It was all about how we were going to build these costumes with lighting in them, and trying to make them a little more high fashion, a little sexier, and a little edgier. But we just did tons and tons of research, and we would constantly be bringing things to each other and inspiring each other.
The first time we ever lit up a suit was on Garrett. He was the first finished costume that we had, the "Sam" character. And it brought tears to my eyes, because you're working so hard to make something happen and you're just in there, and you're delirious with sleep deprivation. To see it work, to see his reaction, made it all worthwhile.
Before we ever finished shooting, there were things going on. For instance we always had different fingers exposed in our gloves, and always latex and black. And that Versace collection that hit the runway in the spring, we went, "Oh my gosh!" and then they came out and said it was "Tron" inspired. I love it! To me, there are no insults in that whatsoever. I love that other people are inspired by the movie.
I think that you're very aware that you're shooting a 3D film for a movie that's beloved to the fan community, and that it's going to be on people's radar, and that you have to be excellent. I think it evolved over time how epic it has become. The first time we went to Comic-Con after we finished shooting I went, "oh my goodness, oh my goodness!"
I love what I do and I love being part of the storytelling process. And I love the technological advancements. It was the thing that kept me going on every 20-hour day, 7 days a week. You have to love it to do that.
They [Throne; legacy costumes] are made out of foam latex, which is basically what prosthetic makeup is made out of. So it's very delicate and very fragile. And then you put the electronics in there and you have a whole other level of fragility. So we had many suits and sometimes we would have to change out at lunchtime and send the other one to the "suit-hospital." It was like a surgery centre.
Really, you have to keep everything streamlined, and lined and sexy and close to their body. They really had to work very hard at their own patience. But yeah, you absolutely consider their physiques as they are, and how can we help them look even better, or more powerful, and you adapt designs for the actors. You want to keep them as cool as comfortable as you can.
Trying to use all the existing technologies that were out there wouldn't work for us because none of them were flexible. Everything was rigid in some way, so we had to go on a manhunt, essentially for something that was a viable technology. So it was a good four-months of just designing and figuring out the lights.
We also had a team of costumers that would do samples for us, of fabrics, textures, people doing silhouettes of things up on dress forms, just to kind of inform the design process. Through all of that we got to the point that we had to figure out how to light them up. So that was a huge undertaking.
I don't want to toot all of our horns, but the entire design team and this department really pioneered a bunch of things that have never been done before. I think it's a beautiful look. I think it deserves recognition quite frankly.
