For Halloween 2008, Mike Dion (a friend) approached me to commission a replica Daft Punk costume including helmet and gloves. Naturally I jumped at the idea and began doing research. The gloves would be easy, but the helmet was quite complicated and included a scrolling LED screen visor. Nothing beyond the realm of my doing, but tricky to accomplish, especially when shooting for a low cost. As far as Halloween costumes go, Mike did plan on spending quite a bit for the chance to spend a night as his favorite musician, and asked for things to be, "As accurate and true-to-life as possible". I later found out that the actual helmet has a price tag of $14,000 to produce, and $65,000 to buy (Link). For a number of reasons not everything turned out as planned. Some portions had to be scrapped, and an as-good-as-possible-considering-everything attitude had to be adopted to accommodate timelines. In the end though, Mike had a Halloween worthy of the history books, and I learned a great deal from the experience. Were I to be commissioned for this particular design again, I know exactly how to fix the problems which plagued this version.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Mike Dion prepares for his
full head casting. Note the
hair covering & vaseline coating.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
The casting is almost complete.
The nose holes are never covered,
and eyes left for last.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
After removal and a few touch-ups,
the casting is ready to make a mold.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Suspended upside down, the plaster
is allowed to harden overnight.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
This is the last time that
the casting shell will be needed.
The plaster has dried sufficiently,
and is ready for removal.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Removing the mold
destroys the casting.
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Plaster Head Mold
(Right Side View)
.jpg "Full Head Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Plaster Head Mold
(Center View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Preparing for the Clay Model.
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Adding thickness &
starting the basic shapes.
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Clay Model Taking Shape
(Center View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Clay Model Taking Shape
(Left View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Final Clay Model
(Center View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Final Clay Model
(High Center View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Final Clay Model
(High Left View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Final Clay Model
(Full Left View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Final Clay Model
(Mouth & Nose Detail)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Casting Preparations
(Left Visor Cut Detail)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Casting Preparations
(Far Center Visor Cut Detail)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Casting Preparations
(Right Ear Cut Detail)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Casting Preparations
(Plaster Catch Center View)
.jpg "Clay Model for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Casting Preparations
(Plaster Catch Slight Left View)
.jpg "Plaster Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Plaster Casting the Clay Model
(Left View)
.jpg "Plaster Casting for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Plaster Casting the Clay Model
(Center View)
.jpg "Gloves for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
First Glove is Done.
.jpg "Gloves for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Trying Them On.
.jpg "Gloves for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Strike a Pose.
.jpg "Gloves for the Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
They're Ready..!
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Mike tries on the final
costume for the first time.
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Of course pictures popped up
on Facebook the next day.
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Mike wanted some 'location'
shots of the costume.
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Mike channeling "Da Funk".
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
The white cables are for speakers in
his jacket & Daft Punk iPod playlist.
.jpg "Completed Daft Punk Halloween Costume")
Mike is either striking a pose, or
trying to get out from the glue
which he couldn't wait to dry.
.jpg "Full Head Plaster Casting Photo Shoot")
Friend & Photographer Nafis Azad
stopped by during the casting
& saw opportunity.
(Go to this photo on Flickr)
.jpg "Full Head Plaster Casting Photo Shoot")
Even though the plaster casting is
just the first step in a longer process,
it does read well artistically.
(Go to this photo on Flickr)
.jpg "Full Head Plaster Casting Photo Shoot")
I like to think that the remote &
beer really make a statement.
(Go to this photo on Flickr)
Images Courtesy:
Nafis Azad Photography
The Daft Club
(#1 Daft Punk Fan Site)
Do The Daft
(Daft Punk Console Emmulator)
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