Classic Batman & Robin Costumes for a High School Stage Play

[darklord1967]

Hi gang!

As some of you know, I work as a High School Performing Arts instructor here in New York City.

I wanted to share some costumes and other production material that I've designed and put together for a Batman stage play that I am working to produce and direct with several of my student actors.

I hope you enjoy.

[darklord1967]

COSTUME DESIGN

My personal preference for the costume designs of Bat-characters leaned strongly toward the so-called classic “Bronze Age” of DC Comics (published between the early 1970’s through the early 1990’s.)



But as I already knew, there would still be a lot of room for personal interpretation of the costuming details once I got started on design and construction.

[darklord1967]

THE BATMAN

Clearly, The Batman’s costume was going to be a very important aspect of this play. It had to immediately feel real, legitimate, and it had to illicit the proper mood when first glimpsed by the audience. It was going to need to accept stage lighting well, while not coming off as a cheap, garish Halloween costume. The costume’s textures were going to require special attention so that it would feel rich, elegant and organic.

My approach to the The Batman’s overall costuming philosophy was that Bruce Wayne intended to frighten criminals while striking at them from the dark shadows. The only touches of vibrant color on the uniform (chest emblem and utility belt) would be strategically intended to be seen even in low light. This gives the uniform some contrast and visual interest, rather than being monochromatic and dull.

Also, I wanted to approach the Batman’s costume with THREE basic prescriptions in mind:

1) Para-military survival gear, mixed with
2) Primitive, tribal natural organic textures, mixed with
3) Stately old-world gothic.

For the para-military side, I designed the all-important yellow Utility Belt to appear as a bulky, (but neatly organized) collection of ammunition pouches and high tech vials containing The Batman’s myriad of weapons and urban survival crime-fighting gear. I wanted it to look big, well-stocked, and slightly dangerous.

But it’s the primitive, tribal aspect of the costume that I think ultimately dominates. Certainly it is the part of the costume philosophy that appeals to me the most. When dealing with this costuming mind-set, I imagined the approach of a fierce, tribal warrior: A large BEAST has been vanquished, and the warrior now wears its outer hide as a symbol of his own fighting prowess. The cranium and upper jaw of the animal is worn as a head dress, with only the lower half of the warrior’s own face exposed. The warrior honors the spirit of the fallen creature by wearing it’s skin and fighting on...

This primitive approach made me look at the Batman’s costume mostly in terms of organic textures like leather. The bat-cowl, cape, gauntlets, trunks, and boots would ALL need to share an identical black leathery texture. By contrast, the accents of color on the uniform (chest emblem and utility belt) would need to feel manufactured and synthetic. The skin-tight GREY (middle ground) body suit bridges the two worlds by appearing not quite synthetic and not quite organic. I studiously AVOIDED fashioning this garment with typical lycra Spandex due to its glitzy synthetic sheen and instead went with a charcoal grey Supplex material with a matte finish. But my motivation was also firmly intended to stay true to the color scheme of the costume in the comics to preserve the visual contrasts. Going with a black armored body suit (as is typically done in live-action Batman films) was not an option for me since it would only make the character (unattractively) mono-chromatic in my eyes.

In order to lend the character the stately, old-world, gothic flavor that I thought was necessary, I paid special attention to the sillhouetted outer contour of the assembled costume. The figure’s lines would need to be razor straight, emphasizing a powerful vertical force that was bigger than life. The long ears of the Bat cowl and the fanned-out lines of the cape at rest were intended to give the character height, power, and a Dracula-like presence.

[darklord1967]

COWL

Obviously, The Batman cowl has undergone numerous design changes in the comic books over the years. As it happens, I am a fan of the long-eared cowl design, since it appears most Bat-like and imposing to me. It also more accurately reflects the character’s appearance during his earliest years (late 1930’s – early 1940’s), and my preferred era, the Bronze Age of comics (early 1970’s – early 1990’s).

A licensed, store-bought cowl was not even an option for me since virtually all that was available were warped rubber cowls based on the designs from the recent Chris Nolan films or the early Tim Burton films.

What was called for was a clean, straight, and sharp rendition of the cowl as seen in the comic books.

Fortunately for me, premiere cowl sculptor (and all-around nice guy) Shawn Reevz produces a stunning cowl that was PERFECT for what I needed.

