I did something that I am very proud of. For 2013 Halloween, I made my own costume, by hand! What I did was make a character from my favorite video game of the year, a Clicker from The Last of Us. The Last of Us is indeed my most favorite game because it has incredibly beautiful graphics with an emotionally awesome, bad-ass story. This game touches your heart and makes you feel something.
The Last of Us is an action-adventure survival horror game created by Naughty Dog, who also created my personal favorite classic, the Crash Bandicoot series. I believe that this game broke the world record selling over 3 million copies after 3 weeks of its release date (June, 14, 2013). Set in a post apocalyptic world where people get Infected with a mutated cordyceps fungus which takes over their body and become a zombie like creature, the protagonists, Joel and Ellie, must travel across the country to a resistance group called the Fireflies in hopes to find a cure for the infected.
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| The Last Of Us Wallpaper |
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| Clicker Concept Art |
I understand that Halloween is long gone but I still wanted to make this video because I loved it so much. It would have been done and uploaded in November but my computer sort of broke down and making videos came to a complete standstill for me and I hated it. But now the video is up and I'm glad that it's done and over with.
Me making this video is kind of like a passion project for me. I love The Last Of Us so much that I wanted to built this costume and make the video. Originally it was going to be similar to 'Slenderman in New York' where I just wear the costume walking about in the streets of New York, but a week before Halloween, I went to gamestop for an event and saw an Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag t-shirt. Immediately I knew I had to have it because I don't have any gaming shirts like that. Luckily I decided to bring money with me and I happily purchased it. And I forget exactly when but before I started filming I decided to mix AC4 with the Clicker instead and make it an Assassin's parkour, Clicker chase. I liked this idea better because it was now two video games with action running.
The biggest thing that I was afraid of was other people watching me film myself, especially wearing the Clicker mask because you don't know what they're thinking when they see a kid doing something as ridiculous as I am. Another thing was the public costume change. The first day that I started filming, I wanted all the shots to be in order and keep the camera in the same position to have a smooth, sequential look. But I immediately found myself switching back a forth between outfits. So afterwards, filming was done over different days. And another factor to this video was the whether. I didn't want to much sun because the video would have a warm look to it, which basically means that the colors would look more yellow-ish, and I didn't want that. I didn't want it to dark either because then the video would look dull, without much color. I went out to film on partly-cloudy days for the right amount of light. Also, the wind was horrible. Even though there is little to no dialogue, the wind could still ruin the audio and I didn't want the effect of my clothes flapping or leaves blowing either. The best days I got were 15-20 MPH.
And the last thing that I was worried about was the gun scene. Its technically illegal to paint a toy gun to look realistic, but I'm not going to use a fake looking gun for something this serious. I mean, I want to make high quality videos, right? I was afraid that someone would see me, believe that it was a real gun, have the cops show up and potentially go to jail. I was seriously running the risk doing this scene, considering I look extremely sketchy being a teenager by myself in the back woods next to a highway with a rifle in my hands. Simply said, I was paranoid.
I had to actually learned how to make the Clicker mask from a tutorial on YouTube. Once I had all the materials I needed for this project, It took about a week or so to get the shape that I wanted and to paint it the best that I could. And it came out well, I was proud of myself that I could make this. For Halloween, my friends and family were amazed that I made this mask by hand. They also said that it looked like popcorn, as well as the people who didn't know what I was. The only thing is I couldn't make any eye holes to see because it would mess up the structure and make it look, well, not like a Clicker. So throughout the entire video, I was literally running blind, which was actually pretty nerve wracking. Its scary being unable to see where you're going. And since the game mostly takes place in the southern states, I wanted to dress like a southerner. As a Clicker, I am wearing boots, dark jeans, a bloody shirt(which I made), a beige plaid dress shirt and a ripped up sweater. I never knew why zombies clothes are always ripped, but after thinking about it, it makes sense because once you become a zombie you will be traveling around the same clothes, and those clothes will eventually get worn out. As far as the assassins outfit, its just black sneakers with regular jeans, an AC4 T-shirt and a hoodie with a wing like design on it.
I spent so much time, effort and money into building and putting this thing together, that to me, its more than just a costume, this is cosplay. And after making this, I am interested in making more cosplay projects. I really enjoy crafting type projects, you know. I just like to make things. So hopefully this would be my new Halloween tradition where I just make my own costume and make a video about it. Its not like I go trick-or-treating anymore, so I'm taking on the next level for me, which is cosplay!
Me making this video is kind of like a passion project for me. I love The Last Of Us so much that I wanted to built this costume and make the video. Originally it was going to be similar to 'Slenderman in New York' where I just wear the costume walking about in the streets of New York, but a week before Halloween, I went to gamestop for an event and saw an Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag t-shirt. Immediately I knew I had to have it because I don't have any gaming shirts like that. Luckily I decided to bring money with me and I happily purchased it. And I forget exactly when but before I started filming I decided to mix AC4 with the Clicker instead and make it an Assassin's parkour, Clicker chase. I liked this idea better because it was now two video games with action running.
The biggest thing that I was afraid of was other people watching me film myself, especially wearing the Clicker mask because you don't know what they're thinking when they see a kid doing something as ridiculous as I am. Another thing was the public costume change. The first day that I started filming, I wanted all the shots to be in order and keep the camera in the same position to have a smooth, sequential look. But I immediately found myself switching back a forth between outfits. So afterwards, filming was done over different days. And another factor to this video was the whether. I didn't want to much sun because the video would have a warm look to it, which basically means that the colors would look more yellow-ish, and I didn't want that. I didn't want it to dark either because then the video would look dull, without much color. I went out to film on partly-cloudy days for the right amount of light. Also, the wind was horrible. Even though there is little to no dialogue, the wind could still ruin the audio and I didn't want the effect of my clothes flapping or leaves blowing either. The best days I got were 15-20 MPH.
I had to actually learned how to make the Clicker mask from a tutorial on YouTube. Once I had all the materials I needed for this project, It took about a week or so to get the shape that I wanted and to paint it the best that I could. And it came out well, I was proud of myself that I could make this. For Halloween, my friends and family were amazed that I made this mask by hand. They also said that it looked like popcorn, as well as the people who didn't know what I was. The only thing is I couldn't make any eye holes to see because it would mess up the structure and make it look, well, not like a Clicker. So throughout the entire video, I was literally running blind, which was actually pretty nerve wracking. Its scary being unable to see where you're going. And since the game mostly takes place in the southern states, I wanted to dress like a southerner. As a Clicker, I am wearing boots, dark jeans, a bloody shirt(which I made), a beige plaid dress shirt and a ripped up sweater. I never knew why zombies clothes are always ripped, but after thinking about it, it makes sense because once you become a zombie you will be traveling around the same clothes, and those clothes will eventually get worn out. As far as the assassins outfit, its just black sneakers with regular jeans, an AC4 T-shirt and a hoodie with a wing like design on it.
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| Cosplay Concept Art |
I spent so much time, effort and money into building and putting this thing together, that to me, its more than just a costume, this is cosplay. And after making this, I am interested in making more cosplay projects. I really enjoy crafting type projects, you know. I just like to make things. So hopefully this would be my new Halloween tradition where I just make my own costume and make a video about it. Its not like I go trick-or-treating anymore, so I'm taking on the next level for me, which is cosplay!
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