The Dark Knight Batsuit Discussion Thread

[bdsproductions]

how about,the same only blacker,slicker and pointier ears.(EVER so slightly)

 

[bdsproductions]

I may as well post mine here:

I think a costume change... even a quite radical one, is fine as long as it makes sense and is explained somehow in the film. You don't have to belabour the point, you don't have to explain every little aspect but it could be explained organically.

If you change the suit as radically as the designs in this thread though, I think the one thing you HAVE to retain from the first film is the FACE of the cowl. It doesn't have to be in the same material, it doesn't have to have the same ears or jaw or neck, but the brow and eye area have to be very, very similar to the last one. I think it needs to look like the same "character" and that means the face.

NICE CODPICE MAN! seriousley,look at it....it's like Schumachers fantasy!.

 

[bdsproductions]

I know that you probably did that rendering of the mask pretty quick. So I don't mean to be a jerk and try to outstage it or whatever. But in my opinion, if they were going to make Batman with lenses, they would be shaped to Batman's eyes from the comics (just like Spiderman's were shaped to resemble his comics). They would be slits, to make him more intimidating. Sort of like this:

**IN NO WAY IS THIS COOL BY ANY MEANS.lol. I did it really quickly, just to get an idea of what they would look like, shaped like Batman eyes. lol. It looks pretty bad lol.**

--dk7

why does that remind me of Keanu Reeves?.

 

[The Last Meatbag]

I kinda like the design, the standing out of the crotch shell kinda ruins it though........nice way of realistically bringing in the underpants

 

[Boom]

NICE CODPICE MAN! seriousley,look at it....it's like Schumachers fantasy!.

Almost as nice as this one:

 

[Sandman138]

why does that remind me of Keanu Reeves?.

Because they are both blank gazes trying to emote.

 

[batmaluco]

lol

 

[JBElliott]

I may as well post mine here:

I think a costume change... even a quite radical one, is fine as long as it makes sense and is explained somehow in the film. You don't have to belabour the point, you don't have to explain every little aspect but it could be explained organically.

If you change the suit as radically as the designs in this thread though, I think the one thing you HAVE to retain from the first film is the FACE of the cowl. It doesn't have to be in the same material, it doesn't have to have the same ears or jaw or neck, but the brow and eye area have to be very, very similar to the last one. I think it needs to look like the same "character" and that means the face.

This costume with the lines on the abs, cod piece and so on very down played would be great on film and would work very well in the comics. This is as close to what I've always wanted to see in film, comics and amination as I've ever seen. Nice work.

 

[AnimeJune]

NICE CODPICE MAN! seriousley,look at it....it's like Schumachers fantasy!.

Yeah, I was a little turned off by the codpiece idea. We all know he's a MAN - it's in his name, for gosshakes - so we don't need to emphasis his dangly bits, or his NIPPLES either. Honestly, between the 2nd and 3rd movie, did Bats have a purple-nurple problem with enemies that he had to add extra nipple protection?

But since the Batman costume's a simple plan, it's quite easy to make certain harmless alterations in it from movie to movie.

 

[Ronny Shade]

I think I might have stopped caring about this issue.

 

[StorminNorman]

I never cared

 

[MatchesMalone]

I love the cowl in most instances, they just need to change the mouth opening slightly so his face doesn't look so bunched up in some instances. Oh, yeah, let the bastard look side to side with a neck twist, please. If Spider-man can do it, it shouldn't be a problem for Batman.

Other than that, I just want the cape to have scallops in its relaxed state, no clasps on the suit, and I'm good to go.

 

[Whack Arnolds]

It did have "scallops"....

 

[Saint]

VISIBLE scallops.

 

[MatchesMalone]

It did have "scallops"....

Other than that, I just want the cape to have scallops in its relaxed state...

C'mon man, read before responding.

 

[Shedhut]

This costume with the lines on the abs, cod piece and so on very down played would be great on film and would work very well in the comics. This is as close to what I've always wanted to see in film, comics and amination as I've ever seen. Nice work.

Yeah I agree, its great. I especially like the collar area. nicely done

 

[lujho]

NICE CODPICE MAN! seriousley,look at it....it's like Schumachers fantasy!.

You do realize that Bale had a cod-piece too, just as much as Schumacher's? Schumachers were ridiculous because they were stupidly big, not because they were there at all. Bales was no bigger than it needed to be.

Mine... well, it shows up in a line-drawing MUCH more than it would in reality, and it wouldn't be any bigger than it needed to be. It wouldn't look any sillier than Bale's. Maybe it looks big and obvious in the drawing, I don't know, but it's not supposed to be.

It's the the presence of a codpiece that is ridiculous, it's the exaggeration and sensualization of it that is. No-one complained about Bale's groin armour - no-one complains about Boba Fett's either, or Darth Vader's.

 

[lujho]

I kinda like the design, the standing out of the crotch shell kinda ruins it though........nice way of realistically bringing in the underpants

As I said above - it wouldn't really stand out that much. You could probably lose teh segmented look and have it plainer though. There's really nothing more there than what bale had, it's just that it's part of a separate garment.

It was actually inspired by the Judge Dredd movie armour.

Now I'll admit it looks silly there, but only because the design draws attention to itself, but it doesn't have to.

 

[The Last Meatbag]

its to protect the nut sack

 

[AnimeJune]

You do realize that Bale had a cod-piece too, just as much as Schumacher's? Schumachers were ridiculous because they were stupidly big, not because they were there at all. Bales was no bigger than it needed to be.

Well, maybe in Schumacher's case, they needed to be bigger to perhaps accommodate Val Kilmer's and George Clooney's....er....enhanced goodies.

