The Dark Knight Capes and Cowls - New Batsuit Discussion Thread

[StarvingArtist]

In the past films Batman was never fully able to movie his neck, So in this film is he able to?? Have you ever noticed that?

It's a tired argument, and I never really cared that much anyway. As far as overall look and proportions go, I just like B89 best. Just my opinion

 

[Zombie_Comics]

The first is always the best, but can he move his neck in this new movie?? plz tell me they fixed that problem.

 

[CaptainClown]

The first is always the best, but can he move his neck in this new movie?? plz tell me they fixed that problem.

yup Batman can now move his neck. No more bat-turns.

 

[Zombie_Comics]

WHOO HOOO!!!! No More Bat-Turns!!! t: I always used to laugh every time I saw the Bat-Turns.

 

[cryptic name]

It's a tired argument, and I never really cared that much anyway. As far as overall look and proportions go, I just like B89 best. Just my opinion

personal opinions aside. i'd say Batman being able to turn his head is a legitimate argument

 

[lujho]

So with all this talk of lenses, I just remember a movie that did it well - decent shape and not too big.

Now, if you were to give Batman lenses that would be there all the time, then they probably shouldn't shouldn't light up (not all the time anyway), they should probably be semi transparent and I really think combined with a cowl that can move you'd negate any issues regarding the actor being able to convey what they need to.

Also, I think a Batsuit could look awesome with that kind of muscle type texture (the more subdued stuff on the red part of the abdomen).

Spawn may not have been a good movie, but it had some pretty nice spooky/gothic imagery with the main character that Batman has lacked in this current franchise.

 

[lujho]

They reproduced that "big eye" thing he does in the comic book when is surprised (usually when his spidey sense goes off) where the mask's eyes move like his brows would and get bigger. They did this in SM3 during the fight with Sandman in the back of the truck (I think) when Spidey gets his arm stuck in him.

I checked this out and as I suspected, this is not the case, not anywhere in that scene, and I very much doubt anywhere else in the movie. There is no change in the eyes at all, and I'm sure I would have noticed it in my several viewings of the film.

But I still think Batman having a moveable brow would work amazingly well with lenses, with no CGI needed. Fully blinking CGI eyes would look silly because there's no way it could be happenning for real, but movable brows combined with lenses would give the same narrowing of the eyes effect.

 

[Saint]

So with all this talk of lenses, I just remember a movie that did it well - decent shape and not too big.

Now, if you were to give Batman lenses that would be there all the time, then they probably shouldn't shouldn't light up (not all the time anyway), they should probably be semi transparent and I really think combined with a cowl that can move you'd negate any issues regarding the actor being able to convey what they need to.

Also, I think a Batsuit could look awesome with that kind of muscle type texture (the more subdued stuff on the red part of the abdomen).

Spawn may not have been a good movie, but it had some pretty nice spooky/gothic imagery with the main character that Batman has lacked in this current franchise.

Yeah, Spawn remains watchable purely for the killer costume job they did. Did Spawn's brow move? I can't recall... I know he had wider or narrower eyes at times (as demonstrated in your pictures), but I don't remember if it was a dynamic mask, CG, or something else.

 

[Zombie_Comics]

Has anyone else noticed that every time Batman wears his suit, his voice changes. Is his suit too tight?

 

[CFE]

I just couldn't believe after the majority of the suit was revealed, which was fine in and of itself...we get lenses sprung on us in the home stretch.

I mean I was fine before hand...but it was a total fanboy moment to see them.

CFE

 

[lujho]

Yeah, Spawn remains watchable purely for the killer costume job they did. Did Spawn's brow move? I can't recall... I know he had wider or narrower eyes at times (as demonstrated in your pictures), but I don't remember if it was a dynamic mask, CG, or something else.

I think it's different masks. But there's this clip on youtube where he seems to narrow his eyes very slightly as the transformation ends, presumeably just before it becomes the real mask. It's hard to find any decent long clips from the movie on youtube but they make have used the technique elsewhere too - but I'm pretty sure never never as a practical effect.

[YT]zQWkIhNChk[/YT]

But like I said - I think it's totally doable as a practical effect for Batman - not the lenses changing size themselves, but brow movement which would, at the right angle, alter how much of the lens is showing.

 

[CFE]

Has anyone else noticed that every time Batman wears his suit, his voice changes. Is his suit too tight?

Go watch the TAS episode "On Leather Wings" where Bruce, in costume and in the cave, takes a phone call.

Wayne makes a point to change voices to avoid suspicion from anyone on ANY level that he and Batman could be the same...unlike Clark, who only uses EYEGLASSES

CFE

 

[Zombie_Comics]

that makes a lott of sense, thank you.

 

[SheldonLevene]

that makes a lott of sense, thank you.

This is poor sarcasm, unless you really didn't know the reason for the voice change. In which case wtf?

 

[Zombie_Comics]

I'm not that big of a Batman fan, and I don't do Sarcasm. So you can say WTF.

 

[SheldonLevene]

I'm not that big of a Batman fan, and I don't do Sarcasm. So you can say WTF.