[darklord1967]

CAPE

Using a pattern of my own design, I fashioned a scalloped Bat-cape out of 4-way stretch dull black PVC that had the sheen, appearance, feel, and texture of soft leather. It also matched the color and texture of the Bat-cowl perfectly. The finished cape is capable of spreading to a full 16 foot wingspan, and looks elegant and stately when at rest as it hugs the wearer’s shoulder with a shaped seam. I also made sure to create a pattern that would be long enough to drape the bat-scallops along the floor whenever the cape was at rest. This same fabric was used to create the shorts for the uniform.

[darklord1967]

GLOVES

The gloves on this costume are tough, durable and custom made. I began with a simple pair of men’s XX-L leather winter gloves and removed the fleece lining from the inside to make them less cumbersome. I then attached an appropriately sized and shaped leather Bat-sleeve gauntlet cuff (with three large Bat-fins) to the wrist gloves. I took some creative license here and made the bat-fins slightly larger than usual to make them seem weapon-like and more dangerous. I also wanted them to have greater visibility during stage combat.

[darklord1967]

UTILITY BELT

Conventional wisdom holds that The Batman utility belt is either styled as an ammunition pouch belt OR as the more modern tube vials belt.

I saw no reason why the belt could not be both. Certainly, the costume designers of the 1960’s Adam West Batman costume, and 1980’s artist Norm Breyfogle felt the same way.

My goal was to create a utility belt that was VERY faithful to the comic book belt, combining design elements from the various belts that appealed to me over the years. But at the same time, I wanted a belt that reflected some of my subtle creative license. I knew I wanted the belt and all of its accessories to be colored in a bright golden yellow, just like in the comics. In this instance, I found it un-acceptable to “interpret” the color of the belt’s hard items (Re; belt buckle, tube vials) as polished brass or metallic gold in tone (as with Adam West’s buckle).

I built everything upon a basic golden yellow pleather waistband that would fasten from behind. The pleather ammo pouches were cannibalized from a different source and then re-colored to match the golden yellow of the waist band. I purchased plexiglass tubes and half-moon end caps from a local supplier and got to work on building the storage vials that are so characteristic of The Batman’s belt. After sanding, and priming the assembled tube vials, I coated each one with 10 coats of Tamiya Chrome Yellow spray enamel, and two clear gloss coats.

The Batman’s classic Bronze Age square utility belt buckle featured a latch tab off to one side that never really appealed to me. I preferred a simpler, slicker, more streamlined buckle, and therefore employed some creative license to create a gently curved, large rectangular buckle with a thick, prominently raised border edge. I hand-fashioned the main buckle shape out of sheets of ABS hard plastic. I then used white styrene strips to build the buckle’s thick outer border with fine styrene rods as the border’s raised lip. White squadron putty filled the seams on everything. And after a good sanding prep and primer, I shot the buckle with 12 coats of the Tamiya Chrome Yellow, and 2 coats of gloss clear.






***UPDATE 8/27/12***

I have changed the caninister vials on the utility belt into thicker and larger ones. I felt the original ones I created were far too thin.


And now a response to a question by a friend:

Mordrun wrote:

Fantastic work. I have a question about the Batman Utility Belt. Where did you buy the leather and did you have to cut it to size from a yard of material or just to length?

I am working on my own belt and am having trouble with how the yellow painting of the belt I had available is coming out.

Thanks,
Mark

Greetings Mark!

Let me see if I can help you with your utility belt dilemma.

Firstly: Although I have needed to purchase raw leather on MANY occasions for the making of these costumes, the making of The Batman and Batgirl’s Utility Belt was NOT one of those instances. The belts are, in fact, made entirely of synthetic materials (Re: canvas, stretch vinyl, acylic, etc.).

I live in New York City, and we have an AMAZING selection here of leather retailers that can offer virtually anything I want. My usual "go to" leather suppliers here in the city have been:

Leather Impact: 256 West 38th Street, New York, NY 10018 (212) 302-2332.

http://leatherimpact.com/home


AND


Global Leathers: 253 West 35th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10001 (212) 244-5190

http://globalleathers.com



Both retailers have VERY good quality skins, and an amazing selection of colors.

Unfortunately bright primary colors (like Golden Yellow for Batman / Batgirl belt) are often very difficult, (if not impossible) to locate. If it were my choice, I would have made the belts out of leather. However, I simply could not locate that INTENSE shade of yellow I wanted... from EITHER of my suppliers! This forced me to turn to synthetic materials for the Bat belts.


