Great Scott!
Back in March, I was in costume as Darth Maul for a signing event with Carrie Fisher and Jake Lloyd on two different days; once with a group of other costumers and one day on my own (that even counted as being a work day!). I got to speak with them a little bit, which was kind of fun.
Last summer, I also joined an event that Anthony Daniels attended, again with me in the Darth Maul costume. I didn't get to speak with him as much, but it was still pretty fun. I did get to "correct" him when he made a joke that C-3PO was fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, but Japanese wasn't one of them. In fact, C-3PO does speak Japanese at Tokyo Disney at the Star Tours ride. Yeah, that solidifies my Star Wars geek credit.
This past weekend, there was a Hollywood Collectors Convention about an hour's train ride away. The special guest this time was Christopher Lloyd. While he's famous for several roles, perhaps the most recognizable for my generation is that of Doc Brown from the Back to the Future trilogy. Those involved in the organization of the event (who were also responsible for the Carrie Fisher and Jake Lloyd event, as well as one of the Halloween events I attended this year) asked me to come along, especially if I could wear a Doc (Emmett) Brown costume.
I spent a couple of weekends scouring cosplay shops in Akihabara, Nakano, and Shinjuku looking for a wig. I didn't find the perfect one, but I found one that would do (Side note: I shave my head when I do the Darth Maul costume. My hair is just long enough now to use a drop of shampoo in the morning when I shower, so I wonder what the woman at the counter was thinking when I bought a hairbrush and a can of hairspray to use for the wig I'd bought at a different store). The wig worked out OK, but I wish it could have been better. It looked good after styling and hairspraying, but that would only hold the fake hair up and back for half an hour or so, after which it started dropping to the sides. I also used a bit of latex to add & deepen the wrinkles around my eyes to age me a bit. I used a little bit of white makeup to highlight that a bit, not having the proper makeup colors for a more natural look to it, and also used the white to color my eyebrows and the front side areas/sideburns that the wig didn't cover. I took a bit of leftover crepe hair from my werewolf costume (that I surprisingly still had and even more surprisingly could find- I did that costume 3 or 4 years ago) and tried to hide the edges of the wig as well as make a bit of a widow's peak at the front, which worked ok. The spirit gum works well for the Darth Maul horns, and worked well on the facial prosthetic I used for the werewolf costume. It worked great for attaching the crepe hair to the werewolf prosthetic as well, but I don't have much luck using it to attach crepe hair to my skin- it shed a bit over time.
I picked up a white lab coat online for the costume, and grabbed some clothes from my closet that were as close to reminiscent of what Doc wore in the film. Costumers and die hard fans could pick out my "mistakes" fairly easily, and I wish I could have replicated one of the movie costumes a lot closer, but it was slightly short notice. Nevertheless, there was no question of who I was supposed to be. On my way to the event location (once again, I did the makeup at home and rode the trains in), I walked past a group of high school students who were probably not aware of the event, and I overheard them saying "Back to the Future" as I passed by.
I arrived at the event about 9:30am. The place was already packed- I was the 435 in line, according to the number cards they were handing out for those who wanted to meed Christopher Lloyd and get a photo or get something signed. I think he'd greeted, signed things for, and had photos taken with over 800 people by the end of the day, no mean feat for someone who was probably jet-lagged and traveling at the age of 73, and he was friendly and upbeat throughout, even staying about an hour over the scheduled signing time to get everyone in.
Considering it was that busy, I didn't really get a chance to talk with him much. When I walked up to get my photo taken with him, he looked at me and said "Doc!". When I came back later to get the photo signed, I mentioned that I had been thinking about doing a Judge Doom costume from Roger Rabbit, but that Doc was just so much more iconic I had to go with it. Not the greatest scan (could use a bit of brightness and contrast adjustment):
The whole day wasn't spent in line, however. They called out for certain number ranges to enter the line at any given time. The rest of the time, I was checking out some of the booths that were set up selling Hollywood themed collectibles, getting my photo taken with other attendees, being interviewed by a news crew, and meeting and talking with people. I also said "Great Scott!" and "1.21 Gigawatts!" a lot. One other attendee told me he had a DeLorean in the parking garage, so we went down and took some photos, which I seem to be unable to link to right now, so you'll have to go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/green-saber/8218806013/ if you want to see them.
There were quite a few people wearing Marty McFly inspired outfits, but I was the only Doc at the convention (not counting the original, of course, but he wasn't in costume).
Afterward, I went to a nearby restaurant with 3 of the other attendees; the DeLorean driver and two ladies who had each attended the convention on their own. One of them came from a couple hours train ride away, and none of her friends had wanted to come, the other lives a bit closer but was in much the same situation. We've been exchanging emails, and it looks like we might be meeting up some time in the future.
