Chocolate Retriever Costume

Final Costume Turnaround

Costume by Esmé Prasad

Clay Body Injection by Paige Meakin

Final Armature by Mary Mihalko

Costume Construction

I designed the costume for Gen based on the concept art by Paige Meakin, the director. Initially, the sweater was going to have rolled-up sleeves, and the boots would be more detailed. However, we decided to keep the sleeves long so that just the hands would be clay, and the boots got simplified so less resculpting was necessary during animation.

Costume Process

Due to the quick turnaround necessary for our film, there was no time for the sweater to be reinforced with interfacing or rigged to the armature, so I made a mesh bodysuit that each fold could be tacked down to and that was tight enough to not move on the body during animation. I made sure that the area where the hands would plug in was accessible by adding a button closure at the wrists. The sweater was made to be sewn to the bodysuit in order to reduce chatter during animation.

Final Costume in Motion

Costume by Esmé Prasad

Animation by Kieran Miller

Armature by Mary Mihalko

Body Injection by Paige Meakin