The Art and Craft of Creature Design: Insights from the Archives

As we delve into the world of creature design, it's clear that there are different schools of thought on how to approach this complex and nuanced art form. Some archivists believe that the journey is more important than preserving the artifact itself, while others see their role as maintaining the aesthetic and structure of the original creation.

One such expert is Tom Woodruff Jr., a renowned creature designer who has worked extensively with Lucasfilm on various projects. Tom's approach to creature design is centered around capturing and stabilizing the essence of each piece. He emphasizes the importance of preserving the original form and structure, while also being mindful of how his work can impact the narrative storytelling. This attention to detail is evident in his work on iconic characters like Darth Vader's helmet and the mask from the Star Wars franchise.

In contrast, comedians often approach their craft with a different mindset. As director Judd Apatow once shared with another director, "I'm not worried about the shot; I'm worried about the joke." This emphasis on simplicity and brevity is particularly evident in the design of comedy props like these two suits from the Austin Powers franchise.

The attention to detail in these suits is stunning. The three buttons and simple line design make for a straightforward yet effective communication system. As one speaker noted, "You can't overthink it; you just have to keep moving forward." This focus on simplicity allows the viewer to quickly grasp the concept and enjoy the humor.

One of the most impressive aspects of these suits is their ability to convey emotion through subtle changes in design. The button layout can change depending on the character's mood, allowing for a nuanced expression of personality. These small details are what make comedy so effective – it's often about the delivery rather than the material itself.

For fans of science fiction and fantasy, props like these two suits offer a fascinating glimpse into the world-building process. The attention to detail in their design is a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the creators. As an archivist once shared, "These are nightmares to work with," but they're also incredible examples of what can be achieved when designers push the boundaries of what's possible.

The use of prosthetics and foam latex in these suits is also noteworthy. The thick material used for the helmets, which was heated and blown into shape, demonstrates a level of expertise that few others possess. These props are not just display items; they're fully functional creations that have been carefully crafted to achieve the desired effect.

For those interested in replicating similar designs, it's clear that creating complex creatures like these two suits is an incredibly challenging task. The attention to detail and sheer craftsmanship required to produce such pieces makes them truly remarkable. As one speaker noted, "These are off-the-shelf items," but with the right expertise and materials, anything is possible.

Ultimately, creature design like this serves as a reminder of the power of imagination and creativity in storytelling. By understanding the craft behind these iconic props, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the art form itself. Whether you're a fan of comedy or science fiction, there's no denying the impact that creatures like these two suits have had on popular culture.

Supporting the Creators

For fans who want to support the creators and learn more about their work, becoming a TCM member is an excellent option. As a member, you'll receive perks like advanced word and behind-the-scenes photos of some of the projects, as well as the chance to ask direct questions during live streams. There are also exclusive videos, including the Atom Real Time series of unbroken, unedited shots of me working in the shop.

The TCM community is built on a shared passion for creativity and storytelling. By joining this community, you'll become part of a dedicated group of fans who appreciate the art form and want to support the creators. Whether you're a seasoned fan or just discovering the world of creature design, there's something for everyone in this community.

