It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's the Superman Costume Thread! - Part 2

[Krumm]

I really like the suit as is but I would've absolutely LOVED it if it looked like this...

Nice job. While I wouldn't have minded that look so much, in comparison to the MOS suit, I feel like it's trying to hard to keep the concept of the trunks. It's a little busy.

 

[DorkyFresh]

If they had done that first, I'd've been cool.

But I'm with Shield and Young , now that we have what we have I hope they stick with it

Yeah, just wishful thinking. I'm much more of a fan of consistency than change for the sake of appeasing the audience....which is why I have a major problem with Spidey's new costume. It seems like the changes that were made were, for the most part, to appease the fans...but it's quite a different direction than the first ASM suit.

No, that looks awful. If they were making a different movie where he's supposed to look like a toy, maybe. People don't get that they're trying to make the suit feel natural in a sci-fi context. It's not a garish costume. It's foreign clothing.

Thing is though, I feel that the way they designed the suit is a little TOO foreign and a tad TOO alien. I understand that they are trying to show how the government would react to an alien revealing himself, but they would do react that way regardless of what Supes is wearing. With red piping, instead of blue, it kinda keeps the alien/sci fi feel but in a more welcoming/cool image.

The point of the detail isn't to "break up the blue". That's a made up by brief defenders. They don't have to break up the blue at all. The point of the detail is to direct focal points.

So the focal point is his codpiece? The focal point should be his shield...which it will ALWAYS be since it's the biggest and least busy part of his costume. Everything else is detail. That being said, I believe they used the piping as a way to compensate for ridding Supes of his iconic trunks. If they had no piping at all that entire region would feel naked.

That doesn't make sense because it's also blue. It doesn't break up the blue at all. It directs focal points. It contours the body shape. But it has nothing to do with blue or color. The suit could be in black a white and the details still serve the same visual function.

They didn't use the piping to break up the blue, but they definitely used it to add something ELSE other than an oval. It makes no sense to have a yellow belt buckle if there's nothing guiding it to his waist. The piping is used not only to give the oval a sense of purpose, but also to break up the negative space from getting rid of the trunks. The piping was definitely to compensate for lack of trunks, they just colored it blue instead of red.

UUgghh, that red detailing looks horrendous. It looks like an obvious attempt to break up the blue using only colours in the Superman palette because it is a fan manip that can't look at things objectively from a design perspective.

We all carry a certain bias, so please don't act like your an exception. Do you honestly mean to tell me that if they revealed the suit to be THOSE colors, you would thinking to yourself "they should've made the piping blue instead!"? Also, I have been designing concepts for costumes and attire for roughly a decade, on top of that, I design a plethora of other things...so I am most definitely looking at the suit from a design perspective. And of course, it's an attempt to break up the blue using colors in the Superman palette. I don't think green or pink would suit (pun intended) him very well.

Also, the primary yellow looks just plain bad.

Thing is, we've had few official images that show the shield and oval actually looking yellow/gold. Most official images make them look silver.

Seriously, the colours used remind me of kitsch playground equipment.

Well, Supes has always been a colorful hero. It wasn't until SR that they dulled the colors and fans complained about the colors even up till now. Unfortunately, as great as the suit currently looks, Snyder and co. also decided to use duller colors. Maybe they're trying to show that Superman isn't black and white (primary colors) and has shades of grey (struggling with his morality) but once he decides to fight the good fight, his ethics are pure, just like his colors should be.......IMO.

Nice job. While I wouldn't have minded that look so much, in comparison to the MOS suit, I feel like it's trying to hard to keep the concept of the trunks. It's a little busy.

Thanks Krumm, I don't feel it's too busy. As I stated earlier in this post, the centerpiece of this suit will always be the shield and when looking at the design as a whole that's what you should be looking at to determine whether or not the rest of the suit works. Once you start analyzing the details, it kinda falls apart. I could name several things that is "wrong" with the design but because when I look at it as a whole, I still see "a bad out-fit!" WOOOO!!!!!

 

[DKDetective]

We all carry a certain bias, so please don't act like your an exception. Do you honestly mean to tell me that if they revealed the suit to be THOSE colors, you would thinking to yourself "they should've made the piping blue instead!"? Also, I have been designing concepts for costumes and attire for roughly a decade, on top of that, I design a plethora of other things...so I am most definitely looking at the suit from a design perspective. And of course, it's an attempt to break up the blue using colors in the Superman palette. I don't think green or pink would suit (pun intended) him very well. Thing is, we've had few official images that show the shield and oval actually looking yellow/gold. Most official images make them look silver.

I actually would have though the piping should be blue in all honesty. Just like how I don't like the red or piping belt in the New 52. It just looks garish to me.

Well, Supes has always been a colorful hero. It wasn't until SR that they dulled the colors and fans complained about the colors even up till now. Unfortunately, as great as the suit currently looks, Snyder and co. also decided to use duller colors. Maybe they're trying to show that Superman isn't black and white (primary colors) and has shades of grey (struggling with his morality) but once he decides to fight the good fight, his ethics are pure, just like his colors should be.......IMO.

