IndieWire: Given the passionate fanbases that video games attract and the spotty track record of Hollywood adaptations, taking on the role of an iconic video game character can be intimidating for any actor. That is especially true for “Halo” star Pablo Schreiber, who also has to deal with the fact that fans have been waiting two decades for an adaptation of the beloved game.
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As the article mentions, video game adaptations in the past have struggled to meet fan expectations, but if the costumes are any indication of the overall quality of the show then it looks like it will be amazing! The suit looks fantastic in photos, it looks almost computer-rendered. I grew up watching my older brother play Halo and it was a very visually complex world so I’ll be looking out for well-made sets and props in the show. It can be a struggle as a costume designer when you want to produce a stunning costume but know it will be difficult for the actor to wear and don’t want to limit their performance, so hopefully they had prior conversations about how heavy it would be and Schreiber was able to prepare. I would like to know how they achieved that bronze shine on the helmet while keeping it see-through for Schreiber.
As someone who is actually very into video games, reading these kinds of articles is always super exciting; it is like the ultimate crossover between theater and video games, two topics I adore. Surprisingly, I have never actually really gotten into the Halo series (though my little brother is obsessed), but the costume design for the iconic character of Master Chief was still super interesting to read about. It is no surprise that Halo is being developed into a TV show, and I for one am very looking forward to the technical design elements transfer from video game to television production. Pablo Schreiber, who is set to play Master Chief in this new show, explained that the suit he has to wear for this role is “50 pounds of plastic”, an enormous physical challenge. I was mildly surprised that more CGI and digital altering wasn’t used for this; although not mentioned in the article, I do think that they must have been a critical element of the post production, but the physical limitations mentioned that came with wearing a legitimate recreation of the alien warfare suit while filming is interesting.
Growing up, I was always a big fan of Halo, but the videogames detailed costumes always seemed a bit out of reach for making the real deal physical look in a film. Pablo Schreiber from what I can tell has done an absolutely incredible job of doing the costumes within this film and I can only imagine what it’s like wearing that body armor, especially with it weighing 40 pounds. Armor making has always interested me, as it’s one of the hardest forms of costume design simply because molding and forming armor takes lots of resources and is certainly not an easy task to design. I’m curious now as to if 3d printers could be used in the implementation and production of plastic armors as seen in Halo and even Star Wars and other plastic Sci-Fi films. The detail in costumes in my opinion is vital when producing a piece, no matter if it is historical or Sci-Fi and problematically with video games many of the costumes seen are often not realistically designed for real-life adaption, especially with how fabric and other materials lay on a body in motion, yet Pablo Schreiber has done an incredible job of remaining true and correct to the video games designs while also making it practically wearable by an actor.
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