Last summer, I also joined an event that Anthony Daniels attended, again with me in the Darth Maul costume. I didn't get to speak with him as much, but it was still pretty fun. I did get to "correct" him when he made a joke that C-3PO was fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, but Japanese wasn't one of them. In fact, C-3PO does speak Japanese at Tokyo Disney at the Star Tours ride. Yeah, that solidifies my Star Wars geek credit.
This past weekend, there was a Hollywood Collectors Convention about an hour's train ride away. The special guest this time was Christopher Lloyd. While he's famous for several roles, perhaps the most recognizable for my generation is that of Doc Brown from the Back to the Future trilogy. Those involved in the organization of the event (who were also responsible for the Carrie Fisher and Jake Lloyd event, as well as one of the Halloween events I attended this year) asked me to come along, especially if I could wear a Doc (Emmett) Brown costume.
I spent a couple of weekends scouring cosplay shops in Akihabara, Nakano, and Shinjuku looking for a wig. I didn't find the perfect one, but I found one that would do (Side note: I shave my head when I do the Darth Maul costume. My hair is just long enough now to use a drop of shampoo in the morning when I shower, so I wonder what the woman at the counter was thinking when I bought a hairbrush and a can of hairspray to use for the wig I'd bought at a different store). The wig worked out OK, but I wish it could have been better. It looked good after styling and hairspraying, but that would only hold the fake hair up and back for half an hour or so, after which it started dropping to the sides. I also used a bit of latex to add & deepen the wrinkles around my eyes to age me a bit. I used a little bit of white makeup to highlight that a bit, not having the proper makeup colors for a more natural look to it, and also used the white to color my eyebrows and the front side areas/sideburns that the wig didn't cover. I took a bit of leftover crepe hair from my werewolf costume (that I surprisingly still had and even more surprisingly could find- I did that costume 3 or 4 years ago) and tried to hide the edges of the wig as well as make a bit of a widow's peak at the front, which worked ok. The spirit gum works well for the Darth Maul horns, and worked well on the facial prosthetic I used for the werewolf costume. It worked great for attaching the crepe hair to the werewolf prosthetic as well, but I don't have much luck using it to attach crepe hair to my skin- it shed a bit over time.
I picked up a white lab coat online for the costume, and grabbed some clothes from my closet that were as close to reminiscent of what Doc wore in the film. Costumers and die hard fans could pick out my "mistakes" fairly easily, and I wish I could have replicated one of the movie costumes a lot closer, but it was slightly short notice. Nevertheless, there was no question of who I was supposed to be. On my way to the event location (once again, I did the makeup at home and rode the trains in), I walked past a group of high school students who were probably not aware of the event, and I overheard them saying "Back to the Future" as I passed by.
I arrived at the event about 9:30am. The place was already packed- I was the 435 in line, according to the number cards they were handing out for those who wanted to meed Christopher Lloyd and get a photo or get something signed. I think he'd greeted, signed things for, and had photos taken with over 800 people by the end of the day, no mean feat for someone who was probably jet-lagged and traveling at the age of 73, and he was friendly and upbeat throughout, even staying about an hour over the scheduled signing time to get everyone in.
Considering it was that busy, I didn't really get a chance to talk with him much. When I walked up to get my photo taken with him, he looked at me and said "Doc!". When I came back later to get the photo signed, I mentioned that I had been thinking about doing a Judge Doom costume from Roger Rabbit, but that Doc was just so much more iconic I had to go with it. Not the greatest scan (could use a bit of brightness and contrast adjustment):
The whole day wasn't spent in line, however. They called out for certain number ranges to enter the line at any given time. The rest of the time, I was checking out some of the booths that were set up selling Hollywood themed collectibles, getting my photo taken with other attendees, being interviewed by a news crew, and meeting and talking with people. I also said "Great Scott!" and "1.21 Gigawatts!" a lot. One other attendee told me he had a DeLorean in the parking garage, so we went down and took some photos, which I seem to be unable to link to right now, so you'll have to go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/green-saber/8218806013/ if you want to see them.
There were quite a few people wearing Marty McFly inspired outfits, but I was the only Doc at the convention (not counting the original, of course, but he wasn't in costume).
Afterward, I went to a nearby restaurant with 3 of the other attendees; the DeLorean driver and two ladies who had each attended the convention on their own. One of them came from a couple hours train ride away, and none of her friends had wanted to come, the other lives a bit closer but was in much the same situation. We've been exchanging emails, and it looks like we might be meeting up some time in the future.