Batman Arkham Asylum/City costume

"Wanted to show a project we completed recently. A
group of us had been talking for years about what we always wanted to
see done on screen for the Bat franchise. After the game design came out
we decided to approach it with that end result in mind.




All of us agreed that this was the best movie suit never done as well as
the entire game being the film we all wanted to see. And there were so
many aspects to it, including the illusive blue and gray of the new city
suit, that we wanted to tackle. Some of the goals on the suit were that
we wanted the pieces to be accurate like they walked right off the
screen. The whole suit would need to be proportioned to the point that
all the pieces worked together to complete the image of the character
design. This was tricky due to the fact that no human being in the world
is the shape of that guy. Especially the cowl. Also the cross texture
of the entire suit must be included and it has to run synced up on all
panels as the game suit does, so that all lines intersect at an X
throughout the entire suit.



We wanted to achieve the right colors and needed them to change
dramatically from one light source to another, like the game suit does.
Especially the new game where you see a brighter blue cowl in one light
and then a seemingly black cowl in another. This went for the gray also
as it needed to go dark and also reflect the greens that they used in
the game. The whole suit is weathered to match the grittiness of the
game suit and made to be worn. We wanted to follow the same basic design
of the movie suits meaning separate sizeable torso, legs, etc… all
mounted on an undersuit so that anyone could have it tailored to them
the same way the movie pieces can be sized. The briefs were done
separate so that the movement would be fluid and the entire muscle
set-up should look one piece but move easily.



With the cowl being such a unique shape we didn’t want to sacrifice
feel so we chose to do two sizes with the cowl. We mounted the City bat
in the pics as we are almost done with the add-ons for the boots and
gaunts as well as the new belt, and would be completing that suit. But
also show how the Asylum bat looks and with a switch of some gear you
can go either way. Let me know what you guys think and I’ll shoot some
pics of individual pieces later if you like.




I'll break down the suit and see what I can get
together as far as the build but we really just steamrolled through. It
took about 3 months with 3 artists on the project. The only found item
are the base gloves which ironically is the same as most of the
Batfilms."


"THE COWL: The cowl was really where we wanted to start. With the goals
in mind that we wanted to do something with the color that we hadn’t
seen before. The first game was a much darker Black with tones of blue.
The second is a much brighter blue that seems to go black. So we decided
to go with two color formulas. The darker cowl was an easy one but the
range we wanted from the second took some work. One of our team members
specializes in DP work so we did many test shots on the color both film
and photo. When you look at the pics it might seem that one is the
darker cowl from Asylum and the other is the blue but …that’s all the
same cowl in the pics."


"The other detail was the one that’s been haunting studios for years and
that’s movement. We wanted to be able to move the wearers head without
the statue look and without making a helmet. I think the design of the
mask really played into this naturally because I have seen all of the
film cowls and I have never seen anything look or move like this cowl.
With the way the mouth opening is, it really moves as you can see from
the scream pic. The mask was sculpted with thickness in mind and
wearability not just shape so that strategic areas are specific
thicknesses. So when poured with a core in, the neck for example is
thinner and the jaw lines are thicker etc… This helps how it holds to
the face and where it will bend. And because the collar was not to be
glued down like the film cowls, it was allowed to move, and the head can
turn very easily. So without scallops the movement looked great similar
to an action figure when you turn its head."



"The size of the initial cowl made it ideal for a range of users between
22-23 inches plus. But when going to the higher end head size as you
guys know you start to run into issues with how well it feels and looks.
So we made a second cowl by just adjusting the master that fits a range
of 23-24 plus inches. The look of the cowl really plays into this being
necessary as the cowl itself goes long and narrow at the top. Which is
what makes it look so cool. Also with the details, the temple design
especially, should roll and fade with the light. You can see how it does
this from pic to pic."


The Cape: The cape is another of those pieces we
had talked about for a while. The idea of a shoulder set cape that was
seamed, with three pieces and hugged the front image of the torso was
very exciting. Especially with the back balancing this slim minimal
front with layers and depth. We also wanted to keep that light texture
on it to carry the theme over. And to carry on the effect that when you
see the suit from a distance it appears solid in color and make up, but
when you get closer you start to get the textures popping off of it. So a
full model was built that was almost a complete circle. I’m taking a
stab but I believe it was past 12 feet from tip to tip at the longest
points. There was only one section taken out of the circle in the front.




A silicone mold was made for this and a glass jacket also. The body of
the cape was shot using latex into the mold similar to the 89 capes and
the desired thickness figured out. We brought these in at a good weight
which is distributed mostly on the shoulders and with the three piece
design, it sits great. The front pieces were sculpted on the master and
textured to match. With the main body of the cape being almost a full
circle it was than fused at pleated points in the back so that it has
this depth and rolls, just like the original design. Than it is attached
to the front pieces and a Velcro assembly is used at the collar similar
to the superman returns cape but with more beef. Sticking with the
superman cape idea, the cape itself was colored with a similar
transition on the interior. To get the effect again that we desired of
having subtle depth with solid colors we shot a slightly lighter hue on
the inside edges of the cape leaving the middle that sits behind the
body darker to frame the suit from the inside. You can see in some of
the pics how this comes together. The cape is colored to match the cowl
in the mold so there are no wear issues and with the texture and process
it really looks more like leather in person and pics."