Acting: Endurance- Wearing the Suit (silicone, foam latex, or other rubbers)

Kierstin Lapatka

I will be building a full body suit very soon, I have plans for zippers and other seams for easy enter and exit to and from the sin tight body. I think I will make it out of the Soma Foama by smooth-on. There will be holes in high detail/ridged areas to help with breathing.

My question is more on the acting side/wearing side: 
As this material is a foam (and I suspect with any material that is a foam, or a silicone) I am concerned about the body being able to "breathe". Sweat, and otherwise.
I imagine wearing this suit, one would go in naked, but my curiosity has me wondering would it be wise to include areas that allow for a sweat wicking material? Under Armor heat gear or something?

Or would that just sponge up and trap sweat and be a health concern? 

Are holes and vents in high wrinkle areas the best option to help the body breathe? 

When in a suit that covers the whole body like that, plus head gear that covers the entire face, what is the best tactic to last? Cooling vests? Drinking water constantly? 

I have experience wearing fabric and foam suits, where cooling vests are less noticed, I also worry a cooling vest would not be able to be hidden in a suit such as this. Drinking water with rest spots seems to last me several hours. I've just not worn a fleshy rubber suit before, and I want to be prepared. 

-K

Chris Ellerby

When wearing a creature suit you do want light form-fitting clothing to help wick away some moisture, but ultimately without airflow it will pool.

Rubber suits are notorious for trapping heat, as they don't inherently allow air to move around, and also trap moisture which prevents your body from cooling when you sweat.

You can have areas with fabric or ventellation holes in the body to help, but that mostly depends on your character design.

The things you need to take into consideration are: Breathing, cooling, hydrating, biological needs (restroom usage), communication (hearing/vision), mobility, and performer comfort.

Breathing:
Can your performer get enough fresh air so they are not slowly building up carbon dioxide?  

Cooling:
You can take frequent cooling breaks where the performer removes part of the suit (head, sometimes hands, or open up part of the suit to expose more of the performer's body) and have a creature handler there with fans to help cool them down and dry any sweat.  This is also a good time to change things like headbands that quickly get saturated.

You can use cooling technologies like water cooling gear made for race car drivers and motorcyclists, but that can get expensive.   One inexpensive solution is cooling vests that have numerous pockets around the torso that you can insert ice packs into.  Just have a freezer near by and exchange the ice packs as frequently as possible.

Sometimes just getting a small fan inside the helmet/head can be a big help if the air has a place to enter/escape.

Hydrating:
I can't stress enough how important this one is.  No matter what your performer is going to be super hot and sweating a lot.  That moisture needs to be replaced.  Have plenty of cool water and sports drink for them, and make sure you creature handler is working closely with production to insure frequent breaks and keep track of how long it's been since the performer has hydrated, used the restroom, or taken a break.  Sometimes they even need to force the performer to take a break so they can save/recover some energy for the rest of the shoot.

Biological needs:
This part may get a bit much for some, but it's important.  Make sure your performer is urinating regularly.  One of the warning signs of dehydration is not urinating, or dark colored urine.  When well hydrated urine is nearly colorless, so the mantra "pee often, pee clear" is important.  If possible the suit design should allow the performer (often with assistance) to open the front or slide part way out of the suit to use the bathroom.  

Communication:
Can the performer hear or see well out of the costume?  Sometimes cameras or radios are helpful.  It's also a good idea to have an "I need help" gesture that they can easily make in case they need assistance, and everyone on set should know it.

Mobility:
Can they go up/down stairs, fit through doorways or into elevators, can they step up/down a curb.  This goes beyond the needs of the performance (which the suit should be designed around) to include the needs of navigating the location to and from set.


The following lessons are a great help if you plan on working with creature suits.

Monster Suit Performance by Tom Woodruff jr.
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/creatures-inside-out-special-character-performance

Directing Creatures by Alec Gillis
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/tutorials/directing-creature-characters

/Chris