BELT BAND: The basic prescription here was for a belt band that was 3 inches wide, and (a minimum) of 42" in length, and in bright, vibrant, golden yellow. I initially solicited the services of Max Kirkland of Comic-Props.com to fashion this band for me in yellow vinyl. He claimed to make belt straps (in any color) with a special machine, so I placed my order. But the order was badly delayed well past my deadline (with repeated excuses from Max, and no product delivered). It was only after alerting local Law-enforcement to Kirkland's on-line scams that I was sent a belt strap (and other items I ordered). The quality of the items was completely un-satisfactory for my needs (not deep enough yellow color and sloppily made). I was forced to make my own belt band.

I had already located an EXCELLENT color candidate for the belt band's vinyl, but this 4-way stretch pleather fabric was definitely not stiff enough to support the weight of the items I was planning to attach to the finished utility belts. I knew the band would need a thick, heavy backing of some sort, so I selected artist CANVAS.

I created a basic pattern for the belt band and carefully cut it out of the raw canvas.







I then cut a larger pattern out of the yellow stretch vinyl, and permanently glued it to the strap of canvas with 3M industrial Spray adhesive.







UTILITY BELT POUCHES: I did a LOT of research into designs of ammo pouches, and tried to locate some at retail. This was a LOT more difficult than I thought it would be. I certainly did NOT expect to find ammo pouches in the deep golden yellow color I wanted. But I hoped that I would at least find some pouches in WHITE which I could then dye or paint into the color I wanted. No such luck. Instead, I mostly kept running into the same military flat pouch belts used by many cosplayers and costumers. These were either military olive drab, desert tan, or black (making them very difficult to turn into the golden yellow I intended). And this was NOT really the design I wanted for The Batman’s Utility Belt anyway. These were more of a pouch belt. Whereas, what I really wanted was a belt with individual pouches (and tube vials) looped through.









There were some cheap latex rubber Halloween Batman Costume belt pouches available online, but I found their look and lack of detail to be unsatisfactory.






I turned to a well-known cosplayer and former LOH message board member by the name of Robert Gunderson aka TimDrakeRobin to fashion the pouches I needed. But he too turned out to be a big disappointment and NEVER delivered the product that I paid for. And after chasing him for MONTHS, and threatening a lawsuit, I only got back a partial refund of my money.

Sometimes, if you want something DONE, you gotta do it YOURSELF!

In the end, I turned to DC Direct’s BATMAN Modern Utility Belt Replica Prop. This item came with 8 beautifully made pleather pouches, but I was disappointed to see that they were NOT in the color I needed. The pouches came in a dark, rustic, tan-yellow color that would need to be changed. I was also not crazy about the stylized Bat-emblems on each of the pouch snaps. Those were a bit much.







Using Liquitex Opaque Matt Acrylic Paints, I hand-painted / primed the pouches in white, and then gave them a coat of deep Cadmium Yellow. The awesome thing about these paints is how they remain flexible even after they dry. No cracking or flaking.











With this paint serving as a base, I was able to lightly coat the pouches with the same Tamiya deep golden Yellow Spray Hobby enamel that I used for the utility belt vials and belt buckle, and there was STILL no cracking or flaking after drying!! This made all of the belt items nice and uniform in color. A beautiful presentation!






The other adjustment I needed to make was to the belt loop straps at the backs of each pouch. They were originally positioned in such a way as to hang bottom-justified from the strap. This is not the look I wanted. I preferred the more traditional centralized position of the pouches (and vials) along the strap.

The HARD utility belt items (Central Buckle, Tube Vials) all needed belt loops as well. Once again, using canvas, I cut several ½” wide straps, and test-fit the lengths around the width of the belt strap.



















I treated all of the cut edges of the canvas straps with Elmer’s Glue to stiffen them and prevent fraying.







Then I permanently glued the looped straps to the backs of the hard items using the 3M spray adhesive, and Gorilla Super Glue.


I usually do NOT like to do any gluing onto painted surfaces, since the resulting bond is usually weak. I therefore made sure that the backs of the Belt Buckle and each of the Tube Vials were un-painted. For each of the vials, I layed a length of ½” masking tape along the back spine prior to primer and paint. This allowed for a nice, clear gluing area for the strap later.

The painted Utility Belt items slip onto the strap via their own loop straps. This allows for optimal adjustment and positioning of the items for each unique wearer.

I hope this information helps! Best of luck!

