Weren't the costumes hot? (Other makeup questions.)

[Mr. Scott]

Howdy!

I am somewhat of a DS9 freak and have been watching an episode or two of the series before I go to bed at night.

My question is, weren't those uniforms and custumes very hot to wear on the set? My limited understanding is that because of the lighting involved, that a stage can get quite warm. I would think especially the DS9 uniforms, would be hot as hell.

http://vanparecon.resist.ca/StarTrekEcon/

All the clothes on all the series was heavy and bulky. The only series where people wore comfortable clothes was TOS. Looked like light cotton or polyester. The women wore mini skirts. It was in the later incarnations where the uniforms seemed to be hot and uncomfortable.

My other question is how long does it take to put the makeup on? I would think that this would be very time consuming to have to do everyday, especially the players playing Klingons, Ferengi, or Cardassians. To how they keep the appliances in place (like the ears of a Ferengi or a Vorta).

How did they get Weyoun's eyes that weird blue color? Or Data with the urine yellow eyes?

What about the Ferengi's lousy teeth? How did they do that?

The catsuits that the poor female actress could not drink any water on the set because the catsuit was nearly impossible to take off.

I'm sure being an actor in Star Trek is fun, but there was a lot of work behind the scenes.

 

[Therin of Andor]

How did they get Weyoun's eyes that weird blue color? Or Data with the urine yellow eyes?

Coloured soft contact lenses. You can buy non prescription soft "party" lenses now, some irises have little flags, stars or company logos, or many different colours. Marina Sirtis wore black-irised lenses to play Troi.

The Rhaandarite bridge ensign in ST:TMP had yellow eyes, rather like Data, but that movie was filmed in 1978, and his lenses were the hard glass contacts, and the makeup artists simply painted on the lenses with yellow and orange paint!

What about the Ferengi's lousy teeth? How did they do that?

Custom made false teeth that fitted in front of the actor's real teeth.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Yeah, the costumes were definitively hot! I mean, Kira's bottom-hugging trousers? Rowr!

 

[Tora Ziyal]

My other question is how long does it take to put the makeup on? I would think that this would be very time consuming to have to do everyday, especially the players playing Klingons, Ferengi, or Cardassians.

It is very time consuming. I remember reading that it took Michael Dorn something like four hours to turn into Worf. I can't imagine going through that every day!

 

[Nardpuncher]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to wear the First Contact uniform unless the ship is always at 15 degrees Celsius or something.

 

[Gary7]

The human crew generally had it easy. Others, like Worf who have all of this thick rubber prosthetic material applied to their heads had to get used to the temperature discomfort. Brent Spiner had a rather thick layer of makeup all over his head and neck for his android look, which I'm sure didn't feel very good under a hot stage lamp. Apparently Jeri Ryan was sweating to death in the first version of her Borg-human suit (the silver one), so they redesigned it to be more breathable.

However, in more recent years, I'll bet that some of the studios have shifted to high intensity LED lights (you can vary the coloration from cool to warm), which put out much less heat.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

And here I thought this thread was going to talk about the duty skirts and go-go boots from the Trek series...

 

[The Trekster]

Long hours, hot lights, uncomfortable costumes. These are things that actors/crew put up with in order to have the privilege of working in the entertainment industry.

But I will say this: thank god for unions. I've worked indie sets where filming went on for 18 hours, no pay. On one set, one of the actors had to spend 12 hours in a latex suit (it was a catwoman thing). Also no pay. When we took that thing off of her, her skin was falling off in clumps.

Art is suffering, lol.

 

[FormerLurker]

The human crew generally had it easy. Others, like Worf who have all of this thick rubber prosthetic material applied to their heads had to get used to the temperature discomfort. Brent Spiner had a rather thick layer of makeup all over his head and neck for his android look, which I'm sure didn't feel very good under a hot stage lamp. Apparently Jeri Ryan was sweating to death in the first version of her Borg-human suit (the silver one), so they redesigned it to be more breathable.

However, in more recent years, I'll bet that some of the studios have shifted to high intensity LED lights (you can vary the coloration from cool to warm), which put out much less heat.

By the time he was on DS9 Michael Dorn's makeup time had been brought down to an hour/hour and a quarter. It was in his contract, even, that they do so, or he would not have done the show.

 

[Warped9]

Makeup and costumes have always been bothersome and uncomfortable for actors. Despite great strides in making things look natural they're not of course, and the actors are wearing these things under hot lights.

A real alien wouldn't experience these things because their flesh would be real and able to regulate their temperature within extent of the climate they're exposed to just as we do on Earth. And real clothing would likely be made of fabrics other than what might be used for a costume.

Also you don't have to go far to get a sense of wearing clothes that would now be considered costumes in a film but were once considered everyday wear. Research standards of dress over the centuries prior to the mid 20th century. And look at old illustrations and photos and films. What is considered a nice business suit today would have been considered casual wear not even a hundred years ago. While old women's attire may look romantic by today's standards you can bet few women would ever want to go back to dressing like that.

Now things get a little different in the real world. At a Trek or SF or Fantasy convention you'll see folks in costumes yet they don't have to deal with hot studio lighting because they're in an everyday room temperature environment. The costumes might still not be made of the optimum fabrics, though, and any serious makeup and prosthetics will still interfere with the skin's ability to breathe and regulate temperature.

I'll also offer you a small personal anecdote. Three years ago my employer asked me to play Santa and they supplied the suit. Now this suit was a cheap store bought thing that was actually very lightweight, but the fabric didn't vent heat at all well. As such you quickly got very warm in otherwise room temperature conditions. I remember thinking that I could have worn my own winter coat all day and not get anywhere near that hot. So the next year playing Santa I acted on that idea---I got a second hand winter coat and converted it into a custom made Santa suit and I was indeed able to wear it comfortably for hours on end. Mind you it wasn't normal indoor wear, but it was a helluva improvement.

 

[sbk1234]

And here I thought this thread was going to talk about the duty skirts and go-go boots from the Trek series...

HA! I hear you, brother!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

But I will say this: thank god for unions.

Preach it.

 

[FormerLurker]

...they're in an everyday room temperature environment...

Not in the dealer's room.