As we continue to explore the world of creature design, it's clear that there's always more to learn and discover. From the attention to detail in props like these two suits to the importance of simplicity in comedy, there are countless lessons to be learned from the creators themselves. By supporting the artists and staying engaged with the community, we can ensure that this incredible art form continues to thrive for years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everybody Adam Savage at Prop Store in London with Stephen Lane and his insane collection of spacesuits and now we are in the comedy era of spacesuits which is a very small niche of spacesuits isn't it oh yeah you know you don't get many of these do you let's face it and I think if you're going to have a pair of spice suits from a comedy era and and I mean to have both of them together though Austin and Minnie May of course from Austin Powers they're just exceptional aren't they as a double act can you tell me about how how you obtain these well I'm pretty certain that these actually sold out through to uh through from Chris Gilman I think Chris Gilman from Global effects I think yeah made these for the film and I I feel like that they gravitated back to him afterwards maybe they were rental Made For Hire sure um and so they went out to one collector maybe another collector and at that time I was really establishing my spacesuit collection as you do and so I was putting the call out and um and I think a friend collector of mine ended up with these I was like come on man we got to do a deal let's just bring them home to prop store so we can we can add them to the collection and and we did but um yeah I mean they're they're the style the design of them and and just the fun with them as well you know we're just talking off camera about how it's got this sort of toggle switch on here what does that do what's the functionality and of course it's a gag in the film isn't it where they're talking within one position in here yeah that's right it's just it's absolutely crazy I love the fact that they basically did a one-to-one on the soft suits of the 2001 space suit yeah that we've got it sitting in the background around there just a replica of the 2001 I should say that's the only one replica spacesuit in the collection because I can't get an original one at the moment but yeah I mean it's it's essentially a a an homage to that isn't it uh but then at the same time introducing the sort of bubble helmet that's more representative of what the 60s style or something exactly you know where we're we're looking at I mean it's almost didn't the sort of the cosmonauts start with a sort of bubble style Helmet or something similar to this anyway in shape and style but yeah I mean it's definitely it's sort of kicking back a few years isn't it for that sort of design so it does it looks like Vernon troyer's basement has a bigger helmet than than Austin Powers well there's a debate to have isn't it yeah this is also another unique thing in your collection uh a tiny space suit it's a tiny space suit isn't it and they've really gone to great great pains there to emulate exactly what Austin's wearing I mean all the way down to these so cute these little Wellington Boots and they're just literally you know Garden boots aren't they waterproof boots um that have been been sprayed silver so even though there's a huge amount of effort that's gone into elements of the Construction and design of this to emulate the 2001 suit they just put a pair of wellingtons on the bottom for the comedic element of it haven't they really as much as anything else um I I noticed the thing that happens with some of the pieces in my collection which is the vinyl the vinyl shiny vinyl on fabric tends to not be very archival yeah yeah now that's that's definitely a real problem actually for us and and you know the the component parts and the construction and the way these are made and we talked about this a lot previously how you know for for a film studio and for a production Department they're only worried about making sure that it lasts for the shot get the shot in the can and that's as good as it needs to be but the problem with this particular material is that it is laminated prior to it being made so before the suit's made you know that's not something that's applied subsequently and once it starts to delaminate there is nothing that you can do to stop it I mean we had and it's not even about UV exposure it's not my experience no no it's not I mean because you basically have sort of almost like a rubberized film that's sitting on top of cloth there's there's such a lack of addition there really over a period of time and also the the the the the Finish sort of I suppose will start to dry and and lose some of that movement and dexterity that it has and so whenever you're moving this thing around you know it sheds a little bit like a Christmas tree you have to be super super careful with it and I've gone to textile conservation restoration Specialists and experts in this field and costume designers and wardrobe supervisors and I said you know what can I do we actually had one of the the the first times that we really noticed or had the biggest problem with this was we had Trinity's suit from The Matrix remember the the oh my God PVC right soup yeah and literally that thing just delaminated in front of us after we picked it up from Warner Brothers and so I was going around everybody's saying how do I re-laminate it and you can't you just can't take that step back so what we've actually done here is we've cheated a little bit and it's actually probably more evident in the in the mini me yeah so if you look at actually inside the neck ring here yeah you know aesthetically when you look at that that's that sort of appears and presents pretty close to what you see on the main suits itself but that is actually a rubber rubberized uh silver