Beware of the Blog posted an interview with Dave T. Smith, an artisan who makes incredible elaborate costumes depicting entire scenes, mostly from science fiction and fantasy films such as Wizard of Oz, Batman, and of course the Star Wars movies. (This creation is titled "The Battle of Endor.") I also really like his concept sketches, like the one below for a JFK Assassination costume. From Beware of the Blog:
How did all this get started?
Actually, it began with drafting class in high school, which was in preparation for architecture school. I grew to enjoy working with my hands, plotting perspectives and building actual models, etc. Of course, the business world had moved on to the computer by the time I graduated, mostly with Computer Aided Drafting & Design. Like anything on the computer, CADD is a virtual world – not quite real nor tactile, but very malleable. Real world distances (full scale) are employed but one's work is locked within the monitor. Then, the hardware is not very portable, and it's hard for people to relate to CADD work. While this pays the bills, it's not always satisfying. So it hit me one year, to dust off my architectural modeling skills for Halloween and go as the one Batman character no one else would think to dress as… Gotham City. I spent an entire weekend hitting all the toy aisles and comic book shops collecting miniature figures and vehicles for the project then the next two weeks actually building it. When I left home Halloween night (1994, I think) the street lights painted on the black poncho were still wet.And you just kept making them?
There were four built in this order: Gotham City, Battle of Endor (Death Star 2), NYC Under Attack and The Land of Oz. I'm inspired by high design and high concept in popular cinema… again, mostly to appeal to the street culture.
