How to Tar and Feather a Thief: Part One
This is the first of i-don't-know-how-many parts in a series on the tar and feather effect/costume we created for Big River I don't know how long it'll take to write up, but there are two dozen images in the folder, so...
Anyhow, Big River is the musical adaptation of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and midway through the second act, an angry mob tars and feathers the character called the Duke.
Costume rendering by designer Bill Black
This is the costume design rendering of the Duke's post-tarring-and-feathering look. The things I noticed when first analyzing it were the density and placement of the tar: streaks and blobs confined largely to his arms and torso, with bits of it extending to the trousers, the torn-away shirt, and smears on his face and hair even. Our initial conversations addressed ways in which these elements would come together--how much was makeup/prosthetic appliances, what was the texture, how fast does he come in and out of this look, etc.
Because the Duke has two minutes from the time he exits fully and nicely dressed to the time he enters covered in the tar and feathers, and the actor (Scott Ripley) has to return later in the play as a Townsperson, we treated the whole look as a quick-in/quick-out change. We nixed the idea that it would be 100% makeup application, because the actor would not have time to shower and get it all off of his body, then be back into makeup/hair for the later Townsperson entry toward the end of the act. We had to find a way to do the tar on a garment.
Having participated in Janet Bloor's "Rubberama" workshop using silicone caulk to create dimensional rubber effects on stretch fabrics, i suggested a modification of that technique to create the tar on a leotard made from Powernet, a stretchy nylon mesh fabric which could be dyed to the actor's skin tone. Yardage was purchased, samples were dyed, and after a bit of recipe-tweaking, I got the full yardage dyed and handed off to draper Kaitlin Fara.
Kaitlin had already fit a mockup (of undyed powernet) on Mr Ripley and made pattern corrections as needed, so once she got the actor-colored fabric, she went right into cutting and stitching the garment. Meanwhile, i generated some tar samples...
"Tar" with feathers on the Powernet base.
Checking release agents for the silicone on various grounds.
Tar/feather appliances on wig lace for hair inclusion.
I should note in reference to the above picture that the actor playing the Duke is not balding like the rendering depicts--he's got dark brown hair, hence the brown lace ground for the hair appliances. The wig tech stitched toupee clips to the back of these to secure them into the hair.
We had a second fitting with Mr. Ripley to check the fit of the leotard, negotiate the closures, and confirm the skin tone match, and then it was tar time! The silicone caulk needs no release agent when applied over clingwrap, so for our first of many steps in the tarring and feathering process, we mummified a mannequin in clingfilm, thus:
This is Ralph. We named him and gave him that flapper headband
to inject some levity into what was frankly a grim process.
Ralph (minus one arm) models the flesh-tone Powernet leotard. Nice!
The reason we are using this mannequin here (whose measurements are the same as our actor's) was the need for a good solid base for application of the tar to the sleeves and the shoulders. Dress forms are armless, and the soft draper's arms you can attach to them did not create a realistic approximation of an actual man's arm and shoulder. Ralph fit that bill for us.
The suit is so form-fitting though, we had to do him one arm/shoulder at a time. Unlike a real person, he couldn't lift his arms over his head and wiggle into the suit, and there wasn't a way to get it over both shoulders with both arms attached.
First tarring-and-feathering application!
Each application of the silicone cured overnight before removing it from the base and moving to the next step, so since at this point, we took a break in the process, i'll take a break in the posting of it.
Next time: how we hid the zipper placket, and what happened when the director and designer asked, "Would it be possible for him to give off smoke...?"
Anyhow, Big River is the musical adaptation of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and midway through the second act, an angry mob tars and feathers the character called the Duke.
Costume rendering by designer Bill Black
This is the costume design rendering of the Duke's post-tarring-and-feathering look. The things I noticed when first analyzing it were the density and placement of the tar: streaks and blobs confined largely to his arms and torso, with bits of it extending to the trousers, the torn-away shirt, and smears on his face and hair even. Our initial conversations addressed ways in which these elements would come together--how much was makeup/prosthetic appliances, what was the texture, how fast does he come in and out of this look, etc.
Because the Duke has two minutes from the time he exits fully and nicely dressed to the time he enters covered in the tar and feathers, and the actor (Scott Ripley) has to return later in the play as a Townsperson, we treated the whole look as a quick-in/quick-out change. We nixed the idea that it would be 100% makeup application, because the actor would not have time to shower and get it all off of his body, then be back into makeup/hair for the later Townsperson entry toward the end of the act. We had to find a way to do the tar on a garment.
Having participated in Janet Bloor's "Rubberama" workshop using silicone caulk to create dimensional rubber effects on stretch fabrics, i suggested a modification of that technique to create the tar on a leotard made from Powernet, a stretchy nylon mesh fabric which could be dyed to the actor's skin tone. Yardage was purchased, samples were dyed, and after a bit of recipe-tweaking, I got the full yardage dyed and handed off to draper Kaitlin Fara.
Kaitlin had already fit a mockup (of undyed powernet) on Mr Ripley and made pattern corrections as needed, so once she got the actor-colored fabric, she went right into cutting and stitching the garment. Meanwhile, i generated some tar samples...
"Tar" with feathers on the Powernet base.
Checking release agents for the silicone on various grounds.
Tar/feather appliances on wig lace for hair inclusion.
I should note in reference to the above picture that the actor playing the Duke is not balding like the rendering depicts--he's got dark brown hair, hence the brown lace ground for the hair appliances. The wig tech stitched toupee clips to the back of these to secure them into the hair.
We had a second fitting with Mr. Ripley to check the fit of the leotard, negotiate the closures, and confirm the skin tone match, and then it was tar time! The silicone caulk needs no release agent when applied over clingwrap, so for our first of many steps in the tarring and feathering process, we mummified a mannequin in clingfilm, thus:
This is Ralph. We named him and gave him that flapper headband
to inject some levity into what was frankly a grim process.
Ralph (minus one arm) models the flesh-tone Powernet leotard. Nice!
The reason we are using this mannequin here (whose measurements are the same as our actor's) was the need for a good solid base for application of the tar to the sleeves and the shoulders. Dress forms are armless, and the soft draper's arms you can attach to them did not create a realistic approximation of an actual man's arm and shoulder. Ralph fit that bill for us.
The suit is so form-fitting though, we had to do him one arm/shoulder at a time. Unlike a real person, he couldn't lift his arms over his head and wiggle into the suit, and there wasn't a way to get it over both shoulders with both arms attached.
First tarring-and-feathering application!
Each application of the silicone cured overnight before removing it from the base and moving to the next step, so since at this point, we took a break in the process, i'll take a break in the posting of it.
Next time: how we hid the zipper placket, and what happened when the director and designer asked, "Would it be possible for him to give off smoke...?"