paint that we've used oh wow so we've had to look at it and say okay we know that we can't take it back to what it was originally but we want the aesthetic to present and actually there's been the various degrees of touch up I mean this is this is delaminated and and we we've come into this and and just touched it up and refinished it and it works okay doesn't it yeah um I I as I uh the first two Mercury suits I made replicas of have just fall into pieces in that same way and in fact actually the the replica you have at the 2001 suit is using a a a much closer it's got a much thinner coating and I've looked for shiny Fabrics like that because I'm assuming that uh with the thinner coating you may get better adhere and I'm just sort of hoping yeah yeah I know we all live in Hope every time a new space suit comes in I look at it and go okay what's going to be the first thing that could possibly break down on this and what can we do to mitigate that and more often than not you can do nothing other than watch it happen you know and then as I say some sympathetic restoration tried to stabilize it and we've tried all sorts of things over the years you know Coatings and varnishes and you know sprays and gels and and there's just nothing you know you just you have to let it let it happen it is it is the particular uh it's within collecting in general and I mean I come from uh my father was a fine artist so archival aspects of the world are really important to me in the way I store things in the way I build them but film is just not concerned with archival NASA like you said it's about getting the shot on the day uh and so being able to keep these pieces extant over time is really complicated it is and and you know there's there's different schools of thought trains of thought on that as well you know I've spoken to archivists who work for some of the big studios archives you know and some of them will take the position well you know this is the journey that that artifact is on and we will record it as it happens but actually we're not going to do anything to stop it happening um and then you talk to another archivist and say no no absolutely right we're going to you know keep addressing that foam latex Tom has done a lot of work for lucasfilm hasn't he over the years where he's gone in and stabilized some of the masks and Prosthetics and things like that I'm certainly of that camp you know I think catch it before it's gone you know maintain the aesthetic maintain as much of the original structure and form as you possibly can but just be mindful of what it is that you're doing there's an aspect of these I wanted to talk about uh a couple years ago I had dinner with a famous comedy director and they were talking to uh uh director who didn't direct comedies and they were talking with each other about setting up shots and making beautiful shots and the comedy director said yeah I'm never I'm not that worried about the shots it's always about to jump and it's a fundamental difference between comedy and other types of film and he's like if I'm worrying about the shot and you're thinking about the shot you're not getting the joke and the joke is the important thing and the Simplicity of these two suits really speaks to that in this collection where complexity is all part of the narrative storytelling one speaker three buttons and you've sold the joke yeah O2 P2 I'm not too sure what's going on you know it's it's right online with that isn't it you're absolutely right and that's where this is just such a genius piece of design isn't it yeah I mean if you had if you had all these buttons and stuff all over this you'd yeah it's not the simple line right to the punch line yeah as it were yeah yeah um I I love that you have these together uh these should never be said maybe they've always got to stay together in fact at one point I actually had them on one base together so they couldn't go anywhere else other than with each other but it just it was too big for us to sort of wrangle things around so that's super now I have one suggestion which is that you get a digital recording of mini-me's voice in here and that he and Austin could talk back and forth with a flick yeah exactly you turn this and you go hello that's that's just my one pitch you've got to add to it man Stephen what an a wonderful wonderful pair I find myself I I one of the spaceships I hope to replicate soon includes a helmet like this I won't say any more than that but that's a difficult piece of construction isn't it I mean to actually achieve that bubble like that isn't that tough to do I don't I think these are off the shelf items oh that is my feeling is that their display items because I couldn't imagine well actually no this could have been he it right it was heated and blown right right so because I can see that it was grabbed around here um but it started this very thick material I mean probably quarter inch you know six millimeters thick yeah yeah I mean that looks like a tough proposition to be somebody comes to you and says they want to do that and they have it have it ready for film and for shooting look good on that it's just like like those big expanses of Glass on Robbie the robot or the B9 robot right these are these are nightmares and actually frankly they're in pristine condition uh you like a lot of my visors have scratches yeah yeah no you're right and maybe that's why they're slightly different size because if I mean if they're blown in that manner you know if they're not sort of formed in the same way like out of a vac form for example it's gonna maybe give a slightly different uh finish and appearance to them but uh yeah I love them as a pair and they're going to stay as a pair that's great thank you sir thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below But it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get Advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the