutouts on wires racing across the room augmented by flashing lights upon the cutouts could represent space battles and so on. white christmas lights stuck through an old window screen can be the stars out in space.
luke's costume is basically a karate outfit. the jedi masters have monks robes-- more bin liners. battle between luke and vader? vader in bicycle hemet with cardboard overlay. dracula cape or bin liner. cardboard black spray painted armor vest.
hope this helps a little...I will re-post if I come up with anything else inexpensive and splashy.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Jastius and bluenimbus, thank you so much for the replies and suggestions. Jastius - special thanks for taking so much time in your replies. You have given me lots of ideas; I've done more than a fair share of prop building and kit bashing in the past so I'm hoping I can come up with some interesting - sturdy - pieces.

Thanks again,

pH

 

[stormcrow]

Hi pH. Agree the suggestions above are excellent.

I'd highly recommend the metallic ducting tape plumbers and heating engineers use (as mentioned by jastius), it's available in various widths, is shiny silver, has a degree of stiffness about it so can hold form. Lastly, it's very adhesive which can help in all manner of ways!

A friend decorated the interior his garden shed as a spaceship some years ago and used metres on metres of the stuff - very versatile.

 

[hopewrites]

Long extension cord in coordinating color, black electric tape.

Cut lengths of cord for each elbow joint. Tape off ends to prevent fray and poking. Tape onto dancers arms to appear as if they are part of their control system.

 

[jastius]

an old water hose would be cheaper and look the same or serve the same purpose. need wire cutters for the extension cord to cut it...

 

[hopewrites]

Water hoses are substantially larger.

 

[jastius]

actually i was thinking of old iv tubing or aquarium hosing the water feed tubes for it. they are clear but can easily have dayglo paint run through and then you could use is as hope says for gadgetry but it too would light up in black light , etc, the good thing about it is that it is super flexible, not sharp at all and can be cut and taped in place easily... also good for puffing some light thing open with air. tissue paper flowers blooming to imitate explosions and fireworks, etc.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Thank you so much for the continued suggestions. I do have lots and lots of spare air tubing from an aquarium when I used to keep ...er.... awkward fish....

Anyway, the tubing made things look a bit Borg-y (Locutus, not Lucretia ) which I wanted to avoid. So, back to the drawing board.

I'll post pics when I'm done so you can all take credit for the bits and pieces you have helpfully suggested .

My continued thanks

pH

 

[jastius]

you can carve Styrofoam into all kinds of shapes. you can put cloth on top of it. if you can get the panels and forms from packing crates, it almost looks like robot parts as it is.