[darklord1967]

BOOTS

Batman costumers everywhere have been talking about a wonderful new boot that has been commericially available for a while, very affordable, and is perfect for dressing as The Dark Knight. Funtasma’s Pleaser “Gotham 100” boots did NOT disappoint when I bought them, and with the quality that they were made with, I would have GLADLY paid double what I did to own them…and even THAT would have been a bargain! I loved the generous length of the boot shaft, coming up to just below my knee cap (I am 6’ 2”), and I really loved the thick, rugged, combat boot rubber soles (which really reflected the para-military/survival gear aspect that I wanted The Batman’s uniform to have.

I did spend an additional $60 to have the tops of the boots professionally re-shaped into a more extreme “Batman Point”. But the final look of the boots made it SO worth the money and effort!

[darklord1967]

CHEST EMBLEM

There were some VERY specific things that concerned me when I set out to create the chest bat emblem for this costume:

Firstly, I intended to use the “new look” concept Batman chest emblem ushered in by Julius Swartz in 1964. This was the one that featured the black bat encased within a golden yellow oval. I found this far more visually appealing than just the large black bat against the dark grey tights (which I knew would be tough to see on stage with spooky shadowy lighting). The yellow oval provided a nice contrast for the bat to be seen and gave the uniform some added visual interest with a splash of color picked up from the prominent utility belt.

Secondly, I needed the emblem to be fashioned out of something that would be flexible and TOUGH, and also be VERY sharp and clean in its presentation.

Thirdly, the size and position of the chest emblem was also a consideration. For example, I always found Adam West’s bat emblem to be slightly small and positioned too low on his chest. The optimal size and position would have to be experimented with.

Fourthly, the specific design of the Bat-silhouette itself would need some “adjustment” on my part since I did not really care for the Adam West design, nor any particular bat-shape from the comics.

Lastly, I wanted this chest emblem to have a subtle sculpted look rather than a flat, printed one. To me, that meant that the emblem would have to be “assembled” and painted in separate layers, and then combined.

I began with an Adoble Photoshop rendering of my own preferred design for the shape of the bat silhouette. I encased it within an oval, ensuring an even border space all around the bat. I then printed out my design and checked its size and positioning on my planning mannequin until I was happy.

Next, I used my printout as a pattern to cut a template of the basic oval out of thin, white, flexible styrene. I spent several hours sanding the edges smooth and even. I then used the same pattern to cut a template of the bat itself , also out of the white flex styrene. I sanded the edges perfectly round and smooth and checked the fit against the base oval. Perfect fit. Once the two parts were painted separately and then glued together, the final emblem was stunning, with an edge to the bat that rested in raised relief on the surface of the base oval.

The emblem is permanently affixed to the grey bodysuit with 3M spray adhesive. Strong stuff!

[darklord1967]

ROBIN THE BOY WONDER

I’d like to get something out of the way before I get too deeply into discussing my creation of the Robin outfit.

I have always loved this character… the original Richard Grayson version, I mean. I think he is an integral part of The Batman mythology and a big reason for its success over all these years.

Having said that, I have NEVER liked any of the live-action depictions of Robin done either on TV or in theatrical films. To my mind, he has yet to be performed as he was originally presented in the comic books when he was introduced… as a laughing daredevil boy wonder COUNTERPOINT to The Batman’s deadly seriousness.

All of the actors have been far too old to portray a 13 year old Boy Wonder. And their portrayals of the character have been way off the mark. Even Burt Ward (back in the 1966 TV series) played a basically high-strung, (borderline) angry youth who was ready to spit venom at every villain in sight. And he was an age-inappropriate 20 years old at the time while wearing those pixie shoes.

It is my firm intention to remedy this matter within my own stage play by portraying Robin not only as The (classic) BOY Wonder that he was always intended to be, but also as the “laughing daredevil” that we have virtually NEVER seen depicted by any other actor.

As I creatively approached the creation of Robin’s costume for this school stage play, I (once again) prescribed a strong faithfulness to the original Robin costume design worn by Richard Grayson mixed with an occasional helping of artistic licence to help it come alive on stage.

As I see it, the purpose of Robin The Boy Wonder is to function as something of a startling distraction for hoods right before The Batman can efficiently take them out. There is something very unsettling and unnerving about a brightly costumed and masked little boy standing (all by himself) in a dark night time alley or rooftop DARING you to pull your gun on him… while he giggles as you. To me, it kind of functions like the creepy little ghost girl seen standing in the hallways of the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining”.

With that in mind, I decided NOT to mute the tones of Robin’s uniform, and to allow them to function in all of their garish, primary-colored glory. I also found myself taking some cues (in terms of textures) from Burt Ward’s 1966 costume which was actually very well- designed and executed.