atom Real Time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much I'll see you on the next onehey everybody Adam Savage at Prop Store in London with Stephen Lane and his insane collection of spacesuits and now we are in the comedy era of spacesuits which is a very small niche of spacesuits isn't it oh yeah you know you don't get many of these do you let's face it and I think if you're going to have a pair of spice suits from a comedy era and and I mean to have both of them together though Austin and Minnie May of course from Austin Powers they're just exceptional aren't they as a double act can you tell me about how how you obtain these well I'm pretty certain that these actually sold out through to uh through from Chris Gilman I think Chris Gilman from Global effects I think yeah made these for the film and I I feel like that they gravitated back to him afterwards maybe they were rental Made For Hire sure um and so they went out to one collector maybe another collector and at that time I was really establishing my spacesuit collection as you do and so I was putting the call out and um and I think a friend collector of mine ended up with these I was like come on man we got to do a deal let's just bring them home to prop store so we can we can add them to the collection and and we did but um yeah I mean they're they're the style the design of them and and just the fun with them as well you know we're just talking off camera about how it's got this sort of toggle switch on here what does that do what's the functionality and of course it's a gag in the film isn't it where they're talking within one position in here yeah that's right it's just it's absolutely crazy I love the fact that they basically did a one-to-one on the soft suits of the 2001 space suit yeah that we've got it sitting in the background around there just a replica of the 2001 I should say that's the only one replica spacesuit in the collection because I can't get an original one at the moment but yeah I mean it's it's essentially a a an homage to that isn't it uh but then at the same time introducing the sort of bubble helmet that's more representative of what the 60s style or something exactly you know where we're we're looking at I mean it's almost didn't the sort of the cosmonauts start with a sort of bubble style Helmet or something similar to this anyway in shape and style but yeah I mean it's definitely it's sort of kicking back a few years isn't it for that sort of design so it does it looks like Vernon troyer's basement has a bigger helmet than than Austin Powers well there's a debate to have isn't it yeah this is also another unique thing in your collection uh a tiny space suit it's a tiny space suit isn't it and they've really gone to great great pains there to emulate exactly what Austin's wearing I mean all the way down to these so cute these little Wellington Boots and they're just literally you know Garden boots aren't they waterproof boots um that have been been sprayed silver so even though there's a huge amount of effort that's gone into elements of the Construction and design of this to emulate the 2001 suit they just put a pair of wellingtons on the bottom for the comedic element of it haven't they really as much as anything else um I I noticed the thing that happens with some of the pieces in my collection which is the vinyl the vinyl shiny vinyl on fabric tends to not be very archival yeah yeah now that's that's definitely a real problem actually for us and and you know the the component parts and the construction and the way these are made and we talked about this a lot previously how you know for for a film studio and for a production Department they're only worried about making sure that it lasts for the shot get the shot in the can and that's as good as it needs to be but the problem with this particular material is that it is laminated prior to it being made so before the suit's made you know that's not something that's applied subsequently and once it starts to delaminate there is nothing that you can do to stop it I mean we had and it's not even about UV exposure it's not my experience no no it's not I mean because you basically have sort of almost like a rubberized film that's sitting on top of cloth there's there's such a lack of addition there really over a period of time and also the the the the the Finish sort of I suppose will start to dry and and lose some of that movement and dexterity that it has and so whenever you're moving this thing around you know it sheds a little bit like a Christmas tree you have to be super super careful with it and I've gone to textile conservation restoration Specialists and experts in this field and costume designers and wardrobe supervisors and I said you know what can I do we actually had one of the the the first times that we really noticed or had the biggest problem with this was we had Trinity's suit from The Matrix remember the the oh my God PVC right soup yeah and literally that thing just delaminated in front of us after we picked it up from Warner Brothers and so I was going around everybody's saying how do I re-laminate it and you can't you just can't take that step back so what we've actually done here is we've cheated a little bit and it's actually probably more evident in the in the mini me yeah so if you look at actually inside the neck ring here yeah you know aesthetically when you look at that that's that sort of appears and presents pretty close to what you see on the main suits itself but that is actually a rubber rubberized uh silver paint that we've used oh wow so we've had to look at it and say okay we know that we can't take it back to what it was originally but we want the aesthetic to present and actually there's been the various degrees of touch up I mean this is this is delaminated and and we we've come into this and and just touched it up and refinished it and it works okay doesn't it yeah um I