I never said the colours shouldn't be bright. The thing is there is good bright and bad bright. While the suit is portrayed as having bright colours in the comics, the blue and yellow are typically lighter and paler than in the manip. The blue being more of a sky or french blue and the yellow more of a straw colour rather than the royal blue and deep canary yellow used in the manip. Those bright, but weaker colours temper the strength of the suit's scarlet sections. Finally, I agree that it is regrettable that they keep desaturating the suit's gold parts into silver in promotional images because as I mentioned I think it looks quite striking.

 

[StarvingArtist]

I agree with DK, it's too much red. If it were me, I would have kept it a bit more subtle:

In basic geometric terms, the trunks were in essence a red triangle shape dividing the torso from the legs. This red placement simply cuts that red triangle shape in half and redistributes it to the sides, thus maintaining the same blue to red ratio.

 

[redhawk23]

No, that looks awful. If they were making a different movie where he's supposed to look like a toy, maybe. People don't get that they're trying to make the suit feel natural in a sci-fi context. It's not a garish costume. It's foreign clothing.

The point of the detail isn't to "break up the blue". That's a made up by brief defenders. They don't have to break up the blue at all. The point of the detail is to direct focal points.

I really don't see how their recolor makes him look any more like a toy than the actual design. In the end he's still a flying man in a red cape and blue tights.

 

[redhawk23]

By what reasoning? Is it somehow a badge of authority in the eyes of humans? Like presidents and prime ministers...or even firefighters and cops...with undies incorporated into their uniforms?

There's no sensible reason to keep them really aside fro their graphic design value, which I like and actually prefer. And really, the cape and boots are no less outlandish either. But within the context of a powered being amongst a civilization that thinks the way that we do for the most part, they won't be missing anything without the trunks. It is a design aspect that these newer storytellers decided not to use....purely an aesthetic choice which has no innate or essential functionality vital to the presentation. Luckily, they made a new suit design that works well with no trunks. Had it been like Reeves or even the Routh suit, with just no undies, it'd be different.

Yes its an aesthetic choice, and one they could have just as easily not made... Does it somehow hurt functionality to include them?

 

[Mad Love]

I really don't see how their recolor makes him look any more like a toy than the actual design. In the end he's still a flying man in a red cape and blue tights.

Well if you don't see that if the details are more decorative and the colors louder it looks more like a toy, then you aren't seeing much. Let's also pretend there's no difference between sports wear, casual wear, and formal wear.

If he's still a flying man in a red cape and blue tights, then there's no difference between Schumacher's Batman and Nolan's Batman right? They're still men dressing up as bats by your basic logic.

 

[Project862006]

 

[Glassjaw]

So the shade of blue on the suit will probably change alot depending on the lighting of each scene its in.... but I really hope we get to see this blue a lot. But yeah. Holy heck at this costume. I'm terrified they'll mess with it too much for a sequel now.

 

[Smallville13]

So the shade of blue on the suit will probably change alot depending on the lighting of each scene its in.... but I really hope we get to see this blue a lot. But yeah. Holy heck at this costume. I'm terrified they'll mess with it too much for a sequel now.

That's the thing. We're all like 'seriously, what shade of blue is it in the film?' and the answer is all of the above, it's just going to change from scene to scene with the lighting.

 

[Zionite1]

So the shade of blue on the suit will probably change alot depending on the lighting of each scene its in.... but I really hope we get to see this blue a lot. But yeah. Holy heck at this costume. I'm terrified they'll mess with it too much for a sequel now.

not a fan of the blue here though.To me it makes the costumes flaws so very visible.

I prefer this blue-it turns the costumes flaws into stregths

 

[Young Superman]

My only little nitpick with the MOS suit is that the colors could be a little brighter. But it's not that big of a deal.

 

[Spoonman]

That doesn't make sense because it's also blue. It doesn't break up the blue at all. It directs focal points. It contours the body shape. But it has nothing to do with blue or color. The suit could be in black a white and the details still serve the same visual function.

Wut? The detail in the mid section of the MOS suit is not blue, its some sort of dark grey with metalish finish, and I think it does a good job of keeping the suit from looking just like a blue unitard. I don't know if "break up" the suit is the correct term here but I believe it is a succesful design in keeping the suit from looking plain due to the removal of the red trunks.

I like the design of the cape too, that velvet like finish as well as the tone of the red itself very much like the cape from the movie version of Thor, which make sense as both characters have this royalty thing going on from their respective planets. I am glad that the rubber / almost maroon cape from Superman Returns is probably never to be seen again in the future.

 

[Mad Love]

Wut? The detail in the mid section of the MOS suit is not blue, its some sort of dark grey with metalish finish.

