Lolita - How to Stop a War - Behind the Scenes Pt.1
Pre Production, Costumes, and Props
Lolita - How To Stop A War (Music Video)
For my first music video, I was given complete creative freedom down to selecting the song I wanted to make a video for. As long as I create a proposal and submit it to the band. In January of 2019, coincidentally, I happened to be in Bali Indonesia on holiday at the same time the band Lolita was there recording their latest album. Between plates of Nasi goring and bottles of Bintang, I explained my concept. They all looked at me unblinking as I told ideas of great scale rooted in fantasy and science fiction. I was clearly being affected by all the Star Wars hype that year. I remember being enamored by the concept designs and costumes released in Vanity Fair that year as an early promotion for its Holiday release. Somehow these photos worked some magic on me and instilled a great deal of inspiration to set forth into this enormous project.
By the time I returned from my Holiday, I had my preliminary sketches and designs for locations and characters on paper. Before I knew it my studio was being filled with a lot of materials for constructing these costumes. For a base, I used cardboard to create the basic shapes of the helmets, armor, and even a few of the prop weapons. Once the shape was in place I would build it up with materials like EVA foam or plaster. These materials could easily be made to look old and worn with simple coats of paint. Silver coats first to make them appear metallic and several thin layers of black or brown to appear as caked dirt. For mechanics, I broke open a lot of old VCRs and speakers foraging for interesting parts to apply to the costumes and props.
The band would perform their song as blue holographic images that would be projected from a stone artifact that one of the lead characters carries around with her. The Artifact used tiny LED lights built into it to create the light of the hologram. They gave off a magical quality to it also.
Costuming requires a lot of patience and time spent with the talent that would be wearing them. Outfits would need to be modified several times. Sometimes for comfort but sometimes I just measured wrong and it just didn't fit. These suits would also need to be able to withstand long hours of constant use. While it is one thing to wear a suit of plaster armor for 15 minutes, 3-5 hours is something completely different. For many of the actors, it was very difficult to costume up by themselves. There, for sure, was a particular order in which the pieces should be put on and not everything was completely clear. It took some getting used to for everyone.
In the end, I am pretty happy with the way they turned out. A bit of aloe vera mixed with facepaint spread across the talent's faces and hands before a shoot can make a lot of difference. It was very important that the talent look dirty on camera. If I could go back now I think I would have made everything even more worn and grimy...but again, I am happy with how it turned out.
Douglas LawlorRecalling preproduction for the Lolita - How to Stop a War video, 2019.
