B89 Costume Restoration

[thecolorsblend]

A fascinating look at WB's corporate archive and the project to restore a B89 suit. Worth a watch!

[BatmanFurst]

A fascinating look at WB's corporate archive and the project to restore a B89 suit. Worth a watch!

I'm surprised that there was anything left of the 89 suit. I assumed that it would have withered away by now.

[The Laughing Fish]

Great video. We have Jose Fernandez to thank for some of the most iconic costumes in film history. 

This restoration of the Batsuits is perhaps the only good thing those twats at Warner have done in a long time.

[The Dark Knight]

A fascinating look at WB's corporate archive and the project to restore a B89 suit. Worth a watch!

Definitely worth a watch. These guys are the modern day sculptors of our culture. Instead of restoring an ancient carving, they're putting all their care and attention to detail towards a superhero suit from 30 years ago. There's something heartwarming about that in terms of mythmaking. It's saying this relic that could've been thrown in the bin by now still means something to people and is worth saving. It's taken on a life of its own.

[Silver Nemesis]

One of the most interesting things about this video is the body cast of Keaton. This gives us our clearest indication of what his physique was like under the suit in the 1989 film.

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume this cast was taken before he began training for the role. Because this is not the physique of a man who has spent two months engaged in vigorous weight training, calisthenics and martial arts. The closest we get to seeing Bruce's physique in Burton's films is the scene with the gravity boots, but it's unclear if that is actually Keaton or one of his doubles.

He still looks skinny here, but his lats and delts appear slightly better developed than they are on that cast. I suppose that could just be due to the blood flow making them swell as he hangs upside down. Or it could be that he worked out after the cast was taken. Or maybe it's just a stunt double.

Regardless, this is pretty similar to the shape he was in when he filmed Touch & Go (released in 1986, but shot in 1984). Basically a lean average guy with reasonably low body fat but very little muscle development. The kind of guy who works out by jogging rather than weight training.

[The Dark Knight]

Today there is an expectation on comic book actors to hit the gym hard. B89 was before the age of superhero films coming out like a McDonalds assembly line. Keaton didn't have a muscular frame, and that was accepted. They relied on the armor/six pack suit sculpt to get the job done. The batsuit was treated like a piece of technology in the way the team made it. The general idea that the suit was the costume department's problem, and Keaton was there to act. I can also see the 1989 logic in forgoing heavy gym time when you're covering your body in rubber.