It's blue. It's the same as the texture on the costume.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Mackenzie Gray, an actor involved with MAN OF STEEL briefly spoke to JTM Games about his involvement with the film. Here's what he had to say about the suit:

On the Suit and it's Construction
Oh yeah, amount of detail on Superman is unbelievable. Superman’s costume, is a three-layer costume; there’s a body-skin layer and then there’s a muscle layer that was molded to Henry’s muscles – it’s a silver, metallic rubber – and then over that is a mesh skin so whenever he turns into light it looks like he’s made of steel. It’s just incredible, the design of the film is fantastic. All the concepts and the designs is just remarkable and they didn’t have to build fake muscles for Henry because he’s really built.

 

[Spoonman]

It's blue. It's the same as the texture on the costume.

It is not. In what universe is the detail on the midsection of the suit blue instead of dark gray?

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

It is not. In what universe is the detail on the midsection of the suit blue instead of dark gray?

You tell him, Spoonman! Beat the rhythm with your hands! Steal the rhythm while you can! lol

 

[herolee10]

It is not. In what universe is the detail on the midsection of the suit blue instead of dark gray?

I do wish that they had used a lighter blue for the body of the suit in order to help better establish the dark blue line designs since you can barely tell that they're there in most shots unless the suit is in a good close up and if the lighting is just right.

 

[Mad Love]

It is not. In what universe is the detail on the midsection of the suit blue instead of dark gray?

Wrong. Using one picture never tells the full story. We know how different the yellow has looked, but it's still yellow plain daylight. The cuffs, midsection, and thigh details are all the same blue color and material but it's shiny so it reflects at different angles. So to answer your question, in this universe:

 

[Mad Love]

Mackenzie Gray, an actor involved with MAN OF STEEL briefly spoke to JTM Games about his involvement with the film. Here's what he had to say about the suit:

On the Suit and it's Construction
Oh yeah, amount of detail on Superman is unbelievable. Superman’s costume, is a three-layer costume; there’s a body-skin layer and then there’s a muscle layer that was molded to Henry’s muscles – it’s a silver, metallic rubber – and then over that is a mesh skin so whenever he turns into light it looks like he’s made of steel. It’s just incredible, the design of the film is fantastic. All the concepts and the designs is just remarkable and they didn’t have to build fake muscles for Henry because he’s really built.

What he's describing as silver isn't the detailing we're talking about because he says there's a mesh skin over it. Also, there's a difference is calling something silvery/metallic and saying it's colored gray. What he's actually describing is the shiny blue base and the "mesh skin" is the chain mail texture over it.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

What he's describing as silver isn't the detailing we're talking about because he says there's a mesh skin over it. Also, there's a difference is calling something silvery/metallic and saying it's colored gray. What he's actually describing is the shiny blue base and the "mesh skin" is the chain mail texture over it.

Huh? My post has nothing to do with the discussion you're having with Spoonman. I just found that particular part of the interview with Mackenzie Gray relevant for this thread.

Disregard my comment to Spoonman (if that's what you find/found confusing). It's an inside joke for Soundgarden fans.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

Since you mentioned it, though, I think the detail on the midsection of the suit is a light bluish silver.

 

[Spoonman]

Well I must admit the detailing on midsection and tights looks blue-ish in those other shots. It is kind of confusing because I could swear it looked darker / greyer in other pictures I've seen! So yeah I can agree there must be some sort of color combination that it is not outright blue at first glance but has definetely a blue-ish tone involved

At the end of the day that is kinda my point, in the sense that it doesn't look outright blue (say, just some deeper blue than the rest of the suit) and does a good job in keeping the suit from looking plain in the mid section (IMO at the very least) because of the loss of the red undies. Now instead of trying to compensate with some other red detailing, say, like a red belt ala New 52 the movie team went with a whole different approach which is not necesarily to "break up the suit" like the undies do but just to add some detail to what otherwise would be a plain-ish looking unitard. That is my take on it and I like the approach personally.

And yes AHO, Soundgarden was my sole moto for the username, so inside joke taken

 

[Micah12345]

Are there any good manips of the suit with trunks and bronze agey colors and without the silver trim?

With Cavill in it of course.

 

[moviefreak]

From supermanhomepage.com, Mackenzie Gray Talks "Man of Steel", quoting JTM Games' article:

JTM Games: Even Superman’s costume looks more detailed and a has a sleek, modern look compared to older versions. What did you think of it?

Mackenzie Gray: Oh yeah, amount of detail on Superman is unbelievable. Superman’s costume, is a three-layer costume; there’s a body-skin layer and then there’s a muscle layer that was molded to Henry’s muscles – it’s a silver, metallic rubber – and then over that is a mesh skin so whenever he turns into light it looks like he’s made of steel.

It’s just incredible, the design of the film is fantastic. All the concepts and the designs is just remarkable and they didn’t have to build fake muscles for Henry because he’s really built.

direct link to the article:
http://jtmgames.com/2013/05/04/mackenzie-gray-talks-man-of-steel-and-his-secret-role-in-the-film/

That MOS suit material has to be damn expensive - the levels of detail and custom made shapes are extraordinary.