The Godfeather
Costume Designer
Crime Comedy Short Film | SCAD | April 2023
I was the costume designer for a SCAD produced short film called The Godfeather. It was comedic crime story, a humorous combination of a gangster movie and The Muppets. Costumes ranged from detective attire to full body suits, turning actors into puppets. I designed, purchased, rented, and built costumes with a team and dressed actors on set for this short film. I crafted a look between silly and scary, working on a tight 2 week schedule and limited budget.
The head of the criminal organization in this story is the Godfeather. He is a large scary bird creature. Each character stood out with their signature color, his being red, but there are darker and muted shades, especially on this villain, to fit the grittier story. His velvet suit is a fuzzy texture that you might see on a puppet. Paired with his talons, which are sharp but also fuzzy, it is an intimidating enough look. We helped monitor the actor and took off items during breaks to make sure the actor stayed comfortable under all the layers. The outfit covered his whole body without being too constricting and still allowing for movement.
I designed and built with another costumer the Godfeather's puppet head. We did a cardboard mockup of the moving beak and then fitted a foam base to the actor's head. Then we covered it in red cotton fabric and plastic mask. The eye sockets had to be covered in a thin black fabric that allowed the actor to see through but us not to see him.. We covered the entire fabric around the mask with feathers which we painted spots black and red to give it a cohesive look. The poly-foam was cushy for the actor and with the moving googly eyes and beak there was expression in the face.
The main character for this short film is detective Burt who goes undercover as a puppet to take down the Godfeather. The decorated morph suit is fun, vibrant, and gives silly puppet energy but doesn't have to fool the audience as they are clearly a human. Underneath the suit is a Burt's regular human outfit. The professional dress shirt, slacks, and loafers are what they wear latter when talking to their boss the police captain. Burt is at their wits end trying to solve this case so their outfit is more wrinkled than put together. The police badge plays an important part in their identity and decision if they want to stay on the force.
Another outfit I created for this film was what we dubbed "The Abominable". It is human sized puppet which is played by an actor in a full body suit. The Abominable is a background character at the Godfeather's crime den. His size, colors, and wackiness add some variation and contrast with the other puppets. The long fingers looks like something from a nightmare while the eyes are meant to be silly. I used the same thin black fabric for the mouth so the actor could look out through the head. With safety first in mind this was another outfit we made sure the actor stayed hydrated and comfortable in.
