Blog | Azrael's Circus

Making of #3: Sea Monster for Lancelot Costume on Once Upon A Time

Posted by:Azrael on Oct - 17 - 2012 - Filed under: Custom Work,Making Of Series,Work for film -

Lancelot Sinqua Walls on Once Upon A Time

Sinqua Walls in costume as Lancelot on Once Upon A Time – Sea Monster on chest designed & carved by Azrael’s Circus.

The second piece for Once Upon a Time was a little more complex and a lot more hours in the studio than the Sun for Prince Phillip’s chest piece. The concept was a menacing sea monster/leviathan with lots of tentacles for the character of Lancelot, played by Sinqua Walls . It was a large surface area to cover, the biggest single leather piece I have tooled/carved. I started to look for inspiration for the design – deep sea creatures, like angler and viper fish as well as mythological depictions of sea monsters, dragons and other ferocious beasts. Most of my work has been more on the gentler and more realistic side but I was ready for the challenge. Working through a number of drafts of the sketch and combining elements until a fierce dragon/octopus/stingray hybrid came to life.
Here are a few pics – I won’t get into too much detail, as the process is very similiar to the other pieces in the blog – except this leather was much thicker… so lots of heavy hammering.

The finalized sketch of the Sea Monster for Lancelot’s armor.

The design is traced onto the moistened leather and the outlines cut with a swivel knife.

A collection of varied tools are used to bring out the dimension of the image. Here it is partially carved/tooled.

Two identical pieces are required. Here they are, almost complete. Now to cut them out.

Lancelot Costume OUAT Sea Monster Leviathan

The finished piece for Lancelot’s Costume, ready for shipping back to the studio to be adhered to the armor and painted.

Both of the pieces finished and ready to be shipped back to the studio and assembled as part of Lancelot’s costume.

These pieces were made for the gorgette (neck piece) of the armor, but from the photographs I have seen the gorgette was not included in the final Lancelot costume.

Making of #2: Sun for Prince Philip Costume on Once Upon A Time

Posted by:Azrael on Oct - 5 - 2012 - Filed under: Custom Work,Making Of Series,Work for film -

Prince Phillip, played by Julian Morris, in ABC’s Once Upon A Time

A phone call came in earlier in the year, about making leather components for costumes. I went to meet with the costuming department. Arriving at the studio in Vancouver, BC I realized this was not for a theatre production, but for ABC’s Once Upon A Time. I met with Eduardo Castro, the lead designer for Once Upon A Time Costumes, and his wonderful team. I walked away with a piece of armor and a project to complete – in five days! The piece was for a new character, Prince Phillip, who was to be played by Julian Morris. After stopping to pick up the leather for the project I rushed home and began sketching. The concept was simple – a sun. They gave me a few varied images for inspiration and told me to run with it. I love the freedom to create!

Here is a little photo journey into the process of making this piece:

1. A few designs were sketched out until I found one that worked with the contours of the armor. They wanted something romantic and powerful for Prince Phillip. The design was then cut out and stuck to the armor and photos sent off for approval.

2. Once the design was approved the leather was prepared for tooling and the design traced on.

3. The outlines of the design are then carefully cut into the leather with a special knife. The Swivel Knife has a pivot to allow curved and continuous cuts. Any mistakes cannot be undone, so it’s really important to get it right – especially with such a tight deadline, I wouldn’t have enough time to start again! In this image some of the beveling has been started too.

4. The outlines of the design are beveled using small tools and a maul (hammer) to bring the design into relief. Other tools, including modeling/sculpting spoons are used to add definition, texture and detail. This takes a long time, and lots & lots of hammering!

5. Knife cuts are made to add final details.

6. The piece is then cut out with the swivel knife and scalpels. Finally, finished!

6a. The finished piece!

7. The piece is adhered to the armor and couriered off to be painted and prepared for filming two days later… Meanwhile, I step straight back into the studio to repeat the entire process. A duplicate is required so there is an identical back up/costume for the stunt double.

Making Of #1: Octopus Pocket Holsters

Posted by:Azrael on Oct - 5 - 2012 - Filed under: Custom Work,Making Of Series -

Making custom pieces is always fulfilling. It’s really exciting when someone approaches me with a great concept and encourages me to expand on it, offering me the freedom to play and create. This was one of those projects. The original vision was for a pair of pocket holsters, with an Octopus as the back straps. I had never made holsters and it was exciting and inspiring to take the challenge and opportunity to try something new. Here is a little visual journey into the process:

1. The original sketch that will be tooled/carved for the back panel/straps of the holsters.

2. The leather is “cased” to a certain moisture content to receive the tooling impressions, this takes about 24 hours. The image is then traced to the prepared leather.

3. The outlines of the design are then carefully cut into the leather with a special knife. The Swivel Knife has a pivot to allow curved and continuous cuts. Any mistakes cannot be undone, so it’s really important to get it right!

4. The outlines of the design are beveled using small tools and a maul (hammer) to bring the design into relief. Other tools, including modeling/sculpting spoons are used to add definition, texture and detail. This took about 8 hours!

5. The design is cut out and the edges are cleaned up. It took about 2 hours for this piece.

6. Dyes, paints and finishes are applied to get the desired colors for the piece.

7. The pockets for the holsters are carved/tooled using the same process as above.

8. Finished – Custom Octopus Leather Pocket Holsters

8a. The finished piece! Once all of the pocket components are tooled and painted they are hand laced together and all of the assembly is done. The pockets tops are soft, buttery deer hide and sting ray.