Helping out with Vox

Auckland Chimera
#1

Hey folks, this is directed primarily to those of you who have signed up for Vox on Friday night of Chimera.

If anyone would like to assist with makeup, costume, props or decorations to bring the aliens and the ship to life then I’d be grateful. For the Ytyl aliens, I’d like to achieve a consistent “alien” makeup look that includes some sort of technological life-support element that allows them to function in an environment intended for humans - so there’s room for both makeup people and prop builders to help, and you don’t need to be playing an alien to help with their visual design.

In terms of the ship, any suggestions on transforming the hall welcome. I’m imagining a low-lighting environment to help mask the hall-ness of the hall. I saw that the Kapcon larp did some pretty cool stuff in terms of SF environment, any learnings or offers to lend kit would be great.

#2

I probably can’t help with the application on the night, since I’m playing a different game, but I’d love to help with the design and prior prosthetic construction. Sounds like fun. :slight_smile:

#3

That would be great Kara. Perhaps if you do a visual design for the aliens, then you could do a video/photos showing how to apply it and we could use that guideline to do the application on the night. I wasn’t planning for prosthetics because of the added work & expense, but they’d certainly be welcome. Drop me a PM and we can exchange design ideas.

I’m also still keen to hear from anyone who might like to make some sort of “life support” or “adaptive technology” wearable props for the Ytyl. We’re looking at fitting up 8 aliens.

#4

$2 shop face mask, with paint and tubes?

#5

For a three hour game and limited setup, masks are definitely going to be easier and MUCH faster than prosthetics. Fun to make too. :smiley:

#6

If I’m in the game, I’d be more than happy to help with applying makeup and set dressing- I’ll most likely be around in the afternoon anyway, since I’m coming up on the bus that morning. I’d help make the equipment for the Ytyl, but I’m coming up from Wellington, and added to that I’ll have costumes for myself and my husband to make between now and Chimera.

In terms of design, you might want to talk to the folks who designed the ‘Reunion’ set from Kapcon, as it was space-station like.

#7

Hey Ryan,

I’d signed up for ‘vox’, and was planning to perhaps use my power suit costume:

IMG_7729.jpg720×480

A video of the new ‘breather’ helmet I will be wearing is available for viewing here:

youtube.com/watch?v=qScrAxhWxlo

If you think it’d better suit one of the Ytyl, could I change my character to that?

With regard to technological props, I’ve got this wicked communications beacon made out of an LED light stand and MP3 player with speakers that I’m going to be using for ZombieLARP. It’s got this fancy little thing that looks like a crystal on the side of it that flashes between different colors. I can swap out the ambient sound effects the beacon makes to something more fitting if you have specific requirements.

I also have some plastic toolboxes which could make good ‘futuristic crate props’ for storing stuff in.



I probably have a spare couple of hours to make some non-interactive animated interfaces in Flash if you need some prop computer terminals to display. I can also supply up to two laptops and one 19" widescreen monitor to run them on (one of the laptops screens are broken, so it requires a monitor to display. The other laptop also converts into a tablet PC). Just give me some specs on what you want the interfaces to display and I can sort this out for you.

#8

That’s one fancy power suit- which makes me rather curious to see how folks will interpret ‘futuristic trendy’.

#9

I’m not that keen on masks for this. It’s a dramatic scenario, and masks conceal too much facial expression. It’s on Friday night, so we may be able to squeeze in some makeup application on people who are early, before the official game start time. It will just be face and hands, if costuming goes to plan, and prosthetics are a nice-to-have - just colouration would be fine. The aliens are intended to be human-like with some distinguishing features.

Michael - I think your costume will better suit one of the human security officers. You could have the breathing verison on hand “in case of pressure loss”. The Ytyl are going to be wearing plain matching uniform, they’re a subservient race, while the humans can be more flamboyant. I’ll have a think about where the props and computers/interfaces could fit in, thanks - the beacon and boxes will definitely be appropriate. In terms of the alien life tech I’m thinking something like a breathing apparatus attached to the neck, or maybe some sort of eye protection.

#10

The humans in the setting are very individualistic and often narcissistic (thus the “trendy”), so pretty much anything vaguely futuristic is appropriate.

#11

Are they a gilled race then? Breathing apparatus on the neck, rather than face, suggests so. I’ll have a think about it. :slight_smile:

#12

It might also be worth seeing if there are any Cosplay forums for people who dress up as aliens- not to make the Ytyl look like another race from TV, but for suggestions of things you could use to make breathing apparatus etc (I suggest this because I’m planning to do something similar if I’m stuck for ideas for any of my Chimera costumes)

#13

No, but it’s distant future so anything goes in terms of hi-tech. A neck apparatus could add something they need to their air intake as it goes in, or filter something out, or do something with their blood via their carotid artery.

#14

If anyone has an old laptop running Windows, or a flat-screen monitor, that they’re willing to bring to Chimera on Fri night to be used at Vox let me know via PM. The laptops don’t need much capacity, they’re going to be running a simple application. Because of past incidents of theft at Motu Moana, it would be best if you were able to take the laptop or monitor home again on Friday night so that it’s not left unattended.