 

[The Last Meatbag]

or Schumacher's sexual desires

 

[AnimeJune]

or Schumacher's sexual desires

Now now - ever think Val Kilmer was cast in "Wonderland" for a reason? He WAS playing a porn star with a famously large member.

 

[Super_Ludacris]

Friday, September 17, 2004, 11:05 PM CST (1) — AFTER principal photography wrapped (2). You just won’t accept a fact as a fact will you? I’m beginning to think that if I said ‘water is made of H2O’, you’d make the ridiculous complaint that we didn’t know the exact hydrogen and oxygen particles. But we can handle this very simply: I’ve given you hard evidence (quotes, dates, references, etc.) If you believe those facts to be false, or my interpretation of them to be incorrect, then present your own hard evidence that refutes those facts.

It's seems your taking this argument a little bit too seriously almost to the competitve point. I'm just saying your thowing out all this hard evidence but like most of casually see they said the cowl was made so he could move. Look at the DVD.

But then I noticed something looking at the DVD cover today:

He can move his neck to at least a 45 degree angle. Now I know what your thinking "Well that's a movie poster that's a painting photoshopped and he's only moving to a halfway angle and he's moving sideways in his body"

All very valid but dont forget:

1) Production takes a photo of the actor in the pose prior to the poster being made
2) To even move your head that much in a prosthetic material your material is pretty flexible as it gets. Even with his body appearing to pose sideways you can evidently see the neck is moving down and turning in the pose which means he needed the neck to move even without the body's support.

3) Try right now to hold your neck in that pose as on in the poster. Hold it sideways like Bale has. Exactly like that. Now try to fully turn it. You'll notice there isnt that much involved in holding your neck in that angle to moving it fully around. It's plausible that he could move his neck
Dont forget:
When he's in Arkham Asylum and turns to the guy's in the cell too. He moves his body but his neck moves comfortably as well

And now you don’t even have that.

I don’t need ‘many scenes’… I only need the one that refutes your argument.

1 http://www.batman-on-film.com/setreport.html

2 http://www.christophernolan.net/batman.php

Well those links really refute my argument in fact they kinda help them:

The cowl especially has a meaner scowl than anything that has come before. The ears aren’t quite as long as the 89 cowl, but by angling the ears forward the sculptor has achieved an equally intimidating effect that looks quite different from various angles. The cowl also employs some costume technology in order to eliminate one of the problems of the previous cowls – the actor not being able to turn their neck

That's the basis of my point, you can see that he's said it's elminated the problem of the actor not be able to move his neck

Look at that poster again

So I agree that they could find a more flexible material for comfort (there's a different in comfort rather than ability to move if thats your point) but if you look at the poster, the DVD, the scene and the links you were so nice of to provide it proves that he could move his neck.

Now I know what your thinking why did Nolan say he wanted to have more adjustments?

“I can’t make any secret of the fact that Mr. Nolan only had two major requirements: one was the cape situation the other one was the dear-old ‘Bat-turn’. Now some of you love that, but you have to admit it’s someone coming to terms with a malfunction of costume practise. If you give someone a pair of trousers, you do expect them to be able to bend their knees occasionally. We had to get the head to turn and that’s where this guy comes in.” Day raises a short six-inch length of foam rubber, which is broken into approximately eight sections, making it look like some kind of spine.

and.....


He’s asked (Nolan) that we do it even more next time. So we’ll have to see. A lot of the things that people had problems with previously have been ironed out. It still slips on, it still isn’t glued into place because I think that’s too much to ask of a performer, because you’re cutting him off completely. Yes he can hear, but he can’t hear particularly well.”

It goes back to my orginal point:

1) They've done the best they could

2) The foam is broken into eight inches which helps to support Bale to be flexible in the neck

3) What is there out there to improve the cowl? No one said this yet all they've done is argue rather childishly that the cowl cant move and some people were making out to be as rigid as the 1989 version. Which clearly it isnt by these quotes by him:

it is still much more flexible than Batman’s previous cowls (Although the man who was responsible for the Joker’s smile in Batman 1989 – Nick Dudman is lending his skills to the SFX Makeup depart,emt and an extra special makeup job).

and the key point is:

“It’s really a soft of spine arrangement, which fills in the back of the neck, so we still have the sculptural form that the sculptor wanted. The difference between Christian neck and the neck of the sculpt if you allow for what is a 1cm wall of foam is this amount of foam (about 4 inches), but if you pack that in behind someone’s neck, it’s fabulous when travelling coach class and it’s very good in whiplash situations, it doesn’t actually make you very mobile. So we broke that up into this spinal arrangement. It’s absolutely fantastic, it really works beautifully and it gives it muscular form beneath the skin. It’s a very strong part of the sculpt. The back of the skull and the neck, when they’re on someone are really smashing and it does allow him to twist and turn.


and that's the basis of it. The Links you give prove my point that he could move his neck and Nolan is asking for something to which the desinger nonchalantly says "We'll see..." . If there something out there what is it? That's what I was asking and dont get me wrong I'm not against a change but I would prefer if people would tell me what it is.

The material is such that it sculpts well around his head and if they reduced the inches on the prosthetics thickness it may look thin around him.

oh and If Bale has diffculty hearing still, tiny pierced holes should help.

But yeah your links help my argument, not really deflat them.

Cheers Matey

 

[Boom]

But yeah your links help my argument, not really deflat them.

Cheers Matey

 

[MatchesMalone]

If anything, I want to cowl to be smaller. In some shots, the head looked very disproportionally large compared to the body. I think it had to do with the neck.