I as I uh the first two Mercury suits I made replicas of have just fall into pieces in that same way and in fact actually the the replica you have at the 2001 suit is using a a a much closer it's got a much thinner coating and I've looked for shiny Fabrics like that because I'm assuming that uh with the thinner coating you may get better adhere and I'm just sort of hoping yeah yeah I know we all live in Hope every time a new space suit comes in I look at it and go okay what's going to be the first thing that could possibly break down on this and what can we do to mitigate that and more often than not you can do nothing other than watch it happen you know and then as I say some sympathetic restoration tried to stabilize it and we've tried all sorts of things over the years you know Coatings and varnishes and you know sprays and gels and and there's just nothing you know you just you have to let it let it happen it is it is the particular uh it's within collecting in general and I mean I come from uh my father was a fine artist so archival aspects of the world are really important to me in the way I store things in the way I build them but film is just not concerned with archival NASA like you said it's about getting the shot on the day uh and so being able to keep these pieces extant over time is really complicated it is and and you know there's there's different schools of thought trains of thought on that as well you know I've spoken to archivists who work for some of the big studios archives you know and some of them will take the position well you know this is the journey that that artifact is on and we will record it as it happens but actually we're not going to do anything to stop it happening um and then you talk to another archivist and say no no absolutely right we're going to you know keep addressing that foam latex Tom has done a lot of work for lucasfilm hasn't he over the years where he's gone in and stabilized some of the masks and Prosthetics and things like that I'm certainly of that camp you know I think catch it before it's gone you know maintain the aesthetic maintain as much of the original structure and form as you possibly can but just be mindful of what it is that you're doing there's an aspect of these I wanted to talk about uh a couple years ago I had dinner with a famous comedy director and they were talking to uh uh director who didn't direct comedies and they were talking with each other about setting up shots and making beautiful shots and the comedy director said yeah I'm never I'm not that worried about the shots it's always about to jump and it's a fundamental difference between comedy and other types of film and he's like if I'm worrying about the shot and you're thinking about the shot you're not getting the joke and the joke is the important thing and the Simplicity of these two suits really speaks to that in this collection where complexity is all part of the narrative storytelling one speaker three buttons and you've sold the joke yeah O2 P2 I'm not too sure what's going on you know it's it's right online with that isn't it you're absolutely right and that's where this is just such a genius piece of design isn't it yeah I mean if you had if you had all these buttons and stuff all over this you'd yeah it's not the simple line right to the punch line yeah as it were yeah yeah um I I love that you have these together uh these should never be said maybe they've always got to stay together in fact at one point I actually had them on one base together so they couldn't go anywhere else other than with each other but it just it was too big for us to sort of wrangle things around so that's super now I have one suggestion which is that you get a digital recording of mini-me's voice in here and that he and Austin could talk back and forth with a flick yeah exactly you turn this and you go hello that's that's just my one pitch you've got to add to it man Stephen what an a wonderful wonderful pair I find myself I I one of the spaceships I hope to replicate soon includes a helmet like this I won't say any more than that but that's a difficult piece of construction isn't it I mean to actually achieve that bubble like that isn't that tough to do I don't I think these are off the shelf items oh that is my feeling is that their display items because I couldn't imagine well actually no this could have been he it right it was heated and blown right right so because I can see that it was grabbed around here um but it started this very thick material I mean probably quarter inch you know six millimeters thick yeah yeah I mean that looks like a tough proposition to be somebody comes to you and says they want to do that and they have it have it ready for film and for shooting look good on that it's just like like those big expanses of Glass on Robbie the robot or the B9 robot right these are these are nightmares and actually frankly they're in pristine condition uh you like a lot of my visors have scratches yeah yeah no you're right and maybe that's why they're slightly different size because if I mean if they're blown in that manner you know if they're not sort of formed in the same way like out of a vac form for example it's gonna maybe give a slightly different uh finish and appearance to them but uh yeah I love them as a pair and they're going to stay as a pair that's great thank you sir thank you so much for watching if you'd like to support us even further you can by becoming a tested member uh details are of course below But it includes all sorts of perks and we're building them all the time you get Advanced word and behind the scenes photos of some of our projects questions you get to ask direct questions during my live streams and we have some members only videos including the atom Real Time series of unbroken unedited shots of me working here in the shop they are weirdly meditative thank you guys so much I'll see you on the next one\n"