WAR OF THE WORLDS MARTIAN FIGHTING MACHINES #1
Wot we did during our Martian Summer Hols. One- Invaded Earth...
The basic costume behind this photoset comes from H.G Wells and his seminal alien invasion novel, The War Of The Worlds. The theme of one of the Australian Costumers Guild London Lowlifes' Feast (1997, Melbourne) was Victorian era gear, and, as always, I was keen to interpret it in some kind of science fiction or fantasy fashion.
Cue turn of the century ID4!
Always liked the original Martian Fighting Machine tripods that Wells created for the story, although am also rather fond of the manta-ray hulled, cobra-necked creations from the 1952 Byron Haskin/George Pal movie too.
Anyway, sticking with the period concept, it was just a matter of interpreting the M.F.Ms in cardboard, as well as throwing in a bit of a retro-steampunk angle to reflect the fact that this was a a late 20th century take on an essentially 19th century idea. Which informed the boxy, riveted boiler plate look that the final costumes had.
With that in mind Ken Haesler and I tooled the things up fairly quickly out of cardboard boxe, assorted found objects, plastic and agricultural tubing for the tentacles.
The head, torso and hip sections all had independent motion so we could twist and turn, kind of important for the obligatory silly dance that we did on the night.
One way or another, I always end up doing a turn on the dance floor in whatever monsterous creation I happen to be wearing at the event. Sometimes this is more practical than others....with only my dancing partners knowing how much of an understatement that is!
The 'third leg' of the tripods (the middle stump!) was operated by a pivoted pole, a little bit like running a hand pump actually.
Armament was restricted to our toy gatling guns, which made a lovely racket as well as lighting up nicely. We also had some pre-scored panels that could take 'hits' and could be blown off using streamer loaded party poppers.
Please proceed to picture 2
WAR OF THE WORLDS MARTIAN FIGHTING MACHINES #1
Wot we did during our Martian Summer Hols. One- Invaded Earth...
The basic costume behind this photoset comes from H.G Wells and his seminal alien invasion novel, The War Of The Worlds. The theme of one of the Australian Costumers Guild London Lowlifes' Feast (1997, Melbourne) was Victorian era gear, and, as always, I was keen to interpret it in some kind of science fiction or fantasy fashion.
Cue turn of the century ID4!
Always liked the original Martian Fighting Machine tripods that Wells created for the story, although am also rather fond of the manta-ray hulled, cobra-necked creations from the 1952 Byron Haskin/George Pal movie too.
Anyway, sticking with the period concept, it was just a matter of interpreting the M.F.Ms in cardboard, as well as throwing in a bit of a retro-steampunk angle to reflect the fact that this was a a late 20th century take on an essentially 19th century idea. Which informed the boxy, riveted boiler plate look that the final costumes had.
With that in mind Ken Haesler and I tooled the things up fairly quickly out of cardboard boxe, assorted found objects, plastic and agricultural tubing for the tentacles.
The head, torso and hip sections all had independent motion so we could twist and turn, kind of important for the obligatory silly dance that we did on the night.
One way or another, I always end up doing a turn on the dance floor in whatever monsterous creation I happen to be wearing at the event. Sometimes this is more practical than others....with only my dancing partners knowing how much of an understatement that is!
The 'third leg' of the tripods (the middle stump!) was operated by a pivoted pole, a little bit like running a hand pump actually.
Armament was restricted to our toy gatling guns, which made a lovely racket as well as lighting up nicely. We also had some pre-scored panels that could take 'hits' and could be blown off using streamer loaded party poppers.
Please proceed to picture 2