2
Oct
Custom mannequin – Lady Van Tassel costume from Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
“The Horseman comes, and tonight he comes for you!” A custom mannequin for a screen used Lady Van Tassel costume from Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
This Lady Van Tassel costume, originally worn by Miranda Richardson in the 1999 Sleepy Hollow film, was brought to us with a pair of Headless Horseman costumes. Our client was looking to create 3 separate themed displays that all worked together with a cohesive design.
In addition to the costumes we were given several set dressing pieces from the film that we could use throughout the design. After that our client let us have a bit of free rein when it came to dreaming up some design options. Lead artist Patrick Louie sketched up several ideas and we worked with the client to make any final tweaks to the designs.
While the bases were being crafted, our lead mannequin artist Pierre Briel, began work on the custom body form. This form had 2 specific challenges, first she needed to fit a small corset – real humans have a natural softness and flexibility, which means on set they are able to do things like hold their breath while corset strings are tightened. The rigidity of mannequins means that each form we create needs to be custom made to fit an individual costume, rather than simply to an actor’s measurements.
The second challenge was creating a custom mount that could securely hold the screen used skull prop without causing damage to the prop. We were able to build a custom mount which fit the cavities on the underside of the skull, this way if the display was moved there was no risk that the skull could fall out of the mannequin’s hand.
Once the body form was completed, Patrick worked with Matthew Beagan, Sara Mecozzi, and Julianne Scotese to hand sculpt the custom display bases for these projects. Using images from the film as inspiration we gave each base it’s own unique identity, incorporating design elements from different scenes.
Once the base was carved out of EPS foam, we hard coated it for durability and to add additional texture. Once the pieces were coated they were handed over to Samantha Martino, Mykaleah Young and Daisy Julca for final paint. They were given several layers of paint treatments to really give it a creepy look and some Tim Burton style to it. We even crafted a carve-out to display an original prop pumpkin from the film.
Have an original movie or television prop in need of a unique or themed display? Email or call today and let’s discuss your project!
We loved the Tim Burton take on Sleepy Hollow!