Oh. lol. No worries.

 

[Zombie_Comics]

Its fine, I admit I don't know every thing about the cape crusader. ( thats batman's thing right? I know someone is called that, just not sure who)

 

[Saint]

I think it's different masks. But there's this clip on youtube where he seems to narrow his eyes very slightly as the transformation ends, presumeably just before it becomes the real mask. It's hard to find any decent long clips from the movie on youtube but they make have used the technique elsewhere too - but I'm pretty sure never never as a practical effect.

[YT]zQWkIhNChk[/YT]

But like I said - I think it's totally doable as a practical effect for Batman - not the lenses changing size themselves, but brow movement which would, at the right angle, alter how much of the lens is showing.

I'm kind of curious about that. It almost seems like puppeteering might be necessary to achieve that, unless we've got a cowl that's more like a prosthetic than a mask. I wonder about the feasibility of maintaining the sort of sculpt I prefer while allowing for movement that doesn't look awkward.

 

[lujho]

I'm kind of curious about that. It almost seems like puppeteering might be necessary to achieve that, unless we've got a cowl that's more like a prosthetic than a mask. I wonder about the feasibility of maintaining the sort of sculpt I prefer while allowing for movement that doesn't look awkward.

The prosthetic route, yeah. But I don't neccessarily think it needs to be a full-on hours in the make-up chair glued-to-the face thing. I think it would be possible to simply make the cowl out of a very soft, stretchy, fleshy type rubber that will simply move with the actor's face. Something like what those funny novelty stretch balls are made from - it really would behave like a second skin:

[YT]a05HM7L7NZk[/YT]

You might need to have a slightly more conservative brow sculpt, yes, which would suit me fine personally. Something akin to the brows on the Spawn mask, or perhaps the fear toxin batman in Begins. You could still have pretty much a very similar sculpt to the Begins/TDK cowl though. Such a material would allow a full-head-and-neck cowl to have more movement too, possibly negating the need for any head-neck separation.

Whenever I see Batman's mask move with his face in the comics or cartoon, this is exactly the type of material I imagine it is. It would even stretch with the actor's jaw opening and closing - rather than the actor's face be constrained by the mask. AND he'd be able to shove his head through the mouth-hole and push the top part back like a hood, as he does in the comics.

And of course, you'd have it be reinforced with rigid forms where it needs to not wobble - ears, nose, whathaveyou, and of course "in-movie" the thing would be reinforced for protection too - perhaps even being impact-hardening for that the brows are protected.

 

[SheldonLevene]

I'm kind of curious about that. It almost seems like puppeteering might be necessary to achieve that, unless we've got a cowl that's more like a prosthetic than a mask. I wonder about the feasibility of maintaining the sort of sculpt I prefer while allowing for movement that doesn't look awkward.

And what type of sculpt would that be?

 

[StarvingArtist]

personal opinions aside. i'd say Batman being able to turn his head is a legitimate argument

I'd lump that kind of thing into mobility, as opposed to how it looks in a static pose. I mean really its semantics when it comes down to it. An actor looks dumb if he can't turn his head, granted. But the argumetn I'm making is strictly for the overall look of the thing, not mobility. Both are important for sure, I never said keaton's costume moved the best because it didn't. Except for the cape, the cape on that suit was perfect

 

[hame4479]

Daredevil utilized lenses fine and they looked pretty damn good, something like that for bats would makes sense for protective and concealment purposes.I mean honestly how does he ride that pod around with debree flying every which direction and not get **** in his eyes.

 

[Zombie_Comics]

I don't think he'd look good with lenses.

 

[Saint]

And what type of sculpt would that be?

Comparable to the Begins/TDK face.

 

[Saint]

The prosthetic route, yeah. But I don't neccessarily think it needs to be a full-on hours in the make-up chair glued-to-the face thing. I think it would be possible to simply make the cowl out of a very soft, stretchy, fleshy type rubber that will simply move with the actor's face. Something like what those funny novelty stretch balls are made from - it really would behave like a second skin:

[YT]a05HM7L7NZk[/YT]

You might need to have a slightly more conservative brow sculpt, yes, which would suit me fine personally. Something akin to the brows on the Spawn mask, or perhaps the fear toxin batman in Begins. You could still have pretty much a very similar sculpt to the Begins/TDK cowl though. Such a material would allow a full-head-and-neck cowl to have more movement too, possibly negating the need for any head-neck separation.

Whenever I see Batman's mask move with his face in the comics or cartoon, this is exactly the type of material I imagine it is. It would even stretch with the actor's jaw opening and closing - rather than the actor's face be constrained by the mask. AND he'd be able to shove his head through the mouth-hole and push the top part back like a hood, as he does in the comics.

And of course, you'd have it be reinforced with rigid forms where it needs to not wobble - ears, nose, whathaveyou, and of course "in-movie" the thing would be reinforced for protection too - perhaps even being impact-hardening for that the brows are protected.

Right, I recall you mentioning this before. I imagine that might work, yes... would probably need to make some concessions as far as my cowl design preferences go, like like the stylization of the brow.